So yea, its been absolutely forever since I've written on this thing. And yea, there is a reason for that. I'M SO BUSY! Student teaching is so crazy right now! But it is so great. I love it, absolutely love it. Even after days like today, which was one of my most frustrated days I've had had working in a classroom, I still love it. It is such a joy to be able to work with kids on a daily basis and see the joy that you can bring to their lives as well as the joy that they can bring to yours.
A quick update to my life. I'm 37 days away from graduating college!!! Hold up, did I really just write that? Yea, I did. I can't believe it. But I am excited about that. I am ready to move on to the next stage of my life. I am ready to be out on my own. Speaking of that stage of life...
I am currently in the process of looking for a teaching job. I have already had a couple of promising interviews and I have a few more scheduled in the next coming weeks as well. It makes me feel like such a grown up! But as I stated before, I am ready for that.
As far as the summer, I will be returning to work at Bethel United Methodist Church for my 2nd summer as the youth intern. Now, unfortunately, this summer will be a little bit different. Chad Deetz, the man that has influenced me so much as my youth minister, is no longer at Bethel as he has moved to Florida to be closer to family and take another job. I know I am going to miss him and his family so much this summer. But I also know that God has his plan for taking them to where they are now and he still has a plan for Bethel and the BUMS. Bethel is currently in the process of looking for a new youth minister. I pray that they find one soon so he can get established by the start of summer. While it may be challenging at times, I look forward so much to getting to work with him/her and I know that God will have great things in store for us this summer. I am so excited to be returning (seriously, ask anyone around me, it makes it hard to focus on graduating I want to be back so badly.) It impacted my life so much last summer and I know it will again this summer. I will have the pleasure of working with Emily Ward this summer as my co-intern. I am excited to see the great things God is going to do through her this summer as well.
Other than that, life is just cruising. I'm so ready to graduate. But I know I will miss college so much after its gone. Anyways, some encouraging scripture that I really need to hear right now:
1 Corinthians 10:31- "So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God."
Isaiah 40:29-31 "He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint."
I am very weary right now. I don't get enough sleep and I am just worn out. But I know that God will continue to provide me strength to get me through each day. And I am also a little confused right now. Confused about where my life is heading, certain circumstances and events that have happened recently in my life, and just confused about my life in general. As exciting as this time is, it's also very scary. I'm about to take a huge step forward towards the rest of my life. But I am excited to face all of life's new challenges each and every day. Until next time (which will probably be when I graduate), God Bless.
Thursday, April 11, 2013
Thursday, January 3, 2013
Winter Meltdown with the BUMS
I've been on a lot of trips with the BUMS, and this past week I got to have the pleasure of serving as a chaperone on their Winter Meltdown trip. And it was an absolute blast. Each winter, the BUMS alternate between going on a Ski Trip to West Virginia one year, then going down to Warren W. Willis Methodist Camp in Florida the other year. So we headed down to the Sunshine State for a couple of days.
We did the drive down on Saturday, and once we arrive had a short devotion and then went to bed. Sleep was something that I didn't get a lot of on this trip. The camp we stayed at had a high and low ropes course that we hit early Sunday morning. We spent the morning on the low ropes course, which consisted of a lot of team building activities. It was great to see the youth work together. It was especially cool because the group I was with struggled at the beginning on one of their activities However, they overcame, and ended up doing extremely well on the rest of the obstacles. It was great to see them continue to push through, even though they struggled. Then, after lunch, the students did the high ropes course. It was a lot of stuff that I knew I couldn't do, but it was great to watch the kids do awesome, and especially encouraging each other if they struggled. Our youth group truly is something special. They are a very close nit group.
