Funtastic Friend Friday: Ryan Lee

I call this dear friend of mine I call Mr. Lee. We were interns together my first summer at Timber Wolf Lake in 2011. There were two Ryans, so I figured their proper names would suffice and so Ryan will always be Mr. Lee to me. He tends to call me "Abourjoojoo" and is the only person to ever do so. I am forever thankful for Mr. Lee's countless visits into the office that summer to give me a hard time or to just hang out. He has been such a fun person to get to know and someone who encourages me to live a different story that is truly marked by the Lord. Ryan is now living in Grand Rapids, MI leading Urban Young Life and I absolutely love being at camp when him and his guys come. It's an absolute joy to see him lead in ministry and to lay his life down for his guys. 

mr. lee as coach kenny, twl program session 4

with his girlfriend and my sweet, sweet friend, abby

#twl2k11interns

I appreciate Ryan's post so much because it is a true testament to the Lord's faithfulness and then also gives you a glimpse into Ryan's life. He paints a picture of what it means to have faith in God, and for that I am thankful.

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“Have faith in God,” Jesus answered.  “Truly I tell you, if anyone says to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and does not doubt in their heart but believes that what they say will happen, it will be done for them.”

Mark 11:22-23

When I was 18, I read this verse (for probably the 100^th time), and it changed my life forever. I had always believed in God, but a walk with him just never appealed to me. Instead, I decided to do my best to carve my own path. Surely, I could do a better job at making myself happy than he could. In retrospect, it was a stupid plan.

After discovering an empty hole inside, and trying my best to fill it with anything I could, I realized I wasn’t doing such a great job carving my path after all. Then I rediscovered those words in the book of Mark – “Have Faith in God”. As if I couldn’t imagine why I had ever tried anything else, I started making some big decisions. I got a huge tattoo of that scripture on my arm (Sorry Mom), and told God to send me where he wanted me, and I would obey. About a week later, I got a very random call from a man in Kansas City, KS, who said he had heard a bit of my story and wanted me to live in a “Guy’s house” nearby to him. Turned out, this house was a place where young men went and lived in intentional community with each other to learn about God’s will for us. So… I held up to my word. Three days later I moved away from my home in Atlanta, GA.

I stayed in Kansas City for two years, and up to that point, it was the best time of my life. While there, I discovered Young life, met my best friends, and found life-long mentors. By the end of my time, my desires had totally changed. God had revealed to me a love for young people, and a never ending hunger to align my heart with His. He had done exactly what Jesus said He would, He rewarded faithfulness, with faithfulness. 

As I approached the end of year two in Kansas, I was accepted to intern at Young Life’s summer camp in Northern Michigan - Timber Wolf Lake. That summer I was blessed to serve young people with a group of believers who became dear friends (including our lovely Jordan Abourjilie). During my time at camp I prayed that the Lord would once again send me where He wanted me next. He revealed His path through a Young Life Area director in Grand Rapids, MI named Q. After a few weeks of fellowship at camp, Q asked me to consider coming to Grand Rapids, to pursue Urban Young Life. After a few days of prayer, I decided to do exactly what had made sense so far “Have Faith in God”.

When I called my family that summer to tell them I would be staying in Michigan, the response was only more confirmation of his faithfulness. Turns out, they had been praying for months and decided to move from Atlanta to redevelop a Summer Camp that had fallen apart. Their hope was to open the property to intercity ministries. Where was the camp? None other than Grand Rapids, MI. My family moved to Grand Rapids, exactly a month before I did.

I have now lived in Michigan for nearly two years, and work for Urban Young Life here in the city. Every day is different, and challenging, and joy-filled.  As a White guy befriending and talking about Jesus with intercity kids, it’s been made very apparent that my words and actions mean very little when on their own.  Thankfully he reminds me everyday -“Have Faith in God”.

Where I am on His journey now, and where I started, are radically different. Thankfully though, in a world filled with clutter and complications, He makes it very simple. Faith. He doesn’t promise us things will be easy, He doesn’t promise us things will be clear, but He does promise that if we are faithful, He will return it.

