Have a Blessed Christmas everyone!

Our new name

OK- I've got some names for us to vote on. You can vote here - by commenting to the blog; you can email me; or just tell me what you think. Here are the top 4 names voted on by the Youth Ministry Team.


– Jesus' Army (We had a discussion about how you actually pronounce this!)
– GeMS (Geneva Middle School)
– His Kids
– G.L.O.W. (God Lighting Our World)

What do you think? Parents, kids, or anyone else reading this blog, can vote!

AACK!

OK- They changed the place at the very last minute of where we are supposed to ring the bells for the Salvation Army. please meet me at Walmart today between 4 and 6:00. I called everyone who told me they were coming, but in case there are some of you who didn't sign up .... this message is for you!

Mission Trip 2010

When is it?
From Sunday afternoon, June 20 through Friday afternoon, June 25

Who can go?
Anyone who has completed 6th grade through 8th grade (and their parents!)

Where are we going?
We are spending the week in Detroit as part of the Presbytery of Detroit Youth Mission Blast

What kinds of things will we be doing?
We will participate in a variety of opportunities. Some examples are:
Habitat for Humanity/Barnabas Youth Center/Second Mile Mission /Riverside Church Sandwich Ministry/ COTS/ Gleaners Food Bank/ Presbyterian Villages/helping seniors in our Detroit churches that need help around their homes.

Where will we be staying?
This part I don’t know yet. We will stay overnight at a church or at the Second Mile Center.

How much will it cost?
Again, this hasn’t been established yet. I estimate the final cost to be about $150. I will be requiring a $50 deposit by December 6. (Refundable if cancelling before March 1)


Are you getting excited for it? I am!!

What's in a name?

What should the Geneva Middle School Ministries be called? At this point, it is identified as the Mid-Highs. That's sort of a confusing name to some people, and doesn't really identify who we are. I’m thinking we should come up with a name that lets people know who we are and what we’re all about. Let's figure out a new youth group name.

I’m opening up the floor for suggestions. I want YOU to suggest as many names as you like for our group. I want one that is reflective of our group's mission and one that is interesting and engaging. I want one that identifies who we are and what we do.

You might be wondering what kind of name to suggest. I found this site that has lists of youth group names. I mentioned this site at Breakfast Club and I said there were over 500 names. I was wrong. There are over 500 names on this site that begin with the letter ‘A’ alone! There are over 12,000 youth group names submitted there! If you want to take a look there for some ideas to get you started thinking, go ahead. Another good resource is the Bible. You could use favorite words, phrases, or images from scripture; use combinations of letters and numbers; or use words as acronyms to come up with a unique name.

So go ahead, start suggesting names. Anyone can submit a name – whether you are in middle school, a parent, a friend, or even a 'regular' member of Geneva. I’ll take submissions from now until Thanksgiving. You can submit names by commenting on this blog, emailing me, or writing your suggestion(s) down and giving it(them) to me. I’m going to bring all the suggestions to the Youth Team where we will pick three that we like the best. Then, I’ll let the middle school students vote from those three. Once they've made a choice, we can create a logo and get T-shirts made.

I’m excited about the possibilities to identify our group. Put your thinking caps on and get me those ideas!

Picture Links!!

Here are the links to some pictures from our recent events. Thanks to the Noble family!

For laser tag pictures click here

For corn maze pictures click here

For clothes closet pictures click here

Your Word is a Lamp to My Feet...

... and a light to my path. (Psalm 119:105)

Are you reading The Word? Are you letting God's word guide you?

It seems that this fall I've been so busy -- School has started; I've been going to Physical Therapy; I got a new part time job; I've been trying to buy a car for Hannah -- it just seems like one thing after another, not to mention all the work I do for the Mid-High program. I came to realize I had less and less time for each thing I wanted to do. (Unless I didn't want to sleep anymore....)

During the summer, when I wasn't as busy it was easy to read my bible and take time to reflect on what I read and really listen for God's word to me. Now that I have so much to do, I really have to be deliberate in my reading. I can't just think I'll have time for it during the day. I have to make time.

I'm sure you all have school, homework, sports, music, dance, helping around the house and/or other things that take your time. Don't forget about your 'God Time' though. Remember to make time to read your bible and reflect on God's word for you. You won't regret it. I know I don't.

No Car Road Rally - coming very soon

Here's a taste of what you'll find when you come to the No Car Road Rally event. You'll work in small teams to solve puzzles and find clues to win prizes!!


!62rebmetpeSnotnevepihswollefehtotemocnacuoyepohI

Crop Walk

Wow- I can't believe it's been so long since I've posted something to the blog. I guess I wasn't feeling inspired, and took a little hiatus. (There's a big work for you.) I think once we get started with our new fall programming I'll be writing more. If any of you want to write something for me to post- feel free!! Just send me an email and I'll post it for you.

So, I'm signing up to participate in the CROP Walk on Sunday, October 4 in downtown Plymouth. I'd love to have a group of mid-highs walk with me. In case you don't know what the Crop Walk is, here is a little information: CROP Hunger walks are neighborhoods walking together to take a stand against world hunger. They raise awareness and money for international relief and development as well as local hunger needs. CROP walks are sponsored by Church World Services.

You can sign up to walk at church at the table in the gathering space, then collect pledges, or, even easier sign up online at cropwalkonline.org. Make sure you get permission from your parents first!

Looking ahead, getting excited

This week I finished working on the plans for the Mid High Ministries for the fall . What does this mean you ask? Well, I figured out what we're going to do on Wednesday nights at LifeStream (it's all about Jesus for the first session); what we'll talk about and do during Breakfast Club on Sunday mornings (Truth and Dare..... hmmm); how we'll participate in corporate worship (I'm thinking skit in October); what mission opportunities we'll take (something every month!); and, of course, what fellowship events (fun! fun! fun!)

