One Year

It is truly amazing how much can change in one year. I don't know if you have heard of it or not, but there is this app. It is called Timehop. You download it on your phone, and it links to all of your social media (ex. Facebook, Twitter. etc.) Then, it will show you exactly what you were doing on this date over the past 5 years or so. Well, August 1st, 2013, was a very sad but exciting day for me. I moved to Charleston on this day last year. The reason it was sad, was because I was having to say goodbye to the BUMS. I had just experienced the most incredible summer of my entire life. And I was having to leave to go start a new job, in a city where I barely new anybody, and I was scared. But I was also excited to start this new chapter in my life.

Now, flash forward to today, August 1st, 2014. And guess where I am now, sitting back in the office I was in one year ago. Except this time, my job with the BUMS isn't temporary. Its not just for the summer, its my full time job. And I couldn't be more excited. I have already received such a warm welcome from everyone here at Bethel. It feels so good to be home.

It is amazing how God works, isn't it? If someone would have walked up to me on August 1st, 2013 and said "Todd, there is no reason to be sad, in exactly one year, you will be working here full time. There is nothing to worry about." I would have laughed in their face. I never thought God would bring me back to Bethel. When I left last summer, I would have loved to stay here full time. But, it wasn't in God's plan, at that time at least. I definitely think I benefited a lot from being away from Bethel for a year. I missed it every single day. But I really did learn a lot in Charleston that I think will help me be a more effective youth minister here at Bethel. One thing I definitely learned, is organizational skills. Being a special education teacher, you have to be on top everything. I think that will help me out a lot in youth ministry, as I keep papers and such organized.

But probably the biggest thing I learned from, was learning how to be a disciple of Christ. It is what we are called to do as Christians, but honestly, I am not very good at it. My favorite bible verse is the Great Commission, 

Matthew 28:16-20 "Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. Then Jesus came to them and said "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."

Although this is my favorite bible verse, to be honest, I am really bad at living it out. But the good thing is, there is a lot of encouragement in this verses. First in verse 16, it says "they worshiped him, but some doubted." I have surely doubted God in the past. I have not always trusted him to lead me where I am supposed to go. I know that I need to improve on that. But then comes in the 2nd encouraging part of the verse, the last one, where it says "and surely I will be with you to the very end of the age." God is going to be with me through everything that I go through. Through every move, every joy and every sorrow. That is an incredible reassuring thought as I embark on this new job. But back to how Charleston helped shape me....

The church I went to in Charleston was called Awaken Church (and it is awesome by the way. So if you are ever in Charleston, go check it out.) Anyways, Awaken was fantastic at making disciples of Christ. I was so inspired by the members of this church, who were always willing to go up and talk to complete strangers, and get people to come to church. They did community outreach events all the time, and would reach out to the people there. It was truly an awesome thing to see. I want to be more like that. And I am going to do my best to be like that. I have always been more "mission minded" when I go on mission trips. But something that has really been burdened on my heart lately has been doing mission work locally.

This morning, on my first day of work, I was looking through the desk in my office. I stumbled upon a devotional book titled "A Light for your Path." It was written by the BUMS back in 2002. I knew my brother Kevin was in the youth group then, so I flipped through the book to find his devotion. Sure enough, I open it, read it, and what does it talk about? DOING LOCAL MISSIONS! Wow. If that isn't God speaking to me, then I don't know what is. So thanks Kevin for your inspiration in a devotion you wrote 12 years ago (Bet that makes you feel old, doesn't it.)

So today, as I start this new journey and adventure in  my life, I reflect on the past year, and also look to the future. August 1st, 2014 Todd Handell, Director of Student Ministry at Bethel United Methodist Church. It has a nice ring to it doesn't it? I have no idea where I will be on August 1st, 2015. Hopefully I will still be here at Bethel doing youth ministry, but who knows what God has in plan for me. All I know, is that he is leading me exactly where I am supposed to be. That is all for now! Look at me, its my 2nd blog post in the past month. That's more than I had in the past 6 months! Thanks for reading. Until next time!

