Winter Wonderland

Friday night.


Saturday morning.

Annual Awards Ceremony

This evening found us attending the Annual Awards Ceremony at Girls, Inc. Every December they have this ceremony to thank their volunteers.

A buffet of mostly finger foods is the first event of the evening. The table included a cracker plate, fruit platter, veggie tray, a cheese ball, the little hot dogs in barbecue sauce, a broccoli cornbread (one of the staff makes this & it is requested every year), spinach dip w/bread, punch, ice water, coffee and then a cake.

After most people had had a chance to go through the line, the CEO stood up & called the meeting to order. The pastor of her church gave the invocation. Then the CEO (who is not afraid to talk & is never at a loss for words) gave some general remarks. The Girls Inc. choir sang Silent Night/Away in the Manger, Jingle Bells & closed with We Wish You a Merry Christmas. Then 4 girls who comprise the Praise & Worship team came up & "danced" to a contemporary Christian song. They had choreographed the dance themselves. Then the awards.

The first award given out was Alumna of the Year. The lady who receives this award has usually gone on to better her circumstances. This awardee has also attended Girls Inc. during her school years. The alumna award for this year went to a lady who is actually my age. She graduated from the city high school & is married to a pastor. She has 4 children & 5 grandchildren. Am I old enough to be a grandmother? She has just recently opened a gym for ladies.

The next award was given to the board president. I cannot think of the award now but I do believe she deserved it.

Then the volunteer awards were handed out. Every volunteer received a picture of some of the girls smiling & holding letters which spelled THANK YOU. Churches received awards for mowing, leading a Bible class for the teenagers, providing tables & chairs for events, etc. The snack ladies received a volunteer award. Of course we received an award for teaching Bible club. When your name is called you go to the front of the gym, the CEO hugs you & then hands you the award.

All throughout the evening, the CEO kept referring to being good stewards of what we have been given or with what we've been blessed. We also learned that on Wednesday evenings, one of the staff members takes a van load of girls to church with her. I'm sure her church offers some sort of program similar to AWANAS or PIONEERS.

At the end they recognized the board members. The board president had decided to rotate off so another board member took the reins as president. I'm not sure if the past president will still be on the board or if she is stepping out from the board responsibilities also.

The evening ended. The girls that had attended were excited as they were leaving. The parents of the girls who had some kind of responsibility were proud of their daughters and their behavior. The CEO was glad the evening had been a huge success.

We left, came home & got ready to leave for our time in the prayer room. Our church has opened a prayer room. The goal is to have someone(s) praying 24/7 in the prayer room. We signed up for the 9-10 pm Tuesday hour. Since we, during the school year, have Precepts Tuesday evenings from 6.30-8.45, we decided that would be the best time for us to use the room. Right now while we are waiting for the next study to start after Christmas is the hardest time for us to use the room. We're not there & have to make it a point to drive over there at night. Also cold, rainy weather like we're having tonight makes it even more difficult. But we kept our commitment. There's nothing like being away from the distractions of our home, work, etc. to spend time in prayer. I appreciate the quiet room provided. I'm also thankful for the little clock which chimes (like a grandfather clock) announcing every hour.

Thanksgiving

Here it is the day after Thanksgiving & I'm just getting around to telling you about it! For those that may not know we celebrate our Thanksgiving at camp. The ministry provides the turkeys & a ham. Everyone who comes provides a side dish or two or three. We all have our usual items & then sometimes we try a new dish. This year I just did 2 of my 3 usual dishes. Wednesday evening I made a white fruit cake. Now I would tell you I'm not a big fan of fruit cake but this cake is different than your usual fruit cake. It's almost like a pound cake with the dried fruit & pecans in it. I also make Sally Lunn bread but I wait until Thanksgiving morning to make that. You see there is nothing like straight out of the oven bread.

Knowing the bread would take a while & that I wanted to be up to the dining room by 11, I was up at 6:30 yesterday morning. Shampooed my hair before starting the bread so kept my hair up in the towel until the bread was made. That way I was pretty sure no hair would be in the bread. Had the bread going by 7 & it was rising by about 7:15. After getting the dishes in the dishwasher, I sat down to have my Bible reading. I'm using a "read the Bible through in a year" plan. This is probably the 6-7 year, I have done so. I read 4 chapters a day & actually finish reading before the year is finished. So instead of reading the NT 2x like the plan suggests, I just go back to the OT & start again. Currently I am in 2 Chronicles. Yesterday I was reading chapters 21-24 and ran across something interesting...something I don't remember ever reading before. In chapter 21 verse 20 we read a brief summary of Jehoram becoming king of Judah...he was Jehoshaphat's son. He was 32 when he became king & reigned 8 years. The verse goes on to say (& this is what intrigued me) "and he departed with no one's regret". I thought that is sad...no one missed him. Then I thought about my life and wondered what would be my 4 word summary after reading she departed.... I don't want my departure plastered over the front page of the newspaper or be shouted from the TV set. I wondered will I have made a difference in a Bible club girl's life. She may not remember my name (or maybe not even remember that she came to Bible club) but will she learn from me that Jesus loves her? Will she come to know the Lord as her Savior because of something she has seen modeled in my life? Will she feel "safe" while in Bible club? I also thought about camp. When the campers see me doing my job, will they see that I love the Lord? Even though I'm not a counselor & able to be with the campers during the day, when they see me will they see a smile on my face & see that I'm loving loving the Lord & doing the small, minute jobs needed to be done. I don't want to be thrust into the camping program...I'm more of a work in the background person...but I do interact with campers quite a bit. When they've grown up & think back to their summers at camp, prayerfully they'll remember that I love the Lord...they may not remember my name and that's definitely alright with me...but will they remember there was a peace, calm, contentment that only the Lord can give.

After my reading (& thinking) was finished, I thought I'd rest while the bread was finishing rising. I knew it would be a long day. I hoped I would fall asleep but was unable to. When the timer beeped, letting me know the bread was finished, I put the dough into the bundt pan. Set that to rise for the last time. Put the mixing bowl in the dishwasher. And finished my preparations for the day. Where my hair had been in the towel, it did not look the best & I couldn't do anything else with it.

Finally the bread has risen & baked. I put it on the cooling rack, stuck the cooling rack on top of the platter I would set the bread on, called John & asked if he could come down from the dining room to help me carry things up. He did. We took up some cranberry juice (which I don't think was ever set out to drink), the fruit cake and bread. I cut the bread & cake while waiting in the dining room.

There were not many people that came this year. The staff & families, and friends & former staff children came. If I have listed everyone correctly there were only 45 people. My mother's cousin's children came. When a big deal was made to the oldest son about them being there, he said well what else would we do. We've done this too long to not continue coming for Thanksgiving. He & I were able to talk during lunch. Currently he does not have a job but is house sitting for some friends who own 2 houses & are trying to decide on which one to settle. When his brother needed to leave, he left with him but came back in time for supper.

There were no crafts this year...the children went outside & raked a big pile of leaves. Then they spent the afternoon jumping into them. It was fun watching them have fun. The game "Apples to Apples" appeared & 2 good games ensued. I came close to winning the first game. The second game, I was nowhere near winning.

During the game, the leftovers were brought out & stuck in the oven to warm up. Even though none of us were hungry we still ate a little when it was time. The children (under 13 years) were the only hungry ones.

After eating, I came down to the house to get some powdered sugar. Funnel cakes were being made & there was no powdered sugar in the kitchen. As I was exiting the dining room (to come here), I heard that we would be able to see the space shuttle & space station in a little while. I thought they had said 7, so called my sister so she could let her 7 year old look. I told her I would call her when I got back to the dining room, I'd ask to see what time it would go over. As I left the house, I saw there were people standing around outside. In a few minutes we could see the lights from the shuttle & station going over. Unfortunately I wasn't able to get my sister called in time to let her know it was earlier than I had thought.

