Divorced

My toys, my clothes, and everything I owned was packed and loaded into the back of my families little red car. That one April day, changed my whole world forever.

I was 6 years old and much too young to fully understand what was going on. There were two things I knew for sure: The first, I was leaving the small town I had always known as home. And the second, my partner in crime, my best friend, my father, was not coming with us.

From a very early age I began to take are of myself. Growing up I saw my father a maximum of 7 times a month. My mom shortly remarried after the divorce and her priorities became her new husband and his kids. I felt myself slipping through the cracks, and I had no where to go. It was rather obvious that I didn’t fit in with my family, so at a very early age I learned that I could trust no one, but myself.

For most of my life I built up these walls preventing people from truly getting to know who I really was. I didn’t want them to see the real me but more importantly I didn’t want them to know that I was hurting inside. My home life was less than ideal and I felt like I had no one to turn to. My mom was hardly around, and when she was, someone was always fighting. I found that my safe place, my hiding spot, was my bedroom.

I reached a point in my life where I was completely broken and had no where to turn. I was longing for love and comfort but I was looking in all the wrong places. It wasn’t until I turned to Him, broken and beautiful, that I found all that I was looking for. For all my life I looked in all the wrong places to fulfill this gap I had felt. Looking to people in this world to be the father I didn’t really have. When in reality the only Father I really needed was the One who created me, the One who knows how many hairs are on my head, the One, who will never leave me.

These last few years have been a huge struggle at home. I have found that as things at home became more of a struggle my walk with Christ became even stronger. For most of my life I relied on myself, thinking that the only person I could trust was myself, but I couldn’t have been more wrong. I learned that I could trust Christ and only Him. People of this world will always let me down but He never will.

He is my comfort, my shelter, and my light at the end of the tunnel. Weather you grew up with one parent or four, like I did, the only One that really matters is the One that created you and loves you and will never walk away.

I have come to find that my family struggles can have a positive impact on my life, and the life of others. I hope that through all of my pain I can encourage others and let them know that things will get better and there is a light at the end of the tunnel.

2 Corinthians 1:3-4

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort with the comfort we ourselves have received from God.

** Written by Nicole H.

Fitting in

“Those shoes SO do not go with that belt!” “That guy couldn’t catch the ball if you gave him a bucket!” “She is such a teacher’s pet!” “Yeah, he’s so fat that he has to take a taxi to put on his coat!” These are the kind of statements that rage like wildfire through our high schools and junior highs. We’ve all heard people say things like this and many of us have been on the receiving end of such cruel words. With people these days picking apart every aspect of our lives from the way we dress to how coordinated we are it is no wonder so many of us have such a hard time fitting in.

Fitting in definitely did not come easy for me. In fact, it was probably the biggest thing I struggled with through junior high and high school. I was a pretty nerdy kid who did well at school but wasn’t really coordinated or talented in anything else (or so I thought). So I got made fun of a lot. And this was from kids at youth group and church. It finally got so bad that I stopped going to youth group for my eighth grade year. Then through high school I set about trying to get people to like me. I tried everything from changing the clothes I wore to changing my very personality. I tried acting like other people around me who were popular and that didn’t work. I tried dressing in latest fashions and name brands and that didn’t work. Nothing I did made me any more popular. With each failed attempt I just felt more and more lonely. But God always has a way of coming to our rescue when times seem the darkest. During one of my times of really deep depression I decided to read my Bible and I opened up to Galatians 1:10 which says “For do I now persuade men or God? Or do I seek to please men? For if I still pleased men, I would not be a bondservant of Christ.” This hit me like a ton of bricks! This was the reason nothing I had been doing to try to fit in had been working. I had been putting all of my effort into pleasing men when I should have been focused on pleasing God.
By focusing on God, He will shape me into the person He wants me to be and HE will put godly, supportive friends in my life.

