Trust Me - I'm A Youth Leader!

I've just returned from my first weekend away as a youth group leader, I use the term 'leader' loosely because I'm not sure I always lead in the right direction, and am often accused by the kids of being a bigger kid than them!

Although I grew up in Christian surroundings I wasn't one of those kids who lived for the camps - in fact the only two I remember going on as a kid didn't leave me with great memories, I came home from one infested with head-lice, and the other one I spent a whole day in tears and didn't really know why!

Funnily enough it was to be at the same place I spent a week and a tear soaked day as a child, that we were to return to with the youth group from our church, so I wasn't sure what emotions it might evoke. 

We went across to Woodcroft Christian Centre which is only about 30 mins drive from where we are, which is a bonus for whoever has to drive the minibus, because listening to the onslaught of vocal renditions ranging from S Club 7 to Queen, or various entire Monty Python sketches being recited word for word by a large group of teenagers is a lot to ask of anyone; so top tip for booking a youth weekend away......go local!

The theme for the weekend was 'trust' and we covered all angles, from trusting God and our faith to trusting peoples advice, and of course how we recover from broken trust. 

I hope and pray the kids got something out of it, I think they did, we'll find out more over the coming weeks in our group together.  But I know I got something out of it.  My slot was to cover trusting God, and in my preparation I was reminded of a verse I had come to a long time ago while praying during a desperate situation:

Psalm 28:7(NIV)

The Lord is my strength and my shield,

my heart trusts in him, and he helps me.

My heart leaps for joy,

    and with my song I praise him.

It was so good to be reminded of this verse again and find the trust in God that I needed to for my present situation.

Aside from worship and talks and a couple of workshops, there was time for the kids to have one to one talks with leaders. I don't know if as a teenager I would've opened up to an adult about certain situations, but I know as an adult I wish I had, so I think it's great that we can build those relationships and provide the environment for them to talk - only if they wanted to of course, it was all very relaxed.

Both nights two other leaders and myself stayed up till 1am for 'late night chat'. The first night was great, a few testimonies were shared which was very moving and I feel privileged to have heard them, and some theological questions asked, and it was wonderful to see just how seriously these youngsters take their understanding of the Bible and they want to talk and ask their peers their understanding of certain texts.

Night two and we thought we'd try and spice it up a bit by allowing an anonymous questions bag, improvisationaly provided in the form of a wash bag and some post it notes! I'm not sure who managed to lower the tone more - the kids or the leaders; the best question was.....oops no, sorry, what gets said in 'late night chat' stays in 'late night chat', the weekend was based on 'trust' after all!

We finished up the weekend with Christmas dinner and Secret Santa gifts (I know, it's February, don't ask!) and I have to say I was more than chuffed with my gift, I don't know who it was from, but it was a book I have wanted for a little while now, Heaven: It's not the end of the world by David Lawrence (maybe I'll get him to sign it next time he speaks at our church!)

So, I survived my first weekend away with 18 teenagers as a leader! Would I go again? Definitely!

Did I Really Write All That This Year?

Another blogging year has passed, and in true Chanel 4 bad TV style, here’s a look back at my favourite posts this year.

 

Waaaay back in January, Pastor Mark Driscoll was causing a stir with his marriage book he had written with his wife Grace, and also with his derogatory remarks towards our UK pastors, how very dare he! 

Here’s a look back at the post I wrote in response to that.  

Also in January Wikipedia went on strike for 24 hours and the cyber world didn't collapse! By the way does anyone know whatever did happen to the Wiki-leaks bloke? Is he still hiding in an embassy somewhere? Or am I completely mixing my news feeds?  Anyway, I came to the rescue and provided web surfers with any inane information they may have been looking for here.

February was a sad month for us, and no sooner had I posted about the church being more than just a building, rather, a gathering of Christians, our town faced a tough few weeks as the devastating news unravelled about our Vicar having been murdered at his home the Vicarage. All the denominations pulled together to support the members of the  C of E church, with services being held in our Baptist church and all different members of the community attending. 

The church on that occasion was definitely not the building. The church in February was the Christians from all the different meeting places who offered support to the confused and grieving, the church was the parents and teachers at school who comforted the children and assured them they were safe, the church was the high police presence who spoke to anyone and everyone as they met them in the street at the school gates, or outside the church. The church was and always will be God’s people who reach out in love and support to their brothers and sisters.

March was miracle month in which a nation (including Sun readers!) joined together in praying for a young footballer Fabrice Muamba who collapsed of a heart attack during a game.  He has since made a miraculous recovery and may even be able to take up professional football again in the future!

Also in March that age old question on everybody’s lips ‘what happens when we die?’…..What? Oh, you've never thought about it? Well perhaps after reading this post you might give it a thought, this also reminded me of a book review I posted, on Rob Bell’s book 'Love Wins' way back in the olden days of blogging, in which everyone ends up in Heaven! Yay, here’s hoping?!