On Monday, we hit the parks early. We headed to Disney's Hollywood Studios on New Year's Eve. It was absolutely packed! But we still had a good time. We hit all the major rides like Rockin' Roller Coaster and Tower of Terror. It was a fun day. Around 6:30 that night, we left the park, and headed to the town of Celebration, Florida. There they had a band and lots of cool things going on out in the streets. The weather was absolutely perfect for the entire trip while we were there! So we stayed there till about 12:20 am, after an awesome fireworks show. It was a little over an hour drive back to where we were staying, so we arrived just before 2 am. Next came a very short night, because we left for the parks at 8 am the next morning. The day before, they had closed Magic Kingdom, where we were headed on New Years Day, at around 9:30 am because it was so crowded. So we knew we had to get there early. We got into the parks right about 9:30 am and it was crowded. But we had a good day, and got to cover most of the park and do everything we wanted to. We did Space Mountain, Buzz Light Year Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, and Haunted Mansion as well as many others. It was a really fun day. But we were absolutely exhausted from 2 straight days of being very busy in the park. So we headed out of the park about 6:30 again, grabbed dinner, then got back to the camp. We got some good sleep and then hit the road home. overall, it was a great trip. I had so much fun. Here are some pictures from the trip:
The group I hung out with at Disney in front of Cinderellas Castle! Salt and Sugar! Haha
Cinderella's Castle
Our theme for the trip was making things new, making ourselves new. It was a great theme for the trip, especially considering the time of the trip. We always want to go back to our old ways. We always fall back into the traps that we had in the past, the same pattern of sins that we had. Yet God calls us to be new, to drop these old habits. This was a verse we used on the trip:
We did the drive down on Saturday, and once we arrive had a short devotion and then went to bed. Sleep was something that I didn't get a lot of on this trip. The camp we stayed at had a high and low ropes course that we hit early Sunday morning. We spent the morning on the low ropes course, which consisted of a lot of team building activities. It was great to see the youth work together. It was especially cool because the group I was with struggled at the beginning on one of their activities However, they overcame, and ended up doing extremely well on the rest of the obstacles. It was great to see them continue to push through, even though they struggled. Then, after lunch, the students did the high ropes course. It was a lot of stuff that I knew I couldn't do, but it was great to watch the kids do awesome, and especially encouraging each other if they struggled. Our youth group truly is something special. They are a very close nit group.
On Monday, we hit the parks early. We headed to Disney's Hollywood Studios on New Year's Eve. It was absolutely packed! But we still had a good time. We hit all the major rides like Rockin' Roller Coaster and Tower of Terror. It was a fun day. Around 6:30 that night, we left the park, and headed to the town of Celebration, Florida. There they had a band and lots of cool things going on out in the streets. The weather was absolutely perfect for the entire trip while we were there! So we stayed there till about 12:20 am, after an awesome fireworks show. It was a little over an hour drive back to where we were staying, so we arrived just before 2 am. Next came a very short night, because we left for the parks at 8 am the next morning. The day before, they had closed Magic Kingdom, where we were headed on New Years Day, at around 9:30 am because it was so crowded. So we knew we had to get there early. We got into the parks right about 9:30 am and it was crowded. But we had a good day, and got to cover most of the park and do everything we wanted to. We did Space Mountain, Buzz Light Year Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, and Haunted Mansion as well as many others. It was a really fun day. But we were absolutely exhausted from 2 straight days of being very busy in the park. So we headed out of the park about 6:30 again, grabbed dinner, then got back to the camp. We got some good sleep and then hit the road home. overall, it was a great trip. I had so much fun. Here are some pictures from the trip:
Before we got on the Tower of Terror!
The Band KattyShack at the New Years Eve Party.
The group I hung out with at Disney in front of Cinderellas Castle! Salt and Sugar! Haha
Cinderella's Castle
Cinderella's Castle at Night all lit up!
Our group at the Mickey's Phillar Magic Show.
