Giving at Christmas

True to form, it's the first mail day after Halloween, and my mail box is full of gift catalogues. There are all kinds of ways I can give to help the needy and tell my family "I did it for you!" ...instead of buying you a present. Who does that and doesn't buy a gift, too?

Don't get me wrong, I know that people are more generous this time of year and the charities need to capitalize on that. I also believe helping the less fortunate is something we should be doing all throughout the year.

My thinking about Christmas gifts is what can I make that is meaningful and wonderful without spending any money? If you have thoughts on that, let me know!

Reviving Ophelia... thoughts before the Adopt A Youth launch

I've just started reading Reviving Ophelia by Dr. Mary Pipher, and it's making me realize how important this Adopt A Youth program we're launching next week is. She quotes the African proverb that states "It takes a village to raise a child." Do you see the Godly truth in that? I know I want my daughter surrounded by adults other than myself who are also teaching her that it's ok to be herself, and not to conform to peer pressure. I see many adults, myself included, who don't take the initiative to take children, adolescents, teens under our wings. We are concerned, sure, but what do we do about it? I hope that we can present this program as something that will capture the imagination of the adults; one that gives them the opportunity to do something where they've felt unsure about what their part could be. I hope that it inspires our church to live as the church, concerned for one another. I know that does happen in lots of ways already; I hope this is the catalyst for many more good relationships and for the strengthening of many of our adolescents.

A New Role

I am happy to announce that I have transitioned over the summer to a new role at the church. I'm still half time, but I will be the "Coordinator of Worship Arts and Communications". I'll write you the long version someday soon, but for now, here's a brief on the new job description: "Creative Arts" - I'll be doing work on the Sunday morning services - there are lots of people who have a part in that, and some of the key people are not at our weekly staff meetings, so besides the creative brainstorming, I'm going to try to streamline the process of how that all comes into being. It works fine the way it is now, but maybe it can work better this way... Here's hoping! "External Communication" - I'll be the content person for the website - we've got a great IT guy who can make pretty much anything happen with that, so I'll be trying to keep it up to date and keep it changing and make it more user friendly. "Internal Communication" - I'll be helping out with the different communication pieces that are needed, and hopefully cover in some areas that are not being done yet. These things, along with the different projects like the Core youth leader training, Adopt A Youth, and the Kickoff@KBK will keep me busy. I hope I stay on top of all the work and am still able to be a creative force for good around here! So that's the scoop on what I'll be doing. I'm excited to have some new challenges in front of me, and the kind of things I like to do, too. How amazing to have a job tailored to your gifts and strengths. And combine that with the hours that leave me free to be home with M? Must be working for a God who cares. Amazing.

$3 Worth of God

I read this in my textbook last night - it was about 2 pages before I started nodding off. I flipped down the corner of the page so I'd remember to share it with you. "I would like to buy $3 worth of God - not enough to explode my soul or disturb my sleep, but just enough to equal a cup or warm milk or a snooze in the sunshine. I don't want enough of God to make me love a black man or pick beets with a migrant. I want ecstasy, not transformation. I want the warmth of the womb, not a new birth. I want about a pound of the eternal in a paper sack. I would like to buy $3 worth of God, please." (Wilbur Reece) Wow. How many of us think that way without realizing how wrong it is?

Thank you Souls...

Thank you Soul's Harbour Rescue Mission for allowing us to serve you. May the work we did hauling garbage, painting over graffiti, and prepping for paint be an encouragement to you and help you as you prepare the building to be a place of ministry. Thank you BS, DK, CS & CS, RS, KJ, MB, JC and whoever else came from Westhill to participate with the larger chruch body. Your sacrifice was noticed and appreciated. God is good and is doing wonderful things in our city!

I can't help you!

Someone said something to me this week that really stood out. Across the Lewvan from my house is a Bible School that very generously allows me to borrow books to use when I need to work on papers for my own schooling. I had been there the other day and picked out a few books for this next monster of a paper, and the librarian had stepped out for a moment; another teacher tried to help me out, but I was just a community member - I'm not surprised she couldn't figure out the system. That was no big deal, I would just go back later. A few days later I went to rescue my books from cluttering the shelf behind their desk, and waited a few minutes for the librarian, who was nowhere to be seen. The library was full of students, and then their teacher showed up, walked over to me with a shake of her head and before she even got to the desk said, "I can't help you!" I immediately felt guilty for putting her in a position of such anxiety! I didn't expect her to know how to use the system; maybe she might have known the answer to a simple "Do you know when the librarian might get back?" which, yes, would have been helpful. I felt sorry for this lady who maybe I just caught at a bad time, but who apparently didn't know that TRYING to be helpful even if you couldn't actually help makes life quite a bit nicer for the people in your path. Moral of the story: A smile and a "Can I help you?" goes a long way. Even if you don't work there.