After taking care of the dishes we came home. John was not feeling well. He had not felt well all day. Very shortly the nauseousness overtook him & he spent 2 rounds of 30-45 minutes each in the bathroom. I looked in our medicines but we had nothing for an upset stomach. So I grabbed the flashlight, my set of camp keys & went up to the dining room to see if the first aid station had something. There was a bottle of Pepto (well generic). I brought it down to the house & started giving it to John. His stomach finally calmed down enough to let him sleep. He slept for almost 10 hours & is once again sleeping.

Thanksgiving Meal

It's not even Thanksgiving & we've already had 2 Thanksgiving meals. I'm not a big fan of turkey so this season is one in which I get my fill for a while.

Tonight was the annual Thanksgiving dinner at Girls Inc. We were invited and John is usually asked to give the invocation. Usually he tries to "sneak" the plan of salvation into his prayer. Today he didn't but did ask the Lord to grow these girls into productive women. I heard a few "Amens" and "yes" to that.

Mother was able to go with us. When we arrived we were allowed to go on back to the gym & take a seat. We did and were able to sit with a few girls who come to Bible Club. One's grandmother & great grandmother were there with her. The other girl's mother was coming at 5. She was quite worried that her mother would not arrive. Her mother did arrive at 5 (like promised). As we were leaving, I introduced myself to her mother & commented that she is so well-behaved during Bible Club.

One man who I guess could be called a philanthropist has opened a savings account for each girl who attends Girls Inc. Today he announced that a pot was being created which contained $500. Each girl who made 2 deposits (of at least 25 cents/deposit) into her savings account between the first of November (2 had already made deposits) and the end of February, would be automatically entitled to some of the money in the pot - which would be put into their savings accounts. The girls were excited and one even said she had some money to put in her account. Also the girls who are new this year are to see the ladies in charge & they will make sure each girls gets her own savings account. Then one little girl (who comes to Bible club) played a song on her kazoo. I'm not sure what the song is but think it might have been called "The Climb". John then prayed.

Tables were dismissed one at a time to go through the line. We ended up at the table which was 3rd through the line. There was turkey, dressing, mashed potatoes, gravy, macaroni & cheese, green beans, corn, sweet potatoes & bread. There were many desserts. We chose the cheesecake which had chocolate chips on it. Mother had pumpkin pie. One little girl (a kindergartener) at our table also had pumpkin pie. I enjoyed watching her. She would eat with her fork but get food all over her hands. Her napkin was on top of the table. But she didn't need it. She would just reach down & wipe her hands on her pants. I hoped it was all dry before her mother took her home.

Throughout the meal, other girls would come up & request to sing a song. The CEO allowed them to sing. They all did a good job.

We left & brought Mother home. Then went to Kroger. The parking lot was packed. I wanted to get my last minute groceries (as did all the other car drivers) and also a turkey which was 39 cents a pound if you had a $25 or more purchase. I knew we had that amount no problem. We got a 12+ pound turkey for under $5. I have stuck it in the freezer for after Thanksgiving. It will be good - when we are away from Thanksgiving for a few days/weeks.

Now my plans are to get a load of dishes going before turning in for the night. Tomorrow morning, I see the dentist at 10.30 & then will make my items for Thursday. I'm making Sally Lunn Bread & a white fruit cake. I realized after getting home from Kroger that I purchased almonds instead of pecans. So I don't know what I will do. Maybe run back to Kroger & get pecans. I was being so careful to make sure I left with pecans too... Oh well at least that was the only wrong item.

If I don't see you before Thursday...have a wonderful day filled with thanks for the many wonderful blessings which we have....the greatest being eternal life.

Bible Club Week 8

Thursday we arrived at Bible Club not knowing where club would be held. We had been praying we would have a room in which to meet (so I could have a few minutes to get set up) but were prepared just in case we were once again located in the kitchen. As I was signing in, the activities director came out & told us we would be holding club in a room - it was an office belonging to one of the volunteers.

The director took us to our room. To get there we had to go through the gym. The girls were so excited to see us. They came running to give us a hug. In previous years club has lasted until 5:15. Last week I had dismissed them at 5:15 & they had come back telling me they were dismissed too early. So I asked the activities director what time I needed to let them go. They're now going until 5:30..."oh", I said, "I was under the impression we were going until 5:15". "We realized that" she replied. "And today it'll be okay to let them go early...we're having Great American Smoke out activities" - this is geared toward warning the children the dangers of smoking. Well fortunately I always take a book which I can share with them if I have extra time.

The office has windows on the front wall & a big mirror on the back wall. We spent some time trying to decide whether to set the stools up so they looked out the window, looked at the mirror or were facing the side walls & could look at the mirror or out the window. We decided setting them up to look out the window probably had the least danger. This office is very well protected from the gym noise. We could hear the girls as they played but their voices were muffled. Occasionally we could tell that a ball had hit the other side of the mirrored wall but it was not a loud sound.

The girls were finally dismissed for activities. Since they were doing special activities with the smoke out campaign, we only had 5 girls. If I had thought about it when we were earlier told they were having special activities for that campaign, I would have just canceled for this week & waited until next week.

We were on Day Three of Sunday School Charlie & "The Mystery of the Golden Key". Charlie & Red have decided they are going to find out if Muscle Mike has the key to the treasure chest. They decide to sneak out of the cabin at 11 pm & go to Mike's cabin. There they will be able to go through his clothes & see if he has the key in his pocket. Charlie is worried that they will get caught. He doesn't want to go swimming (which is his favorite activity). The worrying is ruining his enjoyment of camp. That night in chapel, they learn that a Christian's testimony is evidenced in his words, works & worship. The girls loved pointing out that those words all started with wor. That night during cabin devotions, Charlie reads a verse which says "Thou shalt not be afraid of the terror by night..." He knows that verse is just for him & requests prayer that he won't be afraid of the terror by night. He & Red wait until 11 & then sneak out of the cabin. As they get to Livingstone Lodge, where Mike is staying, they see a shadow sneak out of the cabin. This is where the story ended for this week. The girls are disappointed that they will have to wait 2 weeks before hearing what happens next.

John lead them in several songs. I cannot even begin to remember what they sang. They loved singing. They even requested songs which John sang with them.

While they were singing, I got the board set up for "Lightning Strike" the review game for today. There were circles scattered on the flannel board. The girls would pick a circle & it had either points or a cloud with lightning coming from it. If it was points the girls would get the points but if it was a cloud with lightning the girls lost their points from just that turn. The directions stated that the girls could go an unlimited amount of turns but I just gave them an option of 3 times. If they got the lightning bolt on turn 1 or 2, their turn was over. They loved the game. There are also funnel clouds & kites which I will put up the next time we play. If they get the funnel cloud, all the points they had gotten on that turn were given to the other team. If they get the kite (in honor of Benjamin Franklin) they get extra points (maybe 2000). By the time we were playing the game, we only had 3 girls left. During the game 2 girls left. When the 2nd girl left, we took the last girl with her & found some place to stick her until 5:30. She joined in the activities. The activities director was thankful we had had the thought to put her in with other girls. We told the director we thought she would do better with other girls (this was in front of the girl) but we were thinking of protecting ourselves & the club.

As soon as we started playing, one of the little girls raised her hand & asked if we would come to her church on 12/6 to hear her sing. I think we are going to try to go. She told me where she goes to church but didn't know what time the program started on the 6. I know a lady who goes to that church so will email her & ask what time the program is.

On our way out of Bible club, we saw the CEO of the local Girls Inc. and asked her how the regional meeting had gone. She said great. They had earned an award this year. We congratulated her & then asked if they had had any feedback on Bible Club. She said several had asked about it as they toured the facilities. She told them that they had discovered in this area, the girls responded so well to hearing Jesus loves them. When they had learned that they couldn't not give the girls the opportunity to hear Jesus loves me. And wasn't that what their purpose was to give the girls every advantage/opportunity they could provide. They would be amiss if they didn't give the girls this opportunity when they knew the girls responded so well to it. We are not going to apologize for Bible club.

