productivity

another Thursday night gathering!

we had a plan to be productive...highly productive, you might say :)

we are working on 2 things at the moment...

1) Zine. 

If you’re not sure what a Zine is – don’t be intimidated. We didn’t either. But now we’re experts. Basically it’s a homemade mini-magazine. About whatever you want it to be about. and then people sell them for like a dollar each. team? We thought so. so we’re working on one – and we want to have that along with some artwork done for STR’s CD Release Party on May 20th! So make sure you come check out the bands and our zine/art! :) it’ll be a really cool night.

2) Revolution creativeness…

sidenote (if your not sure what revolution creativeness means...) – we realized that as we create things, we don’t know what to call them…so we make up names. Haha (for instance – what do you call a dance that is mostly a human video, but is also choreographed…? Well now it’s a dance that tells a story. :) it’ll prb be shortened again to something like story dance…we’ll let you know. I know its important…so we'll be sure to meet up about it soon.) ANYWAYS…I say all that because we are now working on a Story Dance for Revolution.

We worked on the zine for a little bit yesterday and it was a smaller group for whatever reason – so we ended up talking about Revolution…and sarah and I have been working on this for a little while now and we have not had a ton of success with coming up with details or a really good idea.

So we just brought it up and all of a sudden ideas were forming and the whole team was working together and brainstorming and w/in the hour and a half – we totally figured out some REALLY exciting things! its going to be so great.

God just totally took over and gave His ideas to us in His timing. Awesome.

And THAT is one of the reasons I love this ministry, this team. God keeps doing that – He keeps opening up doors and then no matter what we do – He shows up and does His thing in HIS time. We try to plan and prepare, but its always Him. And its such an encouragement to see and be reminded of! I love it.

Its such a blessing that we have a God who likes to make sure we’re getting the most out of our gifts if we let Him.

Its just so easy to forget that and lean on our own abilities! I pray that we all can be constantly reminded to trust Him to take over :)

So we did have a very productive night :)

So great!

Now we just need to stay productive and on top of it all! Its coming up soon!!!!!

But be sure to add STR CD Release Party (may 20th) and Revolution (June 3rd) to your calendars!!!!!!!

Don’t miss them! :)

-ALIVE

mirrors!

we made our first "ALIVE" purchase yesterday! :)

with all the dances and dramas we've been working on - we realized how amazing it would be to have some mirrors for us to rehearse in front of.

right? yeah...

:)

so long story short - we found some on craigslist, bought them, and somehow got them (still in one piece) to church.

we are praying for some big things right now...but this is a step :)

now we just need a frame for them...and a wall...and a space.

haha

no worries.

God's got it. ;)

if you want to see some pics and hear the long version (not a lot longer...haha really its just pics...) you can look here! :)

-ALIVE

Hope

a glimpse at Mega Wednesday! 

Austin and Jordan rocked the Hope drama/arting.

it went really well - and its really really amazing to have people that will just roll with our crazy requests sometimes...(we dont ALWAYS give people what you might call "sufficient notice" haha)  but thats when you know its God you're depending on...when you know its something you shouldnt be able to do.

so its cool to see these things come together the way they do.

:)

God's got it!

 austin and jord getting in one last practice...

the performance! 

they arted during the worship team's last song "Fix You" by Coldplay

...then went into the script portion of the drama. 

they spoke while they painted, going back and forth between the characters.

both characters going through the same situation - but with different perspectives.

Austin - is relying on himself.  looking to the world for hope

Jordan - looking to God for her hope, relying on Him to get her through

Austin - his hope runs out.  his picture is unfinished...because he cannot do it, cannot survive all that is happening on his own. 

the world WILL disappoint.  the world WILL fail us.  it cannot and will not satisfy us.

we will reach the end of ourselves...and what then? 

Jordan - she has an abundance of hope.  more than enough to get her through.  her painting is finished.  her path leads all the way to her destination.  she might not understand exactly where its going or how she'll get there - but she has hope that she WILL.  that God will lead her.

