VBS Week

Here are some pictures from Vacation Bible School. Those of you who know me know how challenging this week is for me. Reason #1--EARLY mornings and LATE nights
This was Monday morning. Half asleep and armed for battle. Catch phrase of the week: When 9:00 comes and we start, I'll be awake.
My nieces, nephew and me in our awesome tie-dyed VBS shirts. We like silly faces.
I lead worship and assist my dad, the director, each day. That mostly means I hang out with Chet and eat as many snacks as we can get our hands on and go to the Farmer and the Dell as often as possible.
My awesome nephew Logan gets spoiled now and then since he is the only boy. He helped Papa and Aunt Sarah a lot this week.

Deeper Life 2008

Finally I've got a better connection. I thought I would share my thoughts from camp through pictures. Here are some highlights...

Since I part way through the week I spent most of my time helping the leadership team with behind the scenes work. It also meant I got to spend a ton of time with my little sister Hannah. I love this girl!!!!

When I got to camp with a lot on my mind. The enemy was attacking our student ministry department and my family. I was so thankful for the encouragement and prayers of other faculty members. A five minute conversation with Day can give you enough encouragement to energize you for a week!Thursday we celebrated our place in community by washing each other's feet and celebrating the Lord's Supper. Since the leadership team doesn't have small groups, our campers stepped up and washed their feet. This interaction was one of my favorites.
New to Deeper Life this week was the Sean and James Show. No it isn't like the old school 2nd and 3rd grade morning show at RLCA. Seriously the two of them together is dangerous and incredibly hilarious. As a duo they are climbing up my list of favorite funny people. And Kelly's face in this picture is priceless.

Our Deeper Life Team dominated First Chance camp. There was so much energy Friday night during training. It was unbelievable watching our students step up and serve. It made our job as adult faculty ridiculously easy. Our first project of the day was painting the camp bell before the tiny campers arrived. You can tell Jill and Tom had a blast with this project.

But best of all was celebrating as campers took steps towards Christ.

A fantastic week!

Internet issues...

I've tired to post my thoughts on camp for several days now but have had no luck. Internet in Vestaburg is a it tricky most days. So once I get back to Mishawaka I should be able to get everything posted.

VBS has been going really well. I've had some great conversations with a few students. Tonight I finished the video for the closing program. Now I have to work on slides for the morning. Tomorrow is going to be a very long day so hopefully it won't take long.

Updates

Some of you may have heard about the Indian Lake fire on the news tonight. I've already received e-mails and phone calls checking to make sure I'm all right. Thank you. I wasn't home when it happened by my roommate called and said our apartment was fine. The fire was far enough away there wasn't any damage. Praise God!

I am back in Vestaburg this week for the famous Vestaburg Church of Christ VBS. This is the earliest I've been to bed on the Sunday night before in years! Lois couldn't make it home, which we are all pretty sad about. Even though she isn't here we still have an extra guest in the house. I brought my bags to my room and found this.Actually I found this little bugger hidden in my bed three different times already. Thanks to a little inside information I was able to produce a great "What is that?" scream that brought all the kids running upstairs. They loved this face.Tomorrow I'll post about camp and include some pictures. Off to sleep now!

Exhausted

We has an awesome week at Deeper Life. Our campers poured their hearts into serving at First Chance camp today. We were very proud of them! God showed up and did amazing things this week. I'll share more stories over the next few days. Until then, I'm going to get some sleep!

Camp Visit

I just returned from a wonderful visit to MCSC to see the Deeper Life gang. I absolutely love that team. It is incredible to watch them all lead together. In the midst of leading students, caring for their team is a priority. Sure I'm not a member of the faculty this week but today they made it a priority to encourage me in the process of serving students.

I stayed longer than I intended because I got up there later than expected. If you've ever been to an evening worship session at DL then you will understand what I mean when I say worship at DL is a unique experience. What happens when put 60+ high school students hungry for truth, a killer group of counselors and a leadership team extremely passionate about students in one room and tell them it is time to worship? Words can't describe it.

Eric and Wally make me laugh. They can switch roles faster than just about anyone I know. We are hanging out in the spa one minute and the next they are giving me very specific instructions about what I'm doing the rest of the week. So I'll sleep in and get some good rest tonight (I did not sleep last night.) and go back to the camp tomorrow to stay for the rest of the week.

YEA CAMP!!!!

