Thankful Thursday

What a crazy week!  But so many things to be thankful for

1.  Praisin in the Park has been awesome.  I am SO proud of our teenagers for the awesome job they have done with everything they have been involved with.  I love you guys!

2. Praisin in the Park is over tonight!  It has been great but a little hectic - glad to get back to normal.

3.  The call God has placed on our family.  I remind my kids how much of an important part of ministry they are.  Mike did a great job with the teaching time on Sunday night with the kids.  He sounded like such a preacher:)

4.  God holding back the rain last night - the storm went around us.

5.  The sound of the rain and thunder outside right now.  I love thunderstorms - just praying it will all be gone by tonight.

6.  My kids with their night vision goggles, spy gadgets, and flash lights getting ready for the big thunderstorm (gotta have those flashlights in the middle of the day)

7.  God's patience with our meager efforts to bring glory to Him

Praisin' in the Park

If you want to see what is eating up my bloggin' time go here. Check out the pictures from the last couple of nights. If you haven't been down to check it out - your missing it!! EVERYONE pray for no rain tonight!

I don't have time for a real post.  We didn't have internet access while we were in SC for our retreat so I am looking forward to catching up on blog reading and posting.  Mike had a few minutes to put some highlights of our trip on his site.  Check it out here.  There are some pictures there.  

Thankful Thursday

Well, it's almost Thursday so I am going to go ahead with my list.  If I were white and nerdy like my hubby I would know how to make this post tomorrow morning.

1.  The smoky smell in my house from making smores with the kids tonight.  It felt like camping, sitting on a blanket by the fire while the kids caught lightening bug - actually better than camping because I can sleep in my bed.

2.  Catching up with old friends from our Snow Hill Youth Group days at Jordan and Kody's wedding.

3.  Squirting Mike and hearing my kids laugh at the bumper boats at Celebration Station in Greensboro.

4.  Eleven people that followed Jesus' command in baptism on Sunday!  May God continue to bless Cornerstone

5.  Hiking with our amazing teens at Pilot Mountain on Tuesday.  You guys are the best even if you did saran wrap the car and put fishing line all over the driveway :)

6. The awesome opportunity to talk to our teenage girls about purity on our retreat next week.  Not to mention we are retreating at the beach.  I am always thankful for the beach!

7.  Ok I have to say it.  I am thankful for laundry.  It is overtaking my house today but we have nice clothes to wear and a nice washer and dryer and a house with closets to hang it all in.

What are you thankful for?

Cornerstone has the best teenagers

We just got back from hiking at Pilot Mountain State Park and riding go carts at Mayberry Shazzam with 10 teens from Cornerstone. We had a great time and sometime I want to blog about how much better the world would be if everyone acted like teenagers. No time now - headed to the pool for Emma and Luke's Swim meet.

Cornerstone Nicaragua

Check out this video that Austin put together from all the Nicaragua pictures from their mission trip to help out our sister church in Tonala, Nicaragua. 

Well, Galax may not have it all but this weekend we had the Oscar Mayer Weinermobile.  It was here to visit for the Smoke on the Mountain Virginia State BBQ Championship.

Here are my little hot dogs.

Free Falling

We took a nice hike up to the Cascades in Pembroke, VA (near Blacksburg). We had been there a couple of times while we were in college at VT. It is one of the most beautiful trails I have ever been on. The trail winds through the Jefferson National Forrest by a beautiful creek. There are falls all the way to the top. The kids did great - even Drew walked almost all of the 5 mile loop.
Check out the pictures.

Talent from Galax

On Tuesday night Alex Pyles was on America's Got Talent.  Alex is 10 years old and is a part of our homeschool co-operative.  Watch the You Tube video to see her martial arts/self defense act with her dad.  And yes, that' how we talk around here.  After you watch this you'll see why I always gave her good grades in class.  Way to go Alex!  

What do people need?

I am getting ready for a couple of meetings this morning and took a few minutes to catch up on some blog reading.  I read this post from Perry Noble and it really hits home.  I have been constantly evaluating in my mind how I think about people that are far from God and how Jesus would have responded in situations and how I need to get outside my "Christian bubble".  Perry shares an experience he had when he helped a man up that had fallen.  You have to read it.  People need a hand, someone to help them up, someone to care and show them Jesus.  They don't need another theological discussion, budget meeting, or church potluck.  They don't need us to sit around listening to our Christian music, reading our Christian books, watching our Christian movies, hanging out with our Christian friends.  They need us to notice that they have fallen and pick them up.  They need us to get out of what is comfortable and safe and pick them up where they are.  They need us to remember that we have all been flat on our faces before and it's only by God's grace that we can help them find the Jesus that picked us up.

Hard Core Evangelism

Drew's friend Joey came over after church today and I am wondering what they learned in Cornerstone Kids today. Here is the conversation I just heard...

First let me set the scene - they are playing some type of fireman/army/pirate thing (compromise of all the thing they wanted to play). They are wearing fire helmets and carrying nerf guns and swords.

Drew "The Bible says we should be nice to our enemies"

Joey (a.k.a. Rambo for the moment) "Yeah, I know we are going to tell them about God and if they believe us we'll let them go if they don't believe us we will kill them."

Drew "Yeah, that's good"

Joey (to a pretend enemy) "God is the only good guy and he is on our team"

Drew (to the same pretend enemy) "Do you believe us?

Joey (answering in a different voice for the enemy) "Yes"

And off they go - no blood shed - they let him live. Good thing - I have enough of a mess to clean up. I am amazed by the imagination of 4 year olds.

Thankful Thursday

1.  Listening to Drew sing "God of this City" in the car.

2.  That I got out of WalMart alive on July 3rd - it was nuts in there and I think there is a hamburger and hotdog bun shortage.

3. Our bathroom remodel is DONE!!  New paint, tile and faucet. No more purple counter top!

4. My friend Boni and her sweet babies.  We had fun at the carnival tonight.

5. The way Emma takes care of her little brothers.

6.  Luke's magic shows.

7. Gods amazing creation - these beautiful mountains and the three tiny baby deer that played in our yard this morning.

8. My bed! It's past my bedtime! It's almost not Thursday anymore - better hurry and finish.

9. Last but not least - my best friend - my husband.

(thanks to Ainsley for letting me copy her thankful thursday idea)

What are our kids learning about church and God?

Here is a post I just read on Jen Antonucci's blog.  Jen has a blog for church planters wives.  I had the opportunity to hear Jen speak last month at a ladies luncheon that this chattahoochee mama put together.  Jen is the real deal and has a heart for pastor's wives and the lost.  This list of questions is something I think everyone in ministry - not  just planters or pastors or people in "full time" ministry  - should ask themselves.  What kind of image of God and the church do we present to our kids.  Just some things to think about.  I look forward to sitting down with Mike and answering some of these questions.  God has blessed us with the 3 most incredible children  (I know everybody thinks their kids are the greatest - ours really are - sorry). Seriously, I am always ready to soak up some new perspective to help us not make too much of mess while trying to figure out how to raise them.