Dream of This

Dream of This
By Marianne Williamson

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate.
Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.
It is our Light, not our darkness that most frightens us.

We ask ourselves -- Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous?

Actually, who are we not to be?

You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people do not feel insecure around you. We were born to manifest the Glory of God that is within us. It is not just in some of us, it is in everyone.

And as we let our light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fears, our presence automatically liberates others.

Unify in Love.

When something turns out well we can attribute it to many things. Nice effort, a great coordinator, organizational skills of a genius. These things seem to pull events together, make meetings effective or start up a program that thrives.

Good things do not happen because of good leadership, lots of help, good planning, or even enthusiasm. It is much deeper; it comes from love. Even the most passionate person can burn out if they do not serve with love. Love is not passion, but passion stems from love.

God is love. Let us do what we are called to do, but let us not merely do it in our own way, but through means of God's unending love. An ear will interpret differently than the nose, or the mouth might have a different way of comunicating than the nose will. But if we are one body united by the love of God, we work together better, but only when we make the effort to make our love apparent.

"12The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts; and though all its parts are many, they form one body. So it is with Christ. 13For we were all baptized by[a] one Spirit into one body—whether Jews or Greeks, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink." -1 Corinthians 12:12-13

Sometimes life is stressful, and to show love is hard. But we gotta try, that's all I can say (well I could say more, but I'm not gonna.)

Life Through the Eyes of a Nursery Worker

Andy loves Jesus, he has for quite some time. But Andy hasn't always gone to church as much as he does now. Because Emily was gone today, Andy volunteered to write the weekly bulletin post...

"People always ask me, "why work in the nursery?" My answer is always "1. Because it's fun. 2. I like to help. 3. I get community service hours," when in reality the answer was that I didn't want to go to church. For the longest time, I have not liked going to church. It always seemed boring, and I never got the message. A few years ago we got a new Pastor, Billy, that is really awesome. He seems in tune with the church family, and even the youth. He brings his message through video. The clips are always good and attention getting. This has made me start going to church more often and I feel like my faith keeps growing. So I just wanted to say thank you Billy for everything you do for this church. And for everyone not to be afraid to work in the nursery."

Andy wants Jesus, as do many young people today. So where are the young people in the church? Where are the two full rows of youth sitting in the front pews? The truth is they don't feel comfortable in the church, or feel there isn't a place for them.

Andy sits in his truck during Sunday School and listens to Christian music. My friend Christine hasn't always gone to church, yet she keeps herself spiritually in tune. Lots of students attend Fellowship of Christian Athletes at school but don't have a church they belong to. Sure, its important to have personal spiritual disciplines, but what can we do to make places for these people? And to "those people," don't be afraid to step out from your nursery-worker stance and immerse yourelf in a church family.

VL2015!

If you haven't noticed, I like mission trip.

A few months ago my parallel personality Morgan PettyJohn and I came up with a grand idea. We decided that in 2015, we want to travel back to Vivian, LA for a mission trip with our youth groups (that we both aspire to have.)
For those of you that are unaware, this is the place where Glen Rose and Davis Memorial first met, the Mecca of this great friendship if you will. So what better place could there be to take our future youth groups back to?

For me personally, this specific mission trip was life-changing. It was definitely one of the hardest weeks I have ever endured on a mission trip. It was one of those experiences that tore me down so that I could see God's love and grace shining through others and warming my heart. It was after this mission trip that I became that "church girl," and really started to act upon my call to ministry.

Nice little story, huh? My point is that these two youth groups have something special that was spurred by mission. There's a little spark I see in my friends' eyes when they talk about mission trip. Our conversations during Bible Study often involve people from Davis, just as if they were part of our own church family. Mission trip has made my group who it is.

Today Morgan and I decided to make these VL2015 t-shirts. We made them just for fun, kinda spur of the moment, but I feel that even though we never said it, we made the shirts for a different reason. We keep a piece of mission trip in our hearts forever. It is my hope that as we all graduate and grow-up, that we do not also grow weary in doing good, and that the mission does not stop after CTCYM. There is something special about mission trip, too special to loose.