McMansion

The past two years I have lived in a house with seven other girls. We refer to our home as the McMansion. It's a really special place and we have been incredibly blessed to be able to call it home for the past two years. My memories from the past two years will forever be engrained on my heart.

This post is in honor of those seven girls and all the times that we have spent together. It's also a time to share where we are all heading next year.
 

the love over the years captured by photos:

first mrs. d's dance party of junior year 80s's baby

carolina fall

plaid & vests

rah-rah carolina-lina

merry christmas 2011

mustaches & anna's 21st birthday party

bali hai for jessica's birthday dinner

sunday evening spontaneous dance parties

out of control

summer kick-off beach trip

cinco de mayo 2012

mrs. d's nerdy dance party to kick off senior year

labor day lake trip

pancake night

game day

football field fun

dresses & boots loves

halloween 2012

dress up night to kick off our last semester

tru

where we are heading...

Sydney: I am so excited about what Sydney is going to be doing after graduation. She is first heading to Frontier Ranch to be a summer long intern in the Kitchen. She is going to be rocking the ChefWear, Crocs, and hats... her most favorite of looks. After that she will be returning to NC to go to Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary in Wake Forest, NC, just outside of Raleigh. She will be getting her Masters in Biblical Counseling... freakin' awesome.

Sarah: Sarah is staying a McMansion girl forever (not really, just for the summer). She is starting her big girl job full time a week after graduation at ROI, an internet marketing company, in Raleigh. She is going to be living with Anna next year... roomies since freshman year of college.

Erin: This girl is leaving the coop the morning after graduation and heading down south and to the beach to Charleston, SC where she will be attending Medical University of South Carolina. She is going to go to Occupational Therapy school... get it, girl. I am so excited for her to live at the beach, in one of my most favorite cities in the U.S.

Elaine: This girl is a freebird. She will be doing freebird things.

Jordan (Me): After graduation I am heading to Michigan for a month and a half to spend some time at Timber Wolf and then to work at Michindoh, a YL rental camp for the month of June. I will be working retail and admin at Michindoh, where we'll have three weeks of WyldLife camping and one week of YoungLives. Then it's two months of playtime, and then I am heading west to Crooked Creek Ranch in Fraser, CO to be a yearlong intern. Bye-bye, NC and bye-bye, besties.

Jen: Jen's heart is in Chapel Hill and that's where she will be staying. She is living with Jessica here in Chapel Hill and will be working at a pharmaceutical research company in Durham. Her work watches Netflix together on their lunch breaks... best. big. girl. job. ever. She will continue leading Young Life at Chapel Hill High School... still reppin' her tiger pride. 

Jessica: Jess is staying in Chapel Hill as well and will remain a tarheel student as a part of UNC's graduate school program. She will be studying Library and Information Science and is well on her way to being the best librarian around. I cannot wait for all that she is going to learn and so jealous that she will still get UNC basketball tickets.

Anna: This girl is heading West for the summer and is going to be a summer intern at Trail West, a Young Life camp in Buena Vista, CO. She will be doing admin and I am so incredibly pumped for her! At the end of August she is returning to NC and living with Sarah. She will be continuing her job at Performance Auto Mall in social and digital marketing.

 

we ended with a photoshoot...

"with the Lord our bond is strong and strong enough to keep us moving on..."

Funtastic Friend Friday: Georgia McCoy

This girl holds a very special and dear place in my heart, one that no one will ever be able to replace. Georgia is a junior at East Chapel Hill High School, where I lead Young Life and she had been one of the biggest blessings during my time of doing ministry in that school. She knows Jesus and she loves Jesus... a lot. I am constantly amazed by her passion for the Lord, His will for her life, and His Word. She seeks to know the Truth in all things and in all circumstances. Georgia has been a huge source of encouragement when Young Life has gotten tough and I begin to forget why I do what I do. She is also one of the most mature high schoolers that I have ever met and she is one of the most fun people to be around. We spend hours at coffee shops together talking about life and the future and all that the Lord is doing. I cannot wait for her senior year and to see where God takes her for college (and for her to be the best YL leader the ministry has ever seen).