JUNE

Here's the mass email I just sent out to everyone on our young adult list. If you are not on it and would like to be, email us at westhillcc@hotmail.com. 7 PM, Saturday, June 6 & Sunday June 7 Comedy Night!!! The youth mintrip fundraiser is always great - lots of laughs are guaranteed. We're going Saturday; tickets are still available for both nights. Let me know if you want me to save a ticket for you. Tickets are $10 and that includes dessert. Friday Evening, June 12 & all day Saturday, June 13 LADIES - GIFTED & CALLED It's a ladies retreat / seminar that will be well worth taking in. The course is designed to help you understand your giftedness and calling from God; to give you tools and confidence and competence. See new possibilities, be alert for new ministry needs, creatively come up with new ways of doing traditional ministries... $40 - let me know asap if you want to come so they don't cancel for lack of #'s. Saturday, June 20 (9:30 start) City Wide - come and SERVE - hang out with friends and new friends. Make a difference in North Central by helping get Soul's Harbour Rescue Mission's new building ready for ministering in the core. Dewdney & Athol; lunch will be provided. Wednesdays WWF - Westhill Wednesday Frisbee Ultimate Frisbee at the Legislative Buildings. Bring a friend. Run around. Meet at 7 PM in front of the Leg (east side). Carolyn PS - I have a lead on a full time summer job as an office assistant in a ministry setting. Call me if you're interested in the details. 775-1616

WWF - Westhill Wednesday Frisbee

WWF - Westhill Wednesday Frisbee WHAT: young adults and sr. high are invited to come on out and play some Ultimate Frisbee. WHEN: Wednesdays at 7PM (Weather permitting) Any time the weather seems sketchy check here (on FB) to see if the night is cancelled, cancellations will be posted by 5PM WHERE: Meet in front of the Legislative Building in Wascana Park WHAT TO BRING: Perhaps clothes that you don't mind getting grass stains on. Perhaps money if you feel like going to some sort of ice cream selling establishment after. PS - If you would like to be added to our email list and get all the info as it breaks, send an email to westhillcc@hotmail.com and we'll set you up!

Mentoring

Question for you: Have you ever been mentored? Have you ever been a mentor? How was that experience for you? Let me start: I have been more often on the mentor end, and in one experience had a helpful guideline of what to cover. We had a clear start and end date, and met regularly. It was a really good experience for us both. The other ones were not so clearly defined and while we had some good meetings, they usually did not go quite so regularly nor did I feel content that we completed anything.

Where do you go for inspiration?

We spend a lot of time online... ok I do. What I'm wondering is where do you go online for inspiration? Do you have a daily devotional email you subscribe to? Blogs you follow? Sites that consistently have good stuff? Share that with us. Leave a comment.

Jesus' - Wife Beaters. What???

Here's a link to the blog of my friend Tyson. Jesus'-Wife Beaters. He's reacting to people that say they love Jesus but hate the church. Go have a read and join in the conversation!

The Passions That Should Define a Christ Follower

I copied this list out of the book Unchristian and just found it in some notes: - Worshiping God intimately & passionately. - Engaging in spiritual friendships with other believers. - Pursuing faith in the context of family. - Embracing intentional forms of spiritual growth. - Serving others. - Investing time & resources in spiritual pursuits. - Having faith based conversations with outsiders. How does reading that make you feel? I did a yep, uh huh, okay, oh oh, shoot... Some yes, and some are a little lacking. Unchristian was a great book; if you think Christians are a bunch of hypocrites, I'm sorry. The list above? That's what we're supposed to be like. I doubt many people would be able to say that all seven of those characterize them, but the thing is, a lot of us are working on it. *note - I just posted the above on my own blog, but thought I'd add it here for you, too.

I have to tell you about this place...

