When you get too Tired...that is when you Keep Going!!!

When you are too Tired...that is when you Keep Going!

I had just got off work @ 3:30pm. I had already been up since 5am. I was hoping to go home and take a nap for an hour before going into the all night New's Year Eve Youth Event with a neighboring church. Of course, the minute my head hit the pillow, the calls started and never stopped. An hour later I got up as exhausted as I started. I survived the evening drinking 5 hour energy shots one after another. I know...terrible for your heart, but its the only thing I knew how to get through it. I even considered drinking coffee. (GAG) Thirty six hours of being awake later, I was sitting in the parking lot of the church waiting for a parent to come pick up their kids. Fantastic of course they were an hour late! I remember thinking...I am going to run this van off the road on the way home. My friend followed me to return the borrowed van from a neighboring church. When I finally got home, I fell into bed exhausted.

This is a typical story in my life as a bi-vocational minister. Everyone says, when you get exhausted that is when you need to take a break and rest. However, there are seasons in ministry when you will not be able to do this. In this moments when you are too tired that truly is when you have to keep going! You have to grip your teeth and just tell yourself that you can make it that next hour or that next day or that next week. I think sometimes the minute things get hard we want to throw in the towel.

However, for every one of those sleepless times of church work, I can say its was WORTH IT! Yes, it was worth it!!!! So remember when you get TOO tired, keep going because God will give you the strength that you need. I have a theory that God gives special strength to bi-vocational and volunteer and full time ministers!!!! He's got us...and just because we are tired its not a good excuse to give up!!! PRESS ON!!!

When Everyone's NO is Answered by GOD's YES!

"When everyone's No is Answered by God's YES."

I was sitting in a Starbucks with Derek Henson. I was talking about wanting to start a youth ministry. He was staring at the paper with all the philosophies and ideas. You could see it on the tip of his tongue, "But April you don't have any students in our church." I remember telling my Pastor I wanted to start a youth ministry. I remember his answer, "April church plants don't have a youth ministry until they have at least been established 6 months. However, if you really feel like God is telling you to do this, then do it." I remember sitting with my first leadership team talking to them about Element and I heard their concerns, "But April what if no students come." I remember sitting in the school cafeteria for the first time thinking, "Why am I hear. This was a bad idea." I remember the conversations. "Hi..my name is April. I am a youth pastor in town. Um...we haven't had our first service, so we don't have any students yet, but you should come in October. We will have free pizza." I remember the first youth group. The fliers had been sent out, and a few students showed. Element Student Ministries was off and running.

Everyone told me that starting a youth ministry at the same time our church was starting was a bad idea. I will admit I wanted to side with them. I wanted to just take a seat on the back row and wait for the perfect time. However, God had a different plan. He had placed urgency in my heart and the more people said no--the more God said YES! So I did the unthinkable. I began to plan. Having no students in sight, but the middle school and high school within reaching distance. I had an insane vision, a dream with the supportive backing of only God HIMSELF.

There are times in ministry when you may hear everyone saying NO and know that God is saying YES. This may put you in a place between a rock and a hard place. The people that mean the most to you, may tell you that you have lost your mind. Your most endearing friends may walk away from you because they consider you to have gone crazy. However, if it is GOD saying YES...then do it! Why? Because you know if God has said yes, then he is backing you up. And when God is backing you up, I am not saying that ministry will be easy, but I am saying that you will be able to make it. You will watch God do through you what few have every been able to accomplish!

JUST RELAX

"Just RELAX!" I was sitting in church this weekend. Pastor Jonathan was winding down with his sermon and God kept whispering to my heart to respond to him. As soon as response time started I was on my knees telling God how much I needed him. It was not long until the tears began to spill down my face and I just poured my heart out to God. I told him everything that I was feeling lately, my hurts, fears, rejections, scares, questions, concerns, dreams, and anxious thoughts. I spilled it all out! I felt God's presence wash over me and him gently placed his arm on my shoulder whispering to me, "Just RELAX...trust that I have got ya!" In that moment all my trust issues dissolved, I let go, and trusted God. In that moment all the burdens I had been carrying fell of and I had this "AWE" moment where I felt FREE!



I think some days the words "Just RELAX" are not in my vocabulary. I am a workaholic. I find most signifigance in getting lots done. So that already was a tough pill too swallow. Pastor April....just APRIL at the core of myself....RELAX? It was a crazy thought!