We left and went to Mom & Dad's. We were going to the Thanksgiving dinner at church with them. Judith came also. We sat with Jan, Larry, Rebecca & a Korean couple. He pastors a Korean church in the area. At the end of each sermon, he gives a 5 minute summary of the sermon in English. Larry mentioned he was glad he didn't have to give a 5 minute summary in any other language...he wouldn't do well with it at all.

Now we look forward to this next week. Preparing our home for the heat pump installation the week after Thanksgiving. Preparing for the Thanksgiving meal at camp on Thursday. Attending the Girls Inc. Thanksgiving dinner Tuesday evening. It will be good to see family & friends we haven't seen since last Thanksgiving. It will be good to make new friends also.

Bible Club Week 7

We arrived at Bible Club a little early this afternoon - which is fine...it gives me time to get everything set up. As I was signing in, John took the easel & flannel board to the teen room which is where we meet. One of the activity directors told him we would be meeting in the kitchen today. The teens just earned the teen room back & she didn't want to make them leave early. So meeting in the kitchen met we didn't have time to get set up. There are 2 grandmother age ladies (of course for most of these girls these ladies might be great-grandmother aged) who prepare a snack for the girls. Today's snack was ramen noodles. Yesterday they had had ravioli.

We sat out in the hall & waited for the ladies to sweep & mop the kitchen floor. While we were waiting, we heard quite loud sobs coming from the gym. One girl was curled up sobbing her heart out. An older girl went over to her & tried to get her involved in the activities. The sobbing girl said, "No, I don't want to play...You don't understand. My daddy's girlfriend broke up with him. When she left, she took all his stuff & all my stuff too." I quietly said a prayer for this girl, her siblings, father & mother - who, even though she does not live with her daughter's father, would probably have to deal with this grief later this evening.

Then as the girls were being dismissed to activities we were able to enter the kitchen. Fortunately John had snuck in there & set the board up while the ladies were cleaning. But I didn't have a chance to get my figures separated. Well they were in the order they were to be used - I just like to put them with the page on which they're used...and didn't have time today. Since we were in a new location, the girls were antsy. They did not want to sit still. We got through the story. Chapter 2 of "The Mystery of the Golden Key". Upon being awakened at 6.30 a.m., Charlie is excited to remember he is at camp. He & Red get ready for the day. In chapel that morning, they hear the story of Joseph. He was betrayed, blamed & then blessed. Charlie hopes that if he is ever betrayed & then blamed for something he didn't do, he will be able to remember God is in control and will work good from this. The boys leave chapel & have fun the rest of the day. In their evening devotions, the counselor tells them that the golden key which unlocks the treasure chest is missing. Charlie & Red wonder if Muscle Mike found it before supper. They had seen him pick up something from the grass. The girls were disappointed that the story was over for the day.

John came up & led in some songs. "Stop & Go", "Let's Talk About Jesus", "Thy Word Have I Hid in my Heart" and a few others. While he was leading them in songs, I was getting the review game set up. I had accidentally brought "Feeding Gilbert" again.

We dismissed the girls & went to Food City. The group that came early this spring is coming back this weekend to finish one project they were not able to get finished because of the rain the time they were here. They are going to roof one of the cabins. We are feeding them lunch & supper tomorrow. Definitely breakfast on Saturday. Not sure about lunch but if we do will probably order pizza or something similar. Aunt BJ's lasagne was requested for lunch so we got the ingredients for that. We will do sandwiches for supper. I purchased a pork tenderloin at FC yesterday & prepared it in the crock pot last night. For noon today, I had pulled it all off the bone & added barbecue sauce. We had bbq sandwiches. There was "tons" of the bbq left over. We're thinking of offering that plus a few cold cut options we purchased. Breakfast on Saturday will be biscuits & gravy.

It is late. My eyes are heavy. Praying we have sunshine & nice weather this weekend.

Pigeon Forge

Yesterday we were able to get away for the afternoon. We would have left sooner but I had a few errands to run for the ministry. They took about an hour. On our last stop, John realized he did not have his wallet. So we went home before leaving town.

Unfortunately it rained all day. The only vehicles we saw on the road on the way to Pigeon Forge were trucks - maybe a handful of cars. The trucks created quite a big splash as they passed us or as we passed them.

The first stop we made in Pigeon Forge was at the Russell Stover outlet store. They always have samples. The samples yesterday were the cream filled chocolates. I don't care for those.

Then we went to the Christmas store. I like that store. It was packed.

We stopped at one of the malls, drove into Gatlinburg but did not get out, then came back to PF. We stopped at a leather store, ate supper & then started back home. It was raining quite hard on the way back. We were glad to get home. But it was good to get away.

Today we have not done much. We went to Penney's to look for some jeans for John.

John is at choir practice now. I am home. But will return to church in a few minutes to get him. Hopefully the vehicles won't be parked at the construction company that were there when I got back home. I was a little scared & almost went to my parents.

Tomorrow is Bible club. I'm looking forward to seeing the girls.

Saturday

Yesterday started bright & early. We left the house at 7:30 a.m. to be at the local Marriott at 8 for breakfast. We got there a little before 8 & were met by the CEO of the local Girls Inc. She saw us before we had stepped from the hallway into the room set up for the breakfast. "There's the Wagners", we heard. And she came out, hugged us & told us to sit at one of the 3 reserved tables at the front of the room.

Sitting with us were a board member, the bookkeeper (his son was in the band with me - in high school - and graduated a year before me), the "coach", and an office lady. Mr. O & I reminisced about high school days. He said he always looked forward to loading the flutes & piccolos on the bus. They (the band parents) would save those until the end b/c they were so light.

At the 2 tables facing the room were a Girls Inc. parent & her daughter, who opened the conference in prayer, our county mayor, the national Girls Inc. president, a podium, the local CEO, the keynote speaker, the local Girls Inc. board president & then the newest board member who had been an employee of Girls Inc. for the past 2-3 years.

After the prayer, about 6 girls sang a song. I had never heard the song before so cannot tell you the name. Then the mayor welcomed everyone to the state & more specifically our county. The Girls Inc. president was next. She made her welcoming remarks & stated how she really liked this region's meetings. This region is comprised of 7 states.

The local CEO stood up, gave her welcoming remarks & let everyone know the food was coming. We were then served a plate which had 4 quesadilla wedges. Each one had scrambled eggs & cheese plus a different item. One had zucchini & summer squash. One had mushroom. I ate a few bites of the 3 but could not finish it or the 4. I do not remember what the other 2 had. There were salsa & sour cream on the table so you could top your quesadilla. Also 2 slices of bacon were on each plate. Orange juice & coffee were served.

The keynote speaker spoke on the local weed & seed program. It is intended to clear out the drugs & replace with responsible adults. They have events geared for the community which police officers are invited to attend. This way children learn that police are their friends & the children can tell them anything. Before children in these communities thought police just came out to arrest people for drugs. The speaker has a MS in history & has taught at a college for years. She is now the leader of this weed & seed program. She is organizing a place where children can learn more about what they like, such as if a child likes computers they can come & find out all the different ways computers can be used other than for looking at things they shouldn't. She said, "I want these children to grow up to be tax-paying citizens." If they like something we should encourage them so they realize they can earn money (& pay taxes) following that dream. I had heard about this program & was encouraged to hear of the potential.

After her speech we were introduced along with the others at the first 3 tables. And then were dismissed. I am not sure what else was happening yesterday but know they were going to the local Girls Inc. for a tour that evening. They were to dress western for the evening & drinks would be served with a snack buffet I'm sure. Afterward the board members would be transporting, via the Girls Inc. vans, everyone back to the hotel. They did let the participants know the 3 local restaurants where music would be playing. The vans would also transport to those restaurants & back to the hotels. That was an alternative to going back & being stuck in the hotel.

