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Faith in Real Life

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In Faith in Real Life

Keswick- Day 3

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Day two was great!  We all had an absolute blast with one another.  Judging from our debriefing time together last night the messages are really resonating with our students.  They are saying things like, “It’s amazing that God loves me that much!”.  Or, “I can’t believe that the God of the whole universe who made all of that cares enough about some one so tiny and small to die on the cross for me!”  It was great to hear what they were thinking.  I can’t wait to hear how God works in their life today.  Everyday is a new adventure.

Yesterday we looked at Jesus as our friend, and as our master.

Jesus is our friend.  John 13:12…  Jason reminded us that the greatest thing that we could ever do for someone else is to give your life up for them.  To give the one non renewable resource that you own!  Your life is one of the only things that once you give it up, you can’t get another one.  How awesome is that thought?  Jesus gave his life for us.  This next quote really resonated with us, “High School is when we become professionals at lying to everyone & show off a side that we want people to see, and hide the side of us that we are afraid of.”  I would add, that high school is when we become professionals at it, and we have the rest of our lives to perfect it.  How does that quote resonate with you?

Here’s the awesome part!  God knows our good, our bad, and our ugly… and He is still your friend!

Jesus as our master…  We are in need of a master, someone to guide us through life, someone to give us hope and show us the way.  There is nothing which is out of God’s reach or God’s control.  God’s thoughts are higher and farther than ours, just as broad and deep and wide as our whole solar system is.  AMAZING!  So, if God’s ways are not our ways, and I can’t understand this master, I guess the question is will I trust Him?  Will we choose to trust our master?  What are times when you need to trust the master?

Keep on praying for us…  God wants to do great things here.

~Peter

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In Faith in Real Life

Keswick-Day 2 mid day update

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So, I was able to steal away for a few minutes to share this with all of you.  We had a great afternoon.  The leaders and I planned a little prank if you will on all of the students.  It was great.  It was fun, it was entertaining, it was exciting, and ultimately it got us all together and was a very unifying experience.  Keswick for those of you who are unaware has a fairly gross lake.  Pretty but full of weeds and decaying plant matter.  So, when I suggested yesterday to a bunch of guys that we swim out to the blow up raft in the middle of the lake they laughed and said no way.  So, we devised a plan.  We decided that we would tell the group that tomorrow afternoon (today) we were going to go to the beach.  Well, the nice thing about keswick’s lake is it has a nice beach.  So, today rolls around, and we get everyone loaded up in the bus.  Kids are complaining, because some don’t want to go, and others are really excited to go.  Everyone gets on the bus.  We take a head count, we pray before we leave, and we go through all the motions we would before taking off on a long trip.  We even found a bus driver to take us there.  So, we pull about 150 yards down the road only to stop and let everyone off at the lake “beach”.  It was hysterical.  (The kind that you have to be there for… but none the less, it was funny.  Take my word on it.)  Their faces were priceless.  Everyone looked and they realized that they had been had.  It was great.  We all got off the bus, and then for the next 45 minutes we proceeded to do relay races and games and team building type activities.  It was truly a great bonding moment for all of us.  I am so glad that we did that!  It not only was fun, it was healthy for us.  We built swamp monsters out of leaders, we buried people in sand, we had relay races, and all around good fun.  Thank you for praying!  It was great.

Thought I would share that with you…

~Peter

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In Faith in Real Life

keswick- Day 2

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Yesterday was great. We had an awesome day. We started the day off at breakfast with everyone surprisingly awake. I wouldnt have been surprised to find several of them slowly nodding off into they cereal bowl. Everyone was still very excited for what was about to happen.
We had two great meetings yesterday where we looked at Jesus being our King and our Lover. It was great to hear some of these guys articulating why they needed a king and why they needed a lover! So funny. However, our speaker, Jason Mitchell is doing a great job moving through each of these different characteristics of Jesus. Last night we learned about John, the disciple who Jesus loved. John was a drop out, a failure and a deserter. Jesus loves the dropout, the failure and the deserter. There have been times spiritually when we have all been dropouts, failures and deserters. I am axious for what Gpd is going to teach us today.
By far my favorite memory of yesterday was late last night we met to be together and talk with each other, debrief and think about the rest of the week. We talked about what has made past keswick weeks so great. We thought about how we could make this one a memorable one so that three years from now we say, ‘remember when…’ we are working as a group on our relationships with one another. I asked them Gor some practical ways that we can build better relationships with each other this week. Then after we thought about it all the challenge is to actually make it happen starting today! I am proud of our group an love each one of them. I believe that God is going to do some great things with our group. Pray for unity and for each of us to be growing closer with each other and with the Lord.
More updates to follow!
-Peter

more updates to follow

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In Faith in Real Life

Aging Gracefully-{aging none the less}

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So, yesterday we took the Junior High to Dorney Park and Wild Water Kingdom.  We had a great time.  There were little to no lines, and it was just a great day spent together.  I have discovered something about myself.  

I am Getting OLDER

Yesterday I went on several roller coasters and some other rides, and we were having a great time.  Then I met this fellow.   When I was a young buck, I would have ridden this fellow till he was subdued.  I would have broken that wild stallion.  Yesterday??? Not so much…  I’d like to introduce you to a little machine called the Revolution. 

Expectant mothers around the world are exuberantly sending their beloved spouse to Dorney Park to ride this one ride.  Why you may ask?  So that we the “dogs” that brought you to the state in which you find yourself, can only begin to get a glimpse of what morning sickness is like.  I literally had to close my eyes, and prepare myself for whatever was going to come out of my throat next.  I wasn’t sure if it was going to be CO2 or partially digested Everything Bagel with butter.  Either way, I was holding my stomach for dear life.  