Then God threw out the trust word! TRUST....TRUST GOD! Like Pastor Jonathan was saying, "Why do we fight trusting God. We act like if we trust him he will mess everything up." That is me a lot of times. I feel like if I trust God, he will run off like the next guy or he will hurt me or he will mess things up! However, I realized that God is the one who created TRUST! Why do I not trust HIM! I relized that RELAXATION and TRUSTING GOD....go hand in hand.



You cannot RELAX on a daily basis until you are fully TRUSTING that God is in control of your life!



I know that maybe you have already had all of this figured out, but for me this hit me in the face this weekend and I thought I would share!



So if you need to "JUST RELAX" (Even if you are a workaholic like me) then its time to FULLY TRUST GOD! When you fully trust God you can have that "AWE" moment when the weight of the burdens fall off your back and you know that God's got ya!



Lets TRUST HIM and JUST RELAX this week!

Laughter

Laughter! A chuckle, the belly laugh, the dainty laugh, the busting at the seams laugh, the snort laugh, the hyena laugh, the quiet laugh, the tempered laugh, and the hearty laugh. I LOVE LAUGHTER! Is there a like button for this on facebook? Sign up me on the Laugher Member Page. I AM A FAN OF LAUGHTER!!!! For those of you who know me, you know this to be a fact!!!

Laughter is good medicine. It brings healing to the soul. When you choose to laugh, you choose the joy that God intended for your life. God even says that the joy of the Lord is your strength, which makes me wonder why so many Christians go around frowning all the time! WHY? You have an amazing God who not only created you but things that you are absolutely amazing. He created laughter and joy. He created your face to smile!

And I know that sometimes we feel like life just stinks. Take for instance my morning yesterday. I stubbed my finger, five minutes later stubbed my toe, and then I spilled my Dr. Pepper. By the time I spilled my Dr. Pepper I was ticked. Inside—my temper was yelling—THIS DAY IS GONNA STINK. And then I stopped to think about it. My finger and toe still throbbing and Dr. Pepper all over me equals a hilarious picture! I had to laugh!!!!

And I know you aren’t always going to laugh. I am not trying to make light of the really tough stuff that you will face in life. Not everything is a laughing matter, but I think you are in serious trouble if laughter has ceased from your life!
SO LAUGH ON MY FRIEND…..LAUGH ON!!!!

Block Party

Today was an amazing day. I got to serve beside some of the most amazing people. My youth leaders continue to astound with the love that they serve me with. I am so lucky to have each and every one of them. And my students were rolling up their sleeves as well loving on the people on the block and serving!

In case you are wondering what I am rambling about, we had a block party today in Willard on Willow Lane. This block has stole my heart. On it live real families, real people, just living life. We don't know all their stories and we have not lived their lives, but they certainly deserve love.

I got to meet the most amazing people on the block today. It was incredible to learn their names, hear their stories, talk through experiences, play games with them. And lets not forget I beat 5 guys and 1 girl in a watermelon eating contest!

My point is that this is MINISTRY. Ministry goes where the people are. It does not expect them to come to us.

I wonder about it sometimes...what would if I never went beyond the church walls how many people I would have missed!

I challenge each of you that read this to step out, meet some people outside the church, get to know their names, and ultimately help them see the love of God through your life!

Distance

I miss you! Why does distance seem to tear at the heart of a woman some days!

Christ's Love Demonstated to the People Around YOU!

Sometimes I struggle with something. If I am to be honest tonight, I struggle to let people in. I feel like when you really let someone in they are going to see what you are and ultimately push you away. So I think that sometimes its better to keep people at arms length. However, as God breaks down my heart, I cannot help but let people in and deeply love them. However, when you deeply love people it hurts so much more when they let you down.


This I think is the hardest part of being a youth pastor. You love your kids so much. You do everything you can to believe in them. You love them with everything inside and then at times they completely push you out.


This is the hardest part of life is letting someone in close and have them hurt you or push you away. I know that most time in life these things are not intentional, but sometimes they are. That is the risk in loving deeply. However, I have come to a conclusion. I would rather love deeply than not love at all or just love casually. I want to truly, deeply love the people in my life--especially my students. I want them to know that even when they let me down, hurt me, I am going nowhere! I also look forward to when God gives me the man he has for me unconditionally love him, despite everything.


When I want to be selfish and push people away, I am reminded of a love-Christ's love that bore my sins on a cross! He gave me everything so that I could have eternal life. How much more should I give him?


