Memorial Day Weekend/NYC

Over Memorial Day Weekend, we took our high school seniors and some juniors to New York City. Of course Amelia had to make her first youth trip. She did amazing and all of the students were great with her.

We drove up Friday during the day and we stayed in Secaucus New Jersey. We then took a bus in crazy traffic into the city to go to a Met's baseball game. (note of fun: I left my phone on the bus! Luckily they turned it in but I didn't take any pictures the trip, so I am stealing from everyone's pictures!) They gave us all free hats, even Amelia! Of course we were late with the traffic but it was fun for everyone.

Saturday we went in groups and we went with the guys. We saw the Statue of Liberty, walked to Ground Zero, walked around the Financial District, and went to Times Square.  The students went to see Mary Poppins on Broadway but I didn't think that Amelia could sit quietly so we hung at the hotel. I was walking with Amelia in the Ergo carrier to get some food in the rain when I started falling. I tweaked my knee to not fall but I was like a little gimp after!

Sunday we went to the Apostle Church and they said that Amelia did great in nursery! (I was a little shocked!). We then walked through Central Park which was my favorite! We got tickets to the 9/11 Memorial which was really neat. They made these deep waterfall pools where the two towers once were with the names of all of the people who lost their lives engraved around.

We finished Sunday walking through China town and Little Italy. Little Italy made me miss (big) Italy! We drove back Monday morning in a bus with no A/C! Sunday was Amelia's most fussy day but who could blame her?

Amelia really did awesome the whole time. She barely took naps but was in a great mood the whole time.  She even slept better was sleeping 6 and 7 hours straight! It was great with the guys because they would carry her stroller up all of those Subway stairs. My favorite was some of the kids had never held a baby before. Amelia even let some students into her 'inner circle' like Ashley here. Such a fun weekend!

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What We Have Been Up To...

Last weekend we took our students to a Dare 2 Share conference outside of DC. It's a conference focusing on students sharing their faith with our friends. A highlight for me was Shane and Shane leading worship! I loved them since high school so it was neat to introduce them to our students! We had a great time learning how to practice our faith during the weekend. It was an eye-opener for me as the youth were learning about witnessing in how much I still needed to learn. Still very humbling in ministry...

For Valentine's Day, it was a gorgeous springy day. We took our dogs to the dog park. We went early in the afternoon and we were surprised by how many dogs were there. Since we are new to the dog park 'scene', we are starting to pick up when the dogs are ready to leave. When it gets to the point when they are just hanging out on our laps, we know its time to head home!  Joe also helped me make Boeuf Bourguignon and Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cupcakes. Yummy! We finished the night off with the romantic movie The Social Network :)

  

Then the highlight of the month was our trip to Ikea on Saturday. Joe had been hinting to take me to Ikea so I decided it was the day and off we went! The closest Ikea is about two hours away but still worth it. We came home with a new entertainment center that was on sale. Our TV was previously sitting on a goodwill find of Joe back in his bachelor days. We then spent a 'fun' evening putting together some furniture and we tried to watch Inception but I got confused...

 

That's what we've been up to....what have you been up to?



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Small Groups

Sunday nights, we have started small groups for our students. I am blessed to a be a part of the High School Girls small group. Each group is studying Crazy Love: Overwhelmed by a Relentless God by Francis Chan. It is all about how this amazing God loves us and our response to that love. We have 30+ girls each night for hanging out, eating, and most of all good discussion and Bible study.

How awesome to hear girls talk about their stuggles and how they have been they have been praying for their friends. Even how they can talk to the classmates about the gospel



Can you say amazing?

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Girl's Sleepover

What happens when 70 girls get together and you 'sleep' at the church?

You play a lot of games. (And may have the police called on you if you are outside)

 You tie-dye shirts while I slightly freak out about a mess!

And you all dance to Just Dance 2 and I got quite a workout. I loved it so much that I ordered it just so I could make Joe play!

And you get to spend the night with some amazing girls whom we love!

 

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Elevate Worship Service

Tonight was our kick off worship night for the youth. It was a great night because a. I did not have to work and b I got to go to church!

We had 70+ students tonight and the student response was great! Lots of planning, praying, and effort went into starting this worship service. We really encouraged the students to bring their friends to church and Joe taught a great message in Genesis about the gospel in creation.

Joe showed this video to start




We love our students and so thankful God called us here!


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High School Fall Retreat

This past weekend, we had a blast at our High School Retreat. We had 30 students come and had a great time in worship and learning about being Living Sacrifices.

I also introduced the students to the game Pit. I heard comments like "This is the best game EVER!" You can see us playing it in the video.

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Pack Your Bags!

This weekend is the High School Fall Retreat. I feel like I am a little more prepared for this retreat but we shall see. Maybe I'll get more sleep?

 

 Expect lots of pictures to come!

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