Excited
I'm excited and getting ready for one of my favorite weekends of every year. Beginning this Friday night, I get the chance to participate in DiscipleNow weekend with the youth of our church and the friends they bring along. DiscipleNow (or DNow as it is called by the "pros" that have done this time and time again) has always held a very special place in my heart. Very quickly, if you're not familiar with the concept, DNow is a weekend retreat that takes place in town, at various host homes, with corporate worship sessions held at the church. A group of 6-12 teenagers, broken out by grade, stay at a host home provided by a family in our church and spend the weekend in intense Bible Study, worship, and fellowship with one another. A group leader (in this case, that would be me) joins the kids at the house and facilitates the Bible Studies and just generally becomes the in-the-flesh hands and feet of Jesus to the participating youth.
I am SO excited to be a part of this weekend. Garrett and I will both be leading houses. He will be at one house and I will be at another. Being honest, I would've loved for us to be at the same house leading. To me, that could've been a chance for us to lead as a couple- ministering to the youth as a couple just trying to love each other and love people in a way that glorifies our Father. We have separate ministry opportunities in the church and its varying programs, but leading together would've been ideal. However, I also realize that this weekend and everything about it is so much bigger than me and what I want. I firmly believe that it's ok to plan and want, even when planning and wanting things in the name of Jesus and serving Him, but we all have to plan and want, above anything else, for Him to be glorified. Jesus, that is what I want. Glorify yourself through this weekend.
Our youth minister Chad and his assistant Debbie have put in countless hours of work preparing for this weekend, and I, for one, am grateful for their service. So much planning goes into one of these weekends- from lining up host homes and leaders, to communicating with speakers and band members, and so on... Literally being responsible for the lives of hundreds of youth and adults is a very daunting thought. I know because I've been there. During my service as Youth Minister a few years back, I held a DNow myself, and though I had less than 20 youth vs. this weekend's hundreds, the responsibility is no less daunting. Please join me in praying for Chad and Debbie as they lead this weekend. Please pray for our speaker, David Rhodes, as he speaks the Truth of Jesus to all of us, and for Casey Darnell and band as they lead us to the throneroom of worship. Pray for the hearts of all that attent the weekend- that the soil of our hearts will be open to the seeds that God wants to plant and cultivate. Pray that our hearts overflow in worship to our King and that our offerings are genunine.
I can't share which group I have yet or at which house I will be staying, but know that I am praying for those hearts especially, even now. Please join me.
Lord, I'm humbled to be Your servant and look forward to all You have in store. May You be lifted up and glorified through this weekend!
Intentionally,
Mary Beth
I am SO excited to be a part of this weekend. Garrett and I will both be leading houses. He will be at one house and I will be at another. Being honest, I would've loved for us to be at the same house leading. To me, that could've been a chance for us to lead as a couple- ministering to the youth as a couple just trying to love each other and love people in a way that glorifies our Father. We have separate ministry opportunities in the church and its varying programs, but leading together would've been ideal. However, I also realize that this weekend and everything about it is so much bigger than me and what I want. I firmly believe that it's ok to plan and want, even when planning and wanting things in the name of Jesus and serving Him, but we all have to plan and want, above anything else, for Him to be glorified. Jesus, that is what I want. Glorify yourself through this weekend.
Our youth minister Chad and his assistant Debbie have put in countless hours of work preparing for this weekend, and I, for one, am grateful for their service. So much planning goes into one of these weekends- from lining up host homes and leaders, to communicating with speakers and band members, and so on... Literally being responsible for the lives of hundreds of youth and adults is a very daunting thought. I know because I've been there. During my service as Youth Minister a few years back, I held a DNow myself, and though I had less than 20 youth vs. this weekend's hundreds, the responsibility is no less daunting. Please join me in praying for Chad and Debbie as they lead this weekend. Please pray for our speaker, David Rhodes, as he speaks the Truth of Jesus to all of us, and for Casey Darnell and band as they lead us to the throneroom of worship. Pray for the hearts of all that attent the weekend- that the soil of our hearts will be open to the seeds that God wants to plant and cultivate. Pray that our hearts overflow in worship to our King and that our offerings are genunine.
I can't share which group I have yet or at which house I will be staying, but know that I am praying for those hearts especially, even now. Please join me.
Lord, I'm humbled to be Your servant and look forward to all You have in store. May You be lifted up and glorified through this weekend!
Intentionally,
Mary Beth
Disciple Now is awesome. I will never forget when we hosted a group of middle school girls here at our house. We had just moved into the house we now live in (this was 16 yrs. ago) I remember as is true in all new houses, all things were not working as planned. The kitchen cabinets literally fell off the wall. It's a wonder it didn't knock one of the kids in the head and render them unconscious. I also remember thinking "we'd never get all those showering, primping girls out of the house in time for church on Sunday morning but it happened!!!!" :)
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