Jump

You know the feeling when your head is so full of information, and you know it’s a good thing, it’s just kind of hard to process through it all. That’s totally the place that I’m at right now. I just finished a great conference. I went into it with little or no expectations, except for the fact that I would get to hang out with some people who are encouraging to me in ministry and possibly learn a thing or two about youth ministry.

I heard some great speakers, and had some great conversations. I was given the opportunity to worship without distraction. I met new people and learned from their experiences in ministry. It was good.

I could write for forever about all the little tidbits of information that I picked up in the last 5 days. But to save some time, and to keep you from getting bored, I’ll just share what it is that I really feel like God was speaking to my heart during this time…a summation of it anyway.

I know I talked a couple days ago about slowing down and hearing God’s voice, and that’s a huge part of it, but what’s hitting home a little more for me right now is the idea of what it means to be called God’s Beloved, to be His child, and to live in that calling.

I talk all the time about my call to ministry, whether it’s in the area of outreach, youth, assimilation, encouragement…whatever the area is, I know that I have been called to ministry and I think I came to my conference this week looking for a prescription. I wanted someone to tell me how to map out Youth Group Activities. I wanted someone to tell me how to deal with people who are always negative towards me and the ministry God has given me. I wanted someone to tell me what to do when I was lonely. I wanted someone to tell me how to reach students who are growing up in a different world from me. I wanted someone to tell me how to handle being a woman in a leadership position in a church that is dominated by men in those places of leadership. I wanted someone to tell me how to not be afraid. I wanted someone to tell me how to be good at what I do.

There were opportunities for things like that, but the message just kept coming back to me…it’s not about all those little things. It’s about loving God and being who He created me to be. And that’s a good place to be. Being who God created us to be means that it’s not really about what we do, it’s about being open and willing for God to work through your life.

Will I stop worrying as a result of this conference…probably not. But I do hope to take with me a little bit of that encouragement from God and my brothers and sisters walking along side of me in this ministry. If you are reading this and you know what it’s like to be working in a church (full time, part time, or volunteer) let me send you a little bit of encouragement as well. God has already given us what we need to be serving him. No, we can’t do it on our own. It’s probably a good thing that we can’t do it on our own, because then we would start thinking that we don’t need God, and maybe you’ve learned like I have, that when you try to go it alone, more often than not you fall flat on your face.

The theme of our conference was Jump…so I guess what I’m going to try to do is jump into life and the things that God has in store for me, and I will trust that he’s going to catch me, and maybe, just maybe, I’ll have a pretty incredible ride along the way.

Oh and I just want to add that tonight had the non-traditional thanksgiving with the Jacob's Road Family...not only are these people a great band, but they are really fun to hang out with! What a great weekend!!!