I've really been working at this much of the summer. I like to find opportunities that will be not just fun but will help you grow in your faith. I've been reading books, and blogs, and articles, and comments about different youth programs. Next week I'll talk about my ideas with the Youth Ministry Team, and then I'll firm some things up. I think you'll like what I have planned. But you know, I'm always open to suggestion.....

Got a Minute?

It's been a little while since I posted a link to Jason Alexander's "Taking a Minute" site.

As a parent, I liked this message. As a daughter, I also liked this message.

Listen to it here.


Even though I'm a grown woman, I still listen to my dad's advice. He's older, wiser, and he loves me and cares for me and wants the best for me. I'm sure your parents feel the same way...

Pool Party Photos

Here they are!

This is the link to the pictures that Diana Noble took click here


This is the link to the pictures that I took click here

Thank God for the great weather and the extra excitement of the Blue Angels flying in formation overhead.

Pictures!!

Here are links to the pictures from the mission trip.

Youthworks fun and fellowship

Village Gardens

Goodwill

CP Center and field trip to Lambeau Field

Chicago Museum of Science and Industry on the way home


Enjoy!!

Last Day

Last Day….

We woke up tired and sad that it was our last day. The week had gone by so fast. We were still making new friends both at our ministry sites and with the kids from other churches who are here.. At our devotional time (devo) in the morning we talked about how we could make our last day here the best.

The Green Monkeys were excited about visiting a new ministry site today. No more sorting, sorting, sorting (did I mention they did a lot of sorting) at the Goodwill. Today they were going to the CP (cerebral palsy) center to work. They were a little nervous, as most of them had no experience with people with CP. They weren’t sure how uncomfortable they might feel around people with this sort of disability. Their fears were short though. As soon as they got to the center, they got a tour and orientation. They found out that all of the people they’d be working with would be teenagers and they would be going on a field trip with them. They met up with the group at Lambeau Field for lunch and a private tour of the facility. Keith and Dave (the other adult in the Green Monkeys group) were excited about that. They had a terrific tour with the clients of the CP center, then went back to the center for some fun and games with them. They became comfortable fairly quickly, and were sad they only had one day there. They will tell you more about that when they share in worship this Sunday and Next Sunday.

The Silver Snakes spent their last day at Village Gardens in a variety of ways. Breaking into groups playing Scattergories at the beginning of the day led to an outing at a local park for lunch and a band concert with some residents. We came back and weeded and did some paperwork until it was time for the afternoon social (popsicles!) and our goodbyes. That was the hardest part. We felt like we really got to know many of the residents and staff there and we’d really miss them. We took pictures to remember them, and we gave them a gift for their garden so they’d remember us. That place really touched our hearts this week, and we hope we were able to show God’s love while we were there.

Thursday evening we had a community cookout. Many people from the Youthworks ministry sites were there enjoying hamburgers and hot dogs. People came from the Salvation Army, Paul’s Pantry (food pantry) Boys and Girls club, Village Gardens (3 of the recreation therapy staff we’d been working with) and other ministry sites. It was a nice way to end the week, chatting with our new friends and seeing how many people Youthworks groups impact during the week. God's love sure was being spread around.

Thursday night’s Club included a foot washing experience. The Youthworks staff wash the feet of and pray over the adult leaders, who, in turn, wash the feet of and pray over each of our kids. It was an incredibly moving and meaningful experience. We were also pleased and honored to be invited to join another of the visiting groups from Minnesota for communion after the foot washing. It was a beautifully spiritual evening.

Friday morning, we were up early after very little rest to pack up clean up and head out. Lots of hugs and email address exchanges went on before we loaded up and took off for home with a stop in Chicago and the Museum of Science and Industry along the way. (No time for me to drive to Starbucks before breakfast to post a blog entry.)

All in all, it was an amazing week. I was impressed, surprised, uplifted, encouraged, moved, and pleased with the Geneva Mid-Highs. They are a terrific group of kids with very loving hearts filled with God’s spirit. His love poured out of them this week. If you see Lauren, Amanda, Madelyn, Billy, Marilyn, Beth, or Steven, or Keith I’m sure they would love to tell you their story and where they saw God working in Green Bay.

We’ll be sharing a little bit in church on July 5 and July 12 and I’ll be posting more pictures soon, so keep posted.

Thanks for your support and prayers.

Wednesday - This one is long!

I’m writing this during free time, before I have to go to dinner duty, but I won’t be posting it till I run out to the Starbucks Thursday Morning. Keep this in mind as you read this.

This morning after devotionals the Green Monkeys went back to Goodwill for their last day there. I know they weren’t necessarily looking forward to another day of sorting shoes and tagging items, but again, I didn’t hear any complaints. When we met back up at the showers, they looked a little more tired than usual. I think they were amazed that there would ever be that much sorting and tagging and it seemed never ending. They are definitely looking forward to doing something new tomorrow.

The Silver Snakes washed windows all morning at Village Gardens. Some of us were outside and some of us stayed inside. This was a little tricky as we had to maneuver around beds, dressers, chairs and other furniture. Each room had 4 panes of glass to wash on the inside and 4 on the outside. Steven and Billy worked together as a team, with Billy spraying and Steven using the squeegee. I wiped the bottoms of the windows. Madelyn and Lauren washed the outsides with Allison, one of the Youthworks staff who came to join us for the day. They did a swift job of it.

