SAY WHAT?!?!?

Over the last week or so I have heard or encountered some crazy, SAY WHAT?!?!? moments.

Last Friday on the way to grab some lunch with a few good friends one of them told me that when her daughter was asked where she would like to go to church, where she felt like she was being fed & challenged to grow, and was given a few choices she said... The Point. WOW... when a 10-11 year old says something like that it just FLOORS you.

That was the first of my SAY WHAT moments.

Then Sunday our AMAZING kids along with one of our amazing kids workers sang some worship songs they have been learning for the last few weeks. They have an amazing family who has been teaching them the songs and the motions but they were unable to be at Point Kids this week. The first moment of amazement happens while watching their teacher do the motions who only saw and heard the songs once. Then to watch the kids remember the motions and be excited about it was just as amazing.

Seeing our toddlers connecting with their teachers was pretty awesome too!

Hearing in our annual church business meeting that our Kids attendance has DOUBLE in the last year blew my mind... I mean I knew it had but hearing it was pretty AWESOME.

Sunday morning was filled with SAY WHAT?!?! moments. Another was.... Ryleigh... she's one of the younger kids at Point Kids. Ryleigh and her family have been coming to the point for a few months and Ryleigh has been a little slow to come into POINT KIDS. At first she would hang by the younger kids area. Then she started sitting toward the back of the older kids area with her mom. Then she started to move up little by little, but mom still needed to be close by. Then she would let mommy leave but still sat off to the side. This week.... Ryleigh walks into church and says to her dad.... I want to go to class.... and then I walked in to say hi to the kids and Ryleigh is sitting UP FRONT and dancing and singing with the kids... during the lesson Ryleigh sat with the rest of the kids. SAY WHAT?!?!?! WOW!!!! What an amazing moment!

But it doesn't stop there.... I got this wall post on Monday... So here is a post from a mom Her Daughter Emma goes to Point kids.

"My LOL ...Me: lets put on the scarf 2 cover ur chest, i dont want u 2 get sick/ Emma:OK mami n we dont want Jesus 2 get sick either, right Jesus?!! .....why? Her teacher told her Jesus lives in her heart!" Too Cute!

I love the SAY WHAT?!?!? moments in life... esp when they involve such AWESOME kids!!!

Loving what God is doing in our church and loving what I am learning as we grow!

Closets and Cobwebs...

So yesterday was one of those days where all you really wanted to do was stay home in bed or on the couch curled up with some coco and a good movie (or book) and just veg out. It was cold and yucky.... but I got ready and joined my pastor and our admin assistant at our new campus in Babylon. It was quiet the experience.

When you first walk down the outside steps to the basement door you are greeted by some not so attractive doors. Then you proceed through the doors into a hallway that looks a little dreary. Needless to say it wasn't the most visually stimulating of circumstances, I mean really when you're fighting off cobwebs it's not so much fun.

Anyway my pastor asked me to start organizing the things that were already at the church for the kids ministries. So with trash bags in hand I started sorting at first it was 2 piles TRASH and KEEP. Then I started thinking, maybe not TRASH everything that we won't use, so a third pile was introduced... GIVE AWAY. It took about 2 hours to clear off a 3 shelf shelving unit and a closet. There were some things that I discovered that sent me flashing back to the early 90s when I attended kids church and then there were some things that just made me sad. As I organized things and cleans some stuff up I at some points had to fight off tears as I became so sad that a church that was once active and clearly had some kids running through it became so quiet and almost forgotten. I discovered a picture of about 10 kids ranging from around 5 or so to about 11 years old and it was in that moment that I had to fight my hardest to not ball my eyes out. I realized that this church was once a place where kids were learning and growing.

There are homes in the area with families who have yet to see the amazing things God can and will do in and through them. I am so excited for our church to have been given this opportunity to become part of what is going to happen in that area. It's going to be awesome being a part of seeing a building and a church that was so broken and in disrepair raise up and help others reach and know their full redemptive potential.

All this happen while cleaning out some closets and attempting to avoid some cobwebs. Love when God speaks to my heart during an unexpected moment.

2 years later....

It started as a joke... "When you gonna come work with me?" no wait it started about 7 years before that...

A broken, messed up 17 year old trying to figure out this whole life and God thing... and a youth pastor who was all kinds of crazy just simply showing compassion to a group of kids. The invitation to help stuff worship guides for youth group came and the desire to not be at home the following afternoon won over. So... when softball practice or games didn't get in the way stuffing worship guides was the deal... someone had to do it. Through that interaction there was a bond formed... a leader worth trusting and following who invested in a 17 year old who just wanted to know what God had in mind for her. There was a service at youth retreat that broke this girls heart and helped her to see that there might just be some kind of plan for her life. The pastor prayed and the girl just knew something had to change. A few months later he encouraged her to apply to bible college... she thought he was crazy but agreed to apply. They prayed, along with his amazing wife (to be) that the girl would only get into the college she should. So three months later she moved her stuff into a college dorm..... Zion Bible College. They kept in touch and she went "home" to visit but became very content with where she was and the opportunities given to her. She got involved in a church and fell in love with a place. But things started to change she felt a shift coming. Things just seemed to need to change. A visit home usually did the trick to reassure the choice to be where she was... so she did just that and visited the church her youth pastor had started. She walked in and it just felt like home, which was weird to her because she never really felt at home where she had grown up. Two months later she was offered a job at that same church. There was a time of praying and debating but she knew all along that it was what felt like the right choice. So she once again pack all of her belongings and took that 3 hour journey toward a new chapter in life. Two years (and a day) later it's one of the BEST choices she has EVER made!!!

