Today I… October 19, 2008

Went to bed at 1:00 in the morning…
Woke up at 6:00 am to get ready for church…
Got a very yummy triple grande white mocha…
Arrived at the Providence Campus and 7:30…
Lead Large Group Worship in the Quest room there…
For all four services…
Saw some of my favorite Elevators…
Went home at 2:30 and immediately collapsed on my couch…

 You might think I’m complaining. But today was actually a pretty amazing day. I missed all my Butler Volunteers and the kids I usually lead there. But today was an awesome opportunity to see how things are done at Providence and show them a little bit about how we do things at Butler. It was cool to just bounce ideas off of Jeremy at the end of the day to see what all we did differently. There was all sorts of stuff that the two campuses did differently, and some stuff that I definitely want to bring up next Sunday and maybe start doing at Butler. For example, Providence has a Quest Offering. I think we had talked about starting one, but never got around to it. After seeing how excited the kids were to give to the offering, I definitelythink that we need to have one too. I also really was liking how they played a song (“Let’s go!”) as the kids transitioned into large group. It gave me something to be doing with them as every one shuffled in to the Large Group area. It’s not one that our kids know too too well…but if they hear it every week with some one doing the motions as they come in and sit down, they’ll know it and play along too. Also. Providence doesn’t do a group potty break, witch was different. I don’t think we could get away with that. Plus…when would we do the wiggles or the hokey pokey? Also, the kids all got cool rubber wrist bands that was their group color for the day. I really like that. It seemed to move more smootly into small group over there, and that might be why. It might not be, but it’s worth a try.  

Also, Jeremy said there was a couple of things I did different that they want to keep. The way I did the finger play for the prayer was different than the normal way, and he thinks he’s gonna try to implement that. Also I have the kids repeat each line of the prayer after I say it, which they didn’t do at Providence before. Some how we also talked about the back of the coloring sheets for the parents to look at and I mentioned how we have our boards set up at check-in and check-out. We put a reminder about the coloring sheet, along with other important stuff at check-out. And we put the Special Words on our front check-in board along with a welcome and a food allergy reminder.

Which reminds me…Providence didn’t do snack. They might be on to something there. No one asked for it, no one wanted water. Nothing. I strongly feel that snack is just a hassle and we should do away with it too. I’m gonna bring that up with my room facilitators and see what they think about it. The kids will probably ask for it for the first few weeks, but they might get accustomed to just not having it. We usually only do it if we have time anyways, and it mostly just causes issues. I’m hoping they agree with me.

It was a very nice change of scenery for one Sunday. Every body was so thankful that i was able to step in and help out to lead large group for all four services. I guess that’s not really the normal thing over there…but since I wasn’t aware that most people only did two services, I totally stepped up. Not that  wouldn’t have other wise. Because I so would do all four services again. More sleep and more caffeine. And a cough drop or two to help preserve my voice. Hahaha.

It was fun to lead for a whole bunch of new faces. Got to meet some pretty cool kids and small group leaders. I’ll be glad to be back at Butler next Sunday. But I’m definitely looking forward to the next time I get to help out over at Providence. I made sure every one over there knew that I was willing to come back over if they were in need of an actor and would have me back, but they don’t want to burn me out. I understand that, and am very thankful for it.

I love my church and all the people who are involved with making it happen. And am so thankful I get to be a part of what’s going there. It’s a crazy amazing awesome move of God, and I’m fighting on the front lines. It’s an awesome feeling. I love it.

“It’s Coming From In Here!” October 14, 2008

So in the Quest room, we have set curricula and series that we get from Willow Creek Church. One series in our curriculum is the Room of Wonder. And in the Room of Wonder (wonder, wonder, wonderrr) we have a purple round container that has a corresponding tuba sound on the sound Cd’s. When that sound plays, we would ask the children where it was coming from (they would point to the purple music container) and then we’d open up the container and immediately play the music.

Well. The cutest thing happened on Sunday. It’s been about three months since the Room of Wonder series, and Dallas (our sound volunteer) had some of our music on shuffle. We had just pulled out the purple container to serve as a temporary Lalala (another music box character), and all of a sudden, the tuba sound starts to play. Well, Micah, one of the regular attendees in the Quest room, races over to the purple container and shouts “It’s coming from in here! It’s coming from in here! Quick, open it up! You have to open it up!”

I never really thought that the kids actually thought that the noises came from the inanimate objects we told them they did. But they actually do. And they remember things from series past. Rachel, the room facilitator for the service, and I cracked up when Micah ran over to Lalala. He was totally right, the noise did come from there, so I opened it up, and Dallas played along, playing a song immediately, as to not ruin the illusion we give the kids. It was awesome. And adorable. One of the many reasons why I love volunteeting in the Quest Room.

