Archive for the ‘Youth’ Category

Posted on November 10, 2009 - by Mary

Chosen Youth Conference 2009-Gaylord, MI

It’s amazing how quickly time goes by when you’re having fun! We just wrapped up another weekend at the Chosen Youth Conference. If you don’t know, I’m a coordinator for the conference, meaning I help with some of the planning and organization. My official title is Production Office Manager which basically means I am in charge of printing materials such as signage, schedules and forms, setting up registration, coordinating volunteers and coordinators for the event, and managing the office before and during the event. Though it’s very tiring by the time the event is over on Saturday night, it is very rewarding and I feel blessed and privileged to serve.

The youth of our nation need and deserve to be served with events such as the Chosen Youth Conference. If you’ve never been to a youth conference or would like to know why it is important, keep reading.

The vision of James Scheer, founder of Rock Your World Ministries and keynote speaker at Chosen, is to see this generation have a true encounter with God. When someone experiences a true encounter with God, it is a life changing event. You cannot be in the presence of God without change taking place. James is the Youth Pastor at our church and was called to youth ministry at the ripe young age of 19 or 20. He’s taken several groups of youth out in the mission field, ministering to other youth through Rock Your World Ministries. Today, he continues to reach out to the youth in our community, as well as to the youth in other communities through the Chosen Youth Conferences.

Though Chosen has been compared to Acquire the Fire, it is not the goal of James Scheer or Drew Spanding (Program Director) to be another ATF. It is their heart’s desire and vision to maintain the intimacy achieved at Chosen by holding smaller events in local churches.

During the conference, several different types of media are used to reach the students, right where they’re at. Through music, from worship to Christian Rock, through videos that are humorous and serious, and through messages that are relevant for today’s youth, the speakers and musicians all have the same goal: to see this generation empowered and motivated to reach out to their peers with the message of Jesus Christ.

Everyone who is involved in the production of Chosen is a volunteer with a heart for this generation. Many of the volunteers are already youth leaders, serving in their local churches. Many of the volunteers come on board because they too have a passion to see this generation changed and have a tangible encounter with God whether it’s their first or their 10th.

If you’d like to have Chosen come to your church, email inbox@chosennow.com.

Below are some pictures from this weekend’s event, plus some of the volunteers who make Chosen happen.

Posted on October 26, 2009 - by Mary

Chosen Youth Conference 2009-Livin’ the Dream

I am a youth leader, and also a coordinator for the Chosen Youth Conference. The reason I am so involved in youth ministry is because I desperately want to see this generation make the best choices for their lives, be as successful as they possibly can be and to help them avoid making some of the same mistakes I made growing up. Youth ministry is one avenue in which I can reach a lot of teens.

This past weekend, we held our youth conference in Sault Sainte Marie, Ontario. There were over 200 students in attendance at the Bible Fellowship church. This year’s theme is “Livin’ the Dream”. The speakers, James Scheer, Drew Spanding and Johnny V, all talked about what “Livin’ the Dream” really means…our dreams vs. God’s dreams for our lives.

As the conference unfolded Friday evening, the teens, as well as the adults, were all hyper and excited for this year’s event. Previously, the Chosen conference was in the Sault in May of 2009, for the very first time, for a one day event. This time, we were there for the two day event. The conference opened with some high praise by the Chosen Band, then going into worship. The keynote speaker, James Scheer, gave us a hint of what “Livin” the Dream” means and what to expect during the conference. He used video and some very well thought out messages to get the kids ready for the weekend.

Drew Spanding, who was also the emcee, talked about every teen’s favorite subject…sex. What I like about Drew is that he is so real. Drew is not a professional speaker, though he very well could be. He tells us right away that he’s nervous, that he might stumble over his words and that he’s just a guy with a heart for teens and wants to help them make right choices, that will benefit and add value to their lives. Drew spoke from his heart, not from “the bible”. He explained why God invented sex, why God wants us to have “good” sex, and the only way to have “good” sex. That’s all I’m going to tell you. If you want to know more, you need to attend one of the conferences, or contact me so we can discuss bringing the conference to your church.

