Be Thou an Example

I started to write this post with two distinctly different topics in mind. Should I post the cute things I made for church or should I post about the "secret" things that I set in motion? When suddenly I realized that they really are related after all, so I'm going to share them both.

The theme scripture for the youth this year is "Be Thou an Example of the believers in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity." (1 Timothy 4:12)

I absolutely love working with the youth, but it's not without it's challenges. There are some things that we, as leaders, have found troubling and different. We are constantly looking for ways to reach them, to inspire them, to help them see beyond themselves. For me, this theme is inspiring in that I can see how focusing on each aspect of it can help address some of the things that weigh heavily on my heart.

Last night I was helping the Beehives (12-13 year olds) and we were focusing on just the first two; word and conversation. We probably could've talked about it for a couple of hours and still had more to discuss.

What is the difference between word and conversation? For word we talked about being a person of your word, the written word (texts, email, facebook), gossip... Conversation gave us an opportunity to talk about slang, reverance, "ugly" words (shut-up, stupid, idiot....in addition to curse words), being optimistic in your conversations, what it feels like to be around someone who is always complaining..etc. It was a great conversation. I know that it was inspiring for me. The more we talked about it, the more we found ways that we could be an example.

So how does that tie in with my "secret" things?

I submitted an essay and an application for a writing assignment. I love to write and I've always had some lofty writing goals, but I usually find a way to get in my own way and not pursue them. Yesterday I got an email with a VERY interesting opportunity and I went for it. I filled out the application, wrote the essay and submitted my pictures. I don't know if I have what they are looking for, but it felt good to follow through on it. I didn't waste time writing and re-writing. I didn't worry over the photos. I just went for it. Realistically I doubt I have a very good chance of being chosen, but I can't help but feel excited because it really is the perfect opportunity for me. One that I never would've dreamed of thinking about, but fits oh so perfectly with where I am in my life.

Sooo... I have a long time to wait to find out the results, but in the meantime I'm going to work on being an example in word....just in case!

The second thing? Hmmm...not a huge deal. Just something fun. Hopefully I'll be sharing a cool little link with you sometime in the next week or so. You'll just have to come back and see....hahaha...