#18 Indonesia!

When I was growing up I can remember having missionaries come speak at our church and talking about how God might be calling some of us in the congregation to be missionaries.  I remember when I was little I always thought, I hope that is not me, I do NOT want to go live in a mud hut in Africa!  As I got older I  learned that not all missionaries live in a mud hut in Africa and I started to think maybe I could do mission work then, just as long as I don't have to live in a hut in Africa.

My M-Fuge group in Philadelphia.

When I was in youth group most summers we went to a camp called M-Fuge (mission-fuge).  That was where I got some of my first tastes of mission work and I really did like it.  The summer after my junior year we went to Charleston for Fuge and I had this really cool counselor named Erin.  She and I bonded that week but as camps go you leave after a week and usually do not see the people again.  However that was not the case this year, the following year we went to Philadelphia for Fuge and guess who was there as a counselor? Erin!  She remembered me and wanted to have me in her group so I believe she made some trades and got me in her group.  That week we were takling about missions in our Bible study time and I remember she had a time where she played a song (Chris Tomlin's, We Fall Down with the Zimbabwe verse) and had us all pray about how God wanted us to be involved in missions.  I prayed and I knew God was asking me to submit to the call of missions.  I told him that I was ready to submit (even if it meant living in a hut in Africa, but I'd really prefer not to if possible.)  I also asked him to show me that week where he wanted me to serve.  That night they did a missions promotion about Wales and I thought for sure that was where God wanted me.  I went up during the invitation and told my counselor Erin about how God had been speaking to me and she prayed for me.  She also asked me ot have dinner the next night.

Erin and I at the top of a volcano in Indonesia.

The next night at dinner Erin told me that she was going on a mission trip to Indonesia the next summer and she was trying to recruit a team to come with her.  She asked me if I would like to be on that team.  I told her that I thought I would like to do that but I needed to pray and talk to my parents when I got home.  Well I'm sure you can guess how that conversation went. Me: "Mom and Dad  this girl that you don't know asked me if I would like to go spend my summer doing mission work with her in Indonesia. You know that country that is 90% muslim and pretty hostile towards Christians? Oh by the way its illegal to do mission work there.  Is that okay?"  Parents: "You want to do what?????!!!! I don't think so!"  However we all prayed about it over the next few months and I continued to feel like God was calling me to go.  My parents eventually came around and when they finally gave me their blessing I remember we were sitting at Cracker Barrel and my dad told me that I was an adult and if God was calling me to do something, he was not going to stand in my way.  My mom seemed surprised at this response (she had said the decision was up to him) but in the end they both supported me 100%.

My time over there was great.  I worked with an awesome group of girls, I think there were 9 girls and 1 boy on the team.   We had so much fun and I didn't have to live in hut!  We were actually in one of the largest cities in Indonesia and we stayed in two really nice apartments across the street from one of the IMB missionaries.  We did back yard Bible Clubs, helped at the internet cafe that the missionaries ran. I got the opportunity to speak at a local university.  We also got to on a weekend getaway to Bali which had some of the most beautiful beaches and the best shopping I've ever experienced.  We learned how to haggle with the best of them. (Although I probably got ripped off a little because I was still just learning the currency exchange rate and how to decipher the bills.) It was the experience of a lifetime, one I will never forget.  

Some of my favorite memories were of the little kids we taught in the Bible clubs. I loved teaching them, they were all so eager to learn and I loved learning to sing songs with them in their language.  The kids were fascinated with our light skin and hair.  They would sit next to you and just rub your arms.  I remember we took one of the groups to the local zoo and myself and my American friends were as much of an attraction as the animals.  We were walking through this reptile house and while everyone was staring at some snakes, this older lady reached out and touched my face as she walked by.   I thought, I just got petted at the zoo!  My parents love that story and my dad still calls me his zoo baby.

Its funny before I actually went to do mission work in a foreign country I thought the thing that would bother me the most was the dirtiness of places we would go.Overall I don't remember it being to bad in the places we were in. There was one pretty gross place that stands out though, one of the Bible clubs was in a community where people from all over would go dump their garbage. However when we were there it didn't bother me, I didn't see the filthy surroundings, I just saw the beautiful children who were eager to be loved and taught.  I will confess though that I got through my whole month there without ever having to use a squatty potty.  I would hold it until we got back to a place with regular toliets.

Another favorite memory is a young girl we met that was born with club feet (I can't remember if it was one or both) and she couldn't walk properly.  One of the girls on our team, Nicole, really bonded with her and her family.  We found out while we were there that the girl was eligible to geta surgery to correct the problem but her family didn't have money.   Nicole worked hard to get the details figured out and I had some extra money that my church had raised for my trip that I didn't end up needing, so we donated it towards helping this little girl and her family.  She was able to get the surgery after we left and the next year Nicole went back to Indonesia and while she was there she heard a little girl call her name. When she turned around around it was the little girl we helped who proceeded to run across the street and give her a big hug!  So thankful that God let us be apart of helping that little girl.

The national team (Christians who were actually from Indonesia) we worked with over there was amazing.  Even though we were all from different background and cultures we had Jesus in common and a very special bond developed between all of us.  I loved getting to worship and pray with them.  I remember they would pray for their friends who were not believers to have dreams and visions that would bring them to the salvation through Jesus.  I thought that was a strange thing to pray until I started to talk to many Indonesian Christians who had become Christians because of dreams or visions they had about Jesus.  Then I started to think, why don't we pray like that in America?  It made me realize how we can sometimes try to put limits on God by thinking he wouldn't work in certain way. God can work in any way He wants, dreams, visions, sermons, back yard bible clubs, etc, because He's all powerful God.

