This song has been on repeat in my head for the past few days. It's a prayer for revival and renewal...thus it is my prayer for me and the students I lead (but not just those things). I love how simple it is, and I love how often the words "take this" are sung. It's all "take this," which obviously means that he doesn't like it and is tired of dealing with it because he knows there is something better, and he asks for whatever that "something better" is. Now we don't always know what exactly that "something better" is, but when we pray knowing that we need to change or that we need something better (or need to live for something better), those prayers will be answered. They may not be answered in the ways we expect, but be confident that the Lord is transforming us into something better.
Enjoy the video!
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
Sunday, September 19, 2010
College Top Ten List
Here's a list of the ten best parts of my college experience. I want to go into greater depth for each year, but this will get it started. Here we go...
The Top Ten Moments/Memories of My Penn State Experience
10. My freshmen year dorm - would never have chosen to live with those 5 guys (except for Christian) but I loved it. Had some really interesting moments and loved living with them. If I had a blog my freshman year, you would have been able to read about some pretty crazy stories.
9. Penn State Football - if you know me, you may be surprised to see this so low on the list. That goes to show how awesome college was for me. There are specific moments where football was awesome, but this is the overall football experience during the last four years. 40 some wins and three bowl victories...not bad at all! And the student section never failed to entertain - I was stoked to be part of it.
8. Regular meetings with Aaron Henning - I would be lying if i said the relationship Aaron and I developed was not influential in my spiritual growth. His wisdom and compassion for me certainly played an immensely important role in my leadership development...and sense of humor actually. It was fun to have really serious conversations while making each other laugh.
7. Freshman Guys Bible Study - my freshman year was awesome, and so was bible study...and so were the rest of the guys in the bible study. I made some incredible relationships from that group, and I was so excited to be inspired and challenged by them every week. Looking back on it now, it's amazing to think about the leadership potential from that group. Quite impressive.
6. Winter Break Roadtrip - During my freshman year, I was asked by my Bible study leader if I wanted to go see Penn State take on Tennessee in the Outback Bowl. I said yes, and proceeded to have an amazingly fun week filled with golf, sun, beach, Dave Hine throwing up, great conversation, and a great Penn State upset!
5. ACF Baptism Services - during my time at Penn State, I went to all 8 baptism services, and I think I cried in 7 of them. There's something really powerful about seeing close friends make a stand for Christ...definitely a time to celebrate! Every time someone was baptized, all I could think about was how Satan absolutely hated what was happening. Victory is delicious!
4. ACF - most of these moments/memories/experiences are because of Alliance Christian Fellowship. Making ACF my home was the easiest and probably best decision I made while in college. The friends I made and the weekly fellowship from ACF continue to impact me. I'll be friends with some of those people for a very long time
3. Freshman/Sophomore Guys Bible STUDy - no, this is not a repeat. This is when I was co-leading it. Seeing those shy freshman guys transform to the next generation of ACF leadership was a huge source of joy for me and I'm so glad I was there to pour into them. Love those guys!
2. Living at the HOP - I loved living here, 15 minute walk to campus = far enough away that the partiers will not be a bother! Loved the parties we had there, loved the conversations I had there. Mostly, I'm super grateful for living with the roommates I had: Christian, Ryan, Aaron, Kyle. These guys didn't live at the HOP all at the same time, but they were the best. Ryan Stauffer is my best man for a reason, and that is largely because of the moments we shared at the HOP...I should make a top ten list of events at the HOP...unfortunately, only three people would think it would be legitimately funny, and I'm one of them.
1. Building a relationship with my (then future) fiance - enough said really. A total blessing. A life changing event.
I like making lists like these because it makes me think of everything that happened. It was pretty tough to narrow it down to just ten. Here are some honorable mentions: Mission Trip to New Orleans, Summer Internship in Alabama, PSU-Illinois basketball game junior year (I have to share that story!), and pranking Kate freshman year.