So just how does one go about successfully fitting in? Well first off, stop trying. Whether we realize it or not, we all have tried different things to fit in. The most common and by far, most damaging, is we try to change ourselves. We find a group of people who we really like and who may or may not like us so we try to change who we are to fit in with them. This may be as small as changing what you wear or as big as completely changing what you believe and how you live your life. This is not the way to live life. God did not intend for us to go through life as chameleons constantly changing who we are to fit in with our surroundings. He created us as beacons of light in the midst of a dark world. Christians are often compared to lighthouses. When we choose to change who we are it is like putting a Starbucks where that lighthouse belongs. Sure a lot of people will like the Starbucks but it does no good to the ships that are about to be dashed to pieces on the rocks below. We are to stand for truth and shine our lights to the world with our foundations planted firmly on the rock of Jesus Christ! The key to fitting in is – be yourself! Be exactly who God made you to be. God doesn’t make garbage. He has made all of us unique and has given us all individual abilities, quirks, talents, and gifts so that we can best bring Him glory in the exact way that He designed us to. And by taking all of your time and energy away from being focused on fitting in you will be able to devote it to serving Christ and furthering His kingdom. God wants us to have friends. He knows that we need other people to support and encourage us. So if you feel like you are all alone right now, remember that your relationship with God is the one in this life that will never change so it’s worth putting the most time and effort in to. And be patient, God will provide. He certainly did for me. And if you have tons of friends and feel like you couldn’t be happier, be careful. Don’t let your earthly relationships become a distraction from your heavenly one. People like people who are confident in who they are in Christ. You don’t have to conform to some mold that society dictates. Be different, be spontaneous, be quirky, be yourself! Just do it all to the glory of God!

--Written by Ryan D.

Through the looking glass

What is true beauty?

In a world that pushes the agenda of outer appearance, one could be quite confused as to what true beauty is. Peer pressure says "wear this" or "buy that". Magazines say, "lose weight for bikini season, guys like girls who are fit and trim." and "got love handles? Don't stress! Your man likes your curves, gives him more to love." With so many mixed

messages, it's no wonder so many girls have image issues!

A girl wakes up in the morning, looks at her reflection in the mirror and see's an average human being with nothing special about her. She thinks she's either too skinny, too fat, too tall, too short, her legs are either chunky or toothpick like, same with her arms. She wishes her eye color was chocolaty brown or crystal blue or a forest green, of course hazel is pretty too, I mean haven't you ever heard Kelley Clarkson's "Behind these hazel eyes"? There's no rest for the discontent. As she continues to examine herself, her hair is always either too straight, too curly, too wavy, too poofy, too thin, too thick, too blonde, too brown, too red... Get the picture?

One minute a girl thinks she needs to look like a stick thin model from a runway. The next she thinks she should follow the trends and look like a skater punk even though she couldn't skate to save her life. What's worse is that a lot of girls rely on what guys think of them as to whether or not they are actually attractive. A comment made YEARS ago about a girls appearance from a guy can still be a huge impact on how she looks at herself today.

So amidst all the confusion, image problems and low self-esteem, here lies the ultimate question.

What is the perfect look?

Is it the tall, skinny models you see on the cover of magazines? Is it the curvy, bronzed skinned beauties that lay out on the sandy beaches? Nope, neither.

It's like photography. I can look at a tree, and all I see is tree. It's got a brown tree trunk, green leaves (depending on the time of season), and lots of branches spreading all over the place. When I take a picture of this tree, you see what I see. You're looking through my eyes. But if someone else comes along and looks at the same tree that I'm looking at, they might see something entirely different. It's obviously still a tree, but suddenly the tree come to life because the sun is dancing through the leaves. Through their eyes, you see an entirely different tree then mine. It's the same tree, it's just been beheld through a different pair of eyes. Their picture and my picture are different.

Translation? There is no perfect look. We are all unique. And every guys opinion of how we look is going to be different. There is no perfect recipe for a beautiful person, beauty truly is in the eye of the beholder. Luckily the only person's opinion that actually counts is God's. And he beholds us as beautiful. Whether you like it or not, he's made you exactly the way he wants you. You will ALWAYS find something about yourself that you don't like. And you will ALWAYS find something about someone else that you DO like. Regardless, the important part is to remember that God likes how you look right now. God doesn't create junk. He creates pieces of art. So yes, maybe you will never look like the model on the cover of a magazine, but if you did, you would be changing God's original masterpiece. And you wouldn't exactly be "original" anymore, would you? Why look like someone else? There's only one of you. No one wants to go to an art show and only see pictures of the "Mona Lisa". How boring would that be? Remember, variety is the spice of life.

