Last week

Well, as a Children's Minister in transit this is a very weird week for me. I already miss the kids. I tried Sunday to distance myself somewhat from the older ones. It's hard because I was preparing the nursery for new babies and preparing the sixth graders to go to youth group and I won't be there to see either come to fruition.

If you don't know, my position was changed to part-time at Covenant. That means I lost pay and benefits. I really can't afford that change as I took a pay cut to take the job at Covenant a little over 18 months ago. So, I'm looking for a job. This Sunday will be my last day.

I have a Business Administration Degree from Montreat College and I'm a Certified Tumor Registrar (meaning I can do major database work with accuracy and can conquor most statistical reporting). So if you hear of anything, send it my way.

I won't quit blogging. In fact, I might actually have time to post more often.

I'm on a journey...similar to Father Abraham, Noah, Ruth, Benaniah, David, etc.. I wonder what God has in store for me next?

New Years Update

Well, I haven't kept up with the reading the whole Bible. I got lost one weekend and haven't caught up, but I'm enjoying reading about Abraham. His journey intrigues me. I used that as the basis for the summer camp lesson with the kids at Tekoa and every since I have thought about Abraham and the journey he went on. He pushed the envelope and tried to make things happen for him. Sarah pushed the envelope and Ishmael was born. But Abraham had God's blessing. And as a child of God, so do I. It's exciting to know that I am also on a journey. I might not have as many descendants as stars in the sky (Abraham does) or as the grains of sand (Abraham does) but as a child of God I can claim the same blessing received by my father, Abraham.

So, I joined the gym, bought tennis shoes, workout clothes and yes, I have been going. I've lost 7 lbs in 2 weeks. I'm excited.

Thanks for your prayers.

Do Sharks Close Their Eyes to Sleep?

To the right is the group picture of the 5th & 6th graders trip to Ripley's Aquarium in Gatlinburg, TN on Friday night. We had a blast. They did a great job and kept us busy from 8:15 pm until about 12:15 am. I didn't care for the creature feature (petting a jelly fish ... don't worry no jelly fish or children were harmed) in the am, but all in all it was a great experience. Most of the kids loved dissecting the squid!

Waking up several times during the night to saw sharks right above your head staring down at you could have made the squeamish have nightmares. I, however, had a great time and have heard from many parents that their children enjoyed the experience. And some of the fish would rest on the coral; however, for the most part the sharks swam all night. One of the girl teams reported seeing a saw shark and a great white having a gentle argument during the night.

In February, we will go back to our Sunday afternoon events. It won't be as adventurous as Sleeping with Sharks but it will still be a fun time!

FRIDAY AFTERNOON MIND DUMP

Wow, tonight I get to find out how sharks (and fish for that matter) sleep or do they? I'm excited that the 5th & 6th graders are going over to Gatlinburg to have a good time bonding and hanging out.

Pray for us (me) as we embark on this adventure.

1. That I don't snore too loud.
2. That the kids behave.
3. That they have a good time.
4. That in some way they are drawn into a closer relationship with Jesus.

I could have gone scrapbooking today. I should have gone. But the house is cleaner and Mike will be happier. Next month is a two day crop. I'm excited. It will be a blast!

I love the smell of oranges in the house. In my house it means I've been cleaning. Don't you love to get into bed with fresh, clean sheets. That is one of my little things I have to do before we leave on a trip. I must change the sheets so that when we get back home we come home to clean sheets. I change them at other times too, but that is a given that we have to change the sheets even if the flight is at 6:00 am.

Did you know that even after Saul died and David was made King he still didn't reign in peace? He had to fight the Philistines (1 Chronicles 14) and then he had to deal with a wife that was ashamed of his worship of God, and in 1 Chronicles 18 it lists all the others he had to fight. Peace. Are we ever truly guarnteed peace? I know that David, who had a heart after God's own heart, had a hard time obtaining peace. I think sometimes we have to find peace even during the termoil. When it feels the whole world is churning. That still small voice. He says, "Be still and know that I am God." How can we know that or even believe that without the termoil? What a mighty God we serve.

Comedy Night at Covenant

On January 18 at 6:00 pm (preshow) Scott Raines will open up for Thor Ramsey (www.thorramsey.com). I think the $10 advance ticket price is well worth 2 hours of entertainment. Because Thor Ramsey puts on a clean show you can buy tickets for the kids or you can get a sitter and leave them at home for a cheap date.

Call the church office at 298-8955 ext. 100 to buy your tickets or run by there and pick them up. Tickets are $15 at the door.

Goal Update

Okay, I bought wide width tennis shoes and then I played Basketball on Saturday with Brooklyn and Taylor. They wore me out. Of course, they were running with the ball without dribbling. Anytime I would start to get ahead they would switch goal posts. It was hilarious.