Johnny V…aka John Vermilya, gave two very relevant message on Saturday. The first one, he talked about how as Christians, we don’t have to go door to door to tell others about Jesus and that God puts things into motion to help lead others to Him. Very powerful, especially for our teens, because so many times we think in order to be a Christian, we have to go knocking down people’s doors, or that we have to stop every person we meet in the mall or at the grocery store and tell them about Jesus, and frankly, that just freaks people out, and causes them to run away from church all together. But, that’s not the way God works. God sets things in motion so that at the right time and place, you will be where you’re supposed to be. In other words, we’re all dominoes in this thing called life, and if we’re living God’s dream for our lives, we will be on the right track.

John’s second message was even more powerful, especially for today’s youth. He taught us how to explain God’s existence without ever opening the bible. So many times, people shy away from Christians because we tend to want to shove the bible down the throats of non-believers. For some reason we think if we can just get them to read the bible, they will want to become a Christian and turn their lives over to Jesus. But, how often do you see that really happen? Not very, if at all…not in the US anyway.  So, he gave us some practical, very scientific ways to prove God’s existence. Awesome.

The bands that played, in addition to the Chosen Band, were Sargent Avenue and The Mark White Band. The teens rocked it out to Sargent Avenue and worshiped  God in their own style to the Mark White Band. I think it’s awesome how God uses music that we like to speak to us. No matter what style of music you like, there is Christian music available for your listening, or rocking, pleasure.

If you have never been to a Chosen Youth Conference, I recommend you check one out. If you’d like Chosen to come to your church, please contact me so I can get you in touch with the right people.

Posted on September 27, 2009 - by Mary

Weekend Retreat on Burt Lake

This weekend, Jeff and I were amazingly blessed to be able to stay at a beautiful lake house on Burt Lake in Indian River. A couple in our church owns the lake house and has allowed us to use it in the past for youth retreats and for other church work related stuff.

Last year we had the retreat the same weekend as this year, which happens to fall during the week of our anniversary. But this year, with the high school Homecoming dance and other events our youth leaders needed to attend, our retreat ended up being a great time to fellowship with each other on Saturday night. But, Jeff and I were blessed to be able to spend the weekend there, alone for most of the time, Friday through today.

It was so nice and relaxing. I don’t know what it is about being by the water, but I find it very peaceful and serene. When Jeff and I arrived Friday afternoon, our Youth Pastor and two other youth leaders were there, relaxing as well. We visited for a bit, then they left. It was dinner time, so Jeff and I headed into town and decided to hit a nice family pizzeria called Vivio’s. It was delicious! We ordered a large so we could bring some home for a snack or meal later.

After we ate, we went to the little grocery store and got some food for breakfast and lunch as well as some snack food. Then we headed back to the lake house and just chilled all evening. Some of my favorite things about the lake house are: the decor, the king size bed and of course the view. I’m not an interior decorator but I believe a good description would be traditional American. Lots of American symbols such as stars, red, white and blue, flags and such. There are even some antique decorations used as picture frames and plant stands. It’s very clean and not cluttered, which contributes to the peacefulness.

As for the bed, oh my! It is huge…to me anyway. We have a queen size bed, but there is such a difference between the size of a king and the size of a queen. They have a foam mattress on top of the regular mattress which makes for a very cushy, comfy nights rest.

As I mentioned earlier, when we arrived on Friday, there were other people there. One of those people is a little prankster and I should have thought she would play some practical joke on us. When Jeff pulled the quilt back on the bed, he noticed the bed was made weird. Neither one of us thought about the fact that our prankster friend would have done it. We just fixed the sheet and climbed in.

The next day, when everyone came over, she asked if we liked the sheets. Haha! I should have known she would do something to us. The bed didn’t have a blanket on it so it made it harder to disguise that she short sheeted the bed. Too funny.

