82 with a realfeel of 96.. what?

so our first day on site was very hot, as was expected. my phone told me it was 82 outside with a realfeel(tm) of 96. if it feels like 96 degrees, isn't it 96 outside? anyways, i digress. we arrived at the site a little sluggish for the first day, but were able to get a lot of the groundwork laid so that we can get some major work done in the days to come. as usual with my sites, we hit a few obstacles that are going to make it a challenge to get done by friday.. mostly with some spacial restrictions and having to reach some very high points on this house. not to mention all of the cicadas.

i didn't mention this last night, but i somehow got stuck with 4 of our students this week. i've never seen that happen. so i've got danielle, abby, mini pr, and half-hour bauer. so rest assured, they'll be safe with me. and they'll also stay busy!

our house has siding that can't be scraped, and as a result we have to peel off the loose paint by hand. i'll have an interesting picture from that venture below. we scraped the foundation, peeled lots of paint, and did a lot of work caulking and scraping around the porch area. there's a little more to do with that, but hopefully we'll be able to begin painting tomorrow. it's always a good step to be able to get started with that. i'm hoping that our students will get some better rest tonight as well, so that they can be a little more energetic tomorrow. staying at northside has given a few of them a sense of a lock-in, but they definitely regretted that today. lesson learned. i hope. i'll leave you with a few images of workcamp: day 1! enjoy.

                            this is our work site for the week

                                    the workcamp motto!

                                    danielle hard at work

                                         blurry cicada

 half-hour bauer and mini pr peeling some paint away... together

                   this is what happens when teens see a camera

                                     gathered for worship

workcamp: the start of something... warm!

tonight was our first night of nashville workcamp '11. despite the many things that might deter teenagers from coming out for a trip like this, we have about 350 people gathered here this week to go out into nashville and paint some houses for those who aren't able to do this kind of work themselves. looking forward into the week, it looks like we'll have some nice weather.. even though it'll be in the upper 90's at some points.

our theme for the week is "follow you" which is the idea that God is already around us, and it's to us to follow Him wherever he goes. this week He's heading into some uncomfortable territory, but that's exactly where we're called to be. this week we'll certainly get dirty, but my prayer is that our teens are covered in the dirt of Jesus' feet. no matter how uncomfortable and hot and sweaty we get this week, we'll know that this is exactly where we're supposed to follow. please lift up this cause in prayer this week. i'll keep you posted as we go throughout the week. i'll get you started with some images from our worship this evening.

spring retreat!

about 2 weeks ago we headed out for our annual spring retreat at taylor christian camp and met up with the northside, riverwood, crittenden drive, and franklin youth groups. the theme for the weekend was "covenant" as we looked at the covenant between us and God. much like the entire month of april, it was rainy and the sun was seldom seen.. but that didn't stop us from having an awesome time! i would go into more details on what was talked about, but i couldn't do it justice with a blog post. but what i will do is let you check out the weekend through pictures. you'll see a little bit of everything from juggling to play-doh pictionary to treasure hunting to, well.. just hanging out. enjoy!

                                     friday night's lesson

                                see? told you there was juggling!

                            let the play-doh pictionary begin!

                                        such intensity

                         figuring out the map and clues

                                           teamwork!

at the end of the treasure hunt. the "blind" person had to open the combination lock

                                       more juggling

                                 playing spoons or something..

                                         group shot

                                     i approve of this retreat

Face Off: White House vs Northside

Well not really but it sounded like a cool title!

This afternoon Northside made the trek up to White House for a little face off in volleyball that started out as WH vs NS but by the second game was definitely a blend of the two. Throw in a frisbee and a reenactment of John 6, youth style, and you've got a great afternoon. Jack Bauer led us in a few songs and Chris and Nixon led a devotional that held a lot of great reminders as the kids get ready to go back to school from Spring Break. Christianity is not always easy and it may not always be the coolest but the reward is bigger than we can ever imagine. It's never going to be easy but we have a pretty awesome God who has our back.

When they found him on the other side of the lake, they asked him, “Rabbi, when did you get here?” Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, you are looking for me, not because you saw the signs I performed but because you ate the loaves and had your fill. Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For on him God the Father has placed his seal of approval. Then they asked him, "What must we do to the works God requires?" Jesus answered, "The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent. " - John 6: 25-29

Thanks to all those who came big and small and made yesterday afternoon a lot of fun!

the new day

as i was thinking about the look of this blog, i concluded that i wanted you to always have an image that in your mind signified your faith. the typical look that a Christian based site goes for is something along the lines of a cross. while i have nothing at all against that, it's important that we remember that the cross wasn't the end for Jesus. what set Jesus apart wasn't the death on the cross, it was the resurrection. this is where the victory was won.

so whenever you come here, you'll see a picture of a sunrise. this signifies the new day. in matthew 28 it talks about the marys going to visit the tomb "as the new day was dawning" (nlt). there are so many times in life that we'll feel knocked down, bruised, broken, shattered.. defeated. but when all hope seems to be lost, the new day dawns. and just like that our sorrow is turned to joy.

imagine for a moment the way the marys felt. they loved Jesus so much, and watched him suffer, bleed, and die unjustly. in their sorrow they went to see his body only to find it was no longer there, and that he was back. how quickly did their sorrow turn to joy? how quickly did they go from mourning to celebrating the life that they thought was lost?

in this way we should feel excited in our hard times to know that the new day is dawning. so as you come to this blog to see some of the latest happenings of the white house youth group, be encouraged about the life you have in Christ and in knowing that hope is always on the horizon.