New Teen Boat Party!

50 of us took off from the Emerald Point marina for an evening of burgers, boating, jumping, and games!! We welcomed in new 6th graders Samantha, Abigail, Claudia, Juan, Arron, and Abba!!! At the same time, we recognized and commissioned our outgoing seniors, Hunter and Kyle, and sent them off to the next phase of their lives!!! You can check out the entire slideshow on YouTube here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FhynRemmNp8

There were a couple of great highlights which you WON'T see on the slideshow, however. For example, on a dare Aaron swam over to the party barge NEXT to ours and took a jump off of THEIR boat!!! It was sweet! And then when Hunter was giving his "Last Will and Testament" a june bug went up his shirt! To appreciate what happened next you have to know Hunter's complete aversion to bugs.....but as the color left his face he swatted frantically at himself until he ridded himself of his flying nemisis, and excused himself behind the van to let out a primal scream!! It was a thing of beauty....

It was a beautiful evening together, and we really appreciate the help of the Pardues, who opened their home for us on a night they were having guests already!! And to Cheryl Katrenick, Sonja Jimenez, and Shane Sellstrom for going along as sponsors and driving!!!! The evening would not have happened without you!! Thanks a ton!!

Offsite Insight - "Learning From Our Elders"

On June 8th we went to Englewood Estates Retirement Home and sat outside to discuss the value of listening to and learning from our elders. The value that they provide us, having traveled the road of life before us, is invaluable. As a bonus, we got to hear from a guest speaker - my Mom!!! She had some great insights about today's music, about what the elderly feel about us young people (What? What did I say?), and what advice she would give to young people today. Her advice? Read Proverbs 3:5 - "Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him and He will make your paths straight." Good advice, huh? Now you see where I get it... :-) Thanks, Mom!!! [and thanks, Parker, for leading us in a worship song beforehand!]

A bat attitude!!!!

Austin is known for our bats under the Congress Ave. bridge, and the Lake Jackson Church of the Nazarene youth group came down and joined us for some serious bat watching, washed down with some Amy's ice cream!! It was a beautiful night and the bats did not disappoint! And the guy selling the light sabers was REALLY glad to see us pull up!!

Offsite Insights - "Standing in the knowledge of God's Judgement"

On June 3 we started up our summer "Offsite Insights" tour, during which we take our Wednesday night Bible study on the road and go to places that highlight the topic of discussion that night. We visited the Travis County Courthouse, where there is a constant parade of people going in in various stages of presumed and proven guilt and prepare to stand before a judge to receive a sentence. This was an ideal setting to talk about our OWN guilt in the light of God's grace and the price that was paid for our freedom from death....the wage of sin (Rom 6:23). Many thanks to Nick for leading us in a song on the steps of the courthouse before we got started. I'm sure that woulda ticked off some people if they knew we were a bunch of "religious freaks"! Mwahahahahaha.....

Extravaganza 2009!!

The group posing in front of Southern Nazarene University in Oklahoma City!!

"Extravaganza 2009" was amazing!! No other way to describe it! If I had to categorize it, I would say it was a conglomeration of "Friends loving friends, friends loving Jesus, friends loving to worship, and friends loving to play!" 33 teens and sponsors trekked across the Red River into Oklahoma City to Southern Nazarene University to compete against other Nazarene youth groups in talent, drama, sports, quizzing, and art from all over our region!! Just over 1000 kids were there!! And out of those 1000, we made a huge impact on Extravaganza 2009! At the end, when all of the "all stars" were selected, two out of the final 12 acts selected were from OUR youth group!!! You can see our "Set Me Free" drama here on YouTube (thanks Alina for the video!):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R-RUCGJspC4

Also, Allison, Kendall, and Livvy's "The Door" skit was selected!! Check it out (sorry about the cheesy banner they put over the top of it...it was the only way I could get it on here quickly! Once again, video is courtesy of Alina H.)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=msEP8fQAn2o

What a privilege it was, too, when Aaron, Sergio, Nick, and Parker were asked to lead the worship music during the Sunday morning service for our district!!! You guys represented us and the Lord very well!!!

You can see Nick's cover of "Give Me Your Eyes" here (thanks again, Alina!):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aWny18fe2Sc

It was pretty awesome, too, to see Aaron and Sergio selected to be drummers in the "Stomp"-style portion of our worship service!!! Check it out here (thanks to Michael for a rather biased video! :-) ):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gcgc4hJ5l4k

Others of you received 1st place awards but were not selected for "The Show"!
Sierra R. - sign interpretation
Nick H. - Vocal solo
Leslie A. - Flute solo
Parker Y. - Vocal solo
Hunter, Rebekah, Imo, Alex, Kyle, Brandon, Aaron - Soccer
Lindsey G. - Art
Daniel W. - Quizzing (10th place)

Others who did not receive awards but of whom we were equally proud!:
Livvy M. - Art
Sergio P. - Vocal solo
Makayla V. - Clarinet solo
Keifer W. - Cello solo
Aaron J. - Art
Parker Y., Nick H., Sergio P., and Aaron J. - Band
Connor C. - Quizzing
Rebekah W. - Quizzing

What is usually a fun, competitive trip was this year also compelling and thought provoking with the messages brought by the drama team "One Time Blind". They totally brought the message of Jesus in a new and fresh way which spoke to us!

Be sure and check back here as well as on the Teen Bulletin Board for more pictures and YouTube vids from the event!!!

Sierra signs for the judges....

while Sergio and Josh show their demonic side...