Columbine

Hello everybody. I hope all of you are having a great Monday. Just think, this is the last week of school before winter break for some of you guys! Isn't that an awesome thought? Well, I hope you are all well and fully charged up for the week. Here is a devotion from Dare2share.org to help. It is about the Columbine shootings that took place in 1999, but don't worry, it isn't very graphic. Hope you find courage through this message.

Five years ago today, my life was absolutely turned upside down. Life as I knew it would never be the same again...

On the morning of April 20, 1999 I had not a care in the world. In fact, I was excited about life, and the bright future ahead of me. I was a junior at Columbine High School, with plans and dreams beyond the imagination. I was just sixteen years old, my life was only beginning. I had my driver's license and I could go anywhere or do anything I wanted to do. On that particular morning as I headed off to school, the biggest concern on my mind was passing my physics test later that afternoon.

11:10 am would find me spending my lunch hour with two of my close friends in the school library in preparation for the test.

11:15 am a teacher came running through the doors screaming, "THERE'S GUYS WITH GUNS AND BOMBS IN THE SCHOOL!" My friends and I were confused, surely not here, not at Columbine High School. We lived in a nice area, where nothing bad ever happened, so we found it hard to believe the warnings. We honestly thought it was a joke and we ignored the teacher's plea to get under our tables. After the teacher entered, one of my classmates ran through the doors stumbling to the ground. All color was gone from his face, and he lifted his hand that had been clutching his shoulder to reveal the shot wound, dripping with blood. We began to take things a bit more seriously, yet it was too late to run, all we could do was hide. Although it wasn't much, we found shelter under the small wooden table, and wrapped our bodies around one another.

My friend Seth turned to us and said, "Start praying, I don't know what is happening, but only God will get us through." I began praying, and asking for the horror to end, and for the police to save us. But instead of ending, it got worse. I could hear screams in the halls, and the sounds of guns and bombs coming closer and closer and closer.

Suddenly, the two killers: Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris were in the library telling everyone to stand up. We stayed where we were, and listened as they began their campaign of terror throughout the room. They were picking out students by their physical appearance, such as weight, and skin color, as well as the religious beliefs of several students. They approached several students that day, including Rachel Scott and Cassie Bernall and asking them if they believed in God. Each girl answered YES, and they were killed. I shook uncontrollably under the table waiting for my turn to die. The fire alarms rang out the emergency, the strobe lights flashed, innocent children screamed, and smoke filled the air making it impossible to breathe. Dylan and Eric yelled, "WHOSE NEXT? WHO WANTS TO DIE NEXT?"

I waited for the sharp pain, I waited to meet death face to face, but quickly I uttered a desperate prayer to God saying, "God if you are real, get me out of here alive and I will serve You! Lord I didn't understand then, but now I understand, God I will live for You, just spare my life!" You see prior to this day, I was a party girl. I was concerned about what others thought and being popular. I would drink, try drugs, and mess around with guys, but none of that seemed to make any sense. If I was going to die, I wanted to go to Heaven. Suddenly my worst fear came true as the boys approached the area where we were. They were pushing in chairs to get through, and pushed one into my arm, I could hear them talking, and knew it was my time. Yet, they talked about running out of ammunition. At that point they exited the library and went to reload their guns. We knew they would return, but we found a small window of opportunity and we made our escape.

By the grace of God, I live today to tell my story. I wanted to share this story with you today to encourage you with two main things. First, that you would make a decision to live for Christ. If you are already a Christian, I invite you to take your relationship with Him to a new level. In addition, I ask that you would be bold in sharing the faith you possess. Tell everyone you know about the greatest message ever told! The life changing message of the Gospel. If you have never accepted Christ, I would like to invite you to do so now. There is no better time. We have no certainties in our lives, therefore, we must not wait! I promise that you will not regret this decision.

I want to share how you can come to know Christ as your personal Lord and Savior right now. First and foremost, know with all your heart, that you were created by God to be with Him. He loves you and He is seeking your heart. He desires a relationship with you. Next, you must confess that you are a sinner and you need to be saved. There is nothing you can do on your own, you need Him. You need Him, because He is the only one who can save. God sent His one and only Son to die a brutal death on the cross, to take on your sins and defeat death once and for all. All you have to do is believe this to be true, invite Jesus to come into your heart, and you will have the full assurance of spending eternity with Him, forever! If you did this for the first time ever, WELCOME TO THE FAMILY!

Lastly, I want to encourage you as you will face trials and struggles of many kinds. They are hard, yet they build our character, and refine us more than any other time in our lives. One of my favorite scriptures is Romans 5:3 it says, "... we rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance character; and character; hope." If we allow God to heal our brokenness and restore us through all the junk in our lives, He will do amazing things! I am not defined by this horrible tragedy in my life, rather I am more of who I am today because of what I experienced. I am thankful for who I am in Christ, and I would never want to go back to the life I used to live! No matter, what it is you are going through, God's grace is sufficient for you today and everyday!

Today as you go through your day, please remember the 13 who were killed as well as their families, the many wounded, the physically unharmed students and the community who still fights to survive.

Are you a Cracked Pot?

Cracked Pots

Hey guys, Hope you guys are all having a great Friday and looking forward to a good weekend. Here is a devotion from the folks over at creativeyouthideas.com about being broken. Hope it helps someone today.

A water bearer in India had two large pots, each hung on each end of a pole which he carried across his neck. One of the pots had a crack in it, and while the other pot was perfect and always delivered a full portion of water at the end of the long walk from the stream to the master's house, the cracked pot arrived only half full. For a full two years this went on daily, with the bearer delivering only one and a half pots full of water in his master's house. Of course, the perfect pot was proud of its accomplishments, perfect to the end for which it was made. But the poor cracked pot was ashamed of its own imperfection, and miserable that it was able to accomplish only half of what it had been made to do.

After two years of what it perceived to be a bitter failure, it spoke to the water bearer one day by the stream. "I am ashamed of myself, and I want to apologize to you."

"Why?" asked the bearer. "What are you ashamed of?"

"I have been able, for these past two years, to deliver only half my load because this crack in my side causes water to leak out all the way back to your master's house. Because of my flaws, you have to do all of this work, and you don't get full value from your efforts," the pot said.

The water bearer felt sorry for the old cracked pot, and in his compassion he said, "As we return to the master's house, I want you to notice the beautiful flowers along the path."

Indeed, as they went up the hill, the old cracked pot took notice of the sun warming the beautiful wild flowers on the side of the path, and this cheered it some. But at the end of the trail, it still felt bad because it had leaked out half its load, and so again it apologized to the bearer for its failure.

The bearer said to the pot, "Did you notice that there were flowers only on your side of your path, but not on the other pot's side? That's because I have always known about your flaw, and I took advantage of it. I planted flower seeds on your side of the path, and every day while we walk back from the stream, you've watered them. For two years I have been able to pick these beautiful flowers to decorate my master's table. Without you being just the way you are, he would not have this beauty to grace his house."

Each of us has our own unique flaws. We are all cracked pots. But if we will allow it, the Lord will use our flaws to grace His Father's table. In God's great economy, nothing goes to waste. So as we seek ways to minister together, and as God calls you to the tasks He has appointed for you, don't be afraid of your flaws. Acknowledge them, and allow Him to take advantage of them, and you, too, can be the cause of beauty in His pathway.

Oh Captain

Hey everybody. Hope you all are having a good week. I honestly just can't wait for the weekend. This week is a rollercoaster of feelings. Well, here is a devotion from the nice people over at www.yfc.org about leadership. Sorry about the background, I tried everything I know to do to get it to go away, but it would not stop having a white background. Oh well, hope you guys enjoy it!

This year I began to coach a Junior High Soccer team. With it come many joys, defeats, and emotions. Toward the beginning of the season we saw a real leader emerge from our team. We appointed her captain because, she had true joy and enthusiasm for the sport and her piers, respected by all, a voice that the entire team listened, and She was a natural leader. 

As the weeks moved on she saw that many of her team mates had scored goals. She began to think that goals was the glory of our team. She playing in the center of our field had shown true leadership and had a huge voice on the team. 

Jealousy creped in.She lost sight of her key position on our team, because her emotions got the best of her. She chose to defy her coaches and and left the team stunded as to why she didn't trust us. Moments later we took her out of the game, she was in tears but still had not grasped the reality of what was most important, she was a leader on this team, and had become a poor example to her teammates.  

God's Story

1 Timothy 4:12

New International Version 

Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith and in purity.

What does Today's God's Story Scripture teach us about being an example?

God calls us to set an example, but what does that mean in our lives? Timothy was young in his ministry and life and these words spoken to he say a lot. Five large areas of life that are given to Timothy to focus on: Speech, conduct, Love, Faith, and in Purity. These are areas were even adults struggle in. The advantage is God is calling attention to this at his young age so that he might grasp and hold on to this deep knowledge at a young age as something to be striving for, as well as give him the courage to see that if he upheld these 5 things that he could hold his head up high as a respectful person. 

My Story

How can I connect today's God's Story to my life?

What does it mean to you to set an example? Are you allowing your emotions to get in the way of the example you set for your friends, or teammates, or classmates? Take some time this week to ask God, and spend time dwelling on:

Lord do I set an example in:

Do I set and EXAMPLE in my Speech?

Do I set and EXAMPLE in my Conduct?

Do I set and EXAMPLE in Love?

Do I set and EXAMPLE in My Faith?

Do I set and EXAMPLE in Purity?

Take time with each one and allow God to speak to your heart and lead you on which area God is proud of you in. Pick one that God has especially laid on your heart and make that your focus this week. Come back to the reality of being a captain...what has God made you a captain in? 

Their Story

How can I connect today's Story, God's Story, & My story to others?

As you have spent time with "you and God" as you have been working on things in your life begin a journey of living it out for your friends. See that you are a leader, that you set an example. appologise for times when your ego, or pride got in the way of you being real with your friends.