So....today I am embracing the people God has placed in my life, pushing past my fears, and choosing to love them!


This is Christ's love demonstrated in me! I could not do this in my own power!


So how about you today--are there some people that God wants you to let in and truly love them. Its worth it! It's worth the risk--allow God to use you to truly love people today. Push past your fears! Choose to LOVE!

Exausting Day

Today was one of those days that I feel exhausted. There are moments as a bi-vocational youth pastor that you find yourself exhausted. There are too many fires burning right now and I feel like I am being stretched beyond my ability to keep up.

It is nice to know that after a day like today I can run to the arms of my Savior. He reminds me that it is worth it.

GOD HELP ME TONIGHT! The idea of another 13 hour day tomorrow makes me even more exhausted!!!!

Heartsickness

I never really knew what it feels like to be heartsick. Lately, I have felt heartsick. Most people think of heartsick in terms of liking someone and not knowing how things are going to turn out. Granted we have all been there or some of us are there currently.

This heartsickness I am referring to tonight is a spiritual heartsickness. I find myself wanting so badly to see this generation reached with God's power that it is affecting my attitude, the things I say, how I spend my time, the music I fill my mind with, the actions I take, and even my appetite. There was this song when I was in high school that was popular. The lyrics said, "We are hungry, we are hungry, we are hungry for more of you, we are thirsty of Jesus, we are thirsty for more of you."

I have felt this cry in my heart lately. I am so sick of apathy. I despise halfway. I want to go all out for God. I want to be more passionate than any Billy Graham that has ever gone before me. I want to be so led of the Spirit that I hear his tiniest whisper leading me. Finally, I want to be so in tune with God, that he can break me for students in the way that I can reach them in a new God-inspired way.

Why would I want to reach students in a new God-inspired way. I am heartsick when I think of a God who desperately loves these kids, wants to have a relationship with them, wants to save them, change them, anoint them to reach their campuses and world, but don't have the opportunity. I am heartsick to know how to reach them-the one's who don't come to youth group. The ones who never will willingly come on their own to a youth group. I am heartsick for American teenagers so detached from the church and out of its normal reach.

My prayer is that God will make us all heartsick for this. My prayer is that out of this heartsickness God will inspire a new pattern of living. It is my prayer that God will inspire creativity and unrelenting Spirit in his people to not stop reaching out until there are no students left who have not heard, been given a chance and an opportunity at God in their life!

Daddy's Bear Hugs

I loved bear hugs growing up. Bear hugs were given to me by my Dad. He would come up to me and envelop me and squeeze me with love. Especially during hard times, I learned to appreciate my Dad's bear hugs. When he gave me that bear hug I would just know that everything was going to be okay. Daddy was there and he would take care of me.

Now that I am all grown up and away from home, I have learned that my heavenly Daddy gives great bear hugs too. He envelops me every day with his love. He wraps his arms around me during hard times and when I am safely in his arms I know everything will be okay because Daddy is here!

God thank you for being there for me always and thank you for a Dad who taught me just some of your amazing love!

The Battle

The Battle is just beginning! I am not ready and feel like I have already been fighting for a long time!

YET I RESOLVE NOW TO FIGHT not in my own strength another day, BUT FIGHT BY THE POWER OF GOD! The battle is the Lords--he just needs to fight another day!

FIGHTING FOR THE LOVELESS!

TRUE love doesn't give up. It presses on even when things are crashing. Even when everything is taken away, it reaches to find the one. True love invests, true love reaches, true love pursues, true love sacrifices. True love won't let go of a hand. True love will grasp at everything until it finds what it is looking for. TRUE LOVE IS OF GOD!

GOD's LOVE calls us into a world that is beat up, cut down, broken down, forgotten, crushed, unwanted, un-healed, troubled, hurting, lost, and beacons us to fight for them. I see their faces. Most days their faces haunt me. They don't have a father or mother, no one loves them, they cut themselves, they starve themselves, they talk about how unlovely they are, they talk about how abused they are, they talk about how they are told they are nothing, they try drugs, they are haunted by the images they look at, they have no self resect, they look for love in all the wrong places....AND YET MOST PEOPLE DON'T TAKE TIMET TO NOTICE A GENERATION UNLOVED!

