I just wanna hang out

'I just wanna hang out.' This is something that I've been saying since I was a sophomore in College. When people ask me what I really want.... or what I wanna do; that's the thought that pops into my head. Not because I'm lazy, or because I just don't want to do anything. But because I genuinely love just hanging out with people. We can be doing something, driving around, or just sitting there together reading a book or watching Netflix. Hanging out is just something that I truly love. 

When I blew my knee out my jr. year of college, I was unable to play soccer my SR. year. Before every game we would sit in the locker room before games and give a personal goal for the game and a team goal for the game. I remember before the first game, when it was my turn to say something. I remember being really sad, frustrated, angry, but also at a loss of words. I wasn't going to play... not even a chance... didn't even have a uniform... What is my goal???!!! I can't say have a shut out. I can't say own the box. I can't say communicate well in the back.... I can't say anything that has to do with my physical ability to play. So what did I say... "My Goal tonight... Is to hang out well." And that was my goal the rest of the season. I felt like I became a pro at hanging out. Building relationships. Talking about Life. Listening to conversations. And thinking about what is going on in my own life. 

And that's still what I love to do. I Love to just Hang out. Everywhere I am... hanging out. 

Last night one of my friends that is a senior at EP came over at around 8:30... We made dinner together... and literally just hung out all night. She didn't leave until around 12:15. We talked about our lives, watched youtube videos, laughed, listened, sat, ate....and Just hung out. 

So that's what I love about my job. I get to just hang out with my HS friends. I get to listen to them for hours. I get to learn alongside of them what it looks like to follow Jesus together. And it's incredible. And I wouldn't trade what I do for anything in the world. I've been blessed... and I know it. Now that my girls are Seniors... I'm starting to get a little sad. These girls that I've been hanging out with since I moved here... are all moving on. It's kind of bittersweet. I'm gonna miss having the girls over like Ericka to sit and talk about life... but I guess I'll now get to do that with a whole different group of girls... 

And just get to Hang Out

I'm With You

On Wednesday mornings, a group of senior girls come over before school (if we can all wake up). It's something that I look forward to every week. Getting out of bed for it is tough, but once girls start to walk through my front door, I have no regret for waking up early. We call it Mugs and Muffins (M&Ms); we always have mugs... The muffins get swapped out for other things like French Toast.

I Love sitting and watching the girls pour their coffee (lots of sugar and cream of course) and listening to them talk about what they have that day, the teacher that is being really annoying right now, the senioritis that is so real to them right now, as well as the pain that they are experiencing in their lives. I really consider it a privilege to be able to be a part of that.

This semester we have decided to read Love Does, by Bob Goff. It's definitely one of my favorite books and I think it will quickly be theirs as well. This morning we went over the intro and chapter 1 (we definitely could've used more than an hour to talk about everything.)

Chapter 1 in Love Does never ceases to make me cry. This is the 4th time I've read just this chapter, and this is the 4th time I've had to set the book down and go get a kleenex.
If you aren't familiar with the book, Bob starts the book off by talking about his Young Life leader in high school. A Young Life leader and staff person that I would say is who I strive to be.

This morning I asked the girls what they thought, and as I listened to them talk about the chapter, I had to keep myself from going to grab another tissue. As the girls started to talk about this idea of 'I'm With You,' they talked about me and how they have seen that in me.

"I used to want to fix people, but now I just want to be with them." My hope in life is that people wouldn't seem like a project to me. My hope is that every high schooler I come into contact with wouldn't just be something for me to fix. My hope is that when I show up in the lives of kids, I'm there just because I actually want to be with them... not because I have an agenda... not because I feel like I can offer them so much... not because they are just another project to me. But because I genuinely love them and want to listen to them and most importantly I want to be 'With Them.'

