Home

I've been away for YL New Staff Training and Regional training for what seems like months.  I'm home!!  It feels so good to come home.  Home to my own bed, my church, my community and home to Lee's Summit North.  I went up after school and hung out in the events lobby and it felt good to be tackled with hugs and high fives, to be texted and texted by YL kids!  It feels good to be home and hang out and have great conversations with my YL girls.  It feels good to be home and go to a basketball game with my YL girls and Buffalo Wild Wings.  I love this job!  But most of all it feels good to be home and know that I have grown spiritually and LOVE Jesus more than when I left.  My hope, my love, and my home comes from Him.

Word

Do you know the Word... do you hide in your heart and claim it's truth when lies invade?  I'm challenging myself to know more of it and use it in my life. 
Psalms 63:1-8

O God, you are my God,
earnestly I seek you;
my soul thrists for you,
my body longs for you,
in a dry and weary land
where there is no water.

I have seen you in in the sanctuary
and beheld your power and your glory.
Because your love is better than life,
my lips will glorify you.
I will praise you as long as I live
and in your name I will lift up my hands.
My soul will be satisified as with the richest of foods,
with singing lips my mouth will praise you.

On my bed I remember you;
I think of you through the night.
Because you are my help I sing in the shadow of your wings.
My soul clings to you; your right hand upholds me.

Sneeze

Hearing Martin Luther King Jr's  last speech "I've Been to the Mountain Top,"... I was moved to tears.

Here is a part that moved me...  We are the body.  If we are adopted sons and daughters of Jesus Christ than we are one and unity is in order.  We are to LOVE one another. 

I've Been to the Mountain Top

You know, several years ago, I was in New York City autographing the first book that I had written. And while sitting there autographing books, a demented black woman came up. The only question I heard from her was, "Are you Martin Luther King?" And I was looking down writing, and I said, "Yes." And the next minute I felt something beating on my chest. Before I knew it I had been stabbed by this demented woman. I was rushed to Harlem Hospital. It was a dark Saturday afternoon. And that blade had gone through, and the X-rays revealed that the tip of the blade was on the edge of my aorta, the main artery. And once that's punctured, your drowned in your own blood -- that's the end of you.

It came out in the New York Times the next morning, that if I had merely sneezed, I would have died. Well, about four days later, they allowed me, after the operation, after my chest had been opened, and the blade had been taken out, to move around in the wheel chair in the hospital. They allowed me to read some of the mail that came in, and from all over the states and the world, kind letters came in. I read a few, but one of them I will never forget. I had received one from the President and the Vice-President. I've forgotten what those telegrams said. I'd received a visit and a letter from the Governor of New York, but I've forgotten what that letter said. But there was another letter that came from a little girl, a young girl who was a student at the White Plains High School. And I looked at that letter, and I'll never forget it. It said simply,

Dear Dr. King,

I am a ninth-grade student at the White Plains High School."

And she said,

While it should not matter, I would like to mention that I'm a white girl. I read in the paper of your misfortune, and of your suffering. And I read that if you had sneezed, you would have died. And I'm simply writing you to say that I'm so happy that you didn't sneeze.

And I want to say tonight -- I want to say tonight that I too am happy that I didn't sneeze. Because if I had sneezed, I wouldn't have been around here in 1960, when students all over the South started sitting-in at lunch counters. And I knew that as they were sitting in, they were really standing up for the best in the American dream, and taking the whole nation back to those great wells of democracy which were dug deep by the Founding Fathers in the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution.

If I had sneezed, I wouldn't have been around here in 1961, when we decided to take a ride for freedom and ended segregation in inter-state travel.

If I had sneezed, I wouldn't have been around here in 1962, when Negroes in Albany, Georgia, decided to straighten their backs up. And whenever men and women straighten their backs up, they are going somewhere, because a man can't ride your back unless it is bent.

If I had sneezed -- If I had sneezed I wouldn't have been here in 1963, when the black people of Birmingham, Alabama, aroused the conscience of this nation, and brought into being the Civil Rights Bill.

If I had sneezed, I wouldn't have had a chance later that year, in August, to try to tell America about a dream that I had had.