I fight for a generation that is haunted by feeling LOVELESS. A fight for a generation that has never been hugged. I fight for a generation that has never been told that they are proud of them. I fight for a generation that has never been told they are lovely. I fight for a generation that has never been told about a love--a love that is not like any other love. A love that never abandons, never leaves, never judges, never beats, never cuts down with words, BUT A LOVE THAT HEALS....A LOVE THAT RESTORE....THE LOVE OF JESUS CHRIST!

Call me a sentimental youth pastor...but I am fighting to LOVE MY STUDENTS with the LOVE OF GOD that will save them, restore them, and enable them to do great things with their lives for GOD!

All because of LOVE!

I am in love with God. I love him so much. This love for God has led me to do crazy, somewhat strange, untraditional, and seemingly impossible things with my life. I step back from it all--and can't help but still feel propelled to do so much more for God!

Out of my love for GOD...I love students! They make up my purpose for life. I am called to be a youth pastor. I love my kids. One thing that I know is that I can't reach them with my own love, but only through the love of God in my heart!

Lately, I have felt this crushing reality that I need God more than ever. I have been in a struggle. I know my calling, know my mission field, but the enemy is out to devour the dream, the passion, the mission. He tries to block perspective. He tries to tear down motivation. He tries to beat down the spirit inside this woman. But one thing he cannot steal is the LOVE of GOD in my heart! God's LOVE sings over me, revives me, gives me passion, shows the mission yet again, calls me, propels me forward, and causes me to fight for my students!

I will not give up on Willard, the students, their families! The love of God propels me tonight to love them....reach them....pray them into the KINGDOM OF GOD!

Letting GO!

Tonight I feel....sad to let go!

The sadness of a goodbye

Tonight I said goodbye to two of my most faithful leaders since the beginning of Element. It was probably one of the hardest things to do to let them go. I know they are going to go and do great things. They will find new students, new people to love and their lives will never be the same. However, it does not make saying good-bye any easier.

So tonight I have decided that I am not a fan of GOODBYES--!

I am sad tonight but deep down I rejoice that God gave me them for the time he did! Thank you Lord for that gift!

THE SOME

1 Cor. 9:19-23

If but for some--even if its just for a few! This is why I serve, lose sleep, give myself completely to work God has placed in my hands to do. It is for the few!

Sometimes we get caught up in numbers. We say, "Lord I'll do anything for you, but just make sure that my youth group is running this number a year from now."

However, would we still be willing, if a year from now after much sacrifice and serving our youth group actually was running less?

What if you served in the same place 4/5 years and only saw a few students completely saved and changed....would it be worth it to you?

Paul gives us an intense challenge. He says that he does everything he can that he might save SOME! Notice, he does not put hundred, thousands, millions. Allthough, I am quite certain that it was Paul's aim to reach as many as possible, his focus was not numbers. Instead, he was focused on what mattered! Doing all he could to reach those that God placed in his life at that moment.

So do you live in the now trying to do all that you can to reach the SOME God has placed in your life and ministry. Maybe some people aren't quite your type. Maybe "GASP" they don't love Jesus yet and we love them to a relationship with Jesus. However, I would love to see us begin to rise up as a generation and do everything we can to reach this generation no matter how different they may be from us. Lord, give us the heart of Paul to go after them--no excuses--and do what it takes to reach them!

Think about it tonight--How does God want to use you in this generation to reach the SOME that you can whether you are a Pastor or not?????

Be encouraged that God has placed the some in your life and now it's our time to love them and reach them by the Lord's help in our lives!

What I Don't Understand!

There are a lot of things I don't understand. Most of these things, I just shove off the table to clear for the tasks of the day that I can understand and solve. However, these things that I don't understand seem to find their way back into my path again and leave me with my mouth gapping. I guess these are the things that make for a strong prayer life. You have to pray through what you do not understand. And after a good prayer--you can move beyond the pile of the un-understood on the floor.

Which brings me to something that I have never quite understood. Why is strength in a woman often looked down upon? The reason why I struggle so much with this is because I was raised in a family where my Mom and Dad instilled strength in me. There goal was for me to make it, and not just make it, but be able to thrive. The greatest thing my Dad ever said was "April don't ever change who you are. Always live for what you are called to. Always honor God. You honor God when you live out the life he's called you to live." I've lived this out. I find my strength in God and living out his calling for my life!

What I don't understand is why that places me in a whole different category as a woman?

I guess I won't ever understand, but honestly it's one of those things I don't have to worry about. Like all the other things I don't understand--I will shove it off the table and embrace the strength God has given me for another day of bi-vocational church planting youth ministry!!!!

