By thy Mercy

Hello everyone, sorry about the slow updates, i know it is disappointing to check a blog only to find nothing new. i will try and be better!

I just got back from our first Spotswood Young Life Club of the year. We had some trouble finding the overhead projector, but got one right at the last second. The game that i was in charge of running didn't go off too well. Two people each have an alka-seltzer taped to their forehead, and are armed with a squirt gun. The object of the game is to dissolve the alka-seltzer on the other person's face first. I practiced/tested taping and squirting and all that earlier in the day with no problems, but at club it didn't work quite the same. Alka-zeltzer was falling off, and tape wasn't holding. But oh well, i suppose the high schoolers probably aren't worried about the games running perfectly, as long as they're having fun. Scott gave the talk which was an introduction to what Young Life is, and what the semester is going to be like, which went really well. I don't' know if anyone counted the actual number of kids there, but i estimate that there were about 40. Overall it was a great start to the year.

This weekend is parents' weekend up here at JMU so Street is having a cookout at our house on saturday which will be fun. I don't have any other huge plans for the weekend, just trying to catch up on sleep and relaxation :-D. It has been hot again this week, and very sticky. I am ready for it to be fall!

Oh, and the title of this entry is the title of a song that i LOVE. It's by these guys who play hymns, they have a website http://www.highstreethymns.com/ and their music is on itunes. it's all really good. here are some of the lyrics from "By thy Mercy":

From the depth of nature’s blindness,
From the hardening power of sin,
From all malice and unkindness,
From the pride that lurks within:
By Thy mercy, O deliver us,
good Lord, good Lord.
By Thy mercy, O deliver us,
good Lord, good Lord.

When the world around is smiling,
In the time of wealth and ease,
Earthly joys our hearts beguiling,
In the day of health and peace,
In the solemn hour of dying,
In the awful judgment day,
May our souls, on Thee relying,
Find Thee still our Rock and Stay

A project that i'm working on for my media and politics class is on John McCain. It is going to be a pretty interesting project. We are in groups of 5, each group with a different presidential hopeful. Each person in the group picks an issue that the candidate has in his/her platform and studies how that issue is covered in the media. The group members then come together and compare each issue area and come to some general conclusions about the candidate and the media. The issue in McCain's platform that i am covering is his "Human Dignity and the Sanctity of Life", so if you see any good articles or anything let me know!

Alright, enough for now. love to all!

Sandbridge

This weekend all of the Young Life leaders went down to Sandbridge for some awesome time together. It was a great weekend of learning and relaxing. I rode down with my team on friday afternoon getting to the beach around 8:30. We had the privilege of hearing from Chris Kessick, who is involved with Young Life down in Chesapeake, a few times over the weekend. He talked about a few very important things; about Jesus' love for us, and how powerful it is, and about being in God's word.

One thing that i was really convicted by this weekend was the thought of loving God. I know that he loves me, and the Jesus loves me, but do i actually LOVE God? I serve him, i worship him, i follow him, i adore him, but do i actually LOVE him like i would love a husband? I hear how people talk about their boyfriend or girlfriend and have realized that that is how i should talk about/think about Jesus. One of the books i have started reading recently is titled "live in love with Jesus" and i think it will be really good.

Another book i have been reading is called "the irresistible revolution", and it is really challenging. it is written by this guy, shane claiborne, whose approach to the gospel is pretty radical. he calls himself an 'ordinary radical'. he believes that just as Jesus was very serious when he said love your neighbor as yourself, he was also serious when he said sell all you have and follow me. he has followed Jesus into some of the poorest places in the world. he lives in the worst neighborhood in Philadelphia with others in a community they call the 'simple way'. it is all really provoking and challenging to think about. most of the stuff he talks about i think is true and real, but as with any book or writer there are some things i disagree with. overall i am very convicted by the book and what it is saying.

alright well that's it for now, of course there is much more i could write about, but i will do that later!

California!

Well, as you all can imagine, I had a wonderful time in California visiting the Varelas; what a precious family my sister has! I got there on Thursday night at about 8:45 local time to Long Beach airport, which is right near Jon's work so he was able to pick me up. We had a nice drive to their house talking about Young Life and stuff like that. Oh, and let me say that their new house is so great! Very homey and cosy.

Friday was a fun day; after breakfast and morning routine things we went down to San Clemente to the Rainbow Outlet store where Katie got me my birthday present :-D. Then we went by Capo (our old high school) and i went in and said hello to an english teacher i had for two years, and who also had Katie and Greg as students (she absolutely adored Greg and i'm pretty sure she only still keeps in touch with me to keep up with Greg). Then we went to In'n Out for lunch, yummmmm. Then for the afternoon we hung out at the house while the little ones took naps and such. Saturday we went to Ricci's son's birthday party at the park. It was fun to see Ricci because she was actually one of my core group leaders in high school, and one of Katie's good friends and i hadn't seen her since we moved away. I went with Katie and JOn to church on sunday and heard a great message on Mark chapter 1.

We did some fun things while i was there, but more than anything it was teh biggest blessing to just be there and be a part of their lives for a few days. It is really hard to leave; i really wish we lived closer to eachother.

Here are a few pictures from the trip:

Oh, and by the way... my 8 o'clock class this morning was NOT fun