God will never disappoint.  ever.  He is more than enough and He sees the WHOLE path we're on...so lean on Him for hope in every situation.  its the ONLY way we'll make it through.  and how great that is also happens to be the BEST and MOST EXCITING way to do it!?!

and i dont put a lot of pictures of us leaders on here.......so here is a glimpse.  ;)  haha

aren't we so cute?

thanks Ria for these fun pics :)

so it was a GREAT night, God did His thing, Josh spoke some amazing truth and hope into us all...really great time.

such a blessing to be a part of this ministry!!!

For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.

Jeremiah 29:11

-ALIVE

MegaWednesday!

Here we are…day before Mega Wednesday #2 at Edinbrook Church!

The first one was so awesome and I am so excited for this one!

Sunday evening we met up to do some practice runs, adjust the scripts, let Sarah’s baby girl spend time with her boyfriend…;)

And then Sunday night all the adult leaders got together and did some planning and spent some really good time in prayer over the event and the students and I’m just so excited to see what God is preparing.

We are in charge of the creative element for the evening…….

So we are keeping Jordan Faith and Austin in our prayers as they prepare for the arting/drama God inspired us with.

:)

It came up fast, but God took care of it. so we have put it in His hands and I really believe God is going to speak hope into some lives tomorrow night – through the hangout time, the drama, the music and the speaker - its ALL going to be so so so so amazing…as we worship Him, may He RAIN down His Spirit on us and do some major healing and transformation!

He is our hope…always. If we try to rely on anything else – we will get tired and we will fall. because nothing besides God will last forever.

So lean on Him!!!

He loves you so much :)

Be blessed today, friends!

-ALIVE

miscellaneous creativity

another ALIVE gathering!  so fun.

we had a plan...plans change.  haha

we went to the dungeon and erika shared from a book she's been reading...about how Jesus sacrificed for our sins - ONCE.  and its done.  forever.  we dont need to earn our freedom.

we're free.

and we dont need to do good things for God in order to be blessed - we need to do Gods work because we are blessed already.

God is just too too good friends.  so amazing.

 this is the book erika read to us from...really really really good stuff...she didnt show anyone the cover til after...not that we would judge the book or anything...;)  its from the 80s...im sure he was very cool then.  but the book has some REALLY great stuff in it...

like i said - we had a plan...but we got to talking and chilling and planning things and then everyone felt like doing some different things...so half the group went to the dungeon to work on Fear Dance, and the other half stayed in the dungeon to art/be creative.  :)

kayla's...to be added to our "cross" art project...stay tuned for more...;)

austin working on his "cross" art...

Maider working on a project...messy art is my favorite...:)

DJ Ninja Nate running the music for the dancers...

dance group...working on the Fear Dance...stay tuned for this as well...:)  its gonna be good.

aint gon be 'fraid no mo!  fear just walked out that door!

Vandis joining the party...CLEARLY loving the dancing...

just listening to music...its these times, at about 930, when we're still sitting in the studio that most of our ideas come up...last night was a dream-coming up with- night...:)  lots of ideas that i'm really really excited about!!!  from a zine to a performance to studio...so much!  and i'm just feelin God inspiring huge things.  LOVE LOVE LOVE it!!!

-ALIVE

stumble!

so apparently i'm really behind the times - but i just discovered (well not discovered...more like finally got around to looking at/signing up for) StumbleUpon.  basically you tell it what you're interested in and it gives you an endless list of websites/blogs/etc filled with things you might like.......

and i had NO idea that a simple button that says "stumble!" so enthusiastically could ever be the most addicting thing ever.  literally...but who knew all the great and random stuff that is out there?!?  mostly mindless, maybe...but still good.  i found a bunch of really cool artists already...really inspiring  love it. :)

anyways...i share this because it brought me to this great site full of random quotes.  (and i dont use the word random lightly...)

oh man.  good stuff.  some funny, some deep, some trying to be really inspirational but not so much living up to that standard...

but a couple i liked a lot and wanted to share with you all.

