Where the loser saw barriers, the winner saw hurdles.  ~Robert Brault~

The human spirit is stronger than anything that can happen to it.
~C.C. Scott~

Too many people miss the silver lining because they’re expecting gold.  ~Maurice Setter~

The block of granite which was an obstacle in the pathway of the weak, became a stepping-stone in the pathway of the strong.  ~Thomas Carlyle~

If you have the will to win, you have achieved half your success; if you don’t, you have achieved half your failure.  ~David Ambrose~

Impossible is a word only to be found in the dictionary of fools.  ~Napoleon~

Excellence is not a skill.  It is an attitude.  ~Ralph Marston~

There are two things to aim at in life:  first, to get what you want; and after that, to enjoy it.  Only the wisest of mankind achieve the second.
~Logan Pearsall Smith~

Most folks are about as happy as they make up their minds to be.  ~Abraham Lincoln~

Happiness is a form of courage.  ~Holbrook Jackson~

The only way to avoid being miserable is not to have enough leisure to wonder whether you are happy or not.  ~George Bernard Shaw~

Real elation is when you feel you could touch a star without standing on tiptoe.  ~Doug Larson~

The search for happiness is one of the chief sources of unhappiness.
~Eric Hoffer~

Jumping for joy is good exercise.  ~Author Unknown~

You cannot always have happiness, but you can always give happiness.  ~Author Unknown~

The greatest happiness you can have is knowing that you do not necessarily require happiness.  ~William Saroyan~

Every thought is a seed.
If you plant crab apples,
don’t count on harvesting Golden Delicious.
~Bill Meyer~

Life is great.
Don’t let circumstances and
society fool you into believing it’s not.
~Adabella Radici~

Say you are well, or all is well with you,
And God shall hear your words and make them true.
~Ella Wheeler Wilcox~

The greatest discovery of my generation
is that a human being can alter his life
by altering his attitudes.
~William James~

Could we change our attitude,
we should not only see life differently,
but life itself would come to be different.
~Katherine Mansfield~

Look at everything as though
you were seeing it either for
the first or last time.
~Betty Smith~

Optimist: someone who isn’t sure
whether life is a tragedy or a comedy
but is tickled silly just to be in the play.
~Robert Brault~

Very often a change of self is needed
more than a change of scene.
~Arthur Christopher Benson~

For every day that there is sunshine,
there will be days of rain,
it’s how we dance within them both
that shows our love and pain.
~Joey Tolbert~

Things turn out best for the people
who make the best out of the way things turn out.
~Art Linkletter~

People seem not to see that their opinion of the world
is also a confession of character.
~Ralph Waldo Emerson~

I have found that if you love life,
life will love you back.
~Arthur Rubinstein~

Expect nothing.  Live frugally on surprise.
~Alice Walker~

You must start with a positive attitude or you will surely end without one.  ~Carrie Latet

In honor of “Happiness”, I would like to share some quotes about happiness for you to think about.

Happiness is an attitude.
We either make ourselves miserable,
or happy and strong.
The amount of work is the same.
~Francesca Reigler~

Misery is a communicable disease.
~Martha Graham~

A happy person is not a person
in a certain set of circumstances,
but rather a person with
a certain set of attitudes.
~Hugh Downs~

Some people are always grumbling
because roses have thorns;
I am thankful that thorns have roses.
~Alphonse Karr~

I never really look for anything.
What God throws my way comes.
I wake up in the morning and
whichever way God turns my feet, I go.
~Pearl Bailey~

Become a possibilitarian.
No matter how dark things seem to be
or actually are,
raise your sights and see possibilities -
always see them, for they’re always there.
~Norman Vincent Peale~

It isn’t our position but our disposition
which makes us happy.
~Author Unknown~

Turn your face to the sun
and the shadows fall behind you.
~Maori Proverb~

Some days there won’t be a song
in your heart.  Sing anyway.
~Emory Austin~

Unhappiness is best defined as
the difference between our talents
and our expectations.
~Edward de Bono~

The Constitution only guarantees
the American people the right
to pursue happiness.
You have to catch it yourself.
~Benjamin Franklin~

Happiness is never stopping
to think if you are.
~Palmer Sondreal~

The best way to cheer yourself up
is to try to cheer somebody else up.
~Mark Twain~

