An Update to Small Group Leaders | Girls Ministry Fall 2013

Hi there,
I want to give a little update on the life of our Girls Ministry.  What a whirlwind of a semester! Or is it just me that feels that way?  It has flown by and it’s already time for Christmas party planning to start! What?!
I wanted to let you all know that I’m very thankful for each of you that are involved in our girls’ lives.  It means so much that they have you walking through life with them, caring for them, listening to them.  I hear stories from so many of our girls of what an impact our small group leaders are making on their lives.  So if they don’t always say so to you, let me tell you on their behalf that you matter and are making a difference in their lives.  I know we tell you all the time, but we really couldn’t do ministry without you all.  It would be impossible for the us to know all the students the way that you all do.  So thank you!

I got a text today from one of our 11^th grade girls that made my heart sing.  It led me to realize that you all might want to be updated on some things I’ve seen God do in our girls this semester.  So much!  He is so good and faithful, even when the days seem crazy or darker than usual.

So here are a few ways that the Lord is moving in our girls:

Girls desiring to know Scripture – This has shown up several times over the past few weeks.  One girl told me in the text mentioned earlier, “BG I really need to get to learn the stories of the Bible better.  I think they’re super interesting.”  What?!  This is a dream text to get.  Usually I get texts about boy drama, or fights between girls…but no, this girl desires to know scripture more. And it’s not just her.  I’ve had conversations with several students desiring to know how to know the Bible better.  This is a cool way that God is moving in their hearts. I can’t tell you how exciting it is to know that they want to know God better. Yay!

Community built – I’ve seen so many instances this semester where our girls are finding true friendships.  I think for a while our students would come, know some people on surface levels, and then go home and hang out with school friends.  I've seen over the past semester friendships form that go beyond schools and the church.  They call each other out when they miss church or are not walking the right path.  They have sleepovers without prompting from adults; they are doing life together and encouraging each other in their relationships with Christ.  I think some may see it as “cliques” but I don’t know that they’re exclusive. Sometimes they are, but I think our students have grown over the past semester in accepting new people. This is cool to me!  These friendships share something greater than many school friendships do - they share Christ.  Those who play basketball together share basketball and once basketball season ends, they might have a few things in common, but many times those friendships fade.  Church friendships seem to last, or at least what I've noticed, because they share a relationship with Christ. 
Another aspect of community is that girls will go to their small group leaders or other members of their small groups before other people when there’s a problem.  They have trust and security within our ministry.  There are also girls sticking up for other girls in hard situations, the love and support they show – and you show – when things get tough for families or friends.  Within our community, they laugh together, hurt together, cry together, are goofy together, and move on together.  This is really encouraging to be part of and to see.

Girls on the fringe – I made a list this year of all the girls active in our ministry.  Whoa, there’s a lot!  And we’ve grown throughout the semester, with new people.  With this list, I started to sort of mark off the ones that I knew well or have conversations with regularly, and that hit a good number of them, but definitely not all.  So then I started to look at who they were and reach out to them and what I learned was that many of the ones I considered “on the fringe” –because I didn’t necessarily know them – were actually plugged in with other girls or with their small groups.  And many of them have just gotten plugged in this semester.  Some that were coming with their boyfriends actually have friends among other girls.  And many of the new girls have come, stuck, and gotten very plugged in.  Like several of the girls in the middle school worship team; they are new-ish and already leading.  There are still some that are probably “on the fringe,” but this semester has been one of community.  I can’t reach them all, but with your help and with the help of our girls, they can be known and cared for.  Cool.

The counseling room – anyone know what I’m talking about?  Yup.  The bathroom.  Can I just tell you how many times I’ve walked in awkwardly to the bathroom only to find girls crying or hashing out drama?  One particular Wednesday night I walked in on two girls, one was sobbing with the other trying to comfort her.  I stopped to listen and help, but then a visitor walked in on them and the awkwardness continued.  Not to say that this is bad.  It opened up a good conversation later with the visitor.  But the cool thing about this moment was that I wasn’t needed to help this sobbing girl.  The friend had it all under control.  And this bathroom is a place of comfort to the girls.  I asked a small group Sunday how they felt about it, and they all agreed that it was the safe place to cry, collect themselves, and deal with drama.  In the bathroom. Nice.  This happened with some middle schoolers one Sunday morning too.  The bathroom drama stories could be endless, and I’m sure many of you know what I’m talking about.  It is cool that our girls are at a place where they are able to help one another, comfort each other, and walk in life together. 
As a side note, I’m thinking of painting the bathroom a happier color and putting Bible verses of comfort around.  Any ideas are welcomed!

