Kuddos (again) to Don't Conform, Transform Blog!

A week ago, my roommate (a self described Halloween/Fall nut) decided to go to a local Halloween costume shop. We weren't looking for our own costumes, but were looking for a Dr. Seuss hat for the Dr. Seuss themed Wednesday night class for the teenagers. While we were in there, Allie mentioned that she had been to a place like this in college and was appalled at the prices and the selection of costumes.

She noticed that the only costumes that were available were sexual themed costumes. It was no different this time. Allie's fiance is a firefighter and we noticed that there were quite a few scantily clad "firefighter girl" costumes. Ugh.

We left the store annoyed- and without a Dr. Seuss hat. We are convinced that we can create our own costumes. Appropriate costumes.

Jennifer Shewmaker shares some great insight of a similar experience in her blog- which you can find in the sidebar of my blog under "Ministry Resources" or HERE.

If you haven't ever read Jennifer's blog, it's a great resource for families. Particularly families with girls. Check it out!

Details of the last month or so...

Life has a way of getting in the way of blogging (in a good way of course!) and by the time I end up opening my "blogger page" at the end of the day, I end up with drooping eyelids and no desire to write. Which is SUCH a shame because I really love to write. So in a brief nutshell (because remember, I want to try and document this crazy blessed time of my life), here is what has happened in the past month!

-The Boy and I have a date for the wedding! March 15th- which is less than 6 months away!!!! I am seriously over the moon and can't wait to be married to this incredible, funny, encouraging man of God. Several times a week we'll be having a normal conversation and all of a sudden I'll squeal with delight.

-Just some quick deets about the wedding: it's going to be family and life-long friends only, it's going to be in San Antonio at the most precious church ever (The Little Church in La Villita), we are having a dinner in lieu of a reception to keep things casual and personal, and I have asked that the honeymoon is a secret, so I won't know where we are going until right before we leave!

-On the work front, things have been crazy busy, but crazy blessed. Between a garage sale fundraiser, new schedule for teens, curriculum planning, vision writing, retreat planning, budget writing, Girl's Gathering (more on that below), and all the other little things that go into being the only youth minister round these parts, it's been a fun new journey.

-Because of the craziness of my schedule lately, I haven't even started decorating my office. My first day solo my main goal was just to move everything from my previous closet... I mean office, and into my new office. Really I just wanted to be able to find my Bibles, curriculums, stapler, etc. So I have little piles of stuff all over my office of things that I need to hang, set out, put away. Maybe this week?

-One of the most exciting things that I have been working on lately has been a girl's conference in the DFW area. This has been a work-in-progress for several years now and something that my sweet friends and I have been in prayer about for a long time. There are 5 female youth ministers in the DFW area and we've been working on this dream of having a girl's conference here in our area. Well, that dream is becoming a God blessed reality! Coming March 30th and 31st (yes, a week after I get back from my honeymoon...): Girl's Gathering @ DFW!

-The entire second story of the Zone has been cleaned out. And all of its contents (that weren't thrown away) were sold in the garage sale. There was great rejoicing from Southwest Fort Worth. Seriously.

-Sometimes I find myself mesmerized by my ring and all the meanings behind it while I type during the work day. God is faithful to His promises- it's worth it to be patient.

So that's just a glimpse of what's been going on! Blessings!

Where You Lead

Several years ago, when I re-vamped my blog, I was drawn to the phrase, "Where You Lead" because of (duh) Gilmore Girls and because I felt like that was exactly what I wanted to do. I wanted to go where God was leading me.

Since then, it's been a whirlwind of trying my hardest to listen to God's call for my life. And I have had some amazing and blessed adventures.

And I'm just now beginning some new ones.

I'm not going to change my blog's name again. I'm going to keep it as is because right now, I'm in the middle of the GREATEST adventure I could have ever imagined. And in the middle of it, my fiance and I are attempting to be obedient to Christ. Yes, you're reading that right. My fiance. :)

Over the next few months, I want to try and chronicle our engagement and marriage as I work solo as the only youth minister. Yes, you read that right. The only youth minister... (we're hiring someone else, I'm just flyin' solo right now).