Living Examples of Jesus, Part 7

Today's Living Example of Jesus:
Lois Koutz-Carver

The past 36 hours have been a whirlwind of emotions. I mentioned in the last post that our family has had several hits over the past several months. My little sister, Lois, seems to be getting a majority of the punches. I got a phone call early Sunday morning with the latest development in her situation. I got another call today and it just seems to get more and more complicated. It seems the harder we pray, the harder the blows feel.

I get so frustrated when people down play or even deny the spiritual war that is happening everyday. Are you kidding me?

"Watch out for attacks from the Devil, your great enemy. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for some victim to devour." 1 Peter 5:8

He isn't wasting his energy on sissy slaps on the back. He aims to destroy. And he'll mess with anyone who crosses his path in the process. I am convinced this junk keeps coming because my sister is making a difference for the kingdom and the enemy can't handle it. In the midst of all of it her integrity and character has proven strong. She may appear to be a small women but look out her heart is huge.

I don't understand why God allowed these things to happen this way but I know he is going to make himself evident in the process. I love my sister and know when this is finally done and over with, her testimony will be used to bring others to Christ.

Pray for my family as we walk through this together.

No camp

This has been insane couple of days. So many changes to my schedule! I'm really bummed I won't be spending this week at camp. It is all a very long story. All I have to say is I hate the devil! Pray for my family. The piece of trash, Satan, has been attacking big time. Does he have any idea who he is messing with?

Camp Changes

This afternoon we had some last minute Camp Adventure changes that meant there was a need for someone to go from the June week to the July week. Since my Oasis girls are going in July I quickly agreed to do just that.

I put my phone down after talking with John and had a brief moment of panic. What in the world would I do for a whole week and nothing planned? I've worked hard and taking it easy since school has been out and am about to go nuts.

I needed to call Eric and Wally to find out how I could pray for the Deeper Life team this week. By the end of those phone conversations, camp was back on the schedule for the week. So tomorrow I'll meet up with the team and join them for the week.

The are some major benefits on all ends with these changes. I'm a little disappointed I couldn't go to Camp Adventure this week but this just means more time for the ankle to heal so I can blob!!!!

Down side of camp...

I know many of you never thought you would hear me say there is a down side to camp. However, now in my 12th year of camp ministry I've thought of one. What is it you ask?

The 48 hours before camp starts...too much to do and not enough time to get it done!

Other than that, CAMP ROCKS!!!!

CHICAG08 Blog

The CHICAG08 blog has been updated. Go check it out!

Working at Home

I’ve been hanging out at my parent’s house this week. Dad and I were suppose to have a painting job at the near by Seventh Day Adventist Academy, but it didn’t pan out. Now we are painting our house. We have been redoing the downstairs bathroom and the patio.

The bathroom is almost 28 years old and this is only the third time it has been painted. I’m glad it is just a simple paint job because the patio is going to take some more work. My parent’s closed it in several years ago but never finished it because of a leak. This year they had a new roof put on and redid the drywall. The walls are painted so we are sealing the floor before we lay carpet.

My and I made shirts for VBS yesterday. There is still a lot of work that has to be done for that week but I’m way ahead of last year’s schedule. Well it is back to work for me.

Driving in a storm

As we left Becca and Matt’s reception Saturday night we discussed who was going to drive through the worst parts of the storm that was brewing. Everyone decided I would be the on lucky one. They were right.

After stopping to get gas and wheat-free food, things got ugly. As I drove west on I-196 I watched the clouds start to move in a circle. I was driving straight towards the beginnings of a funnel cloud. Fantastic. The wind was twisting trees and road signs in all sorts of odd directions. Then came the downpour. In an instant ditches were filled with water and sections of the road were puddles. The best part was the incredible light show.

By the time it got really bad, there was no place to stop. I debated over and over what to do. And be the stubborn person I am, I kept driving. I called my parents when I got home to let them know I made it safely. They informed me that roads were shut down in the Holland area because of the water levels. Some roads had been washed out. Others were blocked with trees. Several were without power.

I would be completely okay if I never have to relive that adventure.

Weekend of Parties

Last weekend was full of parties. Graduation parties….end of the year tie-dye parties. and…weddings!