Other  fun memories I have are of taking crazy rides in a becak (an Indonesian bike taxi or rickshaw). Petting monkeys in Bali.   Eating some of the best fried rice and noodles I've ever had.  We had a lady who cooked for us while we were there and she was amazing!  I also got to try satay for the first time and that was probably my favorite food I ate while I was there and I've never been able to find a place that makes it like they did there.  We also had a really fun fourth of July celebration. I think that being out of the USA can actually make you more patriotic.

I'm so thankful I got the opportunity to go to Indonesia.  It gave me first taste of International missions and I absolutely loved it and I came home ready to go wherever God sent me. (Although I was still hopeful I wouldn't have to live in a hut!)
 

#19 First Baptist Church, Fairfield

My FFB family knows how to have a good time!

When you grow up far away from your relatives your church family really becomes your family.  I've never known what it would be like to live close to any of my blood relations besides my immediate family.  So while I dearly loved my extended family, my church family at First Baptist Church Fairfield was extremely special to me because those were the people who were in my life on a regular basis.  To this day when I go "home" to Fairfield I immediately feel that love and warmth when I walk in the doors of church.  Within a minute, possibly less, of being there I see a familiar face who is so excited to see me and gives me a great big hug and tells me how much they miss me and my family.  The feeling is definitely mutual, I miss my FFB family very much and I wish I got to see them more often.  I have so many memories of First Baptist, however unfortunately I have discovered I do not have very many pictures of the people I love!  So next time I'm in town you may discover I have my camera and am taking pictures of everyone.  

Sunday School Teachers

I have had some amazing Sunday School teachers and I can say that with certainty because you know you've had a good teacher when its been 10, 20 even 25 years since you were in their class and you still remember things about it.  My first teachers I remember were my 4 year old teachers Mrs. Morgan and Mrs. Motzer, some of the sweetest ladies ever.  I'm sure I did learn actual Bible lessons in their class but what stands out to me the most is that we would always have a snack at the end and they knew I loved potato chips and I remember Mrs. Morgan telling me on several occassions that she brought those because they were my favorite.   Food actually stands out to me a lot.  Mrs. Humphrey was our GA teacher for years and we would always make food while we talked about missionaries and we loved it.  I still remember that she taught me to always take the chocolate chip cookies out of the oven while they still look like they are not done but the bottoms are brown.

One of my favorite families, the Jones!

Another great Sunday School memory I have is when Amy and Lester Jones were our teachers in 5th and 6th grade.  Lester is a great Bible teacher.  However, the memory I have that stands out the most about that particular class was when we were talking about how God told Abraham he needed to be circumsized.   One of my friends very innocently asked what circumscision was and Lester was at a loss for words.   I knew what it was and couldn't help but giggle and I remember his wife Amy started to jump in and save him with a tactful definition but before she could finish my friend had looked up the word in the back of her Bible and said very quickly "Never mind I know what it is!"  We were all able to hear Lester's sigh of relief!

Amy Jones was also one of my Sunday School teachers in our junior high school girls class.  I guess she just couldn't get enough of us!  Amy and Lisa Wolfrum would take turns teaching every other quarter and it was over those couple of years that I developed a really special relationship with both of them.  Amy was the person who introduced me to the book of James and I remember her telling us it was one of her favorite books.  To this day it is one of my favorite books as well.  So much great wisdom in James.  Amy and Lisa were both really great teachers but the thing that made an impact on me the most was how much they cared about what was going on in our everyday lives.  I remember long after I had them as teachers I would go and sit next to Lisa before church started and tell her about what was goin on in my life and she always listened and encouraged me.  The year that I came back from Fuge and decided I was going to go to Indonesia the next summer on a mission trip I ran into Lisa and her husband Mark at Texas Roadhouse.  I sat down with them for a little while and told them that I wanted to go to Indonesia. I still remember the looks on their faces and Lisa saying "Yeah right! I don't think your parents are going to let that happen."  Mark said something along the lines of, "You can't do that, its dangerous!"  However when it came time for me to go the next year they were both so supportive.  Mark even called me the day before I left, he had been traveling and was in an airport somewhere and he just wanted to call me and he prayed for me right on the phone.  It was so nice I cried, and I still get a little teary thinking about the Wolfrums and how much I love them. 

Another thing I remember about Amy Jones is that she would always tell me and Amy (White) Davis which boys she thought were cute and nice and which ones she thought we should date. There were a couple of boyfriends that we had that I think Amy Jones was upset for a longer period of time after we broke up then we were.   While it was funny that she was concerned about our love lives and didn't want us to end up as two old maids living together with lots of cats, it was also cool because she really cared that we each find a good guy to marry, she just wanted the best for us. If your reading this Amy, thanks for your persistence in encouraging us to find a good guy, I think Amy D and I both ended up with the best guys for us and I hope that that helped you get over some of our other breakups. ;) 


My senior high Sunday School teacher was Mrs. Proctor. She is a really faithful prayer warrior who cared a lot about the girls in her class.  I remember she gave us a poem that had some different verses incorporated into it. It was about how God made us just the way he wanted us, faults and all and it talked about how he didn't make us as perfect as we thought we should be so that we would realize our need for Him and that its God in us that makes us beautiful.  

My last Sunday School teacher at First Baptist was a very special couple. Kim and Doug Berkemeier were my college class teachers.   Doug and Kim introduced Amy White and I to a wonderful restaurant called Copelands and this amazing appetizer of spinach and artichoke dip served with fried bow tie pasta.  Now that dish in itself would probably have been enough to get them in the top 30 of my 30 years but there were other great ways they impacted my life.  Those few years in their class I had a lot of big decisions to make and I would get so stressed out because I felt the weight of how the choices I made would effect the rest of my life.  They would always encourage me by telling me they knew I would go on to do great thing for God and to trust Him to lead me.  I also remember Doug telling me that he knew Fairfield wouldn't be my home forever but that he felt God had plans for me in other parts of the world.  He was right!  Doug recently went home to be with the Lord.  My heart breaks for his family that they had to lose such a wonderful Godly husband and father so early in life, however I know he left a great legacy of Christ's love and example that will always be with those of us who loved Doug. 

