The family gathered to experience this miracle of technology for the first time.  Their first experience with Technicolor would be The Wizard of Oz.  As those of us who grew up watching Dorothy and all of her friends in color know, Kansas is black and white.  Oz is in color.  However, my grandparents had never seen The Wizard of Oz  in color, so they didn’t understand why Dorothy was singing “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” still in the archaic world of black and white.

                My grandmother quickly set about trying to readjust the color on set, wondering what was wrong with the brand new TV.  By the time Dorothy landed in Oz, the ruby slippers were more like emerald slippers and Glenda was a funny shade of purple.  According to my mother’s recollection of the experience, the color never did get back to normal after all of the adjustments.  The keys on Jo Ann Castle’s piano were always sort of a greenish-yellow color and Opie’s hair always looked a little more of a purplish hue than strawberry blond.  No one ever complained, though.  They were glad to finally see everything in color (even if the colors were a little skewed).

                Sometimes, if feels like I’m still viewing the world in black and white when I know that there’s a whole Technicolor world to see.  1 Corinthians 13:12 (NIV) says, “Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face.  Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.”  The way that we see the world right now is not really the way things are.  There’s a whole full-color world of the Spirit going on around us all the time.

1.  Apparently, if you’re offering free hugs (wearing a handwritten sign or homemeade t-shirt) you can hug complete strangers and they can’t be mad at you.

2.  There’s a Children’s Sermon category.  Who knew?  I think it’s pretty awesome.  Preach to those little munchkins!

3.  I met a girl the other day who does a puppet solo with seven (7) puppets.  Now, I know I’m tired, but by my calculations even if she can sit on a chair without putting her feet on the ground (which is a feat in and of itself) and uses her head to man a puppet, she has at least two puppets unmanned.  I think there must be magic involved somehow.  I hope I can sneak away from the booth to see this feat!

 Anyway, I’m having a phenomenal time.  Hopefully, some of my new friends are getting to read this in their hotel rooms while enjoying the use of their free Wi-Fi.  Unfortunately, I’m writing this blog from an undisclosed location in the Charlotte Convention Center since our hotel is charging $9.95 per day for Wi-Fi.  If you ask me, this is highway robbery since you can now get free Wi-Fi at McDonald’s.

Anyway, hope to get to meet even more of you! And I’m so glad I’ve already gotten to meet those of you who I’ve already met!

We’re really excited to be partnering with both National Youth Ministries and Royal Rangers for this event!  If you’re taking a group of kids to compete in Fine Arts, participate in the Mega Sports Camp AIM outreach, or compete the 3-on-3 b-ball tournament, take a minute to stop by our booth.   We’ll be right across from the results monitors in the exhibit hall.

I’d love to meet you and talk with you, so I hope to see you there!

One of the most memorable customers was the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen. By magazine cover standards, her beauty probably wouldn’t have made any covers. She was probably in her mid-60s. She had grayish-white hair and looked like your run-of-the-mill grandma, except for one very distinguishable feature. She smiled all the time. She even had these great dimples that served as exclamation points on either side of her pleasantly upturned mouth.

As she talked she called me “sweetie” and “honey” and smiled, and I would have given her anything in the store if she would have told me she needed it. I wanted her to shop in the store every day that we were open! All of her smiling made me wonder what she had to smile about. She didn’t look particularly wealthy. She had a nice husband who shopped with her sometimes, and she looked like a grandma, so I figured she probably had children and grandchildren. I hoped she was a believer, because I figured her smile would be an incredibly effective witnessing tool.

My experiences with this beautiful smiley woman made such an impact on me that I decided to make a conscious effort to smile more often. I quickly realized that it’s a little harder than it looks, but with practice it gets a little easier. As I started practicing, I noticed that people smiled back. Smiling more made me want to be nicer. People started being nicer back.

We do everything at warp speed these days, and I think it surprises people when we stop, look them in the eye, and flash our pearly white smile at them. So, do your own smile experiment and let me know how it goes!

When I was in middle school, I counted my youth pastor’s wife as one of my dearest friends. I loved to spend time with her. We didn’t even have to be doing anything special. Sometimes she would pick me up after school to grab a Coke and talk. Other times, I would come along with her as she ran errands or help her clean her house. The whole time, she was pouring into my life, helping me make decisions and learn how to be a godly woman.

