New Format

Who would have ever thought that D and I would be so happy in Fayette County, TN?! It has its quirks as do all people and churches, but for us its simply sweet. October 5th will mark our 2 year anniversary there. It seems like we've been there so much longer! Thinking back on all the events, trips, parties, ballgames...wow...only 2 years?! God has truly blessed us with a very supportive church that backs our youth ministry and D.

One new exciting thing that I began talking about yesterday is our new Sunday morning format. Currently, we have 2 Sunday School classes....a guys and a girls. (7th-12th grade) This was the format when we arrived so we decided to keep it the same for a while. After seeing there was a need for something different, God began to really lay true discipleship on D's heart. So how do you do this with Sunday School? Thanks for asking.

Currently from 9:00-9:20 we have The Gathering in The Basement...which is our youth room. The Gathering is simply an assembly time for everyone to meet together, have food sometimes, D goes over announcements, upcoming events, plays a game, and quickly introduces the lesson. Then he dismisses them into their classes where there are 2 teachers per class.

Starting September 12, we will continue to meet for The Gathering but instead of simply introducing the lesson D will teach the lesson. (Our other leaders will also have the opportunity to teach if they wish.) Then we will break up into small groups by gender and age. Each group will consist of 3-5 students and a leader. The small group time is not another teaching time, but a time for the leader to facilitate discussion. The key to this is not simply just a Sunday thing, but a life thing. Each leader will contact their students throughout the week, will attend our events, FUSION...which is our Wednesday night time together, plan events for just their small group, etc. Each leader will be living life with their students: encouraging them, challenging them, loving them, and teaching them by their life experiences.

We are so excited to see how God is going to use this new format. There is only so much we can do with 40-50 kids. Building relationships is the key to successfully reaching youth. We can not "successfully" build relationships and spend the amount of time we need to with all of our students. That's where these fantastic leaders come in! We need these leaders to also build relationships and invest in these students lives along with us. Having 3-5 students to focus on is very do-able.

We are praying that God will do great and mighty things with this new format. He's led us in this direction and we know He will see it through!

Weekend Wrap-Up

-I never feel fully rested come Monday morning no matter how many naps I take that weekend.

-Our old hardwood is up including the nasty glue that was on the foundation. Good work Daddy and D! They started with this and ended up with a machine!

-My ears are still ringing from the machine they used and I only heard it for like minute.

-Mom, sister and I had a fun girl's day...I had to leave the demolition that was going on at my house! We went to lunch, shopped for Halsie, and got our nails done. Thanks for a fun day Mom!

-Halsie's party was as exciting as you can imagine. Good food, cute wet kiddos, and a sweet chubbalub with icing all over her face!

-Pete's birthday was Saturday and he still came to Halsie's party. What a trooper! Jules had a ladybug cake for him too! Rob caught him blowing out the candles.... to Pete's dismay.

-I know I'm getting old when I complain about having to go to D's 9:00 ball game...yes 9:00 at night!

-On the bright side...the weather was fabulous. Quite a different feel from their 7:00 game 2 weeks ago when we were dripping with sweat!

-We had Back to School Sunday at MRBS. This is the only Sunday that is mandatory for us to attend MRBC. They like to recognize the school families and staff. It was another reminder of how much I love my job and the staff I work with.

-We had a meeting before church last night with our new youth leaders to explain our new sunday morning format. I'll explain more about that another time. Sitting there listening to D explain everything just makes me love him so much more. He is so good as what he does. God is using him mightily. It also excites me to see what the Lord is doing through this youth ministry. We are truly blessed to be apart of it!

today, tomorrow, and a treat

Today is Umbrella Day at school. We've been talking about the letter U so today the students were able to bring in their umbrellas. They sat in their desks with their umbrellas and if they correctly identified the letter and letter sound they got to twirl their umbrella. Then we went on a umbrella walk around the building and in our field. We twirled, we twisted, we put them in the air, we put them on the ground all while chanting our "U" chant. Just another day in the life of a Jr. K-er!







Tonight is Family Night at church. But not just any Family Night....its inflatable night! D has ordered several different kinds....one being an inflatable water slide. Be prepared to get wet!






Tomorrow D's #1 project is to tear up the hardwood floor in our entry hall. We are replacing it with new hardwood floor. The installation guy came down drastically in price when D offered to rip it up himself. I think he's a little excited about it...the ripping up process.





