Set-up for a new semester

August has been a huge month for us in our little small-town church. I have much to catch up on. Let me preface with Praise, as God is doing awesome things in the lives of these youth and the hearts of the church. This month, I am humbled and eternally grateful to be a part of the change going on here in rural Missouri.

And major changes are taking place this new semester. We are starting Confirmation material during Sunday School that will go all school year long. We have nine in the class and six who have committed to come regularly and dive deep into the material. We have mentors in line, daily devotionals, service projects and retreats to be scheduled. This is disciple-making, straight-forward and sweet, and I am thrilled to be teaching the essentail, foundational doctrines to an eager and committed class. Please pray for these six students who are considering joining the church.

I am bursting with pride to see my little group growing in boldness and maturity as they discover who they are in Christ. During our Youth Sunday, some of our 7th grades helped lead worship in fron of the entire congregation! Two others had the guts to read aloud ways God has demonstrated His power in their lives recently. They were so awesome!

Another exciting change is the youth room. In early February, myself, another leader, and three students stood in an empty, dim, grey, concrete room and prayed for the Spirit to fill it, that it would become a place of Strength and Peace not only for the youth of this church but for the whole community. Months went by, and periodically we would meet in that room but most of the time it remained empty. This summer, after our Mission Week team added some paint and paid for some lighting, things look a whole lot better.

My friends, I have seen this prayer answered! Last week we held our first 5th Quarter in the youth room, complete with music, snack bar, air hockey, fooseball, pool, and Uno. The kids had a blast! we had a few new faces and everyone told me we should do it after every home game, which we plan to to. Our first Youth Group for the semester, which was this last Sunday, also met in the improved youth room. We had a total of 13 students and a fantastic discussion about how our group mirrors the New Testament church in Acts 2. I can hear their answers reflecting a greater understanding than when we discussed the same topic six months ago.

Everything is set up and ready to go for this semester. Events are scheduled, youth leaders are committed, we're looking for a college student to come along side me this year so they can take over in May. We've got the Youth Room, Bus system, food and games. Oh heavenly Father, please let us not forget your Spirit!

Prayer requests as we head into September: That God would provide the right people to join our team, and would prepare the person who is supposed to take over after me; for our confirmand group to remain involved and committed and serious in their study; that the kids who need God's Word most would come to youth group and be fed. Pray that God helps me discern the balance between the need for fun events and serious discussion, so that everything we do is for a purpose. Pray that the Spirit takes over my speech (I'll be teaching sunday school, youth group, and an occasional Sunday Morning sermon this semester). Mostly, continue to pray for the Spirutal rain to revive thirsty hearts in this community. I've been told that conversations and attitudes are beginning to shift among the older members from "how can you (church leadership) serve me (paying member)" to "how can I get involved in what the church is doing in the community." Our Father is faithful and is up to Awesome things. I praise God for helping me through such a dry season so that I get to hear these first thunderclaps before the downpour.

Long days

The summer is beginning to wind down as school is only a week and a half away; time to transition to a more regular schedule, where my focus will be more on teaching and less on organizing crazy events (praise God!) but the transition also requires long hours of preparation for the school year. Yesterday was one of those 12- hour days, and I surprise myself with the range of emotions I experience in one day at work:

A knot of dread in the pit of my stomache during my morning drive reminds me that I'm just not looking forward to facing all the unanswered questions today. My quiet, introverted self struggles to be authentic past the friendly Sunday-morning greetings during the early service.

Impatience and embarassment as I remember a student who needs a ride (we can't  see  to get a good bus system going) and I need to find a second adult to go with me to pick him up. I hate asking other adults to do things, even though they are willing servants and they're not doing it for me, but for the students.

Disapointment in my students, whom I and another dear woman labor to teach week after week, and during review, can't recal one thing we discussed all summer long. Do these hours of work even count for anything?

Peace and comfort flood through me during the worship service. For an hour I can drop my "have it all together" role and petition a good King to bless this community. I am joined at the kneeling rail by older saints whose passion and perserverance last far longer than my own. This church struggles, but they have a good heart.

I'm tired by 11:30, but it's potluck day. I'm genuinely happy about getting a free meal and sharing it with some friends at church, but feeling increasingly tired and impatient as I gather up two students and another adult to give them a ride home. Back at the chruch, I have one hour to make phone calls, e-mails, and a to-do list before I go pick up kids again for worship rehearsal.

Because the pastor's away and next week is youth Sunday, guess who gets to be in charge of the service next week? It was my bright idea to get the youth band to lead worship, so by 2:00 we're all together with a handful of middle school students (the rest are unresponsive to my persistent phone calls) in an attempt to make something resembling music. This is where I almost start crying because I realize I've been put in charge of something I know nothing about.

My some miracle, we get through with a degree of improvement. Then there's a meeting with the pastor. Then a quick meeting with the music director. Details for next week begin falling into place. Finally it's off to the lake because Youth Group is meeting on a sail boat!

Two and a half hours later, I file 5 hungry students off the boat to impatient parents waiting on the shore. We promised to provide dinner that some students didn't have because we ran so late. One student was brand new and I hope he comes back next week, but his aunt seemed pretty unhappy about the late return. But I'm in a good mood because it was a fun and peaceful ride. Maybe we solidified some friendships. Maybe my short devotional about Jesus calming the waves was an encouragement to one. Maybe they'll make a point to come back.

That's always the question that stirrs the most anxiety in me. Who will be there? Who can I count on? Why aren't they comming? What can I do to make them come? But it's one question that keeps me coming back week after week. Is it worth it? Yes, it always is.

Here are some pictures of our crew on the sail boat. I certainly had a blast. Next week we'll go bowling, then to an ice-cream place, then our Kick-Off will be at the end of August. Fall 2012, here we come!  https://www.facebook.com/pages/Stockton-United-Methodist-Church/149622788442667?ref=stream#!/media/set/?set=a.372117042859906.85125.149622788442667&type=1