I knew that she cared about me, so I hung on every word she said. I knew that I could share anything with her. When things were going on in my life that I didn’t feel comfortable talking with my parents about, I’d go to her first. She would always direct me to go to my parents, but she’d help me figure out how to bring it up with them.

Even as a middle-school student, she and her husband let me take on responsibilities in youth group and our small group. I felt like they trusted me, and this motivated me to rise to the challenge. Because I respected her and wanted to be like her, I wanted to be a leader to the students around me. She helped me start an after school Bible study in my middle school. The lessons I learned during this time in my life really laid the foundation for my spiritual growth later in life.

I remember very few sermons from that time in my life, but I absolutely remember the godly example she showed me. The relationship I had with her was ministry. Perhaps not ministry in the traditional church sense, but it definitely looked a lot like Jesus’ ministry to His disciples.

As we build relationships with our girls, we are ministering to them. Our girls may not remember all of the sermons they hear during their teen years, but they will remember the impact of the relationships we build with them. Many times, our girls are capable of great things. They just need a trusted leader to encourage them to step out in faith.

This leader and I have stayed in touch and she still influences my life. I am so thankful for the investment she made in my life.

Finally, an alternative is emerging. Hayley DiMarco’s Hungry Planet company has released their version of a social networking website free from ads. (If you’re not familiar with Hayley DiMarco, you can find out more information about her, her books, and other resources at www.hungryplanet.net.)

You can find ifuse by going to www.ifuse.com. This is an equally cool-looking alternative to the other social networking sites available.

Not only is this site ad-free, but the discussion boards feature topics like witnessing and modesty. Though I will miss the innumerable offers to “get free cell phone rings here,” (not) I’m planning to become a regular on the ifuse website.

Stop by and check it out for yourself!

 Our goal is to facilitate a ministry network where district Girls Ministries directors, local Mpact Girls Clubs, TGM, and general Girls Ministries leaders can share ideas, resources, comments, prayer requests, encouragement, or simply find a place to connect with other leaders across the country.

The forum will also provide a point of contact with the NGM staff and will serve as a channel of communication to disseminate information and updates to you in a timely fashion.  We believe this forum will place valuable resources at your fingertips as you glean from the creativity and experience of other NGM leaders.

Join the group at http://forums.ag.org/ngm

Enjoy your connection!

One of the books that had an enormous impact on this process was Celebration of Discipline by Richard Foster.  This book was required reading during my first semester of college.  Because it was required reading written before I was born by a guy I’d never heard of, I initially wrote it off as something that was probably too boring to actually read, but because it was my first semester, I decided to get off to the right start and really read the book.

As soon as I started reading, I realized how practical and applicable this book was.  This book helped me to establish a pattern early on in my college life of spending consistent time with the Lord.

This spring, my fellow small group leaders and I started talking about books to do with our girls group for the summer.  When I thought of the most influential books in my own spiritual life, I immediately thought of Celebration of Discipline.  Initially, I thought it might be a little too deep for summer reading for teenage girls.

We decided to forge ahead.  Our girls have really enjoyed our discussions.  It’s been fun to watch them eat up the principles in this book.

If you haven’t read this book yet, I highly recommend it.  If you’ve already read it, it’s definitely worth reading again.  It’s also a great book for girls who are really wanting to forge ahead and move deeper in their relationship with the Lord.

When I got home on the dawn of my weekend of relaxation, I heard a subtle beep. I checked my cell phone to see if I’d missed a call. Strange. No missed call. I thought maybe my ears had been playing tricks on me. About a minute later, I heard the same subtle beep. I tried to follow the sound.

After several minutes of following the sound, I discovered the culprit. Much to my dismay, I found myself at the end of the hallway near my bedroom, directly under the smoke detector. Beep… Beep…

OK, I thought to myself, I’m an adult. It’s probably just a dead battery, right? I can handle this. I had to leave the house anyway, so I picked up a battery on the way home (a two-pack, just in case).

I deftly changed the battery and pressed reset. Time to relax.

Beep.

It can’t be! I quickly exchanged battery number one for battery number two. Reset and…beep.