I went down to the old St. Andrews building on Dewdney today. A pastor friend and I met with a girl from Soul's Harbor Rescue Mission, who bought the building, and got a tour. Amazing potential there. We went because we've been thinking all year that for our next city wide young adult event, we would do some sort of service project, probably in north central. At our last coffee 'meeting', we decided that we'd see if there was any way we could help as they do renos and get it ready for use. Um, yeah. No need for a plan B. There is a lot of work to be done there, and we will be able to use every body that shows up. What got me, though, was not the amount of work to be done, but what they will be able to DO with that facility when it is ready. Because it's so not about a building, but about the people around there who will come in to find what they need and find Jesus. It's all about him. I love that this old building, a place of worship, will be used by the church once more. The sanctuary is being remodeled into a day care which will open in September. The basement under the sanctuary and the gym beside it will be a drop in center for youth. There are a bunch of classrooms, too, and kitchen space, and offices for Mission staff... I hope we get a ton of young adults from all over the city on our work bee day, and I hope that as we clean and scrub, the Spirit stirs in many hearts, cleaning and scrubbing and making us ready for more work that he may have for us there; that he may plant ideas that day about how they could be using their gifts and talents and passions and love for people there, and make a difference for Jesus. You'll get details here when we finalize the day and time, but I just wanted to post this while it was fresh in my head. So neat to see God moving in our city and how great to be in on what he's doing.

How to... MEMORIZE

Found this article called 18 Tricks to Memorize More Scripture which you may find helpful. Leave me a comment and let me know if you tried any of these this week and if it worked for you.

The Evolution of the Blog.

Or of THIS blog. This blog was started in September to be the main website for the young adults at Westhill to check what events were planned and the details for those, and the occasional thought that I wanted to pass on. It has been that, but really, the young adults get the info by email and on facebook, and now I find that I'm more interested in getting my thoughts and encouragements / chllenges out there, so this will become that more, while still offering the details of upcoming events. Plus, we now have a staff blog on the church website, and through chatting with Randy (web guru) today, things are changed up a bit so now there is a feed to all the different staff people's blogs on the 'staff blog' site. What I do at Westhill is not limited to young adults; I'm hoping this will be a way to connect with our larger family there, and with you out there in blogland, as well. (And if you really wanted to get to know me, you are invited to check out my personal blog, too.) Blessings on your Thursday!

Next Event

On Wednesday, March 25, 2009, we're going to meet at Westhill at 7 PM, then head to the prayer house put on by Regina's 24/7 prayer group. They are doing 40 days of non-stop prayer, and we're going to be a part of it. We'll head to the Simpson's place for snacks and debriefing after. If you'd like to get an email when we have events going on, leave a comment or email me at carolyn@westhillchurch.ca and I'll set you up with that. Check out the 24/7 links to get an idea of what we'll be doing: Global: http://www.24-7prayer.com/ Canada: http://www.24-7prayer.ca/welcome.html Regina: http://www.24-7prayerregina.ca/

Getting Ready for Easter

Children learn faith from their parents. Church definitely plays a role in teaching them, but all the teaching of theology and morals and all the great object lessons will mean nothing unless they are backing up what the child sees lived out, and hears talk of, at home. And so one of the side projects I have going at the moment is preparing a family devotional kit for the last two weeks of Lent. Lent is a time for preparing for Easter, just as Advent is the preparation before Christmas. I would love to offer something to help parents make Godly conversation more common in their home. I would love to know that parents in our church are teaching their children what it means to love Jesus. What it means that he died for us. Why it is that they go to church as a family. Pray for the families in our church, that they would understand that what the church is teaching their child is meant to back up what THEY are teaching, and that we would love to partner with them to help them do that at home.

Since I'm here...

Yes, I just posted that last post two minutes ago. But since I'm here, I'm going to suggest you go check out Anne Jackson's blog. She has some interesting things to say about Lent and what she's doing. Maybe some things that you'll want to take on, as well. But instead of me re-telling it all, just go there. It's a quick read, but with some Hmmm potential.

Thursday Morning

I put some water on to boil for tea this morning and noticed my plant: leaning into the sunlight. This makes me smile, because that's just like me. I can't get enough sunlight, daylight, brightness. It's also a spiritual parallel, as so much is in life. I want my life to be characterized by that same stretching out to the Son... Needing him and searching him out. That without God in my life, I'd wither up and die. What do we need in life? Sun and water and food and shelter? Jesus said, "I am the light of the world." (John 8:12) Jesus said, "Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but those who drink the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life." (John 4:13&14) Jesus said, "I am the bread of life." (John 6:35) And Psalm 91:1&2, "Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty. They say of the Lord, "He is my refuge and my fortress, my God in whom I trust."" Yep - everything we need, he IS. *note* this is adapted from my own blog post from this morning. If you'd like to check out my personal blog, you are welcome to.