I was so excited when Georgia agreed to write a post on my blog for many reasons. One, because she is so important to me and it only seems appropriate that she have her own post on here but two, because I love her perspective and the way that she sees the Lord. She sees the beauty in failure and it something I admire in her so much. My prayer is that you read what she writes and that it resonates with you as well. She may only be seventeen years old, but I assure you, she is one wise girl crazy about Jesus.

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Hope for the Epic Failure

My life is a house of cards. Perfectly balanced. Meticulously put together. It’s an impressive web which perfectly delegates my time to school, food, sleep, clubs, a cappella, Young Life, church, choir, youth group, swimming, friends, family, my dog, working out, babysitting, planning events…you name it, I probably do it.

           

Everything is penciled into my little red calendar. Every moment of every day. And for the most part it works. As long as nothing ever runs over, doesn’t go as planned, takes up more of my time, or changes. As long as I never mess up, get run down, or don’t understand something. As long as I never want to stop and smell the roses or something. The problem with my house of cards life is that even just one tiny disturbance knocks the entire thing down.

           

The only thing left standing is a merciful God waving me over saying, “Hey, I’m still here! I’ve got you and I ain’t going nowhere.”

With every crashing tumble I take, the Lord lays down a new brick on my foundation, so when I fall, I don’t fall quite as far. He is building me a house anchored in His truth and resting on His shoulders.

           

In 2^nd Corinthians Paul talks about his own hardships. He says:

“Therefore, in order to keep me from becoming conceited, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”

Over the years God has helped me see His works in me, some have been revealed quickly, some have taken years. Through my pain He has refined me. Through my weakness He has used me. People like to say there is no one too weak to not be used by the Lord. In reality, it should go more like there is no one too prideful or self-obsessed or angry or successful or lost or passive or content or distracted to be out of the reach of the Lord. Only when we step off our pedestals can the Lord step up and use us. 

Look at Peter for example in the book of John. Man was a hot mess. Jesus tells Peter he is going to deny Him three times that night and Peter goes no! I would never! Thought too highly of himself to step aside and simply say “help!” Within just 12 hours of being told this, he denies Jesus three times. He feels crummy but it isn’t until Jesus appears to him on the beach and brings it up does Peter realize how broken he is. What happens next? Jesus builds His church on him!

“Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.” –Ephesians 3:20-21

Immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine? Wow. I can think of a lot of stuff…immeasurably more? I’d like to see that and I would imagine so would other people! But until we step aside and rejoice in our weakness, we are too dense. We are too set in our own ways. We think we know what we’re doing. We think, “I’ve got this!” 

What hope we have in the Lord! He set us free. He was tortured and gruesomely nailed to the cross so when we stumble and fall and fail and fall over and have our worlds crumble we can have assurance that we are still precious in His sight. He will not leave us. He has felt alone and broken and because He loves us so, He will never leave. That’s so comforting. Because he makes us strong we can lift others up. Because He is our anchor we can take leaps of faith. We can do the unpopular and different and still know we have the Almighty God on our team, cheering us on.

There's a wreckage, there's a fire

There's a weakness in my love

There's a hunger I can't control

Lord I falter and I fall down

Then I hold on to the chains you broke

When You came down and saved my soul

Save my soul

Hallelujah

We are free to struggle

We're not struggling to be free

Your blood bought and makes us children

So children drop your chains and sing

So I look, do I still fail

Do I withhold, do I still give into temptation

On my own I am bankrupt

I will trust You, I'll take you at your word

You promise

Hallelujah

We are free to struggle

We're not struggling to be free

Your blood bought and makes us children

So children drop your chains and sing

Hallelujah, death is overcome

and we are breathing

Hallelujah our stone hearts become flesh

a flesh that's beating

Hallelujah chains have been undone

and we are singing

Hallelujah the fire has begun

can you feel it?

Hallelujah

We are free to struggle

We're not struggling to be free

Your blood bought and makes us children

So children drop your chains and sing

-Tenth Avenue North