one of the things i love most about ministry is the great friendships that can be started and developed by sharing life together. we get together with all of our adult leaders every 4-6 weeks, and it's always such a neat experience. we usually have them on a saturday evening in one of the leader's homes (we all take turns hosting the meetings). while they are always different and unique, they usually look something like this:
- arrival & small talk
- dinner
- game
- life updates / God-sightings
- communal prayer
- training & encouragement
- ministry logistics
- communion (every now and then)
- hang out / laugh / tons of socializing
tonight we had everyone over to our house and it was great! here are some of the highlights:
1. shanna made tons of pizza roll, and it was amazing!
2. one of our leaders found 2 snakes outside the house...and proceeded to show us all how to kill it by grabbing it's tail and snapping it's neck. for me, i think i'm gonna stick with the shovel.
3. played a hilarious game of "four on a couch"
4. between thursday nights, small groups, student leadership teams, and some big events, our leaders have been pushing hard lately. it was so great for some of them to hear from the others how God is now using their labor to break through and move the teens.
4. our leaders are amazing brainstormers. tons of great ideas came out tonight and i'm excited to see them implemented in the coming months!
5. announced that we're heading to mozambique with a team of students in 2010 and the energy in the room was loud. we are so excited about the partnership with what God is doing over there and how God is positioning it all. when asked who was interested in going, nearly every hand shot up!
after the meeting we all got in our cars and headed down the road to the new home 2 of the leaders are moving into. they are so excited right now, and it was cool watching everyone else rally around them and rejoice with them.
4.18.2009
4.14.2009
encouragement
one of the things i love to do (and admittedly don't do enough of) is to encourage our volunteer youth leaders and other youth workers i get to come in contact with. this vid was sent to me from another youth pastor in the area...and i think it's super encouraging to us who give week after week to influencing the lives of students. we don't need all the flash, the big budgets, and a big name...just a heart for God and a commitment to love on students. the video's a touch long but drives the point home at the end.
Ignatius from travis hawkins on Vimeo.
Ignatius from travis hawkins on Vimeo.
4.11.2009
random thoughts
easter weekend! been a pretty full week getting ready for it, but today has been relaxing as shanna and i were able to get some stuff done around the house. felt like a typical saturday should. here's some random thoughts about life right now:
1 - we seem to be having a growing problem with snakes in/around the house. only one was found in our house, and he was...taken care of. we've since found 4 others in the yard and flowerbeds near the outside of the house, and we've killed 3 of them. some people seem to get upset when they hear that we kill them, but i don't understand that. they are disgusting creatures and they're like cats...they'll come back unless you don't give em a chance. gross. shanna says if we find another one in the house we should call an exterminator. i hear big $. they better stay out. we were at lowes today looking for some "snake away" product but didn't find any. what is it about one creature that is so creepy and nasty?
2 - the past few weeks have been challenging ones for a number of students in our ministry as close friends and acquaintances of theirs have suddenly passed away. one died from a car accident involving alcohol, and the big one was a teen that got shot and killed last weekend from a man who felt threatened. it's still all over the news and is such a mess. the week was a big reminder to me that we as youth workers are called to pace through some of life's hardest challenges with the teens God puts in our path...and it doesn't always happen in the church office, but over a milkshake in mcdonalds and with a piece of pizza at the cafe...surrounded by tears and no easy answers.
2 - just got a camcorder for the student ministry a couple weeks ago and love love love playing around with it. we had some fun with it last Thursday night, and i've forgotten what a great tool they are for ministry to teens. tomorrow morning with the junior highers we plan to create an "updated version" of the easter story, and then show the movie to the teens. should be a fun and interactive way for them to experience the story.
3 - can't wait to hang out with my parents and brother at the 11 am service tomorrow and then for lunch afterwards. i'm so excited for the services and for people we've invited who've said they'll likely come. shanna invited a coworker and i invited a friend in the area and both have said there's a good chance they'll take us up on it.