We said our good-byes & came back to camp. I went back to the office & could not get the printer to print. John came up & worked on it until our staff lunch & meeting. When that was over, we went back to the office. I to finish my Friday ending of the week & John to try to get the printer working. We could not. It is hooked up wirelessly. The only way we could get it to work was to plug it directly into the computer. So right now it is behind me. We hope to get a man from church to come look at it. He did this sort of thing at Eastman.

We have Tuesday & Wednesday off this coming week. We hope to go to Pigeon Forge on Tuesday. I'm looking forward to that. I want to look in the Christmas store. I think that is my favorite part of going to Pigeon Forge...well other than getting away for a day. I also like looking at the antique stores. It's been forever (or so it seems) since we've been there so it'll be interesting to see how the area has changed.

It's Thursday

We have no Bible club today. I have felt kind of lost without having it to prepare for & then lead. But I have gotten several things accomplished today.

John has been finishing up the outside priming of the house. He had help when he was priming the front of the house but there is no help now. He was close to the end today. I kind of thought that it would be difficult...with him having to stand on the ladder & paint above his head. So stayed at home to be able to run out & hold the ladder for him. I was called upon a few times. Now just to get it painted. The weather is getting cooler. We are praying that the weather stays nice long enough for him to get it painted before winter sets in. I'm not an expert at home improvement projects...but I can't imagine it would be good to prime the house & then wait 4-6 months before painting. It would seem the primer would have to be put back up.

I have cleaned our dining room. That is the room in which we do our Bible study homework. Since our study is over until after Christmas, I decided to get it picked up in there. It looks a lot better than it has.

We also had a man come & give an estimate for putting in a heat pump. He did not give us any paperwork though. John had experience working with this company before (when he was in the electrical field). He & his fellow electrical workers were not very impressed with the company.

Tomorrow we go to a Girls Inc. regional meeting. It starts with breakfast. We'll have to leave early to come & be here at the house for another estimate. One of the companies which work on the camp's walk-in cooler also installs heat pumps. I had called them last week & they were to call me Monday to let me know what time they would be out to give us an estimate. They never called. I called them today & the lady said that when they had come out Friday (to do some cooler repair work) they had taken care of that. Well come to find out, the man who was going to do the estimate said he had been told we would call him.

Dave Ramsey's class is tomorrow evening & then Saturday. The first Saturday I have had off in a month. I am looking forward to being able to stay home.

1000 gifts #6

51. chatting online with a childhood friend
52. help with priming the exterior of the house
53. leftover lasagne for lunch
54. sunshine after several dreary, rainy and cold days
55. free chromatic tuner
56. hearing a niece's story of a raccoon in a tree
57. seeing & talking to my youngest sister while running errands
58. an evening at home
59. watching a 7 year old niece play soccer
60. hearing a 5 year old niece say she would take ballerina dancing

Bible Club Week 6

I was a little worried before arriving at Girls Inc. today. Last week we had to move book tables out of the way. They had had a book fair the Friday before (in the room in which we have Bible club). In wanting to make sure each girl received a book, they had left the books set up. They had plans to move them before we arrived but those plans were not realized. When we arrived last week, 2 teenagers were in the room giggling & reading books...the K-1 grade level reading books. We shooed them out so we could move the tables, put out the chairs & get our easel and flannel board set up. We didn't realize they were in there to move the things out of our way. We quickly got everything where we needed it. The tables which were loaded with books, we scooted to the back of the room & prayed the girls who sat closest to those books would pay attention to the story & not want to look at the books. (That would have been difficult for me as a child. I loved Sunday School Charlie & would really want to listen to the story but I also absolutely LOVED to read. Those books would have been a temptation.)

To help ease my fears, we made sure we arrived early. And I had nothing to worry about. All the books (except 1 box) were gone. The 2 tables on which the books had been were folded up & leaning against the couch. We moved them against the back wall & set up the room.

We had stopped today to get a Pal's tea. After setting up the room, John went out to the van to get the teas. As he was gone, Little J (who is so much like big sister, E) stopped in the room. I asked her if she were coming to Bible club today. "No," she said, "I'm going to the library". "Oh," I replied. "Do you like to read?" "Yes." "What is your favorite book?" "A Halloween book". And that gave me the question I would ask each girl before club began.

Between 16-18 girls came to club today. It was a little hard to keep count. Since today was the last Thursday of the month, the Girls Inc. activity leaders were continually coming in & calling out girls to receive their Character Counts awards for October. They like getting the awards. I do have to say though that Sunday School Charlie guarantees that they return to club very quickly.

As I went around the room today, I could remember most of the girls' names. I asked them if they were going to dress up for Halloween & what they were going to be. That was a good question because that was what they were talking about as they came in the room. Some of them have 2 different costumes. One for Girls Inc. party tomorrow & then one for their actual trick-or-treating.

We then started Sunday School Charlie Mystery of the Golden Key. Charlie & Red have known each other for a year. They are planning on going to summer camp together. The day before they leave, they are fishing & Charlie catches a key chain with 15 keys. He takes those to camp with him. They eagerly meet the other boys & girls. One of the boys is named Muscle Mike. He doesn't want anything to do with Sunday School, VBS or anything like that. Charlie decided that maybe God wants him to be a missionary to Muscle Mike. One of the valued items at the camp is the treasure chest. It is an antique which has been brought from Germany. The camp registrar keeps the camp money in the treasure chest. It locks with a golden key. All the first day, Charlie keeps reminding himself of his memory verse. Matthew 5:44 tells us we are to love & pray for our enemies. Charlie is glad he doesn't have any enemies but prays that when he does, he will remember this verse and put it into practice. The girls were disappointed when the story ended. They all told me what they thought would happen over the next 4 weeks.

John came up & led them in a few songs - "Father Abraham", "12 Men Went to Spy on Canaan", "Let's Talk About Jesus, Let's Talk of His Love", the "Stop" & "Go" songs. And then one more which I cannot remember. While they were singing the last song, I set up the flannel board for our review game. Oh yes, it was "I'm a Missionary's Helper" (sung to the tune "I've Been Working on the Railroad)".

This game is called "Feeding Gilbert". It is also by Ed Dunlop. The girls were told to imagine they & a group of friends were meeting to celebrate their friend, Gilbert's birthday. They meet at Gilbert's favorite restaurant but Gilbert is late in arriving. They each decide to order something for Gilbert. The only problem they don't know what foods Gilbert really likes. I had John draw a card from a pile of 4. On this card are listed 5 foods. We kept these foods secret until the end. In the center of the board are 24 circles - each having a picture of a kid-friendly food on the front. In my hand, I held several cards. They were numbers. If a girl answered a question correctly, she came up front, drew a numbered card & then was able to choose that many food items from the board. Each food item had points on the back. I would remove the food from the board, tell them the points, and then put that food item on the side of the board we had designated for their team. 2 of the food items had super special on them. The girls got 1500 points for those and also got another turn. After each food item had been chosen, placed on the side for that team & John had totaled the points (& also told the girls which team had which points), he then looked at the card he had chosen. The first four items on that card brought 1000 extra points each for the team which had chosen that item. The last item (which was Gilbert's all-time favorite) brought 2000 points. The team which had been behind ended up winning because they chose more of the favorite foods. The girls loved the game.

That game took a few more minutes than usual so the girls were a little later in leaving. Fortunately, for us, the vans had not started leaving yet for the apartments. We gave them each 2 Tootsie Roll suckers. We purchased some more. The current special color/flavor is a light blue/blue raspberry. The girls were so excited to see that we had the suckers again. That is their all-time favorite treat.

Next week we will not have Bible club as the leaders are preparing for the regional Girls Inc. meeting. We will attend some of the meeting on Friday.