I've talked about in a past post how much I loved my Pastor and hi family and I've talked about youth group in a post but here are some other honorable mentions of some of my favorite FFB memories.  Monday night softball games were a highlight of my summers.  I always enjoyed sitting in the stands talking to Julie Johnson, Amy J, Marla, Rita, and all the other wonderful ladies.  When I see posts about softball games now on facebook I still get a little sad I don't get to go anymore.  I loved Family Night Dinners every Wednesday.  Thanksgiving and Christmas potlucks were always a highlight of the holiday season. (It was the best when you got to be at the first table picked.)  Mission trips were a favorite part of my year as well.  I had fun with my friends but it was also always fun to get to know the adults on the trip.  Rita was always a favorite chaperone. It was wonderful getting to see Preston and Julie finally have their wonderful son David after such a long struggle.  Their faith in God and steadfastness through those difficult years is an inspiration to me.  I loved being Marla's favorite babysitter and the fact that my name was in Alex's first 20 or so words.  Revivals with Richard Greene were awesome, there have been times over the past 6 years that I've considered coming home just to hear him.  Working with everyone at VBS was always so much fun.  Doing recreation with Holly and Amy was probably my favorite VBS job. 

I loved getting greeted and hugged every Sunday when I was growing up by Mr. Nabors, Mr. Baker, or Mr.Simpson. One of them was always there with a smile, a hug and a word of encouragement.  There were also the ladies that I had to make sure I got my hugs from like Mrs. McCormack, Mrs. Sampsel, Carla, Marla, Mrs. Baker, Lisa, Julie P, Amy, Tracy and so many more they are all so special to me I can't name them all.  We also have so many faithful prayer warriors.  I remember when I was younger there was a ladies prayer ministry and when they started praying for something, you started to see God move.  It was an amazing testimony to the power of prayer.  I remember the first time I ever heard the term prayer warrior was my mom telling me that Mrs. Mary Lou was a prayer warrior and if you ever needed prayer you could ask Mrs. Mary Lou and you would know that she would pray for you.   

When I look back on my time at FFB the thing that stands out to me overall that this church does a great job at discipling their people to become passionate followers of Christ.  There are so many young people that I grew up with that are now either in ministry full time or just serving the Lord with all their heart in whatever career God has placed them in.  I've seen my friends grow up and go on to do missionary work in China, Japan, England, Mexico, Australia and right here in the states.  I have loved seeing how God has worked in the members of my church family.  We have been truly blessed.
 

 I could go on forever with this post but its already pretty long. . I do however have another post coming soon about working with the youth, so if I didn't mention you here I probably will there.    I love my FFB family and I'm so blessed to have had you in my life.  You did a great job of being the family we needed when our blood family was so far away. 

#20 Mellencamp Party of 8...in Pensacola Florida!

During most of my junior high and high school years I spent my time outside of school with kids that were at least one or more grades older than me (Except Amy of course, have you noticed Amy has been in tagged in 7 of my last 10 posts? We were pretty much attached at the hip for our childhood.)  That changed right around my junior year, a lot of my older friends had graduated or were getting ready to graduate and it was time for me and Amy to find some new friends or only hang out with each other until our older friends came home for Christmas break. Enter Mellencamp party of 8.

Mellencamp Party of 8 refers to a group of girls that went on our Senior Spring break trip to Pensacola, Florida together.  That's right, not Panama City or Daytona Beach, we went to hot spot Pensacola Florida and we had a blast.  We called the group Mellencamp party of 8 because my friend Becky (Rebeka now) LOVED John Mellencamp and she insisted that when we went out to eat that we tell them the name was Mellencamp and we had 8 girls go on the trip, so we forever after refered to ourselves at Mellencamp Party of 8.   Now its time for full disclosure, when my friend Becky would talk about her love of John Mellencamp and insistence that we use that name at restaurants I went along with it but I had no idea who John Mellencamp was.  I had heard the name before and I eventually figured out that I did know some of his songs but I'm terrible about putting the artist and song together so I pretty much just nodded and smiled.  (For my music fanatic friends just know I am hanging my head in shame as I write this, I'm sorry I'm such a disappointment!)

 Putting on sunscreen once in an 8 hour period isn't enough?

So I'm sure you're wondering how we ended up in the exciting destination city of Pensacola Beach.  Well you see my parents were not all about me going on a totally unsupervised trip to Florida and every year for Spring Break we would go visit my grandparents in Pensacola.  So my parents said I could get a group of friends together and we could rent a house on the beach. They would help us drive down and stay about an hour's drive away at my grandparents' house so that we could have our freedom but still have parents close by in case we needed them.  It turned out a lot of my friends had parents who were also not crazy about them going on a long road trip totally unsupervised and so we became, Mellencamp Party of 8.

Trying to teach the booty shake...

It was a great week with a fantastic group of girls. We had a cute 3 bedroom house that was just a couple minutes walk from the beach. Some of the highlights were learning how to belly dance from a tape someone brought, watching Becky show Amy how to shake her booty,  renting the movie "Where the Heart Is" and watching it at least 4 or 5 times that week, being ridiculously slap happy almost every night, and getting all dressed up our last night to go to Waffle House! I'll also never forget going with Ryane to pick up two of our friends who had wanted to go to a club one night and well one of them got caught doing something Ryane didn't approve of and she let her opinion be known to the whole street while wearing her tie-dye shirt and boxer shorts.  Then Ryane was so mad on the way back to the house that she about ripped some guy's head off who tried to hit on her at the gas station.  The funniest part of that whole experience was getting to hear Ryane retell the story in her very dramatic ways.  You really had to be there, but if they are reading this my girls know what I'm talking about and they're probably laughing thinking about Ryane showing us how she pumped the gas.

