The Weekend

January 21, 2010

superstippy Life , , Leave a comment

Alright. So, this is a few days late (not in the sense that you were on the edge of your seat waiting for my new blog post, but in the sense that it is Wednesday, and I am writing a blog about last weekend). So sue me. Won’t do you any good though, all I’ve really got to my name is this computer. And if you got that I wouldn’t be able to blog anymore. If that’s your goal though…good job trickster. Good job.

Anyway. The Weekend.

Friday night and part of the day Saturday was our Youth Ministers Retreat (We call all of our youth workers ministers. That’s Biblical. 1 Peter 2:9-10). It was a ton of fun. Friday night, we waited entirely too long for our pizza, talked about loving the kid that is hard for us to love, and then spent a lot of time hanging out talking and playing games. Saturday morning Shanna did an awesome time talking with us about Think Orange, and making our Youth Ministry more family driven (She did an awesome job by the way), and Michael talked to us about adding a little more pizzaz into our Life Groups (Sunday School), and gave me a few things to think about in the way of what I do on Sunday mornings.

To be honest with you, a lot of times, I complain that everyone I hang out with is in their thirties, and I don’t have a lot of friends my age, but Friday night reminded me that these are the people that I haven chosen to be doing life with. And I was reminded why. I love all of those married couples that I spend the majority of my time hanging out with. They not only pour into my life and minister to me on a regular basis, but they allow me to pour into and minister to them in ways that I don’t always realize at the time it is happening. I realized that even though most of them are at different life stages than me, I am very blessed to be journeying with these people. So, to all of you who were on the retreat with us (AND to those of you who weren’t able to make it), I love you guys a ton, and I am having a blast doing what I get to do with you guys! Thanks!

So anyway. I come home, and I end up spending quite a while hanging out with my brother over at his house. This is something that I don’t do nearly as much as I’d like. He spanked me in 6 games of chess. About four moves into the 7th game, I Was tired of being beat, and I knocked all of the pieces off of the board. APPARENTLY…this is NOT proper chess etiquette. I had a great time though, and want to make it a point to go get beat by him as often as possible. So, to you big brother, I love you a ton, and am enjoying hanging out with you more these days.

On Sunday I drove out to Waco after Life Groups for the birthday party of a very good friend. He turned 22 this last week, so some of us got together to celebrate. I had a ton of fun, and got to see some of my friends (who happen to be my age) that I don’t get to see that often. It was a great day of eating, Beatles Rock Banding, Golden Globe watching, and just hanging out and catching up. Just like the youth ministers I work with, I was reminded of why these people mean so much to me, and how blessed I am to be doing life with them as well. So, to all of you at the Mike Jones Birthday Party ’10, you’re great friends, and I am lucky to have you in my life.

Thanks for a great weekend folks!

Cheers,

Stippick

Above all else…

December 16, 2009

superstippy Life, Ministry , , , Leave a comment

When given that phrase at the beginning or ending of an instruction, I get a sense of urgency. As though my life might hinge on what has just been, or is about to be said. It means that if you got nothing else out of what I just said, please, please remember this.

Today I was talking with a student who is in one of those We’re-Not-Calling-It-Dating-But-We-Pretty-Much-Are-Just-Don’t-Tell-Our-Parents-Even-Though-They-Already-Know Relationships. You know the one I’m talking about. Usually it’s because the parents of one person involved (Let’s be honest…usually the parents of the girl…) don’t want the daughter to date until they reach a certain age. Which is a great thing.

Anyway, I had recently been giving this student kind of a hard time about it, but she said something today that made me get all serious on her for a minute. I sincerely felt God move me to remind her of Proverbs 4:23

Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life.

I was reminded of a parent who talked about letting their daughter date before they had originally planned to and she said “Sweetie you know you’re probably going to get your heart broke, don’t you?” She answered “Yeah mom, I know.” I don’t think she does. I don’t think a lot of us do.

If we were truly guarding our hearts I think we would put a lot more thought into the things we say and do. And the relationships we enter into. So many of the decisions that we make, and the things we say, and the way we treat others are the result of scars on our heart from when we weren’t guarding it.

I told this student about how I’d spent half of my high school career in the We’re-Dating-But-Not-Calling-It-Dating situation, and I got my heart broken (men’s hearts can be broken too.) In the end I was told I wasn’t good enough. That, among several other reasons, kept me from pursuing any kind of real relationship for several years. And as we were talking, I realized that I am even now in a friendship where I’m not guarding my heart the way I should be, and I’m not advising this friend to do so either.

We discussed the balance of over guarding, and allowing your self to learn some valuable life lessons, and there is one. I’m just not sure what it is. In the book Think Orange that I’m reading with a group of people, they discuss this concept. Reggie Joiner, who wrote the book, says something along the lines of “The tragedy is that we’re actually ok if they [our children] never climb the mountain [experience something for themselves], if it guarantees they never get hurt.” I would love it if anything I said changed this student’s mind, and they didn’t get hurt the way I did. But then, if I had listened, I wouldn’t have gotten hurt and been able to share that experience. I guess we have to ask ourself if the experience is worth the hurt. For some people, they may decide that it is.

Honestly? I’m not really sure what point I’m trying to get across to you. I was just reminded of this principle, and felt like someone else may need to hear it too. Guard your heart. What happens to it will have a lasting effect on things that will come later in your life. But maybe sometimes we have to allow ourselves to get hurt so that we can run back into the arms of our Father. Examine your relationships (romantic, friendships, working etc…), and ask yourself if you’re guarding your heart the way you need to, or if you may be taking advantage of someone who is not guarding theirs.

Have you had your heart broken when you weren’t guarding it? What happened?

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