playing with Chico

from Nate: "that dog's head is bigger than Em's!"

barking back at him

showing him who's boss

YET

"My God is go big, so strong and so mighty, there's nothing my God cannot do. My God is so big, so strong and so mighty, there's nothing my God cannot do. The mountains are His, the valleys are His, the stars are His handiwork too. My God is so big, so strong and so mighty, there's nothing my God cannot do."
What a great reminder from the words of a children's song. I have to say kudos to Laura Crosby for her message at CPC this weekend. So basic, yet so strong. So simple, yet deep and truthful. And the songs all fit in so perfectly. It was about God's faithfulness, and waiting on Him when you don't see that faithfulness. Call to mind how He has been faithful in the past to carry you through to when He will be again. It goes along even with the advent season, of waiting for the birth of the Messiah. Seriously, if you feel God is not with you, read what Jeremiah wrote in Lamentations 3. And you will find this:
(vs. 19-26)"I remember my affliction and my wandering, the bitterness and the gall. I well remember them, and my soul is downcast within me. YET this I call to mind and therefore I have hope: Because of the Lord's great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning, great is your faithfulness. I say to myself. "The LORD is my portion; therefore I will wait for him. The LORD is good to those whose hope is in him, to the one who seeks him; it is good to wait quietly for the salvation of the LORD."
I know that we all have circumstances in our lives, whether we focus on them or not, now and then, yet we have hope. I have my own right now too. I will be honest today in a bit of my own depression in not knowing that I may ever have a man to love and marry. And that having friends can be downright hard. And a lot of times life isn't fair. Loving people can seem impossible yet undeniable in your heart as well. Yet I can be sure of God's faithfulness in what God has given me....
I realized last night that my birthday is in a week....Saturday... Today my sis-in-law asked me what I want for my birthday and for Christmas. I told her I didn't even have time to think about it. I went shopping right after that too. Now there are many times in my life, I wish I could just buy that, and have this thing and afford that, etc. But due to my loans and life expenses I have learned how not to spend money. That also has to do with the fact though that I am not great at managing money either. But most of the time, I go to the store and I say, "Hm, I don't need this, I don't need that....is there anything I DO need?" It's hard to think of what I want for Christmas or my birthday because I don't want anyone to spend money on things that are unnecessary. I've been good at wanting and asking for things that I need, but I just haven't bought. Things are just too dang expensive now-a-days. Here are some things I am thankful to have....some are luxuries...a home, a bed, clothes- lots of them, even though I don't like them all, a TV, a DVD player, multiple stereos, movies, lots of CD's, a decent computer, a digital camera, a car with only 50,000 miles (all driven by ME in two years!), a cell phone, 3 jobs, people who need me, people who love me, a place to belong, a hometown I love, so many memories it's hard to recall them all, a great heritage, a church and its family (two right now!), education, skills and gifts to bless others, an opportunity to love and serve.....what else can I ask for? How can I long for more (cuz I often do hence the reason I went shopping on Black Friday) even when I realize that I have more than I deserve or even need and can afford? God is faithful.

"Oh Lord my God, when I in awesome wonder, consider all the worlds Thy hands have made. I see the stars, I hear the rolling thunder, Thy power throughout the universe displayed. Then sings my soul, my Savior, God, to Thee. how great Thou art, how great Thou art."

"There is forgiveness with Thee, and in wonder I fall on my knees. My soul waits for the Lord in the hope of His promise, in the hope of His promise, deliv'rance will come. My soul waits for the Lord thru the night till the morning, like a night watchman waiting for the coming of the dawn."

"Be still, my soul: the Lord is on thy side; bear patiently the cross of grief or pain; leave to thy God to order and provide, in every change he faithful will remain. Be still, my soul: thy best, the heavenly Friend through thorny ways leads to a joyful endBe still, my soul: thy God doth undertake to guide the future as he has the past.....the waves and winds still know his voice who ruled them while he dwelt below....Be still, my soul: the when change and tears are past, all safe and blessed we shall meet at last."