Some of us girls from church got together to celebrate the end of the school year and tie-dye some shirts. Let’s just say by the end of the night we had ate tons of food, laughed a lot and turned funny colors. Read more about it on Allison’s blog.
Saturday afternoon my cousin, Becca, got married. Since we’ve gotten older we don’t see each other hardly at all but I love that girl. When we were younger, Becca could make you laugh so hard you would cry. Here are a few pictures from the wedding. She was beautiful like always. I’ll post a few more on facebook.

CONGRATULATIONS MATT & BECCA IVESON!

Starlite Ball Pictures

Last weekend Katie invited me to join her and some others to the Starlite Ball at the Century Center to watch DC dance. It was a great time hanging out with everyone and watching DC show off his amazing dance moves again. He was incredible. Unfortunately the pictures from his dance were not developed correctly. But here are some others from the night.

Quick Preview

I'm too tired now to write but there will be some fun posts coming soon. Look for these in the next day or so.

• Pictures from DC dancing at the Starlite Ball
• End of the Year Tie-Dye Party
• Matt and Becca's Wedding
• Driving through at tornado...or close to it

I know you are so excited you can hardly contain yourself.

Mercy

God, make me more merciful.

Red Wings Win!

GO RED WINGS!!!!!

Quotes

I cleaned off my desk today, which had a semester's worth of papers on it. I came across some random teaching quotes. Some of them caught my attention for various reasons. For absolutely no reason, I'll share them with you.

Never be afraid to sit awhile and think. ~Lorraine Hansberry

Just don't give up on trying to do what you really want to do. Where there is love and inspiration, I don't think you can go wrong. ~Ella Fitzgerald

Pleasure in the job puts perfection in the work. ~Aristotle

Individual commitment to a group effort--that is what makes a team work, a company work, a society work, a civilization work. ~Vince Lombardi

I challenge my students to reach just beyond that point where they are comfortable, so they will desvoer that their own perceptions of their potential are not their true limits. ~Barbara H. Wagner

Taking it easy...

Ever since I sprained my ankle I've had a thousand things to do and no time to rest. After hearing the doctor tell me last week that my ankle isn't healing probably I knew I was going to have to do something.

So the them of this week is taking it easy. I've been catching up on my list of movies I've wanted to watch and friends I've wanted touch base with. Later this week I'll start filing all of the lesson plans from this year but until then I'm not going to do much of anything but take care of my ankle.

I feel like a lazy bum but I would really like to play softball this summer. Over all the taking it easy gig isn't so bad. Who would have thought?!

Week in Review

Sunday Matthew and his family came to my parents house and I grilled chicken and burgers for dinner. And of course for dessert we had watermelon and s'mores. However there were no seed spitting contest since it was a seedless watermelon.

Monday my parents and I went to St. Louis to watch Matthew's family in the parade. Then Dad and Matthew cooked brunch for all of us. We ate so much food.

Tuesday was horrible as you can read in my previous post. That is all I have to say about that.

Wednesday was the last day with students. Praise Jesus! It was also our end of the year bash at Oasis. It was an awesome night. Jeffrey was generous enough to let me join the band for the last night. Good times. I also went to the doctor and found out my ankle isn't healing as well as he would like. He gave me three exercises to do is day and one is VERY painful.

Thursday I had a wonderful surprise phone call from Eric. He asked were I was and told me to come to Lula's and meet he gang. Eric, Wally and Mitch drove from Lansing to South Bend just to visit all of their favorite restaurants that we don't have in Michigan. They hit up Wings, Etc., Lula's, the Rib Shack, and Ritter's. If they would have had more time they probably would have hit up Hacienda too. Sonic isn't open yet so they couldn't go there either. Evidently they have been talking about this road trip for 15 years. Jeremiah and Jason met up with them too. I absolutely love hanging out with these guys. Yes I often find myself being the only girl.

Friday I finished cleaning my classroom and most of the music department. I was finally glad to be done with that. I spend the evening with Kristin, Cody, and Sarah celebrating Lauren's preschool graduation. I absolutely love that family. Cody is hilarious!

Yesterday was the marathon of high school graduation parties. After church I went to the Century Center to see DC dance at the Starlite Ball, or something like that. It was a huge ballroom dancing contest and ball. DC did an amazing job once again. It was so much fun to hang out with friends and students and support DC.

Today I finally got to hang out with Dominic. He has a loose tooth that is driving him nuts. We had a great time singing songs, dancing and playing with bubbles. That kid is so awesome. Other than that I've done something I haven't done in months...I took a Sunday afternoon nap.