Saturday evening all the youth leaders that could be there showed up between 4 and 6. We grilled burgers, had yummy cheesy potatoes made by my prankster friend (no she didn’t sabotage the potatoes), creamed corn, and apple crisp made from apples Prankster and her associate picked the day before. It was delicious!

There were two rounds of Euchre going on and I’m proud to say my team won 2 out of 3 games. We were supposed to play the winner of the other table, but because it was Prankster and our ADD/Sanguine Youth Pastor playing, they took like 2 hours to finish their 3rd game. By the time they were done, it was late and everyone was ready to leave. Oh well! It was still a ton of fun.

Jeff and I stayed up till like 12:30, me playing YoVille (of course) and Jeff was watching TV. We got up a little after 9:00 this morning, cleaned, packed and got ready for church. We finished the danish we got for breakfast and even had time to stop and get coffee on the way to church this morning.

After church we came home, had brunch and took a nap. It’s so funny how after such a relaxing weekend, all we wanted to do is relax some more. It’s hard to get out of that mode! Prankster and I were talking at church today about how we need a week at the lake house! That would be nice.

Jeff has been off all week using up his last little bit of vacation time for this year. Tomorrow he goes back to work on midnights so he is transitioning. He will be staying up all night tonight. I will stay up as late as I can, but I have a doctor’s appointment at 10:20 tomorrow…my yearly. Yuk.

Posted on September 18, 2009 - by Mary

The Real Me

My good friend, Tishia, recently posted a blog entitled “Who Am I” and in it she talks about not knowing who she really is. Sure, she’s a mom, she’s a Christian, she’s a work at home mom, but those don’t really describe who she is. I think many of us struggle with knowing who we really are. The reason I named my blog “Being Who God Created Me to Be” is for the very same reason…every day I’m growing and searching and learning to be the woman God created me to be. I’m no where near being that person yet and won’t be until heaven, but while I’m here on Earth, I want to be as close to it as possible. I do believe God created me, and you, for a specific purpose here on Earth, and I think that’s what most of us are trying to figure out…just what is our purpose, why are we here at this very moment in time? Of all the other times we could have been born, why now, why here, and for what?

Lately, God has been laying on my heart that my first mission is my family…actually God has laid it on my heart for a while, but He has to remind me of it every so often. I wrote a post not too long ago entitled “Learning to be Content Where you are” and I wrote about being content in singleness and where you are financially. Not too long after I posted that (a day or two) God laid it on my heart that I’ve not been content where I am living. You see, we currently live in a small village which we moved to the first year after we got married…which was 3 years ago to be exact. We moved here because this is where my kids have grown up and have gone to school and we did not want to uproot them and make them switch schools. Plus it was easier for them to go back and forth between our house and their dad’s. Well, now since my baby is a Senior in high school this year, she will be graduating at the end of the year, and I really want to move back to the town where we go to church, all our friends live and where my husband works. It’s only about 23 miles away, but still, I feel so disconnected from everyone over there. Our church friends rarely come to visit because it seems so far and out of the way, plus we would be able to interact more with the youth (we are youth leaders in our church) if we lived in town. So, I’ve been praying and praying for God to provide the means in order for us to move as soon as my baby graduates. I’ve even got my eye on a house, right in town, just a mile or so from the church…it would be perfect…or so I think. Then God basically told me to relax…be content here where I’m at…He will work it all out…in His best timing. I so know that’s true, and He’s never let me down before…yeah, I may not be able to actually see God working it out, but He always does.

So, I’ve quit pining for that house, and quit allowing my spirit…or maybe it ’s my flesh…to be unsettled where we are. Now it’s my prayer for God’s PERFECT will to be done in my life, in our lives…not just His permissible will.

The real me…the real me is being who God created me to be…always growing and learning and following His direction…not my own.

Do you know who the Real You is? Are you tired of living someone else’s life? Do you desire to be the Real You, the person God created you to be? Click here to discover the real you today!

