morning's light

post has traveled to my other blog........

Post previously titled "puppies & prayer" has moved to my other blog. 

evan b. harris - home

 

Apartment Therapy posted a home tour of Evan B. Harris, and I became smitten with the kitchen and the attic.  The bare surfaces, the pretty storage accessories.... quite beautiful to me.

 

 

 

The retreat I went on this weekend was amazing....a time to relax, slow down and actually think, read and pray. Listened to some great teaching and also participated in some discussions.  I was in charge of the meals and they went well overall.  Two people told me they'd expected retreat food to be peanut butter & jelly sandwiches but instead were treated to homemade chili, cornbread, fresh fruit and vegetables, juice, soda, bottled water, homemade desserts, breakfast casseroles, sloppy joes, and homemade soup.  More than one person groaned over the pounds they were sure they gained this weekend. 

Hope your weekend was a good one!

friends + family + mansion + concert = weekend

 

friends:  Brenda is my mom's bestest of friends, and she was in town this weekend.  It took my nephew Hudson hours and hours to warm up to Brenda, but just as he and his family were to leave, he ran up and hugged Brenda's legs and *poof* they are now buddies!

Bonus: Brenda is a nurse and she figured out from my symptoms what medicines I would need, and she was correct.  I took her advice and have not had a coughing episode (for that is what they are) in 24 hours. Thanks, Brenda!

 
 
 
family: here's a photo series I'm calling "Tall Kids" as they each look extremely tall.  Cute kids, wouldn't you say?! They are my nephews and niece: Caleb (age 12), Mimo (age 5) and Hudson (age 2 1/2).  In May they'll be joined by a brother, Christian James (CJ for short). 

 

(Caleb was watching a show, and Hudson wants to be just like his older brother, so he found a pillow and plopped down as close as possible to Big Brother. I found it adorable.) 

mansion:  Toured Milwaukee's Pabst Mansion with Brenda.  Seven of us took the tour and included five of us who were vocal ["Ooohhh....ahhhh....look at that tapestry!  the woodwork!  the storage!!!"]  and a couple who were silent [*crickets chirping*].   Beautiful home with two of the first three stories restored.   

concert: Battle of the Bands took place at church this weekend, with one of my junior high small group girls, Alysia, performing her own songs. She did amazing and had such a strong stage presence!  She even had fans who made signs!   

That was the weekend + a little baking + a little cooking + a little cleaning.  Just right.

photos by sunnygirlsf.  click on photos for larger versions.

How not to do youth ministry.

 

"How Not to Do Youth Ministry" 
by Sunny

When volunteering with a youth group at church and leading a small group of eighth grade girls, do not assume a girl is going to ask an irrelevant question when she raises her hand - even if history tells you that the question could be about ice cream or a pet dog.

Your girls may surprise you.  One of them may have a question for you and the proper response is not to say, "What is your question about? Is it about shoelaces???"  Because you will then find out that her question is about the Bible verse you just mentioned and what the reference is because she wants to look it up later.

Oh.  I'm so sorry!  It's Romans 8:26.  Glad you're looking it up later!

My co-leader Anna and I have a great group of eighth grade girls.  They have a lot of energy, they care for each other, pray for each other, and are there on Wednesday nights to have deep discussions.  And have fun as well.  One of the girls has a mom recently diagnosed with cancer.  Another girl has ongoing medical problems.  More than one has a troubled family background yet each one shows up cheerful, energetic and willing to dive in to answer discussion questions and share prayer requests.  They're such an encouragement to me each week.  I've not been there 100% the past few weeks - being sick and then having a whirling mind due to too much cough medicine in my system.... and they welcomed me back with open arms last night!  

This Saturday is a battle of the bands and A, in the lower right corner of the photo above, will be featured at the piano while singing songs she's written.  I cannot wait to hear her sing!  

So now you know how I spend my Wednesday nights!  I work with a great team of junior high leaders.  Our preparation meetings are filled with laughter and with planning.  Then we pile out of the classroom and into the gym where we play basketball, mingle with those who hang out on the side of the gym, then play one big group game - which changes every week.  Gotta say those nights are the highlight of my week!

