Winter Retreat 09

The retreat was amazing. This was my first retreat that I've been on and it was great. I made sure I was able to go on this years retreat since I missed last years. It was cool to see every one get plugged in to all the activities and to see all the teams cheer each other on.

The games and activities- All the games were pretty cool. I think my favorites were the crab crawl and the board and plank game. The tug-a-war game didn't really go to well because us high school students broke it some how. I think I could have taken on one high school guy from each team during that game. Some of us also went paint balling at the centers course. The course they had was pretty sweet because it had trenches all over it, it had a bus in the middle of the field, and it had kind of a tower in the middle as well. It was all good until we ran out of paint. The last night we just went and hung out around a bon-fire and listened to what people felt like God had been doing in them during the retreat. Some of the stories were amazing. I didn't really get to share but mine would have been that this is the best youth group I've ever been apart of. And that I like how our group can connect with each other better than other youth groups I've been apart of. Also that JJ is no doubt the best youth pastor I've ever had and that he's taught me a lot since I've been at Feather Sound.

The Band and the Speaker- The worship time was great. It was neat to see everyone worshiping God and having a great time. The band did an amazing job. Jason was one of the best speakers I've ever heard. I think he really hit the nail on the head. That we need to be visible proof to a world that is looking to be apart of something.

Surprises- The first surprise was that JJ pulled out a Brian Regan clip without me knowing. He even hinted at it in the van ride up to the retreat a little bit but I didn't think any thing of it. Something that is kind of a surprise are these kids that think they can take over shotgun in the church van this year. I don't know if they know what the rules are, but me and Beth are the first to get dibs on shotgun, but still there are students that think they can take shotgun from me. The last surprise I was surely not expecting was JP's marriage proposal to Melanie. That really surprised me. And I wish them the best of luck.

It was really cool to see everyone just coming together and encouraging each other during the games. JJ mentioned something about going to Ross's church and just helping them get ready for their grand opening and having that become the beginning of a legacy. So I can't wait for that trip to come. I just hope everyone got as much as I did out of the retreat and I hope God really starts something in our youth group. I can't wait until next year.

Winter Jam

This year Winter Jam was on a Saturday for us so we were able to get a little bit better seats than we had last year. The artists this year were Hawk Nelson, NewSong, Brandon Heath, and my favorite artist TOBY MAC!!!! Each artist was great but Toby just took it to the next level. His opening was sweet because he had his mic come down from the roof like the boxing ring mics. He opened with One World and played Boomin, J-Train, Diverse City, Gone, and a couple of other songs, he then closed with Jesus Freak.I was surprised because a lot of the songs sounded different then when I saw him at night of joy. I hope he comes out with a remix to portable sounds or a CD with new songs on it soon. Overall the night was amazing and I can't wait until next year. The first picture is Toby Mac and the Second is Brandon Heath.

Brian Regan

A couple of months ago I found out that my favorite comedian (Brian Regan) was coming to town. My dad and I were the only ones I knew that went to go see him. My dad and I were both glad that Brian did almost entirely new stuff that we had never heard in his show. So that made the show even greater than I expected. There was one part that happened that was pretty funny because it wasn't supposed to happen. Brian was on the left side of the stage doing a bit and then started to walk back toward the middle of the stage, but the light didn't follow him back. So he kind of jumped back into the light so we could see him. I kind of think that threw him off a little bit; after he got back into the spotlight he said "I guess this joke supposed to happen over here." Over all the show was awesome because it was all new stuff and during his encore he added some new stuff to a couple of his old jokes. Take Luck!!!

Things I would like to do in 2009.

First I would like to grow closer to God and become more spiritual than I have been in the past. Second I would like to get a pretty good job so I can have some income coming in again. I would also like to figure out the career God has planned for my life sometime this year. I would like to get one of my long time friends to start coming to church. I would like to see a full Toby Mac concert instead of just these 45 min concerts which are still great but their not a full length concert. I would certainly like to get back into the shape I was in when I was on my schools basketball team. I would also like to play some more basketball this year. I would also like to develop deeper relationships with friends I already have and form some more friendships with people I haven't met yet. So these are some of the goals and things I would like to do this year.

