words about the past and a vision for the future

ok, i have a few minutes to sit and write about what all has been going on for the past month of my life:

The craziness of the summer took over and i think i spent one night in the past month in my own bed. i saw my dog one day and swore he wouldnt know who i am when i returned from our final destination. fortunately i was wrong and he still loves me.

1. Zenith: Man, that seems like so long ago. Man, did Mitch bring it or what. But what i love so much is Mitch's understanding and verbalization that Mitch has nothing to do with it; he is merely a vessel that the spirit chooses to work through...and man did he work! We took a much smaller group this year because of the date conflict with Brazil, but it was refreshing. Three of the four boys are incoming freshmen and I just can't wait to see a new class of leadership entering the high school youth group. I feel we still have a long way to go, but we are reminded that we are not solely responsible for raising leaders, but only allowing Christ to work through us.

2. Brasil: Here are a few things that I learned in those 10 days I spent in Brasil:
A. Just as the children in Brasil were so excited to have our signatures written on their bodies, Christ has written his name on us and we should be just as thrilled and overjoyed about that.
B. No matter how many people get sick, Christ still works in amazing ways...He teaches us to trust him.
C. McDonald's isn't good in Brasil either.
D. For some reason, Mafia is always better in Brasil.
E. It is possible to cut yourself on a peice of bread.
F. There are a few things that don't need translation: a baby laughing, a baby crying, Britney Spears, and the cheering after Brasil scores in the world cup, and of course, the love of Christ.
G. We truly have brothers and sisters in Christ all over the world.

Here are a few short highlights: (in no particular order)
A. Going to house church and singing Red Hot Chili Peppers and Jack Johnson with the Brasilians.
B. Riding a super sweet dune buggie.
C. Watching the World Cup game with the Brasilians(particularly the game where Brasil won.)
D. Singing "If You Love Jesus" with the kids at VBS.
E. Listening to the brasilians sing their hearts out.
F. Listening to our teens sing their hearts out.
G. A Prayer Drive over the religion, education and city of Fortaleza.
H. Cleaning and painting an assisted living home.
I. Watching our teens connect with the locals.

3. Cornerstone: Man oh Man! What a great week. I was a little worried when all i heard about for the first three days was 1. "i just broke up with my boyfriend that i met yesterday at camp." and 2. "Karessa, we have another one of yours in the nurse's office." But God changed hearts this week. this is how i know: Our youth group time was nothing but positive and encouraging (K-Love!) where teens were lifting up one another and commenting on the coolness of what they learned in class. We of course had a few girls crying, but that only lets you know that they were impacted this week and were sad to be leaving. My favorite part of the week was about 30 minutes after youth group time when we were waiting for ice cream and there was a huddle of about 12 kids. "What are they doing???" so i snuck over there to get a closer look and...they were praying! Praying for each other, praying for the youth group, praying for relationships...some of them I hadn't heard speak all week! where did this understanding come from that it was ok to do that? and not just ok...but that is what we should be doing! Praise God for understanding.

And now for the future:
I have a vision, and I dont know if my vision is parallel to the vision of those actually on the search committee for a new youth minister, but I would like to share it anyways because it is something that excites me to the fullest. Here is what i see:

1. (apparently i've gone list happy) Our church is in the midst of a move. Not just a move in location, but also a move of thought. It seems to me that our church and youth group is getting ready to bust and and it is now time to prepare to let God use us in some incredible ways.

2. I see our group growing in numbers, but almost hitting a wall in spiritual growth and leadership. I think this is mostly due to the fact that probably 90% of our teens have been churched all their lives and it takes new and interactive ways to make truth a reality.

3. Also, how do we become an outreach to those who have not been churched? Where do we become motivated to "be a conscious in our community"? Our community is primarily upperclass, white kids who drive nice cars, the best clothes, and the newest gadgets.

4. In september, we are adding a staff member to our team for outreach. One of his ministries will be a hispanic ministry which is awesome and extremely necessary in San Antonio, but unfortunately, that is not our community. I imagine us going out into san antonio to fulfill that ministry, which is what God calls us to do, but also, how do you become an outreach in the very community where you are located? and if that is not important, then why move except for space issues?

5. There is a new high school being built about 2 minutes away from our potential plot of land and I would love to see their Young Life club being held at our facilities.

For those of you who are not familiar with Young Life, it is an outreach ministry for non-christian teens. In high school, I attended a few times thinking it was supposed to be like a youth group, but I was confused to see all the party kids joining together singing sweet home alabama and then light the fire. It seemed hypocritical. In college, I became a Young Life leader and finally came to understand the mission. We are here for the sick, not the healthy. We entered the schools for lunch, football games, choir concerts, theatre plays, etc. etc. and just hung out with teens. Monday nights were "club night" where we would do a stupid skit or play crazy games, sing songs that we hear on the radio, sing a few worship songs, and then present a short talk about the gospel. Thursday nights were bible studies for those who wanted to go deeper. The ultimate was taking kids to young life camp where finally everything was put together and it clicks for the first time for a lot of kids. That is what I see for our church.

