VBS Day 3 (Go Tell)!

Today's VBS theme was "Go Tell". Jesus lives again and the women run to tell. So I thought I would come and tell about our day (we even played the telephone game). We have had to substitute the slime game with something else for the last couple of days because we couldn't get the recipe down. Well tomorrow we will have slime! The girls have been playing with it every since they made it (like having it run down their nose and the side of their mouth). I can't imagine what is going to happen when the kids get a hold of it! We had even more kids today. Everyone has been inviting a friend or two to join them. Yeah!!!! I can't believe we are at day three. Nicki played "Vanna" White today and Quisha was her assistant. I swear I don't know where I got those two from (the craziness runs on their dad's side). The children were wrapped in plastic today symbolizing Jesus being wrapped after being crucified and placed in a tomb. Yesterday was wore a funny hat, today we wore our favorite sports jerseys (of course I had to pull out the Disney gear) and tomorrow is crazy dress day. We have been encouraged to wear our clothing on backwards. We haven't had a recreational day because the kids have been enjoying their lessons . Frankly I think they are enjoying the games (and prizes) during the opening and closing so much that they don't miss it. LOL

VBS Day 2 (taking a risk)!

Today's story was about Esther, and taking risk. It was also the day Nicki ended up in the kitchen (which is risky in itself...LOL) helping with the meal and Quisha and I turned Marc's office into a nursery. All of my friends who have a portable church. You have got to share the secret. We had to change some people around today to accommodate more children showing up. I don't even want to think about Wednesday! Not sure where we will put them all by the end of the week. And we are already in panic mode about next year (sorry, its the planner/dreamer in me). The best part of the whole evening was hearing our teens get up and say they want to risk it all to help others in their area and community. So they are committing to serving past this week at VBS! I think I will share my copy of Servolution with them tomorrow.

VBS Day 1

I never tire of seeing my girls serve. Its in their blood. We have been volunteering for ministry since they were small. Its always included them working in one capacity or the other (from the kitchen to the classroom). Its no different at WABC. Of course sometimes it can get a bit messy. Apparently tomorrow they will be working with slime. Better them then me! LOL

Sunday Mind Dump Through The Eyes of the Wife (in picture form).

We made one last visit of the evening to my uncles home so that I could drop off his Father's Day gift. My uncle has been my surrogate dad my entire life. He along with my grandfather have been there for me no matter what. I lucked out in the daddy dept with them and then again when I met Marc all of those years ago. My children have a very special father who gives to everyone around him each day. I was happy to see him enjoy "daddy" day.

Marc with his twin sister Marsha.

Marc with his big sister Sharon.

Marc working on the his nephews TV. Even on Father's Day he is working! LOL

All of the girls together.

The girls with their cousin Jasmine who graduated from high school this week.

Marc playing with his great nephew!

The church surprised Marc with a card and gift this morning. You can tell by his face that he was surprised! His message today "Lesson's From A Famous Father" was about being the best dad that you can be. He reminded us that the greatest example of a father is our heavenly father and that if we need an example of what a father should be we need only look to God. I hope you all had a blessed day and to all of the dad's out there Happy Father's Day. We have a busy week ahead with VBS. Look for lots of updates throughout the week.

Total Surrender

Last year I read Dangerous Surrender by Kay Warren, wife of Rick Warren. The one thing that stayed in my head after reading her book was how changed her life became after visiting Africa and seeing the hurt and pain of aids. Instead of standing around talking about the problem she did something about it. I wish I had that kind of courage. A few months ago I followed along with Pastor Pete as he traveled on a mission trip. The last couple of weeks I have been following Michelle and her husband along with their three daughters on their journey to India. Now, I may never travel to India or Africa, but I can make a difference right where I am. I just have to have courage and above all I need to totally surrender to God and his plan for my life. That means taking dreams off of the back burner and just doing it. So tell me, what dreams has God placed in your heart that you have put off? Well, I say its time to get dangerous for Christ!

