small groups

Since I've been back to youth group I have been with the grade eight small group.

When I was first placed with them I was actually kind of disappointed. The youth I already know pretty well are all in grade seven. So I wanted to be in the grade seven small group so I could build off those already built relationships. I wanted to stay with the ones I already know and feel comfortable with. But that not what ended up happening.

So every Tuesday I'm chilling with the grade eight students. There are only one or two of them that I really know pretty well. The others I only know just from me weeks going to youth group this year. Even in the fall when I was helping out the small groups were made of a girls small group and a guys small group. Now they are grouped by grade level.

Even though I really wanted to be with the seventh graders, I have actually been surprised by how much I enjoy being with the grade eights in small group. These pre-teens can say some pretty deep stuff and although they act immature and play and have a lot of fun during game time, they can also be super mature when we are having group discussions.

This week we were talking about what it's like to feel empty and how sometimes we will try to fill ourselves up with stuff that only makes us feel empty again. Ultimately we talked about how only Jesus can truly fill us up. When we asked the youth what it means to feel be empty, one of the grade eight girls said, and I quote: "Feeling empty feels like you want to do everything but you also want to do nothing, and you're just really bored through it all." When she said this, all the leaders were just like whoa, that's deep.

This young girl was able to put into words a feeling that is so hard to describe. I was astonished by her ability to do so.

Every week at youth group I'm surprised by something new. This week it was the eighth graders. What will it be next week? I can't wait to find out.

Until next time,
Em

On the first night of youth group

Tuesday has come and gone.

Youth group has come and gone with it.

I'm officially back as a Transformers leader!

There is something about middle schoolers that I love. They get such a bad rep. Not many people like middle schoolers because of their awkwardness, their sassiness, their laziness, their attitude of entitlement, the list could go on and on as to why people say they don't like middle schoolers.

I, on the other hand, love middle schoolers. I love their awkwardness, their vibrantness and their energy. I find middle schoolers are caught in between innocence and experience. They are still so young, but they are also starting to grow up.

I like the conversations you can have with middle schoolers. You can talk about deep stuff like a family issue or their relationship with Christ and talk about bodily functions, like burping all in the same conversation.

Middle schoolers are like wild cards you never know what you are going to get from them. They keep you on your toes. And I love it!

I am so full of joy when I'm leading at Transformers. Pouring into the youth at RiverCross fills me up to keep me going for the week. I'm so grateful to have the opportunity to do so!

So first week back as a leader after two months off for school.

All the youth are the same as before Christmas (except for one or two - yay for bringing friends to youth group!) which is nice because I can continue to get to know them.

The structure of the night is similar, although a little different:
Hang out
Group games
Worship time
Large group discussion/teaching time
Snack & Small group discussions (small groups by grade level)
Large group games if time allows

They have also finished Alpha, which I expected and we started a new series that I do not know the name of - but after one night it seemed really good.

This week the series talked about walking away from Jesus, and when Jesus asked his disciples "are you going to walk away from me too?" and Peter replied by saying "Lord where would we go."

I feel like this is such an important topic for middle schoolers because so much is thrown at them at this age, they have plenty of opportunities to walk away from Jesus, there is so many other things they could walk towards, but we need to teach them to walk to Jesus and keep walking to him!

First night back at youth group was a success! I'm so so so happy to be back! I cannot wait to see what God has planned for the next few months at Transformers.

Until next week,
Em

It doesn't happen the way you hoped

The first day of Transformer (for me and) after March break was this past Tuesday and it was also storming. So my long awaited return to youth group has been postponed a week.

I was so sad when I got the message that Transformers was cancelled due to the storm. Although it was a good decision because the roads were messy and there was so much snow. But still, I really had wanted to get back to spending my Tuesday nights with the middle school group from my church.

I feel like through this storm and youth group cancellation and through some other current events in my life, God is teaching me that he is in control.

Even though I really wanted to start back at youth group, I had no control of the weather; I couldn't stop the snow from coming.

Also happening in my life this week, my grandmother had a triple bypass done yesterday. As she awaited her surgery I had asked her if she was scared - it would make sense if she was, she's 81 years old and it's a major surgery. She told me she wasn't scared because there was really nothing she could do about it. She had faith that God was in control and whatever was going to happen was his will.

Wow, what a lesson she taught me through her bravery and her faith.

The storm was a little reinforcement of the lesson. God is in control, whatever happens is his will.

I didn't get to youth group like I had hoped this past Tuesday, but here's hoping that the snow is done, there won't be anymore storms, and I will get to return to Transformers this coming Tuesday!