[hans zeegers, photographer]

My eyes are instantly drawn to simple lines and like items grouped together on a shelf.  I love to see jars lined up on a kitchen counter or shelf.  That makes my heart go pitter-patter.  (i know, RIGHT? why would I like that?!).  I need to find some pretty jar photos.  Meanwhile, the photo of boots lined up on the shelf... fun!

These photos by photographer Hans Zeegers (found by way of Head Over Heels) are styled so well! Enjoy!!

Last night was quite fun at church with a fun game similar to rock/paper/scissors:  ninja/gun/gorilla. Naturally ninja beats gun, gun beats gorilla BUT gorilla beats ninja.  The kids had fun...and we soon had a winner in the 5-minute-long tournament. We then watched a video (a Rob Bell NOOMA video) on prayer.  I love my junior high girls!  Wouldn't trade them for anything!  I'll have photos from last night to post soon.

spam + youth group kids + blonde moment

Blonde Moment.  First let me say my computer was broken all morning long! I was trying to print a stack of documents and just needed the final page of a letter to print before I could move on to the next document.  Nothing worked. I adjusted the settings of the printer, turned the printer off and on again, and was about to uninstall and then install the printer driver when I thought about printing the whole document and see if there's something funky about printing Page 2.

Page 1 printed just fine and looked lovely.  However, Page 2 refused to print.  ????????  So I was checking the formatting of the document and scrolled down to Page 2 to discover...... a lack of a second page.  That's right.  I was trying to print the second page of a ONE PAGE DOCUMENT.   Where my Nobel Prize at?

The Spams.   Now I'll share photos from last night's Cell Group Kickoff for youth ministry (Matchbox Ministries).  There was fun, music, then a contest where every small group had 30 minutes to create something out of two cans of Spam (an item not found in the Organic Foods section of your grocery store) - using only the spam, nine toothpicks and a container of white Tic Tacs.  The photos speak for themselves.

The winning entry: from Sponge Bob Square Pants, it's Plankton on a Crabby Patty! (from a high school group).

My group of eighth grade girls and I came up with the idea of doing Bryan's face (he's the youth pastor) based on a drawing that came from a photo of a real person. (Bryan dressed up as Pure Awesomeness.) Our strategy involved mashing the two cans' worth of Spam together to make one moldable lump. Didn't work.  It flaked everywhere. But the girls worked great as a team, had fun, and survived the smell and texture of Spam on their hands.

All photos by sunnygirlsf.

weekend + french home

Aren't four-day weeks after a holiday weekend the longest weeks?! This one was made nicer for me by two things:  my early-morning water class started up again at the gym and I was given a bike that I took out for a ride last night. (Hadn't ridden a bike in ten years!!!)  Both activities are so much fun that I may now say "Treadmill?  What treadmill???"  

The weekend holds swimming, biking and the kick-off weekend for the youth service at church.

Oh yes...my weekend goals also include going through my kitchen and donating much of what I haven't used in the 3 years I've lived here...then neatening the remaining items.  If I could bring the colors found below into my dining area, that would be lovely too!

Last two images via Le Journal de la Maison.  Thank you, Marianne!

imagination station

Wow.  So...my church is having church away from the church building this weekend so that we can all volunteer in the community.  One project my church and employers are working on is Imagination Station, a universally accessible playground.  

The man on the left (in the red shirt..not the man in the construction vest) is the outreach pastor - Mac.  On his right, wearing the nametag stating "Bryan" is Youth Guy (Bryan Roe).  I'll find a better photo of him for you.

Meanwhile, here's our senior pastor, Terry. 

Ahh..here's a better photo of Bryan...

And doesn't she look like Jennifer Lopez?! 

photos by Thom Jewell Photography 

typical youth group night: fun + games + discussion

No photos of the discussion but plenty of pics of the fun and games!  Last night was quite the night with the junior high (pardon me: "intermediate school") students. 

Bryan updates us on his sermon from Sunday - which is the topic for the youth discussion tonight in our small groups.  I was distracted by the pretty sunset visible from our meeting room.

Jennie created a custom crossword puzzle for our girls to complete.  It was such a success that next week I'll introduce a word search puzzle based on next week's theme.  (Thank you, Internet, for having tools to create these puzzles!)

What are they looking at?

oohh..THAT's what they were gazing at.  LOOK!  The ball is about to go into the basket!

   

Three of the girls I'll have in my group next year!

