Y is for Yeah

I'll take this time to post my Thank Yous, things that make me go, "yeah!"

I'm thankful for Trinity EPC, my church.

I'm thankful that God allows me to teach the students there.

I'm thankful for the Reformed Presbyterian Church I found in Covington.  I'm also thankful that they sing a lot of hymns and have a lot of children.

I'm thankful that I found a volunteer position so soon after I resigned from my internship in Atlanta.

I'm thankful for the extra gas I will have.

I thank the Lord that I will finally be Tabletalking on Skype Wednesday night.

Thankful that this is exam week.

Thankful for a supportive father and grandfather.

X is for X-tra W is for Women

Yes, I'm cheating.  But I'm not really in the contest in the first place.  This comes from a conversation from an extremist.  As you know, I'm not egalitarian anymore, but I still cling to the idea that women can be leaders in the church if not ordained pastors.  I need something liberal to cling to.  But seriously, Paul's words in 1 Timothy and 1 Corinthians give me the impression that if women are approved by godly men to teach, who are not feminists, who really are theological goldmines, and there is a man leading them, then they can serve as elders and deacons and teach Sunday School.

So, I'm talking to this extreme Calvinist and mention that I'm a youth pastor.  He asks, "pastor or leader?"  I said, I'm a Christian education director and all my men are under 18, and there are only two of them.  He was like, "Good, women can't be pastors."  I didn't argue it.  I changed the subject.  But even those who agree that women should not be ordained can see that women can serve in many capacities in church.  The PCA denom says they can be pastors, just nor ordained.  John Piper says the only thing they can't be is ordained.  The ARP denom lets them be deacons but not elders.

And I know children's ministry is as important as pastoral ministry.  It's an extension of it.  I teach Bible lessons to kids during the pastor's sermon.  But I'm not ordained, don't seek ordination, nor do I have an M. Div.  I just have a seminary degree in Christian education and really remember when God called me to youth ministry.  I wanted someone in it who wasn't in it for pizza parties and beach trips but really did teach theology.  I knew I would do it right.

So I'm female, I'm a youth pastor, and I'm totally fine with that.  I'll be a paralegal soon, and if I ever get married and pregnant, my goal is to be a stay-at-home mom and if possible work online, perform the role God gave me as a woman.

W is for Wake Up!

In the past two weeks, I've posted on Facebook the phrase, "Wake up and go to sleep!"  I got that line from the Three Stooges, which I have loved my whole life.  And yes, I'm female. 

Then, Kevin DeYoung posts an article about how all-nighter study sessions actually do not give you more intelligence.  The lack of sleep makes you more tired.  It's one of those articles that makes me at least glad I can budget my time for some sleep.

Also I think of Paul saying to the Ephesians, "Wake up O sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you." 

V is for Volunteer

Yesterday, I just ended my Atlanta internship with that lawyer.  It was a good internship in a nice part of Atlanta, but I'm just where I can't just drive two hours every day.  Now, this will be one less hour.

Week after next, I'm going to start volunteering with Project Renewal.  They are advocates for victims of domestic violence.  This is also a non-profit organization, and dad keeps telling me I need to find a paying job.

I agree, but I've only had 5 months of experience, and a paying job will not happen at least until next year.  He's forgetting that it will be pay enough to drive one less hour every week.  Plus, I'm kind of excited about being involved with a charity that helps people and gets involved in legal matters.  I feel like this is a great idea.

And I went to college in Tennessee.  I'm a UGA fan, but I still am forever a super volunteer.

U is for Uh-oh

For the first time since 1999, or ever, I finally listened to the document The Lost Kids of Rockdale County.  This PBS special hit the fan when I was a freshman in high school in Rockdale County at the time, and at that time, the super-perverted happenings were a fringe of the town's elite teenagers. 

I listened to these people who were teens in 1999 talking about their misadventures from 1996 when a syphilis epidemic struck the town's health department.  These kids come from squeaky-clean upper middle class homes.  They have everything they ever wanted, no boundaries, and parents who are never home.  These kids are basically feral with nobody to talk to.  When they get to puberty and are figuring out who they are, they run to the next best thing: their crazy peers who are also curious and starved for true love.  These kids ranged from some parental involvement in life to no parental involvement in life to having everything on a silver platter, but still starved for love.

On girl in the video did have an involved father.  I'm not sure why she started participating in the orgies, but the trigger was when she lost her best friend.  This is just proof that losing best friends in very traumatizing and true tragedy in growing up.  This can be more painful than boy/girl relationships breaking up.  I realize how easily this could have been me.  In 1999, I was in the middle of a crumbling best friendship that occurred simply because my friend cared more about the band geek culture and I wanted to stay faithful to the Lord.  I was very lonely throughout high school.  Living in Conyers again, I'm still lonely, but I know the difference between me and the kids in the video.  I had parents in my life.  My mother and father always talked theology with me at the table, in the car, mom talked with me every night about God and life, and I don't think I'd even know as much Bible if it was not for my mother influencing me to start reading devotional books.  I'd probably not be involved in youth ministry had my parents not been super-involved in my church life.  So, although I have an ache from broken friendships and introverted loneliness that continued even into college, I still had the backbone of my parents and their teaching to hold me together.

And I have friends now, although they are all in other states or really busy.  I have one I see weekly, and I even have to work to make that one consistent, but even if I should lose them, I know that my heavenly Father will never leave me, nor forsake me, and by his grace I'm still a virgin, have stayed away from drugs, and only time will tell if I learn to depend on him alone for all my emotional needs.

T is for Tabletalk

The other amazing resource besides Tim Challies is Ligonier Ministries.  I have thoroughly enjoyed Tabletalk magazine this year as my daily devotional.  I have another friend who recently subscribed and we resolved to talk Tabletalk once he gets the magazine.  So exciting.  So last Thursday, I made a video of how I would like to talk: Read the weekly article, comment on it, then pick highlights from the devotionals.  I thoroughly enjoyed it but I still have no feedback.  But soon I'll find other Tabletalkers.

S is for Switchfoot

I started blogging about all the songs by this band then stopped after Beautiful Letdown.  I'm going to get back again.  Just not today.  I still love Switchfoot.  I've loved them since I was 12, started hating them when they crossed over to secular radio, and then started liking them again when Oh! Gravity came out. 

I'm so glad I discovered Jon Foreman's solo songs.  They're actually better than his Switchfoot stuff and are more openly Christian like the first three Switchfoot albums.