Give Thanks.

Thanksgiving was tough without family and close friends. I spent the day with an American, Sofia, who lives here and who I met at the church I worked for in 2010. We also had some of the other American gap year workers come over for dinner. I cooked my first turkey and helped cook the many different food options. But I struggled with truly being thankful. My family and extended family are very close so it was really hard being away from them for Thanksgiving and Black Friday (my favorite Thanksgiving family tradition). 

Thanksgiving (Sofia in green on the couch, Beth in grey)

      But as I went to bed Thursday night, God reminded me of how blessed I am to even have people to miss. I'm blessed to have a huge family to miss, traditions to miss, food to miss. I'm so blessed. And as Christmas approaches and things may get more difficult (because "I'll be Home for Christmas" is now the dumbest song ever) I will need God to remind me of this. So a big shout out to you, God, thanks for blessing me so richly! I came across this verse the other day: "But be sure to fear the Lord and faithfully serve him. Think of all the wonderful things he has done for you." -1 Samuel 12:24. God blessed me with a wonderful godly heritage, and now He's called me to risk and to sacrifice. This year I feel God has sent me to serve him in England, and the biggest sacrifice is being away from friends and family - especially during the holidays. 

     Also, there's a girl named Beth in the photo above. She was part of the youth group at the church I worked at in Eston in 2010 and now she's a recently-joined gap year worker with us! So cool to see how God works when we don't even know it! Very encouraging to remember that we are only planting seeds; we can never be sure how God will grow them in the future! 

Me with a couple of Lightning Bolts and junior leaders

Another cool story on that note: last Monday we were struggling to come up with an idea for Lightning Bolts that night. So we decided to pray for wisdom...duh. I feel like those of us in ministry can spend so much time planning and preparing that we forget to come before God, asking for discernment and guidance in teaching his people. More than often, we treat prayer as a "good luck charm," granting us blessing over the plans we've already made. After we prayed, we sat in silence for a minute and God revealed to both Ste (other youth worker) and I, the parable of the Sower. Exited about this revelation, we planned a short creative set up based on the parable, and prayer over the night. I'll admit I was expecting a huge reaction, after all, God had ordained it. However, nothing happened. It was a pretty typical, possibly even more chaotic night than usual. But I know that God was there that night, in the middle of the disrespectful kids who wanted nothing to do with the story. And the irony, that the whole parable was about planting seeds, a reminder that God is the gardener, and we may never know the impact we have this side of heaven. I feel confident that the night was a success; God was the center!

We've started reading Francis Chan's Crazy Love with the junior leaders and EQ (high school) kids. I'm super excited to see where this leads; so far they are enjoying it and learning a lot about what real religion and Christianity calls us to do - love like crazy! 
We also decorated the tree for the church on Friday with EQ. So much fun listening to Christmas music, drinking apple cider, and just hanging out! So ready for the Christmas season! On the 7th of December I'm hosting a girls Christmas craft party and watching Elf and all the girls are so excited for it!

 
     Psalm 46:10 says to "be still and know that I am God. I will be exalted in all the nations, I will be exalted in all the earth." I've always heard the beginning of this verse (the "be still and know" part). But rarely have I focused on God's promise that He will be exalted among all people throughout all of history. The human nature in me often says that God needs me. And that every now and then I need to "be still" from my busy ministry-lifestyle and remember and "know that He's God." Once I remember this truth, then I can go back and continue serving Him because, of course, He desperately needs me. However, if I focus on the 2nd part of the verse, I'll see it from an entirely different angle. It makes it all about Him, "every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that He is Lord" (Philippians 2). This will happen, so we can be confident that He's in charge. We can be still and know that He's not dependent on us to make His name great throughout the world. But He does want to include us; He wants us to be a part. Lately God's been teaching me this and it's rocking my world. And will probably become a tattoo sometime while I'm here.   :) 

Decorating the Christmas Tree with EQ (high school)

P.S. MY BIRTHDAY IS IN 5 DAYS! 23, woohoo! 

