Tuesday, May 5, 2009
Monday, April 13, 2009
Well I better get an April post in.
Meg, got a job offer in Mishawaka. I am absolutely ecstatic! I am so happy for her and for us. She has worked very very hard, and I really hope this job pays her off. Wedding planning is moving a long, and though it is not absolutely concrete yet, the day we are planning for is September 19th.
Last week I took the week off of work to help "chaperon" for the youth group mission trip to Galveston, TX. I still have not quite been able to process all of what took place in the last week, but I will try and get some of my thoughts out there. Let me get some complaining out of the way first. 2400 miles round trip on a school bus sucks. There is no other way to describe it. Though there were lots of laughs and 'engineering' that took place on the trip, I'll save that for another time.
On the way down, we were planning on making a quick stop for a splash of diesel, and we weren't even letting the kids get off the bus. We had already lost so much time, we needed to keep going. Well some of the adults got off the bus to stretch and such, and we came across a man who asked us what we were doing/where we were going. We replied that we were on our way to Texas to help with hurricane relief and that the youth group were doing this for their spring break. The man informed us that he was/is a pastor at a church in the area where we had stopped and that he wanted all the kids off the bus to buy a snack. We asked if he was sure and he said of course. So as the kids were piling off we were telling them to respectful and of course thank the man for his generousity. The kids all went in a grabbed a small treat, and when the man went inside to pay told all the kids to go stuff their pockets full, and to not just get 1 piece of candy, to get handfuls! It was amazing that we were stopped at that very same time in the same place as that man. We were told to expect the unexpected on this trip, and we hadn't even made it to Texas yet. (sidenote: the man said if we stopped back again on the way home, we could do the same thing)
Well after what seemed like forever, we finally made it to the church/ TeamEffort headquarters. It actually was right across the road from Johnson Space Center, that was pretty neat. We were told before the trip that all of us would have a bunk bed to sleep in. Wrong. The girls all had bunk beds, and the guys got to sleep on the most uncomfortable cots ever made. The last night, I slept on the floor.
Tuesday morning rolls around. Surprisingly I was wide awake after not getting much sleep the past 2 nights. When we finally made it to the job-site it was decided that I along with about 14 others of our group would work at a Baptist church hanging drywall in their basement that had been flooded. Neat. I had never hung drywall, but I learned very quickly. It was a very neat experience. It was a lot of fun and very encouraging to see kids who had never done a job like that before take to it, and learn, and by the last day, actually become pretty good at what they were doing. My partner that was working with me, most likely had never seen a screw gun before the missions trip, and by the 2nd and 3rd day she was sinking screws perfectly into the drywall and hardly ever missing the studs. It was awesome. The first day it looked like we had hardly gotten anything done, and it was a little discouraging, but by the end of day 3, it was amazing to see how much a rag tag group of people could accomplish. I really think we wanted to stay to make sure what we had started got finished, but that just wasn't in the deck of cards.
It was a lot of fun getting to hang out with all the kids, and getting to know them. They are all so different, but so much fun. All of them were great, and very few problems!
Going into the week I had so much on my mind, and it all seemed to melt away during the trip. It was a true refresher, even though it was by no means a vacation. I guess I would say it was more of a mental and spiritual refresher as opposed to a physical refresher. Our last worship service on Thursday night was very filling. It really made me think more about the Easter Sunday that was approaching.
Overall it was an excellent week, and I definitely would like to go on another one if the opportunity arises. There is so much more that I could talk about, it is just so hard to remember it all and how to get it down into text.
I didn't get this proofread so excuse any mistypes...
Chuff
Friday, March 27, 2009
Not again...
Awesome news is, we are just over a week away from leaving for our youth Impact missions trip to Galveston, TX. I am getting really excited, and I believe it will be an awesome experience!
Just thought that I better throw another post on here for the month.
Catch ya later.
Monday, March 2, 2009
If you like it then you better put a ring on it...
ps... Don't worry, you will be able to find us on Facebook either later tonight or tomorrow with our updated relationship statuses. Meg wanted to keep this a secret until after she has her candle ceremony tonight at her sorority, so we just deactivated until then.
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
Salmonella
Monday, January 26, 2009
I almost forgot.
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
I forgot about Monday.
Monday, January 12, 2009
Monday... are you suprised?
Monday, January 5, 2009
Monday again...
Monday, December 29, 2008
wheeew!
- Worked until 3, got home and got ready for the evening, then took a very short nap.
- Then it was off to Grandma and Grandpa Wise's where we enjoyed a traditional ham dinner. We also had our traditional family time of singing songs, and had a great time of sharing thoughts. We also drew our traditional pictures on the table cloth. Then came presents, and the quickest, most effiecient "white elephant" gift time I have ever witnessed.
- Stopped by Meg's extended family Christmas eve get together for a half hour or more and got in on a little Buzzword.
- Headed over to Grace for the midnight Christmas eve service.
- Headed home a little bit after midnight and exchanged Christmas gifts with Meg.
- Slept in, that was nice.
- Opened gifts with the family, and that was a great time. Gifts were really nice and thoughtful, and I couldn't have asked for more.
- Played my new Guitar Hero until family showed up for Christmas Day Soup!
- Headed off to Meg's Christmas in Elkhart.
- I don't really remember. Drawing a blank. Oh, it was foggy.