After lunch, Billy and I put up the big calendar for July in the hallway while Steven, Lauren and Madelyn did some paperwork for the recreation staff. Then it was Karaoke time! The kids helped the residents sing along to old standards they had never heard of. The tried very hard to sing songs like “In the Good Old Summertime,” Bicycle Built For Two,” and “Toot Toot Tootsie Goodbye.” They They even learned “Yes, We Have No Bananas.” Steven did an awesome job on the microphone singing Johnny Cash songs which made one resident really smile. The kids also all got together and sang “Awesome God.” We finished the day at the nursing home enjoying Root Beer floats during their social hour.

On Monday when we came the kids all held back and were afraid to talk to the residents. Now they are going right up to some of them and smiling and saying hello, calling them by name. As much as I tried to tell them they’d get used to it, they weren’t sure. I think they’ve come so far in these three short days.

Both groups of 2 kids are working so well together, jumping right in where needed and supporting each other all the time. Each free time they are playing with kids from other churches and hanging out and making new friends. One of their favorite things to do is play ball tag on the play structure at the church. I think this trip is going to be one they remember always. They are thinking about their other Geneva Mid-High friends back home who weren’t able to come on the trip and wishing they were here too.

Tonight, we go to an amusement park after dinner. The kids are really looking forward to hanging out and just having fun.

The kids want to help me blog this week. They’ve taken some of their free time to write.

Here are some thoughts from Madelyn…
Hello everyone, Madelyn here!
I just wanted you all to know, A DEER ATE OUT OF MY HAND!!!! Which is my favorite animal EVER! Also today at the seniors center, we did karaoke and as much as I was looking forward to it, Lauren was not at all! But I got her to sing about 4 songs with me, and Steven sang “Ring of fire”!
Chortle-Chortle!!!!!
So that’s really all I wanted to say, See you Friday!!!!!!


This is Beth…
Hey guys! I’m like really tired right now, but whatever. On Monday my crew and I went to Goodwill. I was really looking forward to it because the last time I came to Green Bay on mission trip, I got to work in a thrift store sorting donations. Goodwill was nothing like I had expected it to be! Everyone was really nice and helped us understand what we were doing, to make sure that it would turn out the way that they wanted it to, in size then color order. On Monday, they asked us where we wanted to work, Marilyn and I got stuck with shoes, because it was the last job open for us. It was truly the most fun of all the jobs!!! It was probably unwise of them to stick us in aisles of shoes, that by the way were very cute, for almost three hours straight. We enjoyed showing each other the really cute and the odd/ugly shoes!
On Tuesday we went through rack after rack after rack after rack of shirts and pants in both men and women’s clothes…. Soooo tedious, and we were on our feet all day except our hour and a half total break. After a while we almost collapsed on the floor out of exhaustion, joking that if we had gotten ten more minutes of sleep, we would have the energy to finish the rack we were on… :D
Today we spent the vast majority of our time putting clothes on hangers, then sizing the clothes. Soooo obnoxious!!!!! We had to figure out whether they were women’s, men’s, or children’s clothes, then hang them, then size them correctly for pants/shirts, on the correctly priced hanger… when we finally got a break I literally collapsed onto the floor, and almost fell asleep, but Marilyn and Amanda were playing with my head and screaming discoveries of freckles on my scalp… :D Tonight we’re going to an amusement park since it doesn’t look like it’ll rain in the coming hours… see you all Friday!!!


And…
Peace out, everyone! Bet you can already guess who this is…hahahaha….IT’S AMANDAAAAA!!! =^.^= Today is day tres!!! Unfortunately, Beth pretty much said everything I wanted to say, but I will do my best!!
ANYWAYYYY, this is MY view of the past half-week…
First, we rode 7 and one half hours in a CAR!! And passed a time zone!! Gaining a whole HOUR!!! OH MY GOSHHHHH!! We ate at Subway…and…stuff…And listened to the best band ever, They Might Be Giants in Nancy’s car, where Beth, Steven, and Marilyn were amazed that I had memorized pretty much the whole of most of the songs.
On the first night, we…ate…crud. I can’t remember what we ate…(Beth! What did we eat the first night?!! (food? It wasn’t spaghetti….sloppy joes. Untidy Josephs.))
WE HAVE HAD SANDWICHS EVERY SINGLE DAY FOR LUNCH!!! GRAHHHHHH!!! THIS ANGERS ME DEEPLY, THOUGH, SINCE I’M A CARNIVORE WHO ONLY EATS FRUITS THAT FELL NATURALLY!! MWUAHAHAHHAHAA!!
Beth, Marilyn, Mr. Marilyn’s dad, and 3 people from a different church in Minnesota; Haylee, Sam, and Dave/George/Alfred/Aaron and I were assigned to the Goodwill store. Goodwill has 2 O’s tied together.
On the first day, we got a tour from Andy, the lovely manager who had gone to Goodwill in search of a steadier market than selling Subaru’s. After that, Marilyn and Beth were in charge of shoes (an unwise decision, if I may say so…) (along with Dave), I don’t really remember where Sam was…and Mr. McBain, Haylee, and I were working together, going through the racks and racks and racks and racks of women’s clothes, sorting them by size, and then color and pulling out all the ones with pink tags on them. We would then take the pink-tagged apparel and put clearance stickers on them, replacing the original clearances (which would be brought to the ‘back room’ and recycled) with them.
We ate spaghetti! ☺ On the second day, we continued with our Good Willy duties, though Sam and I were in charge of shoes. (Muwahahaha… I wonder why???) It took about 1 hour for me to sort the lovely “special” shoes on the “special” rack. I had to sort them by size and then rainbow color. I then had to sort through the CHILD’S special rack. (OooooH!!) And I have learned from the last three days at Goodwill that there are some really strange things you will see. We saw small children crawling through clothes racks and disappearing, never to be seen again, children attacking us with squirt guns, and Bob the Builder bowls randomly left in the dresses section.
We developed a wonderful bond with the various workers there.
Today was our last day there, and though I’m glad I won’t have to sort more clothes,
All in all, it was a great week! ;)




Keep praying for us.

