prayer & power

this weekend, i was on our regional leadership retreat.
500 + leaders from southern california in one camp, learning, praying & playing.

normally the weekend is super YL focused, makes sense right?
i leave with new thoughts about my club or about getting students to camp, or about being a leader.

this time, it was different, and it was SO good.

our speaker talked to us about following Jesus, and praying big things, and focusing on who we are in Christ rather than who we are in YL. because people, the goal is so much bigger than club, and camp, and campaigners, as good as those things are. the goal is Christ && getting students in front of HIM.

some of my favorite tidbits.

"what if prayer doesnt just prepare you for the great work, what if prayer IS the great work"

so often we see prayer as something that we do in order to do more. it equips us to go and live, but it isnt really the end product. what if we started looking at prayer as the main goal, the biggest and most powerful thing we have on earth, the greatest thing we can do for our friends, coworkers and families.  >>> this isnt to say you never have to leave your house any more and actually do some work, but if you look at prayer as the great work, perhaps prayer will be come a bigger priority. <<<

another quote i liked, restated in a more understable wordige:

 "dont start talking to your friends about Jesus until you have talked to Jesus about your friends"

praying before acting.  lastly, we were asked,

"if everything you are praying for now, happened, what would happen?"

this got me thinking, am i praying for things that will make a difference in my community, my city, & my people's lives? would any one notice if all my prayers were answered? or am i praying for small unnoticeable things, to scared to submit my big requests to God. lets pray for big things, lets pray for noticable things (and the small things too!) because we have a God  "who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine" [Eph. 3:20]

heres a picture my friend jess took, in the sweetest tiny chapel we stumbled upon. the door was wide open, inviting us to look around. wish there more a these in the city!

until next time, or my next YL weekend.. jk

#YLsanoLC2015

eeee its been a long time. (not that many of you read this anyways)
but hey, this is for me and my processing.

of course i am back to writing because i just got back from YL camp.
post camp processing is a must.
this year is no different.
no young life trip seems to be complete without some sort of chaos.
this time, it was our bus.
imagine, 47 students and leaders in a bus, driving to camp.
we are excited. us leaders have been getting these kids to sign up for 8 months now.
we have promised them the best week of their lives.
after our first stop in barstow, the door wont seal.
the driver and my awesome leader, sam, finally fix it after an hour, and then climb through the window.
then the bus proceeds to lose it "turbo" whatever that means.
to me, it means going 4MPH-15MPH on any slight uphill.
our 8 hour ride became 13 quickly.
the air conditioning stopped working while going through the AZ desert.
think sweaty students, crammed in a slow bus.
but hey, we survived.
the students got a standing ovation as thye walked into club.
everyone still had the best week of their lives.
us leaders all still got dunked in the dunk tank, and pied in the face.
messy games were still messy.
sin was still discussed.
students talked to God.
6 of our high schoolers, and a handful of our capernaum friends started a relationship with Jesus.
so really, a bad bus doesn't ruin a week.
i think, that God wouldn't let anything ruin that week.
not my fears of finances coming through, or arguments between students, or misunderstandings of talks, or family backgrounds, or missing health forms.
God protected this week.
God met us in that sweaty bus and kept our spirits high.
God gave us the answers to our students questions.
God sought after those students, and loved them so well.
I feel pretty old theses days, because i think i am still tired from our trip.
but at the same time, I am feeling more encouraged and excited than ever before.

thanks, friends.
for the prayers a lot of you prayed.
you rock.

running

if you asked me to think about the time i felt most free in my whole life. i could tell you the exact moment.

i was 16 and had left my house to go for a run. i even remember the exact street i was running down. in my life at that time, i was not so free. i felt very stuck, very fearful, and unsure of who i was. i was holding on to  an unhealthy relationship and searching for the courage to walk away. well as i started running. i remember feeling my heart want to burst out of chest, in the best way possible. in that moment i felt the most confidence i had ever felt. i knew for a fact that what God was calling me to good stuff, that He was for me. that every promise he made was in fact being kept.

those over the moon, set your heart on fire moments don't happen too often. but this week i left to go for a run and had that same excitement i had over 6 years ago. you see, the thing i struggle with the most being a human, is not being able to predict the future. i love planning: my days, my weeks, my years...my whole dang life. but i have been learning this year, sometimes its okay to only know what im doing for the next hour. running this week, i felt peace about my lack of knowledge, about simply thinking about putting one foot in front of the other. since God makes everything exactly how He wants it, im sure that He made a planner. but he also made me dependent on Him.

you see running is more than a way to exercise. its a way to calm my soul. release fears, and talk with God. or sometimes vent. depends on the day. but either way, its freedom to me.

pancakes & peace

"& the peace of God which transcends all understanding will guard your hearts and minds.."

this weekend i got a taste of what this well quoted verse actually feels like. 

i was leading a high school winter trip to big bear, and everything that could go wrong in the week leading up to it, did. from canceled sign ups to sick leaders, not enough seats in cars, actually being locked out of the cabin, in 28 degree weather, in the dark. yeah that happened too. 

the whole trip was stretching me, physically, mentally, spiritually. 

after the laundry list of chaos, there was this moment, Sunday morning. 

i had woken up before every one else to start cooking breakfast. i looked a mess, complete with flour on my face and clothes. i was so tired. i was drinking cold coffee from the night before. dirty dishes from dinner were in the sink, and i didn't even have a measuring cup to make pancakes with, so i was guessing. 

i felt in the midst of that moment two things. 

1. i felt like a mom of 11. (please Jesus, i want to be a mom, but not of 11)

2. like i was actually on YL staff, and that it wasn't because i was extra talented, or good, or organized, but it was because God was with me, helping me, and picked me to have this role right now. not because someone else wasn't capable, but because He has stuff to teach me through this season.

in that moment it didn't matter that i was an exhausted mess of a leader, or that the cabin was a disaster, and kids were sleeping way later than i had planned, or that we were out of paper plates and were going to eat pancakes off of napkins and bowls. in that moment i felt at peace. God was with me, and while I had the title of trip leader, it wasn't really me leading it. in the midst of all the little things that went wrong, God was teaching me so much, and my students, He was teaching them too. i had peace that all the problems i had made huge in my head, were just little things, and that the important stuff, was in God's hands. & best of all he Protected each and every student, and all of us made it home!

when we got back on Monday, i was in recovery mode, and a couple of the students asked me: can we go back next weekend? ha. i also learned in that moment students don't need a perfect trip to have tons of fun.