Sunday Wrap Up October 7, 2008

Usually I’m good for a Monday entry about what happened on Sunday, but seriously, Sunday was SOOO amazing that I needed to rest a little and let the thoughts percolate in my head before I committed to writing about it.

In the past three days I’m going on about 10 hours of sleep…so forgive me if I don’t make sense.

Sunday morning I wake up to go to sermon at 8:30. My mom came with me. It had been a while since she had come because she had broken her leg and it was too painful to go to Church, stand in line, walk around, worship, stand for the reading if he asked us to, and so on and so forth. Well, her leg is just about all better, so she came with me. It was nice not to have to sit alone.
The sermon was about sex. Not like, skirting around it, really vague, wait until you’re older and we’ll talk about it sex. It was from Song of Songs, the honeymoon part. And it was real sex. And he talked about real sex, anything there was to be covered about sex, he covered it.
Then, he decided that since the entire series was about relationships and healthy marriages, he wanted to jump start all the married couples and sponsored a date night. For every single married couple in the church. They got cards, picked a restaurant, and within the next two weeks you go to that place and get a $30 gift card. And they’ll reimburse childcare. How cool is that?

okay skip to Quest. no lesson plan. And Motion is short quite a few small group leaders, so I head over to Motion to help out. I get second graders, and it was really fun. They learned about behaving, and the Bible verse was Ephesians 5:7-10. I think. We played charades on different things that’s difficult to demonstrate Christ-like behavior, and good choices you can make during the week. We had discussion questions, and, the coolest part to me, prayer cards. Each child received a card to write specific requests and what they were going to commit to during the week according to the Bible lesson. It was really cool.  I grabbed them all up at the end of the day and put them all in my journal. They’re all too sweet and each one made a really good commitment for the week. I’m proud of our church’s next generations of Christ Seekers.

Then, later that night we had a night of worship. We sang lots of songs, and Pastor Furtick shared some really big news with us. We are getting our first permanent facility!!!!!!!!! It’s in the Ashley Furniture strip mall on 74 right off of 485. HOW EXCITING RIGHT?! He said it should be ready next fall. 900 seats. NINE HUNDRED SEATS and the church offices.  WOO! And Of course, we showed our pastor a little love.
October is Pastor appreciation month, so a ton of volunteers and attendees wrote letters of cards of gratitude for all Pastor does for our church. He almost cried when he got the bags full of letters. Larry Hubakta spoke some really heartfelt words of thankfulness and appreciation. About how Pastor has a specific vision for every one, even if they don’t see it them selves. Like a kind of spooky, even if he doesn’t know you kind of premonition way. Then Pastor came on to tell us how much he loves us, really truly loves each and every one of us, and how on Saturday nights when he’s stuck with a not-so-great sermon he’ll think of us, and specific faces he doesn’t even know, and how we respond to him while he preaches. He told us as much as he encourages us, we encourage him with all our support and appreciation.

Then I hit up IHOP with the BaxterBynumSmith clan. Fun stuff. I’m still super excited about the new PERMANENT phase of the life of our church. I’m stoked about the fact that the Butler campus the campus they’re predicting this facility will absorb. I’m excited that I get to be a part of one of the most (if not the most) important movements of God in this day and age. This life just keeps getting more and more exciting. I can’t wait to see what happens next!

Ekidz Baptisms September 28, 2008

In the words of the famous Larry Brey, today was like the Superbowl. Today was our Ekidz baptism celebration, where dozens of kids ages 6-11 proclaimed their love for Jesus publicly for the world to see. It was amazing to witness. As some one who is active in the Children’s Ministry at Elevation, it was like…well…you know when you put in all your efforts into something, week after week you pour your self into one specific goal, and one day, it’s done and you can just sit back and bask in it’s glory. That’s what today was. It made my calling even more obvious. It made me remember why I memorize scripts once a month and get up early every Sunday so I can fill preschoolers up with the Word of the Lord. It reminded me why I put up with screaming kids who don’t want to share their toys, and attempt to console crying ones who just want mommy. All the hard work is totally worth it. When they accept Jesus Christ as their personal savior and profess in to every one, it’s all worth it.

