GOOOOO Short Bus!! Colt is Very Special to us!

LAST YOUTH MEETING OF THE 08-09 SEASON!

Just thought that every parent would JUST LOOOOOOVE to see how the last Youth Group meeting of this season went down! :) It was a BLAST! But who am I to say this.....Just take a look at the pictures ;) Enjoy!

BABY POOL BAAAAAAAAAAAASEBALL!

Trevor's Team!

Kelsey...need i say more :/

This was probably the COOLEST/FUNNIEST part of the entire game! That's Trevor falling over in the pool and...YES THAT'S MORIAH ON THE GROUND! xD

TENSION RISES!

Being wet is AWESOME....Being wet and cold...NOT SO MUCH!

Trust me...it was a blast! Jesus would have been PROUD!

Where do I Belong

I grew up in the 90's. That was my time and God definitely knew what He was doing by letting me grow up in that generation. My generation was called generation X and we were a product of 3 decades of rebellion and self-centeredness. We were also a product of postmodernism. We saw our parents consume drugs, lose their jobs, lose their money, have affairs and be completely hypocritical of their beliefs. We saw the church abandon us. We saw economic disaster. We saw our president lie bold-faced to us about an affair he had. We saw war in the middle-east. We saw our friends die of heroin over-doses. We were put on anti-depressants and ungodly amounts of ADD/ADHD drugs. We all knew at least one person that got AIDS. We saw our favorite rock stars blow their brains out with a shot gun.

We were angry and confused. We were angry that our parents were getting divorced at a rate higher than History had ever seen and didn't seem to care about us in the middle of it. We had no one to listen to us and we felt alone and confused. We didn't belong to the generations before us. They neither understood us nor listened to us. The 60's, 70's and 80's generation was nicknamed the "ME" generations, which meant that everything they did; every decision they seemed to make was all about them. We needed someone to love us, but my generation felt like no one cared. My generation was crying out for help. We were cutting ourselves, killing ourselves, tattooing ourselves, piercing ourselves; browsing the Internet and IMing groups that we thought could understand our issues. We were looking to belong. whatever it took to be noticed.

Our Dad's left and rarely saw us. Our Mothers were emotionally incapable of functioning mentally and sometimes vice versa. Many of us had to grow up fast and take care of our brothers and sisters. We were often left to pay our own bills at 15 years old and sometimes even help our single parent with their bills. Our function was more survival and being forced to take on the problems that our parents left for us. We were also the first real computer generation. We spent hours on the computer, emailing, IMing, joining blogs and groups that we felt we could belong in. We wanted love so we looked at porn to get this false feeling and to escape and feel like we belonged to something or someone. We wanted to feel wanted and we wanted to feel like we were a part of something. Our parents, the church, our teachers all stopped listening to us because they were too wrapped up in themselves. We were being taught in school that there was no such thing as truth, that God didn't exist, that we were all a product of random mutation. We were more and more convinced that we were nothing and that their was no meaning to this life. No one seemed to care and no one seemed to love us. We didn't belong in our own families, our own churches, in our own universe. There was nothing more to live for than pleasure and death so we sought after these things.

We were depressed and there were no answers and no one to listen. As I look at this generation; your generation; generation Y; I see that you are a product of the same things.

The 60's rebelled against the "rules" of society and of their parents because they were never given answers either. Their answer to the lack of answers was to live how they wanted to live; have sex with whoever they wanted to have sex with, and take enough drugs to escape from reality. They didn't belong either, but they didn't belong because they didn't want to belong to that world anymore. They wanted to belong to themselves. They formed communes and cults that helped them do this.

The 70's was much the same but had some reactions to the decade before them. The main difference was that their parents had grown up in the 40's and 50's and they were taught to work hard. Their parents were raised in a post World War age and had to work hard in order to survive. They accepted this and were very prosperous in the 80's.

