Tuesday, August 24, 2010

Vacation Bible School

Be prepared for a long post ahead!  Now that my schedule is slowly falling into place, I wanted to take the time to share a few of my spring and summer experiences with you.  The first will be VBS...... 

This past summer I enjoyed helping out with VBS at Parkway Baptist Church.  My family and I have been members there since January of this year and we have enjoyed becoming a part of the PBC family.  When the first announcement was made about the upcoming VBS, I immediately called to get on board!  Believe it or not, this was the first VBS that I had helped out with, so I was excited to learn the ropes.
  
VBS ran from June 7th -11th, 9am-12pm each day.  The theme this year was "High Seas Expedition" with the station leaders and youth workers all a part of the Crew on the adventure.  The director assigned me to three kids, of whom I was in charge of throughout the week.  

The week of traveling along in the High Seas Expedition brought a new adventure and Bible point each day.  
-  Monday we learned that God's Word is True
-  Tuesday we learned that God's Word is Comforting
-  Wednesday we learned that God's Word is Surprising
-  Thursday we learned that God's Word is Life changing 
-  Friday we learned that God's Word Gives Direction 

Anytime a group leader would mention a Bible point, all the kids would shout "Let's Go!", meaning: let's go on the expedition with God and and discover more truths about Him. 

Each day our color group would travel a certain path around the church, making sure not to miss each of the special stops! We traveled to the following places each day:

                   Bible Voyage



Esther Hulkenberg and her helpers did an awesome job capturing the kids attention.  As we followed the life of Paul, each day the small room was transformed into a house, a boat, a jungle, a birthday party, and then the city of Jerusalem!

                  Crafts

Mrs. Tracy Culberson did a great job at preparing all the crafts.  The  kids went home with a pillow, pop-gun, bird, and journal.  

This is my team!!  Red A2





















This cutie is listening attentively to the instructions.


















Hannah Culberson and Sarah Kate Brooks holding their decorated journals.

        Sail-away Cinema


These sweet people did great leading the cinema time.  After we watched a short video clip, we would discuss how it related to what we were learning.  Each day before we left we posted our God-sightings on a poster.

                Games


While the kiddos released their energy outside, the crew leaders rested in the break room=) 


These are my fellow Red crew leaders!  Hayley Speck, Hannah Koehn, Rachel Robbins and Mrs. Hunt

    Goodies from the Galley





This snack represented the story of Paul shipwrecked on the Island of Malta with poisonous snakes. We of course ate vanilla wafers and gummy worms!

























      
              Mission Clip


Mrs. Dianne Edgeman shared with the kids each day about life in Romania.  Throughout the week each team worked to complete a small blanket, one that Mrs. Edgeman would pack and deliver to the kids in Romania!
        Group Time 


This was a time where the kids learned the Scripture Memory verse, Bible Point, and new songs!




















                       Sarah F. and Sarah B.

It was such a blessing getting to know all the crew members and to have the opportunity of teaching young kids about God's Word.  I look forward to next year!

Wednesday, August 18, 2010

College Plus Advertisement=)

Hello to all!

This post is for those of you who are looking for a way to further your education.  Many people, old and young alike, are realizing the importance and necessity of have a college degree.  On one hand they want to have a college degree, but on the other hand they have no desire to spend 4 years of their life studying to get one.  This was me.



















I am so grateful for College Plus.  They provide a way to get an accredited college degree that is fast, for less, and for sure.  Students gain the credit needed for their degree by CLEPing (college level examination program) out of the required classes.  All the learning and studying can be done from home and can be done to fit your own personal schedule.  My favorite part about the whole program is that they provide coaches.  A personal coach is there for you and will help you schedule and plan out the path for obtaining an accredited degree.    

As you probably saw in my recent post, I started College Plus just a week ago, so I am still learning all the ropes.  

I will sign off here, but be sure to check out the following link to get free info about College Plus!

www.collegeplus.org/?requestinfo?tellafriend=6008

The gift of TOMS

My birthday gift arrived in the mail today!  I am SO THRILLED!  Lately I've heard a lot about TOMS and now I am excited to own my own pair.  Thank-you cousins for being so generous!