Called to Ministry – so many conversations this semester have revolved around our girls wanting to do ministry.  There are several girls feeling the call to ministry.  God is at work, people!  I love hearing girls come to know Christ, and I love when they make friends, and I love that they have a desire for Scripture.  But for some reason, maybe because it’s impacted me personally, when I hear girls tell me or others that they want to do ministry for life, I get giddy.  I think that this reflects the fruit of their relationship with Christ more than some other things.  It means that they really get what Christ is calling us to do and are being selfless enough to understand giving their lives, hopes and dreams to Christ.  There are girls that want to do girls ministry, student ministry, missions, and beyond.  Some are already doing this.  I know a 9^th grader that is leading FCA at Wakeland.  She’s teaching senior football players the Bible.  Not just the happy stories either; she told me she’s teaching on “getting out of the boat,” being connected to the vine (John 15), and calling them all out on the type of language they use.  Awesome!  Others are leading in their schools or within the ministry.  I can’t wait to see how God uses so many of them the rest of this year, and beyond high school and college.

I know that you all have so many stories of what God is doing in your small groups and in your ministries.  I would LOVE to hear them!  We only see a glimpse of what is happening, and so we love to hear your stories.  So be encouraged that God is at work.  He is doing great things in our ministry, and will continue to use you and our girls.  I’m thankful that God has put me in this church, this ministry, and that He is moving in the lives of our girls.
Love,
Brittany

A Weekend in Pictures

There's much life to catch up on, however I want to show you part of my weekend so far.  Today was  a good day. Here's what it looked like:

 Fall has come to our home! Red flirts with the green and bursts towards the sun! I really love Fall and the colors all around! Fall sure looks different here than in Arkansas. Its like I'm searching for it, while there it was right in front of my face.

 Thursday I felt like I was back at Grace College in Santiago, but it was just Legacy Christian Academy. Chris Hurt spoke and so Alexis, who was back in town from Ouachita, and I went to support!

 Friday Night Lights with these friends to see some students!
Alexis is on the far left, Jacklyn and Chris (our middle school pastor and his wife) and myself. 

 We were creeping on Alexis before she saw us, and this is Chris and Jack's face of annoyance at her ignoring us. haha

 Aww! Frisco Band, my heritage.  Don't miss it, but thankful for those days. And proud to see some of our students doing so well in the FHS band.

The craiziness of Friday night! I come home after having to call the cops on some "suspicious youths," or "mala juntas" in Uruguyan, in the football stadium parking lot and find cop cars outside my house!  They had pulled some kid over and just happened to be in front of our house, but it was startling. Plus, they were there longer than a usual speeding ticket is so I think something shady went down.  This sums up the neighborhood that I live in. Cue Elvis Song!

 My life. I thought I had escaped the band world, but I'm being sucked back in. (:
Brady is a freshman at Wakeland High and in band. So we found ourselves at several marching band events this fall. Wakeland advanced to Area last week, so these pictures are from their area performance. Awesome!

 

 He's one of those mellaphone players, who seem headless with their horns up.

Being at band stuff is also an awesome opportunity to see several of my students

Some of my students are probably in these pictures. 

 Brady's the one in the center! Can you tell I'm sort of a proud sister?  Brady's band, after today's results, is headed to State! They're the only band from Frisco that made it to go on. Exciting times.

 Another one of my students! (:

 Then the rest of the day looked like this. Relaxation in my cozy little home.

So maybe not enough schoolwork done, but overall it's been pretty fantastic.  Life in the city is certainly an adventure.  Not the type of adventure I thought I'd be on right now, but the Lord is good and faithful and I'm very thankful to be where I am.
Church and Fall Festival tomorrow! Maybe I'll keep this little blog a bit more regularly. (:

A Little Tea Party!