I only knew three of the baptizees, but those three impacted all the Quest-ers the way a million would. And I am NOT taking any of this credit. All the glory of dozens of kids getting baptized today goes to God. He placed them in our care, and He in entrusted us with His message. He appointed us. He gifted us with the ability to lead 2nd through 5th graders in worship and and the ability to captivate them while acting on stage with a Christ Soaked Message. Not an easy task. And that’s all Him. He gave the small group leaders in both Motion and Quest the patience to answer lots and lots and lots and lots questions and repeat things 10 or 20 times to ensure the message sank in. And most of all, He gave us a passion to minister to youngsters. The future of the Christian congregation. The children who placed their faith publicly today may very well be the next Chris Brown, Wade Joye or Mack Brock. Rocking out on Stage for the Glory of God. They may be the next Larry Brey, John Bishop or Larry Hubatka. They might even be the next Steven Furtick. Or…prepare for some serious boldness…the next Billy Graham. I know, I know. Getting ahead of myself. But seriously. These kids are the future. And I am thankful everyday that I get to lead them and have an active role in their faith. I’m thankful I get to make the Bible fun for them. That I get to make learning about Jesus exciting. That I get to expose them to the love of Jesus early on so that when the time comes for them to let Him into their hearts it’s with full faith and understanding of His power.

Even with the…trouble, let’s go with trouble, that the grill gave us while attempting to feed all the families of the baptizees and volunteers, today was awesome. All the sweat and ever slow cooking hamburgers is worth it. Really, any amount of work is worth seeing some one make the most important decision of their life. And for them self. All on their own. Not just because mommy and daddy said it was time. But because they understood what it meant and already have Jesus as their personal savior and are ready to take the next step. I think that’s what makes it the most amazing. It was the personal decision and understanding of all these children to take their faith publicly. Ekidz kids are the best in the world. In my opinion anyways. And maybe I’m a little biased. But only a little.

Why won’t He gives me wings so I can fly? September 21, 2008

I know I’ve mentioned it a few times on here before, but I never tire of telling people that I volunteer in the Quest (3-5 year old) Room at Elevation Church. I also never tire of telling people how much I really truly enjoy every minute I get to spend with these kids. Every Sunday I spend any where from two to five hours, depending on how many services I volunteer for, surrounded by the most amazing group of kids . I love that what I’m doing has a real possibility of sticking and creating a fun relationship with God that these kids will have for the rest of their lives. I do it for them.

And of course there’s an occasional Sunday that gives back to me. This blog was inspired by a little girl named Caitlyn, I believe she’s 4 years old. Today in Large Group we learned that Jesus loves every one, and in the very beginning after we went over the “special words” she turned around and said “Jesus loves me, then why won’t He gives me wings so I can fly?” My fast and quiet response was “He does love you, and he will give you wings, just not the kind that butterflies have. One day you’ll see, and you’ll fly in your own special way.” She seemed very satisfied with my answer, she turned back to the front and began to play along with the Bible lesson again.

I wanted SO badly to pull her aside and give a much longer version, but of course, she’s four, and wants to play in large group. And of course, the message might have been lost on her until she’s about 10, but there’s always a shot that she’d grasp the idea. Because really, isn’t that His job? To give us wings? Isn’t that what He wants? For us to be so connected to Him that He has the ability to give us wings so we can “fly” in His name? He wants us all to be lifted up, He wants all of us to be able to accomplish the unaccomplish-able. His hearts desire is to see us soar with success and happiness. He wants all of us to accept Him as our personal savior so that one day, when we’ve accomplished every thing in this life He had planned for us, He can give us real wings so that we may actually fly with Him for all eternity. As His children…all He really wants is to have us with Him for ever in Heaven. She really got me thinking about how truly amazing God is. How His one desire is for us to accept Him and live by His name so that he may bless our lives and give glory to His name. How awesome, right?

All this from a little girl asking why God wouldn’t give her wings…I swear these things happen every Sunday. Either they’ll say something that my head works into a crazy metaphor for God’s plan for our lives or they’ll say something so simple and true and pure about the love Jesus has for them that I feel the need to write furiously about it in my off-line journal. These kids have so much to learn, and yet so much to teach. They teach me the little things, while I try my best to fill them in on the big picture.

It’s amazing what can happen when you actually listen to them and take the time to formulate a response instead of shushing them and making the turn back around with no explanation to their question. I just pray that one day her mom or dad will teach her about the wings Jesus wants to give her and her ability to truly fly with the help of Christ her Savior.

