Roots: Growing Deeper

Saturday, February 20, 2010

Dodgeball

Tonght was our first official youth night since coming back from Furlough. We went around the neighborhood and told the kids that had been coming that we were going to have it again. We had a pretty good group of kids show up, it will take a few weeks to get the word out again.

We are trying to think of fun new games to play each week, so tonight I introduced them to dodgeball. Good idea? I think yes. They loved it! We played it for a good 45 minutes and they really got into it! When it was time to go upstairs for worship and the lesson, they still wanted to play! As soon as the lesson was over, they all went back downstairs and we played some more. It was so fun!

If we are going to play it again though, I think we need to make sure we have plenty of balls. Just tonight two of our best balls got thrown over the fence and are pretty much gone forever. Oh well.

If you have any other ideas for games that we could play for youth group, let me know! I'm thinking about trying Ninja and capture the flag next week...

Sunday, February 14, 2010

My One of 2010

At the end of 2009 I was challenged by my youth pastor to begin praying and ask God to help me lead one particular friend to Christ in 2010. However, instead of starting out by praying for God to help me lead a certain friend to the Lord, I started by asking God to lay a friend on my heart to be my "One of 2010".
Its mid February now, and God has layed on my heart one friend that I am praying that he will give me the opportunity to lead to Christ this year. His name is Salvador, but we call him Chavo. Him and his brother and sister are my best friends here in Mexico. I hang out with them a lot, and I really enjoy their friendship. They come from a very difficult family, and all together, life situation. My heart really goes out to them.
Chavo, out of all of his family, has seemed the most open to Christianity, and he has come to me with many questions. We gave him and his dad a Bible, and he reads it often. He has quoted verses to me before, and I know that he isn't closed off to the love of God. But he hasn't realized yet that he needs God in his life. Just this week Chavo and I had a really good conversation about doing what is right, even if you get made fun of for it. We talked about how if we do something we know is right, even if it's not the "cool" thing to do, and you get made fun of for it, God will reward you. And He will bless you for choosing to follow Him instead of the world. I am thankful that God gave me the opportunity to talk with Chavo about that. I'm trusting in God, and asking Him to open Chavo's heart, and that He would give me more opportunities to talk with him about living for Christ.
The key is poco a poco, little by little. No matter what, Chavo will be my friend. But knowing that if he died tonight he wouldn't spend eternity in heaven, breaks my heart. I want so badly for him to comprehend how much Christ loves him, and for him to want to live for God with all of his heart. But I can't change him. I can't open his mind. I can only do what God chooses to do through me. I am praying that he will use me. I am praying that Chavo will be my "One of 2010" and that when I leave for college this fall, I will have the peace of knowing, that Chavo will spend eternity in heaven with our Savior when he dies.

Saturday, February 13, 2010

Candy

For those of you that know me well, you know that I ALWAYS have candy. It's like part of who I am. My friends don't ask me if I have candy, they just ask what kind I have. And I usually have more than one option. Right now, as I'm writing, I have a big bowl of chocolate next to me, and a bag of M&M's within arms reach. It's just me; Jess always has candy.
So, being the huge candy lover that I am, it can be quite sad at times, because some of my favorite candies you can't find here in Mexico easily. If you get lucky and are able to find them, you definitely have to pay the price for them. M&M's are my favorite candy of all time, and unfortuantely, they are hard to find here. You can find knock-off brands, but they aren't near as good. Another one of my favorites is Peach-o's. The little peach rings that you can find in all different flavors in the bulk section at Winco, and get for like $1 a pound.
Ever since I got back to Mexico from furlough I have been craving Peach-o's. But they are super hard to find here. Yesterday we were walking around downtown, and we walked by a candy stand that was selling them! I instantly got super excited, and told my mom that I absolutely had to get some. I paid 10 pesos, which is like a dollar, for just 100 grams. Compared to the U.S. thats a total rip off, but it was worth every cent. I just thought that I would share with you the joy that I had by finding and eating my precious peach-o's yesterday. =)


Lol, maybe I like candy a little too much...

Tuesday, February 9, 2010

Books, Books, Books!

This year I have become even more appreciative of Literature. Since I started Highschool, I have especially enjoyed reading and have grown to appreciate it more and more. Partly because I want to be a journalist, and partly because I just love it! In school I have been learning about and reading work from some of the very first American authors. Reading their stories, and learning how they were inspired to write them and what the people in America thought about their literary work is so cool! There are amazing books and journals everywhere. Just walk in to Boarders, or the library, and if you're like me, you'll think 'holy moses, there has got to be 1,000 good books in here that I haven't even heard of, can I please sit down read them all right now?!'

I love to read, but I am also a busy highschool senior who is an MK in Mexico, so I don't get very much free time to read unless I am willing to stay up in to the wee hours of the morning. Plus, I know with starting college in the fall, the time that I will have to read books for pleasure, is going to be an even smaller amount of time than it is now. However, going in to college loving to read, might help me not hate it as much as some of my friends who don't like reading, and tell me about their feelings for literature now that they are in college. ;)

I have to admit though, that I am a typical teenage girl who loves to read, because I am totally a sucker for romance novels. Even if they are completely predictable, and after you've read one, you've read them all, I never get bored of them! Right now I am reading "The Choice" by Nicholas Sparks, and its a pretty predictable story, but I can't put it down. I feel like I can relate so well to the characters and I am fascinated by all of the little details.

So pretty much, I love to read. I just thought you might like to know. =) If you have any good book recommendations, I would love to have them.

Speaking of books, the one I was just telling you about happens to be right next to me. Guess I better read a few pages before I head to bed.