1000 gifts #5

41. viewing pictures from Germany
42. Saturdays (even if they're on Monday)
43. sleeping past 7 am
44. visiting my sister
45. seeing God's love expressed through other believers
46. trying a new (to us) restaurant with friends
47. a cousin's phone call
48. being able to share Wednesday leftovers with Mom & Dad
49. vacation day filled with encouragement
50. girls' excitement upon realizing it's Bible club day

Bible Club Week 5

I was excited to get to Bible Club today. It was the end of the first story of Sunday School Charlie - Missionary to Slocum Alley. I remember from being a young child listening to Aunt Evelyn tell the stories that I always looked forward to hearing how everything worked out in the end but also was disappointed that the story was ending. With our retreats having ended and no activities which will need the camp store until the spring, we took the remaining snack size 3 Musketeers & Twix bars from the camp store. By the time the camp store opens up, these candy bars will be stale.

I cannot tell you how many girls were at club today. The numbers really fluctuated today. Some of our regulars didn't come because they were going to art gallery. I am not sure what that is but they were excited about it. It seemed like the parents arrived earlier to get their children also. I know when club ended we had 5 girls left.

Well as you remember Charlie had been clinging for his life onto a small shrub/bush trying to keep Red from drowning. Charlie as he's slipping...slipping...slipping, calls out for help. His dad happens to be at the Bend looking for his fishing rod & is able to save Charlie & Red. When the truth comes out about the fishing rod, Charlie gives his father the $2.13 (still in his pocket) for Red's share of the fishing rod. Charlie promises his father that he will pay the rest from his allowance. At supper, Charlie's dad says he isn't going to use the money given him to purchase a fishing rod. Instead he's going to purchase Red a Bible. And maybe Red will accept Charlie's invitation to attend Vacation Bible School. Red does accept and Charlie is excited to get on the VBS bus Monday morning. But when the bus stops at Slocum Alley, Red is nowhere to be seen. Charlie is disappointed & tried to find every way possible to get out of VBS. When Charlie finds out that the pastor offered Red a ride to church & Red has decided VBS isn't that bad, Charlie is excited. Red does accept the Lord as his Savior & Charlie & Red both agree to do whatever or go wherever the Lord sends them.

The girls were clinging on to every word that I said. And just as I remember being they were a little disappointed that this story was over. But excited at the promise of the next Sunday School Charlie story. John then came up & led them in singing, "1-2-3 Jesus loves me", "Jesus Loves Even Me", "12 Men Went to Spy on Canaan" (by request), "Did You Ever Talk to God Above" and then "Stop and Let Me Tell You" and "Go & Tell the Story" (those last 2 were also by request).

After the songs, we played a game called Gone Fishing. Also taken from the book "Mouse on a Mission" by Ed Dunlop. I had put 2 boats on either side of the flannel board. In the center were about 24 different colored fish. When a child answered the question correctly, she was allowed to come up to the board & pull a card (from the stack I was holding). That card told them how many fish they could choose (either 1, 2 or 3). We put the fish they chose under their boat. At the end of the game, I pulled the fish from under each boat. Points were on the back of the fish. We added those points & then we added the points. There was only a 3 point difference between the 2 teams - 43 t0 46.

One funny thing that happened is that during the singing, the CEO of Girls Inc. came to Bible Club looking for one of the girls who had been paged numerous times. Her mother was here. I kept thinking to myself (as she was paged) that she had been one of the girls called to go to the Art Gallery. So when the CEO told me she was looking for this girl, I said I believe I heard her called for the Art Gallery. She was so thankful I had remembered hearing her name. I think they were beginning to wonder where she was. She is a very faithful Bible club attender.

Upon entering Girls, Inc., we are required to sign in. I remove a notebook from a shelf on the wall, sign our names what time we entered, what we are doing, where we are located. When we exit, we are to sign ourselves out - which is just writing down what time we leave. The CEO & activities director were both at the front desk. So I kind of reviewed with them the next few weeks. Next week they will offer club but the next Thursday (11/6), there will be no club. I don't think they will be open. That weekend is the regional Girls Inc. "meeting". It runs Friday - Sunday (?). It is here in Kingsport. They will be closed the following Monday - which I'm sure is for them to recuperate from their busy meeting. The CEO asked us if we would like to attend the meeting on Friday as their guest. She said they were wanting to have as many of their activities represented as possible. We are looking forward to attending that meeting to hear more about this program.

After Bible club we stopped at Office Depot to get a toner for the fax machine. I have only purchased one toner right after it was given to us. We had been told the toner was not working so went ahead & purchased a new one. The past 2 things which have been faxed to us have only come 1/2. The first one I just thought it was the other fax machine. Then when it came that way from a totally different machine/area, I decided to look into purchasing a cartridge. Office Depot was currently out. They did carry the item - or so I thought she said but when I asked her if they would be getting an order in soon, she said she thought they would but I could just go online & order one myself. She gave me the model # & everything. So I may order it from the company directly. (I didn't tell the lady I knew the manager...I wonder if she would not have been so eager for me to order it myself).

I am now home. John has gone out again. He's helping a man from church with a job he is doing this evening. I hope to get at least one load of laundry done.

A glimpse into the not too far past

I hope you take the time to view this video. This is the info I got with the video:

1945...as interpreted by Kseniya Simonova, the 24 year old winner of Ukraine's GotTalent 2009. Using sand on a light table, she masterfully interpretsGermany's invasion and occupation of Ukraine during WWII.

1000 gifts #4

31. a week off from Girls Inc.
32. year round dumpster
33. getting to the office supply store before they closed
34. fellowship with friends before Wednesday evening service
35. farm fresh eggs
36. smell of wood smoke
37. Sunday lunch with family & friends
38. marzipan from Germany
39. parents' love
40. encouragement from an aunt

Teen Retreat

This weekend is teen retreat. No pb&j sandwiches were served this evening. They all took lasagne & from what I can tell they all liked the homemade stuff. Thanks Aunt BJ, for sharing the recipe via the faculty wives' cookbook. Tomorrow morning is biscuits & gravy and then taco salad for lunch. John has some cousins here as campers this weekend. One of them has already asked for taco salad. His hair is growing quite long so John told him that if he had his haircut, John would make taco salad for lunch. The cousin thought about it for a few minutes...then realized John was teasing him. John has not told him that is what we're having for lunch tomorrow.

The Dave Ramsey class tonight was a good one...like they all are. He is able to share good guidelines via humor. Tonight's video was a little over an hour but you did not realize you had sat there for an hour.

Bible Club Week 4

Before going to Bible Club we had to get a treat for the clubbers. We happened to be on the other side of Kingsport so used the Thomas' Wal-mart as I call it. Mrs. Thomas lives near that Wal-mart & when I am trying to distinguish between our regular one & that one, that is how I refer to it. We purchased a large pack of snack sized Skittles - approximately 40 packs.

Upon arriving at Girls Inc., we got set up, the figures ready & I was able to pray for each seat. Since it was a dreary drizzling at times, raining at times kind of day, the girls were all playing in the gym. I could hear them talking excitedly about the coach. Finally we heard the activities director announce that it was time to clean up the gym & line up on their lines. The girls did so & then a quiet descended upon the gym as the activities director made the announcements. This week is the beginning of a new time schedule. From M-Th, Girls Inc. is open until 7pm. But on Friday they close at 6:30pm. They also are now charging $3/minute/child for however long they have to stay after the closing time. That was one announcement made this afternoon. Followed by "please make sure your parents are here to get you by 6:30. That's a lot of money if they're not." The girls were all agreeing. They also learned that in 2 Fridays they would have their Halloween party & the Thursday before that they would be allowed (if they had behaved & completed all homework) to go trick-or-treating at one of the assisted living places. The girls were excited about that. Next week is the last chapter of this Sunday School Charlie story so we may just not go the week of Halloween. They'll be eager to go get their candy from the "old people" as they call them so there won't be that many on that day.

Finally those that wanted to go to Bible Club were dismissed to our room. We ended up with 14 girls. 2 little girls told me they would be in club as soon as they proved they had done their homework. Only 1 of the 2 came. I guess the other 1 had not finished. I asked the girls their names (I do know quite a few of them) and also asked them to tell me what their favorite thing about school. Most of them said science & history. One girl said math & a few said recess. Only one said lunch...her reasoning for that was that was the only time she could talk with her friends.