Wheew…take a second to let that sink in…

 

On a completely different note: I have a prayer request for a friend of mine. Her name is Dannie, I’ve mentioned her before on here. She has grown to be one of my closest and best friends, and she has a very tough decision to make right now. She volunteers with me in Quest, and she also is very passionate about singing. She attends the weekly youth sermons at Next Level. A few weeks ago some one from Next Level approached her to offer her a chance to lead worship for the middle school age at their church. I told her not to think twice and to take it. Singing was her passion and she should follow her heart on that. Well, for a few weeks now, our elementary/middle school section Motion has been trying to get in touch with her to offer her a position to lead worship in there. She loves Elevation, calls it home, and would’ve taken the opportunity in a heart beat, but she already promised Next Level she would lead there. She’s very torn because she doesn’t know where her gifts would be better utilized, where she’d reach more people with her gift, and at which church she has more opportunity to get on the main stage for worship as part of the praise band. I’ve told her to pray really hard about it and that God would lay on her heart where she is supposed to serve, and not to worry about what people would say if she took one position or the other. I’ve been praying for her since she told me about her opportunity that Elevation would offer her a place to lead worship, and now that they have I pray that it is in line with what God places on her heart. Selfish, I know. But I would miss her too much if she stopped coming to Butler every Sunday. However….Pray that God makes the decision clear to her, no matter what the decision may be. She really doesn’t want to let any body down, and I hate for her to feel guilt when following what Christ has planned for her. So, all you regular readers, please pray for my friend Dannie. I’m sure she would appreciate any help and support through prayer!

 

Okay…I think I am all finished for the night. Two things in one. Hope you feel extra full of thought, and not gypped that I crammed all this stuff into one entry. Be back soon!

How He Loves. September 16, 2008

Something happened to me on Sunday. Every time I lead large group for the Quest-ers, I sneak out to catch worship, just for a little pick me up before I go and pump up the kids. Chris Brown was leading at Butler, and they opened up with “With or Without You” by U2. Amazing, as always. They moved into Happy Day right after, did the welcoming thing, then had us stand back up. They began to play “How He Loves.” And it happened.

Just to let you know, I’m not a fainter, or an extremely rambunctious worshipper. At most I’m a clapper, and a hand raiser. But about a month ago I took part in an illustration involving large pieces of cardboard and a testimony of my transformation along with about 20 other Elevators. It was such a moving and emotional experience, and during the illustration Chris Brown and the worship team played “How He Loves.” And the part when the whole band picks up and kicks in we all held our sings up high and the emotion in the room peaked and every one stood up and clapped. The emotion was too much to keep in, and it’s an experience I’ll have with me forever.

But I never thought that the emotion would ever resurface to the extent that it did on Sunday. The song itself is so powerful, it could move people to tears. Chris Brown is an amazing worship leader and has such a passion and the stuff he says, preaches really, in between songs could move people to tears. But not me. No. Not me. However, the combination of the power of the song, Chris Brown’s passionate words of praise, and the emotion of the illustration did.

I felt it when the song started. And I held it together. Raised my hands to the Lord and thanked Him for how much he loved me, even for how much I’ve been a screw up, and for placing me in such an amazing place that I could experience His love for me. Then, the  band picked up and Chris Brown sang the end chorus at the top of his lungs. The emotion of that day, and the re-realization of how amazing my God is flooded over me. And I lost it. My fingers couldn’t reach high enough, and I felt my eyes well up and tears roll down my cheek.

I had never felt so much emotion during worship before. It was amazing. I felt what I felt, and I just let it happen. I’m not saying I’m gonna cry every Sunday at worship, my mascara doesn’t handle tears well. But I’m glad I did last Sunday. God moved in me, He reawakened the passion I had that Sunday. The fire has been re-sparked. Nothing Can stop me now.

Re-Excited! August 25, 2008

So, Saturday we had to bake friendship bread. My mom made it while I was at work, but the smell of yummy baked goodness filled the entire house by the time I got home. Right about the time I smelled the bread, I decided I was over the Daniel Fast. I decided God would still love me if I wimped out. He’d see my efforts and forgive me for eating real food again. I cheated. I had a smoothie with a scoop of yogurt in it Saturday night.

But you’ll be happy to know that I’m back on the Daniel Fast Wagon. VHQ had a ton of yummy snack food for Daniel Fast-ers. And The sermon Sunday was amazing and it reaffirmed my dedication to this fast. And last night I made home made salsa over some baked potatoes. It was diced canned tomatoes, kidney and pinto beans, green pepper, onion, jalapeno, chili powder and zucchini. It was SOOOO good. Every time I make something from scratch I get re-excited about the fast. I caught up on my reading and every time I go to eat something I pray because I think about the fast which makes me think about God. The fast is going to, hopefully, make praying all the time a habit. It’ll definitely reinforce praying before meals, and well, I eat a ton, so praying will truly become second nature. First nature even!

