Brio Girl 2001 Contest Entry

B r i o G i r l E n t r y F o r m
Name: Alexa Nicole Weber Age: 16

Hobbies and Interests: Since my Teen Mania trips, missions and evangelism has been my biggest interest, both here and around the world. I enjoy learning American Sign Language and worshipping/leading worship through signing. I love praise and worship music, leading and participating (that’s what we were created for). Foreign language intrigues me and I’m looking at the possibility of study-abroad (or working with a missions organization) for a year after high school. I enjoy graphics arts/design and designing professional websites for businesses and for myself; past sites include the definitive Point of Grace Newsstand and my Teen Mania webpage (http://members.xoom.com/teenmaniac/). I also enjoy playing piano and keyboard, writing, non-competitive gymnastics, drama, being an encourager/counselor to my friends, ministering online, and sharing God’s love in every way that I can.

Church Attending: Christ Community Fellowship Evangelical Free
Pastor’s Name: Jeff Youell Church Phone:

Favorite Scripture and Why: Psalm 37. God gives us the desires of our heart. I’ve often heard this interpreted, “God will give us what we desire” but I think that perhaps what God gives us IS the desires themselves. I find it awesome that God puts His desires in our hearts so that we might yearn for the things He yearns for -- to bring the unsaved into his arms, to see lives changed -- and that we might passionately hunger to know Him more and to worship Him. This is the heart of worship, the heart of ministry, the heart of prayer: that our thoughts might be God’s thoughts, our desires the desires that He has placed into our hearts. What an awesome promise!

School Attending: Grace Homeschool School Activities: Pennsylvania Homeschoolers “Excelsior” magazine staff, online AP US History, American Sign Language, Shakespeare Sleepover Society (Homeschoolers Shakespeare Club), French, Grand Concours National French Exam, instructing at Flo’s Gymnastics, piano lessons (10th year), Holocaust Seminar/Art Competition (4th year), American High School Math Exam (3rd year), Written and Illustrated By... creative writing/art competition (5th year), Girl Scouts (working towards Gold Award, 11th year) Much of my time and energy goes into my youth group: Leadership/Planning team, leading worship, cell group leader, prayer meeting coordinator/facilitator.

Favorite Musical Artist: Sonic Flood; because of their call to come back to the heart of worship: it’s all about Jesus. We were created to be worshippers.

Community Service Projects You’ve Participated In: Teen Mania missions trips to the Dominican Republic (‘98) and Haiti (Christmas ‘98), Youth Group mission trip to Haiti (Summer ‘99), leading/organizing “Breakout” events for my youth group (“breaking out of ourselves and into the community with random acts of kindness”), church set up and tear down team (we meet in the YMCA so we have to set up chairs and tables and so on every week), “greeter” at church, outreach and evangelism team, leading Sunday morning worship periodically, crew leader at VBS, Agape Farm’s (home of Creation CCM festival) work weekends throughout the year, volunteer staff and setup team at Creation, Carnegie Science Center teen volunteer, participating in food drives, serving meals, and putting on services at Light of Life ministries (homeless shelter), , Compassion International child sponsor, participating in Habitat for Humanity projects

Career or Domestic Ambition: I’m interested in industrial design, but after going on missions, I find it hard to pursue any career that is not fulfilling the Great Commission, and most of all I want whatever I do to somehow be a ministry.

Favorite Family Activity and Why: Going out to dinner! We have fun sharing, laughing, and eating together.





B r i o G i r l P e r s o n a l E s s a y s

If Jesus was coming to speak at your school assembly, what topic would you want Him to address and why?

“Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life.”[1] Far from guarding their hearts, teenagers today are anxious to give their hearts away. The media’s message is that something is terribly wrong if you don’t have a “special someone.” Even Christian magazines are filled with comfort and counsel on “how to live without a date . . . if you must.” In their quest for security, people desperately tear off pieces of their hearts and give them away, leaving them lifeless and empty.
Jesus’ request is bold: “Love the Lord your God with ALL your heart.” Essentially he is saying, “forget these other things, give your heart to me.” This requires renouncing all else, gathering up the broken pieces, dying to self, and surrendering their whole hearts to God. Only then can he consume their hearts with his love. Instead, after giving most of their hearts away, they offer God mangled scraps. And they wonder why they’re so insecure! Anything less than God alone will never produce true security. His message is radical: You don’t need anyone else! His love is sufficient! “Love God. With ALL your heart.” This is the topic Jesus died to address.

Share with us when you became a Christian and how you’ve seen God at work in your life.
Although I’ve been a Christian since I can remember, I encountered God’s grace face-to-face and truly committed my life to him on 1-1-96, when I realized that Jesus died so that I could let go of my failures and burdens.
Since then, God’s been continually revealing that even when I am faithless, he remains faithful. When I was determined NOT to go with my church to Haiti because I wanted to go with Teen Mania and because the trip seemed so disorganized, He was faithful: when we had to teach English with almost no preparation, God revealed clearly that it was His work, not ours. When I feel alone, He reminds me of my utter dependence on Him. When I’m ready to throw up my hands in frustration with my youth group, He is faithful: He says “throw them up to me -- I have a plan.”[2] His faithfulness continues to flow through my life. In homeschooling, things that once seemed impossible, from SATs to staying organized, have become perfectly possible in God’s time. As I begin my college search, I know that worrying is futile: God has already found one for me. God is always faithful to complete what He begins.[3]

__________________
[1] Proverbs 4:23
[2] Quote from Fresh Wind Fresh Fire by Jim Cymbala
[3] Philippians 1:6