Sickness has overcome my body

Hey there everyone I am sorry I didn't update yesterday, I was on a couch all day long trying to sleep and stop puking. So today I am feeling a little bit better, I am at work trying to get some things changed around for tonight because I have no voice, with all my puking and stuff it took my voice away, and I can't talk anymore. So tonight we have a couple things planned differently tonight.

So tonight at 6:30 here at Crystal Valley Youth Group will be going down, we have some pretty cool things planned for tonight, I know the games and worship are going to be great! The message tonight we are going to be focusing on friends. We are going to be taking a different look at friends tonight then I think some of you are used to, so come ready to discuss about friends.

Hope to see you tonight at 6:30!

P.A.

Friendships!

Hey there everyone, I hope you are all having a wonderful Monday! I know my Monday is filled to the brim with craziness, but its good craziness.

So this coming Wednesday we have a packed youth group night for ya, We have some sweet games that our good Ted Graber and Wes Miller will be leading us in, and Worship Wednesday night is going to be totally different because of some things we have planned, so come out Wednesday night at 6:30 as we continue in our series "Backpack"

We are hitting the time of month where we are having a lot of things going down, so here is a little list of whats coming up:

1. This Friday is fireworks here at the church its going to be a great night to come over and watch the fireworks and hang out with your small groups. There will be food here and tons of other things to do so come on out at around 8pm (or come after the football game) and hang out with us.
2. September 24th is the movie night here at the Church! You should definitely come and watch a great movie with us that night! The movie is "To save a life" we have been showing previews every week at youth group and on Sunday morning so come and bring your parents if you want because all parents with youth group age students are allowed to come. And the best part is its FREE!
3. September 29th is our bigger and better night! We will be breaking into our small groups and heading out to different neighborhoods in Middlebury. We will arm you with a small paperclip and you will head to each house asking can you give me something bigger or better then this. After an hour or so you will have some pretty cool things! I can't wait to see what you guys come back with! 6:30 - 8:30, meet at the church and we will have all the transportation ready and waiting for ya!

Well I hope you all have a great Monday! We hope to see you on Wednesday night, praying for ya.

P.A.

Special Friday Edition

Hey there everyone, I am in the office today getting some work done for our Destination unknown trip coming up in November. Man this trip is going to be awesome. Be praying about this trip that God can draw us to the best deals, and the best time because this trip is going to be awesome! The place we are going is so stinking sweet, you will not want to miss it.

This trip is for High school only! So High school students we are thinking of you while we are planning it so don't think that we are going to be doing boring things because half the things I have in mind for this trip, I can't wait to do.

So Sign ups will be soon, the main thing this meeting is going to be addressing is Cost, and how to raise some funds so you don't have an outrageous amount! So be looking for sign ups soon!

Have a great weekend everyone, I won't be at the football game tonight we have a wedding to be at tonight. I will be out of town tomorrow night with some guys from the youth group at the Sox game so if you need to get a hold of me text me because I won't be answering my phone tomorrow night while I am at the hallow grounds of U.S. Cellular field.

P.A.

Straight up Talking!

Hey there everyone, hope you are all having a great Thursday so far. I know I am pretty tired from last night but still here at the office working away for this Sunday and all the cool things that are coming down the pipe!

It was interesting this morning when I came to church and had a couple messages on my phone from different people asking me why we are talking about such hard things at youth group. It was great because my answer was really easy, and it was "because our kids need to hear the church talk straight up about the issues these students are dealing with" And we had one person want to start attending because they need to hear those things they said.

I want everyone to realize that we aren't going to run this youth ministry like a cookie cutter youth ministry. We have insane amounts of love for each of the students that come into our ministry, and I hope and pray that every single one of them find Jesus in a personal way, but we aren't going to back down from the hard issues students are facing in the schools today. I hope and pray that us being honest about what we are seeing at Northridge, Concord, Goshen, and all the other schools isn't making people upset, but making people think about what they can do to be a light in their school (See Matthew 5:13)

So my Web challenge for those reading this is to take a stand, and be a light, an unquenchable light for Christ today at school and for your family. Follow after God's heart, and move towards Him in a new and powerful way today!

P.A.

Backpack Pt 2

Hey there everyone I hope things are going well for ya'll. I know for me I am wide awake and rocking and ready for tonight!

Here is the skinny for tonight

1. Youth starts at 6:30, I know its a common to show up at 6:35 but our starting time is 6:30.
2. Bring your Bible, a Pen, and a Notebook for tonight!
3. Bring a couple hundred friends tonight! We have plenty of room for a couple thousand students tonight (Just kidding we really only have room for about 3oo students, but if you want to invite all of Northridge, Goshen, Concord,Fairfield, Betheny, and Central I am down)
4. Take some time to pray before coming tonight. Tonight can be a very powerful night!
5. We are done at 8:30!

So I hope to see you all tonight, Its going to be stinking amazing!

P.A.

The longest tuesday of all time!

Hey there everyone, so a little bit about my night last night. We have a dog that is currently pregnant and is about to give birth in a week. And her belly is really big and she throws up everything! So last night at 4am she starts throwing up. Gross. So Esther and I were up at 4am with the puppies. Esther did an amazing job with them, she helped them out and got them calmed down. She is awesome!

So enough about how stinking tired I am today :-)

So Tomorrow night we have some awesome things planned for you! We have a couple special games planned by Mark Metcalfe, and if you have been here before when Mark has done games you know they are amazing. Doug Edlund is going to be rocking the Emcee for us tomorrow night, and the worship band is going to lead us into the throne room of Christ with Worship. Tomorrow night is going to be powerful.

We are going to be continuing our series called "Backpack" tomorrow night we will be talking about shame and guilt and I have a story that involves cookies tomorrow night that is pretty hilarious. So come and hear that story tomorrow night, but even from last week we have had a score of students come to know freedom in Christ from confessing their sins from last week, and if you could talk with them about the healing power of confession its insane! So come tomorrow night ready to hear from God, and be prepared for a very powerful night!

Can't wait to see you tomorrow night!

P.A.

Labor Day

Hey there everyone, I hope you are all having a wonderful day! I know I am I got to sleep in a little bit, play with the puppies and now I am sitting in my office working feverishly to make sure I can get home to be with my wife on this awesome national holiday :)

So a quick little blurb about whats going down this week,
1. This Wednesday we are continuing with our backpack series, man we have some awesome break through already with students confessing and being freed by the Holy Spirit. This week we are going to be talking about Guilt and Shame, man this is a hard topic because this brings up past hurts and wounds. So please come ready this Wednesday by praying that God would move in your heart and that God would help you work past some of the bad decisions we might have made!

2. I have been sending out Texts almost everyday this week with verses and devotions so if you aren't getting those please text me with your name in the text so we can put you in the loop for those! They are a great way to start your day, and continue thinking about God in a new and exciting way! So text me at 574-370-2094 if you aren't getting those and I will make sure you do!

3. September 17th is our fireworks night! Make sure you are planning on being here to hang out and be with a ton of people while we watch the fireworks! Its going to be amazing! They are honestly like right about us! Its pretty cool! So come out at 8pm that Friday night, or right after the home football game!

I hope you all have an awesome day today! Eat some grilled chicken, or burgers today! Because today is like the perfect day to do that. Hope you all have a great week, and we hope to see you on Wednesday.

P.A.