That's all for now.  I'm happy the week is almost over but I like Thursday evenings:  puttering around the kitchen while listening to Dean Martin + Friends, putting groceries away, creating something for dinner, feeling productive while the dishwasher and washing machine are running during The Office and CSI. 

yellow + red + retreat

 

 

A pretty kitchen and bedroom found in today's house tour from Apartment Therapy.

Was on a youth ministry leadership retreat this weekend.  Here are some of my favorite photos. [The rest can be viewed here.]

   

[specials]

It's Wednesday, and in my world, it's called Youth Group Night!  My girls are 7th grade girls - 9 of 'em, and last week was our third week meeting together and we hadn't talked about guidlines while we meet together.  The group decided on the above guidelines...and it worked pretty smoothly.

Eighteen different times (or eighteen hundred times) various girls would start to tell a random story about: a butterfly, the Jonas Brothers, a classmate, a cousin's girlfriend's great grandmother, a shoelace or another "related" topic to our discussion, but to my surprise (each time!) they'd stop the story, remember the guideline about "don't speak randomly" and they'd say "never mind". 

Which reminds me of the time my brother and I used to let caterpillars crawl on us because it was fun.  Remember those days?  The hot sun, bugs buzzing in the background, the shade of a tree, playing outside all day long....umm... why on earth is there a guideline about talking randomly???

This is the first group I've had in three years that has worked together as a group and supported each other.  One week a girl, L.,  didn't want to sit at our table...even though we made room for her.  I asked her to join us.  Then the rest of the girls said things like "It's not the same without you!"...."Our circle isn't complete!"  "Come sit with us!"  And so...L. sat with us.

We were looking for a name for our group so it wasn't just someone saying in a flat voice, "Yeah - the seventh grade girls meet in that room"...now they can shout with enthusiasm, "You're in 7th grade?  GREAT!  THE SPECIALS MEET IN ROOM 104!!" 

 

 

Specials

Special Girls

Special 7's

???

We need a name. 

Every girl wants to make a sign to put on our door....but signs need names.  Suggestions now being gladly accepted below.

ignition! kicks off the new school year

matchbox ministries (the youth ministry at church) kicked off the new school year with the first youth service (a church service run by youth for youth ages 11 to 19 with Youth Guy (age 25) bringing the message) on Sunday. The fall series is called Rhythm, and rumors were flying about a big surprise and boy...was it ever a surprise.  Chicago's Kaotic Drumline performed.... amazing.  Jamie Poindexter, a high school dropout, started the drumline to keep kids off the streets of his south side Chicago neighborhood...and encouraged them to get better grades.  The group has been together three years and Jamie has since completed his high school education.  Kaotic performs at WNBA games and other events around the country. It was a privilege to have them in our church yesterday!

I posted a video of Kaotic Drumline this morning.  Bear with it. It's dark with the group entering from the back and then the group is easier to see at the front.

More Ignition! photos:

Becca and Lorrie modeling the new tees and showing off the banner.  Note how Lorrie's hair matches the banner perfectly...so it appears she's "just a face" (as Becca so kindly pointed out).

Krysta, Kayley and Jamie

 

Anne and me

 

the worship band's opening song

 

I liked how the camera captured the movement of the media team in the "sound booth".

More photos can be found here.

{family force 5/the wedding/children 18:3 concert}

A friend, Erik, took some amazing photos at the concert at church Friday night. If I'd known he was going to be taking photos..I would have left my camera at home!  His photos are brilliant!

Youth Guy Bryan Roe + his assistant for the evening, Joey.

Trademark of Family Force 5.

Youth Guy delivering some good news to the crowd!

People traveled from at least six states to see this show:  Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Iowa and West Virginia!

The company that provides sound and lighting for the world's largest music festival, Summerfest, provided the sound and lighting. 

You can view the entire slideshow here.

All photos by Erik Helgestad.  Thank you, Erik!!

matchbox monday

The youth ministry (matchbox ministries) is blessed to have a photographer who takes thousands of photos of the youth ministry and every church ministry - every week.  He captures those still small moments and moments of celebration!  I love this image of the band's instruments in sillouhette.

Friday night was the Office Party to introduce three sisters (their youngest sister couldn't make it) to others in the youth ministry.  A dozen of us hung out eating sloppy joes, munching on chips, sipping Dr. Pepper, and watching episode after episode of The Office (Seasons Two and Three).  We laughed so loud and so long, I about lost my voice by morning.