In the book you find out that Randy, Bob's YL leader, had just gotten married and literally left his new bride to go on a trip with Bob because he was 'With' Bob. Bob doesn't know that Randy got married until they return from the trip. This morning when we were talking about this I realized that's what I want. I want to be able to always say that I'm With You. And I want whoever my husband my be, to be someone that desires that as well. That we can understand sometimes the sacrifice and with-ness that we offer HS kids is a calling that Christ has placed on each of our lives.

"He didn't just say he was for me or with me. He was actually present with me." (pg.8)
May we all learn what it means to be present with people as we continue along this Journey with Jesus.

Let them come along

The fall season is starting to slow down in the area....and I can already feel it (such a blessing). It's been a great fall and we have had some wonderful events, but now that it's over it's a lot better to look back and thank God for the opportunities that we had with kids. Now I can shift my focus from the area more to ministry in East Peoria.
Saturday morning I woke up to a text that informed me that a meeting that I was supposed to have was cancelled. This gave me an opportunity to look at North Park's soccer schedule (the college I went/played for) and noticed the girls and guys team was playing that night and it was senior night. So immediately I started to text kids. I heard a voice in my head from a training I went through say "what does it look like to have kids come along with you into the things that you're doing?"

So I told myself if there are no kids that can come with you to Chicago to watch a couple of soccer games, then your not going. And I'm so glad I did this. There were 2 girls that were able to come and we had a great time. The ride up was full of conversation and laughter and of course music that we could sing along to.
It was senior night at NPU and seeing parents of girls that I had played with and mentored while being in Chicago was so great and encouraging. It definitely made me miss working with those girls, but having Bailey and Turner with me made me appreciate being in Peoria that much more. They loved meeting people that I had invested time into as well as their parents and just seeing my life in Chicago.
I also got them to try mediterranean food!! YAY for getting kids to do new things!

I would have been a fool to pass up this opportunity. I'm so thankful that my schedule freed up to do something like this. And I'm so thankful for people like you that support me in random
outings with girls as well as planned events. So thank you!!



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Making A Name

East Peoria Young Life...
We want that to be something that people know.
We have noticed that our club attendance has been down lately....Even with our camp kids.
We tell our kids that went to camp about Young Life club on Monday nights, and they don't even know what that is....let alone their friends. So right now as a team we are putting our heads together and being creative with ways that Young Life becomes something that people know about.
We are out in the community and we are being seen by people and know people, but it's getting Young Life out there to the masses.
Lately we have been selling the vision to our current kids about Young Life. And as we do that and continue to meet new kids as we are at the school, we are hopeful that word spreads about what happens on Monday nights.

ALL AREA YOUNG LIFE CLUB THROWDOWN


This last Sunday we had an all area club. And it was AWESOME!! Kids just had a wonderful time. There is something about having the whole area together that makes it that more fun. This year we had a color war at the end, and it was a total hit. Complete Chaos was what ran through my head as I stood back and watched what was taking place. As the sun was setting, Scott (area director) talked to kids about the mess of life and how God wants to take our hand in that and walk with us. It was over all a great night!








Thanks so much for your support financially and through your prayers!!

Club...It's not the meat of what we do

Last night I was driving home from club (our number for club was low....But we had a BLAST), and I was quickly reminded of all of the things that are happening outside of club. It's so easy to base my performance on how many kids come to Young Life club, but that wouldn't be accurate at all as to how God is using me and my team in the lives of kids in East Peoria.

We had training on Sunday as a whole area (so all of the leaders in all of the schools we are involved in) and we talked about Contact Work. Contact work is the meat of what we do in Young Life. It's going where kids are.... It's taking kids that we know out for ice cream... It's showing up to a HS football game... It's walking through the halls of the school. And I'm excited about our team as we move forward with this contact work piece. Being strategic in where we go, what we do, and how we go further in our relationships with kids.

