Noviasgo Fiasco

Saturday we were having a "Night on Dating and Purity." My attitude was pretty much, if there's any way I can avoid this, I'm going to. I planned to share with another youth group, tried to go visit friends, but those fell through. It didn't help that I had a really selfish awkward flop of a conversation with a girl online during the day. Then I was complaining to my friend Adriana in the afternoon and she was like. "James, God's gonna be there." And started preaching at me and praying for me via Skype chat. Pointing to me to the satisfaction that's found in God alone, I was moved to sing "In the Secret" by her prayer (I had my guitar in my lap cuz I was tuning it) and then found the translation for the song to share with the group.

When I got to the group, I was super-stoked to see a bunch of the high schoolers I hadn't got the chance to meet before. It was fun talking to them about music and anime, and just inviting a couple of the more awkward ones into the group. Even among the church kids, I was pretty shocked by some of the "worldliness" in their lives, and it reminded me that I should be involved and engaging young people more.

Leading worship was wonderful, one of the best sets I've put together. I managed to share numerous things between songs, mostly about hey, purity is more than don't, it's about having a heart focused and devoted to God. I also got to share some of my experience with the guys later, although I quite amusingly said that I was looking for a "husband" instead of a wife, because the event went until 1am and I was tired. My testimony was a good compliment to Victor's (it's funny, because we're utter opposites, but God has used us in tandem numerous times), as he was a gangster as a teen and has regrets, and I'm a 24-year old virgin.  But it was lovely, God prepared me and used me, even though I tried my hardest not to be there. :)