Tuesday

I forgot to mention our clean up duties yesterday. The Green Monkeys had to wake up extra early to prepare breakfast and set out the lunch stuff for us. The Silver Snakes had bathroom cleanup after breakfast. Luckily, since we had boys in our group they could clean the boys bathrooms and the girls could clean the less messy girls’ bathrooms. Lauren says, “mention I even cleaned bathrooms!”

The nursing center that the Silver Snakes are working at has beautiful gardens in the back. Ten years ago it was all grass a small amount of cement patio. Now, there are different sections with raised vegetable gardens, a strawberry patch, pumpkins and tomatoes. There is an area with a small train running through and miniature houses. There are flowers everywhere. The seniors love going out there as much as possible and they are extremely proud of it.

Here are some thoughts from Marilyn on Tuesday morning before we left for our workday:

“Like Nancy probably already said, I am in the group the Green Monkeys, and we work at Goodwill. At Goodwill, there are racks and racks of clothes all sorted by size and color. Beth and I worked in the shoe department yesterday, and the shoes are also sorted by size and color. It was fun working with the shoes and the clothes because there are some strange garments there. What I did was sort big shopping carts full of shoes into the right shelf. I’m tired, but it was fun.”

As I’m writing this it’s late Tuesday afternoon. We just got back from visiting the Green Bay Packers Hall of Fame. I’m not sure how much the kids enjoyed it but Keith and I sure did. The history of the Packers is actually quite interesting. Dinner is being prepared now, we’ll do “Club” (worship, singing, lesson, group activities) then our church group time.

The Green Monkeys went back to Goodwill today and worked hard; sorting more shoes, and tagging more clothes. In the afternoon they were given some big boxes to put price tags on and were finished in record time. The people at Goodwill thought it would take them all afternoon. Amanda, Marilyn and Beth are actually having fun working so hard… who’da thought?

The Silver Snakes played Outburst this morning with the seniors at the nursing center. We also weeded for an hour before lunch. After lunch we went on a field trip! We accompanied 6 residents of the center and one of the recreation directors to Bay Beach Wildlife preserve. We pushed and pulled residents in wheelchairs up hills and down hills. We saw some animals and walked some nature trails. Madelyn actually had a deer eating from some corn in her hand. She was super excited. We were sad when we had to leave to go shower.

I’m enjoying seeing the kids make friends with kids form other churches. They aren’t too shy this year and are venturing out a bit. Tonight I am telling them not more than 2 kids from Geneva at a table… we’ll see how that goes. I’m also impressed with their insights and thoughtfulness during our church group time. They aren’t afraid to reflect and share about themselves at the end of the day.

Our kids have such serving spirits. They don’t complain when given a task, or asked to pitch in. They are willing to help and are full of God’s love. I haven’t heard any whining. Of course, maybe they are doing that when I’m not around, but I really don’t think so, I haven’t heard any grumbling underneath their breaths. I hope their willing attitudes continue for the next two days of our service here.

Continue to pray for us.

Monday

This morning, after devotionals, we broke off into our work groups. Keith took Marilyn, Amanda and Beth along with Dave, Sam and Hayley from Minnesota to Goodwill for the day. Dave from Youthworks joined them in the morning. Their group is called the Green Monkeys (I will call them this from now on.)They sorted shoes, books, and organized the clothes racks and marked clothes for clearance. The girls also were able to shop on their breaks. Amanda and Beth picked up some shoes, Marilyn shopped wasn’t able to find anything. They work hard but felt they were productive. When ZI met them at the shower area they were all excited and eager to tell me about their day and said it was fun.

My team, the Silver Snakes (we didn’t name our teams by the way) will be visiting Village Gardens nursing facility all week. This morning we jumped right in and played “Who Wants to be a Millionaire” with some of the residents. That was pretty fun. Steven’s team won. After, we got an orientation of the facility, watered some of the gardens and ate lunch. After lunch we helped the residents with the project of filling up pots with geraniums. The kids did a great job of interacting with the residents. This is outside all the kids’ comfort zones. I think by the end of the week, though it will be a lot easier. I was very proud of them.

The evening activity was a prayer drive through some of the community, ending up in a park to play. Our snack that night was birthday cake for Amanda!

We were exhausted in the evening. I think the kids were looking forward to going to bed.

I’m seeing God working here, I can’t wait for you to hear the kids share when they get home.

Sorry no pictures yet, yesterday was so busy I didn’t have time to upload them. I will try harder for tomorrow.

Keep praying for us.

Green Bay - Day 1

We arrived!

A long car ride. Good weather and traffic was great until we hit Chicago. I swear I don’t understand traffic. You’re stopped and slow and stopped and slow for miles and miles and all of a sudden you start driving at a normal speed again, with no explanation.. No accident or construction or anything. I can’t figure it out. I find it very frustrating. I think the part where you don’t know what’s going on is the worse. When is it going to start speeding up again? How long is this going to last? We ran into more traffic just before the Wisconsin border. This time, we were travelling along OK when I noticed traffic in the express lane, which was walled by guard rails had completely stopped. People had even gotten out of their vehicles to see what was going on. I had a bad feeling since I figured this lane had to merge with ours eventually. I was right. Our traffic started slowing down, too, but at least we didn’t stop. I started thinking about how we could try to take an alternate route when we saw the flashing lights ahead of us. We realized there had been an accident in the express lane. Our lanes were slowly crawling because of gawkers! As soon as we passed the accident site… no more traffic. Egads that was frustrating. Once we hit Wisconsin, it was smooth sailing. In my car, we were listening to the first Harry Potter book on tape and reading (not me, I was driving.) while Keith’s car had good conversation and good books.