I feel like the next few months are going to be chaotic and fun and nutty and overwhelming and that they are going to FLY by. And I don't want to miss a single moment of this time in my life. I want to cherish and reflect on it.

I hope you'll join me on this new journey I'm embarking on- it's sure to be full of laughter, tears, frustration, fun, and most of all, blessings.

-Lauren

Pine Springs Day 4!

We are still having a blessed time at camp! It's been a great week and the sponsors and I keep talking about how we can't BELIEVE that tomorrow is our final day. If you are friends with Erin Lea or Keith Hollar on facebook, check out the awesome pictures that they've uploaded.

Today, Clint and I led the "Egg Olympics" and it was EPIC. I (and many of your children) got egged in the head. Good times, good times. We played an egg toss, a relay, and egg duck duck goose- egg duck duck goose was the reason many of your teens ended up with egg smashed in their hair.

Tomorrow we will have a "Concert of Prayer" with prayer stations all around camp and different ways your teens will experience Christ. Please be in prayer about this experience.

Everyone is still safe and sound. Some teens are sunburned (the air is quite thin and the sun has been very bright) and most of them are using chapstick like it's going out of style. :)

All in all, everyone has been having a great time! Keep us in your prayers!

Blessings,

Lauren

Day 1 of Camp Pine Springs!

It has been a GREAT day so far (and there's still more to come!) and the kids are all having a great time so far.

Our day started out with Clint waking up all the campers with his daily radio show. You'll have to ask the teens about their favorite silly things he said... it's always a hoot. We went to classes where we talked about being intentional in our faith and the "One Way" that God has for us.

We played some silly water/mud games, ate lunch, had some solitude and as I type this, the campers are enjoying some canteen and free time (dodgeball, crafts, nuke-em, chilling out). Tonight will be another great worship time with Randal Senter and a lesson taught by Josh Haynes.

Our theme this week is "Road Signs" and the signs that God has given us on our walks of faith. Pray for the hearts and minds of the teenagers to be open to His call this week.

Hopefully I will have some pictures up soon! Michele Hollar has been doing a GRAND job of capturing camp this year.

Blessings from the mountains of New Mexico,

Lauren

Camp Pine Springs!

To all my parents, we are safely in New Mexico!

We are all safe and sound and a little cold and wet (it rained on us while we were unpacking the bus). I'll be updating my blog periodically this week, so keep checking back for the fun activities at camp!

I'll also try and post pictures as I get them!

Prayers for a safe and blessed trip are most appreciated!

Blessed

Have you ever had one of those days where you can't get over how incredibly blessed you are?

I'm having one of those weeks.

:-)

I sit down to pray and I can't think of enough ways to say thank you to my Lord and Savior for the things in my life. He is MIGHTY and POWERFUL and OUTPOURING.

It's been a lovely week. I praise HIM in the harvests and in the battles, fires, and deserts of life.

Blessings!

It's Friday but Sunday's Comin'

INFINITELY THANKFUL FOR SUNDAY!

Allie and Lauren Attempt to make soap

Yeah... if you've got 9 minutes to waste, you can watch Allie and I and our soap making adventure. It's some good times, let me tell you.

We plan on making LEGIT soap sometime soon. This was a kit I got for Christmas and it was basically just melting and then remolding then adding some color and fragrance. We want to try and make soap where you actually have to let it cure and you have to use lye and all that fun stuff...

Over and out.

In Honor of LTC* this weekend...

Even though I've seen it HUNDREDS of times, even though I DIRECTED and WROTE it, I still cry almost every time I watch it. Seeing it live (and these guys have done it on 7 or 8 different occasions)... it's incredibly powerful every time.

They are a delight to direct, and I'm blessed every time we get to perform this skit.

We've got a little something different up our sleeves this year for LTC. 2 years later and I'm still pushing the bar just a little bit.

That's for YOU judges. ;-)

*LTC stands for Leadership Training for Christ. It's a "Church of Christ" convention where hundreds of teens and elementary kids share and train their spiritual gifts. Two years ago, my junior high drama group performed this skit. I was a little concerned that because we used instrumental music (CofC is traditionally accapella) that we might get disqualified. However, we got the exact OPPOSITE reaction.