My mom wants to watch the Office to see what all the fuss is about.  I mentioned that for girls, it's the interaction between Pam and Jim.... captured here (as you see one of the girls sitting as close as possible to the TV because most of us were talking through the show... Volume was at 100.  and we still couldn't hear!)

Saturday was quality time with one of my junior high girls (Elena), time at the gym, then running the computer for the rehearsal and the evening service at church. 

Sunday was a great youth service, more quality time with some of my girls, then a Girls Night with the four sisters (Carolyna, Erin, Elly and Jenny) where we watched Signs (I had never seen it) and giggled and talked.  We left "mysterious" messages on a friend's facebook wall...which thoroughly confused him.  We giggled some more. And talked. A lot.

I must confess that three of the girls and I are (heads hanging low).... (whispering) "addicted to Facebook".  There. We've admitted it.  We don't want to..but we have.  Or rather, I have for us all.  We love getting updates on friends, and getting messages from friends, and posting photos to share and also viewing other peoples photos.  We get to join groups that reflect our quirkiness and send "flair" to each other that reminds us of inside jokes. We hear funny lines in a show or a movie and instantly confer with each other,  "Yes...that WOULD be a good Facebook status line....  hmm."

Whew.  Feels good to share that. Now I gotta go.  Facebook is waiting for me to update my status with something witty and wonderful.

names 'n poems 'n things

at youth group last night....

"I'm sorry..I didn't catch your name... it's.....Luke?"

______________________________________________________________________

now it's poetry time...

kids play games
kids like to hurt
kids like to throw
sand and dirt

that's why we medicate.

--an original poem by Rona Selby

______________________________________________________________________

The junior high girls and boys last night did an amazing job brainstorming projects to tackle areas of injustice.  We have a three part plan to set in place by May 1 which involves helping the homeless, visiting a hospital, and completing a service project.  Can I just tell you how focused, energetic and motivated those kids were last night?  It will be a student-coordinated project - so it was all them (with a bit of coordination from the leaders).  I'll report back with photos of the completed project!

time to fill? hold a photo shoot!

It's monday! The weekend flew by. I attended HUSH - a youth ministry prayer/fasting mini-retreat.  It was amazing and refreshing and thought provoking and life changing. Saturday was recovering from a youth overnight event.  Sunday was a standout message from bryan roe, the youth pastor... and then a walk, chinese food takeout and introducing the film Amelie to a friend who loves all things French to end the weekend well.

Sunday afternoon, Kathryn (see the previous post!) and I were waiting for a friend at church to complete a project, so we had some time to kill.  I wandered the church gym and found models willing to pose.  Who knew I had so many photogenic friends?!

(above + below = four of the six kanter family kids)

(above) Jessy + Hannah

I love hanging out with grace + seth!

posters + pizza

wednesday night

because it is spring break for area schools, there was no regularly scheduled youth group, but student volunteers showed up to put concert posters up in neighboring cities (you can see the "iron fist" poster to the left of the Youth Guy).  We fed them pizza, they goofed around, and then the band rehearsed.  As I was talking to a friend about Idol, someone overheard me and shouted out the name of the person who left. (I won't tell you because maybe you haven't heard yet!)

Youth Guy "helping" Chris with his pizza.

anne - the amazing event coordinator!!

The drummer for the youth band is AMAZING and the whole group sounded great.  I cannot wait until Sunday to hear them!

sticks 'n wheels

Tinker toys, originally uploaded by jenn32807.

We're in the middle of a huge youth group last minute trip to an ice cream shoppe when Robotics Guy (RG) and I began a discussion about robotics and the robot his group worked on for months. It's now in a storage facility waiting to be brought out at a regional competition in March. RG's talking about an actual engineer who visited their class and mentioned using "connects" and I have no clue what those are. I even RAISE MY HAND to get his attention to ask what "connects" are. I try to relate and reveal that when I was younger, we had "those wooden sticks with wagon wheels at the end".

I get a very professor-ly nod in my direction, "Why yes, K-nex ARE quite similar to TINKER TOYS.....Sunny"

I sink low into my seat and attempt to act as if I were older than three years old. Perhaps it was my sippy cup that gave me away. darn.

