Lock-Out

-when i use the term behavior in this post, i am not using it negatively as in "there behavior could use some improving" but rather to express the way the students interacted with each other, with me and with the events we attended-

Mid high had a lock out last night. This is the first thing i have done on staff that has had major interaction with students. The lock-out was an amazing experience, sure i was exhausted, sure i was sleep deprived, but it was a whole bunch of fun. i got to hang out with some really awesome kids, and get to know them. These kids really impressed me with not only there knowledge of God but their general interest and passion for Him. Getting wrapped up in college group and having discussions with college students really set my mind on how "Those Who Love Our God" should act and look and behave. College student's subtle humor and overall clam behavior is not the only way believers behave. *by this i am not saying the mid-high students misbehaved, only behaved in a way that, now that i think about it, most mid-high students should behave* Maybe it had something to do with the concept that most college students do not have hyper energy at 430 in the morning, these students did (and once i put my lazy-ness behind me and joined in their level of energy, i had a whole lot more fun).

So it is true, joining in is so much more fun than sitting out, but that is a message for another time.

The idea of not all believers acting, behaving, looking, or for that matter even worshiping the same way is something that i have to constantly remind myself of. i really look forward to the Costa Rica trip because i believe interacting with believers from another culture will really drive this point home. The world is constantly throwing stereotypes and standards at us that do nothing more than prevent us from experiencing everything God intended for us.

Costa Rica

On Sunday, June 1 (tomorrow) i will be going to Costa Rica. We will be there for "nine days" June 1-9. But a few of those days will be travel and R&R so we will only be working on our construction project for five days. We still don't know exactly what we will be doing in terms of construction, but i think that is one of the most amazing parts of this trip.

Yesterday in our team meeting with the 11 other youth staff Josef made a point to state a difference between preparing for an event and allowing the Holy Spirit to move through the event. He said that it is our responsibility to make available the place for God to move. Don't get me wrong, HE is going to move whether we like it or not, but all the more he will honor our work and move all the more.

So one of the most exciteing parts of the trip will be allowing God to move and following what he places in front of us. When i sat down to look at our schedule, i got really excited seeing the time we get to spend serving, not only in construction but in VBS and shareing life with some perople i have never met before. i really look forward to experiencing a different country with different traditions, and different culture setting but knowing the God they are praising over there is the exact same God i am praising over here.

Packing has been an interesting process. i decided on Monday that i would have everything packed by Thursday, like the fact that this was my first international trip would make a difference. RIGHT. I got up this morning and finished packing until about 30 minutes ago.

Well i will post quite a bit after Costa Rica and let you all know how God has been moving.

The Begining

So I thought about creating a blog to allow everyone who I am not currently in constant contact with know how this summer is going. For those of you who don't know what is going on this summer, I have an internship at my home church in Houston. I am one of three summer interns and one of 12 youth staff for our church this summer.

This summer holds a lot, a lot of planning for a lot of activities, a lot of trips, and a lot of God. I will explain about this summer's plans later because I want to explain the title of my blog page. For the internship we were asked to read a book that we would be using in our teachings and discussions. The book is called i am not but i know I AM, by Louie Giglio. It was a somewhat short read, and really good. The book explains how there is an amazing story playing out, involving the greatest character ever, but the thing is i am not that character. The most amazing being known to man is our God. When God calls Moses on Mt. Horeb in Sinai to free his people, Moses asks- who should I say sent me? God responds- tell them I AM sent you. I AM is the star of this amazing story, and good thing too. Even if I spent 100 years with 100 of the best writers on Earth, we would not be able to come up with anything that would even think about comparing to I AM's amazing story. Not only is there this story, but I AM even invites us to play a role in it. This is only a single part of the book, it is really good.

For the past two weeks (since I started) we have been getting situated, going over intro stuff, and preparing for the two mission trips coming soon. The first one is with a bunch of the college students (and others) to Costa Rica June 1-9 and the second is a youth mission trip (I think we are taking over a hundred students) on June 15-20. We have also been prepareing for Sunday mornings, Sunday evenings, and Bible Studies. Costa Rica in t-59 hours!