Insight

Every Tuesday night the youth group meets at the Swanburg's home for Insight, mid-week bible study. Basically we come and hang out, play a game, sing some songs, Brick (youth pastor) speaks, and split up for small groups. One of the aspects of leading worship on Sundays also means I lead on Tuesday's. In my opinion Tuesday night worship is a better atmosphere than Sunday mornings, simply because there are less distractions, such as a band, powerpoint, sound equipment, etc. You can just feel the presence of God when the lights are dimmed and there's the sound of an acoustic guitar in the background. Not only is the worship aspect amazing on Tuesday's, but having small groups gives myself and the other leaders a chance to see where the kids are at. What are they struggling with? Why? What can we do to help? What is God doing? Devon and myself are the co-leaders for the freshman boys, and if all of them were to show there would be close to 25 of them. Seeing what is going through there heads as to who God is and what He is doing is amazing. Stories of God working through Freshman boys, probably the least qualified age to work through. I know that I was a handful when I was a freshman. God works!!! Espicially through youth.

Kickball

                                                                                                                                                This Sunday's Kickball Tournament was awesome!!! Despite the rain delay, it was a huge success. The games were incredibly fun, and it was obvious that people were here to play. My team was OTI (Open to Interpretation). It consisted of myself, Brittany, Jillian, Lindy, Rex, Wes, Cole, David, and Matt Holley. OTI started off well, beating the Flying Squirels. Then the next opponent was the estimated #1 team, and I can't even remember their name. It was a group of "more experienced" men. Unfortunately they beat us 3-0. OTI's next game would be verses Spongebob, where we came up with a big win. H2O had been playing well and were obviously athletic, considering they were the Tesoro's Water Polo Team. Due to a game deciding defensive play by myself and Cole Patterson, we came up with a close win. Skittles was the surprising "Cinderella Team" and our next opponent. Due to the impressive offensive play by Wesley Zimmerman, coming up with an RBI in the clutch, we managed another close victory. We were on a roll. By now we had lost one of our biggest offensive weapons, Lindy Whittlesey (a pro soccer player). Soon after we realized we would be playing the "more experienced" team again, but this time we were ready. We fought hard but unfortunately we lost in the bottom of the 9th (or 2nd) losing 3-2. We had made a good run and came in 4th place in the double elimination tournament.