Because the 80's was so prosperous and because their generation was raised by parents who lived through the 60's they had a lot of money and were taught to live life like they wanted to. This can be a vicious combination. The 80's brought massive quantities of drugs such as cocaine and acid and it brought a spike in pre-marital sex. This generation thought they could do what they want with no consequences. The problem is that this generation brought with it the consequences of three generations. It brought AIDS, economic disasters, a spike in divorce (from 10% to 50% in 10 years) and it brought confusion and anger for the next generation; my generation.

The reason I tell you all of this is because I want you to understand why you have the issues in your life that you have. I want you to see the sins of the generations before you and how they have effected us. I want you to know that you are not alone in your questions and confusion.

My generation cried out through depression and mutilation of our bodies. Your generation is crying out with much of the same but with even more anger and hate than even we had, and I completely understand. I see this in today's music, in tabloids, on television, on blogs.

You are wondering why the world is offering you no answers. You are wondering why your parents can't get along and often split up. You are wondering why they can't understand you and why the generation gap is so big that no one older than 35 gets you. You don't feel like you belong so you seek to belong through the Internet and with your loyal but "bad" friends. You seek to belong through sexual relationships and drugs. You are far more likely to join a gang or participate in illegal activity with your friends because you need someone to love you. You need someone to listen to you. You need to know that you belong and that you are loved unconditionally. You need to hear that someone understands you and your pain.

I'm still struggling with all of these things myself. I have felt the failure from my family (my parents were divorced. My Dad was an elder in the church and had an affair. My Mom had a mental meltdown from everything that happened). I have felt the failure from my church and from my government. I have felt like no one listens and no one cares about me. I have felt the anger and the confusion. I have sought answers to my issues from people who thought that my questions were ridiculous. I have lived under the authorities of many people from the past generations that treated me like a child and that treated me like I didn't belong. I still wrestle with this daily.

I wish I could tell you that it would be alright and that it will go away in time, but I am convinced more and more every day of my life that this won't go away until we get to heaven. I think that some of you have parents that understand you and listen. I think some of you have found belonging in the church and in society, but across the board this is generally not the case.

I searched for answers since I was 15 years old. I wrestled with God and wrestled with authority and it wasn't until I was 20 that I found them. When I was 20 is when I became a believer and the answers came like an ice cold bottle of water in the middle of a desert after a lifetime of dehydration. I had never seen anything like the Bible and I had never felt the calming, exciting and joyful feelings that I had as I read through it. It's the only thing that ever made me feel like I had a purpose and a place in this world. It was the only thing that ever showed me where I belonged in this world. It told me that God loved me no matter what I did or how many times I failed. He loved me when I was confused. He loved me when I was depressed; when I was angry. He loved me when I felt like no one else did.

You won't find belonging as long as you seek it from this world. You won't find answers from this world, and ultimately this world doesn't care about you. Society doesn't care about you. The church and your family will never understand you the way that you need to be understood, but God does all these things. He will never stop loving you and He will show you everyday that you belong to Him and to His Kingdom. If you seek His Kingdom first, everything else will fall into place and you will understand why you are here. He will show you that you are here for a reason and that reason is unbelievably important to Him. He Made you. You are needed in His Kingdom because He made you to feel needed and has designed you for a specific purpose. He designed you to play a vital role in the Body of Christ. You don't have to believe this in order for it to be true. It's true because God says so. He will never leave you or forsake you and you are no longer alone when you belong to Him. You now belong to the Kingdom of God. You belong with every saint that has ever and will ever walk the face of the earth. You belong to something so powerful that even Hell has no power over it. Soak up His love for you!

I want each of you to know that I am here and I will always listen to you and love you. You belong to this youth group, and even more, you belong to the Kingdom of God that we are fighting for. This is your youth group and this is where you belong. We are the body of Christ and we will be blessed for our labor. God promises this. I may fail you. The Church may fail you. Your parents may fail you. The World may fail you, but God won't. He loves you eternally and without conditions. He loves you just the way you are. Come to Him and share with Him even your darkest struggles and pain. He will mend you.