Community

     And I'm actually NOT talking about the TV show. Surprise! Over the last few weeks I've realized how much the church here and the town as a whole lacks community. There's no "hey come on over for dinner," or "let's go out for coffee," or "wanna go see Twilight at the cinema?" Ok, I would have definitely turned down that last offer anyway. Most people seem content with shallow relationships so they never have to let their guard down and really get to know someone.
     But of course, I'm not used to this. I'm used to the Christian bubble of UMHB, home of hospitality and Jesus-ness. So after feeling depressed and lonely without knowing why, it suddenly dawned on me: There isn't anyone I know here who is my age. And I haven't really spent any time with any of the adults in the church, outside of church. My week consisted of preparing for youth groups, going to youth groups, hanging out with kids, and getting sleep to do it all again the next day. So I was lonely. And even before it really clicked that I was lonely, God brought some amazing people into my life. 

Amsterdam, Holland

     Half-term was wonderful. It was a much-needed break from the regular routine and I got to spend some time in Amsterdam with a friend who's also in the area doing a gap year from Texas/UMHB. It was a wonderful experience, but definitely not a city I'd ever want to visit again. Asthmatics don't do well in places where street-smoking marijuana is legal. 
     On the last Sunday of half term, I had the opportunity to spend the day in Eston, where I was located during my mission trip here 2 years ago. What a blessing! I was reunited with my English mum and dad who hosted me in 2010, and I got to see so many friends who are very passionate about reaching their city. At church we sang songs that I actually know, we prayed as a congregation for our city, the government, the world, and individual's prayer requests and praises. What a blessing to visit a very ALIVE church! I also got a few mobile numbers and people telling me to call them when I'm available to go out for coffee or a meal. I never wanted to leave. But as I returned to Nunthorpe I felt replenished, like God had given me that day to fill me up so that I could pour out everything again over the next few weeks. Like the song "Desert Song" says: "I know I'm filled to be emptied again, the seed I received I will sow!" I feel so blessed to know I have a resource of fuel when I need it. 
     God also gave me a girls craft day. Two women from the church invited me to join them for a sewing day. I made a purse/bag from scratch; so proud! It was wonderful to get away for a few hours and just build relationships these ladies. I felt like such a grown up! 

     And another blessing in Community: Saturday we had teenagers over at the house from 9am to 9pm. While I was unbelievably exhausted by the end, it was soooo much fun to just have a chill day with the kids outside of church youth groups. I laughed more that day than I think I have since I arrived! We played the Wii, Pictionary, board games (even though I usually hate board games, I had so much fun), and we watched a documentary film called 58: about global extreme poverty. We've begun to talk more and more about social justice in our groups and are seeing great responses from the kids! I also made them puppy chow with American peanut butter and they absolutely loved it! The chocolate/peanut butter combination doesn't really exist here, as peanut butter doesn't contain sugar like ours does in the USA. It was brilliant just to laugh and have fun with the kids; I feel so much closer to the group now.

Playing games at our house for the 9-9 group on Saturday

     So now I feel renewed and replenished. I'm ready to pour out again, knowing that God is on my side. He's protecting me from burn-out, ready to help when I call on Him. Last Wednesday, at a ministry meeting with the elders and leaders in the church, I admitted that I don't feel like there's any  sense of community or family-ness in our church. We shouldn't feel like we have to live this life on our own. As a faith family, we should be involved in each other's lives - giving and living with the poor, interceding for the sick, and sharing in the struggles and triumphs of all. 

The road by St. Mary's Church

The family of God should be so attractive that others want in. So God's been convicting me that I can be a part of building community in this church, even though I'm young and American. At the meeting I also suggested the idea of starting a weekly prayer group. There aren't any weekly Bible studies or prayer groups at the moment, so I feel like God is calling me to change that. An older lady at the meeting loved the idea; she's been trying to start a prayer group for years. So I'm excited to see what God wants to do in this group, and what He will do when we pray!