Job update!

One of the sweet students I get to work with! We are loving photo booth!!

So, most of you know that I have been working at the Minnetonka TreeHouse as a full time Youth Outreach Specialist on a short term contract. My contract was supposed to end in December but was pushed back to the end of February, which is great because it gives me more time to look for a job and I get to spend more time with these amazing students and co-workers!

The purpose of the short term contract is that in my location they are looking for a male Youth Outreach Specialist (YOS) which is much needed. So when they hire a full time male YOS I will be at TreeHouse until he is done raising support. So, as of last Wednesday our area hired a male YOS so I am officially on the countdown. It will be between 3-4 months until I am finished but I have no idea what is next.

So, there are millions of possibilities. I could get offered a job at TreeHouse, or find anything else! It has been a roller coaster since I graduated college in 2009 and definitely not what I had planned! So I appreciate your encouragement and support as I go through this very interesting time. It is frustrating and super hard to be patient but I know that God has a plan for me and I am just trying to follow what that is!

Beyond Blessed

Happy Be-lated Thanksgiving!

This time of year is really wonderful to see people give, share and be in community with each other more than the rest of the year...why don't we do this all year long? (That's a whole different post)

Anyways, at TreeHouse we had marked a Thanksgiving Dinner for our students the Tuesday before Thanksgiving. We had a group who had volunteered to prepare, deliver, and serve it to our kids! So great, except the week before they backed out so we were without the dinner. We were really bummed because our kids really look forward to this and it has been on the calendar since August. So, we brainstormed. Thanksgiving being my co-worker's favorite holiday we were determined to make this happen. She sent out emails to her church and had several people respond with giving of food for the dinner but we still didn't have enough so I sent out several texts to some people I knew (the week before Thanksgiving). So, I heard back Friday that my friends Drew and Kelly had talked to their small group and the small group had talked to Target's Deli. They had arranged and paid for the whole Thanksgiving meal. So Target made the food and the small group donated it to us!!!! The turkey, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, gravy, cranberry sauce, buns, and pies for 40 people! We had a feast and our kids LOVED it!!! There were even left overs that we got to send home with our kids to bless their families!!

It is so awesome to see God work through other people by giving you the courage to ask 1 simple question. In 1 question I was blessed no stress and SO amazed at what God had done. Never set a limit with Him and always be faithful and patient!! Publish Post

Disturbing Parenting

About a month ago I went to the movie 'The Town', starring Ben Affleck.  The movie is rated R and was pretty intense with violence and language.

So the show starts and we are sitting there and the F bomb is being said every three words and then I hear this high pitched little voice behind me and I glance back quickly to notice that there were two young girls maybe 10 and 12 behind us with their parents! So through the whole movie I was uncomfortable sitting there watching this movie with these kids behind me.

It was just frustrating because I work daily with "at-risk teens" and I feel that a lot of issues start with parenting. If you wonder why kids are swearing all the time, fighting all the time, or just have negative behaviors a lot of it stems to what they watch and the people around them. So....why would you bring your kids to an R rated movie?? Super frustrating. Even if you didn't know what the movie was about before you went and then realized it was bad....you do have the ability to walk out! Or look up the movie review/trailer before you go!

After the movie my co-worker who I went with asked the parents how old their kids were and they said 10 and 15, and she told them 'they're a little young to be watching this'. They responded kindly but it was still just frustrating to see. I'm sure those of you reading this might be thinking, man she's really fired up about this. But, the future is in the hands of the generations below you and if we don't teach them or role model to them....what do you expect?!

Retreat- Are you Satisfied?

Student and I jamming out to karaoke in the cabin! I'm wearing an old Christmas sweater I found at Savers.

This past October I went on a weekend retreat to Luther Point Bible Camp with the Plymouth TreeHouse. It was an awesome weekend with nice weather and lots of fun with the students. 

Our theme for the weekend was: Are You Satisfied? What we meant by asking this question was where are you at in your life, either spiritually or not. Are you satisfied with what you've done, who you've become or are becoming? If you were to die tomorrow would you be happy with the way you've chosen to live life? Do you you know if you will go to heaven? So, as you read this I encourage you to ask yourself this question; Are you satisfied?

It's not supposed to make you feel bad if you aren't satisfied with where you are at, but to take a better look at the purpose of our life and what we can accomplish with it. It is also a good reminder that we can start new right now, and make the change we want to see. 

I will share with you my answer to this question. I would say that I am 75% satisfied with my life at the current moment. I have accomplished goals like graduate high school, graduate college, run a half marathon, develop solid friendships, grow in Christ, and impact others (that's a hard one to accomplish because you never really know if you do until someone tells you). But there is so much that I haven't done and I feel I need to continue to grow and DREAM big dreams because I'm not where I want to be in my career by any means, and I want to make a difference in a big way (not sure what that is yet). I've got a long way to go with growing in the Lord, I go in spurts of ups and downs. 

I wrote the bible study for this retreat and it was really fun thinking of questions but challenging and humbling at the same time because, I had to answer them myself. Remembering mistakes I've made and the person I was to who I am now is very interesting to think about. 

Before I send this I want to encourage you that if someone has impacted you or inspired you....Tell Them. What a boost of encouragement that is to each other!!!

The Leaders of the retreat in our lovely costumes right before the polar plunge into the lake, Oct. 25, 2010!!