all in a day's work

leadership team for middle school youth group (plus david, the tall ginger in the back)

things have been really busy for me lately. i'm working so hard to prevent and treat burn-out as i have seen some early warning signs in my life. THANK YOU to Anne Jackson for writing a wonderful blog and publishing a very helpful book and burnout and ministry. i've been very deliberate lately to take a Sabbath (usually on Monday) and make sure i get personal time with Jesus every day. it's tricky to do when part of your job is studying the Bible and reading books about spirituality.

my busy-ness looks different every day and not everyone would call it "work." and I LOVE IT. and i just want to tell you about my tuesday...

6:30 a.m.: run with my new sweet friend and running partner mina. she's a gem!

8:00 a.m.: then i wrote some emails for camp: scheduling two phone interviews and sending out some applications. and worked on the message for youth group on sunday: moral boundaries and spiritual disciplines.

11:00 a.m.:from there i went to the copy store to get some things printed for sunday school. 12:00: then i took some pizzas to rosslyn for lunch. it was the prize from middle school youth group a few weeks ago. the kids were like, "i don't know what this is for, but thanks for the pizza!" not exactly what i'd planned, but i always love seeing them at school and they were pretty excited and felt special for getting pizza during lunch.

1:00 p.m.: from there i took hannah home and took out her weave and dyed her hair. yeah, i know that sounds random, but she's in the play and a pretty little blonde with green eyes and playing a Anne Frank, a jewish girl. so she needed brown hair. check out the pics on my facebook page.

3:00 p.m.: afer dying her hair i went back to the copy store to explain in more detail what i wanted copies of. essentially i was having them print out all the copies for sunday school for the whole year. so it was like printed the Bible in coloring sheets. it did generate great discussion among the employees and myself.

3:30 p.m.: from the copy store i went to cheerleading practice

5:00 p.m.: after cheer practice back to rosslyn to catch the end of a soccer game and take another student out for coffee.

7:30 p.m.: i finally made it to the house for team night with the homies.

dying hair, drinking coffee, making copies, talking about God, reading about dating, all in a day's work.

this is the hair i dyed. can't really see it in pin curls.

i will add that i am really enjoying facilitating youth group these days. i have to study a lot to prepare for the lessons and it's been great for me to get my thoughts in order about authentic faith, spiritual disciplines, and sex and dating. and if anyone has any advice on these topics with teenagers feel free to send them my way!

thank you so much for praying for me and for all my crazy days like this one. please continue to pray for:

-the students i'm blessed to hang out with (some of them are really hurting)

-our team

-my financial support (mainly that i won't worry)

-my friends who are getting married soon and currently, for two more weeks, live in seperate countries

-the Church at ICF

-my family in U.S.

-Camp BlueSky 2010: counselors, campers, program, and THEME (we're currently working on establishing the theme and will begin the devotion guide as soon as that's done).

thanks for reading, praying, and loving!