Happy Holidays!

Happy Holidays! Young Life has been hectic the past month! We are planning our leader Christmas party and our Christmas club for the kids on the 13th along with starting a Jr Leader campaign. Our club is pretty much ran by word of mouth. Kids want to come to club because other people they know are going. I am so excited to start this Jr Leader group so they can really understand the heart of Young Life and really make an impact on their lower classman. It has been overwhelming but I know that this is going to be such a huge aspect in our club! Good news is we have new leaders! It is so crazy how the Lord provides at just the perfect time!

My friend Kayla and I had our first jewelry party! It was a huge success and so much fun! We sold half of our product and it was great to see and catch up with people! Our Young Life girls came!

I always feel like the holidays are crazy but one thing that I need to continually remember is this is a time to celebrate the Lord's birth. I am so excited to share with you what the Lord has been teaching me the past couple of weeks!

" But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’"- Matthew 9:13

I was thinking about the word mercy and what that really means in my life and how can I show mercy/compassion for others. I was thinking how serving others is a huge part of this. The next day, I was reading in Isaiah 58 and how it talks about how the Lord says we are fasting wrong, that He wants us to free the oppressed, feed the hungry... pretty much serving others. God doesn't want my sacrifices and fasting but He wants us to serve. The verse goes more on the Sabbath day to keep it Holy. Then it says,

"Then the Lord will be your delight." -Isaiah 58:14.

The word THEN was just so adamant on my heart. When we serve God THEN the Lord will be my delight. A friend once told me that "Happiness comes from happenings but Joy can only come from Christ alone." If we look at Psalm 37, it says,

"Take delight in the Lord,

and he will give you your heart’s desires."

This was so encouraging to me because I feel like the Lord assured me that I am in the right place where He wants me. There are so many times I feel overwhelmed and stressed out BUT knowing this was just so encouraging.

Thank you so much for all of your prayers and support! Please keep praying for my continual encouragement as well as a balance during this crazy time of the year! Love you all!

Lauren

UPDATE!

Hi everyone! WOW this week has been crazy! We had our 6th annual sofa scavenger hunt on Monday! It was really fun and encouraging to see new freshman at club! I have three Jr. Leaders and two of them took the freshman to Starbucks then club after. Its so awesome to see them take leadership within the club. The freshman girls really look up to my junior girls. Its funny how it is kind of like a hierarchy. My girls look up to me and these freshman girls look up to them and so forth. It is definetely teaching me accountability in ALL aspects of my life not just external factors.

Being on YL staff has been a transition in my life. I really feel like the Lord has put this before me as well as school to focus on. But its learning how to focus on Him within focusing on the opportunities that the Lord has provided. I think I have been good about balancing everything out. My grades have gotten so much better, the Lord has provided focus on my studies and the wisdom. Thank you so much for praying for my midterms, they went well!

Spiritually, the past three days have been so encouraging. I was struggling with not having a sincere thankful heart the past two weeks. I felt like the Lord was blessing me with so many things but yet my focus was still on what I don't have. On Sunday, Branches went over what our treasure is that we need to give up to the Lord. He talked about the story of the hidden treasure and how he buried it again so he can buy the land and the treasure. I was thinking about this today.. why wouldn't he just take the treasure? Why did he have to rebury it? I came to the conclusion that it is like a present, if we found something that we loved and wanted we would rather have it be kept new instead of using it and being used. Then it kind of clicked. It is like our faith.

"Let the children come to me. Don't stop them! For the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. I assure you, anyone who doesn't have their kind of faith will never get into the Kingdom of God." We are to have childlike faith. By reburying the treasure it is kept new. We are called to have childlike faith, I believe the Lord is really growing my faith in Him and really truly learning how to surrender all to Him. "How can I expect to walk without Him, with every move that Jesus made was in surrender."- Kim Walker

PLEASE PLEASE PRAY that

* The Lord will keep reminding me to have a childlike faith.

* That I can really surrender all things to Him.

*That I can be humbled and take His discipline as an act of love.

*Desire God's will

* I can be accountable in my motives and in my integrity.

*My Young Life Girls- that my bible study AKA CABIN TIME will be reenergized. I have my CT on Thursday morning at 9:30 AM.

*Encouragement- I feel like the enemy attacks me by discouraging me a lot of the time.