So yeah, very excited. Tonight we’ll have the salsa over some brown rice. Yummy =]

Redefine Your Life August 23, 2008

Okay, so I have twenty minutes before I have to leave for work, and I really want to write about how AMAZING Student Awakening was last night.

Pastor Furtick was ONE FIRE last night. It was a middle and high school event, and he started the night off saying that he wasn’t going to treat us like kids, but like men and women, because that’s how he thought of us and that’s how much he respected us. Good Start. He preached a really deep sermon. The verses were Acts 20:17-24. He broke it down verse by verse. He hasn’t had Diet Coke since Sunday, so I was very surprised how fired up he was. Haha.

Basically, He told us that this year was THE year. That we didn’t have to conform to the ways that we had been. That he wanted each and every one of us to walk the walk, not just talk the talk. The first verse is Paul saying that every one knew how he lived. Pastor wanted us to be able to say, You Know How I Live, I Live in Jesus Christ My Lord and Savior. With out any doubt, every one who knows us should know that about us.

He brought up his High School reunion and how all the “popular” guys that he would’ve given anything to be like were complete deadbeats only ten years later. And how glad he was that he saw through the games of high school and stuck to His Word. There was A LOT more to the sermon. It was empowering, but not so full of “fluffy” stuff. It had the nitty gritty real stuff too. I’m not even going back to school on Monday and I’m ready for a new start.

Pastor Furtick gave a call to receive Christ as Lord and Savior last night. I snuck a peak to see how many people raised their hands. I didn’t think it’d be a lot because it was a Christian Student event, and of course it’d be mostly Christians there who loved Jesus already. WRONG. Over half of the auditorium gave their lives to Christ last night. Really truly an AMAZING move of God. Gives me goosebumps. If even just half of those kids stay true to their promise, Charlotte’s student campuses will be forever changed for His Glory.

 

Okay, times up. Work time.

Daniel Fast August 20, 2008

Today is the third of twenty-one days of the Daniel Fast. Pastor Furtick asked all of his staff and any willing volunteers to join him in this biblical fast. No meat, no dairy, no preservatives, no bread.

Basically we can have unsalted nuts, fruit, vegetables, whole grain pasta, whole grain rice and whole grain tortillas. Monday I made vegetarian chili. Black beans, pinto beans, zucchini, squash, tomatoes and corn. It was SOOOO good. And tonight I made stuffed peppers. Whole grain pasta, onions, celery, mushrooms, garlic and organic vegetable broth. Again, DELICIOUS. My dad also grilled us up some eggplant with pepper, sea salt, and olive oil. Yum Yum Yummy. I was worried about being hungry, but I haven’t been hungry yet.

It’s been so much fun cooking stuff from scratch. Plus every night we read a chapter in John (there’s exatly 21 chapters, cool huh?) And there’s a big point we’re supposed to learn. The whole purpose of the fast is to learn about the Gospel in the book of John, and further a relationship with God. It’s been really cool. I was never really into reading the Bible, but lately I have been. I’ve been praying more often, too. Every time I go to eat something, I think about God and the reason I can’t just eat a candy bar.

Anyways, the recipes for what I’ve made so far are on here. I’m determined to keep experimenting with recipes. A whole new level of devotion to Christ. Love it!!!

Cardboard Testimony August 17, 2008

Today me and my mom participated in cardboard testimonies at the Butler Campus of Elevation Church. It was so amazing. If you don’t know what a cardboard testimony is, it’s when you get a big piece of cardboard and on one side you write who you used to be, and on the reverse side you write how God has moved in your life and the person you have become through His grace and glory.

My testimony said:
Bad Choices-Drugs, Alcohol, Sex
Forgiven-Leading Preshoolers Toward Life in Christ

There were so many touching testimonies that writing them all out wouldn’t do them any justice; I’m hoping the put up a video of both campuses’ testimonies. If they do I’ll put up either a link or the full video. It was SO powerful and moving. You just have to see it.

And of course I led large group for Quest today so as soon as I got off stage I ran to the room and started. Haha. Not a moments rest for me =] I LOVE IT. Larry Brey was so encouraging about everything, he was so poud of how much I really do love my preschoolers. He wants one of my supercool handcrafted Ekidz shirts. You should want one too! I’m making three this week. Everyone kept asking about them, and word is out. People think there’s new Elevation shirts, but it’s just me and Dannie doing our thing!

Anyways, enough scattered blogging for one night! Love!