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shineandsmile
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Name: Meg
Birthday: 10/29/1984
Gender: Female
Interests: I heart Jesus, worship drives, old people, cows, road trips, puddle jumping, star gazing, COOL RUNNINGS, Jamaica, gymnastics, tumbling ministry, smelly campers, inner city kids 8-12, Summer Ministry Team, Sully's dog call, making a joyful noise, talking about God, God hugs, laughing...a lot, and 10:42 hugbreaks :)
Expertise: 3...2....1 NEBULIZE!!
Occupation: Student
Message: message me
Member Since:
6/24/2004
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| Tonight I hung out with Drew, Meredith, Sully and Amy and it was loads of fun. I wish Jon and Laura could have been there too. I'm seriously going through Summer Ministry Team withdrawl. It seems like just yesterday we were arriving at Asbury to start the last part of training before we left for the summer and the reality is those ten weeks have come and gone being in ministry together. I remember thinking before we left this summer that we would eventually have to do a SMT chapel and it seemed so far away. Then I remember thinking as we were pulling into Asbury parkling lot after the ten weeks that it wasn't over because we still had chapel. Well, Wednesday was our chapel (I'm so proud of Jenny and Jon for their willingness to let God use them). Man...days go by! It's so frustrating living within two minutes from each of my brothers and sisters and yet I never see them! Watching that video tonight sure brought back some memories...and i really want to be together again!Wow, I just praise God for the opportunity He gave me this summer... it was my one and only chance to experience north summer ministry team! I pray that our friendship goes beyond SMT, beyond Asbury.....
On a non SMT note classes are going well. I absolutley love my professors! This semester is going to kick me in the butt though, thats for sure! Im definitely a slow and steady kind of girl and two hamilton classes, eighth century prophets, greek + two more classes are not what I consider slow and steady! Hamilton classes alone are enough to drain me, but its sooo worth it... i just want to sit as his feet and soak it all up!
We've had two koinonias so far and they have gone really well! I absolutely love the girls on 2nd west! I'm so grateful that God's ways are higher than mine....to think I wanted to stay on first east (he sure knows whats best for me)! I have had some great opportunities to get to know these girls and I am looking forward to the numerous more to come. I got a card from one girl the other day and at the end she told me that she rededicated her life to Christ! I really feel like God is moving in a big way... Fall revival starts next week and I just pray that it is a continuation of His spirit sweeping through the campus like a wind storm!
well, it's late and I have much to do tomorrow so I'm going to see if the coffee has worn off. goodnight ya'll. love and God's peace. | | |
| note to self: caffiene does affect me. five cups of coffee in one day is too much in order to sleep that night. | | |
| God keeps bringing me back to one thing and that one thing is:
it's all about the heart of Jesus.
No matter how much grey area, it all comes down to love. What does that look like? It's different for each situation. First and foremost it means praying for them continuously!!! This past weekend it meant driving three hours to give one of my friends a hug and tell her that "nothing she could ever do would make me love her less". A lot of people thought I was crazy (including her parents) to drive that much just to give her a hug. You know what... thats just a tiny idy bity GLIMPSE of God's love for her. God help her through this time, and be with her parents. Help them show their daughter the love she needs right now! | | |
| Look who figured out how to put color as a background...took me long enough, eh? haha.
Memories baffle me. It is so random what I remember, what I don't remember and what triggers a memory! Something that I don't remember right now, ten years from now something may bring me back to it! Its true with memories of people too. The other day I remembered someone that I dont think I've thought in sooo long and wondered how she was doing. I take those opportunities to pray for the people since many times I have way to get in touch. I had dinner with Reverend Wendy Sue last night and we were talking about the fact that in life you lose touch with people. It's not that there is this huge falling out, but you become busy and have different seasons in your life where different people are prevalent in each of those different stages of your life. My thoughts went straight to my close friends right now and the thought of losing touch made me sad. SMT'ers especially. I mean we lived together for ten weeks... I guess it might be the closest thing to marraige like they said at training. I think they pretty much know me inside and out.
I talked to Colin Chapman today! I havn't talked to him in forever! He's engaged!! Another one of my friends getting ready to exit out of their single stage...and keep in prayer. CONGRATS! I talked to Jennie the other night and that was good, I've been wanting to talk to her all summer! I'm sad she's in Alabama now (but only for selfish reasons...I'll miss her for sure) but she does seem happy!
Tonight I went to a Bible Study at my church. We talked about John 14:1-7. It's the infamous "I am the way the truth and the life. No one gets to the Father except through me". Pastor Bush brought up a point that I had never heard or thought of before. He said that no where in the verses does Jesus say heaven. When it talks about Jesus saying that He is going to prepare a place for them (in that passage the disciples) He is not talking about the cross but more so his RESURRECTION and the FULLNESS OF LIFE that we are offered to have on earth right now...abiding in Jesus, letting God make his dwelling place in our hearts...having that unity with God as Jesus is one with God...but it coudln't happen utnil Jesus did go to the cross. It's all about intimacy with the Father. This gave me a lot to chew on and test and pray about. The word "know" was repeated several times and stuck out to me when we were first reading the passage. God is totally teaching me about abiding in him and challenging me to let him take me deeper! I'm so hungry for it too!