This brings about only 1 question…

Who designed this mammoth torture device?  Seriously.  Why would you do this to your fellow man!  

This brings about 1 suggestion…

Maybe rename it “Morning Sickness” or only allow expectant dads to be on… Save the rest of us…

It brings about only 1 thought…

I paid to feel this way!

~Peter

PS.  Please answer these questions…  

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In Faith in Real Life

careful what you wish for…

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It’s been a while… I’ve been praying for a while. I have been praying that God would use me and make me into a man of integrity, give me wisdom, and patience. I’m serious. I want nothing more than to be a man of God who has integrity.

I have to admit something to you. The last week or so haven’t been the easiest. Part of why I blog is to share my life with you. To share who I am. To share what God is doing in my life. To share what it’s like for me as a husband, a dad, a youth pastor, and as a person living this life. There are going to be times in my life when everything is lined up perfectly. Another reason as to why I blog is because I hope that as you read the insights that I have found in my life that I can encourage you. (Pete Wilson has a great explanation as to why Pastor’s should blog. I love it. Here it is.) Recently, things haven’t been that great. Both of our cars went kaputz, and {we are actually still waiting on God to show us what to do with the van} we have had some dissapointments in the last several days, that have made it difficult to be cheery and positive. I was asked by someone who knows me pretty well today, and who also knows what is swirling around the Gowesky family, “how are you doing?” Do you know what I said? I said, “Good.” And I even had a bit of a cheery overtone in my voice. He replied, “don’t lie to me”. Why do I have to pretend to always be alright?

Right now, we are trying to figure out what to do with our vehicle. We are facing some tough realities, and guess what? I asked for it! You almost could say, I got what I asked for. I’ve been asking for wisdom, and for patience, and for integrity. Well, how did I think that God was going to give that to me? Teach me of course. Show me. Bring me through the things that mold me into the man that God has intended for me to be. These are the things… These are the moments that God has planned to use in my life as a coach uses after his player just got creamed on the last play. “Get up, get your head in the game. Quit feeling sorry for yourself, and learn from what just happened to you. Don’t let it happen again!”

Man is it tough. I’m not sure that this is what I would have asked for if I had known. It’s all good though. God will bring us through. As my friend so wisely told me today, “Keep doing what God has called you to do. Rely on Him. Look for Him to provide the answers. Enjoy every moment with your precious wife and kids.”

He is so right. I have the greatest wife a man could ever want. I have two amazing kids, and I am so blessed.

So, careful what you pray for. Because, you might just get it.

~Peter

P.S. Answer these two questions! I am preaching in two weeks, and I wanted to get some feedback on these topics! Thanks!

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In Faith in Real Life

Great Game

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So, as I mentioned before, I had an opportunity to go to the Phillies game with a good buddy last night.  What a game it was.  It started off as a slaughter.  The mets batted through their order maybe 3 times in the first 2 innings it seemed, they were just killing the Phillies.  Yet the end made it all worth it.  The Phillies clawed their way back from an 8-0 deficit.  Leaving the 9th inning at 10-9 with the mets on top.  Ah well.  We had a great time.  It sure was fun to get in the park and see some ball.

~When was the last time you were at a Baseball game?

~Peter

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In Faith in Real Life

Phillies game

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This is my first blog post on the go. So we will see how it goes. I am blogging from my phone. How amazing is that. Anyhow. I am headed to go watch the phillies play the mets down at the new stadium. Should ne a good time. My good buddy Bryan and I are going. We are about to jump on the train and head into the city. Should be a great night. Look for some pictures tomorrow. Go phils!

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In Faith in Real Life

Continuation..

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So, the van is in the shop getting fixed.  Who knows what that will be.  We are still just relying on God that He will provide for our needs here…  It is amazing the way that God continues to provide for us.  This may be entirely overwhelming, and we have no idea how it is going to come together, but this is such a small thing to God.  Two broken cars aren’t even a blip on the screen for Him.  So, we will continue to wait and see how He provides.  

I’ll keep you posted.

~Peter

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Quiet till now!!!

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Tonight is Junior High Youth Group and I was practicing a few songs that we will be leading in worship tonight.  I was singing one of them over and over trying to get it just right, and I believe that God was using it to prepare my heart for the announcement that was about to come.  Now, this is not the type of announcement that was made in the Bible like when Mary found out that she was going to have the Christ, the Messiah growing inside of her.  No, not like this.  Nor was this like Moses recieving the ten commandments.  My face was not glowing afterwards.  

 So, I hear our secretary say, “Ah there he is.  Peter, your wife is on the phone.  She said that the car broke down and she is on the side of the road.  She needs you to come and pick her up.”  

That is neat…. I think to myself.  So things have been pretty quiet around here till now.  Automotively speaking that is.  So today was the final straw that broke the camels back.  Both of our vehicles have gone out of comission. 

So, here we are…  Her car does not go forward.  Reverse yes!  But not forward. 

My car… CLUTCH SLIPAGE.  Big time.  

So, what is the song that I was singing over and over again?  

All to Jesus, I surrender, all to Him I freely give…  I will ever love and trust Him, in His presence daily live.  

I SURRENDER ALL,  I SURRENDER ALL, ALL TO THEE, MY BLESSED SAVIOR, I SURRENDER ALL…

I think that I need to go downstairs and sing it a few more times…  I surrender all… I surrender all… ALL to thee my blessed savior… I SURRENDER ALL!

What in your life do you need to surrender to God, and say God, take this… I can’t do this on my own???

~Peter

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