We then went into chapter 4 of Missionary to Slocum Alley. Charlie sits in the missionary conference & is excited to see the native items that the missionary speakers have brought to show. The missionary who is giving the sermon that day tells the boys & girls that God wants YOU to serve. I put a pentagon on the board with the word YOU on it. Then I put a triangle on each side of the pentagon. Each triangle named something we can use to serve God - heart, time, wealth, love & body (our feet to take us to someone, our hands to serve, etc.). The speaker pointed out that the triangles on each side of the pentagon now made a star. He also said that our lights are to shine. The girls (at club) really liked that. Charlie goes home & as he's in bed trying to sleep, he keeps thinking how can I tell Red about Jesus. The next morning, Charlie takes the $2.13 out of his piggy bank, gets on his bike & rides to Slocum Alley to see Red. Red is not home & Charlie learns he is at the river. Charlie rides to the river & discovers Red has fallen into the river at "The Bend". Red can't swim so Charlie dives in after him. We left Charlie hanging to a very thin shrub (losing his grip) and Red is digging his sharp fingernails into Charlie's ankles. The girls were VERY disappointed.

John came up & led them in "Wide, Wide as the Ocean", "I'm a Missionary's Helper", "Stop & Go" & "Untold Millions". Then we played the ice cream game (Meltdown) again. I have a few more made up but took this one. After we ended the game, we sang "The B-I-B-L-E" while John added up the scores. After that John gave them 2 of the snack-sized Skittles packs. We dismissed them & then went to purchase groceries for this weekend.

John is responsible for the menus for Teen Retreat. So instead of having hamburgers, we're having lasagne - Aunt BJ's recipe as we call it. For breakfast we're going to serve biscuits & gravy for the teens. We have done that one other teen retreat & they like it. We, as staff, also like it. Lunch will be the teens favorite meal - taco salad. We did buy some bread so we can serve pb&j sandwiches in case none of the other food is acceptable to these teens. You know how picky eaters are.

Visiting...

This evening I went to visit my sister & family. The girls were excited to see us & they were especially glad that Uncle John watched their Latin video with them & then watched Winnie the Pooh also. I enjoyed talking with my sister & nephew. I also was able to give her a facebook lesson. I think she will like facebook once she gets the hang of it.

After leaving my sister's, we went to the airport. Oma & Opa arrived around 8:30p.m. They were a little late getting to the airport in Frankfort so weren't sure they would be able to get on their flight but made it. Unfortunately the plane landed late in Philadelphia so they didn't have enough time to get through customs & to the place they needed to be for the connecting flight to Charlotte. Fortunately they were able to get the next flight out & then were able to get their original flight from Charlotte to the Tri. One of their suitcases didn't make it. We went over to their house after leaving the airport and left with 2 loaves of marzipan for my mother, some candy bars for the girls & then some chocolate for ourselves. About 1/2 of their chocolate is in the missing suitcase so I guess we will get some more when that arrives. We did eat some of the chocolate there at their house. They had been able to get some "unwanted" chocolate from a butcher shop. It is dark chocolate with a hint of orange flavoring to it. We snacked on that. And opened one loaf of marzipan to snack on. John came home with one box of Mon Cheris - chocolate covered cherries. That will be his to eat...I'm not too fond of them.

1000 gifts #3

21. an aunt's encouraging phone call
22. a family member's 76 birthday celebration
23. cool breeze at night from open windows
24. Christmas music in October
25. promise of currant crescents in the morning
26. family fellowship while eating promised currant crescents
27. finding another copy of a book I had loaned to someone & never returned
28. having $24 left over from grocery budget
29. smell of lunch in the crockpot
30. nieces' excitement to see me

Junior Retreat

Retreat has gone well. We've had 17 campers. We were expecting 21 but 4 didn't show up. One is sick. We're not sure what happened to the other 4. Supper yesterday evening was the usual hamburger. John grilled them outside. Breakfast this morning was pancakes, grapes & cereal. John & I fixed breakfast. Of course every table had syrup on them. And I did remember to put the peanut butter on the counter beside the pancakes. I don't know though if anyone took any this retreat. We had some peach preserves down at our house so I quickly went down & brought them up. John thinned them down to make a peach syrup to put on the pancakes. The staff really enjoyed those. This morning the pancakes were just plain pancakes. During the summer John experimented different weeks by adding either blueberries or chocolate chips to a little of the batter. One boy came through the line this morning wondering what kind of pancakes. John told him plain & he said "Good. This summer you had some chocolate chip ones & I requested some of the plain ones." I smiled at the little boy & said, "We made the plain ones just for you." He said, "Really!" I think that made his day.

After breakfast was cleaned up I went down to the morning chapel service. I still am old school for children's chapel services. I'm not into the power point presentations. I believe if you're not going to just talk then you need to either use flannelgraph or the visual stories. The chapel speaker's curriculum has a lot of powerpoint & sound clips. Fortunately this morning, there were no sound clips. This summer I had difficulty in chapel...because the sound clips drove me crazy. He used them quite often. The children seem to enjoy the services so I guess that is good.

For lunch we had spaghetti, garlic bread, green beans & a salad. For dessert there was either bread pudding or brownies which had a white frosting on them. I opted for neither. The plain pancakes little boy has a sister who is also here. I was talking to her for a few minutes at lunch. This family travels to the college games every week. Their family is there today. I asked the sister if she were glad she had come. She answered affirmatively. Then I said is this more fun than going to the ball games. Her eyes lit up and she said definitely yes. I was concerned that maybe they might be a little "homesick" for the normal weekend activity. Of course these two when they found out that their family summer vacation fell the week their cousins were going to be here at camp, told their parents that they could go on to the beach without them. They'd just stay home & go to camp on Monday. So the family changed plans for a little bit. The children came to overnight camp & the parents went out of town for a few days. Of course the children have aunts, uncles, great aunts, great uncles & grandparents here in this area so they were never without someone stopping in to see them.

Right now the children are down at the store/canteen. After they finish they may have a few minutes to play and then closing chapel will be at 3. I don't think I will go to that. Campers will go home when that is finished. My prayer is that they go home with a new awareness of God's love. I also pray that if they have any homework to be done that they will not be too tired to get it done tonight.

We'll go to John's parents after camp. The family dog has cancer in its paw. We're going over every few days to check on her. Hopefully she'll survive until Oma & Opa (John's parents - German for grandma & grandpa) get back home. They've been in Germany. I know they have enjoyed their time. They have purchased lots of marzipan & other German chocolate. I look forward to getting some of that chocolate, hearing how the family is doing & seeing pictures of everyone. You did note the chocolate was listed first as the things to which I was looking forward!

Tomorrow is Friend Day at church. I have not invited anyone to be my friend. I'm not sure how many students I'll have. I know 2 of them will be out of town. One will be in "Deeana" as he calls it. His uncle's wedding is today in Indiana. Another girl's family is going away for the weekend. Depending on how long the ballgame goes today & how many of the rest of them attend it will probably determine how many of the others are there. The 2 kindergarten classes may combine again. We did last week.

1000 gifts #2

11. brother-in-law waking with the thought to check the car & finding something needed attaching
12. taking the next parking garage we found & finding it attached to the convention center
13. little traffic on roads we were unsure about
14. a shopping plaza within walking distance of motel
15. finding sign pointing to US52 when we thought we had missed the turn
16. a rainbow
17. SS students' versions of that day's story
18. Sunday School Charlie
19. an unexpected gift just when it was needed
20. a nephew's smile

Bible Club Week 3

Upon arriving at Girls Inc., the girls have a chance to play. On pretty days most of them go outside & play. But there are some that stay in the gym. This year I have noticed they have a coach. When the girls come into Bible club, they are talking about him & the activity he has led.