We were the last church to arrive, so we had slim pickins on sleeping space. Note to self…. get here earlier next time. We hung out awhile, settling in and then ate dinner. They made us sit with people we didn’t know. Billy and Steven sat apart at tables with all new people. The girls were more shy, and all sat together, but with new people in it. I was afraid they wouldn’t socialize.

But…

By the end of the night , the girls were already becoming friends with some kids from the other churches. During our church group time, when we recap the day, the kids were saying they were surprised that the other kids were so much like them. They had already found common interests and even though they were from different areas, they were excited to be making new friends.

Our group is divided into two work groups for the week. Steven, Billy, Lauren and Madeline will be with me working at a place called Village Gardens, a senior citizen home. Amanda, Beth and Marilyn will join Keith and a few kids from another church working at Goodwill for 3 days, then spending time at a cerebral palsy center on Thursday.

I’ll try to keep you as updated as possible. Hopefully next time I can post some pictures. Pray for us….

Scrap paper prayers

I was at one of my favorite websites recently and there was a challenge to find a piece of scrap paper, write a prayer on it, take a picture of it and upload it to the site. I found it really interesting and moving to see how people responded to this. Many people asked for prayers for people they knew who were sick or in need of healing, many people asked for wisdom, many people seemed to be hurting themselves and asking for God's presence and many more people said prayers of thanks. Some were very short, and some were very long. Some had pictures, others just words. They all expressed the writer's feelings, though.

I thought it was an interesting challenge. I'm going to challenge you to do the same thing. Find a piece of scrap paper and write a prayer on it. Send it to me. If you want to you can take a picture and email it to me or send it through the mail. I will post them here in a few weeks.

In the mean time.... here are a bunch of the ones that were posted to that site. scrap paper prayers

I love you guys!

5 wonderful volunteers got up this morning to help Cheryl and the Fellowship Team fix a pancake breakfast for Father's Day. They even got there before me, and I hadn't even reminded them on Friday night when I saw them. Thanks so much to Beth, Billy, Steven, Madelyn, and one of our new Mid- Highers - Drew. Seriously, you are awesome and so inspiring to me in your commitment to service.

Speaking of service, I'm starting to think about what I'm going to pack for our mission trip. This year I can't forget my camera (I don't know how I forgot it last year...) What do you think I'll forget to bring this year?

I hope to be blogging everyday from now until we return from our trip. Keep checking back! Feel free to post comments for others to see.

Summer Fellowship!

We had a great time playing mini-golf and go-karting today at Sportway. Balls were lost, some people took a lot of strokes on some holes, but that didn't seem to stop our enjoyment. The best part was, no one was really caring too much about the final outcome of scores. I love non-competition!

I especially had fun watching everyone drive the go-karts. It looked like all the girls were excellent drivers. Unfortunately it went by so quickly I didn't get a chance to get too many pictures.

So here's the link to the pictures I was able to take. I was proud of myself for actually remembering the camera today and taking pictures. Usually I'm so busy doing the activity I forget, then regret it when I get home.

I can't wait for more summer fun with the mid-highs!

Today, Sunday, June 7

You guys were awesome today! I heard so many great things after each service from  people who loved how you enhanced our worship today with your singing. I am glad so many of you could attend. I can't wait till we participate in corporate worship again. Are we ready for another drama? Or another song? Or maybe a combination of the two (Amazing Grace skit..... ask Beth or Marilyn)??  Let me know your thoughts. 

Working at the car wash.....

Wow- You guys did such a terrific job at the car wash today. Thanks so much for coming out and working so hard. I didn't hear any complaints from you when I asked you to hold signs, or dry the cars or anything. I loved your giving and helpful spirits. I also want to thank your parents who stayed and helped. Many hands make light work. We raised a good amount for our mission trip. You guys are awesome!

This song was running through my head all day while we were out there. It's from a movie called Car Wash (made in 1976, check out the styles!) and this youtube video has the title song plus some scenes from it. Car Wash 

Happy Birthday!

Happy Birthday Marilyn!  Hey, I'm going to start announcing birthdays on here.... Let me know when you're birthday is. Email me!

Got Two Minutes?

Minute #1 - Check this out... Brendan and Breana competed again at Robofest and their team won the people's choice award. Read about it here: robofest

Minute #2 - Check this out too... Jason Alexander's Taking a Minute. Are you battling something? Are you ready for it?

A Year Under My Belt

I've reached the anniversary of being hired as the Geneva Mid-High Ministries Coordinator (now that's a mouthful!). What a year it's been. I didn't necessarily understand everything I was getting into when I started, but I'm sure glad I did.  I had been leading Breakfast Club, and had gotten to know the kids from that, but being able to do retreats, LifeStream, overnights,  service work and fellowship activities really helped me find out what wonderful mid-highs we have at church. I know I've said this before (a lot) but I am constantly amazed at their insightful questions, thoughtful answers and their thirst for understanding God. I knew my job was to help these young Christians grow in their faith, but I didn't know that I, too, would grow in the process. 

It's really been a great year. Last summer's mission trip to Niagara Falls was a real eye opener. It was a great challenge for me and learned a lot about myself, about service to the Lord and about God's children here on earth. I'm very excited and really looking forward to what God has in store for me and the group going to Green Bay in about a month. I just have to remember to pack my camera for this trip...