Previously in our student ministry, the girls ministry consisted of a girls retreat in the Fall, Revolve Tour in the Spring, and coffee dates the rest of the year.  (As well as supporting the general student ministry happenings).  Well, after review of a Girls Ministry's purpose and goals, we have changed what we're doing.  Girls ministry is best done throughout the year, and my goal this year is to know more girls that tend to be on the "fringe," doing things that are more "grade-specific."  So we're doing many small events this Fall, trying to include more girls. Thinking through this has stretched me, creatively, more than I thought it would.  It has also taught me a bit of how to diversify for different ages.  6th Graders don't always need to hear what 11th and 12th Grade girls do.

So our first event was for the 6th grade girls.  We had a tea party!!  I wanted to share some of my ideas of what we did.
Purpose:  The goal of the night was to make the girls feel special, girly, and like the princesses that they are.  We talked about how we are daughters of the King and that he loves us so much. As their first official student ministry event, I told them how excited I am that they are now part of the student ministry and that God is going to do big things with their time in this student ministry.  We talked about being valued in God's eyes and shining for Him like Princesses in their schools.

How to Tea Party: 
The Invites: I used invitations from this great site that were easy to edit.  I gave them to the girls a few weeks in advance.  They were cute little reminders.
The Food: Because 6th Grade girls are probably not too thrilled about hot tea, I tweaked the script and we served pink lemonade (what drink is more girly?) and raspberry tea.  The girls were pretty excited about the raspberry tea, and had red mustaches the rest of the night!  I ordered cupcakes from my favorite cupcake bakery, Dimples Cupcake Factory which was a hit! Those cupcakes are huge!

  
We drank out of mason jars, and the girls thought that was very special! Haha!  The goal was girly, so I tied ribbons and put tulle everywhere!  To go along with the lemonade theme, I found awesome Hubert's lemonade bottles (after drinking the delicious lemonade, of course) and they contributed to centerpieces.  The tables also had some mason jars with lemon drops and whoppers (malt balls) in them.  I really wanted some giant pink gumballs, but couldn't find any that were cost-efficient enough.

What we did:  When the girls got to the party, they mingled a bit and started drinking and eating snacks.  I had put on the tables these super cute cutouts of cupcakes that they played with as girls were walking in.  It was nice for them to have something to do with their hands and to do, because with 6th graders sometimes conversation with new people are awkward.
(Apparently I didn't take a picture of the actual cutouts)
I also found these free cutouts to make your own photo booth! The girls really loved this! It was really easy to make, I just printed these out on cardstock and cut away.  I set up a banner in a corner and it made for a perfect photobooth!

Finally, we played some get-to-know-you games because I didn't know everyone and they didn't either.  We spent thirty minutes learning names and random facts about each other.
Then, as time came to almost leave, we waited for parents and played "pterodactyl" which is played by keeping your teeth covered at all times. The person to your left tries to make you smile and show your teeth by making weird noises and saying "pterodactyl."  We laughed so much!



These girls are some high school students who helped with the evening. It was awesome to have them invest in younger girls and to have them help with setup and cleanup!
In hindsight, I would change a few things.  I would not host this event on a Friday night during Texas football season.  I didn't think that high school football would affect 6th graders, but this group of girls has many older siblings and a large group of the 6th grade girls went to the football games, which was a bummer to me.
Overall, the evening was a success.  The girls who came were known and I feel like they felt special.  They heard truth and had fun in the process.  Even though not as many girls came as I thought were coming, the ones that did were girls I didn't know as well, so it was a good opportunity for me to meet them.  Not a lot of planning was needed because the girls just wanted to talk and be silly! Their stories were random, but they were heard and are important to the girls.

"A Dare to an Emptier, Fuller Life" | An Arguement and A Challenge

I’ve been rereading this book by Ann Voskamp, One Thousand Gifts.  This book changed my perspective on life the first time I read it, and now that I’m rereading it, I feel refreshed all over again.  In this book, she talks of how the way to a full life is gratitude.  God says that we are to live a full life, in Him, and Ann’s argument is that the way to do that is with a heart of gratitude.  I think this is true. However, I also think that there are other ways to live a full life, completely for Christ.  I find that knowing Him, and His Word, and serving Him are doorways to a full life as well.

[I hope you read the book so that what I’m going to say has context. It’s really a very good book.]