If only we’d stop trying to be happy
we could have a pretty good time.
~Edith Wharton~

Nobody really cares if you’re miserable,
so you might as well be happy.
~Cynthia Nelms~

Those who can laugh without cause
have either found the true meaning
of happiness or have gone stark raving mad.
~Norm Papernick~

The foolish man seeks happiness in the distance;
the wise grows it under his feet.
~James Openheim~

Happiness often sneaks in through a door
you didn’t know you left open.
~John Barrymore~

People take different roads seeking
fulfillment and happiness.
Just because they’re not on your road
doesn’t mean they’ve gotten lost.
~H. Jackson Browne~

Three grand essentials to happiness
in this life are something to do,
something to love,
and something to hope for.
~Joseph Addison~

There can be no happiness
if the things we believe in are
different from the things we do.
~Freya Stark~

Enjoy the little things,
for one day you may look back
and realize they were the big things.
~Robert Brault~

In order to have great happiness
you have to have great pain and unhappiness
- otherwise how would you know when you’re happy?
~Leslie Caron~

On the whole, the happiest people
seem to be those who have no particular
cause for being happy except that they are so.
~William R. Inge~

To be happy,
we must not be too concerned with others.
~Albert Camus, The Fall, 1956~

Happiness is when what you think,
what you say, and what you do are in harmony.
~Mahatma Gandhi~

But what is happiness
except the simple harmony
between a man and the life he leads?
~Albert Camus~

Happiness is not being pained in body
or troubled in mind.
~Thomas Jefferson~

We act as though comfort and luxury
were the chief requirements in life,
when all we need to make us really happy
is something to be enthusiastic about.
~Charles Kingsley~

Some pursue happiness, others create it.
~Author Unknown~

Happiness is a conscious choice,
not an automatic response.
~Mildred Barthel~

Plenty of people miss their share of happiness,
not because they never found it,
but because they didn’t stop to enjoy it.
~William Feather~

Let us be grateful to people who make us happy,
they are the charming gardeners
who make our souls blossom.
~Marcel Proust~

For every minute you are angry,
you lose sixty seconds of happiness.
~Author Unknown~

God calls us to share the “Christmas Spirit” all year long.  So why does the “Christmas Spirit” fail so quickly after the presents are opened?

Did you ever wonder why we give presents to people to celebrate Jesus’ birthday? I mean, for my birthday, I get presents. For your birthday, you get presents. So why do we receive gifts on Jesus’ birthday?

Years ago, I started having a birthday party for Jesus with my youth group. We brought in a cake with “Happy Birthday Jesus” written on it and everyone brought a gift to give Jesus.

The gifts were the best part. Everyone brought a wrapped box in for the party. We took turns placing our boxes under the tree. As we placed them, we told what we had brought for Jesus. Some might bring their love, devotion, praise, time, etc. Others might bring their bad habits (cussing, smoking, bullying, etc.) or something they need to let go of (ex-boyfriend, bitterness, feeling inadequate, etc.).

When all of the gifts were under the tree, we would pray and ask God to bless our gifts. We would thank God for His gift and we would thank Jesus for willingly coming to earth and giving up His riches and comfort for us.

After our prayer, we would all share one thing we counted as a blessing in our life. Then we played Christmas music and ate cake. Everyone had fun and seemed to carry the “Christmas Spirit” with them longer into the New Year.

Getting teens to open up and express themselves isn’t always as easy as most people think. We’ve all heard people say that teens over-express themselves but are they really expressing “their” own ideas and expression? Or are they showing the image others have of them?

SUPPLIES NEEDED:

Large boxes that teenagers can fit into (at least 2)

1. Divide into two teams evenly.

2. Place the box about 10 to 20 feet away from each team (relay style).

3. When you say “go!” the first person on each team runs to the box and tries to fit as much of their body into the box.

4. Once the player has squeezed into the box, they get out and run back to their team. The second person then follows suit.

5. The team that finishes first, wins.

* Before a “fit” in the box to count, the box bottom must be flat on the floor. Adult volunteers can help oversee this.

* Extra boxes are helpful incase boxes get damaged while teens are climbing in and out of them.