Jumping back into it

Other than one weekend when I was home in February, last Sunday was my first week (physically - thank God for livestream) back at my home church.

One of my favourite parts about moving home is that I get to go back to my home church.

As soon as the service was over on Sunday I looked for Matt to confirm my coming back to Transformers. We talked for a bit and I'm good to go for this coming Tuesday. I can't wait!!

Matt and I also talked about some exciting upcoming opportunities that I could possibly get involved in - Journey to the Cross (a really cool interactive Good Friday, family experience), and the One Conference were a few of the things we talked about.

One of the things Matt said was "I don't want you to think that I'm like Oh Emily's back lets get her to do this, this, this, and this, but if you want to get plugged in again, let me know I have lots of ideas." So I'm excited to get plugged in again. I definitely will be cautious to not take more on my plate than I can handle, but I will definitely be getting involved as much as I can.

I'm excited to be back, I'm excited to be getting plugged in, and I'm SO excited to go to Transformers on Tuesday night.

That's all for now!
Until next time,
Emily

two weeks til Transformers

After a long two months of a crazy busy schedule of classes and school work it is time to take a break, relax, and refresh before I jump back into teaching.

With teaching, I'm moving home and I'm starting back at youth group again.

I'm so excited to get back to my regular routine of Tuesday night youth group. I miss the hype and excitement that comes from playing games and learning about Jesus with middle schoolers.

As I'm preparing to head home and take my reading week break, I'm also preparing my heart for youth leadership. It has been almost three months (two while in school and a little less then one for Christmas break) and I have not led a devo or small group of middle school students.

As much as I love youth leadership, whenever I take some time off and then start back into it I'm always nervous for the first week back. Nervous that the youth will forget who I am, nervous that they will question why I am there, and nervous that they won't like me anymore. I know I'm over thinking but those thoughts will run through my head at least once between now and my first week back.

So I'm trying to prepare my heart. I'm prayerfully asking the Lord to prepare me to serve him through serving youth. I ask God to use me as an example for these young people. I ask that he will make my love for him evident through my actions. I ask that he will give me the energy and enthusiasm to keep up with the business that comes with middle schoolers.

I'm so excited to get back to youth group, it gives my heart so much joy to see young souls learning and loving Jesus. I cannot wait! Most posts to come about youth group very soon.

Until next time,
Em

Faith and Friends

There is a girl who goes to youth group. She doesn't seem really loud, but she does have friends in the group. She's not someone I knew before two weeks ago. She isn't one of the girls who grew up going to the church, she just comes to youth group. Her older brother had gone to youth group when he was in middle school and high school because a friend had invited him and he told his sister about it so now she goes.

Last week I wrote about how I want to build relationships with the kids who go to youth group. I want to be a role model for them and I want to be a friend for them.

So this week I started working towards that goal. At the beginning of youth group the kids have free time and I saw this girl sitting by herself instead of playing soccer with some of the other kids so I went over to sit by her. We talked for a little bit and I got to know some more about her school and some of the projects she's working on for class.

It's super cool talking to some of the youth group kids because they are so much younger than me, but not only that, their experience in middle school is so different but yet so similar to my own experience. Some things they talk about I can relate to and remember from when I was in middle school, but other things go right over my head and I have no idea what they are talking about. It's definitely an interesting experience.

This week for Alpha our topic was all about faith. The video and questions brought about some really good conversations, I was with the middle school girls for small group time and there was one girl who kept amazing me with her answers. She seemed so mature in her answers it was so cool!

One of the questions after the video was asking us which character we would be if a relationship with God was the pool. The courage the girls had to tell us that they were just dipping their toes in or that they were the girl with the towel who was scared made me admire them so much. To be honest, when I was in middle school, I probably would have said what everyone else was saying, but these girls were not afraid to say where they were at in their faith.

Pool photo from Alpha "If a relationship with God was the pool, which person would you be?"

Going to youth group every Tuesday really fills my heart. I love spending time with very active young people and I love learning with them and leading them closer to Jesus Christ!

Thanks for reading,

Em

the time has come

So I'm finally home for my teaching practicum and I'm so excited!

Being home also means that I can (finally) start leading at youth group!

So Tuesday night I made the very familiar drive to my home church and prepared myself to jump back into the youth leading game. It was both awesome and a little weird being back. It was awesome because I love youth - especially middle schoolers - and I'm so happy to be back. It was a little weird because all of a sudden these kids who I have known since they were babies are now in middle school going to youth group every week.

