why when my heart, head and soul are screaming NO! i open my mouth a yes comes out? (aka nywc gs2- Doug Fields)

so general session 2- a little 4th ave jones (i like their sound but you just can't understand the words in this setting) with lots of energy and the cutest little dude with a fro-hawk.....ted and lee took us on a journey to the last supper (one of my favorite skits of theirs)....an awesome story of the glimpse of HOPE in the aftermath of hurricane katrina through the eyes of a youth pastor and his wife......
now enters doug fields-
i got the chance to hear him speak at the pitts convention and he gave the same message here- only difference this time was that i was able just to listen and take notes vs interpreting the message for someone else....
highlights from his talk: (little disclaimer-these notes come from his mouth into my strange mind out my hand onto paper...so in no way do i claim these are EXACT quotes! haha)
really after doug said this "We need to ask ourselves: How do i say no so i can slow down and hear God say yes?" he could have sat down and given us the rest of the 40 min to ask ourselves this question and just be still to listen to God....he didn't do that of course (and shared lots of great stuff that i will get to in a min but....) this question is on the front of my mind and one i am really ready to sit down and honestly answer and then find someone to help hold me accountable to what God says to me during that time....
we were challenged to learn from past...watch for warning lights....and to stay focused so we can avoid our own "train crash".....he talked to us about what he sees as the "heart-break" of youth ministry (the sickness of saying yes to everything because we are scared to say no and that not saying no trickels down to every part of our lives and leaves us feeling empty, sick and alone) his last main point was also one that i plan on holding onto and chewing on for a while..."Hurry is the enemy of depth- mile long yet an inch deep....we try to be everything to everybody and we end up nobody to everyone." pretty hard truth...yet truth....good stuff to think on....
other then that the convention is going great. when we shut down the registration area today we were over 90% checked in (awesome) and i was off to hang with some friends. i had the chance to attend the women in ministry dinner (odd to eat in rows and not tables...but oh well) and i will say what karla had to say was the most impactful to me- what an amazing example of love and grace-i love her 'realness'....
as usual it has been freaking awesome how God allows me to run into friends from the past.....come on ..... in a sea of 7500 faces that i could run into a ministry partner from my walla walla days and a friend from my high school days in the rocky mt. conference all in the same day are unbelievable....THANK YOU! what a gift of sweetness!
with that as it is coming on 130am i am off to find some zzzz's so i can do ole in the morning before gs3...so i will close with this
-Jesus-
thank you for the sweet embrace of your love and grace of this day. may our worship of you in this place as we talk with others....eat with others...make eye contact with a stranger....talk to those around us....pray....and sing our songs be as sweet to your heart as your love is to our souls.
zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

a sea of faces.....

well today is offically day 2.....yet really day one of the nashville convention and i am pretty zapped...but in a good way.
sitting at registration checking in group after group.....or that one person that has come for the first time and just doesn't know what to look at first or which way to go and has that hazed over look in their eyes has been pretty amazing and lots of fun. .......yeah we have had our times of frustration- but look at the number of people here---and when you look at that- we have been running smooth!
it is amazing to watch the sea of people move around the area.....and the feel of the static of energy is sweet. i think back to my first nywc- wild kingdom atlanta- and i was that wide eyed person who couldn't believe everything that was before me. i walked around in a daze unsure which way to go and what seminar was best and how i could do everything (yeah reality set in on sunday and my body would not allow me to wake up- i slept through most of the day!- i now find one morning at each convention where i give myself 'permission' to sleep in and not attend something so that my body is rested so my soul can recieve)......
right now registration is on a 'semi-break' as people are in the first general session- Mark Yaconelli is speaking and crowder leading worship. I hope mark's message is the same one he gave in pittsburgh- pretty amazing message......
well back to work- for me- more people to check in!
my prayer today: Jesus cause me to stumble over those you want me to see today- and help me pause my heart to meet them and hear their story!

i promise.....

okay so here is my 'i promise' for nywc nashvegas (great idea btw)

while at the nywc in nashvegas i promise to.....

1. take time to breathe in and breathe out........
2. rise each day giving thanks for the opportunity i have to be here when many in my same shoes can't afford to come- or can't get here....
3. pray for those i meet who Jesus has called me to 'stumble over'...
4. stop long enough to hear anothers story....and give thanks for the shared journey
5. to email my sr. pastor while i am here to thank him for making it possible to be here and for being such an encouraging and edifying partner in ministry
6. write postcards to all my students- active and inactive letting them know that even though i am away- they are here with me in my heart and more importantly in my prayers
7. look for ways to bless others without them knowing where it came from
8. share a hot meal with a homeless person who calls the streets of nashville home- not to 'shove the gospel' at them-but just to hear the story of a sister or brother in Christ and see them as He does- BELOVED
9. catch up with old friends- hug them- encourage them- and laugh with them
10. come to ALL general sessions with a open mind ready and willing- waiting for Jesus to speak to me.....especially through the speakers i don't think have anything to say because of a past thought....
11. enourage the ys staff and thank them for being one of the greatest blessings and encouragements in the lives of so many of us here.........
12. worship with abandon- not caring who is sitting in front- beside- behind me or leading the worship time....
13. give away all the 'fun free stuff' given to us to my students or other youth workers in my area who need to be blessed
14. play hard and laugh often
15. sleep and rest- not just play hard
16. celebrate in my joy and in my tears...you can't have a blessing without sorrow...and when sorrow comes a blessing is on its way!

