11.28.2006
Home stretch...
Well, I'm back at school again and am trying to stay motivated to finish it all up. Only 3 weeks left. It's been an encouraging weekend, though. I spent some good time talking with family and friends. One of those highlights was talking with Tom Dykstra on Sunday night about jobs and life - he really encouraged me to get back into reading the Bible and memorizing Scripture as well as helped me to get excited again about going into youth ministry! I'm still waiting to hear back from Meriden, and it's easy to get caught up with thoughts of inadequacy during this "unknown" stretch of time. Thanks for the good words, Tom!
Yeah, so talking with Tom, having lunch with my grandpa, coffee with my younger sister Becca, talking into the night with my twin Nathan, getting a haircut and talking with Dad, cooking and chatting with Mom, talking on the phone with Magdalene...all those added up to a very good weekend at home. Restful and rejuvinating (even though I'm still feeling worn-out today - why??). Oh well, I only have a couple more weeks left. We'll see what God's got planned. I've been doing a lot of praying - and I think that's a huge help in me feeling at peace with whatever happens. Prayer is good. I heard another sermon on that Sunday - we are commanded to pray - all the time. So we should pray. It's hard, but I'm working on it. And if you're reading this...you should pray, too.
Yeah, so talking with Tom, having lunch with my grandpa, coffee with my younger sister Becca, talking into the night with my twin Nathan, getting a haircut and talking with Dad, cooking and chatting with Mom, talking on the phone with Magdalene...all those added up to a very good weekend at home. Restful and rejuvinating (even though I'm still feeling worn-out today - why??). Oh well, I only have a couple more weeks left. We'll see what God's got planned. I've been doing a lot of praying - and I think that's a huge help in me feeling at peace with whatever happens. Prayer is good. I heard another sermon on that Sunday - we are commanded to pray - all the time. So we should pray. It's hard, but I'm working on it. And if you're reading this...you should pray, too.
11.18.2006
Relaxation
Yesterday I worked three different times at Niessink for a total of about 12.5 hours. Crazy. But I love the kids, and the staff are fun to work with, too. But after that day, I was happy to relax today. Get up around 10, lounge around til 1, do homework off and on for the rest of the day, and then go to NC/DC tonight (that's Dordt/Northwestern's "American Idol" for those who don't know). Normally I'm not a huge fan of NC/DC just because I think it's a big popularity contest, but my roommate's in it (Jon Shaffstall with other roomie Chris Kuiper accompanying on piano), so I figure I'll go support them. It should be fun.
Thanksgiving's coming up soon! I'm really excited for that - going home, not thinking about homework (unless I do some catch up with Calvin's...), and enjoying the time with my family. Yep. Life is good. Still waiting and trying to be faithful in prayer about the job/everything else in life, but I'm realizing how hard that is. I'm doing a group presentation on John Calvin's thoughts about prayer, and I'm again realizing how bad I am at praying! Here's a quote which convicted me:
"A fault that seems less seroius, but is also not tolerable is that of others who, having been imbued with this one principle - that God must be appeased by devotions - mumble prayers without meditation." (that's in III.xx.6 - pg. 857 for you avid Calvin readers)
But yeah, that's me all over. If I even do my devotions, I will often time just read the Bible a little bit and then journal some, but there's a lot of times where I just do it for rote. God calls me to take time for him, but I shouldn't do it with the attitude of "ARRGG....I have to take time for God now..." (overexaggerated, but you get the point). So now where's the balance between getting in a habit of doing devotions (because that's a good discipline) and thinking that "God must be appeased by devotions?" Still a struggle, but a good one to think and not just be passive about.
Thanksgiving's coming up soon! I'm really excited for that - going home, not thinking about homework (unless I do some catch up with Calvin's...), and enjoying the time with my family. Yep. Life is good. Still waiting and trying to be faithful in prayer about the job/everything else in life, but I'm realizing how hard that is. I'm doing a group presentation on John Calvin's thoughts about prayer, and I'm again realizing how bad I am at praying! Here's a quote which convicted me:
"A fault that seems less seroius, but is also not tolerable is that of others who, having been imbued with this one principle - that God must be appeased by devotions - mumble prayers without meditation." (that's in III.xx.6 - pg. 857 for you avid Calvin readers)
But yeah, that's me all over. If I even do my devotions, I will often time just read the Bible a little bit and then journal some, but there's a lot of times where I just do it for rote. God calls me to take time for him, but I shouldn't do it with the attitude of "ARRGG....I have to take time for God now..." (overexaggerated, but you get the point). So now where's the balance between getting in a habit of doing devotions (because that's a good discipline) and thinking that "God must be appeased by devotions?" Still a struggle, but a good one to think and not just be passive about.
11.14.2006
Joy
So the interview's done. I feel relieved, calm, and at peace. It went really well - I met with the pastor and a couple other people on the Youth Advisory Committee - and I felt really comfortable talking with them and answering their questions. I still have a lot of praying and thinking to do about this...you know it's not just if they want to hire me, but it's also a question of if I want to work there. So we'll see what happens. I got the best compliment I could have gotten at the end, though - one of the guys said that whether or not they chose to pursue this relationship of youth pastor and church, he could tell I wasn't just telling him what he wanted to hear. He appreciated me being straight with them, and so I know that if they say that I'm not the guy they're looking for, then they'd be telling me what I would have found out later had I given them the pat answers they were looking for. Yeah, so whatever happens, I'm excited to see what God's got in store for the next part of my life. Graduation in 5 weeks...
11.13.2006
more lock-in pics
youth ministry
Last weekend we had a lock-in at Christ Community. So here's some of the pics from that. CCC bought the house next door to the church to use for education purposes, and the youth group gets the basement. But the basement was pretty damp and drab...until this last weekend. Yay for 80's colors and fun designs!!
Well, it won't let me post more right now, so i'll post more later. but this gives you a brief idea of the chaos that was that weekend. :) In other news, please pray for me if you read this in the next 6 hours. I have an interview with a church in Meriden, Iowa (about an hour SE of here - by Cherokee), for the youth pastor position. I don't know how many of you will read this before the interview happens (8:00 tonight), but even if you read this afterwards, you can pray for discernment and wisdom as I try and feel out God's will for my life at this point. Thanks for that, everyone! Alright, I'm going to finish preparing right now. I'll update later and say how it went!
Well, it won't let me post more right now, so i'll post more later. but this gives you a brief idea of the chaos that was that weekend. :) In other news, please pray for me if you read this in the next 6 hours. I have an interview with a church in Meriden, Iowa (about an hour SE of here - by Cherokee), for the youth pastor position. I don't know how many of you will read this before the interview happens (8:00 tonight), but even if you read this afterwards, you can pray for discernment and wisdom as I try and feel out God's will for my life at this point. Thanks for that, everyone! Alright, I'm going to finish preparing right now. I'll update later and say how it went!