What I'm excited for in 2009

Things that have already happened- First I know some of these things happened already but they were some of the things I was excited for. One was the Brian Regan show I saw on the 11th. Another thing was Toby Mac at Winter Jam this past weekend.

Things that are coming up- I'm really excited for the youth groups Winter retreat this weekend. I'm also excited for this years missions trip in the spring, and any other youth group events JJ has planed for this year. I'm also excited for any concerts that might come into town. I don't know what it is but I'm just really excited for things in youth group this year.

Memories of 2008

In the beginning of 08 I wasn't quite sure what quite to expect for the year. Because I just left a church that I was attending for a couple of months. I had a job that I didn't know how many hours a week I was going to get. I was a junior in high school and I needed to start looking toward my future and what I was going to do for the rest of my life. And just the basic problems of a teenage guys life.

Feather sound-First in about January my best friend took me to a new church. I wasn't quite sure what to expect from this new church because I've been to several churches over the years from my family moving a lot. After getting to know some of the students and getting to know JJ, Beth and their kids I really began to like Feather Sound a lot. Unfortunately I missed the winter retreat last year, and for the rest of the year I vowed never to miss another youth group event at all cost. I think I did pretty well with that by going to Winter Jam, all the concerts, the Philly missions trip, camp, etc. The first youth group event I did with pipeline was Winter Jam. That was a blast and I think what really got me to like this group a lot. Also the fact that kids in the group aren't separated into a bunch of different cliques. Another thing I liked about the group was that after church on Sundays they would all go out to lunch together instead of just going home after church. The first major event my sister and I did with the youth group was our missions trip up to Philadelphia. On that trip we had problems on the road trip up, we feed the homeless, helped out at boys and girls club, and quite a few other things. On that trip my sister and I really got plugged in with the group. During the summer our youth group held their own camp with two other churches which I thought was neat because they made it affordable to go. Also it was only the second camp I ever been to. I'll never forget camp or project Philly for the rest of my life. The rest of the year we went to every event I can think of. The one person that I would have to thank most of all for introducing me to this amazing youth group would have to be my best friend Jerry, because if he didn't bring me to feather Sound who knows where I would be.

My Job-In the fall of 2007 I got a job at West Marine. My job was pretty good to me until we got into the summer/fall of 2008. Since during this time the economy went down the tubes so did my hours. In the beginning of the year I could have had anywhere from about ten to twenty hours a week. And about three to four months ago my work had stop giving me hours altogether. They even stop giving hours to the guy that helped me get the job. Plus they cut hours to everyone in the store. So right now I'm looking for a job or hoping in the spring West Marine increases the amount of hours our store gets. However a funny thing about my job is that someone from youth group thought it was like a army surplus store for marines.

My Future-I don't really know what my future has enstore for me but I got a couple of ideas during the year but none really are calling my name. I guess God just doesn't want me to know that path right now. Right now I'm just going to enjoy 2009 and try and plan for college.

People I'd Like to Thank-First I would just like to thank my parents for being there for me and supporting me in all the things I do. I'd like to thank my best friend Jerry for being my best friend and introducing me to the Feather Sound youth group.I'd like to thank JJ for letting me be his ride along buddy on Wed. Also for being my youth pastor and pushing me to get more involved in church, because I know I wouldn't be where I am now if it wasn't for him. I'd like to thank Beth for helping to crack me out of my shell and putting up with me through out the year. And I would like to thank the entire youth group for accepting my sister and I with open arms.

The Conclusion of 08-This year was a great year for me to grow closer to God. It was just an exciting year for me with all the different things I did. I hope in 2009 God has even greater things planed for my life.