I envision a secularized, musical, and laid back hang out time to draw in new kids. I envision our team leaders going into the schools, football games, etc. and hanging out with teens that they have never met before. I envision our leaders providing love and discipleship to kids who may or may not attend our church. I would hope that our goal was to make sure teens were involved in Christ...and ultimately in church (whether it be ours or not.) I envision a deeper Bible study being held on Wednesday nights to encourage those who want to know more to visit. I envision our current youth group teens participating in discipleship and learning how to lead and teach others. I envision a team of youth group leaders actually planning and leading Young Life clubs. I envision collge volunteers, young singles, young marrieds, older families...everyone being responsible for checking up and being accountable for the spiritual growth of not only our youth group teens, but those they might encounter at an outreach ministry such as Young Life.

6. Finally, our search for a youth minister should come down to this: experience and passion. We are on the verge of forming a high quality program that will require experience, but also a great passion for the spirit's leading and the development of spirituality among churched teens and unchurched teens.

Whew...sorry about the length of this entry. Zzzzzzz....

a funny thing happened on the way home from camp...

Here is a just a brief entry before I hit the sack for a good night's rest...finally. I will attempt to write a longer and more thoughtful entry tomorrow about what I have been doing for the last month of my life. But in the meantime, I leave you with this:

A funny thing happened on the way home from camp.
The eight hour tour quickly (or slowly) turned into the 12 plus hour trip.
Cramped on a bus with 50 middle school kids; air, speakers, and a tv that didn't work right; and a busted mirror.
It seemed to only make sense (or not) that we should stop on Arlington in the 100+ heat to wait at Sonic while the bus recieved an extreme makeover (sorta).
So an hour and fifteen minutes later we were picked up in our supreme limo with a brand new mirror, a tv that worked, air that was cool and sound that...well...was still ghetto.
But whew, we were finally on our way home...until Austin hit...or we hit Austin.
Yup...thats right...we gently collided into the back side of a rodeo and sent it gliding a few feet forward.
Luckily everything and everyone was ok.
We stopped for atleast 30 more minutes for the drivers to exchange info and our group began to sing inside the bus.
When the officer stepped on the bus to ask if anyone was hurt (just to follow procedure) we busted out into a melody of "I feel good good good!"
I think the only thing that could have made our journey any more interesting is if someone could have been in the bathroom at the time of the collision.
But even better than that is thinking about who the best candidate for that seat would have been (perhaps one of our favorite little camp friends) and oh, the stories we could have heard!!!
Just ponder that for a while.

Peace in the middle east and I'm out.

I bet you thought I died.

Well I didn't. I just don't write much because I dont have any spectacular stories to tell. But now that we have entered the craziness of summer time...I should have plenty of stories, but will I have time to write them is the question.
First summer activity: WORK CAMP!
So this was my first year to do work camp. Our family was always on vacation during work camp when I was in the youth group. (which worked out really great for me because working really didnt sound that fun)
Eight work crews set out to achieve what at times may have seemed impossible for some groups. My team, however, was blessed with a smaller house, but the task was still huge.

We spent the first day scraping (which I found out can give you some great arm muscles) and painting every inch of the house and the window frames.
The second day was devoted to finishing touches on the house and beginning the first of three ramps--ha! Well, I have built a ramp before so I guess I should have known how to do it again, but I suppose my supervisory skills were lacking because after nailing all of the boards in the first ramp (which took a really really really long time because the nails are el cheapo and we have 13 year old girls nailing them), we discovered there was something wrong: they were all crooked!!! sooooooo we had to knock them all out and start over. sigh.

On the third and last day, we finished the first ramp and took on the second two. Luckily, we actually knew what we were doing by this time! 20 post holes and 200 crooked nails later, we had painted and built three ramps for the Dominguez family.

The Dominguez Family: an elderly couple who have been married for 51 years. Mrs. Dominguez wakes up every morning at 5 am to cook breakfast for her husband and then take him to dialysis. She uses a walker and takes care of all of the house chores because Mr. Dominguez is supposed to be resting. Mr. Dominguez: reminds me of my grandpa. No one is going to tell him that he has to rest! He was outside every day with us offering his help.

On the last day, our team presented a posterboard with short messages and a picture of our work crew. We grouped together for a prayer with the Dominguez's and as every one else bowed, I could not take my eyes off of Mr. and Mrs. Dominguez. Her eyes filled with tears and so did mine. (I'm part sissy.)