My Best Kept Secret

People are always asking me how the women in my family are able to maintain our youthfulness. Most of the time I say its in the gene pool. Hello, have you seen my mother? Of course know one ever believes the girls when they say they are 23 and 24. When they are asked, they say...hello, have you seen our mother. LOL. But honestly one of my best kept secrets is that I have been wearing Mary Kay products for over 20 years. At one point and time I was a consultant myself. And although my girls have dabbled in other products, they developed a love for Mary Kay products from years of exposure through me. Tonight we attended a Mary Kay meeting, and it was great watching all of the ladies receive adoration and praise for the great job they have done. We also got an opportunity to meet one of the National Directors for Mary Kay. Gloria Mayfield Banks kept us rolling tonight but she also offered some really great advice that can be applied to our everyday life. At the end of the evening both girls were ready to sign on the dotted line, and even though only one may sign in the end, I have to say how proud I am that they are even interested in pursuing a business of their own. We have always made it a point to tell our children that they can become anything they set their mind to. Tonight I saw the confidence they had in themselves that if given the opportunity they could succeed the same way that Mrs. Banks had. Gloria has an out of this world testimony about how she turned what could have been a tragedy in her life, into a incredible journey. People, you can't buy that. Our young people are being told that they won't amount to anything. Its important that we be role models that show them otherwise.

Monday Morning Ramblings (through the eyes of the wife).

1) By now if I don't post on Sunday night, you should know its because my weekend has been mad, crazy!

2) Marc has basically been "off" from preaching the last two weeks. The timing has been perfect for my family. We have had so many events scheduled that would have been near to impossible to attend if he had to be working.

3) I have forgotten what its like to be able to actually have Saturday as a family day. Hoping that in the near future we will be able to schedule family time in permanently. I don't think people realize how much of a sacrifice a pastor (and those who are part of a church staff) and his family give up for ministry.

4) Unfortunately his "real" job did not allow for much down time and although we were excited about our 26th wedding anniversary we never actually got the time to celebrate it. Good thing the actual day doesn't define our love for each other. We can celebrate this week (or the next week) as far as I am concerned.

5) Next week VBS begins at WABC. We actually had a moment of panic when we thought it started this week. That would have been so not good after the week we had.

6) Friday night we had "Open Mike Night" at WABC and lets just say there is some well hidden talent at WABC. I saw a few pastors (or comedians) in the making. LOL

7) The girls even got involved. At the end of the night there was a bit of shameless promotion for "The Bill Collector" (which my daughter Nicki just happens to be an extra in).

8) Saturday we spent time with friends who were celebrating the graduation of their son. Our kids have kind of grown up together in front of our eyes. Like us they are entering a new phase of life. It seems like such a long time ago since our children graduated from high school. Wow, time really does fly by.

9) Sunday we had our Youth Day celebration. One of the young men that Marc has been mentoring was the speaker. He and his wife have become a part of our family. The girls consider him a big brother and I tease Marc all of the time about his adopted child. Melvin has a powerful testimony, and this past Sunday he shared it with the youth. Please keep him and his wife in your prayers. Due to the economy they are packing up and moving across the country to new job opportunities. Melvin is a native of this area and the decision to move has been very hard on him, but I know in my heart that God has a plan for this young couple. I believe in my heart that he will show them things and take them in a direction they never imagined.

10) After the service we had a community picnic. As you can see by the photo above I was pretty exhausted by the end of the day. I came home, put my feet up and proceeded to take a 1 hour nap.

11) This week I will be back to cleaning out my home of unwanted clutter. Thankfully my schedule is pretty light until the weekend. We will be celebrating Father's Day and the graduation of our niece Jasmine. Another sign of time passing by. I remember as if it was yesterday having to change her diapers!

12) I have one last prayer request. Please pray for our home, and our church family. Seems like when you are trying to do the very best that you can is when the enemy decides to attack. On several occasions this past week that is what has happened. Unfortunately for him we are not backing down or giving in. The enemy will not win this round, and he won't steal our joy in the Lord.

Good Times

Spent part of the day with friends as they celebrated their son's graduation from high school. Its been amazing watching as our kids have grown into adulthood. Wow, time sure goes by fast when you are having fun!

