Thanksgiving and More!

Well, Last Sunday the 11th after service Rachel, Angie and I headed to Indiana for Thanksgiving! We drove throughout the night at nothing could stop me from seeing my babies (Erin & Zion) We got in about 7 in the morning and it was a great trip. Angie stayed with Rachel and got to see our home town in Indiana and meet some of the families. We had a great time seeing family, eating and hanging out with them!!! We miss them a WHOLE LOT so it is great to spend time with them!!! Then we headed back Friday the 23rd about 3pm or so and got in early Saturday morning! Then we decorated for Christmas all day on Saturday and got our tree up and all that fun stuff! Then we watched one of our favorite Christmas movies, ELF!!! It was so fun this year putting up decor since Zion is old enough now to help out and have fun decorating! We LOVE Christmas time at the Barrett household!!! We love to decorate and listen to Bing Crosby and Frank Sinatra Christmas music while eating wonderful goodies and watching Christmas movies!!! What a great time of year this is!

Sunday night at youth was amazing! We had a worship night, where we just got down to business with God and spent time in His presence. No games, no fluff just the meat & potatoes. God was moving really strong. We as leaders went around and prayed for students and God was really speaking and touching the hearts of the teenagers. Students were confessing of things to empty themselves and make room for God's presence. God was speaking into students lives for the future. And many students just received God's touch for whatever was going on! It was a great night of ministry and worship! We have such an amazing youth group here at Journey and amazing students that are stepping up into all that God has for them!!!

Well, it's time to get at it now that we are back and to get geared up for the next month and the upcoming year!!! We are starting a new series with the youth for the month of December called, Light of the World. We will be talking about Jesus being the light of the world and what that means then US being the light of the world and how to do that!!! We also, have our huge formal Christmas party coming up December 19th for 6th - 12th grade. We will have a full dinner, dress up, have games, goodies, give away a free ipod, and more it is going to be awesome!!!

Off The Hook

Man, the Transformation conference was off the hook! It was an incredible weekend totally in the presence of God!!! The teaching was intense, the worship free, the ministry powerful. I am still resting up a little from it, because it was non stop!!! The Lord really spoke some things into me during the week and it was great to see lives literally transformed from the inside out! I love going out to Tim's church in California and seeing everybody that I have built great relationships with over the past 5 years or so! It is also great to eat some REAL Mexican food, oh yeah!!! Yesterday, Jay Jay, Leslie, Jay & Kelly, Jarred and I went downtown Hollywood to see all the fun sites. It was Jarred's first time there so that was fun! We walked down Hollywood Blvd., Sunset Blvd., Santa Monica Blvd. and more! We went to L.A. Ink from the show on t.v. but they were closed for recording so we pulled into the back where they were hanging out and I got to talk to Kim one of the artist on the show! Then we went to Beverly Hills and got out and walked around the high class stores that you have to ring a bell to get in! We had a great time and we also saw the youngest boy from the Brady Bunch I forget his name but he walked by us in Hollywood! It's always fun to see who you might see when you are there! What a great time it was of ministry, refreshing, revelation and more!!! God is doing great things and it is great to be back in Sallisaw ready to keep pressing on for the things of God here in our area and our people!!! God come move in power!!!

California Transformation Conference

Well, Jarred and I are here in the hotel getting ready to go to service for the last day of the Transformation conference here in California! It has been amazing!!! God is moving powerfully, worship is super intense, and the ministry and teaching has been outstanding! There are about 10 of us from out of town that flew in for the conference here with the Gate Church. God has been speaking to me about this generation and the things He is desiring to do as well as some things specifically for Sallisaw! It has been great to enter into the depths of worship, it has been very powerful. Jarred has been able to make some great contacts for Masters. There have been some students really praying and thinking about it! Tonight he will get to share before the whole conference about Masters and get some contacts for those who are interested. We have also made some great contacts with other youth pastors around the country. Our youth are invited to "Sin City Outreach" which is a huge city wide outreach in Las Vegas. Wal-Mart has donated all their charity to this ministry because of the testimonies of lives being changed by this. They usually have 3 trucks full of stuff that Wal-Mart donates, but this year Wal-Mart backed out of all their contributions to other things because of the lack of impact it was making. Yet this ministry is so powerful that they are donating 11 truck loads of items to give away to the poor, broken, abused, hurting, and lost! So the main director of this ministry and I have connected here at this conference and he has personally invited us to come and bring our youth and possibly for me to lead some worship during the week when we meet together. God is opening all kinds of doors! I miss being back in Sallisaw with our students, but I believe God is downloading some things in my Spirit for our youth and community!!! Well, we are getting ready to head out here soon, so I need to get loaded up and ready to go!