Today I walked about a mile and biked 2 miles. It was a nice workout. I think Thursday I will take a martial arts class. That should be fun.

I've been doing most of the daily readings for reading through my bible. The ones missed have been caught up, so I'm on schedule.

So far I'm still completing my goals for 2008!

5th & 6th Graders January outing

Hey all, the deadline is passed for signing up, but for those of you that are signed up I wanted to let you know that the church bus will pull out at 5:30 pm so don't be late! We have to be at the Aquarium by 8:15 pm. You will need any last minute payments, permission slips, etc. taken care of before 5:30. I'll be at the church at 5:00 with my bags on the bus.

I'm excited about this trip and think it will be a blast.

Have a wonderful week - and don't forget to do your reading for small group next week. It will help you be prepared to join in the conversation.

http://www.ripleysaquariumofthesmokies.com/edu_sleepwithsharks.asp

Goal Update

While I didn't get a chance to work out today because I rode into work with Mike, I did go join the Y. So that is #1 checked off the list.

Reading Through the Bible

Yesterday afternoon I began a journey to read through my bible in a year. I'm embarrased to say I don't think I've read the whole thing cover to cover. Now I did attend a pretty strick Christian School so I've read pretty much the whole Bible, just not with discipline or a plan and I skipped the begats.

http://www.youversion.com/ has a plan that I am going to follow as part of my spiritual journey this year. I'm excited about this as part of my journey to Follow the Star.

So last night when I was watching the Power of 10 with Drew Carey (did you know he was raised in a Pentecostal Church?) and the question was what percentage of Americans say they have read the Bible through cover to cover and the answer was 31% http://www.cbs.com/primetime/powerof10/community/index.php?ep=13&id=14 (see more information on those statistics by following the link) I was amazed. I really thought it would be less. But then it makes me sad that it wasn't greater.

So I want to raise that percentage. You can pick your version and it only takes a few minutes each day to do the reading. I hope you will add to that more study time to think about what the scriptures are saying. I challenge you to go on this journey with me. I think it will be a rewarding process. Reading about the star and the Wisemen (scholars) was part of the reading yesterday. It only fueled my passion to Follow the Star.

New Small Groups Starting this Sunday

According to the rethink group (www.rethinkgroup.org) 80% of kids that graduate from high school youth groups also graduate from church. Meaning they step away from church when they go off to college. Some return once they have families, but many are gone unless they have an experience (relationship, tragedy, life change) that helps them return to their faith.

How do we as a church change these statistics (because many times they also step away from their faith, not just the church)? Two "things" have been shown to help these statistics. One is teens that serve in church and the other is small group.

If a student was active in a small group or serving when they leave for college many times they will seek out a church that will offer them a similar experience. We utilize Student Impact and have a great group of teens serving on Sunday morning (Nick, Tristan, Riley, Alex, Mary, Cori, Ashley, Rachel and Alissa) Rick also helps with sound when needed. So if they will commit to serve, we will find a place for them to serve.

Every Sunday morning there are small groups for children beginning at age 2 (it's so cute to see those little boys we have right now in the nursery learning each others names). The goal is to get them used to their group, move up with their group, sometimes their leaders will move up with them and then when they move to youth group in seventh grade their groups can go deeper.

So, this Sunday there is a new group for all 2/3's at 11:00 am. We have a whole group of little boys that are ready for this and I hope their parents will see the value and get them in this group each week. They could move up together all through high school. That would be a win.

Then there is also a small group starting this week for 5th & 6th graders in room 111 at 11:00. We've had a group at 9:45 am on Sunday mornings but finally we have leaders for the 11:00 group. This is a more difficult age group as they are easily distracted and they are very active. I'm so excited that Kay Kidwell, a retired Middle School Teacher will be leading these students through a small group study on the fruit of the spirit and then through Starting Point.

Pray for both of these groups that the leaders will passionately embrace the students and have a life long impact.

A New Year

Every year I make the same resolution. I'm going to work out and get healthy. This year I have a new resolution.

1. Join the gym.
2. Go to said gym. (Brooklyn takes swimming so I will already be there.)
3. Change into clothes suitable to sweat in.
4. Work out at gym three times each week for at least 30 minutes - since I have to change clothes and get all sweaty I hope I can convince myself to workout longer.
5. Change my eating habits.
6. Lose 25 lbs by April 1 (I know - April Fool's Day)
7. Weekly track my progress on here (oh, wow, now that is accountability - although hardly anyone reads my blog)
8. Set a new goal on April 1.

Those are my physical goals.

My spiritual goal is:

Follow the Star. I'll be explaining this on this blog as we go. It's a great concept and I can't wait to share it with you. I think it is hard to set measurable spiritual goals (some of the bloggers I follow put read bible daily, pray more, read X number of books, etc.) I have a plan and I'll be blogging about it as I follow it.

Have a blessed New Year.