The middle school youth group is called Transformers, because it is a place for middle schoolers to go to have their lives transformed by Jesus.

The schedule of the night is a bit different from when I used to help out at Transformers 4 years ago.

Transformers nights in a nutshell: The students come in, mingle and hang out for a while. Then they have a warm up game, we played human tic-tac-toe. After the game there is snack. Following snack we split up into small groups for devo time. We are currently doing Alpha which is super cool because I have always heard of Alpha but I have never done it before. After devo we head back into the gym for big group games - we played life size hungry hungry hippos this week. Finally the night is over and it's time to go home.

If you can't already tell I'm so excited to be back at youth group. Seeing young people on fire for Christ fills my heart and inspires me to draw closer to Him.

Since I have finally started my time at youth group I figure it would be a good idea to make a goal for my time here. My biggest goal for the next few weeks is to get to know the kids. I want to really build strong relationships with the kids at youth group, I want to be someone they can trust and come to if they have any problems or questions. So over the next few weeks I am really going to focus on talking to each of the kids. First I'll start by asking them how their day was or how school is going. I'm going to start small and build up from there.

I can't wait to tell you more next week.

Thanks for reading,
Em

Getting Excited

I am starting to get excited. 

November 5th I head home and I start my teaching practicum on November 6th. Being home means that I will be back at my home church regularly and being back at my home church regularly means that I will be able to get involved with one of my favourite groups: YOUTH! 

I really cannot wait to start leading some youth at RiverCross. I love ministering to youth both middle school and high school alike. I think my favourite thing about the youth at RiverCross is their hearts for Jesus. There seriously are some kids on fire for Christ and they just inspire me to be like that too. 

For the past few years I have been in and out with the RiverCross youth, mainly because I haven't been in Saint John full time since 2015. But I have still been around in the summers and for the odd winter camp and youth event. Getting back to being a leader weekly will hopefully be like going back to family. I'm excited to get updated on the lives of the youth I already know and I'm excited to meet and get to know new youth that I do not already know. 

I really have no expectations and that is one of my favourite parts. 

Two weeks ago I was home and I was able to snag a ticket to a concert that the high schoolers and young adults were going to. On the way there I was able to talk to Matt about the next month when I would be home to start helping out. We are not exactly which group I'll be going to, but to be honest I will be happy anywhere. 

I know this post is completely opposite from last weeks dark and dreary post, but the Lord has been stirring this excitement in my heart and I cannot wait to update you about it as I continue on this journey. 

Thanks for reading, 

Em

And We're Back

I'm back to the blogging scene and so much has changed since my last post. 

I graduated my undergrad (Bachelor of Arts), I started my third degree (Bachelor of Education) and I'm still in progress with my second degree (Bachelor of Theology). 

In the past few months, life has been really good at some times, life has been really bad at other times, but mostly life has been really busy at all times. 

Here's a little recap: 

Let's start in May. I went to Cuba with my family on vacation. It was an amazing time to relax and refresh and spend quality time with my parents and my sister. We arrived home from Cuba early Saturday morning (3:30am). This was the same Saturday of my graduation from Crandall. So we went back to my apartment for a few hours of sleep before getting up again to get ready for the big day. 

Graduation came and went, and then my summer job began. As soon as I started working the summer just kind of blurs together. The days went by quick and the weeks went by even quicker. By day I was working, by night I was on the field practicing rugby and the weekends was a combination of playing rugby, trying to get to my trailer for family time, and going to/working at the church. I can't tell you what happened on any specific day because, as I said, it went by in a blur and every day was blended together. 

I did get to preach one Sunday though! And I must say, that was definitely one of the highlights of my summer. 

It's funny because when I think of this past summer, I can easily think of three bad things that happened and it's harder to think of the good things. Of course being back playing rugby was AMAZING and as I said, preaching was awesome, but this summer - or at least the end of it was pretty hard. 

The brutal end to the summer along with the business - not really getting a summer vacation, and jumping into a university varsity sport and an EXTREMELY demanding Education program has put me on a slow start. 

I'm not trying to make excuses or anything, I'm just giving an update on my very hectic and chaotic life. 

So we're midway through August. My sister, dad, and I are in Fredericton for a rugby game when, just as the game was ending, my mom called us. My uncle, aunt, and little (14 years old) cousin were in a terrible accident. Their trailer blew up while the three of them were in it. They all received bad burns and two of the three of them were in the ICU. Now (Oct.) all three are alive and recovering - my little cousin, the last of the three, just got out of the hospital last week, but at the time it was scary for them, for family, and for friends. You can read a little more about their accident here. So that's number one. 