Becky and Ryane doing ???

It was also through my friend Ryane that we learned Florida has some pretty crazy driving laws.  The second night we were there she got in a car accident with a Marine as she was turning into our driveway.  Apparently in Florida when you are making a left hand turn on a two lane road you have to look behind you to make sure no one is passing you on your left before you turn.  If they do try to pass you on the left (in a two lane road) and you hit them, you will be at fault!  Turns out it was a pretty good idea to have parent close by when you're having to deal with weird Florida traffic laws and an uninsured Marine.  (For the record I have absolutely nothing against Marines, I'm very thankful for the service, but this seemed like a pretty shady situation.) 

All dressed up for a night at Waffle House!

Besides the accident and what will forever be known as the "Sally incident" it was a really great week.  We had  lots of fun and it didn't take long before we could laugh at even the more "tense" moments of our trip.  I love those girls and am so thankful for their friendship and all the fun memories that we made on that trip.   Also Amy and Christina I hope that now 11 years later you have both learned the importance of reapplying the sunscreen!

#21 High School... not exactly like Saved By The Bell...

Don't worry mom, it's just a Jones soda!

I remember when I was a little girl I couldn't wait to get to high school.  I loved watching shows about high school like Saved by the Bell, California Dreams, some show on Nickolodean called "Fifteen",  and 90201. (Don't tell my mom and dad I wasn't suppose to watch that one.)  They all made high school look like it was going to be so much fun.  I could not wait to get there and experience it for myself.  When I finally got there I discovered it was shockingly not at all like the shows I watched.  There was no central hangout like the Max, I never had my own band, I could not skip school whenever I wanted or call "timeout", there was no principal that was deeply involved in my life and my parents did not suddenly become these rarely seen figures in my life who let me do whatever I wanted.

Even though high school did not look at all like the popular teen shows, I did really enjoy my high school years for the most part.  Sure there were annoying parts like BC Calculus (I still do not know what possessed me to take that), finding out a few days before prom that the guy who was going to take me my sophomore year had decided to go with someone else, and dissecting the cat in anatomy and physiology.  In the end though even the annoying parts all turned out for the best.  Taking BC Calculus allowed me to earn 3 college credit hours, instead of going to prom my sophomore year I hung out with two awesome friends Amy and Christina, we had a really fun night that I still remember, going to see Never Been Kissed (or 10 Things I Hate About You, I can't remember which one) and having dessert at Frisch's. (would you like hot fudge with those french fries??), and dissecting the cat wasn't nearly as bad as Heather and I thought it would be.

One of the things I think that makes high school so great is that you begin to slowly take steps toward become an adult, but you still don't have all the responsibility that comes with being an adult.  I got my drivers license and my first car.  My parents slowly let up on my restrictions and gave me more freedom to hang out with my friends unsupervised. Also I was done with those horrible awkward middle school years.

Some of my favorite things about high school were the classic milestones like prom and homecoming. I think I honestly loved all the anticipation leading up to the event almost as much as I loved the event.  Who would ask me to be their date, what would I wear, what group should we go in?  Looking back though my favorite dance was the one where I actually didn't have a date.  My junior year I went to the King of Hearts dance with a big group of girls and we had the BEST time.

Its funny another one of my favorite high school memories was when my all time high school crush, came up to me at restaurant the summer before my senior year, gave me his number and told me to call him.  Its funny that its one of my favorite memories because I never did call him.  I actually had just gotten a boyfriend so I did the honorable thing and threw the number away (or maybe I tucked it in the bottom of a drawer "just in case", it was so long ago I can't be sure.)  In college I lamented that I had that boyfriend and I missed my chance to go on a date with my crush, however looking back on it and knowing that I eventually got to marry the ABSOLUTE BEST man I've ever known, I'm thankful that I never got to go on that date.  Sometimes things are just better being left in the unknown. He was a nice guy but we were very different people and it all ended up the way it was supposed to.     

Besides the friends, and the special milestones another thing that made high school such a great time in my life was some of the wonderful teachers.  Two in particular really stand out in my memory, Mrs. Baird and Mr. Muldoon.  Mrs. Baird was my English teacher my sophomore year and I loved her so much that I ended up being her aid during my study halls my junior and senior years.  Mrs. Baird is a wonderful encourager.   She was also great at engaging our class in discussions.  While I did really love Mrs. Baird's class I actually bonded the most with her when I was her aid.  One semester she had a student teacher so sometimes she would come back and talk to me and my friend Heather in her office and since it was first period every Friday the three of us would take turns getting donuts to share.  I loved that Mrs. Baird really cared about me and what was going on in my life.  Several times I was her aid during her planning period so we would talk about what was going on in our lives and the world.  It was the first time I ever had a teacher who I also considered a friend.

My other favorite high school teacher was my junior year English teacher, Mr. Muldoon.  Everyone loved him and his class was one of my all time favorite classes.  He was a fun, entertaining  and inspiring teacher.  He was also a really great example of a Godly man.  He was  open about his faith and how much he loved the Lord.  He also always talked about how great his wife and kids were and you could just see how much he loved them.  Listening to him talk about his family made me hope that one day I would get to marry a guy who loved our family as much as Mr. Muldoon loved his. (I'm thankful that I did in fact get to marry a guy like that!)  I remember one time I got progress report and he had checked the box to request my parents call him.  I went to him to ask if it was a mistake because usually teachers only want a parent to call if there is a problem.  He said there wasn't a problem.  My mom called him but missed him and when he called her back he left the nicest message on the machine about what  great student and person he thought I was and how much he loved having me in class.  He also told my parents they should be very proud of me.  My mom cried when she listened to the message.

