woosh!

Saturday night and Sunday morning seemed appropriate weather-wise. The huge gusts of wind were the perfect accent to the story of Pentecost. Pentecost is one of my favorite parts of the church year. Flames, wind, birds... what great images for the Holy Spirit entering into our lives.

Woosh also fits this time of year so well because with two weeks of school left, it's hard to believe summer is here. I'm looking forward to having some time for planning next school year. Summer means camp and road trips and VBS.

The big hurdle before summer is the youth church service this coming Sunday, May 18th. Today I'm going through pictures in hopes of picking a good amount for a slide show during our service. I'm trying to find creative ways to share about the youth ministry in church-- I'm getting a little sappy thinking back over this school year. There have been great moments, fun stories and crazy times.

Join us for church this Sunday, if you can. It might be "not so normal" church, but it will still be a good opportunity for worship.

cinco de mayo

Happy Cinco de Mayo!

Today the church has been a hive for activity. The church ladies (and Hal) are scrambling around to get everything set up for May Breakfast. May Breakfast is one of those beautiful traditions that is probably a part of every congregation. The Madisonian had a well-researched piece on it this past week. I was going to link to it, but apparently you have to subscribe to read the full article-- I'm not going to set up an account to read an article when I can just duck down the hall and read it on the church bulletin board.

Anyway, the breakfast is tomorrow-- May 6 from 6 a.m. until 9. It's a good breakfast for $5 and I'll be at the door to greet people starting at 6. My goal is to fool people into thinking I'm a morning person.



So the lock-in went well. The kids were pretty good, they had fun and I think it set a good precedent for next year. Up next for the after school crew is some sort of community service project and an end of the year party.


Yesterday was a meeting for junior high and high school youth interested in attending the mission trip this summer. The turnout was low, but I think work and other plans took priority over the potluck. If you're interested in going on the trip, you have to be older than 12, but I want a good headcount by May 15th. The trip is July 9-12. For more info, see me. I'll get you the packet.


In other news, Open Mic is canceled for this Friday. A conflict came up with a party for Jazz Band. Hopefully we can find a date in June that is open enough to use. Right now I'm thinking of combining it with a summer lock-in for high school. Give me a few days to figure that out.



May is definitely the blitz into summer. I'll keep you posted on things as the school year winds down.

the overnight.

So I missed Monday. I took the day off. When I came back Tuesday, the computer in my office had decided it no longer wanted to talk to the rest of the world via the internet. I'm still trying to figure out why it won't use the internet. Right now I'm on Christie's computer in the office.

We're to the quiet part of the overnight. The boys are watching Alvin and the Chipmunks, the girls are watching Road to Talbithia, although I have a hunch most of the kids are watching the back of their eyelids. I think we wore them out.

We played several games-- Sanctuary foosball is a keeper. I have pictures, but those will have to be uploaded later. I'm too tired to make all that work tonight.

The kids have been really good. I know it's odd that I'm surprised to be typing that. I think most kids have huge good potential--they just get in the habit of ignoring that. Anyway, we've got 24 kids that showed up and including me, 4 adults.

And we've had a time.

Connie, Lori and Laura-- thanks for the help. This night would never have worked without you.

Note to self: buy a whistle.

upcoming stuff

Sorry I haven't blogged in awhile. My new goal is to throw something new on the blog every Monday. If I don't, heckle me. Harass me. Hit me. That'll teach me. :)

There are several things coming up soon. Consider this your heads up.

*May 2-3 Overnight in the Underground for grades 3-7.
This is your chance to spend the night in the church. We'll play games, eat snacks, watch movies, and yes... even sleep. Hopefully a good time will be had by all. Information and the all-important permission slip are available in the church office, in the Underground or from Sara. If you want to sign up your youth, the permission slip has to be turned in Thursday, May 1st.

*May 9th Open Mic @ Espresso Yourself, 7-10 p.m.
High school students shine at these events. They gather together and play music, sing songs, read poems and just enjoy each other's company. Adults are welcome to observe.