As I’m reading this book, her idea of counting gifts is healing to her and brings her into a deeper understanding of eucharisteo.  What I’ve noticed in her counting is that she counts things.  She counts the gifts of “mail in mailbox,” “sun-rays spread across hardwood floors,” and others.  Sometimes she counts things about her family, but most of her gifts are tangible things.  I understand that in order to be grateful for all things, putting a name to it brings about gratitude.  And in noticing the details of life, she is able to have a joyous attitude. 

I’ve learned that people have a happier, fuller life if they invest in experiences instead of stuff.  For example, typically there are two ways for people to budget out their money.  There are those who place value on vacations and doing things, and those who place value on having nice homes, cars, and stuff.  Now, the tricky thing is that sometimes things play a role in experiences, but overall those who invest more in experiences are more content in life.  Stuff always changes.  There will always be a new smart-phone to buy, a bigger TV, and a newer, faster car.  But experiences can be constant.  They happen, and they can’t be outdone, because they are ours. 

As I’m reading through this book and on a quest to live fully as God intends, I think that counting experiences and relationships has more value.  God calls us to live in relationship with Him and His creation, not with the things He’s placed around us.  It is important to appreciate nature, and I think that it brings us to an attitude of contentment, but I think there’s also more.

I also find it difficult to read this book because Ann lives on a large farm in Canada.  She’s in nature every day.  She home schools her children, and has the opportunity to be in her home, in the outdoors, and be grateful for that.  The majority of Americans live in metropolitan areas, such as myself (hence the name of this blog…life in the city).  Is it possible to be grateful in Dallas?  Amidst all the concrete, money, attitude, and people?  Ann has time for solitude, reflection, and gratitude…but do I?  When my weeks are full of youth, and school, and rushing, and I feel that my life is full already, is gratitude like Ann talks about really the ticket?  Is it how God fully wants us to live?  Maybe in gratitude, we turn our attention of what is in front of us to Him, Creator, and in doing so He is glorified.  Do I need to name them in the city?  Can I just be thankful that today I’m breathing and that He is reigning?

“This pen: this is nothing less than the driving of nails.  Nails driving out my habits of discontent and driving in my habit of eucharisteo.  I’m hammering in nails to pound out nails, ugly nails that Satan has pierced through the world, my heart.  It starts to unfold, light in the dark, a door opening up, how all these years it’s been utterly pointless to try to wrench out the spikes of discontent.  Because that habit of discontentment can only be driven out by hammering in one iron sharper.  The sleek pin of gratitude.”

So here I am.  At a place where I must do something, change something.  I know that if I ignore God’s teaching in my life, I’ll perish with discontentment.  So I’m going to start, for the next three weeks, naming gifts in the city.  I’m shooting for a few a day, no set number, just for the next three weeks.  And I’ll see what happens from there.  But my gifts must be experiences.  They are of the people I come in contact with, the lessons God teaches me, the small things that make a meaningful, lasting difference.

Join me?  In this discussion of gratitude and fullness, I’d love to hear your thoughts.

The Post Grad Life

Well, this small-town college girl has graduated, moved to a big city (ok, really a suburb of a sort of big city), started a real job, and started work on a masters degree. Whew! If only that was the long list.
Honestly, life is good. Life is full, and busy, and overwhelming. But mostly full.  It is almost Fall, and I long for the trees in Arkansas. I'm not sure I ever thought I'd really miss it this much. But I do.  Not that I don't love Texas - my roots. But Arkansas sometimes feels more home.  Maybe Texas will become that way again after the transition is done.
I had a phone call today from one of my former youth students.  Actually two of them - they're twins.  It was so good to hear their voices, and comforting that they would call me on boyfriend advice.  As I listened to them talk, I was shown a bit of how much they have changed in the past four years.  When I first met them four and a half years ago, they wouldn't have even dreamed of talking to each other about boyfriends. They would have been too worried about fighting. But now, God has done some kind of work in their lives.  They are actually friends. It makes my heart happy.
As I talked, I definitely miss them.  But at the moment, I don't long to be in Arkansas.  I still miss it but I know my place is here.  Arkadelphia is changing; Park Hill is changing; and I am changing.  It is good.  It is healthy.  And the best part is that God is orchestrating it all and His timing and plan is best.  He intends for us to have a full life, and as long as I'm following His leading, that is happening.
As an update on girls ministry happenings, my how God's at work!  Last Sunday was "Promotion Sunday" and we had over 400 students! On one hand, it's nuts, absolutely nuts that we have so many kids! On the other, more positive hand, that is so many students that are hearing about Jesus! Praise Him!
I am very excited to be able to be a part of this work that He is doing in Frisco. Still not sure about the traffic, but blessed to be at FBC.