In my humble opinion there is no such thing as "average". If we are all made as works of art, then "average" is definitely the wrong word.

A girl wakes up in the morning, looks in the mirror and see's a unique (not weird) piece of artwork that has been handcrafted by a wonderful maker who puts a lot of care and consideration into his work. She knows that the most important person in her entire life thinks she is beautiful.

"For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be. How precious to me are your thoughts, O God! How vast the sum of them! ... Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting." Psalm 139:13-17&23-24


Girls, do you have any questions about beauty? TTY: via facebook or comment on this article. No question is a stupid question.

**Just for guys**: In a way, this article is about you too. A) Remember to treat all women with respect because in God's eyes we are all masterpieces. B) Never feel inferior because of YOUR looks, because God made you as a masterpiece too!

*Written by Shawna A.

10-3-2010 Sunday morning youth sermon; David: The Shepherd Boy

Message Title: David: The Shepherd Boy

Passage: 1 Samuel Chapter 16

I. Trouble with Samuel

A. An Unchangeable Past: Samuel had poured his life into Saul and seeing Saul fail as a King causes Samuel to grieve. He wanted Saul to succeed, but Saul ceased to be a godly king.

B. An Uncertain Future: the other thing that Samuel struggled with was moving toward who would be the next king. He was worried about Saul’s reaction to him anointing the next King. Samuel, looking at Jesse’s sons thinks the older, stronger, most handsome son will be God’s choice. But God says, while man looks at the outward appearance I look at the heart.

II. The Times of David

A. David is out tending sheep when Samuel is looking at all of his brothers. Tending the sheep would be a job for a servant and on this special occasion it is very telling that David was not invited to this honored event.

B. David was perhaps an unwelcome surprise. He was the youngest of 10. Some of his older siblings were married with kids of their own when David was born.

C. He came from a poor family. Sheep was one of the poorest occupations of the time and they didn’t even have many sheep. Any time a gift is given to someone who ought to be honored the family only has the means to offer the humblest of gifts.

D. Jesse is proud to introduce his other sons to Samuel, but is forced to get David. David seems unloved and unappreciated by his father. Twice David will write about his mother in his writings. He never mentions his Dad.

III. Why was David Chosen

A. He was a “man after God’s own heart.” That is David related everything that happened in his life to his relationship with God.

B. Before David was famous he wrote Psalms 8,19,23, and 29. Here we see the future king of Israel tending sheep and relating all of his experiences to his God.

Have any questions about the morning sermon? Ask Steve G.

Wanna learn more? Take these sermon notes and apply them to your own

study time during the day!

Victors in Christ

"Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting? The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory though our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not vain." - 1 Corinthians 15:55-58
"Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character: and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us. You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us." - Romans 5:1-8


Have you ever felt defeated in your faith? You became a christian and you were so on fire and passionate about God and wanting to learn more about him by reading his word, then all the sudden you get too busy to read your Bible and you forget to pray and you feel yourself slipping away. Soon a mission trip or conference or great worship night comes up and you attend that and the passion comes back and you're so on fire again, but soon the busyness and forgetfulness returns. It's like this never ending pattern of "ugh".

You know, before we knew Christ, we were slaves to sin. Destined for an eternity separated from God in hell. But as soon as we accepted Christ into our lives, the chains of sin and death and separation from God were broken and we now have victory over sin and death through Christ's death on the cross! How totally amazing is that?

So you realize this, you repent and you feel bad because God is so great and you're... well, so not. Instead of feeling renewed and refreshed you feel even worse because the fact is you're a terrible sinner who constantly screws-up and that's all you can think about right now.

You then proceed to attempt to "fix" things, thinking that will somehow make amends for your terrible human/sin nature. You've come up with a few things that you "KNOW" will make God happy and in turn will make you feel better. Like; reading your Bible 20 times a day, praying before every meal, snack and drink you have, volunteering at a homeless shelter ON a Saturday morning, and watching the kids in the nursery during 1st service, listening to the sermon during 2nd service and working the info desk during 3rd service.

