My Staff!!!

Week 7: God Believes in You!

I can not believe that I have been out of school and traveling for over two months now...So many stories to tell, so many lives that have changed, so many memories..

"God has an incredible high view of people. God believes that people are capable of amazing things."-Rob Bell, Velvet Elvis

I think that humans see themselves too small. I know that I am only one person but I know that one person plus another can do a tremendous amount of greatness. When I say one person plus another I mean, human + God! I have been reading the book of Matthew along with a lot of other books, and the one thing that seems to be popping right out of the stories is how much God wants us to view ourselves in Him, finding our identity in Him.

I know that we are sinners, which because of what Christ did on the cross we are forgiven and saved from eternal damnation, and it is nothing that we could ever do to save our selves but it is by his Grace that we are saved. With that Grace we can not sit back and think of our selves as dirt and scum, but we must rise up to Gods calling and that is for us to rise up and fallow him and be his disciples. Learn, grow, and trust that he is faithful. I place a lot of emphasis on believing in Christ and sharing my faith, but I miss something wonderful laid out for me in the scriptures and that is that Christ believes in me too.

God called the lowest of the low, fisherman to come and fallow him, because he believed in them and believed they could do amazing things for his kingdom. I think at times God gets frustrated at us like Jesus gets frustrated with his disciples in Matthew 17:14-20, "Then the disciples came to Jesus in private and asked, "Why couldn't we drive it out?" He replied, "Because you have so little faith. I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there' and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you." I am learning that I need to view myself as a saint, not a saint because of anything that I can do but because that is what God calls me, not the dirty sinner that pops up here and there..."A Saint who Sin Sometimes". God believes in us as believers he believes that we can do amazing things for Him, do you believe in yourself?

This week as I was in Green Bay, I got the chance to see junior highers gardening at nursing homes so that the seniors would have a beautiful back yard and enjoy Gods beauty. I saw adult leaders love on staff, a love that was indescribable. I got to be a child at heart, and have eyes to see Gods children grow and ears to hear their hurt and pain...God Believes in us all, we are the breath of God….

Week Six

What a wonderful powerful weekend....I had a chance to get all of my staff together and have a mini retreat! It was a blast, we hung out at Lake Michigan, saw Superman, and had an extroidenary time in worship and prayer. I think it was just what my staff needed to get through the rest of the summer. I have already seen God mold and shape each of them more and more in to the men and women that God has created them to be. A Youth Work summer is kind of like a boot camp. What I mean by that is is realy pushes you to the ultimate limit, to places and in situations that you never thought that you could get through. But in times of pressure the only thing you can do is fall on your knees in prayer and ask for Gods help, fo he is the only one who can help us in times of weakness and times of lonlyness.

I listend to something this weekend that reminded me what it means to be a women and man of God.

For the Men: 1 Timothy 3:1-7

"Here is a trustworthy saying: If anyone sets his heart on being an overseer,[a] he desires a noble task. 2Now the overseer must be above reproach, the husband of but one wife, temperate, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, 3not given to drunkenness, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money. 4He must manage his own family well and see that his children obey him with proper respect. 5(If anyone does not know how to manage his own family, how can he take care of God's church?) 6He must not be a recent convert, or he may become conceited and fall under the same judgment as the devil. 7He must also have a good reputation with outsiders, so that he will not fall into disgrace and into the devil's trap."

For the Women: Proverbs 31:10

" 10 [c] A wife of noble character who can find?
She is worth far more than rubies.
11 Her husband has full confidence in her
and lacks nothing of value.
12 She brings him good, not harm,
all the days of her life.
13 She selects wool and flax
and works with eager hands.
14 She is like the merchant ships,
bringing her food from afar.
15 She gets up while it is still dark;
she provides food for her family and portions for her servant girls.
16 She considers a field and buys it;
out of her earnings she plants a vineyard.
17 She sets about her work vigorously;
her arms are strong for her tasks.
18 She sees that her trading is profitable,
and her lamp does not go out at night.
19 In her hand she holds the distaff
and grasps the spindle with her fingers.
20 She opens her arms to the poor
and extends her hands to the needy.
21 When it snows, she has no fear for her household;
for all of them are clothed in scarlet.
22 She makes coverings for her bed;
she is clothed in fine linen and purple.
23 Her husband is respected at the city gate,
where he takes his seat among the elders of the land.
24 She makes linen garments and sells them,
and supplies the merchants with sashes.
25 She is clothed with strength and dignity;
she can laugh at the days to come.
26 She speaks with wisdom,
and faithful instruction is on her tongue.
27 She watches over the affairs of her household
and does not eat the bread of idleness.
28 Her children arise and call her blessed;
her husband also, and he praises her:
29 "Many women do noble things,
but you surpass them all."
30 Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting;
but a woman who fears the LORD is to be praised.
31 Give her the reward she has earned,
and let her works bring her praise at the city gate.