Youth Practicum Update

Hello fellow youth practicum bloggers...!

I apologize for not blogging the entire month of May. I must say, the month was a doozey. Now that the storm has settled, I can look back and reflect on all that has happened.

I attended two funerals and experienced four deaths, one in my family, and three in the church family. Where grace is needed, God makes sure it abounds. Death is such an unnatural occurrence to deal with, as it should be. We were not created for death. We cannot fathom it, really. As I ministered to those in my family, students in my youth group, and those in the church, I realized just how death is so surreal for everyone. I also realized that ministering to others in this time means simply listening.
I am such a "fixer" and a "healer." Many dawn me as the motherly type because I want to take care of people. As I watched others mourning the deaths of their loved ones, all I wanted to do was to heal them and take the pain away.But my husband, Heath, made a good point as he watched me try to fix everyone. It is okay for people to feel pain. Actually, pain is good. Tasting the bitterness of life wakes us up. At my grandmother's memorial service Heath quoted C.S. Lewis in his eulogy,
"God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our conscience, but shouts in our pains: it is His megaphone to rouse a deaf world."

Oh, how God speaks to us in our pains. It is in our pains that we reach out to Him. When the waves are crashing around us and the storm is getting fierce it is then we realize the we need a lifeboat. The whole time the lifeboat has been there, but we have failed to recognize it. In the times of turmoil and pain, we seek it. Death may be the hardest times of all. I praise God for working in the lives of those who experienced such pain this past month. The beauty of God is that He takes our bitterness and turns it into bittersweet.

I realized that it is not for me to take away the pains of others. I would be robbing them of blessings. Yes, blessings (James 1). I would be withholding God's presence in such hard times.I also realized that I am unable to take away the pains of others. All I can do it allow myself to be used by the one who can, our Creator, Redeemer, Deliverer, and friend, Jesus Christ.

Since then, I have been getting back on track with the summer ministry plans. I am leading twelve of our youth on a missions trip to Cincinnati, OH with YouthWorks. We are teaming up with Fall Creek Wesleyan Church in Fishers, IN (my home church). We just had an all youth group fundraiser at East of Chicago Pizza in Gas City and came out with a good sum of cash. Yesterday afternoon I held a meeting with missions team to talk about more fund raising opportunities. The biggest for them individually is to send out support letters. Our big fund raiser event will be in less than two weeks at the church. We are putting on a dinner theater show on June 14th @ 6:00. If you are in the area, we'd love to see you there!

Other than that I have been preparing sermons, watching their sports games, having lunch with them at their school, and finding other times to hang out. I believe the big hang out spot for the summer will be The Varsity Grill on Tuesdays. They have GREAT food and karaoke. At first it was something that I did with my friends who stayed for May term, but now it is turning into a time for those in the youth group to have fun with their youth pastor!

Well, that is all for now.
I will be documenting my hours by the end of this week. :)