Shortly after you have accomplished this, you begin to realize that it didn't really make you feel any better, you still sin throughout the day and you still feel defeated.
But God tells us in his Word that we are no longer slaves to sin, but slaves to righteousness. And that we are not defeated, but victorious in Christ Jesus our Lord. The Bible tells us to stand firm and do all things unto the Lord to give him glory, honor and praise.
And above all else God tells us about his love.

Why is it so darn easy to focus on the negative? And forget about God's amazing love for us? Sure, we are sinners who deserve hell. Sure, we screw up multiple times and yes God is perfect and totally amazing, but shouldn't that make us all the more excited and filled with great love for our God, the God who first loved us and showed his incredible love through his son dying on a cross for us?
We need not feel defeated in our faith because of our sin. We should instead feel victorious in our faith knowing that the battle of sin and death is already won by Jesus!

We repent our sins, turn from them and we rejoice that we have a Heavenly Father who casts our sin as far as the east is from the west to be remembered no more!
I can still remember when I was younger, my old pastor physically showing me how far the east is from the west. I had heard that term many times, but never actually knew what it meant (geography has never been my thing =P), he took a globe of the earth and told me to start at America and go to the right, east. He said keep going and tell me when you get to the west. So I spun the globe to the right and realized I kept going east, once you started going east, unless you turned the other direction, you couldn't possibly go west. Then, just to prove his point even further, he told me to start at the top of the globe and go down, south, until I reached north. So I did, and sure enough after going south for a while, my finger that was tracing the globe ended up going north. I was fascinated by the fact that north and south somehow touched, but east and west couldn't. It was then that I discovered the true meaning of that verse I had heard so often in church.

Victory in Christ.
Victors in Christ.
Children of God.
Think about it.

Photo credit given to Annemarie Jaquith.*

Troy 2010

As the school year is starting up, I, like a normal teenager, find every possible way to delay all thoughts of text books and teachers. Instead I want to look back at how God has blessed these treasured months that we call Summer:

The highlight of my summer was something our youth group simply calls "Montana." Us highschoolers have the opportunity to go out in three teams to three small towns. This summer we went to Superior, Plains, and Troy. God called me to serve in Troy, a town we just started going to this year. We might have been new to the town, but it didn't take long for us to be welcomed in as family. God started working right away! As we canvassed the town God was already bringing us kids for VBS, teenagers for dance, basketball, and wrestling camps, adults ready to eat free food, and conversations about the gospel. We saw more and more people coming to the park each afternoon. The church we partnered with was eager to learn and their youth group almost tripled the Sunday after we left. The last night we were at the park we had five people baptized. We had even more commit their lives to Christ throughout the week.
My favorite part from our trip this year was bonding with all of the people from the town and from our own team. We got to build relationships that have lasting effects. One girl started coming to VBS and wouldn't let us point the camera at her at all. The last day that sweet girl was posing for us with her leaders! Monday at the park, a girl around my age was sitting at the bleachers alone. Rachel and I went up to talk to her and found out she really wasn't a "people person." By the end of the night we had a great conversation with her, she dedicated her life to Christ, and was baptized a couple days later.
If someone asked me if one person from our team really stood out to me as one on fire for Christ and eager to share the gospel, I would say no. Our whole team was on fire! Our whole team was out there in the park every afternoon talking to somebody about God and His love for us! Looking out, I could hardly ever find one of our students NOT talking to someone outside of our team.
Montana really made me think about my spiritual walk with God. During that week all attention was focused on God and His plan for us. We didn't have our cell phones, Facebook, or anything else like that to distract us from what we came to do. If we weren't talking to anyone at the park, within five minutes a leader would come up to us and point out someone sitting alone. In Troy we prayed for EVERYTHING, whether we were starting one of our camps, talking to someone about the gospel, or saw someone from our team talking about our bracelet. It isn't like that when we get back to Federal Way. We don't go to the cafeteria at school and have Rick or Steve come up to us and tell us to talk to the kid sitting at the next table. Montana really emphasizes accountability. A lot of us come back from Montana and say we "really lost the 'Montana feel' in the real world." I prayed about it and God provided me with a solution...
A couple weeks ago God led me to the computer and I typed out something called "The Fishing Project." This isn't anything new- it is a commandment thousands of years old first given by Jesus Christ himself. The key verses behind this project are Matthew 28:19-20, Mark 1:17, and 1 Peter 3:15. The basic idea behind The Fishing Project is that whatever our situation is, whether we are in school, work, or at the grocery store, we should always be searching opportunities to further advance God's Kingdom. Since I am a sophomore in high school, I am keeping a record- 180 entries for 180 days of school. Instead of keeping a diary or a journal of my teenage dramas, I am keeping a log of how I am able to use my situation to share God's love. This is how I am holding myself accountable to what God is calling me to do. I will use every day to share the gospel at my high school. I will do this with my conversations, my actions towards others, my focus in the classroom, and my dedication to everything I do. God didn't create me halfheartedly and I won't serve Him halfheartedly either.
You can follow my log on the new blog for Christ's Church youth group. I will post daily updates of how God is able to use my presence to lift His name higher. But this isn't just for me. You, too, can join The Fishing Project. The goal is simple: 1 Corinthians 10:31, "So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God." Keep an account in a journal or on your computer of how God is working through you to reach His people. Never let your guard down, but always be ready and alert to share the good news that is the gospel. If you have any questions feel free to talk to me or find Shawna Anderson, who is heading up the youth group blog. Together we can hold ourselves accountable to following God's commands. Together we can become "fishers of men."

