Monthly Archives for May 2012

12:19 A.M.

As I lay down to sleep right now I can’t help but laugh in awe of what God has done. I can only imagine that this is how Sarah felt as she laughed when she heard of God’s plans for her to conceive. I find myself asking the same thing she did as I ponder the things that God is doing in my life and in those around me, “Has God surely done this thing?” He has… He has indeed.

Last week I introduced you to a young boy named Marco (or Tommy as I like to call him, hehe). I recalled to you what shock I felt as God laid this boy on my heart a few months back to begin praying for. I asked God how I could possibly be used in his life. There was no door. Or so I thought. I had kind of decided in my heart that this was someone for whom God desired to use me behind the scenes… through intercession (because surely there was no way I could ever form a friendship with him!)

Lest we forget who I’m talking about here. Marco! He was always so disrespectful and wouldn’t even respond to me or Pastor Jamie when we talked to him. When he did speak it was usually in lingo I would have to type like this “$&@*#€~ %%**%>£*”. Two weeks ago he was suspended from school for smoking weed in the bathroom… he talks openly about his ventures in gangs and drugs. How could he possibly see anything in me that he could identify with? What place could I possibly have in His life?

*chuckle chuckle* …And then I remember that this is GOD that we are talking about. His ways are not my ways! (Note to self: they never can be and they never will be!) As I began to pray for him I began to realize that the more I did the more I began to look at him as a little brother. Not a gang-banger but an innocent kid. I was no longer intimidated. I believe that as I began to pray for Marco God gave me His eyes to see him.

Slowly but surely God has miraculously opened up a door into this guy’s life. Now he comes up to me and talks to me which is not like him. He likes to seem tough… He usually does not let his guard down. But tonight at youth group he did. Tonight it was different. Tonight he called me his sister… in front of everyone.

Sugar And Spice And All Things Nice…

Today is Wednesday so that means that you get a youth group update! Hehe =)

Jamaiya and Aaliyah

I know that you see two little bundles of cuteness in the picture above but today I am going to talk to you about the girl on the left, Jamaiya.  This little girl alternates between two extremes… sweetness and spunk. Don’t let the cute face fool you. One minute she’ll be blinking her eyes and making little puppy dog faces and the next minute she’ll be fighting all the boys. I’m not kidding! Today I had to break up a fight between her and this other little boy (but in her defense, the boy DID start it!) Hehe. They were cousins so I guess that makes it okay, right? I am trying to teach her new ways of dealing with her anger but let’s just say that this little project is a work in progress ;-)

Well as I was saying, this kid is just about the cutest little girl that you will ever see and what I am about to show you will solidify that!

I have a sticky-notes app on my I-pod touch.  I like it because I can write myself little notes and reminders and then set it as my wallpaper so I can always see them. Oftentimes I will allow some of the kids to play games on my I-pod during the bus ride to and from church. Today Jamaiya happened to be sitting next to me on the bus and playing with my I-pod while I gave her a back and neck massage (I’m not playing guys… her fight with her cousin was serious! Lol) Well I guess Jamaiya figured out how to use the sticky-notes app because look what I found on my I-pod tonight.

I told you… she is the CUTEST! =)

Cleaning 101: Cleaning Out Your Closet.

Oh, floor space… How I missed thee!

I have one of those walk-in closets. Nothing crazy. Just a small one. Big enough for you to step in, do a little twirl, and step back out.

I really like it. The spaciousness gives opportunity for lots of organization BUT it also gives opportunity for lots of mess. The latter was what I was dealing with today… In a major way!

Nothing was where it was supposed to be. Clothes were everywhere except hanging on hangers or neatly folded and put away. Despite the fact that the mess had been irking me so much, every time over the past week that I decided that I was going to “handle it” I would end up putting it off until later… and I know exactly why.

Whenever my closet, or any place for that matter, is neat and tidy it just seems like the “right” thing to do to put something in it’s proper place. It’s like a natural inclination. However, when the place is already a wreck, I find myself justifying making an even greater mess by saying things like “I might as well just set this down on the floor for right now seeing as the whole room needs a cleaning anyway.” Or something along the lines of that.

As I was finally cleaning my closet this afternoon (#gettingthingsdone) I felt God use this whole situation to illustrate a great truth to me about my spiritual life.

It is so easy for things to spiral out of control if there is already something amiss.

If something is out of place in my spiritual life and I don’t take care of it right at the moment that I realize it then there is a great chance that my spiritual mess will continue to grow and grow until I eventually find myself stuck in a dark place wondering how I ever allowed myself to get there.

Do I have no peace? Am I giving way to fear? Am I struggling with sin? Living with guilt? What things in my life are out of place? What lies am I believing?

I must seek out those things that are amiss and put them in their proper place – right away. This is how we cleanse our hearts…
and our closets!

For Buns And Basketball.

Carmella (left) and Mariah (right)

“Tola, how can you be so nice to everyone? I’ve never seen you get mad… even when people are being rude and mean…”
-Yesterday by Mariah and Carmella, two of my youth group girls.