DISCUSSION:

1. What are some “boxes” you’re expected to fit into in your surroundings and culture?

2. Have you ever had to fit into a “box” that was a painful fit? Explain.

3. In what ways do people change themselves to be accepted?

4. Why is being accepted more important than being ourselves?

5. What happens when someone doesn’t fit in?

SCRIPTURES:

Romans 12:2 – Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is – his good, pleasing and perfect will.

Mark 8:35-37 – For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and for me and for the gospel will save it. What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul?

Matthew 6:24 – No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate one and love the other or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.

Exodus 23:2 – Do not follow the crowd in doing wrong. When you give testimony in a lawsuit, do not pervert justice by siding with the crowd…

* Encourage your teens to step out of the “box” and be all that God calls them to be. Remind your teens that none of them were made from the same mold. If God took the time to place each hair on their head, the least they could do is find their own path and follow the crowd.

Mark 16: 15-16 He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.

The first thing we need to do is to become more comfortable ourselves with sharing our faith. How can we do that? I, for one, am very uncomfortable talking to people I don’t know. The thought of sharing my faith with strangers is paralyzing for me.

So, how do we get comfortable with sharing our faith? We all know there isn’t a moment to waste. The pressure is on to tell everyone we know all that God can do for us. We need to feel the urgency of our message and remind ourselves that as men and women, we are destined to communicate.

If our son makes the winning touchdown, we tell everyone who can hear us about the game leading up to the winning touchdown. We don’t leave out any detail. So why not do the same with our personal Salvation Story? Don’t leave out any details and share it with everyone.

When your daughter is chosen as the lead in the dance recital you can’t wait to share the news with everyone who will listen. We don’t leave out any detail. So why not do the same with our personal Salvation Story? Don’t leave out any details and share it with everyone.

Matthew 5:14-16 You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on it’s stand and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.

What happens if we miss an opportunity to share our faith? Every missed opportunity is a time we have robbed someone else from a possible blessing. So let’s share our story with our teens. Have you told them how you came to Christ?

Here is a fun way to get your teens thinking about ways to share their faith.

Things You Will Need:

One baseball cap and One balloon per team

1. Form as teams of five or six of your teens. Make the teams as even as possible to each other (try not to put all the older teens on one team or all of the athletic teens on a team).

2. Each team gets a balloon and a baseball cap.  Each team should choose someone to go first. That person wears the baseball cap on their head and tries to balance the balloon on the peak of the cap.

3. The teen with the cap on then needs to walk to a designated place (about 10 feet away) and back again while balancing the balloon on the peak of the cap. They must keep the balloon from falling but they may not use their hands.

4. Once the first person has done this, they pass the cap and balloon to the next person in line. They may use their hands while passing the cap and balloon.

5. The second person continues with the same task and so on until the first team to complete the task wins.

6. Challenge the teens to move as quickly as possible.

7. Read the following Scripture:

Romans 1:16-17 I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of  everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile. For in the gospel a righteous from God is revealed, a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: “The righteous will live by faith.”

DISCUSSION:

* How is balancing a balloon similar to sharing our faith with others?

* How do we sometimes “drop” the opportunities to share our faith? (do not let them settle for just answer “by not telling others”. Try to get them to share more specific ways – EX. When we are in line at Walmart. Instead of losing our cool over the long wait, be friendly to the other customers, smile at the cashier, etc. Be Christlike when we are out in public without preaching at everyone). 2 Corinthians 6:4-8.

* Once we have passed our faith onto others, how can we support that person?

* Should we share our faith with our friends, both Christian and non-Christian? Why or why not?

MORE SCRIPTURE:

2 Timothy 1:8-9

Hebrews 12:1-3

Acts 20:35

Romans 12:13

Philippians 1:27

Showing your teens you care is easier than you may think. Send your teen a note/email/text saying you were thinking about them. Bring them a card to church and give it to them. If you can, set up “post office” in the teen classroom or another convenient place at church. This way they can receive notes and cards anytime.  They can check it each time they are at church to see if they had mail.

Plan a “Your night out”. Let your teens decide on a place to eat or meal for you to fix.  Spend this time listening to them tell you about their day, their concerns, their dreams, etc. This works best one-on-one but can also be beneficial with a small group. If using it in group settings, let the teens decide how much they want to share and allow them not to share if they are uncomfortable. If it is one-on-one, you can get more personal. It may be a good idea to have a female youth worker do this with your girl teens and a male youth worker do this with your boy teens. You know your teens best so you decide how best to approach them.