4 - it's interesting to me...kinda weird actually...how christian's most "churchy" words tend to come out naturally more during easter, which ironically is one of the times that "non-churchy" people tend to come out. makes me mindful that i need to guard myself against speaking a different language.
5 - starting this next week i'll be changing my regular day off from tuesday to monday...joining most other pastors in america. i'm excited about this switch because it's seemed that just when i was gaining momentum and getting stuff done by late monday afternoon, i'd have to declare a sabbath and stop everything until wednesday morning. then spend all day wednesday trying to get it back. this i presume will help me keep building all week into the weekend.
guess that's it for now...
1 - we seem to be having a growing problem with snakes in/around the house. only one was found in our house, and he was...taken care of. we've since found 4 others in the yard and flowerbeds near the outside of the house, and we've killed 3 of them. some people seem to get upset when they hear that we kill them, but i don't understand that. they are disgusting creatures and they're like cats...they'll come back unless you don't give em a chance. gross. shanna says if we find another one in the house we should call an exterminator. i hear big $. they better stay out. we were at lowes today looking for some "snake away" product but didn't find any. what is it about one creature that is so creepy and nasty?
2 - the past few weeks have been challenging ones for a number of students in our ministry as close friends and acquaintances of theirs have suddenly passed away. one died from a car accident involving alcohol, and the big one was a teen that got shot and killed last weekend from a man who felt threatened. it's still all over the news and is such a mess. the week was a big reminder to me that we as youth workers are called to pace through some of life's hardest challenges with the teens God puts in our path...and it doesn't always happen in the church office, but over a milkshake in mcdonalds and with a piece of pizza at the cafe...surrounded by tears and no easy answers.
2 - just got a camcorder for the student ministry a couple weeks ago and love love love playing around with it. we had some fun with it last Thursday night, and i've forgotten what a great tool they are for ministry to teens. tomorrow morning with the junior highers we plan to create an "updated version" of the easter story, and then show the movie to the teens. should be a fun and interactive way for them to experience the story.
3 - can't wait to hang out with my parents and brother at the 11 am service tomorrow and then for lunch afterwards. i'm so excited for the services and for people we've invited who've said they'll likely come. shanna invited a coworker and i invited a friend in the area and both have said there's a good chance they'll take us up on it.
4 - it's interesting to me...kinda weird actually...how christian's most "churchy" words tend to come out naturally more during easter, which ironically is one of the times that "non-churchy" people tend to come out. makes me mindful that i need to guard myself against speaking a different language.
5 - starting this next week i'll be changing my regular day off from tuesday to monday...joining most other pastors in america. i'm excited about this switch because it's seemed that just when i was gaining momentum and getting stuff done by late monday afternoon, i'd have to declare a sabbath and stop everything until wednesday morning. then spend all day wednesday trying to get it back. this i presume will help me keep building all week into the weekend.
guess that's it for now...
4.03.2009
a beautiful image
last night at church was a pretty sweet night and my mind is filled with tons of cool memories. at church last night 19 people got baptized, some who we've prayed for in our small group since the fall and came to christ just a few months ago! one of our students got baptized as well, and it has been so amazing to see her love for God jump out of her. her small group REALLY wanted to see her get dunked and join her in that moment, and so we actually ended the whole night by sending the teens into the auditorium to watch it. how cool to hear everyone cheer after she shared her story, and how exciting to see her so boldly align her life with Christ without being ashamed! it was a beautiful image!
4.02.2009
Thankful Thursday
Hopefully, life is slowing down a little again and we can jump back into blogging! Hopefully, we'll see a come back of "Thankful Thursday"! Here's my list for today.
- Our House. I LOVE our house, our retreat from the world. Birds in the duct work, snakes in the basement, and all!
- My job. My job is great! It is flexible and a laidback work environment. I'm thankful for the paycheck each week.
- Flowers and Sunshine. I love, love, love that summer is on its way! The lilac bush and the mystery bushes have little green buds. The tulips are coming up! My sliding glass door is open and I can hear the rooster crowing away!
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