In Christ,
Todd Handell

P.S. Check this out. A little over a year ago, I was writing a blog post titled One Week . In it, I referenced the same verse (Matthew. 28:18-20)/ Now, I am writing a blog post titled One Year. Kind of cool.

Answering the Call..... I'm Coming Home

Well, God works in some pretty incredible ways. I am about to tell you a story. And its the story of how I was called to youth ministry. And now, I am getting to fulfill that call, as I was just recently chosen to be the Director of Student Ministry for the BUMS at Bethel United Methodist Church in Spartanburg, SC.

It was sometime in January of 2012. It was Martin Luther King, Jr. Weekend. I was chaperoning on a Ski Retreat for the BUMS. It had been a really fun weekend. I had been able to relate and connect with a lot of the students. It was our last night on the trip. We had just got done listening to the speaker at our last worship session. I remember it really touching my heart and really got me thinking about what I was doing with my life and where I was headed. I was a junior in college, studying special education. I had plans to graduate in just over a year and become a teacher. That was the plan. I was sitting outside by the bus waiting for Chad, the youth minister at the time and my youth minister growing up, to come unlock the bus. He opened the bus up and students began to pile in. I was sitting on the curb. Chad walked up to me and asked me one simple question "So Todd, tell me again, why aren't you doing this again?" And then he got on the bus. It just hit me. "Why wasn't I doing this?" I began to ask myself. I mean I loved doing youth ministry. I loved being on that trip. It truly puzzled me. It was on my mind for the rest of the trip. I remember on the drive home, me and Chad spent a lot of time talking about it. He also asked me if I was interested in being the intern for the upcoming summer, and I told him I would love to. I thought that would definitely help me decide on if youth ministry would be in my future. But this wasn't the first time I had really thought about ministry. When I went off to college, I really thought about youth ministry as a career path. But it just didn't work out, or so I thought.

So I spent the summer of 2012 at Bethel, serving as the youth intern. It was a fantastic summer. I loved every minute of it. It was the best summer of my life (up until that point.) So this really changed how I thought going into my senior year in college. It was too late to change my mind and change my major. So I stuck it out with education. I enjoyed parts of it, but I really just still felt God calling me to youth ministry. But to be honest, Teaching was the safe route. I mean it was my major, it honestly came pretty easy to me. So I decided to stick it out, even though I pretty much knew at this point God was calling me to youth ministry. Well, it came to around March of my senior year. I got a phone call that I really didn't want to hear. Chad called and said he was leaving Bethel. It broke my heart, because he was the man that really inspired me in the first place to go into youth ministry. I was sad, but I understood that God was calling him somewhere else, and it was time for him to go. I didn't know at the time, but this opened a huge door for me. I was asked if I would come back and intern for a 2nd summer. I of course said yes. I loved my 2nd summer there even more. Me and Emily Ward were called to kind of hold things together until the new youth minister got there. Well it ended up being the entire summer for us being there of just us. But it was fantastic, and it truly confirmed my call to be a youth minister. Well, the job was still open, but I had already signed a contract to teach for the fall. So I moved to Charleston. I began teaching, and I enjoyed it, but I didn't like it at the same time. It was tough, and I struggled to get through the year. But I made it. The summer rolled around, and I was looking forward to just relaxing and enjoying life.

I knew at this time the job at Bethel was open again. They had hired a guy for the year before, but things just didn't work out for him. So I began thinking, "Was this God opening a door for me?" So I began to pray. Asking God if this was him or if it was just me. I began to seek out the advice of close friends and family. Some people told me to go for it. Others, who were very close to me, told me not to take the chance. And that hurt. But ultimately, it came down to me and God. But I was still scared of taking the leap, taking the risk, and even applying for the job. I don't like being told no. So I was scared to even apply, and get rejected. But God had a plan, and it was about to be revealed to me.

It was a Saturday night, about a month ago. I was talking to one of my best friends from Bethel, who has grown up in the church just like I did. We were talking about the opening at Bethel, and he was asking if I was going to apply for the job. I told him I wanted to, but I gave him all kind of excuses "I don't know man, I've already signed my contract to teach, I am in debt. I just don't know man" And he responded by saying "Todd, why not? Just do it." I stopped, thought about it for just a second, and then said "Okay. I'll do it." So I sent in my resume, got an interview, and the rest is history now. I got the job, and I will be moving to Spartanburg this coming Friday.