Many of life’s failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up.

-Thomas Edison

love that...no matter how hard it seems, no matter how impossible things look - we just need to keep going.  keep fighting for what we've been promised...because we never know which step will be the one to get us across that finish line.  as long as we're still going - there's still hope

Draw a line. Live above it.

-Anonymous

amen.  

never settle for less than amazing.  we weren't created for good enough.  and according to 2 Corinthians - He's planned things that we haven't yet imagined...

enjoy your day friends!

-ALIVE

battle is a sport.

Good morning friends! the sun is shining, its “warm” out and its Friday…good stuff! :)
We had our Thursday ALIVE gathering last night…what did we do? quick version…
1) Bethany is a fearless warrior who attacks water-bending demons and
who also happened to turn 20 yesterday
2) Chocolate cake & red flavor starbursts are very good things…but
the former is hard to cut into pieces and serve with a plastic fork
3) “why is it worth it?”
4) Telephone Pictionary…upside down sumo wrestler, penguin commando, an
attempt at drawing toats ep…
5) Battle is a sport.
But I assume everyone’s night pretty much looked the same way… :)
but, just in case it didnt…a LITTLE more detail.
we celebrated Bethany’s birthday with a watercolored card/epic tale of her future, cake & starbursts. If that doesn’t welcome in another year of life – idk what would.
Then we settled in, gave everyone a piece of paper and writing utensil and read them this verse…
Philippians 3:7-12
But whatever were gains to me I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God on the basis of faith. I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead. Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me.
Earlier this week a few of us had met
up and were working on a new Project and a question came up as we were talking about the theme of the whole thing.
Here it is… “Why is Jesus worth it?”
Think about it for a second…why would we even think of giving anything up for Him, let alone everything? why is it worth it to risk our safety, our comfort, our desires – for Jesus? To follow Him? Why?
So we all took some time and thought about that, wrote down some things, and then prayed. Some people shared what they wrote…definitely something good to think about and be encouraged by other people who have decided that He is absolutely worth it.

Then we had chocolate cake. yum :) sarah labored over it for hours and made every crumb out of pure love – while being a fabulous mother and wife…and we are forever grateful to her for that.

And then we traveled into the “studio” for a little creative game time.
Aka…play hug tag for a few minutes (never stops being funny to watch) to get rid of excess energy and then sit down and play telephone Pictionary. Love that game. So funny to see the drawings and what people come up with. We laughed quite a bit.

And then all of a sudden it was 9 o clock and ppl started to leave. It went SO quick. and as ppl were leaving some of us were just sitting in a circle and having our standard, super deep, intellectual conversation…
And if you ever wondered...here is just a quick glimpse into what you would talk about if you came to ALIVE…

Jillian: oh – so I was just at comedy sportz, and they played this game…
Sarah: the three word game
Jillian: (looks at sarah confused) they don’t play that game…
Sarah: no, but its fun.
Jillian: oh…(continues on to tell a really really great story about comedy sportz and one of the games they played as everyone listens SUPER intently, not wanting to miss a moment)
(story ends)…slight pause
Austin: oh! One time for (drama thing at school…?) our teacher had us write the funniest skits we could and then we had to give them to each other to act out in front of everyone.
…another slight pause.
Sarah: what made you think of that? (as we're all thinking the same thing)
Austin: (looks down…) idk…comedy, sports, it was like a battle, kind of…and well, battle is a sport!
The rest of us: team.

Have a beautiful weekend! Enjoy the sunshine :)

-ALIVE

consider the lilies

"I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat; or about your body, what you will wear. For life is more than food, and the body more than clothes...Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to your life? Since you cannot do this very little thing, why do you worry about the rest?

Consider the lilies, how they grow. They do not labor or spin- Yet I tell you, not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire - how much more will he clothe you, you of little faith! And do not set your heart on what you will eat or drink; do not worry about it. For these things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers all over the world, but your Father knows that you need them. So seek his kingdom, and these things will be given to you as well.

Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father is pleased to give you the kingdom..."