I am not going to lie. It feels good to hear stuff like this being said about me. I am not saying this in a puffed up way (at least I am trying not to) because I know that I cannot boast in myself. Without Christ I have nothing good… I am nothing good. #realtalk. And even if I didn’t fully understand that before, I am understanding it now after many lessons from God in these past few months.

As I prayed last night after youth group I just recalled the night with God and shared with Him just how excited I am that His light is shining through me. Especially to Mariah and Carmella, these two young girls whom God has given me such a love for.

Last summer at camp… fun times!

Both girls are in 8th grade and are both graduating from the same middle school this year. Mariah asked me yesterday if I would come to their graduation next month and just as she was asking, Carmella added “If you came, I would seriously cry.” She was joking of course… but still! Hearing that was just like icing on the cake. It melted me. It meant so much to me because for the longest time I have thought that they only talk to me because they come to youth group every now and then and I’m a youth leader there so… Go figure. But lately, they have been really close to me and wanting to hang out and stuff. My first thought was “they want to hang out with me… like outside of church?” I don’t know why it was so hard for me to fathom. I guess I look at myself and realize that I have nothing to offer. But then I remember that it is no longer I who live but Christ lives in me. The moment that I understand this truth I realize that I do have something… everything to give them. To show them.

Yesterday… me doing fun things with Mariah’s hair and chatting with the girls while the boys played basketball =)

“Let no one despise your youth, but be an example to the believers in word, in conduct, in love, in spirit, in faith, in purity.”

1 Timothy 4:12

Marco… or “Tommy”… Either Will Do.

Okay, I’ll keep try to keep this post short and sweet. About two months ago I was seeking God about direction in what He wanted me to be specifically doing for my youth group kids. I know that I ought to take this position very seriously. God has entrusted sheep to my care (1 Peter 5:2) and as much as I delight in this position of ministry, I often take it for granted.

I often neglect to pray for and intercede on behalf of these kids as I should. I mean I NEED to be praying. 99% of kids who come to the youth group are not yet saved. They are from non- Christian homes and Wednesday night youth groups are really they only church setting that they are ever in. There is really no logical reason why they should even be a part of our youth group. They’re not Christians (yet!!!) and their parents sure aren’t forcing them to go. But by now we should have all realized that God doesn’t do many logical things! His works are miraculous… His works are supernatural! The fact that God has put these teens, just a few years younger than me, into my life is nothing short of a miracle!

Well as I was saying, I was seeking God about specific ways that He would like for me to obey Him in this ministry and I felt God lay on my heart to begin praying for and fasting for a specific boy who had recently began attending our group on Wednesday nights. But not just ANY boy. It was Marco! Seriously?! The kid who’s been sent out for cursing out our youth pastor on multiple occasions?! The gang-banger?! The kid who seriously just ignores us and does not respond when we speak to him?! Really, Lord? Really?!

Oh, why, why, why are my thoughts so fleshly?

Yes! God wanted me to fast for this kid. To seek God about him and for him. I didn’t understand it because this wasn’t one of the kids that I had developed a relationship with or ever really talked to. Truth be told, I was kind of intimidated by him. How could I possibly make a difference in his life. Well that’s exactly it. I can’t making a difference in his life… God can.

And He really is! God is working and it truly is a miracle! God has recently used the most unexpected, “silly” little scenario to open up a relationship between me and Marco… or should I say “Tommy”. Hehe =)

One day a few weeks ago we watched a movie called “Something to Sing About”. To cut a long a story short the main character in the story is a young man named Tommy with an amazing gift for singing. When we got done watching the movie, Marco walked up to the altar (we were watching the movie on the big projector screen in the sanctuary) grabbed a microphone and put on a show for everyone by mockingly mimicking the guy in a movie. He got everyone rowdy and distracted them from what they were actually supposed to be doing at that time which was listening to Pastor Jamie… he seems to enjoy doing this.

BUT here’s the funny thing. Word on the street is that Marco can actually sing really well.  Supposedly he sings at school and stuff in joking way but he actually sounds really good.  So seeing as we’re thinking about doing a concert-type of thing as a fundraiser soon for the kids to go to camp, I randomly started joking with him that we were going to give him a solo in the concert AND around that same time I also started calling him “Tommy” instead of his real  name after the guy in movie.

At first he did not think it was very funny but I think it kind of grew on him. I kept calling him “Tommy” and now EVERYONE else does also! All of his friends and even our pastor! It’s so funny. He answers to it and everything. But the most amazing part is seeing how much he’s been changing lately.  Marco actually smiles now. He NEVER used to smile! And he talks to us now! And he hardly ever gets in trouble anymore. He’s says bye to us as he gets off the church bus. The transformation is so radical. It’s crazy! Or duh, maybe it’s just God being the awesome miracle working God that He is?!

I was talking to Mariah (another of my youth group kids)  who happens to go to the same school as this guy Marco… I mean Tommy, and has known him since before this transformation started to take place. She was telling me that even she has noticed how different he’s been acting lately.

(Mariah – Middle)

Wow! Can you believe that? God is doing something amazing here and I want to be a part of it. Oh, that we would listen to God when he tells us to move. Oh, that we would obey. That we would be faithful.

“Then I will raise up a faithful priest who will serve Me and do what I desire.

1 Samuel 2:35