Youth Convention 2019

Hi everyone,

Yesterday I got back from the youth convention help in Waterville, Maine put on by Northern New England District Youth Ministries. It is basically a convention for teenagers to grow closer to God through worship and sermons from a guest speaker. This years theme was Dare to Dream and there were about 500 teenagers and leaders from Maine and New Hampshire This was my second year going and this year I traveled with the youth group from Crosspoint Church in Lebanon, NH. (Your fabulous TA Josh was also with us.) We arrived in Waterville at around two in the afternoon on Thursday. That night we had our first session which included worship and a sermon from the guest speaker who was Parker Dickerson. The first sermon was about Identity and how we need to find our identity in Christ and not in the people, social media, or the world.

On Friday we had two sessions, one morning and one night. In the second sermon, Pastor Dickerson preached on the fact that you have a purpose and your purpose is to point others to Christ. He asked a question that really challenged me. The question was “Is the life that I’m living worth Jesus dying for?” That question really hit home for me because I can tend to focus on my life and what I want, when in reality I need to be thinking about how my life reflects and points other to Jesus. After the morning session we had the National Director of Speed the Light, Erick Hoffman, speak to us. For those of you who don’t know, Speed the Light is an organization that raises money to help missionaries get the transportation they need to spread the gospel throughout the world. They work with organizations like Convoy of Hope and Free International. Erick spoke to us about how it’s not just about the money that we give, but we have to be involved in the ministry. He asked if there were any people who felt like God was calling them to be missionaries and about 34 kids stood up. It was amazing to see kids proclaim that to the entire world.

For lunch on Friday we went to this little deli that had the biggest sandwiches I have ever seen in my life. (I can’t give you the name of the place, because it’s our youth group secret.) Then we went back to our hotel and played the game Moffia, which if you have never played is the funniest game in the world. It involved the moffia, cops, medics, and a mayor.

Friday night was a big night for me in two ways: 1. That is the most I have ever cried in my life. 2. I was blessed with the Holy Spirit and spoke in tongues. If you don’t know speaking in tongues is when you start speaking in languages you have never heard before and you have no clue what they mean. In Acts 2:1-21, it talks about how Jesus promised when he left that he would send someone to be with us and that is the Holy Spirit. When the disciples received the Holy Spirit, they began to speak in languages they didn’t know. The crowd who hears them thinks that they are drunk and crazy. Peter addresses the crowd and says this, “Listen carefully, all of you, fellow Jews and residents of Jerusalem! Make no mistake about this. There people are not drunk, as some of you are assuming. Nine o’clock in the morning is much too early for that. No, what you see was predicted long ago by the prophet Joel: ‘In the last days,’ God says, ‘I will pour out my Spirit upon all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy. Your young men will see visions, and your old men will dream dreams. In those days I will pour out my Spirit even on my servants-men and women alike-and they will prophesy. Acts 2:14-18.It was an amazing, out of this world experience that I was blessed with. It was also even better because one of my closest friends was also blessed with the Holy Spirit that night!

As you can imagine I was emotionally drained after Friday night, but my youth group still went and played in a dodge ball tournament from 9:30-12:00 at night. Probably not the smartest idea, but oh well. Last year we won this tournament, but this year we were too tired, dehydrated, and hungry. We were knocked out in the 3rd round. We didn’t get to bed until after 12:30pm.

On Saturday morning, the last sermon was from our new district director Pastor Travis who talked about dreams. There are three types of dreams: Unknown, Forgotten, and Stolen dreams. After we left the convention we all went to Cracker Barrel for lunch. On the way home the people in the 15 passenger van (which included me, my sister, and Josh) got stranded at Walmart when our tire went flat. While we waited for a new tire to be put on we all sat in Walmart on stools and ate cookie dough we had bought. Best dinner I have had in ages! We finally did get home late. Youth convention was amazing and I feel like I learned more about myself and Jesus over the weekend.

Farm Girl

10 Reasons Why I Prefer February to January

  1. February is 3 days shorter than January (unless it’s leap year, then it’s 2 days shorter).
  2. Valentine’s Day is during February (bring on the chocolate and flowers!).
  3. We get a week of vacation off from school during February (February Vacation!).
  4. Most people have forgotten their New Year’s resolutions (you don’t have to listen to them tell you what their resolutions are.)
  5. February is one month closer to spring (yeah!)
  6. The days are getting increasingly longer in February (almost time to set the clocks forward).
  7. It is the only month that starts with the letter “F”, January share the letter “J” with June and July.
  8. February is a dairy promotion month (most farmers call it Febru-Dairy).
  9. Your used to writing the current year (goodbye 2018, hello 2019).
  10.  Your one month closer to summer vacation (June can’t come soon enough!)