Number two, about a week later, my grandmother, who is 80 (and the mother of my uncle who was in the accident), calls my house, asking for my parents to take her to the hospital because she is feeling so sick and she is in a lot of pain. My parents go over to her house and call an ambulance while my sister and I stay home scared and wondering what is going to happen. It turns out that it was mostly from stress and exhaustion, and we are able to bring her back to my house that night to watch her and help her recover. This happened the night before my sermon. It is kind of interesting because the topic I was preaching on was worry, so there was a moment that night where I said "Emily, how can you preach about giving your worries to God if you are not willing to do that yourself?" so I prayed and instantly felt better because I knew my God was in control of the situation. 

Number three, my dog, who was my first and only dog, was about 12. We all loved her to death. She had slowed down a bit over the years, but she really didn't change that much. Until we noticed, near the end of August, that she was having trouble breathing. My dad took her to the vet for x-rays and it turns out her lungs were pushed up in her chest. The vet gave us steroids for her to take to see if it was fluid that was pushing on her lungs. So we started giving her steroids and her breathing got better, but she stopped eating. Meanwhile, my sister and I had to leave for Fredericton (two days after finishing our summer jobs) for rugby training camp. I went home to visit about a week later to see that my dog had lost so much weight. She was merely skin and bones. She held on for a little while longer for my sister and I to say goodbye, but then my parents made the difficult decision to put her down.

On top of all that I'm taking 9 courses a week, I have one 10 hour day, a 12 hour day, and three 6 hour days. Oh and I'm playing rugby for STU so the few hours spent on rugby and my devotional time before bed (which I only started back doing in the past few weeks - more on this in a later post), is the only time I really have to take a breath. 

Of course, I do not regret anything, every experience this summer and this semester is helping me to grow and learn more on God. I know that there is absolutely no way I can accomplish this and reach my goals without trusting Him. 

I am however, so looking forward to Christmas break when I will have three weeks of no school, relaxation, and family and friend time. 

Now to the ministry stuff. I am currently in classes at STU for my Ed degree. In November, I move back home to start my practicum (I can't wait!) and when I do that I will also be starting youth group (I also can't wait for that!). This past week I was super lucky to get my hands on an extra ticket to see my favourite worship band: Rend Collective. I went with my church - some of the youth and young adults. While on the way I was able to talk to Matt, my home church's NextGen Pastor about youth group. See I'm not picky, I just love working with youth. I'm happy with middle school (Transformers) or high school (J-Walkers) so he said he will be looking into where I'm needed most and will let me know, but most likely I'll be with the middle school group. 

I'm super excited to be getting back into leading youth group, it definitely is a joy that fills my heart! I will be updating this blog with more ministry and general life stuff as the year goes on. 

Thanks for reading and joining me on this wild ride.

Many blessings, 

Em

it's the end

The time has come; my undergrad degree is almost finished.

I just got home from my grad dessert reception and it is starting to really sink in that the end is near. In a month I will be walking across the stage and collecting my diploma. How crazy is that!?!

As I sit on my bed after changing out of my fancy dress and into my comfy clothes I’m just trying to reflect on my time here at Crandall. I haven’t been here for a long time, but boy has it impacted my life in the best way.

My Crandall story starts when I was in my second year of university. I was living at home, going to UNBSJ, and feeling lost. I have nothing against UNB It was wonderful to me when I went there, I was just looking for something different. That something, I soon found out was Crandall.

I had known about Crandall but I never considered it as a potential university when I was in grade 12, but in that fall of my second year when I was sitting in my Canadian History class I found myself browsing Crandall’s website and Facebook page.

A few weeks later I was making the 1.5-hour drive from Saint John to Crandall to visit the school. From the very first moment I stepped into Crandall I knew it was my home. I even went to chapel on that visit and God really spoke to me telling me to get to Crandall ASAP. I immediately applied for the winter semester (without my parents knowledge but that’s a whole other story) and come January I was moved in and ready to begin my new life at Crandall.

Now fast forward 2.5 years and here we are. Only a few weeks away from graduating from Crandall and ready to leave, not only for the summer like the past two years, but for good.

I’m both excited and scared as I take the next steps in life and head to a new school in the fall to begin my education degree but I am also sad to be leaving Crandall, my friends, and my professors behind.

So now its time for me to reflect.

The past four years have been crazy. So much has changed – mostly for the better – and I have really grown, spiritually, mentally, and physically.

Transferring to a Christian university was the best decision I have ever made. Ever since I transferred I have been encouraged to take my faith serious and I have invested in my spiritual growth.