The Top Ten Moments/Memories of My Penn State Experience
10. My freshmen year dorm - would never have chosen to live with those 5 guys (except for Christian) but I loved it. Had some really interesting moments and loved living with them. If I had a blog my freshman year, you would have been able to read about some pretty crazy stories.
9. Penn State Football - if you know me, you may be surprised to see this so low on the list. That goes to show how awesome college was for me. There are specific moments where football was awesome, but this is the overall football experience during the last four years. 40 some wins and three bowl victories...not bad at all! And the student section never failed to entertain - I was stoked to be part of it.
8. Regular meetings with Aaron Henning - I would be lying if i said the relationship Aaron and I developed was not influential in my spiritual growth. His wisdom and compassion for me certainly played an immensely important role in my leadership development...and sense of humor actually. It was fun to have really serious conversations while making each other laugh.
7. Freshman Guys Bible Study - my freshman year was awesome, and so was bible study...and so were the rest of the guys in the bible study. I made some incredible relationships from that group, and I was so excited to be inspired and challenged by them every week. Looking back on it now, it's amazing to think about the leadership potential from that group. Quite impressive.
6. Winter Break Roadtrip - During my freshman year, I was asked by my Bible study leader if I wanted to go see Penn State take on Tennessee in the Outback Bowl. I said yes, and proceeded to have an amazingly fun week filled with golf, sun, beach, Dave Hine throwing up, great conversation, and a great Penn State upset!
5. ACF Baptism Services - during my time at Penn State, I went to all 8 baptism services, and I think I cried in 7 of them. There's something really powerful about seeing close friends make a stand for Christ...definitely a time to celebrate! Every time someone was baptized, all I could think about was how Satan absolutely hated what was happening. Victory is delicious!
4. ACF - most of these moments/memories/experiences are because of Alliance Christian Fellowship. Making ACF my home was the easiest and probably best decision I made while in college. The friends I made and the weekly fellowship from ACF continue to impact me. I'll be friends with some of those people for a very long time
3. Freshman/Sophomore Guys Bible STUDy - no, this is not a repeat. This is when I was co-leading it. Seeing those shy freshman guys transform to the next generation of ACF leadership was a huge source of joy for me and I'm so glad I was there to pour into them. Love those guys!
2. Living at the HOP - I loved living here, 15 minute walk to campus = far enough away that the partiers will not be a bother! Loved the parties we had there, loved the conversations I had there. Mostly, I'm super grateful for living with the roommates I had: Christian, Ryan, Aaron, Kyle. These guys didn't live at the HOP all at the same time, but they were the best. Ryan Stauffer is my best man for a reason, and that is largely because of the moments we shared at the HOP...I should make a top ten list of events at the HOP...unfortunately, only three people would think it would be legitimately funny, and I'm one of them.
1. Building a relationship with my (then future) fiance - enough said really. A total blessing. A life changing event.
I like making lists like these because it makes me think of everything that happened. It was pretty tough to narrow it down to just ten. Here are some honorable mentions: Mission Trip to New Orleans, Summer Internship in Alabama, PSU-Illinois basketball game junior year (I have to share that story!), and pranking Kate freshman year.
Sunday, September 12, 2010
Go.
This morning I heard a really good sermon from one of the members of Grace United Methodist church - the church I'm working at. They are doing this thing called the Matthew 28 Initiative, which, if you've read Matthew 28, it's where Jesus commissions his disciples to go out and make disciples. Well, now we are Jesus' disciples, and so we must obey this command. This tiny little church is taking this seriously, and I am excited to see how this will impact the community...if we all take it seriously. Being in contact with the students, I am excited to try to empower them to take ownership of this Initiative, because they have the ability to impact an area of the community where most people cannot: other teenagers. And it is cool to think that many instances of revival and renewal occurs in the teenage crowd. This morning got me excited for the year to come, and hopefully we can come up with some cool ideas to help the students grow and get excited about the mission field that is Penns Valley Area High School.