I've really enjoyed Breakfast Club this year. I have watched it turn into a more worshipful environment (getting into the "worship zone") and I enjoyed the songs, the prayers and the deep discussions we shared. I also loved the laughter, the activities and, of course, the delicious food that people brought in. Breakfast Club is a unique time of learning, prayer, worship and fellowship. I was happy to see so many kids attending and all the spots on the couches being taken. I loved to watch how welcoming everyone was when new people would join. 

Fellowship has been amazing. I've had so much fun planning and attending these events. I think it's important for Christians to have fun relaxing,  laughing and getting to know each other with no other purpose in mind but enjoying each other's company. I've tried to plan events that most people would like, and I'm open to suggestions for next year. I think making fellowship times right after church has made it easier for people to come. What do you think? what kind of fellowship activities would you like me to schedule?

I have learned a lot at LifeStream. I wish more people would have been able to come to our Wednesday night learning opportunity, but I was happy that some of you were able to make it and learn a lot more about the Bible and God's Word for us. Maybe next year Wednesday's will work better for the mid-highs. 

I was especially happy that we could participate in the corporate worship at Geneva. The mid highs (as are all the young people) are an important part of Geneva. The worship service in the sanctuary isn't just for adults. It's for everyone. When we sang at advent, performed skits at Christmas and Palm Sunday, and when we sing on June 7, we are helping everyone praise and worship together. 

OK, this blog is getting as long as my emails..... Tell me what you thought about this past year in our youth group. What activities diid you especially like? Where did you see God working? What did you learn? How did your faith grow? What would you like to see happening next year? Comment to the blog so everyone can see, tell me in person or email me your thoughts. 

Your sister in Christ,

Nancy

Got Another Minute?

Here's another Taking a Minute from Jason Anderson. This one is a really good message.
Check it out here.

More Pictures

More pictures from the retreat!

This time, I will thank Rick Russell for taking these photos.

Check them out here: More Retreat Photos

Got a Minute?

This guy, Jason Anderson, has one minute Christian messages for youth your age. From his website (www.livingwordonline.org/takingaminute) "Taking a Minute is a one minute teaching on subjects designed to challenge, motivate and inspire young people in their walk with Christ."

I encourage you to check it out here.  I'm going to try to remember to post a new link for a new message every week. Let me know what you think....

Reflections from the Youth Retreat

I'm still reveling in the awesome retreat we had. I enjoyed spending so much time with the kids and getting to know them a little bit better. I am constantly impressed by their spirit, enthusiasm, energy and love for each other. I really wish the weekend could have been longer. 

Here are some observations I made about the mid-high kids:

~ They are really welcoming. They try very hard to include everyone. That makes me really happy. I don't know if it's because it was kind of a small group (7 kids) or not, but I was pleased to see they tried not to leave anyone out. It wasn't always easy, but I could see they were trying.

~ They aren't afraid to speak their mind. They were open and honest, shared their thoughts and feelings and weren't afraid to ask difficult questions. This is difficult for anyone to do. It's even more impressive when young people do it. 

~ They have a love for God and are really becoming grounded in their faith. They have fabulous insight into understanding God's word and are enthusiastic learners. They took the lessons and activities seriously.

~ They are awesome encouragers! (Is that even a word? I don't know). They encouraged everyone on the climbing wall and the high ropes course. They were also encouraging each other during discussions. 

~ They tell some really really long campfire stories!

~ They say some very memorable things (quotes to come as soon as I get them from Beth.)

~ They take a while to wake up in the mornings!

~ They are tons of fun!

~ They make me super excited for the mission trip, and make me look forward to our next retreat.

Pictures!!

Here is a link to some of the pictures taken at the retreat. I'll be getting more later. 

retreat pics

Enjoy!

New Service Opportunity

I know we have a few service projects coming up (Memorial Garden this Saturday, sprucing up the outside of the church on May 17, helping with the Father's Day pancake breakfast on June 20) but if you can't make one of those days, or if you just want to do more (yeah!!) then check this out. 

Geneva's Second Saturday Service on May 9 is a great opportunity to help our servicewomen and servicemen overseas. Check it out here: Second Saturday Service.

Preparing for a Retreat

I've been on a few retreats in my life, but I haven't ever had to lead one before. There sure is a lot of planning and preparation involved. First, you have to  find a weekend when people can go and think about where you want to go (I wasn't really in on that part of the planning process...) Then you have to figure out what the theme or goal should be (choices, choices, choices....) Next, you have to figure out what the schedule will be (enough time for prayer, reflection, learning, eating, playing games and free time...) And finally, you have to figure out how everyone is going to get there (how many kids can we squeeze in my Toyota?...)

Now that all that planning is finished, I can really start to prepare for the retreat this weekend. I can prepare my heart and mind. I am praying that each one of you who is able to come on the retreat can get a meaningful experience from it.  I am praying that our hearts can be open to hearing God this weekend and experiencing the love He has for us. I am praying that we can feel God's Spirit working through us. I am praying that things will run fairly smoothly, and that when they don't everyone will have patience.

If you aren't able to come on the retreat with us this weekend, you can still pray for us. You are an important part of our Mid High Ministries  community. 

I'm really looking forward to this weekend (even though I don't like not sleeping in my own bed...) 

Thanks!

Easter!

Ok, So I'm really tired right now. I've been up since about 5:00 (darn cats! didn't they know my alarm was going to go off at 5:30 this morning?) spent a little over 6 hours at church today, had my family over for the rest of the day, and can barely move a muscle. However, I had a great day! 