Have your youth group “adopt” a family. If there isn’t a family in need at your church, then go to a school and get information on a family (just ages of the children, sizes, etc. ~ never more than their first name) and gather Christmas gifts for them. If you know the family, the whole family can receive gifts. Have the gifts dropped off unwrapped at your church and have the teens wrap them. This is so you can be sure the gifts are new and appropriate. The last thing you want a small child to open on Christmas morning is a bottle of wine or something equally inappropriate. Then on Christmas Eve (or a day close to Christmas Eve) go Christmas Caroling and deliver the gifts. Hold back a few gifts and give them to the parents to have something from “Santa” for Christmas morning. If you don’t put your names on the gifts (leave “from” blank) then the parents can give the gifts to their children. Getting patted on the back isn’t the goal. Giving a great Christmas to someone who might not have a Christmas is the goal. The gifts themselves were not as important as the giving. Bibles make great gifts, just keep in mind that children may prefer a “Veggie Tale” video or a Child’s Bible to a King James Bible. Teens might prefer a Christian CD (in their style of music: Rap, Rock, etc.) or a Christian T-shirt to socks. Be creative and thoughtful to what the receiver of the gift might want or like.

For Thanksgiving,  “adopt” a family and provide a dinner for them (with all the food you normally have for Thanksgiving). Again, get donations and have the teens deliver it. You can prepare the food and deliver it on Thanksgiving (check with the family to make sure this would be convenient) or take the food to the family a few days before Thanksgiving (again checking to see what the family would prefer). You may find you end up with enough food for the family to have many meals after Thanksgiving as well. Limit food donations to non-parishable food and take money donations for the Turkey and other parishable foods (keep in mind that the family may not have the staples we take for granted like eggs, milk, butter, etc.). Once you have purchased all of the food for that day (don’t forget dessert), use the rest of the food to buy things the family can use later like crackers, bread, cheese, sugar, salt, peanut butter, etc.

For other holidays, keep it simple but think of how you can helpothers in need. For Valentine’s Day, give a food love offering to a family in need. For Halloween, host a Harvest party as an alternative and invite kid’s who are less fortunate or those who maybe won’t do anything that night. If you have the funds, open to the whole community. For Easter, host a Spring Fling. Have games and prizes, food and rides (blow-up bouncy rides). Face painting and egg hunts are fun as well. New Years Eve is a fun time to have a great meal for the less fortunate or have a Teen Lock-in so they have something safe to do and do’t get into trouble.

* Whatever you do to celebrate the holidays, incorporate giving and serving your community. Remember, we can’t out-give God but we can be generous with what God gives us.

* Use your talents to give and serve. Be creative and try to do something at least once a quarter for someone else. If your youth group is large enough or they really get into giving, try to do something every month.

Things You’ll Need:
A place to hold the talent show.
Teens
1 adult per 10 teens participating
Poster Board
Sign-up sheets, Bulletin Inserts
Enthusiastic attitude
A love for teens
Ribbons and/or certificates

Be sure to ask your youth group if they want to have a Talent Show.  Would they enjoy showcasing their talents? If they grumble and say – I don’t have any talents – then tell them this is no ordinary talent show. Make it a talent show where everyone can participate. Not everyone sings like Celine Dion or plays the sax like Kenny G, but everyone does something well. Some may cook or bake. Others might do crafts or sew. You might have an ballet dancer and a film maker among your group. Put them together and have your film maker video tape your dancer during a performance, at practice or just dancing for fun. During the talent show, play the video and you have two talents at one time being displayed. Be sure both get credit for their part. I have listed other categories at the end of this post.

Once you have the teens on board, your volunteers will assist you however you need them. Your teens should help make posters to put up around your church and community. Make sure you have a confirmed date from where ever you are hosting the space from (Pastor, Rec. Center, Etc.). Have your volunteers help distribute the posters around town.

There are NO try-outs. Everyone who wants to showcase their talent should be allowed. Arrange for practice times. It is best if the practices can be done where the talent show is being held but this is not a must. During practices, your volunteers should be helping you keep the teens quiet when they are not performing. If costumes need to be made, see if you can find a volunteer to make them (or maybe one of the other teens can do it for their talent).

