Comfortable

I've been busy... not that that's big news these days.  It's truly been great.  I find myself making to-do lists for my to-do lists.  Anyone who says youth ministry isn't a full time job is kidding themselves.  I feel like I haven't hardly scratched the service.

Relationships continue to move forward and grow in depth.  My Monday night Bible study with the young adults is often times my favorite part of the week.  They are a lively group of 18+ people who love discussing tough issues and doctrinal stuff alike.  I thoroughly enjoy getting to hear their opinions and the reasoning behind them, as well as bringing scripture and the character of Christ into things.  We start off each week with this simple (and sometimes not so simple) question, "how is it with your soul?"  I consider it a privilege to lift them up before the Lord.

Youth group continues to go fairly well.  I like the curriculum I'm using and I feel like the lessons have been going well.  We've also been playing a lot of 4-Square prior to lesson time.  I must say... we're getting good.  :)

Beyond youth stuff, I'm really enjoying all of the other things I get to do each week.  I love Sunday morning worship, I love the worship leader Bible study, I love being on the praise team and singing again.  This past Thursday we were supposed to have worship leader Bible study, which I lead.  We're going through a Louie Giglio book and I was very excited about the chapter we were going to discuss. Only about a third of the people who were supposed to be there actually showed up, which was very disappointing since I consider being in the Word with other leadership to be extremely important for our ministry and unity.  

About an hour prior to the beginning of Bible study I heard the Lord telling me we should do a prayer walk, even though I had something else prepared.  So when I saw that so few people were there, it was apparent to me that God had ordained that group of people to pray together.  We prayed in the sanctuary for the congregation.  We prayed near the Sunday school rooms for that ministry.  We prayed in the parking lot for our neighbors and the surrounding communities.  The we went downstairs and prayed for the youth ministry.  I decided that out last stop would be at the alter... there we prayed for God to be glorified through our worship, prayed for the staff, and prayed for the leadership.  Praise the Lord for a good focused time of prayer together.

This past Friday night was Open Mic Night with the youth/young adults.  We open the church up, set up a guitar, the drums, and a few mics, and invite people to share music, poetry, etc..  The video below is one of the songs that my friend, Allan and I did that night.  There weren't as many people there as we all would have liked, but it was absolutely a blessing and a very fun, relaxing time.   



It's rare that I feel comfortable enough to perform in front of people, but this time felt so different.  I wasn't nervous in the least.  (which is huge because you all know how very self-conscious I've always been about my singing voice/musical abilities.)  Allan and I had picked a few songs and practiced a couple of times before Friday, but it wasn't that we had taken the time to practice that made me feel comfortable.  It was just easy to be up there with him... there was no judgment, it was relaxing.

Then on Saturday I met my Uganda roomie, Jean and her friend up in North Jersey and we went into NYC for the day.  They are both very familiar with the city which made my first time in NYC very fun and very chill.  We found free parking, explored Central Park, rode the subway, hung out in Little Italy, walked around a street fair, ate yummy pizza, found a geocache, saw the Empire State building, hung out in Times Square, went up to the rooftop of Jean's friend's building just in time for sunset, saw the Brooklyn Bridge, and went in Grand Central Station.

We were down there for probably 8 or nine hours and walked for about 7 of those hours.  We were exhausted at the end of the day, but it was so nice to be back in a big city and fun to see all of things I've seen in movies my whole life.  I really enjoyed how easy it is to get around, though I'm not surprised seeing as though Chicago is the same way.  I do have to say that I'm still partial to Chicago (it's much cleaner, less stinky, and a bit friendlier), but more than that, it's just more familiar to me.  I'm looking forward to exploring NYC some more in the future... practice makes perfect.  :)

It was nice to get home that night to the quiet rural area I now call home.  It's nice to fall into bed and feel at home.  Grateful.