Wednesday's Word-YOU JUST CUT THAT GUY'S EAR OFF!

So, last week, we talked about how Jesus told Peter that before the rooster crowed, he would disown Jesus THREE TIMES! Peter's reply? "Even if I have to die with you, I will never disown you." Matt 26: 35

Peter now has something to "prove," right? I mean, if you've ever put yourself out there to where your very integrity is at stake, you're DEFINITELY going to be right! You have EVERYTHING to prove and "your word" to lose...oh, and PRIDE! So, Peter's now antsy about making SURE he does NOT disown Jesus! If there was ANYTHING he was going to prove Jesus wrong about...THIS WAS IT!!!

We're talking from John 18: 1-11, but focusing on verses 10 and 11.

Jesus and His buddies are hanging out at their local hangout--The Olive Grove---(The Mt. of Olives). All of the sudden, a detachment of soldiers and some officials from the chief priests and Pharisees show up, led by Jesus's former disciple, Judas Iscariot. These guys were ARMED and LOOKING for a reason to kill Jesus, and Jesus and all His disciples knew it. So there is this interaction between Jesus and Judas, and then Jesus and the officials (which I'm totally coming back to in a couple weeks!). Finally, this band of people who came to arrest Jesus made their arrest. Jesus, the Man who never sinned, was now in handcuffs.

In Luke 22: 49, we find that during this arrest, his followers realized they were about to take Jesus into custody, so they question Jesus, "Lord, should we strike with our swords?" But, Peter wasn't waiting around for the opportunity to come for someone to accuse HIM of disowning Jesus. He decided to take matters into his own hands! He was going to PROVE to Jesus that he meant what he said when he said he would never disown Jesus or he would DIE trying! He drew his sword, and took a swing...cutting off the EAR of Malchus, a servant of the High Priest.

Jesus's response to this?
1) "Put your sword back in its place...Do you think I cannot call on my Father and he will at once put at my disposal more than twelve legions of angels?" (Matt 26: 52, 53).

2) "...and He touched the man's ear and healed him." Luke 22:51 JESUS JUST HEALED THIS GUY'S EAR! THE GUY WHO CAME FOR THE VERY PURPOSE OF ARRESTING HIM!

3) And Jesus says to Peter in John 18: 11, "Put your sword away! Shall I not drink the cup the Father has given me?" The Man who, that VERY NIGHT, was praying FERVENTLY for God to make a way to take this cup from him, told Peter the cup had to be drunk, and He would be the one to do it.

So, Peter might have been a little overzealous to prove his loyalty to the King, but you know how it goes...you're trying to "prove yourself"...you get a bit prideful if your reputation is on the line and people are looking to you for leadership.

The thing of it is...after all this commotion, "...ALL the disciples deserted him and fled" leaving Jesus alone in "The Grove" with a detachment of armed soldiers, a bunch of people who hated him and wanted to KILL Him, and His betrayer, Judas. Did not ONE of the disciples want to stay? When push came to shove, they ALL...LEFT. Not ONE stayed.

Not even Peter.

What Younglife Means To Me

We've come to the end of our final semester leading Young Life in the town in which we started Young Life. In total, we've been volunteering with Young Life for 8 years. Eight of the most fantastic years! We've been down the biggest tubing hill I've ever seen in my life---AT NIGHT---attached by tube to atleast 30 other people! We have gone to so many high school basketball games, track meets, soccer games, football games, etc...more than you can imagine! We've had 100 people in our basement every Tuesday night and 25 more on Wednesdays over the years. We've had moments where I've been in fear for my life (YOU try sailing with one high school girl when NEITHER of you know how to sail!), moments where I've nearly laughed myself into a tizzy (watch an 80 pound freshman girl get launched into the sky on a water tube, or a girl unable to ride a BIKE until she realizes the handlebars are backwards!). I've even broken bones at Young Life camp. I've had moments where I've cried with "my girls," laughed with "our guys" and been um, "misunderstood" by people in general. Most of my "Top Ten Friends" are not even twenty yet, and I wouldn't have it any other way. ...and it's all coming to a close.

I've cried and cried and prayed and prayed about this. And, in talking with a lot of other people about stepping back from one ministry to step into another ministry, I've learned that grief is normal. I've talked with people who have very amazing youth ministry going on, and they are about to step into full-time missions in ETHIOPIA! They, too, are grieving "losing" their ministry and their community, their church, and to a certain extent, their family, all-the-while being very excited for what God WILL DO!

So, while we're sad to step back from Young Life leadership, we're excited because we now have the opportunity to prepare our family of five to become a family of SEVEN! And, we will remember how amazing it was to serve God through Younglife, and we will be excited to see what God WILL DO! And, of course, we are excited for "our Younglife kids" to join us in watching God expand our family through the miracle of adoption!

Watch the video our friends made us HERE.

Poison Darts

So, if you know me, you probably know that I often wish I was a CIA agent or some other special ops-type job. "I'm pretty sure I could kick anyone's butt...once." I'm actually quoting myself when I drove a bunch of my Young Life girls into inner city Philly last summer-at night. Nevermind the fact that I've only shot two REAL guns, I mean "weapons," in my life. The first-blasted the snot outta a pumpkin! YEAH! The second one had a laser beam on it, and I freaked out and couldn't even shoot it. So, yeah...good thing I have a fall back plan. You don't often need weapons as a stay-at-home mom. Until...tonight!

Tate and Dallas began this nerf gun war. "Mom! Do you want to play?!" Me: "NO! You're having plenty of fun with Daddy!" Well, I was caught in the crossfire one too many times, and that was IT! (At this point, they had abandoned the guns and gone straight to throwing bullets, I mean, darts!) So, we're launching bullets at each other. Tate's hitting me point blank--IN THE FACE! NO MERCY, I tell ya! And, I'm missing my target left and right. I would have been dead about 37 times at which point I found myself saying, "I'm not as good as being a special agent as I thought I was!"

Next thing you know, Dallas invents this game called "POISON DART." Rules: Throw darts at your opponent. If you hit their limbs, they cannot use them for a minute. If you hit anything else, they can't use it for a minute. So, Naomi grabs a dart and hits Dallas's butt and says, "DADDY! YOU CAN'T USE YOUR BUTT NOW!" Hmm...what a shame.

After a little while, I must admit, the game got completely outta hand. Tate was found to have handfuls, I'm talkin' 17-30 darts, running up and just plastering you with them...and he's a GOOD SHOT! Dallas was a sweaty mess, and I'm pretty sure I'm going to have a couple nerf dart sized bruises on my face tomorrow. Game over.

So, my dream of kickin' butt and takin' names is slowly drifting away...