"Pardon for sin and a peace that endureth, Thine own dear presence to cheer and to guide. Strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow, blessings all mine with ten thousand beside. Great is Thy faithfulness. Great is Thy faithfulness. Morning by morning, new mercies I see. All I have needed, Thy hand has provided. Great is Thy faithfulness, Lord unto me."

On a completely different note. Why is it that you can own a movie and never watch it? But when it is on TV, you are glued to it? I don't understand. I wouldn't have pulled out Bourne Identity, but it was on TV today and I enjoyed watching it....weird....as for now, lovin' the Karate Kid! He's about to do the famous move!!!!
"Sweep the leg. You have a problem with that?....No mercy." Karate Kid....classic....I always loved "Ali with an I" and the 80's tunes!

random events of the day

I'm actually currently watching a guy on the Tonight Show sing and play guitar while walking around in a great big bubble. He is singing about Spongebob. Quite odd I must say.I had a better day than I expected. My heart is just broken over what is going on with our youth group. It's hard to explain concisely, but decisions need to be made. On my part and on the kids....I just don't know. So please continue to pray for that. It's a struggle. After last night I actually just wanted to cry out of frustration and the feeling of loss. I didn't want to get out of bed this morning because I felt sick...The church staff and wife and kids of church staff had lunch with Lady Chee (Chaz's wife Carolyn- MISS HER!), baby Mitchel and her sister Emily and her kids at Olive Garden. Good times. Then tonight I took Emily on one of the most important adventures that she would ever take. We ventured to a far away land and splurged on our resources. We even had a tiny bit of a witness opportunity. Okay, so we went to buy her a cell phone! (Leave a message on http://emilyrachael.blogspot.com to welcome her to the 21st century!) I actually had to spot her to help her pay for it (she has no credit history- 'nuff said). But we still went to celebrate at Macaroni Grill- mmmm, good. I shared with her a book I picked up the other day by Ryan Dobson, called, "Be Intolerant" (not exact wording) "because some things are just stupid." It's about taking a stance to follow the black and white rules in the Bible, rather than the moral relativism (just plain stupid) of this world. It's not about what's right for me, or right for you. It's about following Christ and obtaining morality through the grace and mercy of the Lord. Our server saw it on the table and was drawn to it because of the title, "Be Intolerant" since she is a social worker and "be tolerant" has been instilled in her. So it was a conversation starter!Anyway, off to bed....even though I don't have to wake up tomorrow till I feel like it!!!!!!!

oops

I was going to tell you this today too...
Go to my church's website and check out my pic and article!!!!

I decided the site could use some change...for fall! :) Hopefully it's actually clearer, and larger to read.
Yesterday I spent a few hours at Bethel! Yea! I haven't been doing that so much lately so it was very cool. I went to chapel because Caedmon's Call was there. Met up with my pal Alan for that- good to see him- so proud of the Bethel freshman! :) Then I went downstairs cuz I was gonna hang out with Tate Watts with his BSC booth. When I got there he was talking to Mike Loween! Yea! Never get to see that boy. The three of us had some cool conversation. I was encouraged. Tate had mentioned to Mike that there was a camp program director position open at another camp and Mike said that he was just waiting for God as what to do next with his life. Well, he even made a comment like, "like Sara, and now she's a full blown youth pastor!" This kid knows...and I haven't thought on lengths on this, but it is something always worth remembering. If you wait on the Lord, even for years, He will answer that in ways you never imagined it. Ever since spring of my senior year (2002) I had no clue what was going to happen with my life. But that was okay for me. God doesn't want us to make our own plans for life. We might have to make choices here and there, but what He really wants is for us to be sensitive to His calling. And all along that way, He will take care of us. I know this is true for me in so many ways, and also for Mike. He blesses us in SO MANY WAYS!!!! In Mike's waiting (and I hope he doesn't mind me sharing about his life!) he has had the opportunity to work in Korea and travel to other countries around there, spend time with his family (including a new nephew and mom with MS), work with his home church, and now this summer, get married! I wish that we all would be able to surrender to God's will and not giving into the pressures of what this world expects from us. Something I got out (thought of in a fresh way) of a conference last week is that if we love God, He will give us what we want. Now that doesn't mean to give lip service and say, "I love You God, now give me this." It's about truly falling in love with Him so much that you actually want what He wants for you, so of course He will give it to you. It's something you can really understand when you experience it.
I was also encouraged in the fact that though I rarely talk to Mike these days and he has a married life, he knows my journey and continues to encourage it He brings up things that I forget. He was right on the button about saying that I was waiting on God for so long and now I've got a great thing. I went "oh yeah, I did email him a lot in those days" and he paid attention. He would write to gently remind me to seek God because He is in control. Not because I didn't know it, but all of us need those reminders. Talking to him briefly yesterday was refreshing. So, thanks friend, and that was my rambling for the day.
So yup, then I hung out with Tate to help him recruit for awhile. Good times. It's gonna be way hard for me to not be there next summer! Then I was off to drive, and off to youth group.. Great day!
Today and tomorrow I am going to Youth Leader conference through Bethel Wahoo! Should be great! I love having days off from the bus company! ;)
Later!