Moving Forward

Moving forward requires sometimes leaving behind what you love, invested years in, and placed your heart into. However, there are times when moving forward is an absolute necessity. If you are going to go where God wants to take you, be the person he wants you to become, and meet the people he desires to place you into their lives, you have to leave behind what you once loved.

The hard part is that after all the investment and time, it can be the hardest thing to walk away. Everything inside you wants to make it work, but you finally realize that those best wishes will never come true. And so you pick yourself up and walk away. You make the break--as uneven as it might be knowing that in the end you have made the best decision of your life. The hardest part is realizing what you have to do and then doing it. The freedom comes in doing it!!! God is good like that because when you follow him in obedience he backs you up with his strength and encouragement.

I find myself in this moment right now where I need to move forward, but everything inside me wants to hold onto the past--hold onto what has already been done, what has already been said, the moments that have already been lived. However, those things no longer matter--the thing that matters most is that I move forward to what the Lord has for me today!

God help me!!!!!!

HIS LOVE

There is nothing like your Grandpa dying to draw you to some new perspectives....to draw you to a new place...to draw you back to where you have come from. This week has been tough. I have shed more tears, been more vulnerable, then I have allowed myself to be in years. The truth is my heart is shouting this week--I AM NOT ALLRIGHT! However, we get through life. No matter how hard it is, no matter how hard we mourn, no matter how many tears are shed, the week continues on.

This week I lost my Grandpa and I let go of a love that I was not entitled to. It was tough. When things leave--when you have to let go all at the same time--IT HURTS. I am hurting today, but in the midst of it all, God's love is so huge. It envelops my heart in the midst of mourning and letting go. God reminds me its okay to not be allright....its okay to mourn and its okay to be broken.

Thank you God for your love at this very moment.

What to do....?

In life there are moments when you wish that you could get a direct yes or no answer. However, there are moments that are more complicated. In fact, more is at stake. The entire direction and course of your life will be changed by one decision. These are not easy moments. In fact, these are the moments that draw me to the Word and make me ask, "God what do you want me to do?"
Sometimes I expect a flash of lightening, a thundering voice from the sky telling me what to do. However, that is not often the answer I get. Often the answer I get is the peace that comes when I walk in the right direction. When I am headed the wrong way I have to walk past several warning signs and pretty much ignore God.

So this brings me to the place I am at this very second. I could easily force something. I could easily avoid. I could easily choose the easy choice. I could easily just BE!

Or I could open myself up to God and allow him to speak....allow him to direct my steps......

Tired confessions of a bi-vocational youth pastor!

Today is one of those days. Ever have them??? I am having one of those days. The honest truth is that I am ready for a change. I am ready for a breakthrough. I am ready to see God move. However, today was just one of those days. I feel so beat up--but then I look to my God. He is so huge and everything else is so small compared to him!

So what do I do when I am facing this day--I know that my God will bring the breakthrough soon. I don't give up when the problems seem bigger than the solutions. I don't give up even when rest seems like such a distant pleasure! I will not back down!

God help me today....I am tired!

There are times when I feel alone in this place--a bi-vocational minister. Then i am reminded that the strongest man stands beside me--HIS NAME JESUS CHRIST!

Normal????

"Sometimes you got to step out of the normal that you live in to realize that your not the norm! There is a lost world out there that is within our reach if we will just take that one step."

This was the thought that came to mind tonight sitting in a living room in a poor area in Springfield. The smell of cigarette smoke, alcohol and drugs were present in the place. Cigarettes hung out of mouths while they sipped on alcohol. It was like a stop and smell the roses moment, OR RATHER STOP AND REALIZE APRIL THAT THIS IS THE WORLDS REALITY WITHOUT GOD. OUCH!!!

This is the thought that comes to my mind every week when I encounter the issues of students who were not raised in church. They don't know how to be a Christian...and certainly don't know how to act at church. We point our fingers, yell at them, but forget that it is our responsibility to first teach them in love how to be a Christian!

If we would just step out of "NORMAL" in church ministry, I have a feeling that God would begin to do huge things in the blocks of Springfield and Willard. If we would begin to think beyond "NORMAL" I think that the church would be actively reaching into unchurched students lives and reaching the alcohol smoke filled homes in America.

What is it going to take for us to have a "UN-NORMAL" thought? What is it going to take to help us realize that our normal as Christians is not the reality of America.