I am so excited about this opportunity. I know God is going to do some incredible things through me and the students at Bethel. The BUMS were a group that meant so much to me as I came through youth, and now I get a chance to go and give back to that group again. I already got to spend two summers there, Now I get to work there full time. It is going to be a great experience.

So, to you, my readers (if I still have any left), I ask for your prayers to be with me as I start this new journey and adventure in my life. Maybe I can keep up with this blog more and write more than once every six months. I will try! I am so excited, and I can't wait to get started. And to the BUMS, I'm coming home. I can't wait to be with you guys! I will see you all August 1st!

Give me a break....

Well, where has the time gone? I can't believe I am nearly halfway through my first year of teaching. It has absolutely flown by, and it has been quite a journey. I have been extremely busy, which would probably explain this blog, or really, the lack there of, because I haven't written since after my first week of teaching. Now 16 weeks of school later, I am finally finding some time to write again.

This first semester of school has been pretty crazy! I have been so busy with keeping up with my school as well as having a life outside of school. School has been dominating my life, because it is demanding, and I have been enjoying it lately. But most importantly, Christmas Break came at the perfect time.

It is amazing how I appreciate Christmas break so much differently than I used to. As a student, for all of my life until this point, I looked forward to Christmas Break because I was tired of school at that point and just wanted to get away from it at that point. However, this year. I looked forward to some time to just truly rest, relax, and just get rejuvenated for my next semester of teaching. And that is exactly what I did. I took some time to go back home to Spartanburg, to see my family and enjoy Christmas and New Years with them. It was also great because I got to also see my 2nd family, my church Family at Bethel, who I miss so much after working there this past summer. I also got to spend some quality time with friends who I hadn't seen since I moved. It was a good time at home. It was also nice just to be able to come back to Charleston and enjoy some relaxing time here. Even though the weather hasn't cooperated with typical Charleston weather. We haven't seen a temperature above 50 recently. I wasn't ready for that, especially considering today is the first day me and Joey turned on the heat in our apartment!

Overall, it was a great break. It was truly nice to get relaxed and ready to go at it again. Before I know it, it will be June, and I will be done with my 1st year of teaching. I am looking forward to this next semester of teaching. I have definitely had some struggles this year with being motivated as a teacher, as it has been hard making adjustments. But now I really feel I am in a groove of teaching, and I have a pretty good grip on what I am doing now. It wouldn't be possible either without all of my co-workers. The Special Ed team at Pye Elementary is one of a kind, and they have been so supportive of me in my first year of teaching, and I have been so grateful for each of them. So here is to another semester of teaching! June, here I come!

In other news that has nothing to do with teaching at all, how bout my PANTHERS! It has been so awesome to see this team continue to build over the years and finally reach the playoffs! Their defense is incredible! I can't wait to watch them in the playoffs next week! Go Panthers! Hopefully they ride this all the way to the Super Bowl!

That is all for now. For anyone that still reads this, hope you enjoy!

My Top 5

Well, I just completed my first week of teaching. It was a pretty long week, but I absolutely loved it. i learned a lot during my first week, so I decided to write a TOP 5 things I learning in my first week of teaching.

1. Plan not to go to the bathroom all day long.

I had heard this about teachers, but wasn't sure if it was gonna be true. But, it really is. Even though I have a planning and a lunch, something always comes up, and there is always something to do, and I rarely make it to the bathroom. So just go ahead and plan to not go all day. Don't worry, your body will adjust to it. Haha.

2. Be prepared to eat your lunch in 10 minutes, or usually less.

Even though I have a 20 minute scheduled lunch, and I even have a duty free lunch, I still end up stuffing my lunch down my face. Because there are always copies to be made, or teachers to talk to, or something else to be done. And those 20 minutes will disappear faster than you can even imagine. So learn how to eat really fast.