Luke 12:22-32

i love the line - "consider the lilies..."  i've never been a flower person...until recently. when i started going to the farmers market.  and they're everywhere...and i just cant help but love them.  they're gorgeous and there are so many different kinds and colors and they're just so bright and happy.  and when i read this verse i think of them - how all the money and possessions in the world could not create them w/out God's help.  how all the money in the world could not create the beauty that God can create from nothing.  so why do we worry about anything?  

as we choose to believe in God, He delights in giving us His kingdom.  not just the bare minimum so that we can survive - but His KINGDOM.

amazing, right?

i mean really - AMAZING stuff.  so next time you look at a lily - remember that the God who created the beauty of that flower, is the God who is caring for your every need...

and rest in that.  no worries necessary.

:)

-ALIVE

something to do this weekend...

i just want to share some pictures with you all...i got this email forwarded to me from someone at work who knows i'm a huge fan of art and i am in awe of these.

they are incredible and it makes me want to bust out my art supplies and start creating.  

i just love love love seeing how other people's creativity comes out...

anyways - this guy is called The Chalk Guy...

and yes, these are all done on streets/sidewalks with chalk...

i will now leave you to lean into your computer and say "wait, what??? is that?  wow" (at least thats what i did) and wonder how in the WORLD he did these and how many years he spent working on each one (not sure how long...prb not years) and praying it didnt start to rain before he finished......

the ppl in the photo are all real - the ice crevasse is not...

 this one's my favorite...so so so amazing...

anyways...just had to share those with all you other art fans out there.  and if you're like me and seeing these just motivates you to draw until you can do stuff like this - its just one more reason to wish that spring was here!  

but we certainly serve a creative God!  who else would think - oh hey, i'm going to give this one really good at working with chalk...?

:) 

does it make you wonder what crazy gifts He thought to give you that you haven't found yet?

-ALIVE

a much needed reminder at the right time...

life has been crazy lately and as a result i have pushed aside my time with God for the past few days.  partly because i just haven't had time and partly because i'm in a place right now where i know nothing about what comes next in my life - i'm 100% waiting on God, which is good...but hard.  and while prb the worst thing to do (and there are no excuses) - i have been putting off my time with Him from a fear of either not hearing Him or hearing something I don't want to.

but yesterday...yesterday i went to the worship service at Edinbrook and God just grabbed a hold of that opportunity and made sure i was paying attention.  i finally took a moment to listen and He poured in.  we watched a video of a girl's testimony telling how God changed her life - she had to go through some tough times but she trusted Him and God pulled her through...and she got baptized during the service.

it was such an amazing thing!  and i didnt realize until that moment how much i needed to be reminded that God is so faithful.  that He is working and that He can do anything.

doubt is a powerful thing.  and its easy to let it take over - but we have no reason to doubt.  

because God is faithful.

i've spent the last 2 days looking back on and remembering all the times God has come through for me...when i've known He was at work.  and there are SO many.  it is so important to remember those times - especially when doubt  tries to work its way in...

trusting in God IS crazy.  it shouldnt make sense.  it shouldnt work.  and yet - somehow it does.

take some time and remember the times He's been there to comfort you, when He's provided for you when you had no idea how you were going to make it, the times you felt like you couldn't go on and yet you somehow found the energy to not only finish what you had to but dominated it and left feeling so strong...

because those times are real.  doubt is not.  it'll try to make you believe that God can't and won't do the seemingly impossible - but He can and He will.  we can't forget that.

He's too good and too faithful.

so i just wanted to share the reminder that God encouraged me with this week.

that He is faithful

even if you don't see Him moving in the moment or if things seem too big for Him to do anything with at the time - He's still there, and He's still got it all in His hands.

I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine for you all making my prayer with joy, because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now. And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.

phillipians 1:3-6

i thank God for every moment that He has revealed Himself to His children.

and i thank Him for calling us to crazy things - and for being with us to pull us through every single step of the way.

He really loves us.  its so amazing.

 -ALIVE