There are so many more great high school memories I could share about how Tischler's french class was always so much fun, or getting lost on the way to a teen dance club because we were directionally challenged and didn't read the signs right, but this post is already pretty long so I'm going to wrap it up. High school was not like the TV shows made it out to be, however it was a really fun four years of great friends and slowly starting to figure out who I was and who I wanted to be.  However, I do really wish I had the ability to call a "time out" every now and then!

#22 Best Week of the Summer... Sports Camp!

Little Sally Walker walkin down the street, she didn't know what to do so she stopped in front of me and said, "Hey Girl do that thing, do that thing, now switch, Hey girl do that thing do that thing now switch...."   Oh, sorry whenever I start thinking about Sports Camp I start getting that chant in my head and I can't get it out!  If you've ever been a part of Sports Camp at FBC, Fairfield I'm sure you know exactly what I'm talking about, and your welcome for getting that song stuck in your head now too!

I mentioned in a previous post how in my youth group the students were responsible for planning a lot of the activities.  One of the things that we put together that most strengthened my leadership and organization skills was Sports Camp.  We had been on several mission trips to other places but we decided we needed to do some kind of outreach in our hometown and we decided to do a Sports Camp for kids.  We did our very first Sports Camp in the summer of 98.  Our youth pastor Rob took a job working as a counselor at M-Fuge that summer so it was up to us to put the camp together and we would have it the week after Rob got back from camp.  We did have a great interim youth director, Tasha, who helped us, but Melody, Amy and I really did a lot of the details and planning. Melody wrote all the Bible Study material and Amy and I put together the schedule and helped organize who would lead which sports times, morning celebration, what songs we would do and all the other details.  I remember I had a huge binder that I kept everything in and we were super proud of what we had put together.  I will admit we copied the basic format of the camp from Fuge, a camp we attended every year, but we put our own spin on the details.

I remember the first year Rob came home just a couple of  days before the camp started and I gave him the big binder we had put together. The camp was to start on Monday morning and on Sunday afternoon we met with him to go over the details and he started making all these changes to what we had planned.  We of course being the emotional teenage girls that we were got really upset because he had been gone all summer and then came in at the last minute and started to change so much of what we did was crushing to us. Thankfully we had our wonderful Interim Youth Director Tasha who went to bat for us and explained our position to Rob and in the end he was very gracious, apologized to us, thanked us for all the hard work and said we would try it the way we had organized it.  I'm sure his suggestions were good ones and we did end up tweeking stuff as the week went on, but what was so great was that he and Tasha knew it was important to let us try and come along side of us instead of just taking over and doing it for us. 

One of the most important things I learned that first year of Sports Camp was that no matter what happened our number one job was to LOVE THOSE KIDS!  We weren't there to hang out with each other, we were there to show the kids the love of Christ.  We gave those kids lots of hugs, high fives, piggy back rides, encouragement, we made sure to sit with them at lunch and just did every thing we could to make each one feel like they were really special. 

Sports Camp became a really important ministry in my life. Every year it evolved more and got better and better as time went on. The second year we added a theme (fishers of men, each room was a different sea creature), the third year was an Olympic theme and our friend Ruth designed t-shirts for us.  We did crazy run on skits and fun games in the morning celebration.  We had lots of chants and cheers and it was a really fun and exciting week. The kids loved it, I mean what kid wouldn't want to go to a high energy sports camp run by a bunch of teenagers they could climb all over?

It was always great getting to do a week of ministry with my friends but my favorite year was the first year Camden came up to join us, (2003, I think).  Rob had moved to Camden, Alabama to be a full time youth minister several years before and Chad was now our youth minister. Our youth had gone down there the summer before for a mission trip and now their group was going to come help us.  It was a blast!  There was a really talented student in their group named Chris who wrote a theme song for the week (the theme that year was Super Heros).  There was so much energy and excitement from joining the two groups. Plus I got to work with both of my brothers which was so much fun.  It was the first time all three of us had ever worked on a ministry project together.    At that point I was in college so I was more in a behind the scenes kind of role because Sports Camp has always been mainly led by the teenagers, which I think is one of the things that makes it so great.  The kids love it that way and it really helps the teens strengthen their leadership skills and confidence.

I got to be a part of Sport Camp at First Baptist again a few years ago when Darin and I took our teens from Bridge down to help with the camp.  Our teens loved it and it was great for them to see what a youth group can do when they pull together with a central goal in mind.  I'm so thankful that Sports Camp ministry continues to go on and has reached 100's (maybe even 1000's) of kids in Fairfield and other parts of the world (I'll get to that in another post) over the past 14 years.  Its been a really cool part of my life and every year when its happening, if I don't get to be there I still get a little sad, but I'm happy it continues to go on and shows kids with the love of Jesus.  

#23 The Porch Group and "Locer Buddies"

As I've mentioned in past posts, I spent a lot of time growing up at the White's house. The summer between my junior and senior years of high school I ended up spending a lot of time on the White's front porch with Amy, Melody, Tara and Stacey.  We'd talk, laugh, complain about life and laugh some more.  We spent so much time on the porch that we began to refer to this group of friends as the "porch group." The only really specific memories I have about our time on the porch are about this boy who liked Stacey (but Stacey did not like) would show up randomly and not take a hint that we wanted him to go away.  When he finally realized Stacey did not like him I think he may have asked if we thought Tara would go out with him... yeah that answer was no too...  I also remember Melody yelling at us a lot to be quiet because she couldn't stay up late since she had to get up early every morning for work.  Sorry about that Mel, I hope you've forgiven us... So while I don't have a lot of specific memories about that time I do have a lot of great memories about these girls.  I've already spent a post talking about Melody, and Amy has a post coming up that is all about her, so I'll tell you a little bit more about Stacey and Tara in this one.  