- Saturday featured the Huff Family Christmas, and it was a great time! Getting to see my Aunt and cousins from Wisconsin, and my cousin and her husband from Wisconsin who announced that they are expecting! And my cousin from Alabama who was also up. It was so nice having the whole family there, although we missed my Uncle Paul who couldn't make it down, and of course Grandma, but she is always with us.
- Me dominating the ping pong table. Not sure how that happened, I haven't played in years.
- Was refreshing, and a nice breather. Headed to church and then home only to get a call to come in and grab some grub at the B-hop.
- Went home and watched some football/napped.
- Went to see Marley and Me with Meg, J and J, Angie-pants, and Sarah. Then indulged in some wonderful Texas Roadhouse.
- Got back to Bremen and hung out and talked with J and J while playing with K and K.
- Sleep.
Thursday, December 18, 2008
Don't get caught in the cold...
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
Nothin'
Monday, December 15, 2008
Nothing too exciting.
Lighting the Fire
It wasn’t a normal drive to work this morning. It was different. I usually listen to music to help get me going in the morning, but I never turned that dial. I just listened as thoughts entered my head and with a little trepidation I decided to jot them down. I realize what I say may hurt some feelings, although that is not my intention. Rather, I am looking towards the future. The future of ONE Church.
Let me start off by saying that I understand that we all have a lot of history within our own churches. Many of you may have been married here, or this is where you have said some of your last goodbyes. Where you were baptized and where you were received as a member. I get this. Over at Grace, I was in my Aunt’s wedding, and was where my Grandma’s funeral was. I was baptized and accepted as a member. Even though these are things I’ll never forget, I still look towards the future. Our future should not be dictated by our past. We need to look past the “I’s” the “me’s” and the “we’s” and look at the big picture.
We must look at this great opportunity put before us. We have this chance to become one! To combine our resources, and more importantly, our people. Why should two brick walls divide us? At this point I am worried about what will happen if the merger doesn’t take place. Dozens of people from both churches have worked tirelessly for over a year to make this dream a reality. I don’t want to drive a wedge between this dedicated group, and especially not because “we” can’t accept change. “We” aren’t doing this for “us”! We are doing this for THEM! Yes, the unchurched. Change is going to happen regardless of whether or not this merger takes place. We can’t afford to stay stagnant. I realize there are a lot of new things going on, but at this point, we are out of room! This is an example that “we” aren’t doing this for “us”! We are doing this for THEM!
This year, I have had the opportunity to help Josh and Jessica out at Impact on Wednesday nights. And let me tell you, it is a beautiful thing. To see these kids consciously make the decision to come to church on Wednesday nights in amazing. I think this year we have close to 80 kids involved, with an average Wednesday attendance ranging from 45 – 60. I don’t know how many of you have ventured up to see worship on Wednesday night, but I would encourage it sometime. My point is we are almost out of room. It makes it difficult to bring a friend, when there is hardly enough room for the kids we have now. But take a look Sunday morning, where are these 45 – 60 kids? Where are their parents? I really believe if we could offer a praise service on Sunday, we will be seeing these kids twice a week, and once they are that involved, we are going to be seeing their parents. This is another example that “we” aren’t doing this for “us”! We are doing this for THEM!
This fall something else is new. Wednesday night dinners! They are fabulous! Great food, and great fellowship. You know what would also be great? It would be great if we were feeding families that don’t have a warm meal, if we could help a family with one meal that might put them a day ahead, instead of a day behind. Instead of writing our names in the attendance pad with a little number circled identifying ourselves as partaking in the meal, having that little number indicating how many guests we are going to bring. To reach out and truly make a difference one meal at a time! Again I am not complaining about the meal at all, it is wonderful, but there is more that we can do. Oh, one small problem, no pun intended. The fellowship hall is already almost full. This is just another example of how we have almost become limited by our own actions. This is another example that “we” aren’t doing this for “us”! We are doing this for THEM!
Now this one is going to sound like a plug for “me” but I think that I have to be this voice, because, if you look around, there isn’t anyone else to do it. I almost feel like I am a lost generation here. Where are other people my age? The 23,24,25 year olds, where are they? Looking at the census, it would indicate that there are probably 250 – 350 of us. I am guessing some of the other churches offered them a praise service. Nappanee Missionary, Granger Community, they draw people in from all over the place, and people are willing to go out of their way to find a church home that fits their needs. We can do this! This is where the new life and blood of the church is. I am sure there is a good deal of college age, and recent graduates in the area. The commuters who drive up to Bethel, and IUSB, and Ivy Tech, and all the other institutions, and we can reach out to them, if we can offer them something. How about young new couples, looking for a church home and church to get married in. We can’t offer a center aisle wedding! You may say, little things like that aren’t important, but maybe this new couple wants to start their relationship with God and this is the ticket to open their new hearts to Jesus Christ! That is just one example, but I am sure there are many other little things just like that, that we can’t currently offer, but will be able to in the future.
So quickly is closing, I would just like to state we have an excellent future in front of us. How exciting would it be to open a new church in Bremen, Indiana? It would be awesome! Can’t you just hear the buzzing around the coffee shop, the BP, the Peel. It will be hard to get the doors open when the people are lined up to come see this new church. It won’t be an easy task, and there will be a few speed bumps I’m sure. But we are doing this for THEM, the unchurched. This is not the time to sit around and quibble over the “I’s” the “me’s” and the “we’s”! This is the time to move forward to become ONE church with a goal to serve our Lord, to serve our community, and to serve one another. The church is not a building, the church is the people!
Sooo... huge post, no big deal.