Fun Faith!

For Dick and me, experiencing Fun Faith is like living our dream, a dream that God planted in our hearts many years ago. The fulfillment of the dream is still in the making.

Fun Faith is an outreach that our church does for the kids of the community. We are targeting the kids ages 9-12 that do not go to church, because right now that is what we feel equipped for and called to minister to. We know that if we invite them to church, most of them won't come.

When you are called to a minister to a certain people group, you must first learn to speak their language. If you don't speak their language, they won't understand you. Kids speak the language of " fun", so that is how we speak to them. When we speak the language of fun, we are saying to them, "Fun matters to you and you matter to us." Once the kids realize that we mean that, then they will listen to what we have to say. We speak a language that they understand.

Fun Faith is an event where kids ages 5-12 have FUN and learn about God. This year we had a 3 day event. Two days were at our town's civic center and had an Olympics theme. Our motto was "Go For God." The kids were divided into teams with different country names and competed in 4 different games to see which team would get the gold, silver, or bronze medal. The games involved big buckets of slime, crickets, a tricycle (Thanks Jake! The kids loved it!) whipped cream and a Wii. Also, each group also took a break from the games to hear an awesome Bible lesson.

We had an opening ceremony where we sang a crazy, fun song about Jesus and a closing ceremony where we song a slow, prayerful song about Jesus with a brief message about going for God.

And of course we had pizza and snacks at the beginning and end.

The last day was a water slide party at our house!!!

Here are some amazing facts about this year's Fun Faith.

-About 90% of our church adults were involved. This is part of our dream, to have the whole church catch the vision we have. It was so amazing to be able to walk around a place buzzing with excitement. We were able to focus on making sure people had what they needed and I even got to take video clips and pictures.

-We had about 30 kids participating. We have around 10 kids in our children's church so this was a lot more for us. But more than the numbers, was the fact that there were kids there that I have been inviting to church for a long time. Some of them came and 2 of them came to church on Sunday morning and loved it.

-Almost all of the people that were there, over 50 I think, joined in singing and dancing to the song " I Came to Party, With My Friend Jesus!" Just picture a sporting event for Jesus. I live for moments like that! Its part of my dream!

-All the kids raised thier hands saying they wanted to live for God and prayed with us.

-We were more organized than we were last year and Gidget helped us tremendously. She helped us with a lot of the leg work and planning and she did the Bible lesson. This was huge for us. The week before, I found myself not knowing what to do with myself sometimes, because things were already done. Thank you, Gidget!


There are many more details that I am excited about. I get excited by the details, because I know that they are part of the process of fulfilling the dream.

I am having fun?

Olivia was playing in the sand with our neigbor's little girl. I asked, "Can I play?"

She gave me a funny look and I said, "Do you think Mommies can't play?"

She said, " No, mommies don't play. They just clean up what we do."

So I asked, "You mean, mommies can't have fun?"

"No," she answered. "They have fun when they are cleaning. They turn on the ipod and they have fun."

If I could just convince all my kids that I am having fun, maybe they would rush to join me. That is my plan anyway.

When I am weak, then I am strong.

I am a first born child, and I became a Christian when I was 4 years old. I have always tried to do the right thing and make wise choices. I believe that because of that, I have a wonderful life. But sometimes it can get in the way of trusting God the way that He wants me to.

Sometimes, I find myself worrying that I won't be good enough for the task at hand, or that I won't make the right decision, when really, I should be trusting God to be in control and provide what I need. When I do this worrying, I am not experiencing the kingdom of God to its fullest. I don't have the peace or joy that is available to me as a child of God.

The one time in my life when I was able to do absolutely nothing but trust God, was when I experienced the kingdom of God the most. When I was lying on the operating table, about to be cut open with only local anesthesia, and I didn't know whether I had a dead, alive, or brain damaged baby, was when I felt the closest to heaven or the kingdom of God. I have never felt peace like I felt then. The situation was totally out of my control so I was somehow able to totally put it in God's hands.

After the operation, I felt like God was a celebrity at the hospital. I had so many people telling me that they heard about how God helped me through. I was telling God that I was so glad to be a part of bringing so much glory to Him, when it dawned on me. The time in my life when I did the very least and trusted God the most, He got the most glory. Wow!


Maybe that is what God was telling Paul when He said, " My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness."

And maybe Paul understood when he answered, " For when I am weak, then I am strong."

Would you believe that I like....

...Cutting my kids' fingernails, because I know that they are growing up and I get to be a part of it.

...gathering up kid's dirty clothes to be washed, because I imagine all the fun my kids had getting them that way.

...finding that my kids have outgrown clothes or shoes, because it reassures me that they are growing, so I must be doing something right.

...taking Olivia to the bathroom, because I would rather her go in the potty than on the floor.

Vacation Pictures

1. My baby brother Anthony, with his baby, T. J.

2. It looks like a mirror image, but it is really T. J. and Ezra in the playhouse.

3. I think my dad and T. J. have the same expression.

4. Levi playing Frisbee with Anthony.

5. Happy 4th of July from Libby!

Playhouse and garden pictures

4th of July Parade

We enjoyed a hot, Georgia 4th of July parade. My two nephews Ezra and T. J were in the wagon and my brother J. R. and his wife Kayla were walking in the parade. My brother Anthony is pulling the wagon. His wife Jennifer was also walking with them, but is not pictured.

I am standing by my mom, pointing out the parade walkers, Grace is standing by my sister, Nadia and Mandi and Libby are watching, too. Levi is not in the picture.