One of my favorite things about Stacey is that she is my twin.  People were always mistaking us for one another. One time after I spoke in church about a mission trip I had been on someone came up to Stacey and told her how much they enjoyed her talk about Indonesia.  Then another time Stacey was shopping and ran into a family from church, they had a little girl named Hannah who I had become very close to and often took to do fun things. Hannah went right up to Stacey and was talking her ear off, Stacey was pleasantly surprised because she really didn't know Hannah very well.  The next week at church Hannah came up to Stacey, climbed onto her lap, Stacey thought wow, I guess she really likes me.  Then Hannah's mom came to get her and as Hannah was leaving she said "Bye Deborah!"   I've also got mistaken for Stacey a few times.  One time after I had moved to Cleveland I was back at church visiting and I was talking to man who's  daughter had come with me on a mission trip to Australia the previous summer.  Well he starts talking to me about how he's looking forward to playing softball with my husband.  I was not married at this time so I was pretty confused until I realized he thought I was Stacey because her husband played on the men's softball team at church! Stacey's husband has even said he's gotten confused when he's seen one of us from behind.   Now to be fair, Stacey and I have even found ourselves having to take a double look at times when we see a picture of the other one. We've both had times when we're glancing at a picture and we have to look closer because we think we see ourselves but we think I don't have that outfit or I wasn't at that place, and we realize its not me, it's Stacey/ Deborah.  I actually had that happen to me a few days ago when I was looking through pictures for the blog. I never mind getting mistaken for Stacey because not only is she a beautiful woman on the outside, she's also a wonderful person on the inside.  She has a huge heart and is one of the most sensitive and compassionate people I know.  She loves the Lord, she loves her family, and she's a wonderful person who has been a great friend to me over the years. 

Tara at my party with the swollen face!

Tara is one of the funniest women  I know.  I think everyone that ever gets to meet her must absolutely love her because she's just that awesome.  She has a very magnetic personality and people are drawn to her easy going, hilarious personality.  She is so much fun and has the best laugh.  Tara is such a great friend that she came to my birthday party the day after (or the day of) she had gotten her wisdom teeth out.  Her face was swollen and she had to be in a lot of pain but she was so great and hung in there the whole night (it was a sleepover) and was her usual fun self.  (Maybe even more fun because I'm pretty sure she was on some pain killers!)  That's just the kind of friend Tara is, she'll do anything for you.  She also has a deep love for the Lord and she has been working on staff Young Life for the past 6 years or more. Even from afar I can tell that she is doing a great job helping teenagers come to know and love the Lord.

Locer Buddies

I can't talk about the porch group without including my friends Matt and Steve. They became an extension of our "porch group".  I met Matt and Steve my sophomore year of high school. Amy and I had gotten lockers on the senior floor next to Melody (don't tell anyone) and Matt and Steve's lockers were right next to Amy's. We would always decorate the inside of our lockers and Amy had a sign she had made and hung up in hers that said The Coolest Locer Ever or something like that, I know the key was it said "locer" not locker.  Well Steve and Matt saw it one day and started teasing her about it. That was kind of the ice breaker and we slowly started talking to them more.  What sealed the friendship was one day the seniors had to have a Saturday school in order to graduate on time because we had so many snow days.  When Amy and I got to school the Monday after their Saturday school we opened our lockers to find that Matt and Steve had totally switched our lockers around.  All my stuff was in Amy's and all Amy's was in mine. Now we had tons of stuff in our lockers, books, pictures, signs and they duplicated them perfectly.  It was hilarious! We were rolling on the floor laughing when we discovered it and pretty much from that day on we've been great friends with Matt and Steve.  It's kind of weird, but great! Amy and I sent them a note saying we'd miss them in the senior addition of the school paper and signed it your locer buddies, well the people on the paper thought it was an error and "corrected" it saying loser buddies... that was pretty funny too. 

Matt and Steve studying the map on our Memphis trip.

After high school the "porch group" started hanging out with Matt and Steve more and more and we all ended up becoming really good friends.  It was a great friendship, nothing ever romantic between any of us, just a really cool friendship.  They were (and still are) really nice, honest, funny, caring guys who looked out for us and were really fun to be around. They were always there to help us when we needed them. They helped Amy and I move into our apartment in college (now you know a person is a good friend when they'll help you move!) Our group also went on several summer trips together.  Most of us girls were pretty directionally challenged so they were always the driver and navigator while the girls would just sit in the back and talk.  Steve was also the kind of guy that had an answer for everything. I remember one time being at dinner at Texas Roadhouse and I was complaining that my AP calculus class was useless and that I would never use what I was learning.  Steve then took the bread out of the basket and said oh sure you can, see I'll use calculus right now to figure out the volume of this bread basket, and then he did it... Gotta love those guys!

Sometimes I get really sad when I think about how I don't get to see these friends anymore.  I live in Cleveland, Tara is in North Carolina, some of us have gotten married and had kids, and our lives have just taken different turns, which I guess is bound  to happen as we grow up. However it is really fun to think about all of our fun memories, I could have gone on and on in this post, but that would have taken forever.  If any of you are reading this though I hope you know how much I have loved having you in my life and you will always be very special to me.  Love you all! 

#24 Young Life

I love Young Life!  It is such a great ministry to high school kids.  I admit my exposure to various high school ministries is somewhat limited, however of the ones I have been around Young Life does the BEST job at reaching unchurched kids with the gospel. I became involved with Young Life my junior year of high school because my friends Amy and Melody had started going to Young Life Club the year before.  They had made lots of friends, had a really great time at camp and they talked about it so much that I just had to go and see what all the hype was about.

