Vacation Bible School

I did games again this year with VBS.  But, Kim took Elise in with the 2-3 year old class and Elise had perfect attendance!  I think she was late a few times, but that's okay.  She spent time with the other kids and even watched games some too.

Here she is on the Friday before when they were setting up everything.  She decided to have a rummage through the tent to make sure she wasn't missing anything.

 She was grabbing a bite of animal crackers and giving her big smile where she squints so hard she can barely see.

 Here is Elise's first certificate from VBS.  We're awful proud of her!

We had a little get together in the gym after the Sunday night service when we gave out certificates.  She's offering mommy a cookie.

4th of July Float

I thought the 4th of July float turned out really good this year considering we lost a few days of working on it due to power outages.  Our theme was "Don't waste your sports" as we were advertising our basketball camp this month.  Here are some pics.

The goals are actually perfectly to scale in every way that was possible.  They are 72"x42".  The rim is actually a few inches higher than it should be, but the only reason I did that was because originally we planned on having them sit on the float floor itself and I didn't want the nets just sitting on the floor.    

Side view.

The rim is made out of pex piping with a PVC coupling.  It's as close to 18" in diameter as I could get them.  When I got them painted, I used them to draw my arch on the wood and then cut it.  I attached the pipe with screws.  Then, I had a 2x4 base to attach it to the goals.

 

Kim did the signs and as always did an awesome job!

Here is the finished product!  On the float it Katie Caldwell, Xander Fisher, Evan Eaton, and Julianna Eaton.  

Big thanks to Doug Hunter for pulling the float this year!  Also, thanks to everyone who helped stuff the napkins!!  That's always the hardest part.  

Youth Basketball 2012

Well, we finished another season of youth basketball and I think this year went very well. Our team was awesome. We couldn't have asked for a better group of kids. Sure, they can get a little goofy and rowdy, but they were fun. And it was ridiculous how much they improved just over our 6 week season. There were a couple that couldn't even hit the rim when shooting but at the end of the season could make a basket every now and again. Plus, they started to grasp concepts that it seemed they might never tackle. Overall, it was a great season.

Our 2012 team: The Spurs

From left: Christina Smith, Jake Roush, Jordan Gilbride, Colton Lavender, Colin Parsons, Aiden McKeever, Jace Hill (Cruz Brinager was also on our team, but sick that day)

Kim and I after a great season holding our coaching trophies

You gotta love Mark and his witty ideas haha

Ouch

I was reading a blog today from Jeremy Myers and thought this was horrible..

...I ran an experiment to see.

Right now, I am growing my hair out. It covers my ears and looks a little shaggy. A while back, when visiting a church, I wore jeans, a grey t-shirt with holes in it, and a baseball hat, just to see how I would be received. I didn’t bring my Bible. Nobody greeted me. Nobody shook my hand. During the sermon, nobody offered me a Bible.

I returned the very next week wearing slacks, a tie, and carrying a big Bible under my arm. I must have been greeted by 20 people in 10 minutes, and nobody said “good to see you again.” They didn’t recognize me as a second-time visitor! I now fit in with the kind of person they wanted in their church, and so I received a warm welcome. I was handed whole reams of literature. Someone personally took me up and introduced me to the pastor. I guess I was now a “keeper.”

I didn’t go back.

Now, I realize that every church has their faults and even once in a blue moon, this CAN happen without true intention of prejudice against people. But, God forgive us and change us when we're not at least giving people a smile and a handshake to say, "how are you?" I mean, it honestly convicts me with a huge heaviness because when we go back to practice for choir, I don't have a lot of time to mingle. And sometimes I really think I could do a little more than I do anyways. But, I feel grateful and secure in knowing that the men and women we do have at our church don't pick and choose whose hands they shake, and who they greet. They are accepting of anyone who walks through the door. My father-in-law, Mark, is always buying Bibles too and our church will pass them out at events. Plus, in the past few weeks I've been able to give away probably 10-15 Bibles to kids coming to our youth group. It's been pretty awesome. We're not a perfect church, but I thank God that we have a group who loves people no matter what they wear to church.