Saturday night I had a wonderful opportunity. Last week the Pumpkin Festival was in the area (morton, IL is the pumpkin capitol of the world...so it's kind of a big deal). So I contacted a couple of kids to take them with me, and then they brought along a friend that I didn't know. We had so much fun together. On the main stage at the festival they had the dueling pianos...and we LOVED it. Singing along with them, people staring at us because of how much fun we were having, laughing like there was no tomorrow, being able to put our arms around each other and sway; each of these things reminded me why I do what I do.
Then... On the way home they were talking about a bon fire that was cancelled that they were going to go to. So conversation started to happen about what they were going to do now...So I had them over to my house to have our own little bon fire. As we sat around the fire I got to know Bre a little more (we had just met that night). The small talk started to dwindle down and I started to ask them questions about life. I thought to myself, 'I will do a disservice to these kids if we just have surface level conversation around this fire.' The first thing I asked them was their 'High' and 'Low' since the school year had started. They all quickly jumped to answer that 'Tonight was the best night we have had since school started.' I want to tell you that as a Young Life leader I was celebrating so much inside as they said that. And it was all because of a simple text to the girls about going to the pumpkin festival. And God did the rest.
Because of that contact work we were able to talk about their lows of the past few weeks as well; being able to be real with each other about drama with friends, boyfriends, pressures, and family.

So whether or not we have 10 kids at club or 40... I know that things like this are happening not just with myself but with other members of my team.... And that's why I do what I do.

Thanks for your support!! :-)

You blink...and it's here

Our first club is less than a week away. I cannot believe it. But I'm so ready for it. I'm ready to see all of our kids gathered at one place and time to be together, I'm ready to meet their friends that they want to be a part of what's going on, I'm ready to see how God leads my team this year, and I'm excited for who He wants to bring to the table with us.

On that note, this last week I found out that I really only have 4 leaders that are fully committed. 2 of my leaders are having a baby in October and have other commitments on Monday nights... So we are in prayer about other adults in the community joining in the work that God is doing at the high school in East Peoria.

The coolest thing happened yesterday though. My dad and I had a conversation about my need for leaders and I expressed to him my anxieties of having such a small team. Yesterday I'm sitting at my table working on a few things and my dad calls me. He is telling me about this 'kid' (he's 21) that has been working for him on his job the last couple of weeks. Well yesterday he had to lay him off because they didn't need the extra help anymore. As the guy was pulling away, something hit my dad (it was definitely God I think) my dad stopped him and told him about YL in EP and asked if he would be interested in meeting with me about some leadership opportunities. And Mike was excited about it. So I met him out at my parents house yesterday and told him about what we are doing, and just like that we are meeting on Saturday to go through the pillars of YL and he will be observing our club on Monday.
God is so good! I'm really excited about this, and I hope that Mike is an answer to prayer (as well as a few others.)

Things like this remind me of the faithfulness of God and the power of prayer.

Thanks for your support!!

School is in session

Welcome!!

I am starting this little blog to keep folks a little more updated on the work that God is doing in Central Illinois through Young Life.
My goal for this is to update it bi-weekly. I think that there is only so much that can be said in a newsletter that goes out seasonal, but if I'm able to share stories a little more often and talk about the needs and happenings of East Peoria a little more often, there's a little more that can be said.

With that, school has started. East Peoria High School is in full swing with classes. And this Friday night is Maroon and Gold night. This is a wonderful opportunity for my leaders and myself to get our face out there right at the start of the year and also getting to see who the coaches are this season as well as the players we will be cheering for.

My hope is that our momentum from camp this summer will translate into our Young Life club this fall. Club is starting September 9!!! Right around the corner. Right now conversations are being had with kids about who they want to bring, and what club needs to look like.

Recently I just started renting a house in the East Peoria area and it has been so awesome to see how much of a blessing living in the community is. It's been so common to hear a knock on the door and open it and have a kid come walking right in. It's a space that I'm really excited about and I know that there are going to be so many kids that will walk in and out of that door. Homework nights can happen, bonfires, movie nights, conversations about life, the list goes on and on.

Well, I'm ready to put the seat belt back on and take off into another school year. I'm so thankful that you have decided to join me in this. Who knows what's going to happen this year.. But I'm EXCITED!!!


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