*May 14th Baccalaureate for graduating seniors in the WHS Auditorium at 7 p.m.

*May 18th Youth led worship service
The kids take over church. It's a combination of scary and awesome. You won't want to miss this year's celebration of what God has done with the Youth Ministry in our church.

*May 27th The last day of school!
Underground youth will take place in a work project and celebrate the end of another school year. My, has the year flown by.

*May 31st Family Fun Day at Wildwoon Hills Ranch (near St. Charles) from 10-4.
This event is incredible and one of the best examples of a group of agencies working together to make Madison County a better place. Expect a variety of activities (including boating, horseriding, archery, fishing, crafts and more) and get a free lunch and other random goodies. The day is free and a great way to entertain the entire family.

More things are happening in June, but let's dive into May before I unleash the coolness that is the Summer of 2008.

Drop me an email or leave a comment if you have questions.

poor little froggies

I have a 5 gallon aquarium in my office. I had 2 african dwarf frogs in there for a year or so and then, sadly, they passed away. Fast forward about 3 months and I finally took time to clean out the aquarium. I changed the filter, refilled with water, added the de-chlor stuff and let the aquarium run for a day or two.

Then I bought 3 new frogs. Geewhiz are these frogs fun to watch... when they're alive. :(

Unfortunately of the three I added, I can only find two. One is dead and stuck in the artificial plant, the other is swimming energetically and seems fine. Where did frog 3 go? I'm hoping Mindizzle will have time to remove the dead frogs today. She still owes me a dead fish or two from a couple years ago when I took care of a dead cat for her. (Rest in peace, Emma... mean, mean kitty.)

I used to tease Jim about his aquarium being "The Aquarium of Death." Apparently that's what mine has become, although in all fairness... the frogs seemed a little not so good in the aquarium at the pet store. And the fish dude just reached his hand in and grabbed them by their frog feet. I think I'll go elsewhere next time I buy some fish.

tired, but a good tired

I'm exhausted and there's a group of seven or eight youth who likely feel the same way. Today was the day to paint the high school/fireside room in the Underground. We picked out colors from a lot of sample shades and ended up with two colors: roundabout and of course I can't remember the name of the other color right now. Maybe it will come to me in a bit. We had the idea to do a light color on top and a darker color on the bottom with a white stripe through the middle.

As Jordan and another youth (I don't remember who was helping him) tried to get a straight line, it was obvious that would take forever. Derek, in a moment of brilliance, suggested we not worry about the line being straight and instead just make it go up and down around the room. Like a roller coaster? Yep.

And wow, does it look cool. That was indeed a great idea. It's also symbolic of the teenage years, I think... with ups and downs. One of the ladies who was at the church for soup and sewing day thought it looked like the mountains of Italy. We're not so sure about that, but hey... it was a compliment and we'll take any of those that we can get.

Thanks to the kids for helping, to Noltes for donating some furniture that looks awesome in there and to the family of Ada Banks for giving us memorial money for a worthy project. :) I'll get some pictures up later, but unfortunately my camera is at home and I'm typing this from work. Just imagine a cool room with a trippy rug and a cool paint job.

bookmark this now

I've always been bad about doing devotions. Normally if I'm reading the Bible it's to get ready for a Bible story, to plan Sunday School, part of a specific retreat or in church. I'm not one to set aside a consistent part of the day for devotions. That said, I still think it's a good idea to take a snippet (longer is better) of time to focus on Scripture and prayer.

And this is the best way I've found to do it. www.d.365.org has a daily devotion. I think it's geared towards youth, but as an adult-- yes, I'm an adult even though I get mistaken for a teenager-- I still enjoy it and find it useful. When you click on that link, there's a "start devotion" button and it walks you through a theme, some scripture, a song, a prayer. You can take as much or as little time as you want, but it's worth a look. Try it for a few days... let me know what you think.

I'll post another blog or two later this week. I'm working on the rest of the school year and the summer schedule. And there's cleaning... lots of cleaning... Happy spring break.