2 Corinthians 5:17-22 "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people's sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ's behalf: Be reconciled to God. God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
. This was a verse we used on the trip: God has made each and everyone of us new. I was very thankful for the opportunity to get to experience this newness with the BUMS. It was a great trip. I love the BUMS so much. Chad Deetz does a great job leading the BUMS, and the group acts so much as a family. So thank you BUMS for such a great trip. I love being able to come back and just plug right back into this family that has always meant so much to me.
Thursday, December 13, 2012
Christmas Break is here!
I don't think I have ever looked forward to a Christmas break so much in my entire life! This semester was absolutely crazy! It was very busy, and required a lot of hard work. But, the good news is, I SURVIVED! It was a miracle, but I made it. Now just waiting for those grades to be posted!
Now, I only have one semester standing between me and graduation. Well, technically 2. At Erskine, we do something unique called J-term, or January Term. This is a "semester" where we take one class for the entire month of January, for 3 hours a day. Now to some of you, that may sound awful. But actually, its quite fun. Usually it is a fun class. This year I am taking Personal Finance, which should hopefully be helpful considering next year I'll be out on my own managing all of my own money. But last year, I took The History of Music Videos. It was such a fun class. Part of that class was we got to make our own music video.
Now, I only have one semester standing between me and graduation. Well, technically 2. At Erskine, we do something unique called J-term, or January Term. This is a "semester" where we take one class for the entire month of January, for 3 hours a day. Now to some of you, that may sound awful. But actually, its quite fun. Usually it is a fun class. This year I am taking Personal Finance, which should hopefully be helpful considering next year I'll be out on my own managing all of my own money. But last year, I took The History of Music Videos. It was such a fun class. Part of that class was we got to make our own music video.
***You can watch it here..... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n6jbGGbzIBo. ***
You should definitely watch it. It is hilarious. Its a parody of the "Party Rock Anthem." Anyways, this year I will be taking a much more practical class. But I am very much looking forward to J-term because it is a much more relaxed time in the school year. It gives you time to enjoy the other aspects of college, you know, the non-academic ones. It is a great time to just relax while having plenty of time to hang out with all of your friends.
After J-term, comes my last semester of my undergraduate college career. It is absolutely crazy to think about that. This last semester will consist of me doing my Student Teaching. I will be in a classroom every day all day, getting to work with students. I am very excited about this! It is going to be great, I just know it!
And after that, comes graduation. I can't believe its almost here. As cliché as this is about to sound, it feels like just yesterday I was graduating high school. Part of me is very ready to graduate, very ready to move on to the next step of life, finding my own job, having my own place, and taking that next step. But the other part of me is going to miss college a lot, always being surrounded by my best friends, and just having a good time. But I know that all good things can't last forever, so I am ready to move on. But first, one more semester of college.
This past semester was great. I did some awesome things, and I can't wait to do so many more fun things in my last semester of college. I don't want to let it waste away, because I know there will never be another time in my life like this. So goodbye first semester of senior year, and hello to second semester. Its going to be awesome!
Here are some highlights of my first semester:
After J-term, comes my last semester of my undergraduate college career. It is absolutely crazy to think about that. This last semester will consist of me doing my Student Teaching. I will be in a classroom every day all day, getting to work with students. I am very excited about this! It is going to be great, I just know it!
And after that, comes graduation. I can't believe its almost here. As cliché as this is about to sound, it feels like just yesterday I was graduating high school. Part of me is very ready to graduate, very ready to move on to the next step of life, finding my own job, having my own place, and taking that next step. But the other part of me is going to miss college a lot, always being surrounded by my best friends, and just having a good time. But I know that all good things can't last forever, so I am ready to move on. But first, one more semester of college.
This past semester was great. I did some awesome things, and I can't wait to do so many more fun things in my last semester of college. I don't want to let it waste away, because I know there will never be another time in my life like this. So goodbye first semester of senior year, and hello to second semester. Its going to be awesome!
Here are some highlights of my first semester:
Go to go to the Clemson vs. Georgia Tech Game. Even though my Yellow Jackets lost, it was still a good time!
Also got to go to the South Carolina vs. Wofford Game. Had a great weekend chilling with my brother, Kevin!
Got to be a part of my friend Bryan's, aka Beans Wedding! This was a great time!
Got to see Lee Brice in concert. It was awesome!
And went to the ACC Championship game, to watch my Yellow Jackets play. They lost, but it was an awesome time!
I got to march in the Greenwood Christmas Parade with some of my students that I have had the pleasure of working with this past semester! It was a very neat experience!
It was a great semester! And I am so ready for the next one! I can't wait to get to hang out with all of my friends at Erskine again! But first, time to enjoy Christmas Break and all the time I get to spend with my family!
Friday, October 26, 2012
Purple Rain, Purple Rain
So this past weekend was absolutely incredible. I got to go as a Chaperone on Team Survival Challenge (TSC) with the Bethel United Methodist Students (BUMS), which is the group I interned for this summer. I was so excited for this trip, not only becasue I would get to see some of my best friends, but also because I was excited about a good chance to get a break from school and just go enjoy myself for a weekend.
Team Survival Challenge is a trip in which the youth, and parents of the youth, come together at Awanita Valley to compete in fun, silly, and sometimes strenuous games, competing against each other to win the coveted prize, which is 12 lbs of candy and getting to sign the box! This was my 4th TSC, but my first as a chaperone. College Students who are BUMS alumni come back to be the captains of the youth teams. Every year I have been on this trip, I have always been on the purple team. It all started the very first year, when I was team Purple Nurple, and we had a blast. So I have pretty much begged every year to be the Purple Team since then, and Chad complied. So I came back this year, and we were team Purple Rain.
The weekend started off quite well, as my team won the first three events to jump out to an early lead. This kind of set the tone for the whole weekend, and every team kind of had it out for us in game number 4, in which we came in last. But it was all good, my team was out there, having a blast, just doing our thing. One thing I stressed to my team all weekend was that no matter what, win or loss, we were going to have fun, and be happy about it. My team complied, and we did have an absolute blast.
The weekend continued with many more fun games, including the annual boat race, a home run derby with a spatula as a bat and marshmallows as a baseball, torpedo, warball, bucket ball, and many many more. My team kept competing, and we pretty much stayed middle of the road for the weekend. Placing somewhere between 2nd to 4th for about every game. It came down to the last game, and we knew we were close on the score. We finished tied for 1st in the last game, but we still were not sure where that left us for the weekend.
Finally the time came, and they announced the winners, and it was Team Purple Rain!!!! It was so cool to finally win, after every other year, I had not had that happen. But regardless, as always, the candy was shared among the entire youth group. After all, who could eat 12 lbs of candy anyways? It was a such a great weekend. Shout out to my team, which consisted of Sam, Erin, Jordan, Jillian, Alex, Kent, Patrick and Sally. They were all absolutely awesome, and I had a blast hanging out with you guys this weekend. And thank you for finally letting me get my name on that box. Its been a long time coming! Also, shout out to Chad Deetz for continuing to be the awesome youth pastor that he is, and leading great trips like this. It was so great to spend some more time with the BUMS, which are pretty much my second family.
This weekend once again emphasized how important it is to be surrounded by a solid body of believers around you. I was so encouraged by not only my team this past weekend, but also all of the other youth on this trip, as well as the parents who came out and competed all weekend as well!
Colossians 3:14-16: And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity. Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God.
Team Survival Challenge is a trip in which the youth, and parents of the youth, come together at Awanita Valley to compete in fun, silly, and sometimes strenuous games, competing against each other to win the coveted prize, which is 12 lbs of candy and getting to sign the box! This was my 4th TSC, but my first as a chaperone. College Students who are BUMS alumni come back to be the captains of the youth teams. Every year I have been on this trip, I have always been on the purple team. It all started the very first year, when I was team Purple Nurple, and we had a blast. So I have pretty much begged every year to be the Purple Team since then, and Chad complied. So I came back this year, and we were team Purple Rain.
The weekend started off quite well, as my team won the first three events to jump out to an early lead. This kind of set the tone for the whole weekend, and every team kind of had it out for us in game number 4, in which we came in last. But it was all good, my team was out there, having a blast, just doing our thing. One thing I stressed to my team all weekend was that no matter what, win or loss, we were going to have fun, and be happy about it. My team complied, and we did have an absolute blast.
The weekend continued with many more fun games, including the annual boat race, a home run derby with a spatula as a bat and marshmallows as a baseball, torpedo, warball, bucket ball, and many many more. My team kept competing, and we pretty much stayed middle of the road for the weekend. Placing somewhere between 2nd to 4th for about every game. It came down to the last game, and we knew we were close on the score. We finished tied for 1st in the last game, but we still were not sure where that left us for the weekend.
Finally the time came, and they announced the winners, and it was Team Purple Rain!!!! It was so cool to finally win, after every other year, I had not had that happen. But regardless, as always, the candy was shared among the entire youth group. After all, who could eat 12 lbs of candy anyways? It was a such a great weekend. Shout out to my team, which consisted of Sam, Erin, Jordan, Jillian, Alex, Kent, Patrick and Sally. They were all absolutely awesome, and I had a blast hanging out with you guys this weekend. And thank you for finally letting me get my name on that box. Its been a long time coming! Also, shout out to Chad Deetz for continuing to be the awesome youth pastor that he is, and leading great trips like this. It was so great to spend some more time with the BUMS, which are pretty much my second family.
This weekend once again emphasized how important it is to be surrounded by a solid body of believers around you. I was so encouraged by not only my team this past weekend, but also all of the other youth on this trip, as well as the parents who came out and competed all weekend as well!
Colossians 3:14-16: And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity. Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God.
Tuesday, September 25, 2012
Yea....I know, its been a while
So my Senior Year here at Erskine college has been off to a crazy busy start. That would explain why I haven't written a blog post in like a month! But I have been up to some pretty cool things, so here we go:
I have really enjoyed getting to hang out with all of my friends this semester. College is the only time in your life where you are in such close proximity to your friends at all times. So it makes it so easy to be able to enjoy quality time with your friends.
I have taken a couple of cool trips this semester. I took a crazy 10 hour drive to go to Blacksburg, VA to see my boy Cade, and get to see my favorite team Georgia Tech take on Virginia Tech. Unfortunately, Georgia Tech lost, which made for a really long and sad drive home. But it was still totally worth it, and I would do it again in a heartbeat (maybe not on a school night though.)
Here is a picture from my seats at the VT vs. GT game!
I have also been holding down my reputation as the Intramural Champion of Erskine. What is ironic about this, is I have never actually won an intramural championship. However, I play every single sport. Usually, I just get together a bunch of my friends to go out there and have a blast, no matter how bad we lose (and yes, we do typically lose.) Right now, Intramural Frisbee is going on right now, and my team name is A + for Effort (insert points for the creative name.) I got the name because our team consists of a lot of education majors, but also, and most importantly, because we all go out there, every single game, and try our hardest and have fun doing it. Sure, losing every game 11-2 isn't always great, but we always have a good time.
I also got to go up to Presbyterian College with my boys Josh (aka Tim) and Matt (aka Deegs) to go to a football game as well. We had an amazing tailgate with some very delicious grub. It was a good day just to kind of get away from all the business of Erskine and all the school work that goes along with it.
Speaking of that schoolwork, that is where I have been spending most of my time. I have been very busy with all of my work. From papers, to tests, to you name it. School has been the dominating part of my life so far this semester. But so far, I have been keeping on track of things, and everything is going pretty well. Below is a picture of one of my beautiful creations for the semester, my bulletin board. I am pretty proud of it, I'm not going to lie.
I have really enjoyed getting to hang out with all of my friends this semester. College is the only time in your life where you are in such close proximity to your friends at all times. So it makes it so easy to be able to enjoy quality time with your friends.
I have taken a couple of cool trips this semester. I took a crazy 10 hour drive to go to Blacksburg, VA to see my boy Cade, and get to see my favorite team Georgia Tech take on Virginia Tech. Unfortunately, Georgia Tech lost, which made for a really long and sad drive home. But it was still totally worth it, and I would do it again in a heartbeat (maybe not on a school night though.)
I have also been holding down my reputation as the Intramural Champion of Erskine. What is ironic about this, is I have never actually won an intramural championship. However, I play every single sport. Usually, I just get together a bunch of my friends to go out there and have a blast, no matter how bad we lose (and yes, we do typically lose.) Right now, Intramural Frisbee is going on right now, and my team name is A + for Effort (insert points for the creative name.) I got the name because our team consists of a lot of education majors, but also, and most importantly, because we all go out there, every single game, and try our hardest and have fun doing it. Sure, losing every game 11-2 isn't always great, but we always have a good time.
Speaking of that schoolwork, that is where I have been spending most of my time. I have been very busy with all of my work. From papers, to tests, to you name it. School has been the dominating part of my life so far this semester. But so far, I have been keeping on track of things, and everything is going pretty well. Below is a picture of one of my beautiful creations for the semester, my bulletin board. I am pretty proud of it, I'm not going to lie.
I believe I mentioned in my last post that I was worried about being motivated to continue to learn about special education even though I believe that I now want to pursue Youth Ministry for my career. Sure, I have struggled at times, but I have also grown a rejuvenance and passion for Special Education, and I have really loved this semester so far. I guess that may make it a little bit harder to choose my path after I graduate.
This semester has been kind of crazy, and definitely hard. But it has been good, and God has continued to bless me this semester. Sure, I have made some mistakes this semester, and some things haven't exactly gone my way, but God still loves me no matter what, and will continue to guide me and take care of me.
Matthew 11:28 "Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy, and My burden is light."
Wednesday, August 29, 2012
The Start of Senior Year
Wait...hold on a second. Let me read my own title again. WHAT? I am a senior now, in COLLEGE, when did that happen. It seems like just yesterday I was starting my senior year of high school. But now 4 years later, my last year of schooling has begun. There are a couple of emotions running through my mind.
First of all, I am very happy to be back. I absolutely loved this summer, and I would go back to it in a heart beat. I miss the BUMS very much. But I am also so glad to be back among all my friends here at Erskine and just be able to get the ball rolling on what is going to be an incredible senior year. I am, as always on a first day of school, a little bit nervous. I don't really know fully yet what this year is going to entail. But that also brings along some excitement of the unknown, and ready to embrace what ever God presents me with this school year.
But most of all, I am scared. This year is going to be very interesting to me. I absolutely love Special Education, which is what my major is here at Erskine. It has always had a very special place in my heart, thanks to the influences I have had on my life. It will always have a special place in my heart. However, now, that I am also influenced by this past summer, and a desire to do youth ministry, I am worried that I may lose that passion and fire I have for doing special education. So I ask you, my blog readers, to pray for me, that I will continue to do my best in my major here at Erskine, and be able to complete this senior year and the years of teaching after that with a heart full of joy, and worry about crossing the bridge into youth ministry once it gets here.
There is going to be one bible verse that I am going to live by this school year:
1 Corinthians 10:31 "So whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do it ALL for the glory of God."
I am going to do my student teaching and everything else to the glory of God this school year, because I know that is what he would want me to do. I am very excited to be a senior at Erskine College!
First of all, I am very happy to be back. I absolutely loved this summer, and I would go back to it in a heart beat. I miss the BUMS very much. But I am also so glad to be back among all my friends here at Erskine and just be able to get the ball rolling on what is going to be an incredible senior year. I am, as always on a first day of school, a little bit nervous. I don't really know fully yet what this year is going to entail. But that also brings along some excitement of the unknown, and ready to embrace what ever God presents me with this school year.
But most of all, I am scared. This year is going to be very interesting to me. I absolutely love Special Education, which is what my major is here at Erskine. It has always had a very special place in my heart, thanks to the influences I have had on my life. It will always have a special place in my heart. However, now, that I am also influenced by this past summer, and a desire to do youth ministry, I am worried that I may lose that passion and fire I have for doing special education. So I ask you, my blog readers, to pray for me, that I will continue to do my best in my major here at Erskine, and be able to complete this senior year and the years of teaching after that with a heart full of joy, and worry about crossing the bridge into youth ministry once it gets here.
There is going to be one bible verse that I am going to live by this school year:
1 Corinthians 10:31 "So whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do it ALL for the glory of God."
I am going to do my student teaching and everything else to the glory of God this school year, because I know that is what he would want me to do. I am very excited to be a senior at Erskine College!
Sunday, August 19, 2012
Leaving a Legacy
I can't even begin to describe how much of an impact this summer has made my life. And now, it has come to an end. I literally can't believe it. It seems like yesterday I was just starting this internship. Yet 14 weeks ago today, I was just beginning the journey of this summer that would truly be life changing. And even though I only got paid for 10 of those 14 weeks (which was what I signed up for) I wouldn't trade back any of those 14 weeks. And now I am about to go start my senior year of college (How crazy is that, that's a whole different blog post.) I am honestly struggling to write this blog post because I am literally at a loss for words to try and describe this summer. Ill try: Amazing, God-filled, super-blessed, incredible. I don't what else to say. It was awesome!
I have grown so close with so many of the kids in my youth group. And so many of them have impacted my life in ways that I will never forget. I never even thought that I would gain so much from this summer when I first began way back in May. I thought this summer was going to be so much more about me making an impact on the youth. And I know part of it was. But I seriously ended up making some great friends this summer in the youth group. I hope and pray to God that I did make an impact to these youth this summer. But I do know for sure that each and every one of them made an impact on my life this. But that's the hard part about ministry. You don't always get to see the fruit that is produced after you planted the seeds. I hope that I planted a seed in these youth this summer, a seed that wants to grow closer to the Lord. But I don't know for sure. Now, I do have an advantage since Bethel is my home church, so I know I will be back for frequent visits over the next year in school.
But it wasn't just the youth who made such a strong impact on my life this summer. Probably the biggest influence came from my boss, who was also my youth minister, Chad Deetz. Chad has always had a special place in my heart. And he always will. He always seems to know what to say to me, and help me out through hard times. And even though I may not always listen to him, I know he still loves me all the same. Chad displays one of the best examples of unconditional love I have EVER seen in my life. People have made jokes all this summer about me being Chad's "mini-me". But I have constantly blown it off, as if I didn't enjoy it. But in all honestly, if I turn out to be half the man that Chad is today, I will be very happy with myself, and where I am. Chad has literally changed my life this summer. He has changed who I am, and what I want to do with my life. If it wasn't for him, I know there is no way I would feel the strong calling towards Youth Ministry that I am now ready to pursue.
Tonight, as it was my last night at youth, I taught the lesson. I talked about leaving a legacy. Everywhere we go, everything we do, we leave a little part of us. We are leaving our mark on this world everyday. But how we do that is what makes it different among everyone. Many people in this world have left being remembered well. But just because someone is remembered as being a good person, doesn't mean that they have left a positive legacy on this world. God calls us to leave our legacy through Him.