Posted on June 2, 2009 - by Mary

The Chosen Youth Conference-Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario

 

This past weekend I had the awesome priviledge of volunteering at the Chosen Youth Conference in Sault Ste. Mario, Ontario Canada. This is the first time we’ve taken Chosen on the road and the 4th conference we’ve put on. The theme of this conference was the Remnant~teaching our youth what it means to be God’s Remnant, the few remaining, standing up for Him. 

The host church, Bible Fellowship, is an old, renovated ski lodge, set in the woods of Sault Ste. Marie, and as soon as we arrived, we could feel the peace and the Holy Spirit there. 

The pastor and his wife are amazing people and have an awesome team of volunteers. We met really great people with a huge heart to serve, and serve they did. The conference went very smoothly, and the reason is because of the Pastor and his team.  If you live in the SSM area, you should give Bible Fellowship a visit. The hospitality and love goes above and beyond.

There were about 300 youth and young adults in attendance, including youth leaders and youth pastors. They opened the conference with “This Little Light of Mine” being sung a cappella, and students entering the darkened auditorium with candles. The student’s lined up on the stage, and as recorded voices described some of the major issues our youth are dealing with, one by one they blew out their candle and left the stage area. As the last one exited the stage, the Chosen Band started playing Praise and Worship music. 

The MC was Drew Spanding of the Big Ticket Festival, and was also a speaker at this conference. He delivered a very powerful message on sex and marriage and that God invented it and wants us to have sex within the boundaries of marriage. We then gave all the teens a book about sex and dating and took up a love offering to help cover the cost of the books.

The day continued on with powerful messages by James Scheer and awesome music by the Andy Stefanic Band and Sargeant Avenue.  About 100 students rededicated their lives or gave their lives to the Lord for the first time after one of James’ messages. 

The conference also included some jokes, funny stories and a skit. During James’ message about having a heart, a “nurse” pushing a “dead patient” on a gurney ran out and upon examination it was determined the patient had no guts and Pastor James pulled out a string of guts (linked sausage). He instructed the nurse to take the patient back and put her guts back in. A few minutes later the nurse and the patient returned to James because she put the guts back in but she was still not moving or talking. Upon further examination, it was discovered that the patient had no heart as James pulled out from under the sheet a heart (a real cow heart, cut in half~it was huge and gross but the kids loved it!). 

The Chosen Youth Conference will again be in SSM at Bible Fellowship in October of 2009. We will be announcing ticket prices and further information on the web. Then we will be in Gaylord, Michigan November 6 & 7, 2009 and the theme is Living the Dream.

If you are in the SSM or Gaylord areas and have youth or are a youth leader or pastor, be sure to check out the Chosen Youth Conference.

You can follow Chosen on Twitter as well as join our group on Facebook. We look forward to hearing from you if you attended Chosen in Sault Ste. Marie, any of the other conferences or plan on attending either of the conferences in the fall.

Posted on May 9, 2009 - by Mary

Daughter’s Prom 2009

My dd-16 is a Junior this year and just attended her first Prom. She looked gorgeous! It’s amazing how grown up she looks in these pics. Her boyfriend, Evan, looks very handsome and he took very good care of her and had her home by 11:30.  Here are the photos I took before they left.

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

Posted on May 2, 2009 - by Mary

Senior Prom 2009

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

My son Kaleb is at his Senior Prom as I type this. As you can see from the photos, he and his girlfriend look very nice! I can’t believe how grown up he looks in his tux!

Earlier today I was working on some graduation announcements to email to relatives who live far away. Here are those as well. What do you think about emailing announcements instead of the traditional snail mail versions? Do you think it’s to uncooth, or because of internet technology today, do you think it’s the wave of the not so distant future?

Enjoy!

(When you click play, a new window opens. It takes a few seconds to load. There is music so make sure your volume it on and not too loud…lol. Also, you can click “pause” if you need or the arrow to scroll quicker)

Make a Smilebox photobook