While it was a little intimidating for me at first because Young Life had a LOT of kids at Club, probably about 100 or so on a regular basis during the two years I was involved, it was also a LOT of fun!  It was confusing to me at first though.  This is what a typical club looked like, around 100 kids got together every Monday night in one of our classmate's basement, we sang a few fun secular songs, a couple of people would get called up to do some sort of funny game in front of everyone (I always found myself praying I wouldn't get called up as you never really knew what they were going to make you do,)  then a leader would give a 10 minute talk that always started with a funny story or some sort of cool object lesson that would transition to a Bible story, then I think maybe we sang another song and left.

 It was very confusing to me at first because I thought this is a ministry? They don't even really sing songs about God?  However as I got more involved I realized there was a method to the madness.  They were trying to reach to teens who did not yet know Jesus and had not been brought up in church.  Therefore they didn't sing church songs because those kids didn't know those songs and they wouldn't want to sing along, so they picked clean, fun secular songs that those kids would know and be able to get into.  I also realized there was a very strategic plan with the talks.  Every semester you started with creation and the fall of man, then moved onto Jesus' life, finally ending with the last two clubs being the sin talk followed by the cross talk.  Everyone came away from the sin talk feeling horrible because they told us about how we were all sinners and there was nothing we could do on our own to have a relationship with Christ and get to heaven.   Then the next week they would tell you the good news that Jesus died on the cross for you and if you ask him to forgive you of your sins you can have a relationship with God and spend eternity in heaven.  Now the first time I saw this done I was a little skeptical. I thought, "What??? You're not going tell them right away  about how Jesus died on the cross for them and they can be forgiven and recieve eternal life? What if they die this week before they've heard the cross talk??? This is crazy!!"  However I soon came to realize that it was actually a good thing to let the students dwell on their need for a Savior for a little while, it really made them come to terms with their hopelessness so that the next week when they heard the good news about the cross and Jesus' resurection they were ready to accept his gift of grace and forgiveness.  And of course if there was a student who was really upset and approached a leader or another student wanting to know the answer to their problem right away they would of course tell them and not necessarily make them wait until the next club to discover Jesus died  for their sins.

So while this was a very unconventional way of doing things in my very "churched" teenage mind, I came to love it because it worked.  I saw so many teenagers come to know Christ through this amazing ministry.  I also saw them grow in their faith and be discipled by the wonderful young life leaders.  Many of those I knew who came to Christ through that ministry went on in college to be young life leaders themselves and help lead other high school students to Christ and then disciple them.

My absolute favorite part of young life was the girls Friday afternoon Bible study, that I was able to attend. (I know you were probably expecting me to say Young Life camp, which was a lot fun, but crazily enough it was not my favorite part of Young Life.)    Our Young Life leader Shelia hosted the Bible study at her home and it was a highlight in my week.  We got to study the Word together and then we would usually divide up and pray for one another in groups of two or three.  I loved getting to be in Bible study with Tara, Ann, Jessica (formerly known as Jeska), Gabe, Brittany, Leslie, Jackie and so many other great girls, plus Sheila was the greatest. She always made everyone feel so welcome and loved. She was full of wisdom and knew how to get through to teenage girls.   I loved that after school Bible study so much that it inspired me to start one in my home that ran for about 3 years while Darin was the youth pastor at our church.  

I'm very thankful that there are ministries like Young Life out there reaching students for Christ. They are doing a great job of helping to expand the kingdom of God and I'm blessed that for a short time I got to be a part of the ministry at Fairfield.  They have some really awesome leaders there, the Chambers, Keiths and Simms have been laboring for many years and it has been very cool to see how God has blessed their faithfulness.  I pray He continues to pour out His most abundant blessings on them and their ministry. 

#25 Youth Group!

Without question my absolute favorite part of my teen years was my youth group at Fairfield First Baptist.  It was the best youth group ever.  Again I'm sorry if you think you have or had the best youth group, unless you were a part of the youth group I'm talking about, I don't think you did... Okay I know that sounds arrogant and maybe I'm reverting back to the very egocentric mentality teenagers are known for, but I really did have a great youth group, it wasn't perfect, but it was still pretty great.

Unforgettable night at camp!

It's interesting being in ministry for a number of years now I've gotten to see what many parents and teenagers look for in a youth group.  Usually they want a  group of kids who love the Lord and desire to honor Him with their lives.  That is definitely something I desire for my children and it is definitely a good thing to look for in a youth group.  The other thing I often hear that people think it is important to have a good youth "program". They want fun activities, exciting youth worship times, and full time youth pastor to make all those things happen.  I'm not criticizing those who want that, I can understand why they are looking for that.  However my youth group had none of those things in the beginning except a very small group of kids who loved the Lord and wanted to honor Him with their lives.

When I started in the youth group as I said it was very small.  There were between 3 and 5 kids who were really committed and then another 5 who were there on a more irregular basis.  My class brought up the biggest influx of students there had been in awhile and we had about 6 in our class. So the youth group grew about 50% when we moved up!  It was kind of a similar breakdown in our class as well, a few were really committed the rest were semi-regular attenders.  We had a part time youth pastor, who I mentioned earlier was my brother Rob.  He was pretty young at the time, maybe 21 years old and being only part time, while he did a lot for us he definitely did not have time to do everything.  So you know what he did? He had us plan many of the activities. We came up with ideas and he said okay you plan the event and let me know how you need me to help you.  And you know what happened? We actually did it.  We put together youth Sundays (where the youth lead the service), costume parties, valentines banquets, talent show fundraisers, sports camps, 3 act plays, and I'm sure there were more things but those are some of the ones I remember.   You see I think one of the things that made this youth group so great was that we were deeply invested in leading it and making things happen.  We didn't have an adult doing everything for us,  and while Rob and other adults helped us along the way we did a good deal of the work in planning and executing our activities.  You know what that produced?  Some really strong leaders who have gone on to lead in ministries all over the US and even in some foreign countries.

We missed Becky a lot when she moved!

