fall fun party.

hope you all had fun this past wednesday. it sure was great laughing at you...i mean with you ;)

enjoy!

i totally meant to get a picture of the whole group! bummer! great costumes everyone!!

mission trip.

it's hard to believe it's already the end of october...even more difficult to believe we are already in full swing mission trip planning! this year's trip is a little different. if you haven't heard we will be doing an intergenerational mission trip this year! yes, this means it won't just be high school students...but instead a diverse group of adults from our congregation and the hsyg.

the goal is simple. to develop relationships among the different generations within our church and then head out to love and serve others. we will be serving in manhattan at pete armstrong's church, dwell. it's going to be awesome.

how can you help? please pray that we gather a great group of adults who want to really delevop deep relationships with the youth. pray that we are all challenged and strengthen in our faith. pray for those in ny whose lives we will come in contact with. pray that we would be softened to those around us and sensitive to their situation in life. pray that this trip would come together and give all the glory and honor to God.

retreat.

Last friday, we headed off to guemes island for a weekend of fun, fellowship, study and rest (maybe lite on the resting!) We ferried over with the first experience of using the wheelbarrows since the car ferry was being serviced. We had a lot of stuff!

The weather was beautiful, the food tasty, and company fantastic. It was a weekend full of running, exploring, eating, reading God's word, and lots of fun.

brian...happy he made it onto the ferry

 we studied the first two chapters of james...each group had a section to present!

 all groups did an awesome job!

 lots of soccer was played

 meals were made ;)

 and games were played...

Thanks for a wonderful retreat, everyone!

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!

jh hike. rattlesnake ledge.

hello! summer is quickly ending and the fall is upon us. not sure about you but i love summer. i love the sun, the warmth, being hot, swimming, playing in sand, the long days...my list could go on and on. God knew what he was doing when he created summer. but you could say the same for fall ;). this week the jh took a little hike to relish the last of the summer days in the pnw. it was awesome to see and experience God at his finest!

 the group!

first ever injury on a hike! (in almost 7 years!!!)