Written by: Amy R.

Superior 2010

My favorite part about Montana was definitely working on the roof! We had a great time nailing tar paper and shingles down, and best of all, the end result was beautiful!!! I was one of three girls who worked on the roof the entire week, so I had a good time being a BMW!!! (If you don't know what that means, come and ask me!)

On the Tuesday we were there, Susan Kelley, Rylee Lewis, Sarah Thomas, and me were delivering wood to this guy's house. Susan was telling us about him, and we found out that his wife had committed suicide quite a few years ago. We got to his house, and I'm thinking....its hot, I'm tired, dirty, and ready to get in, deliver the wood, and get outta there. After we had taken the wood out of the truck and put it in a pile, Susan went over and asked him to play his guitar for us. He was hesitant, but after she asked a couple more times, he agreed to play. Now I'm thinking....'ok...this is gonna be interesting. Who knows how well he plays, or how long he'll keep us there.' So we go into his house, sit down, and as soon as he starts playing an old hymn I didn't know, he starts to sing. It was so beautiful, and amazing, that I think all four of us were either crying, or about to cry. We could only sing one or two songs that he played, because the rest were older and we didn't know them. But while he was singing, I was astounded and encouraged by his perseverance and faith even though he went through something terrible like seeing his wife after she committed suicide in their home quite a few years back. It really showed me how this trip is not revolved around us, or getting closer to God, its revolved around helping others, and showing them the love and mercy that Christ so generously shows us every single day.

So now that I've shared my favorite part of Montana, and how I was impacted by it, now I would like to share my testimony with y'all :)

So, growing up, I went to church every Sunday, and I accepted Christ into my life when I was about....5 or 6 at Vacation Bible School. To everyone outside my family, I was the perfect little Christian girl. But to my family, I was rebellious, always arguing, jealous, and angry. I was really jealous of my brother and sister because I was ALWAYS in trouble, when it seemed like they never got into trouble. I didn't understand, and I felt unloved. My insistent arguing made my parents decide we should go to counseling in 2005. I didn't like going to counseling one bit, not because of the counselors, but because I didn't want to hear I was wrong, and I was sinful. My jealousy, anger, and pain made me immune to the very people who wanted to help me, and it was a struggle to get me to go to counseling. I didn't realize Christ was working in my life even then, but He kept showing himself in amazing ways. In 2005, my dad became a Christian, which was huge, because my mom had been praying or him for a really long time that he'd come to know Jesus. Before then, I thought of God as some distant person I didn't have to worry or think about till I was older, but I slowly realized that every second I spent not trusting Him, and loving Him, life was not complete. I still struggle with respecting my parents, but it has gotten easier and easier, and I finally realized that I can't live life for myself, I have to live it for God, and ONLY God. Not for people, not for my friends, not to put a show on for everyone, but for God. I've lived my life according to what people want, but its time that I live my life how God wants me to!!!!

Written by: Amanda Z.