First, I love the Easter morning sunrise service. I know it means getting up extra early on a day I could normally sleep in. But watching the sun rise (and it did beautifully this morning, not a cloud in the sky), singing praises to God and hearing about that day when they found the empty tomb somehow touches me very deeply. It reminds me that it's not just the start to a new day, but a start to my new life in Christ. I'm reminded that Christ not only died but rose from the dead for ME. What an awesome feeling.  (And thanks to The Grays who sat in front of us and shielded us from the intense morning sunlight!)

Second, I love doing service with the youth at church. It keeps me humble when I see so many kids getting up early, pitching in to help, doing whatever is asked of them and more often than not doing things without even being asked! Helping at the pancake breakfast on Easter Sunday is loads of fun even though it can be hard work. Trying to do the dishes as quietly as I possibly can during the 11:00 service is always a challenge... 

Third, I love when my family can get together. Both my sisters and their families were at my house today. Ian was home, my dad stopped by for a visit and my father-in-law was also over for dinner. The only person missing was my nephew, who is at school in Chicago. We had a great time sharing laughs, food, and games. (I got to play my favorite game - Liebrary - with my brilliant children and then watching my sister hula hooping with the Wii Fit was hilarious!) We don't all get together often enough and it made the day really special. 

I hope you all had a meaningful Easter. Remember that although we celebrate Christ's resurrection on Easter Sunday, we should remember that the meaning of the celebration of Easter should be an ongoing thing. I'm reminded of a song we've sung at Geneva:

Every morning is Easter morning from now on

Every day is resurrection day, the past is over and gone.

Goodbye guilt, goodbye fear, good riddance, hello Lord, hello sun

I am one of the Easter people, my new life has begun

Every morning is Easter morning from now on

Every day is resurrection day, the past is over and gone.

Daily news is so bad it seems the Good News seldom get heard

Get it straight from the Easter people, God's in charge! spread the word

Every morning is Easter morning from now on

Every day is resurrection day, the past is over and gone

Yesterday I was bored and lonely, but today look and see

I belong to the Easter people, life's exciting to me!

Every morning is Easter morning from now on

Everyday is resurrection day, the past is over and gone

I hope you can be one of the Easter People. Christ is risen! He is risen, indeed!

Trivia Videos

In case you missed the fundraising dinner, you can look at the trivia videos made by the mid-highs and senior highs here. 

Wisconsin Trivia

Pennsylvania Trivia

Pictures!

I was way too busy to think about taking pictures on Friday night. (I think I need to assign someone to be our official photographer at Mid-High events). As usual, Breana and Brendan's mom was on top of things and took some awesome pics. You can see them here.

Thanks, Diana!

A Group Effort

I'm still on a high from last night's fundraising event. What a terrific night it was. I heard so many compliments in the short  time I had to talk with people before I started scrubbing pots in the kitchen. I was getting anxious during the week for everything to go smoothly. I had to remind myself and internalize Phillipians 4:6 (look it up.....). However, on Friday morning I woke up and started to get super-excited about the night and knew everything was going to turn out just fine. I think it was more than fine. It was outstanding. 

What I was most impressed about, though, was not the food or the entertainment (both of which were awesome!) but by how much everyone worked together to produce the event. None of it could have been done alone. I was reminded of 1 Corinthians Chapter 12 where it speaks of spiritual gifts and also parts of the body.  Each one of you who helped yesterday was essential: if we didn't have people who ironed, the tables would have looked bad; if we didn't have people who put out the table settings, people would have had to eat with their fingers; if we didn't have people working in the kitchen, people would have been hungry; if we did't have people serving the food, people would have had to get their own; if we didn't have people working the sound booth, people wouldn't have been able to hear what was going on on the stage; if we didn't have people singing, and dancing, and acting, I would have had to perform for an hour and people would have run away screaming!!; if we didn't have people helping to clean up, I would have been there all night...... You get my meaning, right? EVERYONE was useful. EVERY part of what you did was valuable. EVERY bit of service was needed. We ALL worked together to form one outstanding body last night. I appreciate each and every one of you.... 

Our Daily Bread

In the Lord's Prayer, we say, "give us this day our daily bread." (Matthew 6:11) Personally, I love bread. Bagels and cream cheese, toast with peanut butter and english muffins are often what I eat for breakfast. However, while Jesus may have been referring to the physical act of eating, I believe He was really saying we should understand that God provides what we need for our daily living. But what is that? I don't believe it's just food, water and shelter. I believe we need the Word of God, the Spirit of God and the Grace of God in our daily lives. 

I mentioned in my post at the beginning of Lent that I am working on spending more time with God each day. One of the ways I'm doing this is by reading "Our Daily Bread." "Our Daily Bread" is a monthly booklet of devotionals. For each day there is a scripture passage and a short thoughtful story.  While a lot of the stories are geared toward adult readers, you might want to give it a try. 

You don't even have to pick up a book. They have all the devotionals on their website here. You can go back and look at previous dates or look ahead to future dates (find the one for your birthday!) Try this resource to help you grow closer to God and strengthen your faith. Let me know what you think.

Psalms 46:10

"Be still and know that I am God."

So goes the verse from Psalms. I have to keep reminding myself this as I have been extremely busy these days. It seems like I've had so much to do these past few weeks, and looking into the weeks ahead. It was Hannah's 16th birthday, Ian is home for spring break (doctor's appts, looking at summer classes, updating his resume, etc), setting up the entertainment line-up for the fundraising dinner and scheduling play rehearsal, working on the Palm Sunday skit, thinking about stuff for my worship team, watching American Idol.  Sometimes I feel like I am just going from one activity to another without time to stop and think and listen. Do you ever get that way?