Ebeneezer Scrouge…. The Play

My church (Crosspoint Church in Lebanon, NH) is putting on the Christmas play Ebeneezer for the second time. We put it on a couple years ago, but hadn’t for years. Our pastor wrote an adaption of the original play The Christmas Carol. (Have you heard of it?)  Our whole congregation gets involved in it. My sister and I played roles as young kids and office workers, while my dad played the equivalent of Bob Cratchet. This year we decided to do the play for a second time. This year was a little harder than the last time because all of us have grown up and some people have moved away. We had to rewrite the script a little to fit some of our ages better. Even your TA for the year Josh King is in it. The play is going to be on December 7 at 6pm and on December 9 at 10:30 am. Our website’s event page says that it is on December 8 and 9, but that is not correct. The correct dates are on the church calendar. I would like to extend an invitation to anyone who would like to come. I have attached a link to our church website, you will find all the information like time and place on it.

http://www.crosspointchurchag.org

Fall’s Gone Y’all

About a week before thanksgiving I woke up to see a white wonderland outside my window. Where I live in New Hampshire we got about 6-8 inches. School was immediately canceled for all (except the homeschoolers, lucky me!) My cousin came over and we had fun sledding. My back driveway curves down toward the brook and we convinced my grandpa not to plow it for sledding. Afterwards, I curled up with a book and sipped an eggnog latte. My mom has a rule that eggnog is not allowed until after Thanksgiving, but she caved so we got it anyway. People were surprised to get all that snow, but we live in New England, what can you do? I remember one year there was a massive snowstorm on the morning of Thanksgiving. My grandparents were supposed to come up to our house, but we assumed they couldn’t get through the weather. What a surprise it was when they showed up on our doorstep! Although winter does not start officially start until the middle of December, it seems like it is in full swing. I guess that means Mr. Ralph will not be getting out his When Is the Snow All Gone contest for a while. The snow reminded me of the little hill at Mid Vermont that slope down towards the ga-ga pit. I remember my friends and I used to brush all the snow off until we got ice, then slide down on our stomachs like we were penguins.

Now I enjoy reading on snowy afternoons after school is done. I enjoy reading the Spy School and Funjungle novels by Stuart Gibbs, Al Capone Does My Homework by Gennifer Choldenko, and The Thoroughbred series by Joanna Campbell (if you are interested in horses these are for you). I hope that you all are enjoying the snow and staying warm. Merry Christmas and may God bless you all!

What I have done this Summer

Hi everyone,

Sorry I have not written in a while. This summer I have been spending time with my cousin Darin, swimming in pools or the lake every week, working with my cows, and lazying around. My cousin Darin is a sophomore in high school and loves theater. We hang out a lot and spend time at the lake. He and my other cousin Sydney love gymnastics and we usually have sore muscles after all the gymnastics we do together. Sydney is a ex-cheerleader who now does gymnastics and she loves to coach us in all we do. Right now she has me doing a handstand and a cartwheel, Darin can do a backflip, handstand, cartwheel, and round off, along with a lot of other stuff that if i attempted to accomplish i would end up in the emergency room. We also love to do cheerleading acrostunts when we can. My family and i have been hanging out at our friends pool after church most Sundays along with numerous trips to the lake near our house.

I have a cow show next week that will determine whether i am able to attend the Big E 4h fair at Eastern States Expo this fall. The better my animals do, the better chance I have. Please keep that in prayer.Most of all i have been lazying around. I wish i could say that I slept in until 9 every morning, but chores must be done at 7. I hope you all are having a great summer and looking forward to the next school year as you all continue to your next step in life.

Farm Girl

10 Things to Do in Summer

1. Swim Every Day                                                                                                                                                            2. Read a whole book series                                                                                                                                            3. Sleep late                                                                                                                                                                    4. Build a fort                                                                                                                                                                    5. Tie dye                                                                                                                                                                        6. Have a lemonade stand                                                                                                                                              7. Make smores over a fire                                                                                                                                              8. Hiking                                                                                                                                                                          9. Berry picking                                                                                                                                                              10. Try something new!

Top 10 Books to Read in 2nd and 3rd

Here are my top ten books to read in second and third grade. I hope you enjoy them.

1. Dear America Series: The Winter of Red Snow                                                                                                          2. Alone Yet not Alone                                                                                                                                                      3. Dear America Series: Across the Wide and Lonesome Prairie                                                                                    4. The Hardy Boys series                                                                                                                                                  5. The Nancy Drew series                                                                                                                                                6. The Little House series                                                                                                                                                7. The Homework Machine                                                                                                                                              8. Revenge of the Homework Machine                                                                                                                            9. Lost on a Mountain in Maine                                                                                                                                        10. The Saddle Club series

Farming Is………

Farming is getting up early in the morning and going to bed late at night..

Farming is working in snow, wind, rain, freezing temperatures and extreme heat..

Farming is thawing faucets in the winter and lugging buckets of water from the creek whenthe power goes out .

Farming is celebrating birth and remembering death, then getting up the next morning to start another day.

Farming is not just a job, but a way of life.

I can’t imagine my life any other way .

 

Christmas Baby

This Christmas Day my cow Barbie gave birth to a little baby girl named Behold. Barbie was not due to until New Years Eve, but lo and behold we went to the barn and there was a little calf, trying to stand up. Since she was almost a week early, she was tiny. But now she stands taller than my hip. Behold is on my cow Tweets milk and every time you set her bucket down in the stand, she immediately starts to drink and it only takes her 10 seconds. My family was originally going to be called Bota Boom, but we changed because she was born on Christmas.