Time and time again throughout my university career God has shown up and proved his faithfulness to me. If there is one think I would tell my grade 12 self before entering university it would be this:

“God has a good plan for you. Trust him, he knows what he is doing.”

I have learned so much about myself, about life, about my relationship with Christ, and about ministry.

I feel so blessed that my school places a strong emphasis on both academics and ministry. Because of this I have been able to experience all different ministry settings over the past few years.

I have gone on my first big mission trip, I preached my first (and second and third) sermon, I started a blog, I lead youth at two different youth groups and gone as a leader to a number of youth events, I took classes about spiritual disciplines, evangelism, leading youth, and reaching young adults, and I found a new passion for inner city community outreach.

Since I had the opportunities to serve in many different ways over the years, I have learned as a disciple and I have grown as a leaders. So even though I was serving others, I actually consider myself the one who was benefiting.

In a few short months I will start at a school where ministry work is no longer mandatory, but that won’t stop my from doing it. I have become so appreciative of the rewards one gets from ministry and the joy one feels when serving the Lord. It is something that I will continue doing for the rest of my life.

All in all, Crandall was so good to me. It is my family and my home. I’m so grateful for the institution, my professors, and my friends. Leaving will be hard, but I am really excited to see what God has in store for my future.

Thank you so much for following along with my final year at this amazing school and as always…

Thanks for reading,

Em

What a chaotic week

I keep telling myself, "only 3 more weeks" "only 3 more weeks."

This week has been crazy to say the least.

I have had around 6000 words due for different papers, 2 take home tests due and 12 hours worth of weekend class. Oh and I was sick on Tuesday and Wednesday.

So that was my week, how was yours?

That being said I have had hardly any time to pause in the past few days and I will be going until Tuesday (I have another assignment and a midterm) AND THEN I can rest.

However this week I did get back into reading my Bible.

Fall 2015 I made it a goal to read my bible and journal every day. I always admired the idea of journaling and the thought of writing and finishing a notebook was very appealing to me. So I went out and bought a cute little notebook – I wanted to get one that was nice and wasn’t all that cheap so that I would be motivated to write in it – Since then I have been making it a habit to read my bible and journal regularly.

I have even filled up a journal and I’m half way through my second one!

I have also readjusted my goal, now I want to read and journal through the entire bible!

I must admit though, there are times when I do fall off the wagon. There will be times when I will go a week or two without reading or writing anything.

This usually happens when my schedule changes, i.e. reading week. I got mixed up in being home for a week and then coming back to school to a chaotic and busy few weeks, that my bible reading got lost.

I know that’s really bad, but hey I’m only human and I’m trying my best.

So this week I got back into it – reading my bible and journaling.

That’s my victory for the week.

Thanks for reading,

Em

a conversation with an old friend

Over the reading week I got together with my friend Marlee, we went to my favourite Starbucks in Saint John to sit, chat, and catch up. Marlee and I grabbed picked up our drinks; she got a Frappuccino and I got a peach tea and then we made our way over the fireplace and found some comfy chairs to sit and chat.

Marlee and I met when we were in fourth grade and we have been good friends ever since. In the past few years we have only been able to see each other about two or three times a year but every time we get together it is like no time has passed. We can talk for hours about anything and everything.

Well we have talked about anything and everything except faith and Christianity.

Until …

Last week (during the reading week) when we got together for coffee.

So Marlee and I have been friends for 13 years! Can you believe that? I’m old enough to have been friends with someone for 13 years!! (I literally just had to take a few minutes to let that settle in)

Me and Marlee. Summer 2010 

Anyway, we have been friends for a long time and we never talked about Jesus. I always knew that she didn’t really go to church (she would go sometimes with her grandparents) and she always knew that I did go to church, but we never ever talked about church. I never invited her to youth group or church and she never asked.

One of the reasons for that was because I was scared. I have talked about Jesus to others before, but usually it was with strangers or people I wasn’t super close with. I had always been afraid to talk about my faith with friends because, as bad as it sounds, I was afraid I would make the friendship weird or be awkward.

I learned from this conversation that it is not actually so scary.

I should mention by now that my conversation about faith with Marlee happened because it was a requirement for one of my classes but I’m glad that I had to do it, because it showed me not to be afraid to talk to my friends about Jesus. It was really just like any other conversation, it wasn’t weird anything.  

All in all, sitting and talking to Marlee was so awesome. I got to see and spend time with one of my good friends, I got to tell her a bit about Jesus, and I overcame the fear of talking to my friends about my faith.