Teen Camp, part 2

There was a lot of team spirit going on all week long. Take a look at these guys....

Colin, Matt and Garrett made capes out of a green-checkered tablecloth to support their green team--Safari. 

Besides playing games and saying memory verses, another way they could earn points for their team was to sing in the choir. Every day after lunch, they practiced a song, then sang it that evening in the service.

The last competition is called "The Quest." It is a clue-type scavenger hunt. At each location, every member of each team has to participate in an activity before receiving the next clue and going to the next location. At the final destination, each team has to choose an envelope that has a point value inside. This year's winner was the Expedition!

One of our teens, Abigail, enjoyed signing her name on the Quest cup. Each member of the Expedition signed the cup with pride.

At the end of the week, Q got all of the youth pastors and their wives together to take a picture. I thought it was a fun thing to do and remember. Three of us couples have been doing this for the four years that we've had camp at Silver State. Pastor Matt (second from the left) has been the camp director for this and has done a fabulous job every year! 

We praise the Lord for the decisions that the teens made during camp. There was a great spirit overall and we had fun with them for our last year with them. Praise the Lord!

Teen Camp, part 1

I'm so glad I can show you some pictures of our time at Teen Camp. I was having troubles uploading the pictures yesterday. We left for Silver State Baptist Youth Camp on Sunday evening after our annual church picnic. 

Q is on the far left, and I'm on the right next to Mrs. Fiedler, who came to be a help in the girls' cabin. Andrew, the intern, and Nick and Zach also came to help in the guys' cabin. For the first time in four summers, Q and I got to have our own cabin. We felt so much more rested and relaxed this year!

On Monday morning, the teens were divided into four teams: Safari, Expedition, Posse, and Crew. All week, they competed in basketball, softball, volleyball and other team games to earn points for their team.

This was a usual site at the basketball court during the week. Whether it was for team competition or during a break, this was a popular spot.

Everyone met in the chapel three times during the day. We sang songs, heard special music, then listened to preaching from God's Word. A few men rotated on the preaching. We were excited to have our very own pastor preach a few times during the week.

Each morning, Q led in a time of devotions for all the campers and counselors. He led in a song, then had everyone spread out in the chapel or outside to spend time with God alone. He made up sheets with questions on them so that we could go a little deeper into the reading. Our devotions this year came from I Peter.

Next time....part 2 of teen camp!

The "thank you" journal

Q and I received a special surprise from the teens this past Sunday night at our last singspiration. I was still quite emotional about it yesterday, but I think I can now write this post to tell you about it.

As we were concluding our song and praise time, our Pastor interjected with words of praise to both of us for our years of service at the church and school. Then he said that the teens had something to give us. One of the graduates explained to us that they put together a journal that included a note and picture from each of the teens so that we can remember them for years to come. They also inserted a restaurant and Starbuck's gift card, which was great--but we loved the journal more.

I shed a few tears at Pastor's home as this gift was presented to us. The girls came up to me and gave me a hug with a few words of thanks. When we got home though, the tears came like a flood and we started reading through the journal. I told Q that I'd rather cry it all out then and there, so we read the entire thing that night. The first note was a general one from the entire youth group. Then as we turned each page, we laughed and cried at the pictures and notes the kids wrote.

They all said "thanks" in their own way, and some shared their favorite thing about youth group under Q's leadership. A few of them shared how they had fun in my class years ago (third grade), as well as in recent days in my choir these past two years. One of my favorite notes came from a young man who started attending our Christian school a couple years ago. He came from Korea and got saved last year! His note said, "I got saved because of you." WOW! All the praise goes to the Lord for that. There have been recent times that I've been discouraged, but this journal encouraged our hearts in so many ways! It came at the right time. God is good, isn't He?

Perhaps you're thinking of a way to show your appreciation to someone at your church. Whether they're staying or leaving, I think this "thank you" journal is a treasure that they'll keep for a lifetime.

By the way, I tried uploading pictures from camp, but was unsuccessful. Camp was a blessing and the teens made many decisions for the Lord! We were glad we were able to spend all last week with these kids that we've invested our lives in for several years. To God be the glory!