It seems that everyone is busy these days. School, sports, dance classes, clubs, meetings, church, groups, and other extra-curricular activities – there's just so much to do! Do you ever stop and be still and listen? I am trying hard to make time to listen to God these days. I find that in these busy times I have to really make an effort to set aside quiet time to be with God. I need to relax and unwind and be still. Are you able to do that? Try to set aside time each day for prayer or meditation. Don't forget to listen during your quiet time. Don't fill it with your words, but listen for God's. 

Reflections on Lent

We have entered into the season of Lent. I grew up with Catholic friends who had to fast during Lent. I used to wonder why they weren't eating ice cream or watching television for 40 days before Easter. And no meat on Fridays, only fish. I remember seeing all the signs at area restaurants (even now!) with Friday fish specials and  the local Elks club having a Friday fish fry. Growing up, my family never really concerned ourselves with fasting or any Lenten practices. 

As an adult, I've come to learn more about Lent. In the ancient church, Lent was a time for new converts to be instructed for baptism and believers caught in sin to focus on repentance. In time, Christians came to see Lent as a season to be reminded of their need for penitence (look that word up!) and to prepare spiritually for the celebration of Easter. 

Many Protestants, like myself, want to make this season special.  I encourage you to do the same this year. You might might want to fast - by giving something up that takes you away from your focus on God, or you might want to add a spiritual exercise or discipline to your life (like me.) In either case, be intentional about your devotion to God. If you chose to fast or give something up, make it purposeful. ( I could say I'm giving up smoking, but I don't do that anyway.) If you chose to do something extra for God, make it purposeful, too.  You might want to add a daily spiritual practice to your routine (this is what I'm doing.) You could set aside extra time for bible reading, or prayer or quiet time to be with God. You might want to participate in some special acts of kindness (to your brother or sister, for example.) Whatever you do during Lent, my hope for you is that it helps deepen your faith and prepares you for the Easter celebration to come. 

Check this out!

When I met with some other youth leaders last week from other Presbyterian churches in the Presbytery of Detroit, one of the youth leaders talked about this event he and his church were putting together. It's called Soulfire, and it's being held on Saturday, March 28. check it out that their website here:

Soulfire at Northbrook Church

Let me know what you think.... should we go? 

New Blog Stuff

I've updated the list of events on the right, but haven't included April activities, so remember to keep Palm Sunday available for our drama and April 24-26 available for our spring retreat at Michindoh.

Also, I've added a couple of new lists over on that side of this page. Breakfast Club dates and who has signed up to bring food is a new list. You can sign up the regular way at church on the bulletin board, or email me and let me know when you can bring food. Also, I've included a list of some websites I like to visit. If you have some sites you'd like me to include on this list - let me know!!

Forgiveness

So people email me stuff all the time. Some stuff is silly, some stuff is cute, and some stuff really touches my heart. A while ago I got this emailed to me. (Thank, Beth!) I thought it was really useful to think about. Tell me what you think...

Two friends were walking through the desert. During some point of the journey, they had an argument and one friend slapped the other one on the face. 

The one who got slapped was hurt, but without saying anything, wrote in the sand, "Today my best friend slapped me in the face."

They kept on walking until they found an oasis, where they decided to take a bath. The one who had been slapped got stuck in the mire and started drowning, but the friend saved him. 

After he had recovered from drowning he wrote on a stone. "Today my best friend saved my life."

The friend who had slapped him and then saved his best friend asked him, "After I hurt you  you wrote in the sand, and now, you write on a  stone, why?"

The friend replied, "When someone hurts us we should write it down in the sand, where winds of forgiveness can erase it away. But when someone does something good for us, we must engrave it in stone where no wind can ever erase it."

Learn to write your hurts in the sand and to carve your benefits in stone.

Have you been hurt lately? Are you holding on to those feelings of hurt? Let them go... forgive whoever it was that hurt you. Remember Matthew 6:14-15 "If you forgive others for the wrongs they do to you, your Father in heaven will forgive you. But id you don't forgive others, your Father will not forgive your sins." It's not easy to forgive people when they've hurt you. When we do forgive, God sets our hearts free from anger, bitterness and resentment which can keep us from growing closer to Him. 

After Christmas

Happy New Year!

Today I helped put away the Christmas decorations at church. I also put away all the decorations at my house. Then I changed the status on my Facebook page to "Nancy has put Christmas away...'til next year."  I thought that since the Christmas season was over I needed to forget about Christmas and move on to looking ahead to the New Year.

It's always a sad time for me to put all the Christmas decorations away. But later, after I  wrapped up fragile items to pack away, took down greenery, and put away my manger scenes, I told myself that even though the decorations are gone Christmas should still be living on in my heart. The joy and happiness, the sharing and giving attitude –  the SPIRIT of Christmas – doesn't (and shouldn't) go away. The spirit of Christmas really is the love of Christ living inside me. That doesn't go away just because the season is over. 

I am going to change the status on my Facebook page from what I'd written earlier to "Nancy is keeping the spirit of Christmas inside of her even though her decorations are put away." 

I hope you can continue to keep the spirit of Christmas inside of you, as well. 

Christmas Eve

Once again I was overwhelmed at such a terrific job everyone did at the 4:00 service on Christmas Eve. I so appreciate your dedication. I suppose I should stop being amazed when you all try so hard and do such a  wonderful job during worship.  Anyway, here are some pictures taken by some fabulous photographers. Thanks to the Nobles, as always, for recording our activities; and thanks to Joe Stoecklein, who also took pictures that afternoon at church.

You can find the Noble's pictures here

And Joe Stoecklein's pictures here

Enjoy!