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!!!!