I think its time for us to pray that God would help us to reach the NORM! I think its time for us to seriously take that step....get out of our norm.

Visit an unsaved person's home...come to my youth group on Wednesday...go to a basketball game and listen to how the people act and say!

Its time for us to realize....WE ARE NOT NORMAL! How can we reach the NORMAL? How can we reach our world!????

The Victory is worth the FIGHT

"If you want a great victory, you have to be wiling to get into the battle and fight!" Henry Reiber

We tell God that we want to do great things for him. Yet, God doesn't always give us EASY stuff to do. The things he calls us to do come in packages that are quite intense and require that we fight for them. So before we tell God we want to do great things for him, we should ask ourselves first, "Am I willing to literally do whatever it takes to accomplish what God is calling me to?"

Lately, I have been in the fight of my life for some things. Last Wednesday, I was driving home seriously asking God why he chose me for these challenges. He asked me a question that is pretty basic. He said, "April you said you wanted to do great things for me right? Did you think it was going to be easy to see great victories and accomplish great things for me?"

Doing great things for God requires fighting. I daily fight in prayer for the souls of students who are addicted to drugs, pornography, alcohol, sex, sexting, cutting, suicidal thoughts, and a whole long list. I fight for the kid from the broken family who wan't raised in the church. I fight for the student who has never been given a chance or told he/she could do anything of worth in their life. I fight for girl who has been molested and abused and feels no worth. I fight for the unchurched students of this generation. I refuse to believe that drugs, alcohol, broken families, the lies of the enemy will enslave them.

I fight for the single mom who lost her job and doesn't have any purpose. The woman who has yet to discover God. I fight for her son to know the lover of his soul, a Savior.

Why? I know the God who breaks the chains. I know that God who frees from sexual addiction, pornography, drugs, alcohol. I know the God who heals the abused and broken. I know the God that restores broken families. I know the GOD WHO CAN BRING VICTORY IN THESE STUDENTS LIVES.

Call me stubborn, but I am rolling up my sleeves, putting on my boxing gloves and refusing to give up. I will not give up until we see the VICTORY!

Will you join me? Will you fight with me to see a GREAT VICTORY, in Element Student Ministries, or the place God has placed you!!!

Emotions

Emotions are numbing sometimes. You know how you have felt for so long, but you hide it deep down. However, some days it comes up and stares you in the face. It is pointless to deny it, because you know that is has been there all along. But to feel it is harder than to bury it.

Tonight I had to face my emotions yet again. I thought I had conquered them, had them under control and then Bam. Just kidding! It was really a tough moment for me. They were right there again.

So I must wonder what to do with them tonight. It is a good thing that I can again hand them up to God. Hand the source of the emotions up to God. In his Hands, they are yet again secure. He will work all things about for the good of me and my heart.

The Monument Place

I find myself in a place where I want to build a monument dedicated to all the things my Lord Jesus Christ has done in my life. I think that there would be far to many stones to stack in a neat little pile. I imagine that the pile would go on and on for miles. To truly think of all the things my God does for me on a daily basis astounds me. To think that God looked down upon the entire Universe and chose me to be his daughter and his agent to be a youth pastor and reach a generation of students.

Call me crazy, but this is what drives me. There is still so much to be done; so many more stones to be thrown in that stack, but the responsibility lies in my hands. There is a world to reach, but I can choose to do nothing about it. Should I be happy with a gathering of students, when there is a middle school and high school more of students who are devoid of a life with God? Who am I to pretend that the homelessness that is becoming more and more prevalent on the street is okay? Who am I to not give a rip about another family getting ruined by a divorce? Who am I to think that I have somehow arrived?

The fact of the matter is, sometimes in staring at the monument we don’t move beyond it to make a new monument. The point of life is not to make one great huge monument and camp out there. The point is to keep going, keep believing, keep risking, keep walking, keep jumping, keep seeing when no one else can, keep praying, keep working, keep trusting….and keep living out this GOD LIFE!

Tonight I talked with my students and saw in them the attitude I want to develop. When God gives you a challenge, you take it on, not just partially but with guts. Keep believing God that today just might be the day that He will yet again do a great work.

I don’t know about you, but I am folding my chair up and hitting the road. I am ready to see some serious God stuff happen in my personal life, Carpenters House, Element Student Ministries, my leaders lives, students lives, and the lives of the people I work with!