Another thing that I think made this youth group so great was that we did not have a lot of "wow factor". We did not have a cool name, we did not have a worship time with cool lights and live music and we didn't do crazy attractional type activities.  We had a few kids who loved Jesus and wanted to show others that love, a youth pastor who had a passion and gift for teaching youth the Bible, and we had worship cd's we sang along to while we looked at the words on overhead projectors.  The biggest "wow factor" of our early youth worship times were the nice speakers Rob bought off the back of some guy's truck. I know what you're thinking, that sounds a little shady, we thought so too, but he assured us it was okay.  It's crazy though even without the "wow factor" the group grew from running 3-5 students to about 20-30 on a regular basis over the next two to three years. 

Classic Justin in our "chalet: in Gatlingberg!

Looking back I see one of the reasons we grew was that we had some students (I could probably specifically point to four, Brandon, Justin, Becky and Kristy) who invited their friends all the time.  Their friends came, we made them feel welcome and many of them came to know the Lord and started growing in their faith.  It just became this ripple effect, you know how its suppose to be, making disciples who make disciples.



The other reason I think we grew was that we were all genuinely really good friends who cared about one another.  We hung out all the time.  In the summers we would always have a plan for what we were going to do after youth group was over because we just couldn't get enough of hanging out with each other.  In high school I remember we would all meet in this one area to talk at the start of every school day. Now that meant we must have gotten there early which is saying something about how much we liked each other since our school day started at 7am!  For awhile we even met once a week to pray a half hour before school.  Those of us who had the same lunch period would also usually eat together.  

Now as I said it wasn't perfect, we definitely had our share of teenage drama and there was probably way to much dating going on (I admit I personally dated way more boys than I should have in our group).  However when I look back on that time in my life I mostly remember the good things. The pool parties, the car washes, talent shows, Christmas and New Years Eve parties, concerts, Gatlinberg trips, youth retreats at Bullittsburg, vacation bible schools, the "This World" play (nothing like a group of suburban teenagers doing a play about gang wars), sports camps and of course the mission trips.  There is something about getting away from normal life for a whole week and serving other people that forever impacts you and changes your life and perspective for the better.  It also gives you a special bond with the people who experienced those things with you.

So if you are reading this and you were a part of that group, I just want you to know that I treasure our memories and I pray that each of you have continued to grow in your walk with Christ and that whatever you are doing you are serving Him and leading others to know Christ personally.  I also hope that one day we can have a reunion because I would love to all be together again and get the opportunity to talk and laugh about those special times we shared and to hear what God has been doing in your life since those days.  May God bless you my friends!   
 

#26 Popcorn, Kool-Aid and Sunday Night Sleepovers

Melody, Amy, Emily and I

Pretty much every summer Sunday night during my middle school years were spent at the White's house with Amy, Melody, and Emily.  Amy and Melody's little sister Beth was there too of course but she was several years younger than us so she only hung out with us until it was time for her to go to bed (or we started talking about something like kissing boys which grossed her out and she would leave and not join us again til the next morning.)

We usually hung out in Melody's room and we always had popcorn and kool-aid. We would stay up into the early hours of the morning talking, laughing and of course eating pop corn!  We would talk about whatever boys we liked at the time, what we were looking forward to doing with our youth group and all kinds of other things teenage girls talk about.  We would make up stories about us and the boys we liked, one person would start and then we would take turns adding to the story.  Amy was the smart one and she never really liked any boys while we were in middle school so her part of the story would always be about going to get some sort of food, typically breadsticks or watermelon. On Monday mornings after our sleepovers we would sometimes make really cheesy, soap opera like movies.  They were full of drama, mystery and more drama!
      

There was a really strong bond that formed during those summer sleepovers.  To this day I consider those girls some of the closest friends I've ever had.  I do still get to see Amy and Melody several times a year so it has been easier for us to remain close, but I haven't seen Emily since I got married five and half years ago.  However I know that even though a lot of time has passed the next time we get to see each other we will be able to pick up right where we left off and if I ever needed Emily's help I know she would be there for me.

I think what has made our bond so strong was not all the talk about crushes we had, the giggling over silly stories, and shockingly enough, it was not even the fun we had creating our mini soap opera movies.  What has made our friendship so strong that it endures to this day as one of the most special friendships I believe I will ever have is the spiritual connection we shared.  Melody and Emily were  my first peers to model for me what it meant to pursue a daily walk with Christ.  They were the first teenagers I'd ever been around who actually did a quiet time.  I didn't even know what a quiet time or devotional time looked like before I started 7th grade.  What was really cool was that they never sat me down and told me, this is what a quiet time looks like and this is what you need to start doing.  They were just very genuine in their walk with Christ and what they were doing and learning in their daily times with God came out in regular conversation.  They weren't overbearing or arrogant about their walk with the Lord. They were real and they were different, and I wanted to be able to have a deeper relationship with Christ like they did.  I wanted Christ to make me different, and for people to see that Christ was at work in my life so that they would want to know Jesus personally too.

By normal standards many people would have considered this an unusual friendship.  You see Melody and Emily were two and four grades older than Amy and I.  Most juniors and freshmen in high school have no desire to hang out with seventh graders on a regular basis.  There can be a pretty big maturity gap in those years, but Melody and Emily over looked those gaps and they embraced us.  The invested in us, made us feel welcome in our youth group and treated us as equals.  They encouraged us and helped us learn not only what it meant to walk with Christ daily but also to lead, and to be bold in our faith.  I am so thankful for their example and for their friendship.  I'm sure there were many people their own age they could have been hanging out with on those Sunday nights but they choose to hang out with us and I know my life has been forever changed by their friendship over the past 17 and 18 years. I was so proud to be in each one of their weddings and to have all three of them stand up next to me in my wedding.  I love those girls so much and I pray that my children will have friends like I did who will invest in them and stand by them as they try to live their lives for Christ.