Precious Trials

Hello darlings!

Well, the Winter Retreat is over ~ I am oddly enough flooded with joy and tears at the same time. I can't help but think how wonderful our God is... and how we were all able to experience Him in such a real way over the weekend. Something else that just tickled me... we ended up having 99 students at camp (since some had to cancel at the last minute).... and when I heard that we had 99 going to camp, the Lord threw Matthew 18:12-14 into my mind:

12"What do you think? If a man owns a hundred sheep, and one of them wanders away, will he not leave the ninety-nine on the hills and go to look for the one that wandered off? 13And if he finds it, I tell you the truth, he is happier about that one sheep than about the ninety-nine that did not wander off. 14In the same way your Father in heaven is not willing that any of these little ones should be lost.

How awesome is that? I just love how we can tie that to the youth group - and to our lives for that matter! So though we had an awesome Retreat and I would do it all over again in a second... I cannot wait for this Sunday to roll around and to minister to that 1 student who couldn't come on the retreat! Praise God for what He is going to do in the coming days! :)

Here are some Retreat pics:

(Sara & Liam)

(Josiah - always a ladies man)

(Our whole group - what an awesome site!)

(Cleaning the 9 inches of snow off our cars!)

(Joey during Praise and Worship)

In the meantime, I would like to share how our Beth Moore Bible Study is going. We have our first table of high school girls... and we are just loving the study of Esther! The main point of our Monday night lesson was that we become the women that God created us to be not inspite of the trials we go through... but because of them. It is taking everything I have inside of me not to put an exclamation mark at the end of every single sentence in this blog!! I titled this blog "Precious Trials" because though our trials may not be fun or enjoyable... they are indeed precious - they help mold us into the Christ-Centered Women that we desire to be!

I love you ladies!

-Susan Elaine

Retreatin' With Some New Tunes

Hello My Darlings!!!!

First off, I would like to point out the new tunes that I added to the blog- Some of my favorite songs in the world! I particularly love the first song... I just think it grasps how a woman (or young lady) should feel about her presence in God's kingdom.

Secondly, I would like to ask for prayers for this weekend... In T-minus 2 hours we will be leaving for our 180 Winter Retreat. The weather is extremely cold, and J.D. is up at the camp setting up even as we speak. We have been praying like crazy for the Lord to show up in all His majesty, and if you could pray that with us this weekend it would mean so much to us! Truly, we want this camp to be a time where everyone involved can refocus themselves and get back to the basics with our Lord and Savior. Thank you for your prayers, and I will post some pics of the weekend when we get back!

Serving an Amazing Savior,
Susan Elaine

Bringing in the New Year

Hello Ladies! Wow has the Lord been working like crazy already in 2009!

First off, I would like to start by saying that I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and New Year and that Christ's Birth is shining on you more than ever before! Secondly, I would like to ask for quick prayer requests - My mom just went through a PET scan on New Years Eve to scan for cancer through the rest of her body... we haven't received the test results yet but we are actively praying for God's guidance and clear result. If you could also keep lifting my mom up as she has been pretty sick for over a year now and is so badly wanting to be better again.

Now... onto the good stuff...

Our first 180 of 2009 was amazing! Our students cam out and worshipped Him with all their energy - it was incredible to watch God moving through that sanctuary! It truly was a place of worship! :) We heard a message about living in the NOW and not missing the moments that God has given us to relish in 2009. JD and I am extremely excited about what God is going to do in 2009!

We were sitting up last night and doing our Bible study... and I wanted to share with you a little bit from what we gleaned:

"Because of the Lord's great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail.They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.I say to myself, 'The Lord is my portion; therefore I will wait for him.'The Lord is good to those whose hope is in him, to the one who seeks him; it is good to wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord." Lamentations 3:23-26

The first part of this verse is the verse that you will see at the very top of this blog, and the reason I love it so much my dears is because of how true it is. Sadly, we often think that we have to wait until January 1st, until the "New Year", to have a "new start"... but the truth is darlings that our LORD gives us a fresh start each and every morning - I love the Casting Crowns song as it states that He has removed our sins "as far as the east is from the west.... from one scarred hand to the other." What power there is in those words!!!

My prayer is that we will use this day as it is the only one that matters... and that in it we will know that the Lord is looking on us with fresh eyes, through the fresh blood of Jesus Christ!

I love you girls - get in the word. study hard. be blessed.

With Everything I Am,
Susan Elaine

Tis the Season!

Hello darlings! I just wanted to say a quick 'hi' to all you ladies ~ life is so very hectic this time of year... and as I was waiting in line on my second trip to walmart in one day, I started looking around and thinking about each person that was standing in line with me - how crazed they probably are over everything they have to get done before Christmas. And something that really struck me was how much we all need to be in prayer for each other! It is our duty to our Lord to care for each other, be there for each other, lift each other up, and just plain love each other. Let's not let this Christmas Season pass without showing some random strangers Jesus' love - through smiles, through a helping hand, in anway that we can - are you with me?

I love you dearly!
-Susan Elaine

The Adventures of Porky and Porkchop!

Hey All!!!