So, I finally finished furnishing, painting and arranging my new office....for now. At this point I am ready to decorate it....that's the most exciting part! I can't wait to put my pictures and posters up. Woot! (That was for Emily. She says that I don't say that word so it sounds funny when I do!)Serious issues and struggles have come up in the lives of several of our youth group members and it has caused quite some turmoil. It's hard to be a teenager, that's for sure, and these ones have really been hit hard and it's become very relevant in the last couple weeks. Chaz called me the other day to let me know that "a crapload is coming at you". He's right. It's all at once. Just proof that when you are working the hardest to serve God and following Him with all you've got, the enemy is going to attack the hardest. The church has got a good thing and he wants to mess it up. So I would like to ask for your prayers for my youth....which is diminishing in number due to what's going on...but we know more kids will come.... I wish I could share specifics, but I can't. Just pray for these people- Jon, Paul, Julie, Jess, Christine, Scott, Liz, Nick, Melanie, Brian, Erin, Becky, Mariah, Michaela, Trevor, the others that are not as regular (or I'm actually forgetting), and our leaders, Nathan, Jess, Troy, Mark, and myself. Man, just thinking about what's going on specifically for some is enough to depress me. Wow. But our God is a good God. And the glory will be given to Him.

time flies

So if you read my xanga, you read that I was going to talk about my weekend here. Oops, never got to it. I'll give you a quick overview. Last weekend was a big youth group weekend. On Friday night was the big lock-in. Good turnout. Good times.....very little sleep...games, lots of movies, lots of video games. On Saturday night, it was the plan to go to the Relient K concert. Well, I wasn't so smart on that one, but thinking that I would give the kids a last chance opportunity to go (for one it worked!), I didn't buy tickets ahead of time and just told them to bring money to buy at the door. Oops. Got there and they were sold out! So we totally missed out on that. But we were determined to have a good time. We went out to Grace Church in Eden Prairie cuz there was an event there. Well, we were way late, but we hung around to meet BarlowGirl. How cool is that! See the pic! Then we went bowling, and got Taco Bell after. The three kids that I was with gave me a nickname...and said that we have to make the bowling a Saturday night "Sara adventure" tradition....to Jon, Paul, and Mel...POUND IT! :)
I took a break from the lock-in on Friday for the huge event of Entertaining Strangers playing at the band tourney at Club 3 Degrees. Much needed good time. I hadn't seen them perform in many months! Great times.....here are a couple pics:
"The three Sara-Beth's", yup that's right! :)

And one of them on stage...Bobby (with the hat) on guitar-oops,can't see him!, Eric in red, lead vocals, Lucas, guitar and vocals, Dave on drums and Marc on bass.
Great friends, great guys, great musicians and performers! Whoo hoo!
So, I guess that was my last weekend. I'll put more in a separate post as far as since then!