Just a side note when we got off the airplane waiting for our ride near L.A. there was a movie being shot outside at the drop off area! It was called Cab Driver and I think it was a love story cause a couple was holding hands and looking at each other as a WHOLE crew had lights, camera, and action going on! So if they keep that scene we were there driving by twice with our head out the window starring at movie making!

Bacheloring>Youth>Holidays

Well, Erin and Zion are in Indiana with the family right now! Erin's grandmother passed away last Friday and they flew out Saturday morning for the funeral and to be with the family! Erin was going to come back today because we were going to fly out to California for a conference with Tim Roberson that I am leading worship at! Then we were going to go to Indiana for Thanksgiving and get Zion then and take her back with us! We weren't sure if it would be good for Zion to be away from both of us for a week and a half, so we were going to play it by ear! Erin didn't think she was going to do well since she has been with us everyday since we moved to Oklahoma. So Erin is staying back and just waiting for me to come up for thanksgiving break! So I am a bachelor for like 2 weeks, YUCK! I hate being away from my family they are my WORLD and take first place under God! So...we switched Erin's ticket to California for Jarred our 3rd year masters students. I am super excited he is going though and he will love it!!! He is going to do some recruitment for Master's so that will be great!!! I miss my babies though already and I still have a week and a half or so left! But there is a lot to be done around here and at home so I will use the time wisely!!!

Things have been super crazy with all the events we have been doing with the youth. We have had an overnight with 70 students, a fall fest wit about 80 students, a 5th quarter with different youth groups with 300+ students, a tailgate party after a football game with almost 100 students, Wednesday & Sunday services, guys night at my house, a chick flick movie night with the girls, and more!!! So I am looking forward to the holidays to slow down a bit with events and all that has been going on! Youth ministry can be tiring since it is so event driven. Services during the week are only about half of the impact youth ministry has! The other half is being a part of students lives which means going to games, concerts, events, etc... and doing youth events such as all that we have been doing! Staying up all night, creating fun events, inventing games, memories, and excitement to keep their attention and momentum! That's why I love ministry though...it's what makes it alive, passionate, fresh, God centered! I love doing what God has called me to do. Their is nothing like living in the destiny God has set for you! I wouldn't trade if for a 9-5 job any day, even though sometimes it's like a 9am - 5am job sometimes!!! Their is nothing wrong with a 9-5 job some are called to that type of job, but I love the heartbeat of the local church even when it doesn't clock out. Holidays look out cause I am going to embrace my family and hopefully rest a little for a fresh new year!!!

Fall Fest

Last night went great at the Fall Fest here @ Journey! We had around 70 teenagers and probably around a few hundred children throughout the night! We set up in the parking lot with the JSM band, had ping-pong, basketball, & pumpkin bowling! We played some great group games that was a blast! Pastor Tony and Journey Kids were all set up inside the building with mazes, games, and different stations for the kids! I didn't get to go through but I know it was a huge hit. We had tons of people come from the community and just stop by. It was for sure a great Fall Fest to honor God!

Last night I dressed up like a pirate. I had the whole outfit, eye patch, hook, hat & earing. It was a lot of fun. Zion dressed up like a bumble bee she was sooooooooooooo cute look at these pictures! Zion is getting cuter and cuter everyday. She is soooooo funny too! The other night we were playing on the floor rolling around and I picked her feet up off the ground and she said, "I don't like to be man handled!" I laughed my head off cause she loves the movie, "Night At The Museum" and that is where she heard that line!!! How funny are little kids! Erin's belly is starting to show and she looks so cute too! We find out in few weeks what we are having, we are so excited! Well, mom and dad are coming into town today just for the night. I need to get some things done so I can spend some time with them. They are on their way to Arizona, so they are just passing through!!!