I hope that you have been having a wonderful Christmas Season! We just got a phone call from my brother yesterday who was telling us that his wife was leaving yesterday for Colorado, then heading to Iraq... and that he would be going back to Iraq today... so as he is flying through the air right now I ask that you fervently pray for traveling mercies and God's hand in every step that they take. Although I know that Ryan was sad for the loss of his father-in-law, I also know that he was giddy over being able to come home and see his wife! What a bitter-sweet reunion for them!

Anyhow, I'm sure that you are all wondering what is up with the title of this blog? Well... last weekend my darling Lisa and I took a girls weekend trip down to Washington D.C. and had a absolute blast! We flew through the museums and dashed through all of the memorials and were in absolute love with the blue skies that God provided us with! It was a very refreshing week - only a little bit of work done in the hotel room - and the rest of the time was spent enjoying how amazing that city is!

Anywho... while in D.C. we were talking about the fun that we were having and how great it would be to make an awesome children's book based on our D.C. Adventure!!!! Well... since our nicknames (from JD of course) are Porky (me) and Porkchop (Lisa)... we figured that we could call our series - "The Adventures of Porky and Porkchop" and then each time we travel and visit a new city, we can write an educaitonal, but hilarious, children's book about these two pigs (Porky and Porkchop) who teach us about the world through their traveling tales!!! Doesn't that sound like a blast!!! I know we had a blast with it! And after all... who wouldn't want to make a living by traveling around the world and having fun? Well... keep it in the back of your minds, and if one day you happen to see our books in stores - please purchase one and learn about our adventures! haha Oh how I love you ladies!

Here are some pics from our Big D.C. Adventure:

(Lisa wearing the Captiol Building as a hat)

(George is one of our favorite all-time men!)

(the White House! How beautiful it was at night!)

(accidentally cut off Abe's head - oops!)

(holding the washington monument in my hand)

(Madam President Suzi? hahahaha)

(the Hope Diamond - gorgeous)

(a capitol hat for me - yay)

I love you girls - please let me know if you have any prayer requests!

All My Love,
Susan Elaine

Flying Home from Iraq

Hey everyone. I got some sad news this morning...

My sister-in-law's father passed away this week from a 6 month battle with lung cancer. He was diagnosed last May (right around the same time my mother was also diagnosed with cancer). When they found the cancer, it was already in Stage 4 so we have known that his time with us was short. Within 6 hours of the time that he passed, they had the news to my brother Ryan in Baghdad... which is incredibly fast since it can often take up to 72 hours to locate and inform the soldiers.

Since he is my brother's father-in-law... Ryan will be flying home to the States within the week for the funeral. I want you to know though, that this is partially a blessing in disguise. You see, Ryan left for Iraq just weeks after he and Tracy got married last April... and haven't seen each other since. That's 7 months of being apart! I can't believe it has been that long.

Anyhow, Tracy is also in the military and is training right now to leave for Iraq. While in Iraq, she would be just miles from Ryan... but would not be allowed to see him at all! In addition, his tour in Iraq would end 2 months before her's would... so he would come home to the States while she was still in Iraq - I can hardly imagine how horrible that would be for them!

So while this funeral is a sad time for the family, it is a blessing that Ryan and Tracy will get to see each other again before she heads to Iraq. Please pray for safe travels for Ryan as he heads from Iraq to Texas... and for Tracy as she heads from training in Colorado to Texas. Also, please lift up the family in this time of grief and pray that the Lord works in His incredible ways!

Here are some pics of Ryan & Tracy's Wedding in April 2008:

I love you dearly and praise God for you every day!

All my love,
Susan Elaine

Open Prayers

Hey ladies!!! I am really excited to introduce something new to you today...

I know it has been forever since I have posted, but life has been just absolutely crazy these past weeks! Just last weekend JD, myself, and a group of our leaders from 180 attended the National Youth Workers Convention in Pitteburgh. It was a wonderful time of being recharged and poured into by amazing speakers and some very anointed bands!

One band in particular really struck my fancy - they are called Worth Dying For. Part of what I loved so much about them was that their lead singer was a woman, a youth pastor's wife (yay for us!), and her voice is incredible!!! Anywho, they did something during their performance that I thought was a total God Stop ~ before their last song, they told the audience that every show they play, they want their listeners to know how much they care about them... and so they invited everyone to come to their booth after the show and give them your prayer requests so that they can be praying for us! I was almost literally floored when I heard them say that... it was such a different approach to music ministry and I absolutely loved it!

Though I didn't ask for any prayer requests, I did get a CD... and it is amazing! I highly encourage all you ladies to check out their myspace and listen to their music - they are so very anointed!

*Worth Dying For*

Now... I want to send out the very same invitation to you ladies!!! If there is ANYTHING that you need prayer for (I don't care how small) I beg you... please respond to this post or shoot me an email... because I truly do want to be praying for you! I love you dearly and really believe that we need to be fighting for one another in prayer!

I love you ladies!

All my love,
Susan Elaine

*If my lungs can't sing... I'll sing with my heart, with my soul, with my mind.... I'll sing it for you!
~lyrics from "At Your Cross" by Worth Dying For