Despite our selfish inhibitions to belong, we've got to give You the chance to prove us wrong.

Good grief, it's been a month since I last updated! Where does the time go? October feels like it just started yesterday, and it's November already... I leave in 5 weeks. Five weeks and 2 days. My gosh, it's gonna fly.

So let's see... we had the middle school fall retreat a few weeks back. It was awesome; I had the privilege of being on the worship team, which I loved. It went well, the kids were great, energy was high, and it was a ton of fun. The whole weekend overall was great, there were very few problems; we were very thankful! And the kids were just a blast to be with. :)

Once a month we have youth Ministry Fellowship at New Covenant. Every youth pastor in the area is invited to lunch, and after we eat we meet for about an hour or 2, sharing stories, telling what works, telling what doesn't work, sharing announcements, sharing concerns, sharing ideas, etc. It's such a healthy environment, so is New Covenant; I'm so afraid I'm getting spoiled here. But I'm enjoying the whole experience immensely. :) ANYWAYS, 2 weeks or so ago we had the Youth Ministry Fellowship retreat. We went to a camp about an hour away and stayed the night. We talked about ministry, and teens, and missions, and marriage, and family, and God and... life. It was such a good experience.

One of the topics discussed, as I said, was marriage. (Funny how this is the thing that stuck out to me most from the weekend, considering my most recent facebook note...) One of the couples there has 8 kids, from 2 to 18. I'm not sure how we got on the topic, but somehow they ended up talking about how they keep their marriage alive and have time for each other with so many in the house (one is in college... the rest are still at home.) Their response was surprising to me at first; they said that their house is centered around them. They don't let their kids be involved in everything they want to do, they don't cater to their every wish. They put each other, their marriage, above the desires of their children. It's almost sad that this was something that needed explaining; isn't that what a marriage is supposed to be? It's putting your spouse above any other person on the planet, taking care of their needs and wants first, even before your children. It's intentionally spending time together amidst a chaotic week. It's making sacrifices. It's something much greater than I can comprehend right now, something I will never fully grasp until I am married myself... It's a husband loving his wife as Christ loves the Church, taking care of her and never forsaking her; it's a wife respecting her husband and submitting fully to him, understanding that he loves her and wants what's best for her. It's the most important relationship we can ever have with another human being. I want that. When I have a family, I want a household like that.

I think I'll end here. I hope all of you reading this (HA! All like 3 of you...) are doing well, I hope your semesters are treating you well, I hope you finish strong. It'll be over before you know it. Enjoy each moment as it comes.

Much love,
Amanda :)