So whether we actually go back to Vivian or not, it is my hope that we still go back to those feelings.

"And let us consider how we may spur one another on to love and good deeds." -Hebrews 10:24

P.S. A link for those who want a shirt- http://www.customink.com/designs/vl20153/esm0-000f-dgwg/social?cm_cat=facebook&cm_ite=vl20153&cm_pla=share&cm_ven=social

Thoughts for the Doodlers; Where do we Sit on Sunday Mornings?

Emily, my doodling buddy has one of the most tight-knit family I've ever seen. Sure, she's related to half of the people in Glen Rose, but not many people care about their family as much as her. This is what she has to say about her church family...or what she cared to write down on her bulletin today anyway...

"How often do we as youth catch ourselves running to sit with our church family (youth group) instead of our real family members. I want to all the time but I always sit with my family. That's not bad don't get me wrong, family is always important. But I truly believe that without our church friends there would be a void. Sounds a little strange but its true. I wouldn't have all the friends I do without them. Without Carly Payne who would drag me to Dallas for strange movies? I would definitely not have those crazy experiences. Amazingly worth it. They know you better than yourself sometimes. Sitting with them is like sitting with your family. Just your extended family."


I can't tell you how much I've grown to appreciate my fellow youth this past year. There are a collect few (whom I shall call the Fearsome Four) who have been around for a long time, and I can say we really do know each other better than ourselves sometimes (I'll blog about that later.) Our church family is important. Whose in yours?

*I'd also like to clarify that the movie wasn't crazy, it was about John Wesley and very educational :)

The Beans About it all...

I'm a lunch lady at GLC. Most likely those who are reading this are not (but hi to all my kitchen friends who are!) There's a lot of stuff that goes on in the kitchen in order to prepare a meal, more than I ever knew. But I think anyone who is able to click on a mouse to read this can understand the basic concept of a kitchen; to feed people.

People come through the serving line to get food (or at the very least be presented with it.) There is no doubt about it. If no one gives them food, they are going to go crazy, mess with all the salt and pepper shakers, and then go look for food somewhere else. Probably at Hammond's.

No one is going to pick up a spoon and not serve the campers their beans on Mexican-food night. They were hired based on the fact that they could do more than just be there, but actually serve. If they did just stand there, Karen would tell them to get to work or do it herself. The campers would not go unfed. When you are hired to work in the kitchen, it is your job to give the campers their beans, its not just going to happen.

It is obvious when people aren't being fed. In the kitchen, any report of people going hungry would be fixed immediately. So what's the difference between that and in living our lives as Christians? Why don't we hold others accountable when they aren't doing their job, or even if they aren't treating themselves properly? While we should always be an example of love, "being nice" about anything isn't going to feed people.

Shout Out to Bulletin Doodlers

The cool youth at our church hang out in the nursery before and after worship. We often out-number the children there. Today after church my friend Emily had written me a little note on her bulletin. It said this....

Church for those who doodle...

Many people think that if you don't pay attention to a sermon in church that it defeats the purpose of going to church at all. I'm here to say that is not completely true. Yes, I am one of those who doodle during church but what some don't realize is you retain a lot of info even if you don't stare holes into the preacher's head. That just makes you tired and them uncomfortable. Go figure. Sitting and just listening to the preacher talk about what they know can be just as productive as watching their every move. I'm not the type of person to go to church and hang on every word but it makes me think and gives me the chance to figure out how to be a great Christian. Just thoughts to think about for those who doodle...

This morning at the Men's breakfast (don't ask why I was there, ) one of my favorite lay persons, Hugh Smith, pointed out that worship doesn't mean praise. It is derived from work-ship. The things we do in mission are just as important, if not more than what we do Sunday morning. All forms of worship are vital, but we all get connected in different ways. With a changing church, its important to remember this as we welcome in (and are hospitable to) new people.

This is what Emily does to rest and reflect on the Sabbath.
The next time I give her the nudge to pay attention during church,
She can remember to poke me when I take extra long breaks on mission trip.

What does worship mean to you?