On This Journey Together

26 years ago today I married the love of my life. We have been on this wild ride for so long that sometimes its hard to believe its been 26 years. But we have walked it together. Across oceans, through war time and peace time. Raising three beautiful kids (no, they are not perfect but they are pretty good kids, and we wouldn't trade them for anything). We have had some good days and some really bad days. Last year we found out what "in sickness and in health" really meant and we survived. The longest we have ever been apart from each other was the 7 months Marc spent in Saudi Arabia. At the most now we may be separated a few days. God has blessed us beyond our imagination.

A few years ago Marc lost his job twice within a year. It didn't tear us apart, it pulled us closer. When we got married people said it wouldn't last because we were so young. We beat the odds!! If I could offer any advice to young couples it would be to never give up. Its so much easier to throw in the towel. Its a lot harder to stay together. Sometimes you will go to bed mad, sometimes you will want to trade him or her in for a new model (or what you think is a better model). Don't. Marriage is one of the most sacred gifts God gave to a man and a woman.

The one thing I learned from the marriage retreat we attended this past February is that Marc is not my enemy. But the enemy does not want our marriages to succeed. I say he is a liar and he won't, can't have my family. Marc and I made a commitment to each other all of those years ago knowing we were in it for the long haul. No matter what. I'm looking forward to seeing what path God will take us on next. It's been a journey worth traveling.

It's Official !!!!!!!

The trailer for "The Bill Collector" is out! Nicki dragged me out of bed at 7 AM to show me. If many of you remember she got a chance to appear as an extra in her very first movie last year. It should not be hard for my family and friends to find her because she is all up in the camera! LOL I will let you all know when it is released in theatres. There will be a red carpet party! Did you really think I would let this one past by without planning an event?

Note: You will have to scroll down to the bottom and hit the pause button on my music to hear it.

Long Goodbye

We went to dinner after church then the girls went with David and Cheryl to visit one of the Navy ships that one of Hannah's friend had just come off of. When they brought the girls back we stood in the yard and talked, then talked some more when we tagged along with them to get sub's. Not wanting to say goodbye we tagged along again to the WAWA while they got gas. Good thing to, because this was the only picture Cheryl and I took together all weekend. Hannah and David Jr will be in a marathon in North Carolina in November. We may go down so that we can see all three kids together. Having Hannah on this end has really been a blessing because it has enabled the families to get together more often.

Sunday Mind Dump Through The Eyes of the Wife (in picture form).

1) We have had a busy, yet very fun weekend.

2) Marc had the weekend off because our pastor from Kansas (Pastor David licensed Marc to preach over 15 years ago) was in town to visit and was the guest speaker for the morning service.

3) It felt good not to have to go to bed early, or rush in the morning to get everything together. We enjoyed it so much that we slept in late (well late for us).

4) It was probably a good thing Marc wasn't preaching this morning because just as we left the house we heard a noise and realized our tire was flat and completely off of the rim. Marc had to change out of his suit and fix it.

5) We were blessed the tire didn't go while we were traveling to the country on Saturday (another advantage to Marc having the weekend free).

6) Saturday we got the full country experience.

7) In case you missed it I have had a pretty interesting week. It started with me signing off from facebook and twitter so that I could read this and this.

8) I also signed off from social media this week because I needed to fast from the technology. It seemed to be getting in the way of me communicating with my family. It was very hard at the beginning because I thought I was missing out on every ones lives. But it actually helped to make this weekend even more exciting because I spent the time hanging out and conversating with my family and friends (not to mention get in some great reading).

9) Last Tuesday I spent the day with some pretty remarkable women. You can read about it here just in case you missed my earlier post.

10) There is so much going on this month at WABC. I know because we got a couple of dates mixed up and had to do some fast readjustments today because of it. When you make a mistake its better to fess up to it, make the necessary changes and move forward.

11) We have had several regular attendees join WABC in the last few weeks. I swear I cry every time we get a new member. We now say they may not be coming in droves but they are coming one by one, by one. Its great to see the growth at WABC.

12) We have a big youth community picnic next Sunday. Hopefully this event will become bigger as each year goes by.

