You're right, Zami

Amy told me that I was letting my bloggy people down again by not keeping you up-to-date on my weekend. She's right. Let's fix that.

So as I told you before, I spent this last weekend at Sky Ranch in Van, Tx working as a leader for Kingwood United Methodist Church Youth Group's fall retreat. My prayer going into it was that God would give me a heart to be intentional and not waste time. No time was wasted as he miraculously left two empty seats for me and Marshall in the back of the bus behind the senior girls who I would be spending most of my weekend with. They were a BLAST!

It turned out to be much colder than I had planned for, but who cares if you wear jeans two days in a row? I got very little sleep, due to snoring and Taylor Swift fanatics, but the second night I switched to the small room to escape the snore-ers, and Natalie (a sweet red-headed sophomore girl) gave me one of the FOUR pairs of ear plugs she brought with her. Smart girl, that Natalie.

We hung out a lot, and had hours on Saturday dedicated to a thing Sky Ranch likes to call "funtivities"...y'all don't get too excited, it's just a fancy word for free time. But they did have some pretty sweet things to do. Like a blob in the ground instead of the water (kind of like a trampoline....also like a huge tarp-pillow filled with air), "gaga ball"- a game played inside an 8-sided play pin-looking thing. As many people can play that can fit in the pin, and by only using your hands and one ball, if the ball touches you below the waste, you're out! Me and Marshall, after watching at least 15 games, decided to pick fantasy teams. I think Marshall's team won because at the end I'm pretty sure I got pretty heated and threatened two junior guys that if they messed this one up they would be hitting the weight room at 5am the next morning. Needless to say, they didn't work out at 5 am the next morning....Sky Ranch may have lots of amenities, but they are lacking a weight room. Also I'm pretty sure that forcing kids to work out period, much less to benefit your fantasy gaga ball team, is against the rules of being a counselor.

Mark, the youth director broke the gospel down into 4 talks based on Titus 3:4-7 "But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom eh poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life." Good stuff, huh?

 When I got to have small group with the junior and senior girls, we really focused on how we are never good enough, so there is always a call for change. But just because we're not good enough doesn't matter. In fact, that's just the point! Jesus is grace and grace is life. Grace replaces what law takes away by giving value to us, sinners who DESERVE death. But we are loved by a Savior who does not give us what we deserve.  A lot of girls were struggling with the feeling like they need to be punished for the things they do wrong, and we came up with this analogy: "All it takes to get your name written down in God's book is a prayer that admits Jesus as Lord, and gives back to God what is his by giving your life to him. Grace is this: God's pencil doesn't have an eraser, so there's nothing you can do to get your name erased off that list." You are forever His! What a sweet promise to find rest in.

Here's some pictures from the weekend :)

the fearless leaders

before this did a little tipping

hangin with the sEnIoRzzzzz. SENIORS 2011 YEAHHHHHH!

I say, go seniors '09

Second order or business, I will of course blog about this after it happens, but last Thursday, I got asked to AMC formal the best way I have been asked since Homecoming sophomore year of high school. Johnny Adams, better known as "Jadams" asked me with 6 jumbo cake balls first of all....but after I was done being REALLY excited about the cake balls (because I LOVE cake balls) he informed me that there was more. I looked up in the sky to see nothing other than FIRE WORKS!! Can you believe it?! A fire works show of my very own! I was undoubtedly impressed to say the very least. It's in San Antonio and I'm wearing the prom dress, yeahhhhhh! I'll have lots of pictures! Jadams will probably be smiling in the first 100, and then in the rest he'll probably be staring at the camera, emotionless, holding a knife to my neck, on account of he will be THAT tired of posing for pictures with me.......but that's ok, I'll still be cheesin' even if there's a little blood.  :D

This does the show no justice...the person who took it was behind a tree haha......it seriously was legit

There's SIX cake balls in there! Each a different flavor! 

Ilovecakeballs.

*Sigh*......I always think that not much has gone on, and I will probably not be able to post a sizeable blog........I am always wrong. They are always quite sizeable. (No, "sizeable" is not a word. I do what I want.) Anywayzzzzz, sleep tight, dear readers. I hope this post makes little Zami's spirits lift even just a little...(she has had quite the week of tests.....and y'all....it's only Tuesday) It's ok though, because she is my smartest friend. She was number 3 in our high school graduating class. I say that all the time and Amy hates it. I hope that my saying that doesn't cancel out any of the spirit-lifting I did before the comment. Zami, you know I love you. I love you a MILLION JUMBO cake balls! You too, dear readers :)

Nothin but love,
Bethany