If I had sneezed, I wouldn't have been down in Selma, Alabama, to see the great Movement there.

If I had sneezed, I wouldn't have been in Memphis to see a community rally around those brothers and sisters who are suffering.

I'm so happy that I didn't sneeze.

Like anybody, I would like to live a long life. Longevity has its place. But I'm not concerned about that now. I just want to do God's will. And He's allowed me to go up to the mountain. And I've looked over. And I've seen the Promised Land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight, that we, as a people, will get to the promised land!

http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/mlkivebeentothemountaintop2.htm

NST

Hey I'm honored to be at New Staff Training for YL.  I love YL's desire to train their staff annually and prepare us for the call upon us.  Check this out the vision... and mission.  Blessings!

Our Vision
Every adolescent will have the
opportunity to meet Jesus Christ 
and follow Him.

Our Mission
Introducing adolescents to 
Jesus Christ and helping them 
grow in their faith.

AMEN

5

I read a statistic that stated adolescents need 5 adults in their life to help shape their character and make it through those tough years.  YL leaders want to be one of those 5!  I got a text from a YL kid who has heard me quote that statistic...

"Merry Christmas Tracee!  You have been such an impact on my life and I wouldn't know how close I would be with Jesus without you.  I love you and am so thankful for you.  You have no idea.  I need you to be 1 of my 5.  Always if you would...  I hope the Lord answers all your prayers this year, I love you!"

Young Life is up and running strong at Lee's Summit North High School and Lee's Summit West High School.  YL Club is once a week and a chance for kids to be kids and play games, dance, sing, and hear the gospel in a relatable way.  LSN has grown by 60%, LSN is reaching over 75 kids through club and campaigners, our last club of the semester we maxed out at 90 kids!  LSW is reaching roughly 100 kids through club and campaigners.  God is touching kid's lives and they are coming to club to have fun and LISTEN to the truth of Christ.  Kids are coming to campaigners to go deeper in their relationship with Jesus and share their highs and lows of life.  God is moving in LS! 

We just had our 3rd Wyldlife Club.  WL is our middle school ministry and is off to a great start.  We are currently having club for WL once a month and about 12 high school YL kids lead and run that club.  It's a beautiful sight to see high school students give up their Saturday night to hang out and share Jesus with middle school kids. 

Right now we are running into constraints.  We want to continue to grow and get in every middle school and high school in LS.  YL and WL are both non-profit ministries and operate solely on financial support.  Sadly, we are facing deficit at this time.  If you are able to partner with us financially we would be extremely grateful.
If you are already donating- THANK YOU!  If you would like to meet with me to discuss YL or WL, please contact me at traceecobb@gmail.com.

May Christ bless you and love you beyond what you could imagine.

Reunion

The Gore Cabin from YL Camp 2010 reunites.  Pizza, catching up, Plaza shopping, Starbucks- oh what a day.  This I can say something magical happens at camp.  Friendships form that last.  Bonds and memories are created and it takes 20 minutes before we all feel like we are back in Colorado again.   Favorite memories of mattress surfing, random injuries and dry heaving (that would be me), hot tub talks, YL club, horseback riding... and giving God our story.  Times that will always be remembered!
I love you Gore Cabin girls. 

Did you see God today?

Sometimes I lay in bed and ponder my day in hope for sleep.  A question I tend to ask myself is where did I see God today?  Where did I see Him working, moving, blessing, in the little things?
Today and the day isn't over mind you....
-I saw Him in a cup of coffee and my delight to have one.
-I saw Him in my jump drive being found by a friend on the sidewalk after it had been missing for a week.
-I saw Him in a good nights sleep.
-I saw Him in a meeting with Daniel (LSW team leader) and Charlie ( our committee chair) and the dialogue that happened and honesty and love spoken
-I saw Him in a phone call from a best friend
-I saw Him in love from my husband
-I saw Him in planning campaingers (small group) for tonight
-I saw Him in the faces of students at LSN
-I saw Him in a text from a student thanking me for the verse of the day
-I saw Him in a text from a student asking for prayer for her health
-I saw Him in Brooke's smile and perseverance

and the day isn't over....
"God is continually drawing us to Himself in everything we experience."  Gerad Hughes