I'm posting a few of my posts from the FBC Blue Girls Ministry blog so that you don't have to flip back and forth between the two sites.  I'm going to try and do better at keeping this blog personal and the other ministry related.  I suppose soon I should change my title, but part of my heart is still in Arkadelphia, so bear with me.  Some days I feel as though I'm about to move back into West Side or Francie and we're all going to continue the college scene, but then I remember that some friends are in North Carolina, and Chicago, and Arkansas.  We'll see each other soon enough, but until then, God is doing a mighty work having us all spread out!
Please pray for me and my friends as we transition.  I especially am in need of some friends in Frisco that are about my age, and same situation. All in God's time.
May love, and peace, and joy be filling your life as the seasons change and Fall greets us.
InJoy,
Brittany

September | A Month of Pictures in Review

I know, I know, I'm lame. This month has flown by and I'm not sure where all it went! But here's a month in review of my picture-a-day project. I have two or three pictures that I took on my phone that I'll put up later. And this past week has been absolute chaos, so I'm missing a few days. But if you want to know where I was in my absence, I was taking the GRE and Spanish tests. It's been insane. Hopefully after a presentation Monday and Homecoming this weekend life will slow down. Despite the craziness, God is doing big things! Maybe later I'll fill you in on them. (: 

I uploaded the pictures as if I had posted a new post each day, so they are in reverse order. You might want to start at the end of this post to get the full effect because some pictures relate to the ones before. (: I also found a neat collage program on my computer, so I can now upload many pictures and not take up so much space! (: 

Day 31 | See You At The Pole

September 28

Always a favorite time for me in the Fall! I went to the middle school to pray with our kids in the morning and then we ended with a community-wide service that evening. God did big things this day.

Day 30 | School House Rock

September 26

Our theater department put on School House Rock and Becca and Angela and I went! So much fun to remember all the songs that taught us Grammar and Math! 

Day 29 | Tiger Serve Day!

September 24

We got a Tiger Serve Day team together with our youth girls. Such a good time to build relationships AND help the community. It was good. Really good. (:

Day 28 | Sunset

September 22

We have a terrific view from our window and the sun was setting perfectly. So I took lots of pictures of it. This one is my favorite.

Day 27 | Austin's Picture!

September 21

Austin drew me a picture as I was leaving the school! The green person is me and the blue people are him. It was so cute and basically made my week! (: 

Day 26 | Flowers + Sun = Fun

September 20

These were too happy and the sun was too pretty not to take a picture of them. 

[I got these by basically laying in the grass. One of the guys in some of my classes walked by and thought I was really strange. ha! All in the name of photography!]

Day 25 | Fender Bender

September 19

A man ran into my car. Poor Eugene has some lovely scrapes on his rear. Not a fun start to my week.

Day 24 | Rain!

September 18

It rained for the first time in many weeks! Not the best picture, but at least I took one! (:

Day 23 | Boomtown Classic

September 17

The OBU band traveled for the first time in 6 years to El Dorado, AR for the Boomtown classic. The team won, the band was great, and despite being really bus-sick, it was a great little road trip. 

Day 22 | Clark County Fair

September 16

Becca and I explored the fair. It was so cute and fun! I mean, we were finished walking the entire fair grounds in about ten minutes, but it was definitely a fun time of craft rooms, people watching, animal contests and of course, cotton candy and carmel apples!

Day 21 | Little Italy

September 15

After band practice one day, Erica had a craving for Little Italy so we introduced Kelly to the great restaurant! 

Day 20 | Sonic

September 13

Kim and I took Laura (one of our youths) to dinner at Chick and then to Sonic one evening. A good time of fellowship and relationship-building. (: 

Day 19 | Abnormal Starbucks

September 12

Erica, Angela, and I are taking Abnormal Psychology this semester and we had our first test. We got together and reviewed the material. We all aced the test, too!