*Energy- that I can be spiritually energized for all YL Activities.

*REST- that I can rest with the Lord and really commit to doing it every Friday

I love you all thank you so much!

Lauren

MONDAY NIGHT!

Thank you so much for praying for my talk on Monday at Young Life club! We had 70 plus high school kids come that night! It was overwhelming but so much fun at the same time! My talk went really well I felt like all the kids were listening and the Lord gave me confidence in it. The Halloween club was such a special event because it was my ONE YEAR ANNIVERSARY with my Young Life girls! Its so crazy how fast the year went by! One of my girls wrote me a letter today and it was just so encouraging to really see the Lord work through her life and that she sees the Lord in my life. It has been such an amazing year!

This upcoming summer we have summer camps and I think 2 of my girls are going to be working there for a month! I know this is going to be such a huge growing experience for them! Please pray that we get even amount of spots for kids to work at camp so then my girls can go together instead of having them be seperated! I am really praying that the Lord will provide them to go! My group of girls coming to my cabin time have been up and down. Please pray that the girls will be encouraged to come!! Thank you so much for your support! Love you all!

Lauren

YOUNG LIFE UPDATE

Hello everyone! Thank you so much for supporting Young Life! Young Life has been awesome! We have a couple of new leaders that are already connecting with kids which is really encouraging! This year has been a great start with the fellowship and the club in general.

This upcoming Monday we are having our annual Halloween Club! This is proboably one of the biggest events of the year! We are having it at one of my girls, Holly Herzog's house! I will be speaking at Club Monday about the Immoral Woman! Please pray that the Lord will use me to speak to the hearts of the kids at the club! That the Lord will really speak through me!

The Lord has been teaching me so much the past month. He is really teaching me about having Him be my number one in all circumstances. That all I need is His love ALONE.

"Lord, you alone are my inheritance, my cup of blessing. You guard all that is mine. The land you have given me is a pleasant land. What a wonderful inheritance! I will bless the Lord who guides me, even at night my heart instructs me. I know the Lord is always with me. I will not be shaken, for he is right beside me."- Psalm 16.

As I was hiking during my quiet time, this verse really struck my heart. GOD ALONE is my inheritance, He has been such a blessing in my life. God is guarding my heart at all times. Its so amazing how I am actually walking into a blessing with Young Life and the season I am in life. God is really teaching me how to delight in Him and KNOW that my Joy comes from following His will and serving Him.

I also am learning a lot about truly HOW BIG GOD REALLY IS! I started this accountability group with two of my girlfriends and we are going over crazy love. It has truly been such a blessing to have such amazing friends in life to walk with during this season. This book has really opened my eyes to the how Big HE really is.

My prayer is that I will desire God's will in my life and that my heart will always be on fire for Him. That I learn to completely fall in love with Christ. That I serve wholeheartedly without any fears or distractions. I really feel like the Lord is slowly taking each fear out of me one by one.

Praises:

* The Lord has provided $6,500 of my budget so far!

* New freshman have been coming to club!!

* I started a jewelry line called Charis! Take a look http://charisjewelry.blogspot.com/ !

Prayer Requests:

*That the Lord will provide for my grades, I have been struggling in my classes

*Freshman boys to come to club for Corey to take to camp!

*A couple of my girls would like to do workcrew this upcoming summer where they live at camp for a month and serve. Pray that we get spots together at Woodleaf for the July session. It is really hard to get spots all together at the same camp!

*Pray for a re- energized bible study. My group of 13 haven't all been showing up to my bible studies. I changed my bible study to Thursday evenings so hopefully the girls can make it!

Thank you so much for your prayers! I am so blessed to have all of you supporting me! Love you all!

-Lauren

YOUNG LIFE NEW SCHOOL YEAR!

Hello friends and family! Thank you so much for supporting the ministry the Lord has put before me. I am so blessed to be given the opportunity to serve on Young Life staff. Through eight months of prayer about my call into this ministry, I can confidently say that the Lord has called me to Young Life. I am really excited about this new season the Lord has in store for myself and His ministry. I am so thankful you are a part of making a difference in these kids lives.