UPDATE:  I knew someone would have the correct spelling of the object.  It's "K-nex" as Anne reminded me.  thanks-a-bunch, anne!!

{matchbox ministries leadership retreat}

Spent this weekend at a retreat for the youth and adult leadership of matchbox ministries - a youth ministry. I'll let the photos tell the story....

But imagine with me for a moment... you are sitting in the beautiful dining room of a conference center/campground, gazing out at the snow covered ice on the lake.  You're munching on a salad or enjoying a bit of ice cream in the cutest little dessert bowls, when you notice something strange.  A parking lot below the dining room is suddenly a flurry of activity.  You peer closer to get a better glimpse...being careful not to let your pretty blue jello cubes slide off the table in your earnestness to see what's happening outside.

What? A blonde in a blue car has been quickly surrounded on all sides by an official looking SUV with tinted windows and three other vehicles...blocking her car in.  WHAT IS THIS?  A bust? is it the SWAT Team on a covert operation? You crane your neck, trying to figure out what this excitement is before you reluctantly finish dinner and leave for the evening session of the conference you drove four hours to attend.  You gather your things, wondering what happened.... and miss the cheer that goes up when a group of 8 guys has successfully gotten the hood of the blonde's car open so that the battery can be charged.  (the doohickey that one would pull to pop the hood open broke completely off.....so getting the hood of the car open was quite the challenge.)  And you certainly can't see the two vans that slid into ditches 20 minutes into their return drive home.  Or the big tractor that a farmer used to pull the 15-passenger van out of the ditch. 

Now here's a glimpse into the weekend's retreat where we all bonded, prayed for each other, spoke words of encouragement to each other, had a ton of fun, heard some teaching from Bryan and sang together.  I can't wait for next year's retreat!

awww....courtney + krysta!

(krysta + megan + lorrie + courtney + sam + monica + hannah)

this must have been around 1 AM.

Annie + Robert who is pretty in pink. AND holding my lovely orange purse.

Annie + Monica

(I took this photo of the two good friends Joe and Joey  + I wanted to get the little guy on Joey's tshirt - it's a member of the Jack Black band Tenacious D.  The little guy looking out cracks me up.)

Youth Guy - Bryan

chris + friends

alex + bobby

And a great time was had by all!!  G'night.

11.04

spent an afternoon with three girls + one puppy + chinese food + fun in the dollar store + pretty leaves = perfect day!

more photos here

photos by sunny

{10/31}

girls' costume party + food + film + an appearance by the youth guy = good times

just another wednesday evening...

wednesday = youth group night!

see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil

who/what is evil?

that was the beginning of the evening.  here's a less-evil-looking macy-kate (r) with hannah:

three of my girls.

bryan, the youth guy

the hannahs

the lovely e.

I didn't just spend the night recruiting models for the blog.  We all had mingling to do, announcements to make, concert tickets to sell, plans to make for a service project in the city, small groups to meet and hold discussions, and loads of elbow tag to be played.

images by sunny 

colors

I cracked up at Elena's shirt last night because I was wearing a black t-shirt and black capris.

Last night was so great!  We had a good discussion and the girls were great.  Brittany and I co-lead the group and she really added so much to the discussion and got the girls excited about upcoming concerts and events.

image: sunny

the leveling project

here's the story from Sunday's "The Leveling Project" [a weekend of focusing on the needs of others - including a 30-hour fast to experience sacrifice on a small scale and to pray for those in need, gathering together to make lunches (still while fasting) and serving those meals to others or going out in search of donations of food/clothing/loose change]

A group gathered in their finest to discuss how best to reach others / {or two couples went to prom Saturday night}

a group made lunches.......

here is elena (on the right).....who is in my small group on wednesday nights...

a group drove to milwaukee to serve people in need and found this camp

with no one around to give the lunches to, prayer was lifted up on their behalf

and a lunch left with a note...

the students and leaders gathered that evening at a parent's home for a meal and a bonfire - to share stories from the day and also break their fast together (trust me - I was mobbed when I opened up a dessert of chocolate cake at 6:31 PM - one minute after the fast was over.  so you know the kids did fast and were very hungry by the evening)

I open up the dessert with kids surrounding me - waiting for one of 10 slices of chocolate cake.