Day 18 | Decisions

September 11

We have hired new interns to work with our youth this year. Most of our crew graduated last year, so we expanded to hire on awesome new ones. Many applied, and it was our job to accept or not accept the applicants. This was taken as I was thinking and praying over the candidates and if they were fit to work with our youth. It was a heavy decision. I take the lives of our kids very seriously and we only want committed interns. It was an intense, but good decision. (We kept all five applicants, in case you were wondering, and it has been a good decision so far!) 

Day 17 | OBU Football

September 10 

I can't remember who we played, but I remember we won! This was taken at our first football game. It was surprisingly more fun than previous years. (:

Day 16 | CogLab

September 9

Every Friday night we have an assignment due for my Cognition class.  We get to participate in psychological studies and learn how the brain learns. Crazy!  This was taken as I was finishing up one Friday night.

Day 15 | Spanish Homework

September 8

A typical sight on Monday and Wednesday nights as I try to finish up "Tarea de Espanol" for the next morning. 

Day 14 | America Reads

September 7

I joined the America Reads team this year as a volunteer. America Reads is a program that sends students into the elementary schools to help students learn to read. I get to tutor a 1st grader named Austin. It has been a blast! September 7th was the first day of tutoring, and it has been amazing ever since. Austin loves to learn to read! He is so excited everyday as I show up and loves reading to me. We play fun games (which teach him letters and words without him knowing). He is a precious kid! Tutoring has definitely been a stress-reliever in my semester. To get outside of normal activities and be around first graders is a definite change, but so worth it!

Day 13 | 125th Musical Showcase

September 6

This year is OBU's 125th anniversary. Sept. 6th has been named state-wide Ouachita Day by governor Beebe. The music department put on a showcase to celebrate and I snapped a few pictures while I was in the audience. The performances were awesome!! 

Day 12 | Labor Day

September 5

This one might should be called "Labor-less" Day. I spent the day reading and relaxing. 

Day 11 | Frisco Date

September 4 

Kelly, Erica and I are all native Frisconians and happen to all attend OBU! It has been an absolute blessing and a blast having all three of us around this year! (Kelly joined Erica and I this fall). We decided one Sunday afternoon to go on a walk to the train park. It was such a relaxing and fun time!

Day 10 | Downtown Photowalk

September 3

I wanted to go shoot some pictures, so I picked a theme for today: Buildings, wheels and reflections.  I wandered around downtown for a few hours and had a blast finding a few neat gems. Next time I'll have to take someone so its safe to explore sketchy parts. (: 

Day 9 | AHS Football

September 2

I went to the football game with Becca and Angela to support some of our youth in the band. These little girls were precious! So I kinda stole some pictures of them. It was fun to join in the community event and actually sit at a football game. I've realized that I'm not sure how to behave at football games if I'm not in the band. Arkadelphia football games are definitely a community event. I've decided that I like football (Americano and futbol!)

Day 8 | "Men Working"

September 1

There has been construction in our lobby for a few days to correct some water damage, and I passed this sign a few times today and found it really funny. One time that I walked under it, it was hung on a clothes hanger... Oh Arkansas! 

Day 7 | Youth Games

August 31

Our first official "regular" youth night! It was actually the parents' meeting, so I'm not sure how regular it was, but Nate and I got to lead games, which is always a blast

Day 6 | Bugs!?

August 30

Danielle and I were getting ready for bed and we found this lovely slug on the wall. Naturally we freaked out a bit. It took some guts ( no pun intended ) but we captured the little guy and flushed him. The next morning, I got up early and went to breakfast and came back to a text from Danielle saying she had found the giant bug on the ceiling when she woke up! Not something fun to wake up to. This time we were real grossed out so we got our dorm mom, Sarah, to come help us. He was flushed too. We don't usually have gross bugs on the third floor of new buildings, but we think these guys were from some construction they are doing to the lobby. They have sprayed our room twice since, and we've only found a few crickets. I know God made them, and they are sort of neat, but I sure hate finding them in my sleeping space!

Day 5 | Ice

August 29

I opened my fridge today and found this stalagmite (or is it a stalactite?) on my little ice tray. So I thought I should photograph it because it was kinda funny and neat. My life is exciting, I know. (: