Messiah Lutheran's Young Adults

2010 Kick-Off Dip-Off

2010-01-04T15:00:00.000-08:00

When: Sat Jan 23rd

Time: 6:00pm - till the dips are done!

Where: The Greytak's House 714.453.9113

What: A fun night of celebrating the new year and a friendly competition among the yo-ads! Bring your best home-made dip (veggi, fruit, savory, dessert...?) and be sure to keep it a secret! We'll vote at the end of the evening for the best dip! Winner gets to take home a prize!

We are also making this a sports-themed event in honor of the upcoming Super Bowl.. so be sure to show your team pride and wear your favorite team shirt, jersey or cap!

The dips will of course be the main event, however, we'll also have a light dinner of baked spaghetti!

We will send out an e-mail with our address and directions to those that sent in an RSVP. Please do not use mapquest it will not get you here.

Yo-Ad X-mas Party!

2009-11-20T15:39:00.000-08:00

Host:
Messiah Yo Ads Jenny

Location:
Jenny's house

When:
Sunday, December 6, 4:00PM

Phone:
714.532.1208

Come kick off the Christmas Season with your favoriate group of friends The Yo Ads. We will be meeting at Jenny's house at 4:00 p.m. ish and going till the time we think we can handle. Most of us do have jobs the next day.
Bring a white elephant gift. (this is a great time to hand down or re-gift items) :)
RSVP is prefered, but not required. Please bring a dish to share. main dish will be provided. Not determined yet... you know me. :)

Please contact Jenny to RSVP and let her know what dish you wanna bring! Hope to see you there!

October Yo Ads @ Jennifer Hitchcock's House

2009-10-09T14:07:00.000-07:00

October Yo Ads @ Jennifer Hitchcock's House

Host: Jennifer Hitchcock Location: Jennifer's House813 North Mountain View Place Fullerton , CA 92831 US

When: Sunday, October 25, 4:00PM to 9: 00

Phone: 714.931.9929

Come join us for our October Yo-Ads gathering at Jennifer’s House. We will be gathering from 4:00 pm till about 9:00. We will provide chicken, and burgers, water and some soda selections. Please bring an appetizer, side dish or dessert. Please RSVP with what you would like to bring so we can make sure that we have a well rounded selection. IWe will have some selections available. Come with your favorite hobby in mind as this will be incorporated into the evening. Bobbing for apples anyone? Come prepared to have a good time!

Yo-Ads are still in business...

2009-08-16T10:18:00.001-07:00

Hi Everyone!

Hope everyone had a great summer. Our next event will be a backyard conversation on Sunday, August 30, from 5:30 to 8:00pm . It will be at Pastor Ron's house & he will be grilling burgers and chicken. It's bring some food to share.

Address for Pastor Ron:

150 Anned Drive, Placentia, 92870.

(directions from church: take Yorba Linda Blvd. to Bradford & go south (left turn.) Right after Valencia high school & before you hit Chapman Ave. make a left on Anned Drive. It's the corner on the left side.)

To RSVP or for moreinfo contact Kristen @ ph#714-349-1155 or @ donkris@roadrunner.com.

Can't wait to see everyone there!!!! :)

Rich Lewis...

2009-04-23T10:25:00.000-07:00

Please pray for Rich Lewis! He has had two major heart attacks in the last 3 days and really needs our love and support to fight the upcoming battles! Rich is currently not strong enough to undergo bypass surgery, however with a lot of prayers and a wonderful medical teams we are hoping that he will be strong enough by this weekend!

Please keep those wonderful thoughts coming!!!

Success....

2009-02-22T10:58:00.000-08:00

So I think our first official night back as the Yo-Ad's was an absolute success!! We had a lot of great food.... excellent wine... and a great time getting to know eachother during the ever-exciting game of Apples to Apples!

Here are some pictures from our night together......

WELCOME.... Luke and Jennifer to the group!! So excited that you two were able to come and hang out with us!!

Ya... Jenny has super long arms...so she can take this picture!

CONGRATS... Freddie and Michael!!!

Brent, Marc, Sarah, Michael, Freddie, Sara, Jennifer, Luke and Jenny!
Awww.. group picture!!

So.. in usual Yo-Ad tradition.. I wanted to put our top 10 list together for the evening!

1) 9 corks and one screw top

2) Should have bought resolve BEFORE the party

3) Skinny Girl Margarita's next time

4) Jenny likes her salads "pre-mixed" with dressing (**wink wink**)

5) The name game always kicks a party into high gear

6) Brutus was extremely social last night

7) How many yo-ads does it take to set up the timer for a camera?

8) To facebook or not to facebook... that is the question??!!?

9) Bootcamp anyone?

10) GO POST your own fun memories from last night.........

POTLUCK!!!

2009-02-03T20:11:00.000-08:00

YOU ARE INVITED!!!

The (unofficial) first meeting of the 20-thirty year olds of Messiah Lutheran Church in 2009! We are having a potluck and we would love for you to attend!
We are having an Italian themed potluck with lots of pasta, bread, and of course good friendship and fellowship!

WHO: All 20-30 somethings interested in meeting others

WHEN: Saturday February 21st, 2009

WHERE: The Greytak Home

TIME: 6:00PM - ???

Please RSVP ASAP! Let me know what Italian themed food you want to share!

ssinclair.cbpt@gmail.com
or
http://messiahyoungadults.blogspot.com/

A lil' Get Together....

2009-01-18T16:20:00.001-08:00

Hi Everyone.....

We were thinkin about having a lil get together for the 20-30 somethings of Messiah on
Saturday Jan 31st!!
7:00pm
Maybe some dinner and drinks, some laughter and fellowship. Hopefully you all can attend.. please look in the Messiah Today for details or keep checkin the blog!!!

Cheers,

Sarah G

Happy Holidays!

2008-12-16T13:27:00.001-08:00

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!!

I hope this post finds all of you doing well and enjoying this holiday season with family and friends. Please check out Messiah's homepage for information on the Christmas services that are available!

www.messiahyl.com

Again, Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to each of you!

Poll question...

2008-12-01T19:07:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone..

Please check out the recent poll (per Sara S.) regarding our sunday night meeting times and a possible change! If you have any other suggestions or would like to throw out any other ideas please feel free to comment or e-mail!

Thanks. I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving!!

Cheers,
Sarah Greytak

Calling all young adults....

2008-10-02T08:18:00.001-07:00

This is a call to all of the young adults.. an opportunity to meet up, chat and introduce yourself to new memebers of the young adult clan!

When: Sunday October 5th, 2008

Time: 5:00 PM

Where: OZ on Messiah Lutheran's Campus

Who: Young Adults (discussing the bible study with Rustin)

Hope to see all of you there! Please contact Rustin Comer for more details. Rustycomer@comcast.net

Cheers!

Welcome Back...

2008-09-23T07:49:00.001-07:00

Hello and welcome back to the Messiah Blog for the YO-Ads... I know that its been a long long time and we are "hopping" that everyone is ready for a little young adult reunion of sorts! This summer has been a whirlwind for many and I'm sure that we all have quite a bit to catch up on and chat about!

With the loss of our fearless leader, P-Diddy, I think I became lost like all of the rest of our Yo-Ad clan. Hopefully this fall we can make a little turn around and make this group as fun, challenging and meaningful as we had all originally hoped!

With this change in season and without a "fearless" leader I was thinking that we'll have to manage this on our own and just start to put events together. So all of those Yo-Ads out there please post any ideas that you have for some fall fun... Camping? Dinner? Dip-off? Movie? Fall picnic? BBQ? Drinking? Bowling? I would love for some input so that we can get this new yo-ad group kicked off the right way. I would also love to see some NEW faces at our events!

So pass the word along.. the Yo-Ads are coming back and we are ready to make a difference for eachother, at Messiah and within the community. Please post your ideas and pass along your e-mail addresses to myeslf so that we can start a new e-mail list! ssinclair.cbpt@gmail.com

Miss you all! Hope to hear from you very very very soon! So get hopping.. XOXO.

Cheers, Sarah Greytak

unfinished bid-ness

2008-08-31T22:33:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone,

I miss you already, and it's only been a few weeks. I realize this blog was kind of left hanging, and that made me sad. Sara, I'm sorry we never got to touch base...

We are transitioning quite nicely into our new world, however. I've had this week off, and that's been sweeeeeet. We love our place in La Mesa. It's a bit of an old shack, but it's more space than Heather and I have ever had in our 10+ years together. Micah's having a blast playing outside. Every evening, he's covered in dirt.

I've been spending my time unpacking boxes, listening to the B52's which seems fitting ("...love shack, hmm, baby that's where it's at...") and, oh yeah, Heather's sister Jill had a baby up in Ventura County! We spent most of this week up there. Everyone's doing great. And I'm an uncle!

I start at ShoVal (that's "Shepherd of the Valley" to most people) on Tuesday. But I tell you, it won't be the same without you fabulous yo-ads...

This will be my last post, although I'll probably check in from time to time, if that's OK. I've "revoked" (blogspot's word, not mine) my admin priviliges and passed them on to Sara, Jenny, and Sarah (call my cell if you have any questions). This means between the three of you, or however you want to organize it, you can monitor posts, layout/update the page, revoke yourselves as administrators or anyone else's post. The YoAd Cafe is in your hands. [cue: "du, dit, dit, dit, di, di, du, dit, dit, I got the pow-a!"] Keep bloggin' it up, what a great tool for ministry and fun!

Love and laughter,
Pastor Dan

Save the YoAds

2008-08-27T22:34:00.001-07:00

Is anybody out there? Hello! Anyone . . . anyone

Hillarious satire to spice up your day

2008-07-23T10:34:00.000-07:00

http://youtube.com/watch?v=aYQy-0bz7tI

One of these guys, Donald Miller, is the author of one of our yo-ad recommended books in the right-hand column, Blue Like Jazz.

Summer Haps

2008-07-14T13:06:00.000-07:00

So, how's everyone's summer going? Any good travel stories? New friends? Funny jokes? Service projects?

We had an exciting reunion with our friends from seminary. Heather and I hosted a gathering of 15 in Pauma Valley at the beginning of the month. We rented this great "estate" with a private pool, so there was plenty of room for everyone. We went to the beach, showed off Yorba Linda, went wine tasting and just relaxed at the place--lots of card games. And my belly hurt from all the laughing we did. I came back feeling "vacatationed" (is that a word? is now.)

Had a great time at the First Lutheran Fullerton event last week! Thanks Jenny for makin' it happen. Together we yo-ads fed some 100 homeless folks, with the help of about 15 other Messiah volunteers. I'm still processing the whole experience, and if you couldn't make it, let me encourage you to sign up! Messiah does this every month.

What are others of you up to these days?

Question of the Week (It's back!)

2008-06-11T15:57:00.000-07:00

What are you most excited about this summer?

Chili Cook-off Competition??

2008-06-02T16:05:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone,

After seeing what a success the recent "Taste of Messiah" was, Marc and I were thinking that it would be a lot of fun to bring back a fun Chili Cook-Off Competition to Messiah. This could be a fun little event where individuals and groups could be involved in a friendly competition. We were thinking that you could make this a fun "church-wide" event with a little square-dancing, clogging or line dance activities as well.
How would it work? Well individuals or groups could enter the competition for a certain donation price ($20) and then make enough chili for ?? amount of people. Then of course we could invite the congregation to take place in the judging of the competition or we could have "special" judges for the event. The congregation could be asked to make donations when coming to eat or we could charge for "tickets" that would allow you to taste a chili. Buy the amount of tickets that you want to taste?? Anyways we could also then have sodas, water and corn-bread as a complementary thing.
Of course the winner would get some kind of cash prize or some other prize and of course bragging rights.
Any thoughts?? I just thought it could be a fun event and its a way for others to invite their friends, families and co-workers to come out and meet people at Messiah!

Let me know?? Its just a thought. I know that they did this some years ago and Marc said that it was a lot of fun......

Needing your help at the EDGE -- you'll thank me

2008-05-27T15:05:00.000-07:00

As you may or may not know, "the EDGE" is the name of our youth (jr&sr high) wor-ducation (worship + education) event on Sundays. This week I'd like you to be the main attraction!!!

In other words, I'd like to do "Speed Dating with the YoAds." Check this out: You sit down for 5 minutes with two kids, toss questions back and forth. Then when you hear the cow bell, you're on to the next to kids.

It's in the Joy Center at 10am, this Sunday, June 1. The youth have done this once before at the EDGE with the PrimeTimers (elderly folks), so now we're hitting another generation--ours! This might sound a little intimidating or weird, but seriously yo, it's amazing, a very unique experience, easy (just read the question if you don't know what to say), and I know we'll all benefit. So interesting too, to hear what kids are thinking. Last time we did this, the room was electric. Please let me know if you're "game" ASAP, and I'll add you to the list. Here are the questions they might hit you with you can think ahead...

1) When was a time in your life that you were scared?
2) What do you love about church?
3) What was it like to grow up in the 80’s?
4) Have you ever been in love?
5) Who’s your role model?
6) What’s the “coolest” place you’ve ever been?
7) Would you share one of your most embarrassing moments?
8) What advice would you give to someone my age about life?
9) When have you felt the closest to God?
10) What is your favorite movie about?

(and you don't have to answer anything you're not comfortable with)

Questions you could ask them:

1) What do you dislike about church?
2) What is your favorite YouTube clip?
3) What’s your favorite subject in school?
4) What about your parents “drives you crazy”?
5) Has God let you down? How does that impact your faith?
6) What do you want to do when you get out of college?
7) What’s the best movie you’ve seen lately?
8) Mac or PC? Lakers or Clippers? Doritos or Cheetos? Text or email?
9) When have you felt the closest to God?
10) What’s different about growing up now, compared to when I was?

or whatever else...

The new Indiana Jones movie

2008-05-22T19:42:00.000-07:00

Is anyone else going to go see the new Indiana Jones this weekend? I'm kind of curious to see if it will be as good as the other three Indiana Jones movies.

Who knew Lutherans could ever be funny?

2008-05-19T20:12:00.000-07:00

Check out this song about famous people who are Lutherans.

And a little Reformation rap to top it off...

cool meditation op

2008-05-07T14:38:00.000-07:00

So my friend, who does college ministry, passed this online resource on to me. It looks/sounds pretty cool, and I wanted to share it with you all.

If you're lookin' to kick your spiritual mo-jo up a notch...check this site out. I'd recommend taking one "point on the labyrinth" per day. You'll see what I mean when you get there. Set a little time aside. From the link, click "do it." Then kick off your shoes, and let a retro British accent, new age background music, and words of Scripture challenge, relax, center and enliven you for faithfulness.

Peace.

Dinner and Baseball!!!

2008-04-30T12:40:00.000-07:00

Hi Everyone,

I know that I sent this out in e-mail form, however, I know that we have some people that have yet to join our massive e-mail list!!! I just want to put out an invitation to our upcoming Yo-Ad events....

BBQ: May 17th 6pm

Baseball Game: We are looking to make a trip to Angel Stadium for some tailgating and and exciting game in August. (23rd or 30th??)

If you are interested in attending either event please contact Pastor Dan from Messiah to get information!! We truly hope that all of your can make it.....

Pastor Dan's Quandary

2008-04-30T11:33:00.000-07:00

So I've been wondering if we should make this blog "by invitation only," and I'd like your feedback.

What if we closed it to the public, but all yo-ads and friends would be welcome, upon request or invitation. Then we'd have more of a sense of who was reading.

Right now it's a free-for-all. Anyone can read and comment. I don't know about you, but there's just something about having my thoughts and feelings on faith and life broadcast to the congregation, the internet and the universe that makes me a little hesitant to share. So my posts have been for the most part pretty generic.

But what are your thoughts? Would changing this leave the wrong impression that we are secretive or not as welcoming?

Communiversity "Thank You" from Pastor Ron

2008-04-24T16:45:00.000-07:00

I'm going to be sad next week because Communiversity is over.

Maybe we should meet anyway, and play Apples to Apples or something...

Jenny's a Rockstar!

2008-04-16T10:22:00.000-07:00

So, actually everyone "rocked it" on Tuesday night at Communiversity! We had a great group. But a special thanks to Jenny for preparing and facilitating our conversation on Mental Wholeness.

I've been thinking about all the great things that were said, and was inspired this morning to check myself "into the moment,"to practice statio (see earlier comment under "This Week at Communiversity" for explanation of statio)...and it was great. I know I introduced the concept a week before, but it was your comments last night that actually inspired me to try it myself. So thank you all for being so awesome.

Have a great tail-end of the week, and we'll see you this weekend or next Tuesday, hopefully. We'll meet in Pastor Bob's office again, but then go out. Talk to me about where...

P.S. And what's the word on volunteering at the soup kitchen in Fullerton?

Communiversity: And the Beat Goes On...

2008-04-11T10:57:00.000-07:00

This week, Jenny leads us in a conversation on mental wholeness, not to be confused with mental hole-ness.

Come check it out, this Tuesday, 7pm, Pastor Bob's office again.

Then on April 22nd, Yo-Ad Communiversity goes offsite to celebrate. Celebrate what? Earth Day, Life in general, the greatness of Yo-Adness...you pick. But make plans to join us.

This week at Communiversity

2008-04-07T16:15:00.000-07:00

Sounds like we had a good showing and good conversation at last week's Communiversity. Thanks Sarah for coming through like a rock star! So now what?

I'm willing to take the lead this week and talk about Spiritual Wholeness. Tuesday, 7pm, in Pastor Bob's office.

But here are some questions for us all to think about before we gather...

1) What are some ways that you "move in the direction of" Spiritual Wholeness (since we can never fully attain it)? In other words, how do you practice your spirituality in a healthy way?

2) When was a time in your life that you felt "closest to God"?

3) What role has the church played (or not played) in your spirituality?

Then for our last 2 Communiversity's, how's this sound:

- Jenny on Vocational & Intellectual Wholeness -- April 15

- Michael on Psychological Wholeness (if available) -- April 22 (Earth Day)

Holla.

Communiversity Plans

2008-03-25T23:24:00.000-07:00

So, should we get together and talk more about Communiversity? I would say yes, even if there's not too many sign-ups at this point. Hey, less pressure. Remember, we were doing a 4-week thing on different aspects of health and wholeness. Here's a suggested "schedule"...you let me know what you think:

-April 1 -- Michael on Mental
-April 8 -- Sarah on Physical
-April 15 -- Jenny on Vocational & Intellectual
-April 22 -- Dan on Spiritual

p.s. Does anybody still read this blog? Bueller, Bueller?

Slightly more serious Q-of-the-W

2008-03-15T17:07:00.000-07:00

Lately it seems like a lot of bad stuff has been going down. Bad stuff? Maybe more like sad stuff. Or maybe more like things that just really suck, to put it crudely. Examples? 1) A recent shooting that took place in our quiet community of Yorba Linda. A father came home and literally unloaded on his family killing his wife and children before turning the gun on himself. Numbing. 2) A friend gets word that his brother has cancer. Heart sinks to your toes. 3) Infidelity rips another marriage apart. Anger, concern for the children, confusion all around. 4) Unrest, or perhaps you could call it "dis-ease," about life-in-general keeps creeping in, when all I want is a little peace.

This isn't about just me. I sense we all struggle with "things that really suck" in some form or another from time to time, if not all the time. My question is...

When the really bad stuff goes down, where/how/do you see or experience God?

Question of the week:

2008-03-06T14:08:00.000-08:00

YoAd Visioning

2008-02-27T15:01:00.000-08:00

So, as a congregation we are doing some vision-casting, goal setting, bla, bla, bla. I’ve been asked to craft some one- and three-year outcomes for young adult ministry, and I didn’t want to do this without your feedback. Here’s what I came up with off the top of my head, but it’s all up for discussion. What are your thoughts? I’m grounding everything in conversations we've had and our overarching vision for ministry at Messiah: “Joyfully Growing to Know, Love, and Serve.” It’s kind of a fun process, but it seems stupid doing it alone…Help!

YOUNG ADULT MINISTRY

In One Year:
+ Joyfully growing to Know (education and challenging each other):
* Continue to maintain the young adult blog, keeping conversation about important issues affecting young adults in Orange County fresh, relevant, challenging, faithful and open for all
+ Joyfully growing to Love (social stuff and caring for each other):
* Have each of our regular attendees bring aboard at least one new member to our group.
* As group members are willing and able, involvement with our High School program starts to happen, as young adults become mentors, chaperones and/or small group leaders at youth ministry events.
* They become intentional about linking up with other ministries in the church—worship leadership, Communiversity, children’s ministry, Chicks with Sticks, Living
Vine, Men’s Ministry.
+ Joyfully growing to Serve (outreach and connecting with the world "out there"):
* The YoAds of Messiah will get more involved in service projects in the next year, namely the food bank at First Lutheran. Serving once every two months would be the goal!

In Three Years:
+ Joyfully growing to Know:
* The regular monthly meetings are still going.
* Blog is still going.
* The group now travels once a year together to church-related educational young adult gatherings.
+ Joyfully growing to Love:
* The group has progressed to the point of being a critical source of support for one another in difficult times.
* There are now in existence several small groups of High School students which
are led by Young Adults. The groups share in bible study and social activities.
+ Joyfully growing to Serve:
* The YoAds are regular participants in Messiah’s mission trips.
* They, or at least their voice, is naturally represented on Church Council and therefore in the life and fabric of the congregation.
* Service projects every two months are still happening.

Yo-Add Get Together....

2008-02-24T16:43:00.000-08:00

Hey there... well we officially made it through the 1st Yo-Ad Dip-Off.. and we even remember to take a picture at the end of the night!!

WINNERS: 1st place, Jenny 2nd place, Michael 3rd place, Sara

It was lots of fun, I hope that all of you can make it to our next get together or the camping trip!

Issues discussed:

1) Mind, Body and Spirit ("the Yo-Ads Perspective on...???")

2) Soup Kitchen

3) Delicious dips

4) Turning breech babies! (heat on the pinky toe!)

5) Dunkin Dounuts coffee @ Target.. FINALLY!!

6) Camping? whose with us? what are YOU bringing?

7) BRUTUS!!!

8) To take or not to take the dog training test....

9) Mr. Hazen (Wanna "split" a beer).. and does he really talk like that...

10) Too much other stuff... it was all great!!

See ya'll next time!!!

Communiversity, yo!

2008-02-21T15:55:00.000-08:00

So, every Fall and Spring, we at Messiah have this great 4-week Tuesday night opportunity called Communiversity. It’s just a cool way to get together and learn something, as we offer about four different “classes” on a wide range of topics. We’re coming up on another Communiversity in April, and yours truly is wondering about doing a yo-ad friendly course.

I've got two questions for you: 1) would you consider attending something like this, i.e. how do Tuesday nights look for you? 2) what kind of course would be interesting for you. I’m looking back to that first conversation on the blog and it’s getting me thinking…

Your thoughts, ideas, comments, rsvps?

Journey into the wilderness, anyone?

2008-02-18T08:43:00.000-08:00

"...who goes before you on the way to seek out a place for you to camp, in fire by night, in cloud by day, to show you the route you should take." Deuteronomy 1:33

Camping trip is on!! March 7th. I'll be sending out details by email. Let's be in touch!

Just to get you in the mood...

Ash Wednesday

2008-02-06T15:36:00.000-08:00

As an Ash Wednesday reflection I wanted to share a provacative and poetic little ditty with you. This is an exerpt from the Sarcastic Lutheran's Ash Wednesday reflection (her blog is listed on side column links). I'm going to use this tonight at Messiah's Ash Wednesday service. What are your thoughts?

We as the body of Christ are not as some would contend, an oasis in the desert, we are a desert in the oasis*. A place amidst the sickeningly sweet buffet of empty calories: double-shot half-caf no foam mochachinos, iphones, 401k’s, the you-deserve-a-break-today deep fried culture of the self-obsessed. We in the diabetic coma of self absorption are at times vaguely, silently aware that we have gorged on the promises of the American Dream yet are left hungry. This Coke classic, Coke zero, Diet Coke nursemaid has left us stuffed and totally empty. We come here to this odd place amongst odd people to do the odd thing of being told that we are dust and to dust we shall return. Even the Botox turns to dust, even the pilates lengthened muscles, the 12 essential vitamins and minerals and the bottled water. We are told that we can live forever with the right combinations of exercise, diet, and elective surgery. But we know in those inevitable moments of disquieting silence that the oasis is not all it’s cracked up to be and again we enter the desert where we can no longer turn from the inevitable dust. This desert in which the seemingly impossible happens, namely that destructive self centeredness is transformed into cruciform living. This reconciliation to God, this returning is not to a blissful, heavenly paradise of harps and angels but is to the desert through which we follow the Lamb to be slain. Today on this desert adventure we begin with the Wednesday of our mortality …we are dust and we end on the Friday of God’s mortality and to dust we return. Again and again. Dust and return. Life and renewal. Pain and Carnaval**. Ash Wednesday which some people complain is “too depressing” …. yes God forbid something not be happy clappy in this death-denying culture.

Q-a-Week?

2008-02-03T20:25:00.000-08:00

So in addition to our regular communicating here, I was wondering about doing a question-a-week. No one would be obligated to answer the question on the blog, but just something to keep us thinking and chatting and supporting one another in the challenges of young adulthood in our context. I certainly don't always have to be the only one posing the questions, either. What would you all think of me assigning each of you regular yo-ad bloggers one week to pose the question? Again, nothing mandatory, and you could post anytime during "your week." And feel free to say, "No, you crazy!" But just a few thoughts that lead into a question is what I was thinking. Here, I'll take a shot at getting it started:

One of my favorite of the 10 Commandments is "Remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy." When I was growing up, I must have been taught that this just meant "go to church." But, I've come to a broader understanding, and if I could paraphrase that command now, I'd say it like this: "Don't forget to practice 'intentional chillin' out.' Don't just relax but remember that your resting and re-centering is actually holy activity. It's pleasing to God to STOP." Now certainly worship is an important and central part of this. But honestly, that's been hard for me, since the main part of my job is to lead worship...and that means work, not rest. So I've had to find other ways to 'do Sabbath' and worship.

Here's my question, ok questions: Do you all feel like you are able to practice Sabbath in your busy lives? If not, what is it that's preventing you? If so, how do you "remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy"?

Get-together?

2008-01-29T18:49:00.000-08:00

I know some people have already asked about this, but when is our next get-together? (or should we not publish this on the blog??) just asking...

Be not afraid?

2008-01-26T08:53:00.001-08:00

Wow!! It looks like this blog is taking off nicely. I'm really excited about this new avenue for communication because, given the comments about "not enough time," blogging is really something we can do whenever. Unlike a phone ringing or a someone walking into your office--things you have to deal with on the spot--I guess blogging is great because you can do it "off the spot."

So this is a picture of where I was this week: Tijuana, Mexico. But this was no spring break escapade. I was at a conference on justice and poverty. From Monday to Thursday, I and about 120 other religious folks (Lutherans and Catholics mostly, but also Presbyterians, Methodists, Jews, Unitarian Universalists) lived with migrants, most of whom have been deported from the United States becasue of their undocumented status. We heard their stories; many had been living in the U.S. for years, even decades, and looked like deer in the headlights, back in Mexico separated from family...not knowing what comes next.

We used the facility where they were staying, Casa del Migrante, which was kind of like a third world Embassy Suites, for this conference. The organizers of the event figured it would be better to talk about these issues in the midst of them, rather than at a 5-star hotel in San Diego. We heard from a bunch of brilliant and provacative speakers. The theme was "Be Not Afraid," words that Jesus spoke many times to his followers.

Anyway, I mention all this now, because as I think about the great question that Michael asks in previous comments (and forgive the paraphrase)--How does one discern what God wants vs. what we want?--it occurs to me that what God wants me to do with my life often involves fear. In some cases, dare I say, I actually have the audacity to know what God wants: When people are hungry or lost or rejected or simply just ignored, I'm pretty much positive that God wants them cared for...by me/us. God isn't just sitting there going, "Yeah, yeah, that's just the way it is...hey, someone want to pass the brocolli?" (because you know God be eatin' brocolli at the divine banquet) The problem is...knowing what matters to God scares the b'jesus out of me! Knowing that God is present with the lost and forsaken, even if I'm not...gets on my nerves...because it makes me start to think. I hate it, I kind of hate going to events like this because they crack me open and make me ask some frightening questions.

What are some things you fear?

Camping Trip!!?!!

2008-01-23T12:54:00.000-08:00

Hello my fellow Yo-Ad's!

Well I have been put in charge of putting together an awesome camping trip out at the ISLAND! I have been looking at the calendar, the website and trying to filter all of the date requests and so now I need a little help.....

The campsite (which is awesome) has the following dates available: (e-mail me directly if you want to know more about the site!...Can't be giving the info to the whole cyberspace universe..)

Aug 15-17
Aug 22-24
Sept 12-14
Sept 19-21

There are also dates further out, however I think warm weather camping is a must at Catalina! Now, I would really appreciate some feedback about the various dates and when you would be able to attend our lovely outdoor adventure! The reservations are filling up fast, so lets get this ironed out as much as possible now! SO...

1) Rank the dates
2) How many people will be attending with you? (remember this is a great opportunity to introduce those from outside the normal Messiah Yo-Ad group!)

Thanks for the feedback!!!
--Sarah

Welcome friends!

2008-01-17T02:27:00.000-08:00

Well, this is a test.

Last time at our Young Adult Gathering, we tossed around the idea of bloggin' it up...and here we are. We can use this site for having discussions, posting announcements, thoughts, prayer concerns and humor. It's for you to enjoy and use in a way that works best for you. (Please remember that this is public, so we want to think about what we post and what we don't...directions, pictures, personal info, etc.)

As for me, I just look forward to being in touch...more than once a month!

What if I kick this thing off with two discussion questions:
1) What would you say are the top 3 challenges for 20&30-something people of faith, living in Orange County, USA?
2) How can this blog best suit your needs?