wnl. september 24.

wednesday, was the first wednesday night live. as to tradition, we had a lovely spaghetti dinner with all of church. thanks council!

let me first say, i'm sorry i dont have pictures. i wish i did. i have learned my lesson and next time i will be prepared!

we started yg off with some awesome worship! a huge thanks to rachel, melanie, jennifer, and aaron for leading us! i am so excited to have an expanded time of worship this year!

then we transitioned into games. of course 4 on a couch was played. then a new game (this is when i needed my camera). we played a banana relay. boys verse girls. to explain...everyone lays down in a line head to foot. i placed an unpeeled banana in each starting persons feet and they passed the banana down the line, using only their feet. the last person gets the banana, peels it, and eats/crams it into their mouth as quickly as possible and runs to the first person in line for the win. this might be the funnest thing i've ever seen. steven might be the craziest banana crammer i've ever seen. the result was the boys won twice.

it was a great night and a great start to the year!!

hs discussion- busyness

last week the hsyg gathered together for the first time (officially) since summer! hooray! soooo good to see everyone back in their youth group spots on the couches :) plus we ate chipolte for dinner. what a win!

we discussed this article which fits perfectly into this season of life. fall. time to be busy, get busy, busier, fill the calendar with appointments, school, sports, volunteering, work....all these things by themselves are good, some even great (i'm saying you need school, work...they are important). but when we allow our schedules to become so full, so packed and then take pride/joy in their fullness it is not a good thing.

last week was a busy week for me personally. lots of things starting, many commitments, whiny kids with colds, long to-do lists....lots of busyness. and i wasn't happy about it. there have been times when i have felt pride in how much i could juggle and manage but last week was not one of those times. i walked into our staff meeting and the first topic...being busy, slowing down. the topic already previously chosen for yg that evening...busyness. crazy how God works like that, huh?

so what does it all mean? do we give everything up? no. we discussed being mindful of what we fill our time with, realizing that we need time for rest and relaxing, time for God. we need to stop worrying about how much longer we spent on homework compared to others, spend less time on our smart phones and the internet, and say no to things when our calendar is already full. we talked about how it's important to place God first and be aware when we begin to place these other things in our life before Him.

it sounds so easy. but i'm the first to say it's not. as high school students, as parents, as friends, we all need to take the time to see what's filling our lives, to access if we are addicted to busyness. most likely the answer will be yes. the real difference is whether you act on it.

Luke 10: 38-42  As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what he said. But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!”

 “Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things, but few things are needed—or indeed only one.[a] Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.”

fall thoughts.

it's fall!! hooray! (well, sort-of) don't get me wrong, i love fall and all it has to offer...pretty colors, crunchy walks, back to school, back to youth group, football, football...it's pretty great. but then again it gets cold, i have to wear socks, it gets really busy, and it rains, sometimes a lot! when the seasons change i tend to try and find my favorite part of that change and focus on it (like football). but fall is always hard on me (well so is winter) mainly because i loooove being being warm. and when our warm, sunny days turn to cold, rainy ones it bums me out. sometimes i feel like faith is like that too. we like to focus on the warm, fuzzy feelings of being loved by God, being forgiven and tend to push our questions of doubt, disbelief, and tough duties to the back burner. it's easy to do! i know i'd rather think about being a child of God then loving that neighbor that really drives me nuts. it's easier to push aside tough questions of faith like why bad things happen than to answer them. it's easier to focus on God loves us even though we sin instead of trying not to sin and truly follow Him. we each in our own ways focus on the warm fuzzies truth instead of the cold and hard to explain. this year in youth group we will be attempting to discuss some tough topics. topics that sometimes make us feel uncomfortable and leave us tongue tied. this fall we will dive into some tough questions, read God's word, and encourage one another!

can't wait to see you all on a regular wednesday night basis!