I removed the cover only to find that the smoke detector had a lot of ominous looking wires. I didn’t feel very confident with my electrical skills, so I thought disconnecting any wiring probably wouldn’t end well.

Maybe it’s not so bad, I thought. The beeping wasn’t very loud from the living room. I decided to sleep on the couch. It couldn’t possibly keep me awake all night.

Actually, it could. And it did.

The next morning, I looked at the culprit accusingly with bloodshot eyes. This was war. I tried everything I knew to try. I played with the circuit box, I tried the other battery, and I tried holding down the reset button at varying lengths of time. I tried to call the fire department. Because it was the weekend, there was no answer, and the all-too-pleasant voice on the answering machine said it could take up to two weeks. Two weeks? I was pretty sure my sanity would be long gone if this went on for two weeks. I even tried praying that the smoke detector would stop beeping “In the name of Jesus!” I know the Lord could have put me out of my misery, but I think He may have wanted me to learn something from this blessed event. (Go figure!)

I was down to my last nerve. I decided to try to freshen up and ignore the noise. I turned on a worship CD (even though I didn’t much feel like worshipping the Lord if He was choosing not to deliver me from my trials – remember my sleep deprivation at this point). As the music started to play, I realized that I couldn’t really hear the beeping noise above the music.

In hindsight, I’m reminded of Isaiah 30:21 (NIV) “Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, ‘This is the way; walk in it.’”

We have a choice in what we listen to. I could have listened to the deathly beeping sound for the rest of the weekend and ended up with little sleep and a crummy attitude. Instead, I listened to music (and later even a movie) that caused the annoying beeping sound to go away. When we focus on the voice of the Lord encouraging and guiding us, it becomes easier to tune out the negative, distracting voices.

So, what are you listening to?

The rest of the story: I found out a couple of days later that I had been fiddling with the wrong smoke detector. There are four smoke detectors in close proximity to one another in our upstairs hallway blocked from view by doorframes. I was, unfortunately, unaware of this helpful little tidbit of information until it was a little too late. So, I’ve been able to sleep peacefully once again in the comfort of my own bed.

The point isn’t to be the most trendy, fun, and exciting ministry. It’s to see lives changed, to see girls encounter God.

The tricky thing is we really can’t make this happen in our own power. As much as we plan and prepare (which are both good things), these things are really just vehicles to help our girls experience the Lord.

The most important thing we can do in preparation for our girls deepening their relationship with the Lord is to pray for them. Sometimes it can be hard to find time to pray and to even really know what to pray. Here are some ideas for creative ways to pray for your girls.

Multi-task. As much as it would be nice to be able to set aside an hour a day for prayer for your girls, it’s probably not realistic. Any amount of time that you can set aside to pray specifically for your girls is invaluable. It’s also important to make the best use of your time. Pray while you’re driving, fixing dinner, or cleaning up the house. Personally, I’ve had some of my most memorable and effective times of prayer while I’m doing other tasks that don’t require much additional thought. I love to put on some worship music and spend time with the Lord while I’m organizing my junk drawer or cleaning the kitchen.

Be Aware. Taking prayer requests is a great way to stay up-to-date on what’s going on in your girls’ lives. Sometimes they’ll be willing to request prayer for something they wouldn’t normally share with the group. It’s also good to be aware of your girls’ school and athletic schedules. Pray for your girls when you know they’re approaching finals or a big game. It will mean a lot to them to know that you’re praying for them in the things that are important in their lives.

Pray in the Spirit. Allow yourself to be sensitive to the leading of the Holy Spirit. Sometimes He will bring a girl to mind who is in need of prayer. Take time to pray for her. If you pray in the Spirit, do that. Pray for the Lord’s protection and guidance for her. When you see her again, let her know that you felt led to pray for her. This could be an incredible testimony of the Holy Spirit’s guidance to pray for her during a critical time. At the very least, she’ll know you care enough to pray for her outside of church.

Pray Scripture. One of the most effective ways to pray for others (and ourselves) is to pray through the Scripture. A favorite passage of mine to pray is Ephesians 3:16-19 (NIV), “I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge – that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.”

My prayer for each one of you who lead or parent teen girls is from Ephesians 1:17-19 (NIV), “I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and his incomparably great power for us who believe.”