Tomorrow is Hallsie's Ladybug swimming, birthday party! P.S. Jules, what does she want for her birthday?!




D has 2 softball games this weekend. One tonight after Family Night and one Saturday night. Good thing the weather is so nice!






My current treat...


Thanks for making my butt bigger, Carol Harrison!

Happy Birthday, Hallsie Claire!

Our sweet little niece Hallie....affectionately known has Hals or Hallsie or Bonita (by her daddy).... is one today!

Sweet little chubalub, we've only known you for a year, but we love you so very much! We couldn't imagine life without you!

Wednesday

Problem....

Solution...

Try it Tuesday

Friday: I awoke to an unpleasant feeling in my throat. To adequately describe it, I'd say it felt like a small monster jumping up and down on my already large tonsils. As my day went on I realized my throat was getting scratchy and sore. I was downing water like my life depended on it because I was hoping for some relief from the growing monster.

We had a volleyball game that night and I could tell that my once small monster had developed into quite an unpleasant friend...taking my slightly irritated throat into another level of discomfort while bringing in new monster friends to invade my nose and sinus cavities.

Yes, I am referring to "monsters" rather than graphically explaining the snot and mucus that have been running down my throat...which is now in my chest.

Finally, after a morning of coughing up nastiness, constantly blowing my nose, downing the H2O...I called my pharmacist. He recommended that I try some Mucinex DM during the day and Benedryl at night. I've been Benedryl-ing it up since Friday so hopefully this Mucinex stuff will do its job.

So my Try it Tuesday is Mucinex DM.

Wish me luck and pray that my monster friends leave quickly!

Always, Sometimes, Never

I Always

-stay up later than I intend to

-like nights at home….they are few and far between

-get really excited when I get to take a nap

-crave my daddy’s French toast

-drink coffee with deliciously flavored creamer

-love watching The Office….I use to hate it…so this is big

-match, even pjs

-sugar coat everything

-order the same thing at my favorite restaurants

-make an effort to let D know how much he means to me

I Sometimes

-cringe when I watch The Office because it is soooo awkward which is why I hated it originally

-dislike KLOVE because they are so cheesy! They absolutely mean well and are doing great things…but come on….be real people!

-still listen though

-purposely “lose track” of how many oreos I eat so I don’t feel as guilty

-leave clean laundry in the dryer for long periods of time

-pretend I don’t see a dead bug so D will pick it up instead of me

-forget how blessed I really am

I Never

-regret working out

-get tired of seeing D walk through the door

-want to be satisfied with my relationship with Christ

-sing very loud unless I sing silly songs with my class

-want to leave Memphis

I saw this on Ashley's blog and thought it was too cute!

there are simply no words....

lecrae

My newest running companion....Lecrae.



I run faster, harder, and the time flies. Who'd have thought this white girl would like rap so much. If you haven't checked him out....you're missing out. He's a christian rapper who's totally ligit. (I would so get props from our youth if they heard me!) and his lyrics are actually really good...both biblical and not cheesy. Check him out!

honesty

10. Baseball is very boring to me.

9. I am so tired of this 150 degree heat....I don't ever remember it being this hot!

8. School is starting back next week and I am actually very excited.

7. I had my parent orientation today....where I met all my parents. Hopefully their kids are as good as them.

6. I still love anything animal print. The other day our secretary was doing a tour and brought a family to my animal print classroom. I heard her explain to the family that I really like animals. I had to interrupt and explain that I really like animal prints.

5. I am not an animal person.

4. I think I might be deathly scared of mice...we've had 2 lately!

3. Home Defense is a great invention. Thank you HD for keeping bugs from crawling around in my house.

2. ....If they come in then they die soon after.

1. If I see a dead bug I secretly pretend I don't see it so that D will pick it up and throw it away. :)

The Lake

The infamous, Bulldogs, where we stop and eat on our way and on our way back from Heber.

Getting on the boat.




Halsie loved Sunkist...which has enough sugar equal to 17 chips ahoy cookies.



Me and B with the big girls...as soon as we started Frannie and Mags faces switched completely!




I think I'll keep him.



Gorgeous view on the golf course.



B and the boys jumping off the cliffs.



We all walked into the living room and realized we were coordinating.



Halsie had some sweaty hair at Sonic....so I tweaked it



D doing what he does best...getting some good air.



Hottie.



Pulled out the ole skis....ah...I love it!



The very crowded front of the boat.



The new hobby...wake surfing.



It doesn't get much better!