Now that you have a confirmed list of teens in your talent show and practices have begun, you or one of your volunteers should begin the ribbons and/or certificates (filling out the names, talent, date etc.). These can be done on most computers and don’t have to be fancy. A certificate simply should state the date, group hosting, talent displayed and teens name (you can make it look official by having your pastor and you sign it for fun). The ribbons should say – Participant, – Well Done,- You’re a Star, – or something generic like that (NO 1st place, 2nd place, etc.). You do not want to pit them against each other. Your goal is to  showcase their individual talents. On the back of the ribbons should be room for their name, the date, their talent and hopefully where the talent show took place. When finished, these should be placed in a safe spot where they will be easy to get to the night of the talent show. If you have a teen who likes to do this, let them help (again giving them the credit)

Setting up for a talent show is pretty easy. Make sure you have plenty of seats for the guests and a section marked off for the performers. If you have a teen or volunteer who is good with a camera ask them to video tape the talent show and take still shots. As a way to make a little money for your youth group, you can make copies of the video or photos and sell them.

It’s time to get the evenings schedule together. You’ve hopefully seen all of the performing talent. You can have the performers chose a number and that is where they perform or you can try to schedule the acts yourself but this can be time consuming and some might feel you are playing favorites. Once you’ve figure this out, it is time to put together the talent show program (bulletin, agenda or whatever you call it). If you have a teen who loves to create thing on a computer, let them help with this and be sure to give them credit.

The night of the talent show, you should have some volunteers with the teens keeping them quiet when not performing and keeping the flow onto and off of the stage going smoothly. If you have a fellowship Hall for where the refreshments are being served, set the artwork, photos, sculptures, sewing, etc. around the area. Make sure people can easily view the items while others are getting food. Also make sure the tables and/or chairs are away from the items so nothing gets damaged.

As the night begins, you may have a teen who likes to talk and socialize. Let them hand out the programs and greet people. Have the teens set up their own viewable submissions with help from you volunteers. Make sure everyone gets recognition for their submissions (viewable and performance).

When the last act is over, you can do one of two things. If you had a smaller group hand out the ribbons and certificates then invite everyone back to enjoy the refreshment and see the viewable submissions (make sure someone gets pictures of the food submissions before anyone digs into the food). If you have a larger group, take an intermission and serve the refreshments. This gives everyone a chance to see the viewable submissions before the certificates and ribbons are handed out.

Finally, Relax and enjoy knowing fun, fellowship and good food was had by all who attended.

Talent categories:
1. Singing (solo or group)
2. Musical instrument (solo or band)
3. Art (Painting, sketching, chalk, animation, sculptures, etc.)
4. Writing (Poetry, short story ~ set a word limit, song lyrics ~ original work only)
5. Comedian (Should be appropriate material for all ages)
6. Sports (Include them all but make sure they understand this has to be a film submission due to space and time ~ limit it to about 2 or 3 minutes)
7. Film Making (Make sure the film is 2 or 3 minutes long and is an appropriate film for all ages)
8. Acting (skits or a scene from a movie ~ make sure the scene/skit is 2 or 3 minutes long and is an appropriate film for all ages)
9. Cooking/Baking (those choosing this category will be in charge of refreshments that evening). Remember to take a picture of each item submitted for talent to give to the teen submitting.
10. Hospitality ~ If your teen loves to mingle or talk, they can be the greeter for the evening.
11. If they are good with “paperwork” have them help make the programs (be sure to give them credit).
13. Magician ~ again put a time limit on this.
14. Photography ~ have them display their photographs and then have them take photos of the talent show.
15. Crafts ~ anything handmade by the teen.
16. Sound effects ~ if you have someone interested in sound boards, let them run the sound board. You may need someone to show them how to run the sound board.
17. Health and Beauty ~ If a teen is interested in fixing hair, applying make-up, or doing a four minute talk on health.  They can assist with hair and make-up the night of the Talent Show if needed.
18. Debate ~ Maybe two or more of your teens enjoy arguing. Give them a topic (or let them choose one together) and give them each 2 minutes to debate it (again no one should be declared the “winner”).

* You can add any talent that your teens have that doesn’t fall in the above categories. The most important thing is to make every teen feel welcome to share their talent.