AN INSIDE VIEW OF A TEENAGE HEART!

The other night I came across a page in my note book where I had drawn a heart and had written a whole bunch of words that had come to mind when I was praying for the teenagers in my town. These words were all things that these youth are in search for. I then wrote words surrounding the heart that came to mind that were things that are below the surface of their heart and are the underlying issues in why these young people are in search for these things. this then broke my heart knowing that there are so many lost and confused young people surrounding me.
Last night TOny and I were talking about this kind of thing, in relation to the youth at Joes place and I made the comment that the kids at Joes place and the kids in my youth group and highschool in Ontario are all in search of the same things. It doesnt matter what their background is or what their situation is. They're all in search for things like Love,Truth, Belonging, etc.
The other day when I discovered this page in my note book I began just fooling around with MS Paintand seeing if I could put my thoughts into an image. Its not a very good image but I think it sort of shows that every young persons heart beats and is broken to feel a lot of these things but underneathe that heart is all these other issues that are burning away. And the number UNO issue that is the cause of it all is the LIES that Satan is feeding our young people! It is no wonder that Jesus says that He is THE TRUTH! It will only be when these youth turn to Jesus and accept Him as the absolute TRUTH that the lies that Satan has kept them in bondage in for so long will finally be able to break free of that and discover God's heart and be able to be refined to a heart that knows the truth!
anyways thats my lil thought for the day. Please PRAY for the young people in your lives and even for your peers who don't know Gods truth and are believing Satans lies. May God give us all courage to speak words of truth and demonstrate Gods love to those who are blinded from it.

Scary stories and pranks DO NOT = sLeEp!!

What does a 21 year old do on a weekend in the middle of January in the middle of Ontario? Well I don't know about most 21 year olds but I just spent a crazy weekend up at Muskoka Woods Sport Resort with over 500 jr high students!! It was so much fun! I got to hang out with 8 amazing jr high girls!! They're your typical jr high girl so their fave part of the weekend was hanging out and talking and eating candy in the cabin and also stalking boys who they forced me to find out their names. It was almost scary being brought back to my jr high years. Anyways it was an amazing weekend. At first I was a lil nervous about a few of the girls who came because they hate the world and have huge attitude and I had NO idea how I was going to connect with them so Friday night at the first session I just cried out to God to open doors for me to connect with these two girls in particular cause I seriously was scared by them (crazy how two 13 year olds can scare you, eh?). So Friday night we got back to the cabin and the younger girls were all excited to turn off the lights so they could tell scary stories in the bathroom. The two older girls came up to me and were like "when the girls go into the bathroom to tell scary stories can we go outside and bang on the window to scare them? I was cool with that and they ended up wanting me to go with them. So we ended up scary the younger girls way too good (i put one girl on my shoulders so that when we threw snowballs at the window theyd look up and see a hooded face...it was AMAZING!!!) as they didnt fall asleep till like 5 A.M. cause they were scared out of their minds and kept jumping at every shadow and sound for the rest of the evening. But it was worth it all just to be able to connect and gain the respect from these two older girls. The one girl really began to ask questions to me by Saturday night and now we have a relationship to build off of, which is exciting! The Speaker was Phil Cann (he's the guy who does the Quest series) and he was amazing. He's super funny and is able to really make God's word applicable to teenagers! One of the girls surrendered her life to God this weekend, so Im excited to go out with her on Thursday and talk to her about what that means now that she's back home. One of the other girls is really maturing in her faith and it was so encouraging to see how far she has come since the beginning of September. Please keep praying for these kids and for myself and the other leaders as we try to lead them in a closer relationship with Christ.

on a funnier note...my sister Linds and I were having a sister bonding night tonight and she was telling me about her new friend that she bought. It's a grow a geek!

thats right you heard me. you put this lil 2 inch man of plastic in a glass of water and he's supposed to grow 500%. SO linds thought that he was going to grow to be at least to be a foot. I began to visualize this and was picturing this plastic geek growing and breaking the glass because he grew so big. and then while linds was sleeping coming to life and him becoming this monster geek!!! Sort of like a bad 80's horror movie (like gremlins). anyways, so she brought her 'geek' up to show me and honestly I think I might have nightmares tonight about it because he is definaly the scariest looking geek I have ever seen. which reminds me before I go to sleep I need to put him back in her room cause hes sitting on my desk staring at me....*blah*
but ya anyways so thats all the exciting news for today. I tried to draw a MS paint picture of my weekend scaring the girls but I got frustrated with the program and quit. sorry. maybe tony can help me edit my blog or something...oh well. have a great week.

The Road Less Travelled?...

Hey Everyone, welcome to my blog. When I was at Briercrest this past week visiting, several of my friends suggested I keep a blog to keep everyone up to speed with what I'm up to. So I've entitled this blog THE ROAD LESS TRAVELLED because it reminds me of a poem I read in like grade 11 by Rober Frost.
I really feel this poem describes the place where Im at right now. I feel like taking a year off of school is something that most college/university students dont do, but I know that this is the right place for me to be right now although it is so hard to be away from friends, Tony (my boyfriend for those of you who miraculously havent heard yet), the Gathering, and school. So ya I just wanted to let you guys know to check my blog on a weekly basis and hopefully I'll be faithful in keeping it updated (if I dont you come hunt me down and send me hate mail...hehe).
I miss you all and I'd love to hear from you guys too so make sure to comment on here or send me emails Email me!
But ya just to update all of you on where Im at if you dont know. I just spent the last 2 1/2 weeks in saskatchewan visiting friends, and taking a modular. It was definatly the best holiday ever cause I got to just spend quality time with friends and God definately taught me a lot through my new relationship with Tony.(For those of you who are like "where did this Tony guy come from"...he is a man of God in whom God has given me as one of my best friends this past year. Everyday God is deeping my love for this man and I am so excited about this new journey that God has led me on with Tony.)
I am now back in Halburton, living with my family and working at the church. I am only working part time which is completely fine with me. my job description is connecting and discipling youth! I am so excited because this is my passion! Last semester was awesome and I can definately see how God has worked the soil for the seeds that He is going to plant this semester. so this semester is filled with two weekend retreats (jr & sr high) small groups, one on one mentorship and connecting, and hosting connecting events. Im so excited. If you think of praying for me and the youth here in Haliubrton that would be amazing! God definately is at work and Im excited to be apart of His plans!
Have a great week friends~