It's amazing what happens just because some crazy guy asked for help folding some paper to hand out at a youth service. Small steps/ small gestures can change someone's world.

Words Can Change the World....

My earlier post prompted friends to post things on Facebook and Twitter to say amazingly kind and loving things... thanks for that!

But what just happened changed my world for the better... there were 2 different phrases and each of them hit me just as hard as the next... but hard in a good way.

The first... "I'm Sorry!"--> It's amazing what you end up feeling when someone says that phrase. How the hurt that happened just seems to melt a way, even just a tad... it's a pretty incredible thing.

The next... "I love you!"--> Love heals all wounds... it's true!

Needless to say... my utter dependance on my heavenly Father for comfort and peace... although coupled with a headache and a few snotty tissues... came way sooner than I really expected.

Amazed at the power of words and the faithfulness of God!!!

Concrete Girl...

What would happen if this concrete girl just all of the sudden become a puddle? Concrete is rock solid, it's the stuff that you build things on top of because its so sturdy. It's the stuff you use to hold other things in place like steel rods in a building. It's the foundation of a house. It's not something you usually envision as a broken mess (unless of corse you are envisioning pot wholes). So what would happen if this concrete girl just fell apart? Would it be ok if I just became a puddle of nothingness?

I've always been able to hold it together outwardly even if my universe is flipped upside down and inside out. I'd rarely cry in public and I would do my best to hold it together even in private. There were moments though that I lost it... tears would flow and there would be a gross nasty snot mess to clean up after.

I'm not perfect, far from it, and I try not to give off that persona that I am perfect because I know how MESSED up I am. I know that I screw up all the time and that I hurt other people and that I am kind of a mess some times. I know that I'm not the best that I could be or even should be. I know that if I am not reminded about something I will often forget it. I know how worthless I am without God's help. I know all that. But I try so hard to hold it together and to do my best. But too often my best falls so short. Too often I'm left wondering how I didn't do that better and how I fail so miserably.

This concrete girl has had a rough day and my heart is hurting today... so today... this concrete girl is giving herself permission to be ok with falling apart a little bit. Hope the world doesn't mind but this concrete girl is going to fall into the arms of her Father where there is grace, acceptance, forgiveness, love, mercy and understanding. She's gonna let her guard down with her Daddy God and let Him put the pieces back where they need to be because she knows there is no way she can do it on her own.

If... Then...

If I handed you my heart would you break it into pieces or would you treat it with the utmost care?

If I let you see the real me would you run and hide or would you embrace me with and open mind?

If I told you my fears would you use them against me or would you try to help me over come them?

If you saw all my faults would you shut me out or would you encourage me to do better in life?

My heart has been so bruised and battered that sometimes I tuck it down deep so it doesn't happen again.

The real me sometimes wants to cry my eyes out and not just because the movie I'm watching is sad.

My fears may seem and probably are a little crazy but they are pretty real in my silly little world.

The faults I have sometimes overcome the triumphs I'd like to accomplish and that bums me out.

BUT... if I live in fear of what might happen, what kind of life would that really be? My heart may end up a little broken, I may have to be a little more open then I'm used to, my fears may have to take a back seat and my faults may have to be something I focus a little less on. But if I am not willing to do all that then how will I ever experience the life HE has planned out for me. So I'll just have to ask... God, heal the broken heartedness I may encounter, patch up the ego that may get damaged, no better yet smash the ego and replace it with what and who you want for me to be, replace my fears with your promises and take my faults and turn them into experiences that can be used for you.

(easier said than done... but it's the direction I'm heading in...)

A.D.H.D. (in more than one way)

I've never been able to sit still for long periods of time. I make fun of my pastor because if he talks on the phone he has to be moving around, really I shouldn't make fun of him b/c I do the exact same thing. Nine times out of 10 I have to be actively engaged in more than one things to really grasp what is going on or to be paying attention. Most people would say I have ADD or ADHD.... it's probably true, I mean after all caffeine calms me down, I talk in my sleep (a little bit), and I only sleep like 4-5 hours most nights. Usually when a kid and even now adults are clinically diagnosed with ADD or ADHD they are put on meds. A lot of times it's used as an excuse for the way someone behaves and sometimes it turns people away but what if we looked at ADHD through different eyes. What if instead of it meaning Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder it meant something else, maybe something a little more positive????

What if it meant Addiction Desire Hope Determination? Yeah I know it totally doesn't explain why little Davie can't sit still in class, or why Sarah as to doodle while she takes notes, why PT has to walk while he talks on the phone or why I have to stop doing what I am doing sometimes and just take a walk across the office... or does it???

Addiction... Addicted to what? Addicted to perfection. Wanting to get it right because you know that doing your best not only affects others but it brings Glory to the God that you serve and all you want to do is cause Him to smile.

Desire.... Desire for what? Desire to help point others to the one who holds your future, knows your yesterdays and cares about who you want to be.

Hope... Hope for what? Hope that you can accomplish all you would like to. That your dreams and passions would come to be. That those God given dreams actually come to be.

Determination.... Determined to do what and why? Determined to live the life planned out for me with love and passion in a way that will make my maker proud.

So what if ADHD wasn't looked at so negative and it was looked at as something that was good.

All I ever what to do in life, if nothing else, I want to live with ADHD. I want to be Addicted to perfection- trying always to do my best to bring honor to God. Desire to help point others to God, because without Him all the other dreams are worthless. Hope that I accomplish what God has for me to accomplish. and Determined to live life with no regrets.

So yeah I do have ADHD... in more than one way... but meds won't change me =)