This year was a great start! Our first club was awesome! From now we are doing an integrated club with San Clemente and San Clemente Downtown! Corey (New Area Director for San Clemente Young Life) did a great talk on how Jesus wants us to come to Him to celebrate! We have a handful of new leaders and I was so encouraged for this new school year!

I have a group of 12 Juniors in high school that I have been mentoring for the past year. I took them to camp this past year and it was amazing! Never cried and laughed so much in my life! 7 of my girls committed their lives to Christ. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h79apOT41Mg) They are on varsity cheer this year and 3 of the 11 are doing Jr. Leading for my cabin times (bible studies) It is so amazing to see how the Lord has been moving in each of their lives and how thirsty they are for the word! I am really excited about this upcoming year to see how the Lord is going to grow them.

Please pray for :

*My personal spiritual balance. I have been struggling with balancing Young Life, my personal life, school and my spiritual replenishment.

*My encouragement starting this new job and just where the Lord has me in life.

*Young Life Club- that there will be a smooth transition for combining Downtown and San Clemente.

*Finances- My budget for the year is $13,000, I still need to raise $7,000 of that!

*Leaders- Pray for the encouragement for all the leaders and that the Lord will provide new potential leaders.

*YL girls- pray that they will continue following Him and will pursue a stronger relationship with Him.

Holly Herzog

Corin Burns

Lauren Jackson

Taylor Drew

Sarah Mikosz

Lauren Zines

Nicole Pappalardo

Amanda Simkins

Ivette Stevens

Kelsey Bennight

Farrah Haglom

Loni Carissa

Thank you so much for all of your support in Young Life!

Love you all,

Lauren

WOODLEAF YOUNGLIFE CAMP!

Hello Everyone!

I am getting really excited Young Life camp is SUNDAY! Things are getting crazy but ITS SO EXCITING and I am so blessed that God has provided me an amazing group of girls! The Lord totally provided for each one to come. This is going to be an amazing opportunity for them as well as myself. It has truly been an amazing year with Young Life and seeing how the Lord is growing each and every one of these girls.

Today I was reading in Matthew 13:3 “Listen! A farmer went out to plant some seeds. ⁴ As he scattered them across his field, some seeds fell on a footpath, and the birds came and ate them. ⁵ Other seeds fell on shallow soil with underlying rock. The seeds sprouted quickly because the soil was shallow. ⁶ But the plants soon wilted under the hot sun, and since they didn’t have deep roots, they died. ⁷ Other seeds fell among thorns that grew up and choked out the tender plants. ⁸ Still other seeds fell on fertile soil, and they produced a crop that was thirty, sixty, and even a hundred times as much as had been planted! ⁹ Anyone with ears to hear should listen and understand.”

Please pray that each and every one of these girls will be a flourishing crop. That the Lord will soften their hearts and will want to have faith in Him. Also pray for the protection of the body of Christ at camp as well as encouragment for all the leaders going! THIS WEEK IS GOING TO BE A SELFLESS WEEK FOR ALL LEADERS! Pray that each leader will be spiritually prepared for this upcoming week! If you can please pray for each of my girls their names are;

Corin Burns

Holly Herzog

Loni Carissa

Lauren Jackson

Taylor Drew

Ivette Stevens

Sarah Mikosz

Nicole Pappalardo

Kelsey

Amanda

Farah

Thank you so much!

Bali Briefing!

Hello everyone! Thank you so much for all of your prayers and support. This trip has been amazing! God taught me so much! The main things God has taught me was:

*Fear- That Gods love casts out our fear. Paula told me that the fear in Bali is the spiritual warfare whereas at home the fear is the fear of man.

*Faith- I learned that I had so little faith before coming on this trip. God taught me that answered prayers are in Gods time and not my own but to have faith that God listens and answers.

*Leadership- Accountability, that what I do or say effects my character. We want to be respected leaders. We must also be completely satisfied with God's praise only not by people or our serving can easily be put into works or idols.

*Spiritual Gifts- To have faith in my spiritual gifts and use them to serve others.

*TRUE WISDOM COMES FROM HUMILITY

*Compassion- Having compassion towards others and seeing the love God has for each person.

This trip has brought me to the deepest pit of my fears. It has grown me so much in my faith and I am so thankful and blessed for all of your support. I put together a slideshow on youtube for you all to see! If you are having a hard time seeing it, click this! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aUcV2-ScLLg