Monday, September 6, 2010
Ch-ch-ch-changes
College went pretty fast, and it was awesome...I'll have to post a list of my top ten moments in college or something...that'll be an entertaining treat for sure. But now I don't have to go to class, so that means I need to get a job. What I really want to do is work full time for a church, and I pray for that opportunity pretty much every day. Until then, or at least until I get married, I am working part time for a nearby church as youth director. The people there are great, and I'm excited to finally get that started! I believe cool things are going to happen this school year.
But I'm getting side tracked. That is only a part time job, which means that I have a lot of extra time. Obviously, I would love to fill those hours with fantasy football analysis, SportsCenter, a healthy dose of XBOX Live, and whatever extra time I have would go into playing the new Halo game, cooking, eating, sleeping, and hanging out with my fiance Meagan. But since my desire to provide for both Meagan and myself is greater than my passion for leisure, I am looking for another part time job. The job search process is really stupid right now because I really have no desire to do anything other than mentoring students and working in a church. This clearly limits my options, and since I already have a part time job, my availability isn't all that great either.
That being said, I have filled out a good number of applications over the past week or so. I can't say that I enjoy filling them out, but nearly every application has asked the same question: 'Why are you interested in this job?' And I kindly reply, 'I am interested in this job because I enjoy the specific business to which I am applying and I feel that my given skill set would be beneficial in creating a more improved experience/product at said location.'
Translation: "I want/need money, your money - if you choose to hire me. I promise I'll do a good job and do my best to make everyone's job easier. I will show up on time, do good work, and be reliable. That is a fair trade for the cash you are hopefully willing to provide."
Obviously, I go into greater detail, but that is basically it. I wish I could find something that would feel more like serving or making a difference. I don't want to get paid for a job - I would rather take a return on the time I invest in something, and that's why applying for jobs to help a bigger corporation or business run smoothly or work the way it's supposed to is not fulfilling to me. Rather than saying 'enjoy your meal' I want to say 'let's get lunch and talk about life.' I want to put together care packages for people instead of bagging people's groceries. I would love to find a job where I feel like I'm actually helping people rather than a business. Don't get me wrong, those jobs are necessary, but I want to do something that makes me feel alive, and I feel alive when serving people. Give me a job like that. I'd do it for free if I knew I could get by without the money.
But I'm getting side tracked. That is only a part time job, which means that I have a lot of extra time. Obviously, I would love to fill those hours with fantasy football analysis, SportsCenter, a healthy dose of XBOX Live, and whatever extra time I have would go into playing the new Halo game, cooking, eating, sleeping, and hanging out with my fiance Meagan. But since my desire to provide for both Meagan and myself is greater than my passion for leisure, I am looking for another part time job. The job search process is really stupid right now because I really have no desire to do anything other than mentoring students and working in a church. This clearly limits my options, and since I already have a part time job, my availability isn't all that great either.
That being said, I have filled out a good number of applications over the past week or so. I can't say that I enjoy filling them out, but nearly every application has asked the same question: 'Why are you interested in this job?' And I kindly reply, 'I am interested in this job because I enjoy the specific business to which I am applying and I feel that my given skill set would be beneficial in creating a more improved experience/product at said location.'
Translation: "I want/need money, your money - if you choose to hire me. I promise I'll do a good job and do my best to make everyone's job easier. I will show up on time, do good work, and be reliable. That is a fair trade for the cash you are hopefully willing to provide."
Obviously, I go into greater detail, but that is basically it. I wish I could find something that would feel more like serving or making a difference. I don't want to get paid for a job - I would rather take a return on the time I invest in something, and that's why applying for jobs to help a bigger corporation or business run smoothly or work the way it's supposed to is not fulfilling to me. Rather than saying 'enjoy your meal' I want to say 'let's get lunch and talk about life.' I want to put together care packages for people instead of bagging people's groceries. I would love to find a job where I feel like I'm actually helping people rather than a business. Don't get me wrong, those jobs are necessary, but I want to do something that makes me feel alive, and I feel alive when serving people. Give me a job like that. I'd do it for free if I knew I could get by without the money.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
