[reallifenewsletter] FCC - YS Student E-mail Newsletter #179

Here is the email newsletter I tried to send last week, but it got held
up...

Howdy! At long last the pictures from the ski trip are now posted
online!

You can either view them from the link on the youth page on the church
website (http://www.fconline.net) or here is a direct link (you'll
probably have to cut and paste it into your browser address bar)
(http://www.fconline.net/skipics05/index.htm)

When asked about favorite runs Jon said:
All the runs were great but my favorite run was Maple Leaf

David said:
My favorite run of the day was my second to last run down of the day
down Morningstar. It was a technically excellent run...

The next activities we are looking to are seeing a play and going on
another paintball trip.

This summer, Debbie is planning the youth trip to be in the Bahamas.
She is looking to rent a house out on a small island somewhere. Our
only transportation will be a boat and stores and restaurants are hard
if not impossible to find...just us and the water, sand and sealife.
When she went previously, there were rays in the water to swim with and
lots of fish and things to see in the water.

For those of you interested in music and perhaps forming a Christian
band, read the article below under the "Surf Report" about the band
"Overflow". Pretty interesting!

TTYL!
-Nathanael


YS STUDENT E-MAIL NEWSLETTER #179
April 4, 2005

Contents
1. Something for Your Heart
2. Surf Report
3. Forgettable Fact
4. Potent Quotables
5. Parting Shot

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But more than that, it was meant to be understood. It was first written
in the language of the people--of fishermen, shopkeepers, and
carpenters. "The Message Remix" gets back to that: You can read it and
understand it.

http://www.youthspecialties.com/product/834344Y

=================================

1. SOMETHING FOR YOUR HEART

"April is the cruelest month, breeding
Lilacs out of the dead land, mixing
Memory and desire, stirring
Dull roots with spring rain."
- T.S. Eliot

T.S. Eliot had his reasons for thinking April is the cruellest month.
Perhaps you have your own. Chances are, your Aprils may be worse than
Eliot's ever were. For one thing, you probably have to contend with much
more sadistic jokes on April Fool's Day than he ever did. And Eliot,
being a British subject, never had to endure the "spring ahead" clock
setting, forcing him to get up an hour earlier every day as April rolls
in.

Another popular quote about April isn't any more promising: "April
showers bring May flowers." The month of May gets credit for the best
nature has to offer--bright colors and sweet floral scents. But April?
Showers. Gray skies. Storms. The calendar says it's spring already, but
the lingering snow and ice in many parts of the country beg to disagree.
When the sun comes out, the air is still chilly. And when it warms up,
the clouds roll in and pour down rain.

In addition, April is about the time you start looking forward to
summer. Yet you have another couple of months of school to finish. And
not ordinary school, either. These next two months bring due dates for
all the big assignments you've been putting off ... and final exams ...
and stress and exhaustion. If T.S. Eliot thought April was cruel a
century ago, he should try being a teenager in 2005!

Of course, it's easy to talk in generalities and arrive at some bleak
conclusions. Sure, April brings rain, daylight savings time, numerous
school commitments and (for you working types) income tax. Yet when we
move beyond the general malaise of weather and responsibilities, we
should be able to list a number of specific antidotes to the "cruelty"
of April.

This year, especially, we should cling to the power of the Easter story
we celebrated at the close of March. We should be propelled into cruel
April with the promise that no matter what tends to knock us down, God
offers us the power to get back up and prevail.

April may be the cruellest month. Your boss may give you the cruellest
chores at work. Your math teacher may be the cruellest grader. Your
so-called friends may give you the cruellest treatment. No matter. Your
God is an infinite source of kindness, mercy and strength. HIS gifts are
all "good and perfect" (James 1:17). His mercies "begin afresh each day"
(Lamentations 3:23).

If you find yourself looking around this April and resenting the cruelty
of the early mornings, the weather or anything else that creates a sense
of despair or frustration, you're not seeing the whole picture. God's
goodness is all around. You're just not looking hard enough.

On your own ...

Read Habakkuk 3:17-19.
http://biblegateway.com/cgi-bin/bible?language=english&version=NLT&passa
ge=Habakkuk+3%3A17-19

These verses are the prophet's expression of faith in God even when
circumstances (and weather conditions) were not what he would have
wished. Create your own statement of faith in God's sovereignty by
substituting your own "cruel" circumstances in place of Habakkuk's.
(Those of you with your own fig trees and olive crop won't need to adapt
the passage.)

2. SURF REPORT

~ Overflow: A Better Place
Five friends started a band for their youth group. Now they're playing
to churches across the nation. Meet Overflow.
http://www.family.org/teenguys/breakmag/features/a0035671.html

~ Comedy Tragedy Masks
You've seen them--the pair of masks that represent drama. One's happy
and one's sad. And both are creepy. Here's where you'll find everything
you need to know about the masks--including where to order your own.
http://www.angelfire.com/art/masks/menu.html

3. FORGETTABLE FACT

The Pacific Ocean is twice as big as the Atlantic ... and bigger than
all the continents combined.

4. POTENT QUOTABLES

'Tis a month before the month of May, and the Spring comes slowly up
this way.
- Samuel Taylor Coleridge

Hope keeps the heart whole.
- Antony Brewer

For all your days prepare, and meet them ever alike:
When you are the anvil, bear--When you are the hammer, strike.
- Edwin Markham

5. PARTING SHOT

Bigfoot IS blurry, that's the problem. It's not the photographer's
fault. He's a large, out-of-focus monster, and that's extra scary to me.

(c) 2005 :: Youth Specialties

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