3. Keep Calm and Teach On

Kids are going to get frustrated and maybe even begin screaming in your classroom. But, you just have to remain calm no matter what and remember what you are there for. Take time, solve the problem, and continue to teach on. Everyone gets frustrated at times, kids too. So just bear with them, and continue to do your job.

4. Be Flexible

This is something that I have definitely continued to learn while teaching. Being an Elementary resource teacher, scheduling is very difficult. I pull students into my classroom for small group instruction. And coordinating with the other teachers to make sure I am pulling them at the right time is hard. But, luckily the administration at my school has been working with me and helping me with my schedule and such. So I think we finally have it all worked out, and I am ready to continue with my 2nd week of teaching.

and the last one......

 5. Love

It is so easy to just love these students. But more importantly, its been so awesome how I have immediately been loved by my students. Some of my students were telling me how much they loved coming to my classroom after only 2 days of coming. How awesome is that? They get so excited to see me every day and it is so awesome. So love your students no matter what. No matter how mad they may be on one day, or how well behaved they are the next, love them unconditionally all the time.

I am absolutely loving my job right now. It is difficult at times, sure. But my school is awesome. It is such a family and I couldn't be happier being a part of that family. Everyone is so supportive of what I do and it make me feel like I truly belong. So I can't wait to continue to teach! It is going to be a fantastic school year! Below are a few pics of my classroom:

The Sign outside my door

My Bulletin Board

My Reading Corner

Computer Station

My Classroom!

A Summer for the ages...

As I sit here and write this blog post, tears are coming to my eyes. But they are a mixture of tears. Part of them are tears of pure joy, and others are tears of sadness. This summer has been one of the happiest and best summers of my entire life. When I embarked on the journey of being a BUMS intern for the second summer in a row, I really felt like I knew what I was getting myself into. I mean, I had done it last summer, so surely it couldn't be THAT much different.

BOY WAS I WRONG!!!!!!

Okay, part of it was the same. But part of it was very different. This summer, we didn't have a youth minister. Chad left Bethel back in April to move closer to his family in Florida. So me and Emily took over as the interns, thinking that would only be temporary that we wouldn't have a youth minister. Well, it actually turned out to be the entire summer. Never in a million years did I think that we would tackle the entire summer without a youth minister. But we did, and it actually turned out to be pretty awesome!

Here are a few of the pics from the summer:

Our group of 70 people that we took on our mission trip!

Enjoying a Philadelphia Pretzel!

At one of the Block Parties!

This summer was crazy! It was so busy! It seemed like we were always doing something. But I loved every single minute of it! Seriously, even as frustrated and stressed out as I was at any point this summer, I really would not trade a single minute back for anything else in the entire world! The BUMS are such a special group to me. I grew up being a member of the BUMS. They were my life throughout high school. And now I have had the pleasure of coming back to spend two summers with the group that changed and impacted my life so much. I can't believe its over now. I am so sad to be leaving this group. It has been such a huge part of my life. And as a move to Charleston, SC I just don't know how much I will be able to be active with them. But, the BUMS have taught me a few things. One, love is the most important thing in the entire world. I love this youth group so much, and I am loved right back by them. I mean, they put up with me for 2 summers! This summer also taught me that youth ministry is where I am supposed to be. I will not waste any time once I get to Charleston finding a youth group that I can plug into immediately. I cannot wait to be a part of that.

I also have to give a special shoutout to my co-intern, Emily Ward. She has been absolutely fantastic. I have to be honest, when we took this job together, I thought I would have a leg up on her since I did this job last summer. But that was not the case at all. Words cannot express how awesome of a job she has done this summer! She stepped right up to the plate and has worked so hard this summer. She has become one of my good friends and it has been a pleasure to work with her for the summer and I couldn't have asked for a better partner in crime! Hey Emily, if you are reading this, I just want you to know, you are AWESOME!

Anyways, I could continue to type on about how AMAZING this summer was. But then most of you would probably stop reading, so I'll close with this....

Thank you BUMS. Seriously, I couldn't have asked for a better group to spend my summer with. You guys are truly my second family. I love each and every one of you so much and all of you have a very special place in my heart. I will never forget any of you, and I will be back to visit as much as possible. I am going to miss all of you soooooooooooooooo much when I move to Charleston, but feel free to come visit at any time! My apartment door will always be open for any of you! Thank you for giving me the best two summers of my entire life! You guys are incredible, and you should be very proud of yourselves for the incredible things you have done this summer! Stay in touch, and good luck as the BUMS continue to move forward! I love you guys!