13) VBS Camp at WABC starts in a few weeks. The theme is all about giving back to others. I can't wait to see how this program impacts the people at WABC (hopefully it will motivate more of them to step outside of the walls of our church and into our city). There have been a number of shootings/deaths in the city in the last few weeks and months. We need your prayers (for our church and our community). There are so many lost souls!

14) Pastor David's message was on "Letting Your Little Light Shine". He asked us did we have a prayer list. A few people raised there hands. He then asked how many of us have a cell phone. He said if you look at the people in your contact list then that is your prayer list. The most touching moment for me was when he said that he prays for Marc and his ministry every day.

15) The second highlight for me was seeing my girls with David and Cheryl's daughter Hannah. The girls played together when they were small and now its just amazing to see them all grown up. We made up such an odd group back in Kansas (our three dark skin babies, with their three blond and blue eyed babies), but we formed a lifetime bond.

16) We have started to use our projector and screen for Sunday morning service. Nothing fancy, as we are still in the learning stage. We even started recording Marc's sermons and have been selling DVD's (the goal is to add equipment to our Media Ministry).

17) This past week Marc found additional desk (for a steal) that will be used for our computer labs. We now have enough computers, desk and chairs to start this ministry, just not the space to actually provide the service. Please pray that we come up with some creative solutions soon.

18) Speaking of creative solutions. We are looking for ideas on how to create a portable "children's church" program for our small facility. We have people who are waiting in the wings to volunteer for this but once again our biggest problem will be space. Our fellowship hall is the only available area that we have to hold it but we will need creative ideas to make this space work for what we need to do in order to start by the beginning of January 2010.

19) I have a couple of prayer request. Please keep Kelli and her family in your prayers. They have several medical issues going on right now. Also pray for my friend Michelle and her family who will be in India this summer with their entire family ( in case you missed it. Being a missionary in India is no joke). You can follow along with their journey on Michelle's blog.

20) There is so may more things I could share, but after all of the country air on yesterday and the relaxed day we had today this PW is just a tad tired! So how was your weekend? I would love to hear about it. As you can tell mine went pretty great (and just think Marc has next weekend off also)!

Community Picnic (Country Style)!

Saturday we traveled to the country to be with my mom and family as they celebrated with other churches in their community. Several African American and White churches have been coming together for the last four years to promote unity. A few have even switched pulpits on Sunday to speak. We had a great time minus the walk from the car's to the picnic area. We got a lot of rain this week and unfortunately it caused a bit of a muddy situation on the field. The girls were not prepared for this and Nicki ruined a pair of very cute shoes. As you can see by the picture she was not very happy. My kids have never liked dirt of any kind (TJ once took off a pair of pants in the middle of the playground because he got grass stains on his pants..LOL). They come by it honestly. I'm not to keen on the stuff myself. The host pastor tried to convince us to let our hair down and take off our shoes and play in the "mudge" (my name for the slush and mud we walked in). Of course my family was having none of that! All and all we had a great time fellowshipping with everyone and I got a chance to see some people I had not seen since my grandparents were alive.

Golden Girls (Angels)

Yesterday I spent time with our very own group of "Golden Girl's" (the Golden Angels). We went on a sightseeing tour of Norfolk and then took the ladies to eat lunch at Golden Corral. I have to admit those ladies kept us "youngins" going. LOL. Our driver and tour guide were ready to pass out by the end of the afternoon, and I have to admit that if I had not had a Staff Meeting that evening I would probably have been out myself (and I did fall out when I got home. I was so tired I fell asleep with the lights on and still in my shirt from the day). Of course it did not help that the air in the van wasn't working and we had to stop and get water for everyone (our planning strategy will be better the next time). But I think those of us who were supporters (that is what my badge said) of the Golden Angels complained more then the the Angels did. Our oldest passenger was 99, and not once did she make a ruckus about our conditions. How many times have we complained about even less?

They have already started planning their next couple of events which will include a fashion show, lunch on the Spirit of Norfolk, and a trip to Williamsburg to see the " Grand Illuminations". Who says its all over at 70?