We meet in the teen room. Last year during the play time, the teenagers would be lounging around in the teen room. Some of them would be watching the TV or a video or DVD. We'd have to "run them off". This year they have lost their privileges to the teen room so there is no one in there when we arrive. It makes it much easier to get the room set up. Between 4-4:15, the activities coordinator calls over the loud speaker, "Girls it's time to clean up the gym & line up on your line." That is our signal that the girls will be in the room soon. The teen room is located beside the gym so we can hear all the activity. After the announcement is made, there is quite a bit of confusion as the girls clean up & get situated on their lines. Then there is complete silence. One of the leaders comes in & makes announcements. Sometimes there is a sleepover. Sometimes they are announcing a new activity or an upcoming field trip. Since today was the first day of October, they were giving out the Character Counts rewards for September. The girls all sat quietly until their name was called. Then they went to the office to choose their reward. The reward was based upon the number of points they had. The girl who has earned the most Character Counts points at the end of the year is awarded with a gift certificate or cash at the annual board meeting in December.

Since most of them receive some sort of Character Counts reward, it was a little later before they arrived in the room. The two sisters/cousins (I'm not sure which they are) who had come for the first time last week were here again this week & sitting on the front row. In the back was little J who I discovered was E's little sister. How much like E she is! E was very talkative & couldn't sit still at that age. E has matured & was quite embarrassed by her little sister's behavior. Today after asking the girls their name I asked if they had a pet, what kind of pet & what was it's name. I told them if they didn't have a pet they could tell me what they would like for a pet & what they would name it. But they all had a pet. Foreseeing that some of them could have several pets, I told them to tell me just one & it's name. They liked that. And they all had at least one pet.

Chapter 3 of Sunday School Charlie was next. The pastor spoke on missions. Charlie is wondering what makes missions so important all of a sudden. They had talked about missionaries last Sunday in Sunday School, then on Wednesday during church they had met a missionary & seen his slides. This Sunday they were hearing about missions & next week would be a missions conference. After church was over, Charlie rode over to Slocum Alley where Red lives. He stopped in front of Red's house. When Red realized he was there, Red came outside & told Charlie he would not pay for Charlie's dad's fishing rod (which had been broken). Then Red asked if he could ride Charlie's bike. Charlie really didn't want him to but told Red he could if he would come to Sunday School with him next week. Red says he is no sissy and does NOT want Charlie's bike let alone ride it if that will happen. Red runs inside his house & Charlie rides home realizing how hard it is to be a missionary. The girls were disappointed that the story was over for this week & when they realized they would have to wait 2 weeks, you could just see the disappointment in their eyes. When I see the disappointment I know I have done a good job with the story.

John came up and led them in Father Abraham and 1-2-3 Jesus loves me, 1-2 Jesus loves you. Then it was time for the game.

This game came from Ed Dunlop also. It was called Noah's Ark. We talked about how the Lord had brought all the animals to the ark. We also talked about how hard it would be for Noah if he had to go & get them. After answering a question correctly, they could come up & pull a circle from the calico gift bag. The circles had different animals on them with points. The girls got the number of points on the animal. They could choose up to 3 circles. If they chose a Stampede though they lost all the points they had pulled. If they stopped choosing circles before getting a Stampede they were able to pull a circle from the silver gift bag. If they chose a circle with an ark on it, they got to keep the points. If they pulled a circle with a rainbow on it, they got to keep their points and also got 500 bonus points. But if they pulled an escape they lost all their points. There were too many stampede circles for the amount of time we had so the next time I do this game for Girls Inc. I will take away some of the Stampede circles. They did enjoy the game. There was only one girl who did not pull a Stampede circle at some point in her choosing. So it didn't take John long to figure out the total. But while he was doing that, we sang "This Little Light of Mine" (just the first verse).

After we finished the game, it was 5:05 so we had the girls line up at the door. John gave out some more of the Tootsie Roll suckers. They were glad all the banana flavor was gone & they had a possibility of getting grape, raspberry, cherry, orange or chocolate. After today we don't have that many suckers left so I will have to get something else for next week.

We packed up and left. On our way home we stopped at Office Depot so I could get supplies for the office. Then stopped at Lowe's to get a key made. Now we are home and I plan on relaxing for the evening. I will review the Dave Ramsey reading material for tomorrow & check if I need to print out something from his website - I believe I do.

Will You Be My Friend?

October 11 is Friend Day at church. Junior Hill will be the guest evangelist. All adult classes are being encouraged to invite an unchurched friend. We have been given a card on which to make our commitment. At first the children's classes were not going to participate in making a commitment to invite someone. Then it was realized what a great potential that could be. Children will invite children and thus have the potential of a whole family being reached.

I had been given foam handprints for the children to make invitations. I let each child choose the color they wanted & then had them write their name on the back of the hand. That was so the friend would remember who had invited them. On the front I wrote something very similar:
"Will you come to church with me for friend day?
October 11
Indian Springs Baptist"
Then I allowed the child to decorate the hands. Some of them colored a decoration on them. I put out some little pom poms as I call them. The girls and 1 boy decorated the fingers with those. We then glued craft sticks to the back.

We didn't get this part done this past Sunday but I may attempt it this coming Sunday. I was going to give each child another handprint. They would write on the front the name of the child they had invited. Then we would stick the peel & stick magnetic strips to the back. That way they could stick the handprint on their refrigerator and pray for the friend they were inviting.

They so enjoyed making the invitation. After one little boy's mother had gone on & on about his craft & how beautiful it was (or whatever little boys' mothers say), he said," but Mama, this isn't for me. This is to give to the friend I'm inviting for friend day. I need to find someone to invite."

Will you be my friend for friend day? You can even attend my K Sunday School class & see how active my children are!

1000 gifts #1

A few years ago, I was introduced to the idea of writing down daily gifts I received. These are gifts which cost no money & can just be considered bright spots to one's day. I started out with a few basics & have continued - not consistently but continued nonetheless. As I've been collecting these gifts, my mind has started looking forward to which gifts I'm going to receive each day.


I will share some periodically. Here are my first 10:

1. Jesus
2. salvation
3. grace
4. Women's Ministree planning sessions
5. ability to listen to WMIT online
6. 2 more ladies (mom & daughter) for retreat
7. copy machine to make copies of W-2s
8. excitement of new fathers
9. answering parents' questions on the summer camping program
10. being able to purchase a bacon pizza to encourage a sister
    

New Mexico #4

After sightseeing Friday, the group drove back to Albuquerque. There they returned the rental vans and stayed in a motel for the night. Their flight left at 6 am Saturday morning.

John loved his time in NM and is ready to go back. He says there is so much potential for this ministry to grow. He prays every night for the orphaned Native American children and also for the current and future ministry of Jack & Jill.

Friday

Friday is a day full of meetings! Meetings can be good...meetings can be bad. Meetings can be interesting & exciting...meetings can be boring. Meetings can pass quickly...meetings can go slowly while you sit taking inventory of every ache & pain.

We had a staff meeting today at noon. It included lunch. They take quite a chunk out of the day. Fridays have been a day in which I wrap up the week. I'm going to have to wrap up the week on Mondays now I guess. Our meeting lasted until about 2-2:30. That left only 2 1/2 hours to finish office work. I was a little past 5 leaving the office.

Then we are hosting a Dave Ramsey class. So we are taking that class. It is very interesting but having sat in a staff meeting for 2 hours - coming to sit in a Dave Ramsey class for another 2 hours can be very hard. Now don't get me wrong. Dave has good points to say & he keeps your attention throughout his lectures. It's just as I get older, I'm noticing the metal, folding chairs are not so comfortable to sit in for that length of time x2.

Bible Club Week 2

We have just returned from our second Bible Club for the 2009-2010 school year. We arrived a little later than what I had hoped for but still were there in plenty of time to get the room set up, make sure the figures were in order & pray for the girls. We set up for 15 girls.