Father- thank you for this gift....thank you for the promise of hope and the gift of mercy. Fill us....use us...break us...heal us. may we celebrate in our sameness and be blind to our differntness..........may we bless each other...those you bring across our paths....may we leave nashville changed and leave those who stay and greet the next group to arrive in this city blessed. In Jesus we CELEBRATE! amen

Why?

today was the nametag day.... the day that we as the registration team sort through all the name tags and put them in the right envelope making sure all are where they are spose to be. as a usual loud and out and about person i walked in ready to talk to people.....but as i sat down to start sorting tags a question from one of my students came back to my mind...."lizzy- why do you go to these conventions- do they really do anything for you?" it wasn't a mean question- it was a question of a student who wanted to know why i would be leaving again for a week after going just a month ago to the "same" convention. we sat and talked about it....talked about for me what it means to be on the vol staff at a convention each year- a chance to give back and hopefully bless someone's life in some way during the week in some small way that i would never know happened.....and in pitts my vol job was so different since i spent the time interpreting...hanging with just a few people the whole time working to make sure they were getting the most and best out of the convention....and then i we talked about why i then feel the need to "come" to one....to "attend".... and i strangly found it hard to find words fitting to explain what it meant to me....i did my best.... and as we ended our conversation he looked at me...smiled....gave me a sweet little hug and said...."well enjoy 'attending'.....may your need be 'attended' and you come back ready to help us 'attend' church and life here." and woosh he was off...
so there i am today sorting tags...and this conversation came to my mind and i suddenly didn't really want to talk to those around me---i wanted to truly read each name on each tag and pray for Jesus to attend to them so they could return to help thier students attend their lives....kinda a sweet time for me today- it was amazing to look at the names of all these amazing men and women who walk the same road i do everyday....to take the quick few moments to lift each one to Jesus....the time here is sweet and amazing- just a great time of embracing and loving and being loved and embraced in return...a time of connecting and learning.....a time of worship and prayer....a time of craziness and laughter.....a time of just being.....a time of filling and preparing- and in the end you leave tired, full, ready, excited, overwhelmed, and unsure.....and you return home to the faces of students you love on every day--- or a student you haven't seen in a while---and it all comes together in this beautiful picture.....and because you feel so full you are so ready to pour it back out......so that was my prayer today- for the names i read and all the names read by the rest of the team- may we all come ready to allow Jesus to attend to us and return ready to help our students learn to attend to their lives by allowing Jesus to attend to their hearts............
Jesus meet us here..........attend to us and us to you!

ahh the joy of air travel

so today was the day- i was up early (after a late night hanging with some old students) to hit the austin airport for my trip to nashvegas. so typical check in, get ready, load plane.....and wait....and wait....and wait....and ummm wait...until the airline attendant comes on to tell us that something is "up" in houston and we won't be taking off for at least an hour more likely 2....THANKFULLY they let us get off the plane and walk around- really i just wanted to find a corner and sleep but that was not gonna happen. so i read and listened to some sweet new music that i got last night from rob. we finally reborded and took off 2 hours late....got to houston to find that my connection was delayed over an hour...so it was again the whole hurry up to wait.....so finally get to nashvegas and head to my hotel-(word of warning to those of you who like hotels.com- my hotel is NOTHING like the picture and the info they gave...hummmm) and headed over to the convention center to see if i could be of any help....well yup....spent the next few hours catching up with friends and folding t-shirts (oh joy) and setting up store stuff....it is crazy to think that in a few days downtown nashvegas isn't gonna really know what hit them....can't wait!

Nashvegas baby!

AHH yes tis the day...the day of the long waited road trip to Nashvegas- okay so i ain't driving all the way to Nash- but I am off here in a few hours to Austin (hook em!) and then fly out tomorrow for the NYWC- (can't wait- but MERCY what the heck is nashvegas gonna do with 9000 of us wacked-out, insane, youth workers?) ....but to be honest i am almost as excited about my time in Austin as i am about the convention- I get to spend some great (unfortunatly short) time with some former students who are students at UT. I can't wait! I haven't had much time with them since my return to Texas in June- saw them for about 24 hours while they were working at a camp- but that is it....so this will be some sweet sweet time! and well i LOVE Austin (NYWC 2007!) so that will be fun too...probably won't sleep much tonight- who cares....it will be great just to hang and chat it up...but i am stoked about the convention though- i was in pitts as a part of the vol team interpreting- but i am ready to go and soak it up for me this time....
so i is off to austin for some visitin and then nashvegas bound YEHAW!
see ya on the road!
Lizzy<><