April brought us the gay bus campaign, that’s right, you shouldn't judge a bus on its orientation….well, obviously, I suppose you may have to make a certain judgement based on its orientation or you may end up in Scratchy Bottom (real place Dorset) when you actually wanted to go to Sandy Balls! (real place Hampshire…….thank goodness the Wiki strike didn't last long).

I also started training for running my first and ahem, last 10k, and Monty Python taught us a lesson about accepting when we are beat and need help!

In May, I did against all expectations, complete the 10k, no I did not say I ‘ran’ it – that was never on the cards, but I was jolly chuffed with myself and my mates for what we achieved and we finished with a total of just over £1000 raised!

June, and the nation went crazy over the Royals, though I’m sure if you asked half the primary aged kids around the UK, if they could name  the Queen and her children and grandchildren, they would probably reply: “Freddie was gay wasn't he? I don’t think he had kids”. Who am I kidding, they won’t have ever heard of Queen.

This is a long post 'cause I'm covering the year for goodness sake! Go get yourself a cuppa and return, because coming up after the next paragraph break we have the next 6 months, find out what actually happened in August and why did they destroy Jimmy Saville's grave…….

Right, you sorted with your brew?  Good, because I bring you news that in July scientists found God, woop woop……oh no, wait, they found the 'god particle' my mistake. I don’t actually think they've ever looked for God, they should though,  it really would save a lot of money on big whiry things looking for particles, I mean, I have particles colliding in my house every day – it’s called dust.

August? What happened in August? I didn't write a single post. I can only imagine it being the school holidays I couldn't find a quiet 15 minutes to get anywhere near the lappy. Oh no actually I remember August, I slept through it.

September I ended up realising I’d been married for a very looooong time! Almost as long as the Hobbit movie – but with less animal deaths.

Every child of the 70’s & 80’s had there sad memories of unanswered letters turned to feelings of thank *£*$ for that, I’m so relieved Jim didn't fix it for me. C’mon though, we knew he was weird didn't we? It has since unravelled into a ‘who’s who’ of the 70’s & 80’s popular TV paedophile ring. Very sad and disturbing.  

What was also sad and disturbing in October was a community hall in our town deciding to have a séance for the kiddies on Halloween! Genius!

The last week in November was so busy for me with something on every night, that I had to pop this post into December, I know you won’t be picky about that, but if you really want a November entry, I’ll give you the review of the Derren Brown show and one of my favourite radio shows, Unbelievable.

My goodness, hasn't December come around quickly? I decided long ago not to think a year was a long time, because we all know only too well it is a very short time. 

We have a very short time to live out our lives; I think almost every year someone predicts the end of the world – Harold Camping last year, the Mayans this year, but the Bible tells us in Matthew 24:36 we will not know or be able to predict the return of Jesus. Peter tells us in his 2nd letter that time is irrelevant to God, but he definitely will return, for all who have trusted in him and believed in him, one day.

I enjoy wittering away in this little corner of the blogosphere, and I pray, that maybe sometimes I can encourage you, and make you smile; but above all, I hope I am showing you a God who loves you, and wants you to know him as a God who is your Saviour, as a God who is not happy with how the world is, but has a plan for it to be perfect and for you to be in it with him for eternity. I hope you've had a good year and here’s to a truly blessed and fun 2013.

Stop That, It's Silly.

A couple of years ago, someone very kindly told me I reminded them of the Black Knight in the Monty Python film The Holy Grail! No, I hadn't been involved in a sword fight and lost all my limbs, but I was involved in a battle - a battle within myself in which I couldn't at that time accept I needed help.

It was quite obvious to those around me that I was struggling, but I was insisting to everyone "I'm alright" my close friends began to accept that as code for "I'm far from alright, but I can't possibly admit that, because it will reveal me to be an obvious failure and a worthless individual, so please, help me"
Anyway, I was reminded of this comparison this week because Hubby and I went to the Theatre, dahling, for his birthday to see 'Spamalot' the stage production of the Holy Grail, which I would highly recommend if you're a Python fan, if not you'll just find it 'silly'!
The poor old Black Knight has every limb chopped off and insists there's nothing wrong it's just a flesh wound, he's had worse, it'll heal etc. to the bemusement of King Arthur who can clearly see he is fatally injured and has in fact lost that particular battle.  He simply will not accept he's defeated.
God does not expect or want us to deal with life's struggles on our own, we simply aren't made that way, we need the companion and compassion of others in order to survive
Psalm 55:22 ESV
Cast your burden on the Lord, and he will sustain you; he will never permit the righteous to be moved.
Galations 6;2 ESV
Bear one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.
Whatever circumstances you find yourself in today, if you are telling yourself and others that you are 'alright, it's nothing, I can deal with it', be honest with yourself and with God and if you need the help of someone around you who loves you, accept it.