Today as they came in, they were eager to see if I remembered their names from last week. Of course I didn't remember most of them. There are a few who have come almost every week for the past 3 years that I do remember their names. After all 16 girls were seated (John put out another chair), I asked them their names & favorite color. The colors ranged from lime green to black. I thought with girls we'd have lots & lots of pinks & purples but there were only one of each of those. I think blue was the most popular - of course that ranged anywhere from robin egg blue to dark blue.

I then told the second chapter to "Missionary to Slocum Alley". This day starts out kind of slow - at least for the girls. Charlie is sitting in a prayer meeting watching as a missionary shared slides from all around the world. (The girls did know what slides were). I had several pictures to put up from those slides from a temple to an Indian god to Fijian fire-walkers. The girls started to lose interest in this part - well the first-time girls. But then when the missionary was finished & Charlie went fishing & ran into the mean boy named Red Sanders, the girls all were sitting on the edge of their seats again. I finished the story & it seemed like there was a little bit of a let down that I had stopped - which is good.

John led them in a few songs: Wide, Wide as the Ocean, Stop & Let me Tell You, Go & Make Disciples, The B-I-B-L-E, Do You Know that You've Been Born Again & then Yes, I Know that I've Been Born Again & finished off with Jesus Loves Me - requested by a clubber. I then went up to the board for a review game.

This game also came from a book by Ed Dunlop. I had several canning jars on the board. And also many more leaves with ants on them. After answering a question correctly, the girls came up to the board & chose a canning jar. On the back of the jar was a number. That was the number of ants the jar would hold - from 8-20. The girls didn't find out that number just yet. Then they could chose up to 5 leaves. Each leaf had from 1-6 ants on them. When the girls thought they had chosen a good #, they would stop. I would count up the # of ants they had collected & then show them the # on the back of the jar. If they had chosen under the # on the jar, they got the # of ants they had collected. If they chose the exact # on the jar, not only did they get that # but they also got a 25 point bonus. BUT if they chose over the # on the jar, they lost all their ants - just from that turn. The girls loved the game. They decided that choosing between 10-14 was a good # & would keep choosing until they had close to that #. They explained that there were only 2 jars that would be below 10 but more above that #. I think they had a pretty good idea. Each team had 3 turns. On the 3 turn, I kind of varied from the rules & told them they would get double - both ants & bonus points. They liked that.

By that time club was over & we dismissed the girls. There were still a few banana pops left so we made sure each girl got at least one. I think we only have 1 banana pop left. I may just throw that away unless I have any requests for banana. The girls were NOT pleased with that flavor. I'll be glad when the winter selection comes out to get rid of banana.

Before dismissing the girls, I told them I was glad they all had come & hoped they would be back next week. One little girl who was sitting on the front row assured me she would be here every week as long as I was telling Sunday School Charlie stories - she loves them. And also could I please bring the ice cream cone game again next week. I think I will take a different one just so they don't get tired of one game all the time.

As we were leaving, one of the ladies who works there & whose last name happens to be Newland - & yes is related to my father - stopped us to let us know that Oct. 8 is a fall break. They will just be open from 8-5 (or maybe 9-5). We could come earlier if we wanted to that day. But in times past I have learned it is hard to keep their concentration during those kind of days. Also there aren't as many there so I think we will take that day off. Hopefully the girls will last for 2 weeks between hearing chapters 3&4.

New Mexico #3

On Friday the team was able to go sightseeing. They went on into AZ to look around. The 2 pictures I'm sharing were taken in AZ.

This is where it is believed the first Navajo nation settled. It is now known as the White House (of the Navajo nation).

This second picture is of a cave John liked. Can you see the face?

New Mexico #2

Sunday morning the ladies were able to help in the children's Sunday School area. The children really enjoyed the ladies being there. One of the men snuck away from the service to capture some shots.

Then on Wednesday afternoon the whole team went to the school to host a Bible club. John was able to spend about 15-20 minutes with the 3-6 grade boys. The above picture is of the group of them. Below you'll see them involved in an activity...possibly an action song.

New Mexico #1

The mornings started bright & early with breakfasts fixed by John. This picture was actually taken on Sunday morning. They knew they would be getting in late the night before so had asked Jill to purchase some cereals for them. John's actual first cooked meal was Sunday supper.




One of the work projects being done was tiling of a floor. A Native American family had donated a family home to be used for missionary housing. There are currently 2 families staying in the home.




Another project was fixing up this home. Due to health reasons, an adult son was having to move out of his parents' home. This was an ancestral home located near the family.




To thank the team for the wonderful job done on the home, this family had the whole group over one evening for a traditional meal of Navajo fry bread. I believe all the team members loved the evening...the meal & the fellowship.

New Mexico Bound

This group of 11 left from Indian Springs Baptist Church headed toward Ft. Wingate, NM. They had accepted the Lord's call to help a couple with their work with the Native Americans near Gallup. The church bus pulled out of the parking lot Saturday morning (Sept. 5) headed toward Charlotte.




They caught a plane which took them to Dallas/Ft. Worth. There they connected to Albuquerque. They touched down in Albuquerque about 9p.m. MT/11p.m. ET. After renting 2 vans, they drove the approximately 1 1/2 - 2 hours to Ft. Wingate without their luggage. It had been lost in the shuffle.




They were staying in the Wingate Baptist Church. Their main purpose was to encourage Jack & Jill and also to see how the church could help them in the future.

Bible Club

This afternoon found us on our way back to Girls Inc. for Bible Club. I looked upon today with both a little fear & lots of excitement. Fear of not knowing behavior of the girls. Excitement about sharing with them the love of Jesus. My biggest concern during Bible Club is what stories am I going to do this year? I have decided to do the Sunday School Charlie. Usually I will do a Bible story followed by a missionary story or a fictional story that has great morals. But since Sunday School Charlie has both fiction with great morals & also a Bible story or lesson, I decided that would take care of the problem.

We ran to Wal-mart before club to get the treats. We have discovered the girls love the Tootsie Roll pops. We bought 2 bags - that should get us through 2 weeks. And then went on to Girls Inc. We arrived in plenty of time to get set up without feeling rushed & then have just a few minutes to review the story & pray before the girls came in. I opened the suckers during this time & discovered the new color for the fall is banana...not my favorite.

The 12 girls came in, sat down & seemed excited to be there. Some I remembered from last year. Some were new. I went over the class rules first (keep feet on floor, keep hands to self, be a good listener & a reminder that God hears & answers prayer). Then introduced us. I have usually introduced us as Mrs. Kathy & Mr. John. Today I decided they could call us Aunt Kathy & Uncle John. This took care of the little girl who LOVES to call me Mommy. She enjoys calling me 'Aunt'...she just can't remember my name. I then let the girls tell me their names, where they went to school, grade they were in & their teacher's name. I noticed after letting them tell me so much they were much more willing to sit quietly.

Sunday School Charlie's "Missionary to Slocum Alley" chapter 1 was next. The girls sat still with eyes wide & glued to the "magic board" (my flannel graph board). They were a little disappointed when the day was finished but were willing to wait until next week. We prayed & then John led them in a few songs - Stop & let me tell you, Go & Make Disciples, I'm a Missionary's Helper & then closed with Father Abraham.

We played a review game. I have copied some ice cream cones - some of them have 1 scoop of ice cream & some have 2. They all have point values on them. After answering a question correctly, the children come to the front & draw a cone from the pretty gift bag. They get the # of points on that cone. If it's a double scoop & they tell me "double", they then get 2x the # of points on the cone. There are also some meltdown cards which if they get that card they lose all the points from that turn. (This idea came from a book of review games by Ed Dunlop). The girls loved the game & were a little disappointed when it was time to end. We sang "Jesus Loves Me" while John added the points from each team.

After finding out which team had the most points, the girls were dismissed. John gave them their lollipop on their way out the door.

I quietly thanked the Lord for how well club had gone as we packed up our things & left. I'm thanking the Lord for the opportunity He has given us to share His love with the girls. I pray they see that love modeled in my life.