Playing Some Catch-Up...

Man...it's been a while! I took a little un-planned blogging break...but I'm back now. So it's time for all the REST of you who've been taking a break to jump back on the bandwagon too! :)

So first of all, by this time tomorrow, I will have seen Coldplay in Atlanta. And I'm stinkin' pumped. My cousin Ross along with our friends Kate and Grant Minchew are all driving down tomorrow afternoon...so not only do I get to go see Coldplay, but I also get to go on a road trip with 3 of my favorite people in the world...can't beat that.

Hmmmm...I feel like many things have happened since my last post. So I'll just give a list of the 10 most significant moments of the past two weeks (all of which I would have blogged about had I the time...):

1. The Loop - We had a unity service of 4 different youth groups all coming together to worship and pray together...super cool event. And there's just nothing like coming together as THE CHURCH...not 4 churches.

2. Baby Shower - Some girls threw a baby shower for one of the students in our youth group. She is still relatively new to the group, and it has been amazing to see the way our girls have just loved on and supported her. 

3.Little League SOCCER! - I've gotten to go cheer on the cutest soccer player in Franklin at a couple of games. John Mark has definitely stepped up his game a notch this season. I love that kid.

4. Halloween - I got to see Quisha (a girl that I'm mentoring) and her baby, Jevandis (sp?) Halloween morning before she went to school...and I mean, seriously, there's no way there was a cuter kid than this on Halloween.

And then Halloween night was the annual par-tay at the Hackett's...always a good time. I got to hang out with the whole cast of Star Wars...jealous??

5. FHS/CHS football game -  The majority of the students in our youth group go to either Centennial or Franklin High School...and this is always a big rivalry game. I LOVE high school football!!!! My favorite shot of the night:

6. TEXAS TECH FOOTBALL!!! - My hometown Red Raiders have been kicking TAIL!!! I'm so proud of them...I have been loving watching their games and cheering them on. They're #2 in the country right now...I'm so pumped. HUGE game a week from Saturday at OU!

7. Laserchase! We got to hang out with our buddies from Against the Grain at Laserchase, which was bound to be a good time. I lived up to my name as quite possibly the worst Laserchase-er alive. I rarely end up with any points. haha

8. Junior High Lock-in - Definitely an experience. :) One of the more exciting parts of that evening was that I skateboarded for the first time in my life. I'm now consumed with wanting to learn...

9. I spoke at youth group last night on Christian persecution and martyrs. There were a lot of good things that happened last night. It's been a grueling couple of weeks preparing for this lesson...very heavy. Very convicting. More to say on this later. But it is my greatest desire to love Christ and to know Him and see Him the way these men and women do/did. I put together a video for the night that I CANNOT seem to upload on here, but I posted it on Facebook. Hopefully, this link will work: 

http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=525915544417

10.We elected a new president. Kinda a big deal...and I'm tempted to just plead the 5th on this one. Some people think the world is coming to an end...others think Obama is the Savior of all. But I definitely think that as a whole, the responses to this election have sadly indicated a lack of faith and Christian maturity in this country. There...I said it. If we really believe that God is in control, why are we afraid? I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE what Walt Mueller said:

Government can't save us. Numerous societies have been down that road all throughout history, and it's never worked. Those who think Obama is the Savior are wrong. And those who think that Obama is the opposite are equally wrong. . . . simply because their despair is an indicator of the fact that they have relied on the political status quo to save them (whatever that means), and now that the political status quo has moved them from a place of comfort to discomfort, the world and their lives are doomed. Either way is idolatrous. . . replacing the Creator with something created.

100% with you on that one, Walt. Okay, I'm done.