Presbyouth

Psalm 37:23-24   The LORD makes firm the steps of the one who delights in him;  24   though he may stumble, he will not fall, for the LORD upholds him with his hand. 1 Peter 4:12-13 12   Dear friends, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal that has come on you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you.  13   But rejoice inasmuch as you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed. John 16:33 33   “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” Psalm 42:11  11   Why, my soul, are you downcast? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God. Depression is this horrible thing...it's a horrible thing that you're okay with. It is something that feels so helpless and so hopeless you've go

We don't want it to be. We want it to be a simple yes or no answer. We want clear lines. We want boundaries. But we also was the answer to align with what we want. We want to blur lines for our own happiness. We want to cross boundaries because it feels good. Until it doesn't feel good. Until it doesn't make us happy. Until we find out that it wasn't what we wanted at all. One of the most influential books for my life, When God Writes Your Love Story," but Eric and Leslie Ludy, opened my eyes to something I had never considered when it came to sex. In a chapter that Leslie writes, she says: "Maybe you have learned the hard lesson that casually giving yourself away physically causes incredible pain--you feel guilty, dirty and used afterwards. But have you ever though of your HEART as a treasure every bit as valuable as your physical purity?" Growing up in a small Lutheran Vs. Catholic town, I learned quickly and at a young age that sex was ba

What a brilliant young mind! Enjoy this video and be sure to take a look at the scripture for yourself as well :)

Psalm 139:23-24 Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting. As a rule, I'm not moved by the Psalms. Call it a season of my life where the Psalms aren't my thing, or whatever, but they just usually are a nice poem for me and nothing more. But this. This psalm, or chunk of one at least, is incredible to me. It stops me in my tracks just because and it moves me. Search me. Test me. See me. Lead me. First of all, we know God doesn't need to search anything--He knows my thoughts before I think them. Second, I can't really tell God to do anything. He's kind of the boss of the whole world and what I have to say is pretty mute in comparison. I think that's why I'm so compelled by this scripture. All four statements are pleas. The writer of this psalm is asking God to know his heart, to know his thoughts, to find every fault in him and then show h

The only thing cooler than digging into The Word and uncovering something you hadn't know before, if watching a teenager do it. If you didn't join us for Youth Group last night, you missed out! We started our series on Emotions and looked at Philippians 4:6-7. This scripture talks about Anxiety and how we shouldn't worry about anything. Instead, we should pray it out and God will give us peace. The catch phrase of the night quickly became "put prayer in-get peace out!" We studied The Word a little differently than we had before. Last night, and for the rest of the series, we looked at scripture by 'manuscripting." What that means is we broke it down into tiny chunks, asked what words meant in the original Greek, asked questions, looked at other texts that related to this particular idea, took notes, and highlighted everything that stuck out. This method of study is such a blast and I am so excited we took the time to do it because we learned some pr

Can also be the most outrageous time of year. It can be the kind of cold that actually makes you angry, and everyone is all germy and sick, and running around like chickens with their heads cut off because shopping and presents and meals and parties! Last week I missed the PresbYouth Christmas Party because I was the kind of sick where you would very much like an induced coma until your body is back to normal instead of some DayQuil and cough drops. I completely lost my voice and it hurt to even swallow water and I was freezing and exhausted and I am super dramatic and being a psychology major makes you a hypochondriac so I was surely dying of some sort of disease. I cried about missing the Christmas party. I wanted to go Caroling and tie blankets for the homeless and see my presbyouth babies before the holidays swallow them up and don't spit that back out until January 11th. But it's not a Kingdom Problem (PATent pending). The Party happened without me and I'm sure