Levi Came in Fourth Place...

In the Lake County Library Bookmark

His entry is here

Out of 800 entries in his age group!

Who's the boss?

This is what we are teaching Lyla. So far she seems to get that I am the boss, but she thinks she is the boss of the kids. They are scared of her if she gets in one of her aggressive moods. She is playing, but she thinks she is dominant. We are learning how to show her otherwise.

Cesar Milan, the dog whisperer, says the most important words to remember when owning a dog are Exercise, Discipline, Affection in that order. The exercise comes from at least two daily long walks, the discipline comes from rules, boundaries, and limitations, and the affection is hugs, and cuddles or the part that we want to do first.

We are working on getting the walk down. Who would have thought that just getting a puppy used to a leash would take over a week. She still doesn't always cooperate on the walk, but at least she doesn't attack the leash and look like she is a tornado.

Lyla knows that she has to sit to get what she wants- food, to come inside, a treat. She has learned to come when called (most of the time). She is learning that the person goes in or out the door first. She is not allowed to roam all over the house. She is either in her crate or she is is a small gated area in the living room. And of course, she is learning to potty outside and not in the house. She is doing well for us, but did not do well at my parent's house when the watched her for us.

We have no problem with the affection part.

She gained 2 pounds in one week and now weighs 12 pounds.

We are aliens in this world. 1 Peter 2:11

This was the t-shirt that our family and another family wore to Epcot. The shirts were lime green and on the front they had 3 eyes. Over and over people asked, "Why the eyes?" We would show them the words on the back and you could immediately tell if the person was a Christian. One lady said, " You are speaking my language." Other responses were "O-o- o K-k-k?" " That makes sense, I guess?" People tried to act like they understood, but if they didn't get it you could tell. I want to come up with a way to respond that would lead a person to Christ and not just confuse them.

What's on my mind?

-We are getting Lyla, our boxer puppy, on Saturday. We saw her today. She is so cute. I have read so much about training puppies that I am tired of reading about it and ready to do it. I don't think Grace tires of studying dogs. I think she has found a passion.

-Mandi wrote a worship song and played and sang it in church. It was beautiful!

-Baseball season has started. Dick is coaching 2 teams, and helping coach another team. We have games every weeknight except Wed. Levi, Mandi, and Olivia are playing.

-The Sunday after our church dinner, we had four visiting families. We are having another dinner the end of this month.

- I think I need to do a student led unit study with Mandi. She usually has good ideas and learns better if it is her idea.

Alien Kids

This Sunday, we start a new series in children's church. It is really more than a new series, really a revamped children's church. Every so often, I get inspired to redo the way we do things in children's church. So a few months ago, I started researching and planning. We will be using High Voltage Kids Ministries Curriculum and the first series is Alien Kids. We will be learning how we are different as Christians. I had invitations made with the Alien Kids logo. The kids were excited when I gave them out last week. I told them to invite their friends and they will earn points to spend in our new prize store. They will also earn points by coming, winning games, memorizing verses, and participating. Right now, we have less than 10 kids on any given Sunday. I am expecting and praying for at least 20 kids to attend Alien Kids.

I think about those kids while I am looking for new music, buying the Alien themed gifts to give them each week for coming, studying the lesson, finding puppeteers and actors, designing and ordering t-shirts that they can earn, and planning the decorations.

I need to finish this post because, it is time to finish preparing for Alien Kids

Thanking God for an amazing night!

Last night, we had a church dinner. We usually only have them on holidays or special occasions. But this dinner was just to bless the community. Our church meets at the civic center of our small town, which is in the heart of downtown. Dick and I have had a burden for this small area of working class families. Over the past 5 years, a few families have visited, several kids have become regulars or come when they feel like it. But nothing like the vision God has given us.

If you have worked in a church for any length of time, you know that just having a desire and working hard does not always draw the people you are trying to reach. Many times, you plan, work, pray and then nobody or very few people come to your event. It is hard not to give up. You pray for wisdom and keep working. That is what we have been doing for the last 5 years.

After our Christmas dinner, two of our members, were impressed to start having once a month dinners to bless the community. It was a great idea, but a little scary. What if we invested all this time and money and then nobody came. We decided to try one or two and then decide if we would continue.

Well, last night was the first one. We planned for 100 people. Fifteen minutes before we were scheduled start, we had about 15 church members there and maybe 15 guests. We were thinking about what we were going to do with all that chicken. 6:30 came and the people started pouring in. We lost count at 75. Remember, only 15 of that 75 were our church, and that was including 6 kids. The rest were families from our little downtown. There were smiles all around ! It was a sweet evening of good food and good conversation. One of our church members stated it best, " We wanted people to feel the love of God and I think they did. There was such a sweet presence here tonight and I think that people felt it."

One family in our church, accomplished in a few days, what we have been trying to do for years. The L's own the convenience store across the street from the civic center. It is the only one downtown, so just about everyone who live downtown shops there regularly. Almost all of the people that came to our dinner, came because the L's invited them. It was wonderful to see Mrs. L light up as her friends came through the door and she hurried to greet them. She made sure they had enough to eat and introduced them to the pastor and friends.

I can't wait until our dinner next month!

Mandi plays Jackson Blues

We just decided to add the rhythm tracks today. Fun!