Hawaiian Luau!

At SURGE this Sunday night we are having a Hawaiian and I couldn't be more thrilled about it! We've got a lot in store for all the 6th-12th grade students who attend including butt volleyball, costume competitions, photo booths, watermelon eating contests and more! I'll post some of the amazing pictures next week!

Social/Biblical/Global Justice???


Recently, Jared and myself have been thinking a lot about what God has called us to as His children-His ambassadors here on earth. Tony Campolo is and has been a huge advocate on this for years--and after hearing him speak when I was in college, that was when I first decided to sponsor a child through compassion international. At the most recent conference I visited-the Student Ministries Conference at Willow Creek-basically every speaker we had hit this issue--not just touched on it, but hit the nail on the head. Several like Shane Claiborne, and Dan Kimball and Kara Powell have even written books on this.
I seem to be thinking and praying each new day how I can serve God by serving others. How I can help show the love of God to the world through the choices I make, people I talk to, and the purpose with which I do things. I pray that as God continues to shape these thoughts and ideas in my own heart, I can pass on the same things to the students of CrossRoads--Love God--Love People--Desire to Change the World.

The Biggest Loser wins Inspirational TV of the Year award!


Ok, maybe not technically, but of any TV show I've ever seen (and that's a lot), The Biggest Loser inspires me to push myself harder-there is always another goal to be reached.

Hard to believe this is the same person in these pictures! Wow!!! Ali the 1st Woman to win the title of The Biggest Loser looked incredible, and extremely healthy.

As I look at my upcoming birthday milestone...the big 27...I'm feeling more and more inspired and encouraged to really work hard for the goals I've always set for myself, but always seemed just shy of. This year will be different.

I WILL run a marathon. I WILL be happy with how I look. and I WILL work harder then I ever have to obtain it!

Counting Crows...

So last night Jared and I were walking around downtown Chicago having a good time going from store to store when we come to one of our favorites: The Apple Store.

Upon our entry, we realized the upstairs was blocked off and there were a ton of people upstairs and an exciting bustle. I asked the nearest employee what was going on when they replied..."Counting Crows is going to perform." I'm thinking to myself...does anyone even listen to Counting Crows anymore?

Needless to say, we did not get to "see" them, but we heard them starting to play. But no, that was not the best part of my evening.

Jared and I had dinner at the fabulous Grand Lux Cafe--and we both had the most amazing food! Salmon with stir fry and rice--wow it was incredible. Of course, I was not able to finish the entire thing...inspired by the speaker Shane Claiborne earlier that day, we decided to take the leftovers and give them to someone on the streets who needed food.
We did not have far to walk to our car, so I was praying we would find someone in need between here and there...we had only walked a few blocks when suddenly a man with a son about 3 yrs old came up to us and said, "Can anyone help? We need some food" Wow! Talk about Jesus being right there in that moment! We happily gave them the food and felt like we were able to be used by God in a little way.

So there's a little taste of our day spent downtown.

NEW EVERY 2!!! BOO-YA!

So I'm not sure if anyone else has experienced the curse of having a stupid phone that doesn't work half the time--partially because I've dropped it down flights of cement stairs...and partially because it was the free verizon phone they give you because they no longer want to have it.

After 2 long years (well more like 20 months since they let us change a little early), we decided to get new phones...nice ones you actually pay for, as birthday gifts for each other! We ended up getting identical phones except the color is different, so we will finally be able to tell them apart!!!


Check it out!!

MOCK ROCK

So tonight at SURGE, we had 5 Mock Rock Groups perform, 3 Rock Band Groups, and other surprise guests such as Keith Urban, Hillary Duff, Slash, K-Fed, and Axel Roses sister. Oh, and of course Hannah Montana:)

It was an amazing night with some pretty unforgettable acts done by the NC Rockers and LCM5--and R!, HLTT, and the Randoms. Job Well Done everyone-thanks for the amazing night!

QUIZ ALERT!

What I was doing 10 years ago:
Living in Temperance MI, attending CrossRoads, about to turn 17 years old and had a bad case of senior-itis.

Five things on my to-do list today:
1. Work Out--accidently slept in
2. Staff Meeting
3. Meeting with Lisa
4. Youth Group-60 Jr. Highers--ahhh!!
5. Drive to Dearborn to see the fam-including mom and dad!

Snacks I enjoy:
1. popcorn made on the stove:)
2. fruit leather
3. Coffee Drinks
4. Chips and Salsa
5. Sour Gummi Worms

Things I would do if I were a billionaire:...
after tithe......
1. pay off any debt
2. buy 2 new cars
3. buy a house
4. Give tons of money to the fam.
5. Travel

Five of my bad habits:
1. biting my fingernails
2. Misplacing my shades
3. throwing lady bugs in the toilet
4. checking facebook too often:)
5. forgetting laundry in the washer.

Five places I have lived:
1. Saskatoon, Saskatchewan Canada
2. Temperance, MI
3. Spring Arbor, MI
4. Long Beach, CA
5. Sylvania, OH

Five jobs I've had:
1. Cleaner at Lifestyles for Ladies Only
2. Dungeon Servant in the Library-Spring Arbor
3. Student Development Office-Spring Arbor
4. Camp Leadership-Spring Hill Camp
5. Youth Pastor-Midland, Long Beach, and CrossRoads