Mike, a leader,  points to his watch:  "It's NOT 6:30 yet!" and shakes his head.

Then he realizes, "Oh! It's 6:31!!!" and dives in with the kids to get a morsel of cake before it was gone in 20 seconds.

I loved the enthusiasm and commitment from every person involved (100+ students & leaders) and that no one walked away the same after truly understanding how we have so much and some have so little, and we can make a difference in our own community and beyond.

orangey orange + the leveling project

photo by howaboutorange

I used to not like orange at all.  (gee, aren't you glad you're reading this right now?!  newsflash! sunny didn't like orange.)

however, I now like it.  so I was delighted to find this new blog (because of a blogger who linked to her "emergency birthday card and envelope" you could download and send to someone if you hadn't been to the store or wanted to personalize a card)... I love it!  Using Google Reader to read blogs, I can star blog entries I'd like to read again.  I starred the first three of her four latest entries!

today has been a full day, and it's not even over yet.  last night went with a friend Renee to assist her in filming a track practice for some kids in the special olympics.  such fun to film their enthusiastic sporting practice, their cheerful high-fives and hugs, and earnest races and long jumps.  As we left to get dinner, renee's friend ali called after having The Longest Day Ever.  She had two requirements for a restaurant: food + alcohol.  We found a brewery to meet her requirements.  I was then going to return to the office but found I'd lost my office key.  So I went home, watched american idol (please let jordin stay, please!) and then went to bed early as i was in the office by 6:10 AM today. 

I will leave here and go to the gym for a brisk walk before meeting a friend for dinner then driving quickly to church to meet with my junior high girls.  The focus tonight is on meeting the needs of others.  Here are the questions we'll be asking each other tonight:

1.       (Random ice breaker) If you had $1 million to give to any charity or other need in the world, which would you choose (and why)?

2.       Why is it so difficult to live the kind of life that constantly chooses to meet the needs of others?

3.       When meeting a need (such as feeding the homeless for instance), how do you go about pointing that person to Jesus?

4.       Is it better for a person to stick to serving one area of need, or several different needs? 

5.       When meeting needs through our own sacrifice, why does the Bible say it is important to do so humbly and secretly?  Is this really necessary?  Is there any scenario when it’s okay to bring attention to ourselves as Christians for doing so?

6.       How can we pray for one another?

the youth ministry (matchbox ministries) is in the midst of The Leveling Project - which I understand encourages kids to see people on level with each other - whether in serious need (homeless or living in a shelter) or people who have plenty (our part of the county)... the kids will start a 30-hour famine saturday and it'll end sunday night at a barbecue.  In between the kids will gather to watch The Pursuit of Happyness, bring clothing and hygiene items to donate, attend the youth service sunday morning, then spend sunday afternoon out in the community (between milwaukee and madison) - collecting items to donate and also making meals to serve (while they themselves will be fasting) in milwaukee and madison.

church reimagined.

I'm excited! Here's a new video done by a photographer to show what matchbox ministries is all about.

matchbox ministries video

matchbox ministries

matchbox ministries is now online.  check it out here. 

{matchbox is the ministry I get to be part of at church}     love the home page which shows:

rock out. 

go deep. 

live it.   

(worship, small groups and missions/outreach)

Tonight is a concert by Falling Up + three other bands. 

a glimpse

Here's a glimpse into the youth ministry I work with called Matchbox Ministries.  A photographer, Thom, takes dozens of photos every week and has put together a montage - which can be found if you click here.

Now you can see what a cool thing Matchbox is and all the kids who attend.  Some of my girls are in there...as their photos fly by.

Last night was youth group, and the girls and I met...the topic was pain.  On Sunday, Bryan talked about how pain can be God's megaphone to get our attention.  We talked about what we would do differently in life if we could feel no physical pain... we considered a lot of things, then one girl, H. said that pain is a good thing - that feeling a little bit of pain like when we touch a hot stove - helps us remove our hand from the heat..and prevent further damage to our hands.  If we felt no pain, we'd leave our hands there and do so much more damage which would take a lot more time and resources to heal.

We also talked about pain (emotional and physical) and how sometimes you can pray and pray and God doesn't heal what you ask him too.  H. brought up the fact that our lives impact others and sometimes not getting what we pray for happens because there's a bigger picture... our lives affect each other and God has a bigger plan than just our wants and needs.  H. (she was on a roll!) also reminded us that if God does not heal us and we do die, it's not bad if you know that you'll be in heaven after you die.