Mrs. Czarnecki was there. Man, I can't imagine her pain and yet I feel it so immensely. She stayed to talk with Pastor Bush and after they left God broke me once again. For Danielle..Orlando..all of the youth this summer that were coming from broken homes, specifically Dontrell, Tyree, Sedric, Alyssa, Ellen, Ashlee, Shelby, Lora. God wrap them in your arms so tight you could break their ribs! Let them run to you...take refuge in you... find a hiding place in your love. Protect them. Turn their mourning to dancing!! Please God!
It's pretty neat how God chooses to lift a heavy heart! Our reward is in heaven but sometimes He chooses to let us see fruits of our labor here on earth. Cortney left a note on my car that was full of compliments and was thanking me for inspiring her... after reading it, all I could say was YAY GOD cause it sure wasnt me! Jesus be with her,as well, as she begins to transition into the college life! Take her deeper, challenge her to strive for more, let Gordon be a place where you can help her thrive!
I got the list of all the girls on our hall next year! 2nd West, OH YEA! I'm excited about serving them as SLA. I am really excited about partnering with my amazing roommate and one of my best friends in the ministry of resident life! It will definitely be a big change from last year but I'm so excited for all that God has in store! Lord, begin even now, unifying our hall, let us be one in you not twenty five!
Well I could probably go on for a lot longer rambling ... I havn't updated in a long time. I still have a whole summer of experiences to unpack...haha, craziness! I'll save that for later. Now it's time to do something productive...maybe study Greek since no review happened this summer and the gracious-pass-anyone-who-works-hard professor isn't teaching next semester! With that said
be blessed! | | |
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Hey friends! This is the first time that I've had internet access this summer and it will most likely be about three weeks until I can get on again!!
It's been three weeks since I left good ole Gtown. It was definitely hard to leave...not because I wasn't excited for the summer, but because it's just hard to leave anywhere. I hung out with my family Sunday night as well as Sharbear, Kate, Colin, and Erin. I left Monday morning and went to Starbucks for one last coffee before we went to the airport. I get in there and who do I see? LEWIS! I was excited cause I was bummed about not seeing him after church sunday. It was neat blessing God chose to give me!
We had a week of training at Asbury before leaving for the summer. It was loads of fun! It was awesome that I could just hang out with amazing brothers and sisters and not have to worry about getting back to do homework! I had not laughed as hard as I did that week in a long time! Gabe is one funny character!! We had a bunch of informational meetings and my favorite was the van safety training!! First we got the mechanics of it all. I then got to drive a fifteen passenger van in an empty parking lot. Gabe's advice to me was this: "Megan, the van doesn't own you...you own the van!!" Glenn helped to the simulation part of training. It was really good to see him and get a hug from him. The simulation was intense...I cried and it was only reading a hypothetical situation! On Thursday we all went shopping for an outfit for the summer and then ate as a group at Macaroni Grille..mmm! Friday we had a commissioning service led by STU then we headed off!
Friday night we spent at Meredith's and her mom fixed us some good southern cooking! Saturday we arrived in Pensacola Florida after some hours driving! I ACTUALLY DROVE! I was really nervous the whole time though, not to mention the fact that I drove about a half hour with the emergency break on!! Laura, Meredith and I stayed with Laurie Straubridge the youth pastor of myrtle grove united methodist church. The boys stayed with a family from the church. It was great staying with Laurie and learning from her about ministry. We would talk each night for an hour or so and just hang out. She definitely selfless in all that she does. She would drive thirty minutes out of her way to pick up kids and then drive them back home at night!
Basically what we did as the Asbury team was plan youth group for the week. We had from three hours with the junior high to plan for in the morning and then three hours with the senior high at night. We did a lot of games, skits and a message plus small group each time. The way we set it up was on monday we talked about God as Father, Tuesday: God as Son, Wednesday: God as Holy Spirit, Thursday: Missions, and then Friday we had a mini service project. We were suppose to get to the beach Friday afternoon but it was red flag so we ended up at someone's pool. It was a blast getting to know the youth and spend time with them. There were a lot of youth from hard family backgrounds, relating and connecting to them was harder than I imagined. On Tuesday night Drew and I talked about God as son.
During small group I felt led to stray from the questions and open up the floor. One girl spoke up right away asking "How do you know God exists when He took away your best friend?" and started to cry. Laurie helped with this question and it was neat cause I could relate to her at least somewheat becaues of Melissa's death. Another girl started crying and shared with us about her parents getting a divorce and how it hurts her heart. Such a gift it is to hurt for other people...hard at times..but such a blessing! We ended by laying hands on them and praying for them. This really helped me to connect a little more with the girls.