International Potluck

On Sunday February 22 at 5 PM, there will be a gathering of young adults from Westhill Park, Argyle Road and First Baptist Churches, at Westhill. This joint event is part of our Mission's Encounter weekend (hence the INTERNATIONAL theme...) There is the final session at 6:30 also at Westhill, which you are welcome to stay for, (but don't skip the potluck if you can't or don't want to...) Bring an ethnic dish - any type of food, and it could be main dish, side, or dessert. We will provide the bevvies. RSVP on facebook if you'd like, or just show up!

What would YOU like?

There's a balance in my job between running programs and the very real desire I have to not over program. I would rather you come once a week, get solidly fed spiritually and then go out and live as salt and light, serving those around you all week long. Then to come back and have God stories to share when you come to get fed again. That's what I'd love to see. Do you feed deeply on Sunday? Do you share your God stories? Or is Sunday just a routine or social time for you? (Not that routine is bad, I mean this in a routine-only-not-coming-to-feed-and-encourage kind of way.) Would you like to see a different once a week service geared just for you? Would you still come on Sunday mornings? I'm playing around with ideas, but don't know what it is YOU want or need (unless of course you one of the ones I have talked to about this...) Your feedback would be great. I'd love to be able to plan in a direction I know is needed and wanted. Send me an email at carolyn at westhillchurch dot com. Or reply here. Or phone. You are why I do this, you know.

Quick Question...

So you all got a Bible Reading Guide in your Christmas letters. Anyone using theirs? Post a comment and let us know what you do to make sure you are reading the most important Book you own. I'll go first...

It's official - the counter IS broken.

The counter has been at 50 for a while. I thought that maybe no one was coming. I was a little sad, cause I did think this might be something some people might visit and find helpful or interesting... But I talked to a friend who said he'd been on in the last week. And there's a vote on the blog, and it wasn't me, and it was after the person who said he'd been here was here. And the counter is still at 50. So I'm losing the counter. And I encourage you to leave comments or vote on the polls or something so I know you've been here. Thanks. And for the record, I think you rock.

Opportunities to help out...

#1 - Steve Larsen CD Release Party - Friday January 16, 7:30 at the Museum. Byron is doing this as a youth event, and invites the young adults to join in for two reasons - he thinks this is something you might want to go to, and he could use the help getting the youth there. Please let him know (or me) if you are free that night to meet at the church at 7 to help drive. #2 - Coffee. You like that it's available on Sunday mornings, right? It takes work to offer that, and you are being asked to think about if that's something you could help out with. We're hoping to have enough teams to do it in rotation, and for part of a morning, not the whole thing. Please let Byron or Carolyn know if you're interested or available to help.

Games and Partying... Come on, Sunday, get here already!!

Ok, so we've had it in the bulletin at church for a few weeks now that we're doing a games night on January 10th. There were two reasons for this: 1 - Because there is a joint youth event on the Friday, leaving those of you who are youth sponsors a free Saturday to do something. 2 - Because the feed back at our sparsely attended Photo Scavenger Hunt (which turned into a games night) was that people would rather hang out and play games. So. A games night was planned. (And more will be planned, and I would love it if you would open your homes and host one!) But then I went on holidays and forgot to let you know where and when. Which turned out to be a good thing, because just before I sent out that info yesterday, I got a text. From Holly. Saying, can we have a party on Sunday so I can see everyone before I leave? Of course, she has a work Christmas party on Saturday night, so we have agreed happily to cojoin the two events. If you are reading this, you probably got the email that gave you the details, but here it is anyway: Sunday, January 11, 2009 7 PM Westhill Park Party House (aka Westhill Park Baptist Church) Bring games, munchies and friends. Oh yeah - why a farewell for Holly? Well, she and cousin Steph heard that it was warmer on the other side of the world, so they're taking off for Australia for a few months. Nice.

Relevant

Have I ever told you to check out the Relevant site? If not, I'm doing it now. Good stuff there. Check out their top 10 books of 2008 - if you've read any of them, I'd love to put your review on here. Or for that matter, anything you've been reading. westhillcc@hotmail.com