It's Not About Me...

It's Not About Me - that's what our theme was for this weekend. We had One Now this weekend. Initially I was really worried about this weekend. I did not feel prepared for it at all. There were so many things that I had to do, and I just didn't know how I was going to get it all done. I had one of my leaders back out on me about a week before the event, which led me to be a small group leader. So I had to pull all this stuff together, plus prepare to be a small group leader. I also knew that I had a research paper due a couple of days after this event, not to mention a midterm too. I was definitely overwhelmed and stressed. I'm not one who does well under pressure. I freak out and just get in panic mode. I worry about every little detail.

All I could think about going into this weekend was myself. I was definitely in the wrong mindset. I was talking to a friend about what was going on. He has worked with youth in the past, so he could relate. He just reminded me that when things get crazy I need to trust in God and rely on Him. It's silly how we get so worked up about the things in our life and try to take care of it ourselves when God is right there, just waiting for us to get a clue and ask Him for His guidance. I did finally get a clue and I just gave God everything and put it all in His hands. I am so happy that I did.

The weekend went great overall. I think my kids had a lot of fun, and I think they got a lot out of the weekend too. I'm so thankful for Lacey and Brad's help. I don't know what I would have done without them. They did such a great job being small group leaders! I know they had good discussions b/c there were times when they finished the lesson/bible study, and some of the kids wanted more - they didn't want it to end and kept on asking questions and discussing things. I was very pleased about that because a lot of kids can't wait for small group to be over.

We went to a servince center for our service project. It was basically like a big food pantry/Good Will, I guess. They had all kinds of jobs for us to do. Some of us cleaned out refrigerators and freezers, some of us swept and mopped, some of us sorted food/cans, some of us cleaned windows, and some of us sorted through candy (that was probably their favorite part about the service project). I'm very proud of my kids because for one thing, they did a good job. Also, I am proud of them because we were supposed to leave at 3:00 to go to our next activity, but they weren't quite done with their job, and they were determined to finish their job before we left.

There are so many great things I could mention about this weekend. However, this post would get more lengthy than it already is. Therefore, I will leave you with this:

I don't know how well you can see these last two pictures, but they are pictures from a painting Robert Byers painted at the One Now rally. It was pretty amazing.

P.S. Thank you for those of you who prayed for me and this weekend. I really felt those prayers.