There has been a slight delay in your plans.....

So much for keeping up with this whole blog thing. Yea, I know, its been quite a while. But to be honest, I actually think about this blog quite often. But I have been delaying writing on it, for a couple of reasons.

Reason #1: Its incredible how busy I have been since graduation. I am currently serving as the Youth Intern at Bethel United Methodist Church along with Emily. However, we don't have a youth minister right now. So we are kind of running things. Its a lot of pressure, but it is going great! I am absolutely loving working here this summer alongside Emily and it definitely is encouraging me in my heart that Youth Ministry is something I could wind up in somewhere down the road. We actually just got back from our beach retreat, and it was absolutely incredible! We had a lot of fun and the BUMS really bonded together. Below are a few pictures....

Our Group outside of Medieval Times! The Yellow Knight!

 Adult domination at the Jello Straw Game! (with some help from a spoon). :)

The coolest and most fun intern I know, Emily! We call this one, Magnum. I don't know what I would do if I didn't have Emily working alongside me this summer. She is awesome!

Our group outside the Illusions of Magic Show! It was so much fun!

Reason #2: I have also put a delay on writing this blog for another reason. Its cause I haven't had a job. I've been searching and searching since January for jobs. I interviewed at 14 different schools. God really tested my patience on this. I had honestly almost given up hope on finding a teaching job and was ready to start trying other options. But, God's timing is perfect, and I am proud to announce that I do have a teaching job for next year. I will be teaching Special Ed Resource at an Elementary School in Ladson, SC. I cannot wait. I will be living with my best friend Joey in Charleston, and it is going to be absolutely awesome. I have no one to thank other than God for this job, because here is how it happened.

As I mentioned before, I had kind of given up hope for a job. Getting rejected by 13 schools is hard. So a couple of weeks ago while on my family vacation, it was a Saturday night, and I went for a walk by myself on the beach. Just to kind of clear my head and think some things out. While on this walk, I prayed out loud to God saying "God, Im tired of waiting. I just want a job. So here, I turn my job situation over to you. But I wish the right school would just call me Monday morning..."

I stopped right there. I wasnt sure if it was right to make this kind of demand to God. But God answers His prayers in His timing.

Monday morning, 8:45 am, my phone rings. Sure enough, its a school in the area I want, wanting to interview with me. I was just in shock. But of course I took the interview. I thought back to Saturday night, could this really be the school? I go interview, and it goes great. I loved it. So I once again played the waiting game. I went on the beach retreat with the BUMS, and had kind of forgotten about it. After a busy first day at the beach, I have a voice mail from the personnel director. I couldn't believe it. I called him back first thing in the morning, and was officially offered the job and accepted it immediately.

Isn't God's timing incredible? I had reach the lowest of lows, ready to give up on teaching. But God provided for me. He wanted me to turn the situation over to him, and I finally did. It took 6 months for me to give up my job situation to God. But I did, and it paid off. I couldn't be happier. God really tested my patience, but it was a lesson I needed to learn and I know I will be exactly where I am supposed to next year. Ill be moving down to Charleston August 4th after I wrap up my summer internship here with the BUMS.

There was a scripture that a friend of mine shared with me that really helped me through this situation.

Romans 8:28"And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose."

I wasn't really sure what my purpose was. I had debated between teaching and youth ministry, and wasn't really sure where I was heading. But hearing this verse helped keep me on track, to fully trust in God, that as long as I loved Him, and trusted in Him, he would guide me where I was supposed to go. I had lost trust in God. But he guided me back to Him to put my full trust in him.

I would also like to thank all of you that have prayed for me and supported me through this time. I honestly can say I wouldn't have made it without each and everyone person who prayed for me. Thank you all so much. I am very excited about where my life is heading and I cannot wait to start this new phase in my life. August 4th will be here before I know it!

I kind of forgot this blog existed.

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.