I agree with the "bigger plan than me" idea.  A friend of the family was killed 12 years ago when she was 18 and driving to school for the first time.  At her funeral, hundreds of her fellow students and her family members heard how death is not the end if you know Jesus personally, and her grandparents (among others) found eternal life in Jesus and now they are not afraid of death.

Once again these girls amazed me...by opening up about themselves and also in discussing deeper issues that had me thinking long after I left the chapel we met in.

It was a good night. 

bryan & briana

Here's an excerpt from an article in yesterday's paper about Matchbox Ministries. (sorry the format is funky. I cannot fix it. I tried!)

Purpose. Passion. People. Bryan Roe, the new youth and young adult ministries pastor has incorporated his purpose and passion for Christ in reaching students and young adults through a new ministry called Matchbox Ministries. He describes the 10:45 AM Sunday service with the tagline “church. reimagined.”

“Research has shown that 91 percent of advertising for ministry comes from word of mouth and students being involved on some level,” he said. “Whether it is music, sound, drama, technology etc., students are becoming leaders and having some ‘ownership’ in what they experience at church. When students are involved, this raises the chances of bringing their friends or family to Christ by 75 percent.”

Matchbox Ministries’ mission is to ignite students with a passion for Christ that will set their culture ablaze. Roe said the program is unique because it uses relevant music from yesterday dramas that pertain to the lives of teens and are highly narrative, and the volunteers and leaders incorporate images.

“With this new ministry, we’ve found when parents ask kids what they learned at church, most of them actually have an answer and are excited about it,” Roe said. “The feedback from the students has been great; some have even thanked us for providing something that they can bring their friends to.

“Earlier this year, we sent out surveys to the youth and one thing they all asked for was more relevant topics for teens. Students wanted to be creative and more involved. For our first service, 178 students attended; there is a need out there that needs to be met and students are looking for experiences that are relevant to their lives.”

Matchbox Ministries is designed by students for students. There are almost 20 student leaders and 27 adult leaders and coaches that form teams. Matchbox Ministries has also incorporated “cell groups” Wednesday nights that use topics from Sunday to go deeper into the message,

“We can’t know what truth is without wrestling with it and asking if it can be proved or disproved,” Roe said. “This ministry is seeker sensitive, entertaining and inspiring.” Roe grew up in a strong Christian family, but found it hard to differentiate between what it means to have a religion that focuses on Jesus and a relationship with Jesus.

“I’ve found that it’s not a religion; it’s a relationship,” Roe said.

Religion sometimes implies being “good enough” or doing your duty to go to church every Sunday. On the other hand, a relationship indicates a journey something personal and communal.

At an early age, Roe was diagnosed with a severe case of Tourette’s Syndrome and ADHD. The result of this was a lack of friendships, thus leading to a peer detachment that would later send him tumbling into a deep depression.  “After reaching the conclusion that God didn’t care anymore than anyone else about me, I decided it was time to take my own life,” Roe said. “What I didn’t know was that my parents had been praying for me beyond what I could conceive, and they pushed me to join the youth group at our church at a Bible camp. I went reluctantly but was shocked upon my arrival to find people who accepted me and loved me regardless of my outward appearance and everything else that usually scared people away . 

“That week culminated into my own personal decision to surrender my life to Jesus Christ— a decision that came at the perfect time and a decision that has changed my life forever.” Later, Roe told his parents he wanted to take his first step of trusting Jesus by going off every one of the 10 medications he was on at the time. Although hesitant at first, they agreed.

“By the glory of God, within days, my Tourette’s Syndrome almost completely disappeared. It was clear to me at this point that God does have a greater love and a greater plan for us than anything this world has to offer,” Roe said. “Since then, God has been using me to transform the lives of teenagers and young adults in the same way that I was changed as a teen.”

Briana Roe shares this passion and purpose with her husband as the new children’s ministry director. One of the programs offered during their weekend services includes Promiseland — Sunday school at the 9:15 a.m. service, which includes skits and teachings with, songs, motions, small and large group activities. Children’s church is also offered at all of the services each weekend.

