In Her Shoes

Today was a great day. We kicked off the 7th Grade Girls' Bible Study this afternoon. 19 girls from four schools showed up at 3:00 and over half of them walked from their school. When they plopped down on the couch at the Wasson's house, they were ready to talk, share, and learn. I loved seeing all their precious little faces, hearing their chatter, and knowing the potential of this group.


Tonight one of the girls texted me about a problem with her friend. It reminded me how hard it is to be in her shoes. Honestly, you couldn't pay me to go back to 7th grade. It was such a hard time of life for me. I struggled with my self-image, mean girls, attention from boys, and wanting to just be like everyone else. But I made it through...and they will too.

In Her Shoes

God,
Will You use me to touch this girl's life..
Will she stand up when she knows something's right...
Will she stumble and trip through the halls of her school...
Or will she learn to walk confidently IN HER OWN SHOES?

Confessions of a Shopaholic

While we're on the subject of New Year's resolutions. I'll let you in on my resolution for 2009: to get better control of my financial life. Dave Ramsey and my dad would be so proud. I want to 1)start thinking more about where my money is going, 2) pay off some debt, and 3) get serious about saving for the future.

In order to get started on this, and partially out of necessity, I've really been trying to cut back on my daily spending. My spending adds up on things like eating out for every meal, Starbucks and Sonic drinks in the afternoon, or just picking up frivolous items from Target.

This week, I decided I was going to have a day when I spent absolutely no money. So when my friend Emily called me to hang out I was a little worried that I couldn't do it. But we conquered the challenge:

We used giftcards for Starbucks (free)

She got a refill on her iced coffee (practically free...54 cents)

Browsed through a bookstore (free)

Picked up free cosmetics at the Galleria (free)

I didn't think I could do it, but I had a night out with my friend without spending money. So here's my challenge for myself and every other shopaholic out there:

Set aside at least one day a week when you intentionally spend no money. I think it will be a good practice in self-control and in the long run it might even make a difference in the piggy bank.

New Year's Resolution 2008: Fullfilled

I successfully fulfilled my New Year's Resolution for 2008: to take my dating life more seriously...I know it's a little late to be announcing this, but my phone reminded me today of my resolution from 2008.

You see...there was this day in the middle of July when I hit a low point. My roomie, Kate and I were sitting on the couch chatting and an eHarmony commercial came on TV. I told her that if I wasn't dating someone in six months, I was going on eHarmony. We laughed really hard, but I think that there was a part of me that was serious about it. She didn't let me forget it...and neither did my phone. Apparently I set an alarm in my phone for January 19th so I wouldn't forget this very important day.

I'm happy to say that because of Andrew, I'm not signing up for eHarmony today.

Okay yes...this is really silly, but I just want to say in all sincerity that God has done a lot in this area of my life this past year. I have sought wise counsel and really changed some of my priorities. I feel like God is blessing those choices and it's cool to see how His way is always better than mine.

A Woman in a Man's World?

When I was in college, God started tugging my heart towards ministry. I was certain of His call, but I was uncertain of what that looked like for me. Over time, through a series of people and events, I felt that He was leading me to be involved in youth ministry. Once again, I was uncertain of what that looked like for me. I had never really seen a woman working in youth ministry...all the women I had seen in ministry worked with children. But I felt strongly that teenage girls also needed someone to look up to, to relate to, and just to talk to.

I'm still passionate about the need for women in ministry (and more specifically in youth ministry), but I realize that sometimes it's just a hard place for a woman. And I know I'm not alone...

I received an email this week from a friend and colleague. She explained that some girls "are starting a single, staff girls mentoring, ministry training, how to live and work at our church, bible study-ish group." The point of this group is not to be a negative, complaining or gossipy time, but to encourage each other and talk about some of these types of topics:

• personal boundaries


• how to work with people you may not always get along with


• how to deal with others in your office


• how to work at our church specifically


• your calling in life, how to have a personal life


• how to deal with the constant busyness of ministry

I'm really looking forward to joining this group and just having an opportunity to talk with women who know exactly what it's like. Don't get me wrong, I love working with the guys in our office, but there are days when I'm very thankful that there are other women here.

If you're a woman in youth ministry and your looking for some encouragement yourself, check out this book called Help I'm a Woman in Youth Ministry and maybe start your own group.

L’Eggo my Ego

Ego is something I find myself fighting with on a regular basis. And I found myself having it out with the ego again yesterday. I think it’s one way that Satan tries to distract me from the good that God’s doing in and through me in ministry.

Last night Andrew and I were talking about all of this and he reminded me of how we’ve just gotten confused about what ministry is about.

*It’s not about who I am, but about who God is.
*It’s not about who knows me, but about who I can introduce to Christ.
*It’s not about being first, it’s about being last.

The essence of ministry is service. Being a servant isn’t usually glamorous or rewarding. It’s humbling. Think about this...


The Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many Matthew 20:28 (ESV)

7th Grade Girls' Bible Study

I'm really excited about starting a Bible Study this semester with the 7th grade girls. Beginning January 26th, we're going to be meeting on Mondays after school at the Wassons (4306 Autumn Mist Court) from 3:00-4:00. It's open to any girl in 7th grade.

We'll be doing a Vicky Courtney study called His Girl. Vicky has a lot of great resources for teenage girls and their moms. This particular study His Girl is an "eight-week study will tackle issues that teen girls face every day—[including] conformity, purity, girl politics, and modesty".

"The student book is a magazine containing over 300 photographs and illustrations. It also contains quizzes, articles, devotional material, an Ask Vicki column, and tons of other “magazine-like” features. It also contains suggestions for girls to use in talking with their mothers about the issues discussed in the study."





You can find this and more resources like this on Vicky Courtney's website
http://www.virtuousreality.com/. She's also got links to lots of other cool stuff like featured artists, articles, and a blog.

Lessons from the (Round) Top

We just got back from our Youth Staff Retreat today. We met together for two and half days at the Round Top Retreat Center.


Let's face it sometimes meetings are kind of draining. In order to keep myself focused and entertained, I keep a tally for each person in the room with awkward moments, awkward quotes, and things that just make me laugh. I give people points for things like: falling asleep, talking too much or talking at the wrong time, cell phones ringing, wearing their clothes in funny ways, using made up words and funny phrases, or even for getting up to go to the bathroom at the wrong time.



I've convinced myself that it actually helps me pay attention. In the midst of tallying awkward points, and writing down funny quotes, I sometimes catch some meaningful words as well.
Here are a few of the words that challenged me the most during our retreat:

"Don't let lack of creativity or fear of rejection be a fatal flaw for you."
-Eric H

"If you fail you fail, who cares."-Michael H.

"You
will
consistently mess up." -Jordan E.

"Don't take yourself so
seriously."
-Eric H.

"We are all completely unqualified to do the
things we do."
-Jordan E.

"You are not God's gift to the church"
-Eric H.

"Value and thank God for the church."-Eric H.

Sounds
simple
enough, but "Attend Worship." -Brian M.

"God. Family.
Ministry. In that
order." -Michael H.

"Intimacy with God doesn't not
just require, but
demands sacrifice." -Ryan M.

"It's hard to
minister to students you
don't love and it's hard to love students you don't
know-get to know them."
-Jordan E.

Round Top

Our youth staff is heading out this afternoon to spend a couple of days in Round Top, Texas for a retreat. We'll be meeting up with the youth and children's ministry staff from all of the Second Baptist campuses. Looks like we may double the population of the city.