What a great way to start out our summer! Up next: VBS, Zenith, Brazil, Cornerstone, My sister's wedding.

To Georgia and Back... and a picture with Chris Thile

So over Spring Break I took a road trip to the huge metropolis known as Valdosta, Georgia. Now, I already knew that I loved Georgia, but really my only experience was Atlanta. Valdosta is located about an hour north of Tallahassee and since it is a small town in south Georgia...I was expecting Bubbas to be all over the place. On the contrary! Valdosta is gorgeous and I would like to share with you guys a few pictures from my fabulous trip.


So the first thing I noticed was that I was surrounded by these beautiful, tall trees!!! Something that you do not see in Texas. As you will see in the remainder of these pictures...I was really fascinated by all of the trees! (as well as the awesome sweet tea that was served at EVERY restaurant in town, but I could not capture that flavor in a picture.)

There were beautiful dogwood trees...

And cool weeping willow trees accompanied by fine landscaping surrounding every charming home.

As well as along the Withlacoochee River and many Valdosta creek beds.

Valdosta is called "The Azalia City" because of its outrageous number of Azalia bushes that flood the scenery.

My favorite site was "The Garden Chapel" at The Crescent House, an old colonial home that still stands with the dated furnishings inside, mostly used for wedding ceremonies now.

We took a day trip to Savannah that is about a three hour trip away to do some site seeing on St. Patrick's Day. We got to dine at Paula Deen's famous restaurant "Lady & Sons" and MAN OH MAN WAS IT GOOD!!! It just so happens that Savannah has the second largest St Patty's Day celebration in the country...WHO KNEW! Well, when you get THAT lucky to run into a coincidence like that...you just might see some things that you were not expecting.

Like this guy!

My awesome week came to an end and I had to leave Georgia. I hope to return soon. Luckily, my Spring Break was not over there though! No No...I had a ticket to go see one of my favorite bands play at Gruene Hall: NICKEL CREEK. So Nickel Creek Fans...I would like to leave you with this picture and a short note:

Nickel Creek Rocks My Face Off...and yes...Tamra is grabbing Chris Thile's heiny!

No...Thank YOU Keith Urban!!!

So last night I got to see Dierks Bently at the rodeo with my good friend Tamra and that was quite exciting. but man, we saw extreme bull riding...and as cool as that was...there was this one guy that got thrown off of the bull and smashed into the rails. his head was on the ground, but his back was up in the air and his legs were flipped out. he wasnt moving at all and then his leg started shaking as if he was having a seizure. they took him out on a stretcher, still not moving at all and his arms were unable to stay on his chest; they just flop down to the side. Talk about a mood killer!!!! anyway, many thoughts and prayers have been made for this rider and I have yet to hear an update. I'll let you know when I do.


On a lighter note...KEITH URBAN ROCKS MY FACE OFF!!! i got to see him at the rodeo today...and man, there is a very good reason that he recieved entertainer of the year. not only is he pretty to look at, he is extremely talented. he can jam on the guitar with the best of them! and i guess i never realized how many of his songs refer to the blessings that God has bestowed on him. now, i dont know if that is sincere or just a money maker...but I will believe that he is pretty and genuine for my own fantasy world. there was never a dull minute in the show and he even came off of the stage to make his rounds around the edge of the arena. of course if i had a front row seat i could have touched him...but since i did not...i just cried and tried to live vicariously through those who did. I will definitely pay lots of money to go see him again and hopefully be a little bit closer!



Just found out that Steve Woolsey (the bull rider) was released from the hospital yesterday. he suffered a severe concussion, but no broken bones. praise God!!!

Albucooky

I went to Albuquerque this week and saw some pretty interesting things. The top ranks here: while taking a leisure tour through an old adobe Catholic church (which usually are kinda spooky to me) I came across a miniature nativity scene that staged everyone and everything just as it happened in real life: There was baby Jesus in his bed, Mary and Joseph looking down at him, the three wise men bringing gifts, all the sheeps, goats, cows...and yes, Mary & Joseph's pet chihuahua. yes...I said chihuahua.

I wish I had a picture to prove it, but there was no flash photography allowed and I am no rebel.

Over the hills and through the woods to Karessa's house we go...

Here are some of the cool sights I can see when I take my dog for a walk.

There are still many unpaved roads that I have yet to explore. Man, I love this place!

Now this is my house: I don't know why we have two different colors of grass!?!?!

And this is my room...almost clean.

And my bathroom...

Our living room that looks out onto the back deck...

And into our kitchen...

Which takes you into the dining room...

Thank you for taking a tour of my house. Not shown: utility room, guest room/media room (appropriately named because the computer and the guitar are located there.) and April's room.