March, already??

Goodness, can it be March already? February was so full and busy, I can't believe the time got away from me!

The past two weekends have been incredibly busy! First, we took the junior high & high school youth to MidWinter camp. They had a great time, and so did we! Then, just after getting back, we attended the funeral of a very dear friend and outstanding member of our congregation. He will certainly be missed by all of us!

This past weekend was even more full! Friday we were out of school, thankfully, so we could get as much done as possible before my daughter's birthday party Friday evening. She got to go shopping with PaPa, and I believe they bought out the mall! :) She had a great turn-out for her party, and even had two of her friends sleep over Friday night. Saturday was completely filled with WinterJam! We left extra early and got to stand in line for a looooooooooong time, and even then, we barely got in and had seats behind the stage. No matter what seats, it was still a great concert and a great worship experience. We got home around 1:30 Sunday morning, got a little sleep, and headed to church! Even Sunday was filled to the brim, with church, my daughter's birthday dinner at the Chinese restaurant, and Bible study in the evening.

Whew! I'm exhausted just writing about it!

I would love to share a great reading recommendation at this point, but I haven't had time to read! Maybe next time!

February Formal Dinner

I love the kids in our youth group! They continue to show me, time after time, how amazing they are! We have been blessed with a fabulous group of hard-working young people.

Last night's fundraiser dinner is a perfect example. My husband came up with a spur-of-the-moment idea in January to have a dinner (served by the youth) to help them raise money for summer camp. (Believe me, they need the money; we heard how much more camp is going to cost this summer = yikes!)

So, we crafted this idea. The kids would dress in nice clothes and become the waiters in our "candle-light" restaurant. Hubby served as chef, and made a delicious meal of chicken parm, Italian potatoes, herb spaghetti, plus salads and cheesecake. I dubbed it the "February Formal", so it wouldn't be too "couple-y", and the kids really enjoyed getting dressed up.

We had a terrific turn-out! We are so thankful to all the adults of the church who came out to support the kids. Certainly more than we expected. And such a great response -- several people asked if we could do this again soon! :) I think we will, but we need time to recuperate before trying it again.

The best part of the evening, though, was watching the kids serve. They were sweet, attentive, prompt, and just generally showed the Christ-like attributes we try to teach them in church.

We are so blessed to know these kids, and to be part of their lives.

To top it all off, we ended the evening in the sanctuary at the Ash Wednesday Service. Great to see all the kiddos in church being serious, as well as serving others at the dinner. (Proud!)

Precious Moments

What an amazing weekend! We took 14 kids, grades 1-6, to church camp over the weekend. I know, that sounds crazy, but it truly is an awesome experience!

I wanted to write about one of my highlights from the trip, before I forgot! On Saturday evening, we had a unique worship experience. Each one of the small groups planned and led a portion of worship. My small group was assigned communion.

My small group was a different group -- my kids were the youngest campers there for the weekend. All were in 1st or 2nd grade, with an extra kindergartener thrown in. (Her dad was the other adult leader in our small group, so though she was still a bit young for the weekend, it all worked out.) We also had two high school kids who helped with our small group.

So, perhaps you can imagine what I was thinking as I sat down with the group to plan our part in worship. I find I am always surprised by something new that God has to teach me. Remember that Bible verse that encourages us to "let the little ones" come to Jesus? Sometimes, they just get things in a way that is difficult for adults to understand. It's that amazing childlike faith.

Yes, the first graders served communion. And not only did it mean a lot to them, it brought some of us adults to tears.

And yes, the second graders and kindergartener spoke the words of institution over the bread and cup. Did they know what they were saying? Yep! And watching the light in their eyes during this experience certainly made the moment mean even more to me.

But the best part of our communion experience, to me, was watching our tiny kiddos bravely stand in front of the rest of the campers (who were ALL older than my group) and lead the camp's favorite communion song, Sanctuary. This was the first time that most of the kids in my small group had heard this song (and we practiced a lot during our small group time to learn it!). But their sparkle and joy was certainly contageous! All the "big" kids joined in, and carried the song on. What a wonderful worship moment.

On a personal note, what a treasure it was for me to be served communion by my own little first graders that I teach at school and in Sunday School. And what a treat for me to offer them communion at the end of the service, as they had offered communion to the large group and waited patiently for kids and adults alike to partake.

"Lord, prepare me
to be a Sanctuary
pure and holy
tried and true
With thanksgiving
I'll be a living
Sanctuary
for You.
Lord, teach Your children
to stop their fighting,
start uniting,
live as one.
Let's get together
and live forever
as Sanctuaries
for You."

January Sicknesses and Winter Camp

January has been crazy.

First, my daughter got sick and had to miss two days of school. Quite unusual for her. She also had to miss the final basketball game of the tourney, which was also her last basketball game of 6th grade.

Then, my son got sick. As per the usual, he was sick for a week.

During this entire time, my husband was also sick. And when he wasn't sick himself, he was staying home with the sick kids. So that was not so cool.

I figured, since they have all been well and attending school this week, I was probably going to get it.

I was right.

I spent the last two days at home sick. Ugh.

I had no choice but to feel better today, though. This afternoon, we are taking our kiddos to Mid-Winter Camp. This is the awesome church camp our kids attend every winter about this time. This year, we are taking an even dozen with us. So cool! Can't wait for them to experience this! Two of them are just old enough this year, so this is their first time. We also have two others who have never gone with us before, either.

So, I hope I continue to feel better and make it through the weekend!

Just for fun, I've been reading a cute book called Encyclopedia of Me, by Karen Rivers, about a middle school girl who is grounded during the summer and decides to write an encyclopedia to keep herself occupied. Cute book, I think all 12-13 year old girls will love. It's been good to have something to keep me occupied.