Youth Minister: Yep....I've Done That.

Something you may not know about me is that I used to be a Youth Minister.  For about three years Justin and I were Co-Directors of Youth Ministry for Southside Baptist Church.  We resigned in April (as many know), not because of the divorce (although God did a lot of talking), but because we felt it was not our place to be in that position anymore.

I have spent a lot of the last few days remembering back over the past year and I can honestly tell you that one of the things I miss is my worship time with our Savior.  It is my goal to find a new church home soon.

Being a Youth Minister was tough.  It was one of the most challenging jobs I have ever had.  I learned a lot about myself, what I believed and the Church.  However, it was extremely rewarding at times and I miss it dearly.

I was cleaning out some files on my computer this evening and I found this slide show I created for the Mystery Dinner we did as a fundraiser a few years back.



This brought back a flood of memories for me.  GOOD...no GREAT memories.  Over the three years we were directors we got to know several kids.  These are some of the best kids you will ever meet.  Some aren't kids anymore; some are in college, married with babies, working through life, in the Military or still in high school.

I think back to our Progressive Dinners, Mystery Dinners, New Years Eve parties, Youth Conferences and all the worship and Sunday school times.  It was three years that I wouldn't change for anything.

God is great!  I am so thankful for the chance I had to serve him and the precious memories I have of that time.

If you are reading this and you are or used to be in my Youth department; I love you.  You taught me just as much as I taught you and I am thankful for the person that you are (no matter who is reading this).  You are always in my thoughts and prayers and I pray that God blesses you now and always.

With love,

Lacey

Not a Technically Savvy Type Gal

Well, I didn't think I would post again before Christmas...but I just really had to brag on myself tonight. 

After being sick for four days I finally got up the strength to get up and move about.  I really dislike being sick because I really hate being in bed.  However, this is God's way of telling me to slow down and take it day-by-day (I think).  One thing I desperately needed to do was to balance my checkbook.  Now, for those of you that know me, you know I can't go four days without balancing my checkbook.  I don't balance my checkbook in a way that most people do.  Daily, I log-in to my bank account online and I make sure that what I have written down in my register matches my bank account.  I take the balance from what the bank says and then subtract what hasn't cleared and make sure my balances match.  This is a very anal way of doing things but when you have lived from paycheck to paycheck and have had your checking account go into the negatives you get in a habit of making sure that doesn't happen (especially when you have worked hard to remove yourself from that).

I digress (because that was not the point of this blog)....this caused me to get out my laptop.  At this time I decided I would multitask (this is something my laptop may or may not let me do at any given time).  So I opened iTunes.  This is where I become un-technical.  When Justin and I were married he did all the updates on our iPods/iPhones.  So I had become needy of his technical genius to sync the iThings we had in our house.  He set-up our wireless Internet, updated our computer with the latest and greatest update things, and even made ringtones for our phones.  I could/can navigate my way through my e-mail, Facebook, even write a blog but I didn't know how to do all the iPod updating/syncing things.

So...I had to learn and it took countless hours of becoming frustrated and not knowing what to do.  I got so frustrated at one time I just wanted to shut my computer down and go to the Apple store and tell them to deal....or just call Justin....who I knew would laugh.  I didn't do that, but I did shut my computer down just to try again another day.

Today was that day.  I opened iTunes and magically it was fixed....Ha, Ha, Ha.  Not really, but I was in a better frame of mind to work it out.  I did get it all working properly....all my songs are in the albums they belong in, all the albums (except the obscure ones) have a cover, created two playlists, and even downloaded two songs! 

It is good to know that I can do it all by myself!  I am a technically savvy woman (now)!  Hear Me Roar!!

Lacey

It's the Most Wonderful Time Of the Year

A long time has passed since my last blog and not too much has transpired since that time.  We have survived Thanksgiving just to be caught up in the Christmas season.  It always seems as though Christmas gets earlier and earlier each year.  Most stores had decorations out right after Halloween totally bipassing Thanksgiving.  Sorry Pilgrims and Indians....you have fallen by the wayside.

As I let out a big sigh...I digress.  Things are pretty calm and quiet around here.  I tried putting Amanda into dance class and she wasn't having any of that.  Miss Melanie at Dance Dreams in Acton gave us a month free to try out the class.  The first class Amanda cried for about the first 10 minutes of the class, and I was right there with her.  She didn't want to participate.  However, she accepted the sucker at the end of class and left.  However, when we got in the car all she could talk about was the other little girls tap shoes and how she wanted a pair.  I told her that she would actually have to dance in order to get tap shoes.  Her response:  "I don't wanna dance".  I said, "Okay then we won't go back to dance class".  She said, "But I want to go to dance class, I just don't want to dance."  We went two more times after that and she still didn't dance, but she wanted the tap shoes nonetheless.  I am thinking of enrolling in the adult class and maybe that will coax her into wanting to do it.  More updates to follow on that. 

Thanksgiving was quite different this year.  Amanda spent the day at Justin's and I spent the day at Mike's sister's home in Valley Mills.  It was quite a warm and loving atmosphere and I caught myself reveling in the fact that this was something new.  It was a little scary at first (the thought of newness....not being in Valley Mills), but as the day went on I found it to be right where I wanted to be. 

We got the tree up after having to replace a strand of lights on it.  Most of our shopping is done (mercifully) and we can spend the rest of the season just being with each other.  I read a blog recently by a friend of mine that dealt with the feelings of teaching her girls the true meaning of the season and what she is going to do when the time comes to tell her daughters the truth about Santa.  Luckily I am not anywhere near having to tell Amanda that Santa is really her parents and grandparents putting gifts under the tree...no reindeer...elves....or North Pole.  Loving the Lord with all my heart I struggle with making sure I tell Amanda the reason why we celebrate Christmas.  Being out of church makes this much harder for me.  I feel as though I don't have a right to tell her.  I know that is silly...but I think that way sometimes.  She knows Jesus and God....we say our prayers daily and I tell her Bible stories.  But I want her to know that Jesus is the reason for Christmas and we love Him so.

She wanted to draw the other day and I gave her some paper and a pen.  About 5 minutes later she comes back with this paper with scribbles all over it.  She said, "Mommy, this is my Christmas list to Santa".  I told her I would make sure he got it.  I then asked her if she wanted to go see Santa and tell him what she wanted for Christmas.  She said no.  The past two years her pictures with Santa have turned out to be family pictures with Santa.  She doesn't want to have any part of that old guy with the beard. 

I think that about sums it up for now.  Anticipating Christmas and the New Year.  I pray that each of you have a very Merry Christmas and here's wishing you Health and Happiness for 2011.

Lacey