My Kodiak Gang begins with my fellow friends and worship leaders at the Church of Rock! Nah, kidding, it is the Kodiak Nazarene Church. On Sundays, we have the privilege of getting together and praising the Lord. We are a motley crew of singers, a drummer, violinists, and pianists. I, myself, am a pianist and violinist.
Our Youth Worship Group
It took a great deal of courage for us all to receive the guts to decide that we wanted to start a youth worship group. With the help of our wonderful teacher, Jhay, we have gained the courage and ability to go up on stage and rejoice. Jhay is our teacher and mentor and we wouldn't be where we are today, musically, without his help. He is an extraordinary teacher.
Our teacher, Jhay, is the one with the guitar
Music is my way of connecting with God. I can easily listen to a sermon and take notes and learn something. I will use it in my daily life but music is where I truly connect. I can play my piano, play my chords, and sing and learn something from that. When I'm on stage, I see no one, hear nothing but the sound of the music around me, and can feel my relationship with God grow stronger.
Me (orange of course) and Rebekah/Becca (purple)
As my father preaches I listen and think about how I can change for the better. His sermons hit deep and true. I learn something every Sunday, and thanks to my dad I can use it in my daily life. To make myself and those around me better, to think about what it is I'm doing wrong and correct it. In fact, I've gone through something lately that I think is worth sharing.
In youth group one of the things mentioned was to pray that we would see people as God sees people. This particular statement really made me think about my life and how I treat people. Primarily a certain friend at school. I treated her with great contempt. Her personality was very straight forward, she knew what she wanted and spoke her mind. Honestly, I had tremendous troubles with it. So, as I treated her with contempt, sin and anger took over my entire day. Everything she did irritated me and I had no reason for it. I did not know her. I had absolutely no reason to be the stuck up jerk I was.
I decided what I was doing was wrong. Very wrong. I didn't want to continue doing as I was so I apologized. I wrote her a letter apologizing for the way I had treated her. Explaining what I did was wrong and completely immature.
I admit I was scared. I was afraid she might ignore me or react negatively or who knows what- boy did my imagination run. I prayed "please Lord open her heart."
Surprisingly, I received a letter back, she accepted my apology, she even apologized for her own behavior. Her letter made me smile and lifted a great burden from my heart; I'm thinking maybe hers as well. We are building a friendship now, easily getting along.
In fact, the greatest thing happened today. She came to our church. I couldn't help but smile when I saw her and her sister show up. I prayed that the Lord would bring her there and I'm very glad she did. I pray she continues to come. I would love to see how we could all grow together in Christ.
My faith is an adventure. It changes and challenges me daily. It exercises my thought process and forces me to grow spiritually. It causes me to ask myself, do I follow my faith or seek to impress those around me? Do I listen to the voice in the back of my mind or ignore it or go about my own business? I try as best I can to choose God every time. I know I don't always but I'm a work in process. It's like climbing a mountain. Hard. Painful. Taxing. Oh, so rewarding in the end! That last step, fulfillment takes over. Peace.
