Michael Koelling: YR Axxess 11-18-2010

SLEEPROCK - Recap!
Nov 12th at 11PM we kicked off the annual Youthrock event known as SLEEPROCK! We stayed up all night long locked inside the facility just having a great night of fun with students and staff. The night kicked off with some free time of just hanging out followed by kind of an orientation of what the plan is for the evening and introducing all the staff that was present for the night. Then we loaded up onto the buses and headed out to California, MO to this barn on some guys property that he let us use. There we roasted hot dogs over a bon fire, drank some hot chocolate and just hanged out for a bit. We loaded back up headed back to the church. We got back and began to play rounds of "Silent Library!" Its based off this show from MTV where there is six competitors and 6 cards. Whoever got the Joker card had to do a certain task without making any noise with in the time frame. We had people eating stuff off the floor, licking Matt Koellings bald head covered with frosting, blowing up a balloon til it pops, building a human pyramid while getting hit by dodge balls.

We played Pastor Mikes new favorite game called Aggie Ball! This is a game where two teams battle to keep the ball in the air and get it to land in their goal line. If it touches the ground on the field, its a dead ball and have to start again. There were bodies hitting the floor, people getting smacked and just absolute chaos trying to bat this beach ball across the gym to their goal line. We have a clip of it up on Youthrock Srfc's facebook page to view it. But after a couple rounds the beach ball didn't make it and we moved on to dodge ball which is always a fun time. We served pancakes for breakfast and watched Toy Story 3 and ended the event. Sleeprock 2010 was a success and lots of fun. I and many others suffered from Sleeprock Hangover the next day. That's where you are on a weird sleeping schedule and your body hurts from the beatings of dodge balls and just feeling lifeless because of no sleep through the night. Can't wait for next years!

We finished "The Proud Family" Series this past Weds night at Youthrock by breaking out into small group discussions. Sometimes you just need to break away from pulpit preaching and just sit down with a group of 10 students and just have an open discussion to give the students a chance to share and discuss topics. Which I personally love when we do this because it gives you the chance to know whats going on in their lives and be able to connect with them on issues. Our topic was on Teens and Parents. We discussed 10 Things Your Teenager Hates About Their Parents.

The 10 things include; 1. Teenagers Hat Inconsistency: Failure to be a consistent model such as "Do as I say, not as I do." How many of us has gotten that from parents? We discussed that teens need to model before parents a consistent spiritual model. Back up your words with action. And if the parents are consistent learn from them.

2. Teens Hate When Parents Act As If They Are Never Wrong: Or I'm the adult. I'm Right! Reality check parents, you are not right all the time and same for the students. Fact is parents can fail and students fail. Make sure to do what the bible says and that is to forgive, forget, and move on. I asked the question how many of you guys held grudges against parents, some hands raised. Then I said who are still holding on to them now? The hands stayed up. I made mention that maybe its time to resolve these issues and put them behind.

3. Teens Hate Dishonesty. Such phrase like "Because I said so, that's why? Lets face it parents, I always hated that phrase when it was told to me. Give students a reason why and explain your position on this subject it leaves the student curious and wants to find out. Students be open and honest with your parents. And parents be prepared to answer the hard questions. Communication is key to a family and relationships

4. Teens Hate when they can't dream for themselves. Failure to let your student develop a personal identity. Let these kids dream big dreams for their lives. Don't trap them to be what you want them to be. They need to find their personal identity and find where they fit and find what God has purposed for them. Believe me, I've dealt with identity crisis and its not fun. The World isn't looking for a carbon copy of someone else, they are looking for YOU! They want someone original and themselves. Who Are You? What Are Your Skills and Talents? And What Makes You Different/Standout among the pack. Let students discover their identity through God.

5. Teens hate when parents don't acknowledge the good but always brings up the failures. Parents usually take out the stress of life on people and the target is usually the people they are closest too. Parents do love you students and remind them of the things you have done instead of the things you haven't

6. Teens hate that adults refuse to love beyond performance: Such phrases like "Can't you do anything right?" Adults and people in general seem to only remember the wrong things others do instead of the good. Lets get away from that and start encouraging the good things. Yeah, we know mistakes were made but lets let that go and move on. Work hard to build the trust and confidence. Do your best to be original but original with respect, honor, faith, hard work, and passion.

7. Teens hate when you judge their friends: Parents, how many of you facebook stalk your students friends? The responses I got during this subject was a lack of trust in the students judgement of who they hang out with even when they explain their position and where they stand on their values. We do live in a media driven culture and everything is out in the open and nothing is private anymore. People do tend to show their true nature through social media but that maybe not the whole picture. So its a tuff call on this one to make. Just remember, sometimes you as parents see the bad instead of the good. Sometimes parents see what the student doesn't see and parents know things that the student don't. So work on trusting each other's judgement. But I encourage you parents to get to know the people in your students life personally before you just judge them on a website. And for the students maybe your parents are right about some of the people you do hang out with. Listen to both sides and come to a conclusion.

8. Teens hate that perfection is the requirement: Failure to give teens the right to fail. Lets face it, we all have failed. But lets not let failure stop you from achieving your goals and dreams. Learn and grow from mistakes. Ask and seek forgiveness and forgive those who wronged you. God used many people in the bible who were failures and not perfect. But most importantly seek forgiveness from God when you do wrong. Parents when students do wrong embrace them and love them and encourage them. Acknowledge what was wrong and learn from it and move forward.

9. Teens hate that they can't ask questions: Please be open to discuss subjects with your teen. They need you to listen to them and you be their for them. Communication is key to relationships. Be ready to answer some hard questions. And number 10 is Teens hate that they can't ever come first. Make time with your child and at the same time teens need to make time for family. Have that personal time and communicate. Know whats going on in each others lives as a family! So there you have it. Ten Things Teens Hate About Parents! Students always remember that the parents are the head of the house and you to honor them even when its hard. Work with your parents. They may not be perfect and will fail at times but continue to build relationships with your parents and work on these areas with them. Communicate with each other!

For any question and comments on this send them to youthrock@srfc.com

UPCOMING EVENTS!

Coming up this Sunday at 4 to 5:30PM is Youthrock Life Teams. We encourage you to be apart of this and join in on the conversation/discussion with our lessons. There is always a fun time with YR Life Teams. We have games, sometimes food, sometimes we go off campus and more. Its a great way to learn and grow in your relationship with Christ!

On December 15, Youthrock is turning the mic over to an up and coming rap artist by the name "Da Mac!" He will be coming in to share his testimony and performing his music with you. Join us on this night and bring out your friends, you don't want to miss this. We will post more information about this guy in the upcoming Axxess as we draw near to this date. You can visit this website and look him up and sample his music. http://www.indiecommunity.com/