fall thoughts

fall is here. cooler mornings, cooler evenings, cooler weather in general. fall colors appearing on the trees, bushes...the oranges, reds, yellows...i kind of love it. i love the thought of sweaters and jeans, warm snugly blankets at night, football games, pie, hot coffee (or chocolate if you prefer). its just plain great. everyone is back in school, falling into normal routines, youth group is regularly meeting again...it just feels good.

i look forward to us growing and changing this year. forward to each group laughing, discussing, playing, eating together. i see us serving others, loving others, and growing in faith.

i'm praying for each of you. that you would grow in your faith, grow in your relationships. grow physically, mentality, spiritually...

praying that this year we would open ourselves up to God and His plan for our lives. fully trusting that He knows what we need and what we should do.

praying for this journey. oh what a journey it will be. grateful that it's a journey i get to go on with each of you.

chicago pictures by Anni

Here are my top 20 Chicago Mission Trip photos, I hope you enjoy them!

JH camp trip

hello! this past weekend the jhyg headed off to the red bridge campgrounds for some camping fun! we had an awesome time! check out a few pictures from the trip...please excuse the poor quality, we only had cell phones (mine with a dying battery!)

more pictures and some thoughts.

 ahh...chicago. at your finest. warm, sunny, calm.

 this is what trips are all about...catching people sleeping...seriously.

 again...

each time i go on a trip whether it's mission trip related or not i realize one thing. it's about the people. (or the food) but really, it's about the people. chicago was no different. god chose each of these 15 people to go on this journey. a long flight, trips in the van, working hard, eating, playing, sleeping, worshiping so we each could realize and value the relationships. it's amazing how each person comes as a separate person but at the end of the trip, we are one. we had one purpose, the same schedule, shared rooms...god knew what he was doing when he said, "it is not good for man to be alone..." (genesis 2:18).

this youth group was not alone. we bonded, we shared, we laughed, we cried. it was good not to be alone. i pray that we continue this. that we would continue to work together to serve, to share, to laugh, to cry...to be together so we can grow together. for it is good!

finally....pictures!

hey all. thanks for being patient! here are the first half of the pictures from the chicago trip! i will upload some more tomorrow...and hopefully the youth will add some of theirs!