Avalanche 2007

Wow! I am never surprised at how well God works in our lives. This weekend was no exception.

For those of you who don't know, I am a youth leader at my church for a group of wonderful junior highers. I love them dearly, and had the opportunity to take them on a youth retreat this weekend. God had His hand on the whole weekend. From healing a sickness, to getting us there through a wickedly bad snow storm, to touching the lives of these kids in ways that are still causing me to jump with joy.

Even though I realized physically, I am no longer 13 (when seven junior highers are running after you, tackling you in the snow, and convincing you to slide down ice hills in sleeping bags, you realize your muscles aren't as kind to you as you'd hope), I still had an amazing time. Playing 'mom' for the weekend was a big job, but amazing! I found myself worrying about them so much, but also loving them. Hoping they would be warm enough, or happy, or having a good time. There was no shortage there, thank goodness. They all had a terrific time.

Spiritually, my prayers were answered, tenfold. My hope was to see somebody give their life to Christ this weekend. God is good - four of my kids accepted Christ this weekend!! It was amazing to hear their responses after the fact, and realizing they were truly sincere about this decision. Awesome! Today one of those girls who accepted Christ sent me an email that sent shivers down my spine. It brought tears to my eyes:

"I did it 'cause lately I've been thinking about it and I did want to give my life to Him but I didn't know how to. Soo I'm really happy I went and did what I did. Also thanks for helping me through it."

Funny how sometimes you don't realize God's using you, and meanwhile, BOOM, the best things happen. I can't wait now to watch them all to continue down the path to their new Homes in Heaven with their Father. Praise God.

Chrissy

Carcasonning

Okay so I hung out with Darren and Larissa last Thursday night and they introduced me to a new board game called Carcassonne. (Larissa models it here).


So, it's a game full of strategy and stuff, and even though Darren was skeptical of me learning everything there was to know, I did learn. I definitely didn't win, not by a long shot, but that was my practice game, and I'm certain that the next game will be mine!

So, nearing the end of the game, Larissa starts building this gigantic city, and Darren begins to get skeptical that she won't be able to finish it. So I join her city to help her build on it, and she finished the city and racked in all the points, leaving me in the dust. Darren was in complete shock, as Larissa basqued in her victory.

But then the plot thickens.

Despite her many points acquired from that one city, Darren still managed to win the game BY ONE POINT! So Larissa was quite angry, but Darren, on the other hand, performed one of the greatest victory dances I think I have ever seen. Unfortunately, I grabbed my camera too late, and begged him to reenact. This is what I got instead:


So needless to say, it was quite disappointing, compared to it's original. But Larissa was a sore loser:









But it was still a fun game. Can't wait to play again.

CHRISSY