There is a great song called Legacy, by Nichole Nordeman. It talks about how we all want to hear good job while we are hear on this Earth, or an "atta boy or atta girl" as it says in the song. But the song goes on to say that stuff doesn't really end up mattering in this world. What truly matters is that when we get to Heaven, we hear God say to us "Well done, my good and faithful servant." We need to live our lives to God so that when people remember what we are all about here on this Earth, they will remember us by the Godly lives we lived, that were dedicated to him, and loving on others here on this Earth, so that our lives may impact the lives of others.
I have definitely been impacted by many others this summer. And I hope that I made an impact on at least one youth, if not many more. I thank God so much for this amazing opportunity he blessed me with this summer. And now I know that he is really calling me into Youth Ministry. What kind of legacy are you leaving on this Earth? What will people remember you by?
Here are some pictures to recap my summer:
I have grown so close with so many of the kids in my youth group. And so many of them have impacted my life in ways that I will never forget. I never even thought that I would gain so much from this summer when I first began way back in May. I thought this summer was going to be so much more about me making an impact on the youth. And I know part of it was. But I seriously ended up making some great friends this summer in the youth group. I hope and pray to God that I did make an impact to these youth this summer. But I do know for sure that each and every one of them made an impact on my life this. But that's the hard part about ministry. You don't always get to see the fruit that is produced after you planted the seeds. I hope that I planted a seed in these youth this summer, a seed that wants to grow closer to the Lord. But I don't know for sure. Now, I do have an advantage since Bethel is my home church, so I know I will be back for frequent visits over the next year in school.
But it wasn't just the youth who made such a strong impact on my life this summer. Probably the biggest influence came from my boss, who was also my youth minister, Chad Deetz. Chad has always had a special place in my heart. And he always will. He always seems to know what to say to me, and help me out through hard times. And even though I may not always listen to him, I know he still loves me all the same. Chad displays one of the best examples of unconditional love I have EVER seen in my life. People have made jokes all this summer about me being Chad's "mini-me". But I have constantly blown it off, as if I didn't enjoy it. But in all honestly, if I turn out to be half the man that Chad is today, I will be very happy with myself, and where I am. Chad has literally changed my life this summer. He has changed who I am, and what I want to do with my life. If it wasn't for him, I know there is no way I would feel the strong calling towards Youth Ministry that I am now ready to pursue.
Tonight, as it was my last night at youth, I taught the lesson. I talked about leaving a legacy. Everywhere we go, everything we do, we leave a little part of us. We are leaving our mark on this world everyday. But how we do that is what makes it different among everyone. Many people in this world have left being remembered well. But just because someone is remembered as being a good person, doesn't mean that they have left a positive legacy on this world. God calls us to leave our legacy through Him.
There is a great song called Legacy, by Nichole Nordeman. It talks about how we all want to hear good job while we are hear on this Earth, or an "atta boy or atta girl" as it says in the song. But the song goes on to say that stuff doesn't really end up mattering in this world. What truly matters is that when we get to Heaven, we hear God say to us "Well done, my good and faithful servant." We need to live our lives to God so that when people remember what we are all about here on this Earth, they will remember us by the Godly lives we lived, that were dedicated to him, and loving on others here on this Earth, so that our lives may impact the lives of others.
I have definitely been impacted by many others this summer. And I hope that I made an impact on at least one youth, if not many more. I thank God so much for this amazing opportunity he blessed me with this summer. And now I know that he is really calling me into Youth Ministry. What kind of legacy are you leaving on this Earth? What will people remember you by?
Here are some pictures to recap my summer:
Having fun during some Sing and Play on the Mission Trip!
Hanging out at one of the Block Parties!
Helping out with the Praise Band (which I did a lot of on the Mission Trip.)
Having fun on the Bus Ride!
The Man himself, Chad Deetz! Thanks for everything dude!
Our entire Youth Group having Worship on the Beach!
Our Entire Youth Group on the final day of our Mission Trip!
Thank you Bethel United Methodist Church for an amazing summer and thank you BUMS for an awesome time this summer. I am going to miss you guys like crazy, and I will be back to visit soon!
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