Have you heard about TOMS?  You should check out their website:  www.toms.com   For every pair of shoes you buy, they give a pair to a child in need.  














As you wear your own pair of TOMS, be reminded to daily walk in the ways of the Lord!  

"Make me to go in the path of thy commandments; for therein do I delight."  Psalms 119:35 

Monday, August 9, 2010

College Plus!

Today is my official start date with College Plus!  I'm excited about getting back into the routine of a school schedule, but I'm more excited about starting with this new form of education that's faster, for sure, and for less!!  And this day is special and unique because it's 8-9-10, a day that will never again pass by the calendar.  


Thank-you Lord, for the blessings of education!


 "Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above..."

Monday, June 7, 2010

My Discipleship Class

 "That ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God;" 
- Colossians 1:10 -

I am so excited to introduce to you my discipleship students!
  
            Michaela & Donelle
Back in April of this year I started a discipleship class that meets at my house twice a month.  My students, Michaela and Donelle, are best friends that both live about a mile from my house.      
Above are some of the goodies I gave them at the first class.    
 My main focus in this class was to encourage the girls to deepen their walk with God and learn to love and devour His Word.  The Bible is our guide for life, and one of the first things we must do as a Christian is develop a desire for it. 
1 Peter 2:2 "As new born babes, desire the sincere milk of the Word, that ye may grow thereby;"   



I was blessed by the cheerfulness and enthusiasm both the girls demonstrated each time we met.  



Michaela and Donelle are both so sweet and I love them dearly.  I look forward to seeing how God will use this Discipleship class to grow each of us closer to Him.  







Wednesday, May 26, 2010

Pictures Galore!

Welcome to this post of pictures!  You will be viewing the result of my Advanced EXCEL photography assignment: a photo scavenger hunt.  Please scroll your way through. I am very interested to know what your favorite picture is, so please comment to let me know! 
  
1. Stapler - This is the antique stapler that's been apart of my family for years.  



2. Reflections - I like the clouds in this picture. 



3. Leap of joy - Dove chocolate has a way of cheering me up.


4. Fear of Poison Ivy  -  I've been allergic to poison ivy for as long as I can remember.  











5. Coffee - No telling which country this coffee is from. My Dad is always bringing back different little packages. I found it in our cabinet and thought it would make a nice picture. (Comment and let me know if you can decipher the language.)  



6. Shadow of time - This is my shadow in our front yard, and no, my hand really isn't that big. 

7. Love of God - My God is the covenant-keeping God of the universe! Rainbows remind me of His unending love. Unfortunately, this picture only captures a fraction of the rainbow that was stretched across the sky.    

8. Shoes - I couldn't decide which shoe to take a picture of, so I threw them all together.



9. Date - This date on the calendar happens to be very special...it's my birthday.


10. Passion - Yes, I have a passion for kids.  These particular girls were my Incredible "I" Pre-exel team at the Big Sandy Regional Conference.  

11. Self Portait  -  This is me, the author of this blog. 



12. Making a Statement - This seems like a pretty bold statement to me.


13. A memory - Making memories with friends from church. (This was the day I discovered my favorite popcorn flavor: jalapeno-caramel. Yes, you should try it!) 


14. Weather - Rain, rain, go away.  


15. Broken - This was a fun picture to take. 

16. Green -  Green is my favorite color, because it represents growth.  

17. Music - I thought about posting a picture of my clarinet, but this picture won the race to the blog.


18. Dream  - I dream for a lush and flourishing garden.

19. A tool - Flowers have long since been my tool for happiness. 

20. Journey - Just as this flower, I want my life journey to be one that is constantly reaching towards THE LIGHT, Jesus Christ.

21. Funny - Don't eat Jelly Bellys because look what they're advertising: Fat Bellied Beans!  Do you want to turn into one of those? I guess you can tell I don't care for jelly bellys.


22. Fire Truck - WAY TO GO MCKINNEY FIREMAN! I caught these men headed to the rescue.