Grocery Challenge update: week 3

The end of week 3 ended the day we left for camp, so now that we're back, I thought I'd share with you how this week went. We only spent $11.90!! Only a couple of those dollars were used at the grocery store, while the rest of it was used to buy our dinner at Subway the night we left to take the teens to camp. Subway is considered to be pretty healthy, right?

Here's what helped us this week:

1. Q found some milk that was starting to go bad at church and brought it home. I used it to make pancakes (frozen for later use), waffles and the delicious banana breakfast cake (recipe below).

2. We were invited over for dessert and two dinners by some of our church family. Because of our upcoming move, friends have been inviting us over to spend time with them before we leave.

3. Our church picnic this past Sunday was a blessing because all we had to bring was either dessert or a side dish. The church took care of the chicken and drinks, and with everyone bringing their favorites, we had an awesome lunch!

Enjoy the recipe below. Q and I enjoyed eating this cake for breakfast, but you can definitely eat it any time of the day. It came from Camp Ironwood's cookbook called, Come and Dine.

Banana Breakfast Cake (8x8 pan)

1/2 cup margarine

3/4 cup sugar

1 egg

2/3 cup mashed banana

1/2 cup buttermilk

3/4 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 2/3 cup flour

1/3 cup nuts (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cream margarine and sugar. Beat in egg until fluffy. Stir in banana and buttermilk. Add remaining ingredients and beat for a minute or until well blended. Bake 40 minutes or until set.

We're on our way to teen camp!

Q and I are heading up to camp today with about thirty teens and a few other sponsors. We're leaving in about an hour! I'm pretty much ready to go, but I've got to head to the church in just a short while.

We're going to Silver State Baptist Youth Camp and staying up there until Friday night. There will be preaching, games, good food and tons of activities for the teens. Please pray for safety and that the Lord would work mightily in the hearts of the teens and leaders.

I'll post about our time there and will give you an update on week three of the grocery challenge. It officially ends tonight, with week 4 starting tomorrow....but I just did not have time today with packing and all to write about it.

Have fun this week and I'll "see" you in a few days. In the meantime, you can look around my site for ideas, as well as the blogs listed on the side.

Adios for now! :)

My Garden: mystery solved!

Q and I went out to the garden again today because we're anticipating the ripening of the tomatoes. They're still green...oh well.... We did figure something out though about one of the veggies that have been growing. Remember that round green thing that looked like a watermelon?

We believe that it is a pumpkin. It just happens to be in a different location than the rest, but it sure looks like the other ones. We'll have to continue to watch it to see if this is the right verdict to this mystery!

The beets are nice and ripe. They're not my favorite, but we picked this one because Q wanted to try it.

The cucumbers are growing as well. We will be picking these soon. We really enjoy eating cucumbers in our salads.

The squash has been getting bigger, too. We picked one, along with more zucchini and carrots to give to friends tonight.

I can't believe that in less than a month's time, these carrots have grown immensely. We don't want to pick too many just yet. We want them bigger, of course. I'm anticipating the day that I'll make my mom's famous carrot cake with these.

I hope the next time I give an update that I'll be able to show you some ripe tomatoes. I've got some great plans for those guys--can't wait! How's your garden growing?

It's official!

Quentin met with Pastor Kemper today to let him know that we've decided to be a part of First Baptist Church. Q will be his assistant until he retires in January. Then we will be the new pastor and pastor's wife of the church. Exciting! Our last Sunday here is on August 16, then we will begin commuting to Lafayette for services.

We are excited with how the Lord has orchestrated this big event in our lives. I know He will continue to guide us and give us wisdom in the days ahead. Here are some prayer requests that we're asking everyone to pray for during his transition time.

1. Continued strength and focus to finish our ministry here with excellence.

2. That our condo will sell within the next few weeks, as we can move into the parsonage in Lafayette at the beginning of September.

3. That we'll have enough time and energy to finish up the packing at our place and in Q's office.

4. That Q will be able to find a part-time job as things will be very tight for us starting out in a small church.

5. That we'll bond quickly with the folks at First Baptist Church, and that Q will learn much during these next few months on how to run a church.

Thanks so much for your prayers and support.

I will praise thee forever, because thou hast done it. Psalm 52:9