Then on Thursday night for one of the activities with the senior high we played wiffle ball. I had a hard time relating to the guys but this helped me majorly! I was running into third base as this guy Stu was running to third base with the ball to catch me...i thought I woud get there before him so I ran as fast as I could...which is great...except I completely knocked him down! WHOOPS! haha it gave me "cool" points with the guys which can be translated into credibility that night when I was sharing about missions and Jesus' compassion! This church in a way reminded me of an orphan church. Many of the youth like I said came from broken homes, a few being raised by a grandmother. There were some youth that were "skaters" and would just straggle in and dissapear. If I was the youth pastor I wouldn't like them leaving without telling me but it was just really neat to watch them come even if it was only for a game or activity. We had to say goodbye on Thursday night and that was no fun! Actually leaving on Friday was even harder...my heart hurt...I cried a lot...my team was great in dealing with me though.
Saturday we drove to gulf shores and spent a few hours on the beach..which was amazing! We all pretty much got a little color..aka...sun burned, relaxed, laughed, and had a great time!! The waves were AWESOME! We drove a little longer to get out of gulf shore prices to find a hotel. We relaxed some more at the hotel, swam, and had some good team time and God filled conversation!
Sunday morning we left the hotel and ventured to Robertsdale, AL with intentions of "ruffing" it. We had been told that the girls would be staying in cabins on a lake. We got to the morning church service right on time and were welcomed by lots of smiling faces (lots of elderly smiling faces :) ) and warm greetings. It was A MAZING! We met the youth pastor, Peter and some of the youth. The girls ended up staying in a COTTAGE in the middle of a cow pasture in Alabama! We honestly woke up to cows grazing and happy pigs!!! :) Laura and I decided that we were fixin' to move south!! (yea...I said fixin...there just might be a southern invasion in the north!) We dropped the boys off at there host home and went in for a minute. We had some good southern sweet tea and talked with Mrs. Meredith and her boys! (insert heart grab here...they are so sweet!!). We basically did the same kind of thing at this church that we did at the last church. The theme was unfailling love. We had two sessions with the jr/sr high combined. The morning was a small devotion/prayer time then mostly games. The night was more in depth with worship through songs, message, and small group time. Tuesday afternoon we were planning for the night and there was a lot of tension and confusion. We prayed together and it was humbling just going to the Lord knowing I was suppose to speak that night and I had nothing. I was reminded that it's not about me! Jon and I both talked that night and God definitely met us there! I talked about Jesus' compassion and the power of ministry through touch, tears, and time. I shared of Melissa's death and completley broke down. There were some teary eyes and hungry hearts that God spoke to, thats for sure! Can I get a PTL? These youth I found to be more open to talking with us. They loved us just because we were from Asbury. We were told that it would happen before we left but I didnt know just how true it was. Karissa is one girl that I got to know and it was really sweet getting a card from her! As activities go we had a little less planning to do because Peter had some things plan such as: mud volleyball (eeeiik...I definitely got attacked by fire ants putting up the net!), mex-fest05, and poolside at Plato's! Again, Friday came all too soon when I thought I was just getting to know the youth and my heart hurt to leave...I cried. We stopped at a fruit farm on the way out though and that was fun times! I got my picture taken by a giant peach!
So far this summer God has been teaching me a lot. For one thing, humbling me and reminding me that I don't have it all together and for sure don't have all the answers. Being with my team has challenged me in my own relationship with God to strive for more!! :) Another thing is just reminding me that there is no such thing as most important. It's not about me at all and it's not about how good Laura sings, how well Drew talks, how much of a servant heart Jon has or how funny Sully is. I've had some frustrations not being involved with the music team and not having a strong voice of oppinion when planning; really feeling ineferior and like I was not contributing to the team. God has been working on me first of all that I need to focus not on my weaknesses or my feelings of being inferior but need to focus on God's ability to make is strengh perfect in my weakness. When God called Moses his reply was "but I". The focus was on him. When Abram was called it says "so...". It speaks of Abrahams obedience and trust in God's faithfulness. Also God has been showing me that there is no small contribution. Even filling water balloons, picking up the broken pieces of water balloons, writing out an overhead, etc. are contributions and serving God. God has also blessed me in using my tears and the ability that he has given me to hurt for people, to help me connect with the youth. I'm learning a lot about selflessness.
We arrived at a hotel in Louisville last night. I drove a little again and this time I left the lights on when we were eating at cracker barrel! EEIIK! I knew it would be okay and we'd get the van started again but I was still frustrated with my stupidity! We start tomorrow in New Albany, IN at Silver Heights camp meeting! MY FIRST CAMP MEETING, and camp for that matter!! WOOHOO! The theme is the most amazing race! We will mainly be camp counselors, small group leaders, worship leaders, and leading games and activities this week! I am super psyched for what God has in store!! We're officially the North team and will remain in OH and MI after this week!
I must get going. Laura needsthe computer and I'm going to play a push - up game with Jon and Sully. I miss you a lot and hope all is well. Keep on bein'!
Love and Blessings!
update again...when I can! :)
ps. sorry its really disorganized and not properly puncuated and have proper paragraphs...its late and hard to condense the past three weeks on one entry! | | |
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