Their midweek AWANA program, for children 3 through fifth-grade, meets every Thursday evening and focuses on Bible stories, memorization of scripture, games, activities and teaching children about how much Jesus loves them and wants to have a personal relationship with them.

“We want to build a strong foundation for kids and teach them how to have a personal relationship with Jesus when they are young as well as make it a fun and meaningful experience,” Briana said.

space bar & p-smash

costume idea??

i'm glad it's friday (or will be in an hour)

I just got back from choir rehearsal - christmas choir - great fun. doing two songs. I'm a tenor - hello? isn't that a guy's part?! it's amusing when the choir director, Terra (who is soo much like larissa from FBC that it ain't even funny - they could be sisters!)... will yell out "okay, men, your turn!" and I just grin and sing. She used to get a bit flustered, like "oh, uh...the guys and lea ann" until I said "just say men, I know what you mean" and she looked relieved and agreed to it. She shared the following story about me tonight with the 30 choir members..

Two weeks ago I picked up the tenor part CD and put it on in my car. I was hearing the song for the first time - after spending the rehearsal that night reading the music and trying to follow along. hearing it was so much better! I was concentrating so hard that on a strip of highway well known for being patrolled by state and local police, I was going slower than normal...about five miles UNDER the speed limit.... didn't know how slow I was going until a police car zoomed up behind me then around me. *whew* the choir CD kept me from getting a ticket - or my concentration did. terra then receives an email from me the next day saying "the choir CD and a speeding ticket". she was intrigued and proceeded to share my email with a ton of people. glad I could provide material for her. (she picks on me in choir anyway)

Then after choir rehearsal, I run into two high school girls who are youth leaders (they lead small groups for youth group on wednesday nights) and they pulled me into the church office to see the newspaper article on Bryan and Brianna Roe. They were featured in an artricle on the youth and children's ministries at church. Excellent article. If it pops up online, I'll provide a link. Until then, I'll try to scan it and post it here...

I also ran into Keely, a member of my small group who is bringing friends next wednesday to our small group AND she's excited about the Space Bar Ministry. She attends another church on Sundays but wants to be at Alliance for the sundays that she'll run the computer during the service.

Then I ran into Helene's mom who told me Helene arrived home from youth group last night - raving about being part of a new ministry at church. I love that the girls are all excited. I love hanging out with them.  My table of girls from last night is my new small group.  In four weeks the small group went from 4 girls to 14...so we're splitting into three groups - but my "small" group of 5 will grow bigger next with with visitors who'll be there.  But back to the "space bar ministry"  Our shirts are going to be lime green - with a blue logo.  I figure that the girls can then be seen from anywhere in the large gym before the service and the worship leaders will know who will be running the computer - except that they'll see someone sitting behind the computer - but that's too obvious.  We need to shop for the t-shirts! Shopping being the key word here.

Anyone know anything about putting designs on t-shirts? I think I can do an iron on label that prints using paper that goes in a color printer? I suppose I could search martha stewart's website for ideas.

hey - I need a costume for P-Smash (the pumpkin smash)...any creative costume ideas? Here are some I found this week. (now that I look over these ideas..I think I'll do one of them.  I'll surprise ya.)

Static Cling: Wear anything in a solid color, all white or even all black. With safety pins, attach stuff to yourself such as socks , underwear and dryer sheets. Spray your hair straight up into the air, and you're good to go...

Miss America: Use an old bridesmaid dress or prom formal (and you thought you'd never wear it again); add a pair of gloves, a tiara, some oversized jewelry and heels. For the banner, write your title of choice in glitter on a wide white ribbon.

1960s Hippie: Tie-dyed clothing, long wig, sandals, headband, anything with fringe on it (vests, purse, etc.), pale-colored sunglasses.

The All-American Tourist: Guys wear loud Hawaiian shirt, shorts, large straw hat. Girls, brightly colored loud dress, flats, big sun hat, straw bag. Don't forget to have a camera and maps hanging out.

Real nerd: Slick back the hair, grab some pants that are too short, white shirt, white socks, penny loafers or lace-up oxfords, pocket protector with lots of pens, dark rim glasses and a briefcase.

This year, use what you've got to make a costume. And if all else fails, there's always a ghost. Among all of those authentic, high-priced getups that are from a rental place, you'll definitely be unique.

By Bobbie G from Rockwall, TX