Back to School Barbecues!

Okay, I'm not trying to throw people off with this post, but it's not taking place in SL. I'm back home now! 

Note: Those familiar with the differences between IA and MN lingo would be able to tell this from my word choice. Had I been in Iowa, I would have called this post "Back to School Sloppy Joes!" or "Back to School Maid Rites!" or "Back to School Taverns!" However, because of my roots and the fact that this event took place in the Great State of Many Lakes, I've chosen to use the proper name of this delicious sandwich.

Last year, the First United Methodist Church served a meal for all of the students, along with their teachers and families, the night of Back-to-School Night at the elementary school. Since our church is across the street from the school, we're in the perfect location! The congregation served a meal again this year, and since I was home, I got to be a part of it!

Some women from the church, Mom and I started browning hamburger and mixing the BBQs a few hours before the event started. (We used a recipe from the Presbyterian cookbook. This could have caused a bit of controversy, seeing as we were in a Methodist kitchen, but thankfully chaos did not break loose.) We had four crock pots and three electric frying pans loaded and ready by the time 4:30 rolled around!

 In addition to the BBQs, we had potato chips, apples, carrots, celery, and juice. It was all really good food, but the apples were especially delicious! Good work to whoever found those! 

The crowd was a little sparse to start out, but things picked up pretty quickly!

The meal was a great success!  We served a total of 250 people, up from 160 last year. We had to make a couple runs to the store for more buns and veggies, but at the end of the night we had exactly the right amount of meat for everyone. People were able to sit and relax together, closing out their summer to begin another school year.  I had the chance to catch up with a few former teachers and meet people from a town where I thought I already knew everyone. Great fellowship with my church family and with the whole community!

Although this meal was put on by our church family together, the beautiful woman who is my Mother coordinated it.  I have no clue all the things she did before I got there, but she faithfully directed the group in setting up, cooking, serving, and whatever else needed to be done. Yes, God was ultimately in control of the whole thing, but seeing her lead others as she followed the Lord's was a great reminder of how I have been blessed to have a mother who loves the Lord and loves serving Him.

I'm sure many of you have read all of the posts about the things I've done this summer, and they've all been about great things. But throughout ALL of that, Mom has shared wisdom, encouragement, and prayers with me, whether through a phone call, a text, or a long walk together while I was at home. Now, on top of all that, I got to see her lead this group and was reminded of how it is I have been influenced to live the life I do. God picked my Mom out special for me. He placed a woman in my life who I could watch every day as she faithfully and lovingly served Him. He didn't make me play any guessing games about how He would have me live my life. He gave me someone to talk, laugh, love, and live with in my own home. I'm blessed to have this Godly woman as my Mother, and I pretty much love her to pieces.

KFC

This post is long overdue, but I wanted to write it anyway because KFC was a fun week! 

KFC is a VBS-type program at Summit for 4-year-olds through 4th grade. This year it was sports-themed, so all the kids did practiced their skills in a sport of their choice for the week. They played soccer, basketball, cheer leading, baseball, t-ball, and games galore.  

A group of Czechs Summit has made connections with through trips to the Czech Republic came to the U.S. and helped with the camp. They were wonderful! They didn't hesitate to get involved with the kids, and many of them shared powerful testimonies of what God has done in their lives.

Side-note: The Czech team also met with the Bridge team each morning for prayer and a devotional. My absolute favorite day, one of the guys brought his guitar and did a music devotional with us, and to end, we sang "Here I am to Worship" together. They sang in Czech; we sang in English.  Worshiping one God with one song in two completely different languages, it just felt like a piece of heaven. Won't it be glorious to all come together to worship when we meet our Lord someday?!

Okay...back to KFC!

Because we had some older girls who wanted to come, Caitlin and I spent time with them on Thursday and Friday. We did some dancing, decorated cupcakes, took pictures, and sat and talked. All stuff we ladies enjoy!

One of our young ladies is quite a talented cupcake decorator. When we talked about our dream jobs, I was not surprised to hear her say she wanted to have a bakery. I'm thinking hers is one sweet shop I would definitely stop in to frequently! She does some beautiful work! (Then again...her work looks so good, I don't know if I could bear to eat it!)

We danced to music from Summer Sizzle, and even did one of the Zumba routines (well...we made a valiant effort)

Quite possibly one of the best parts of the week was riding the bus with the kids. Last year, they would sing secular music. For the most part they would keep it PGish, but sometimes it got to be a bit sketchy.  Even songs with "clean" lyrics have some questionable messages nowadays! Well, that problem is gone! One of the older girls wrote some Bridge Kids Chants that they say on the ride. It gets to be a bit loud at times, but it always helps to join in! We also did a few renditions of "Baby Shark," "There's a Melody," "Rock, Sword, Shield," and some KFC worship songs.

Well, that was the final kids' camp of the summer! Camps are always some of my favorite memories because I get to go have fun with all the kids I love. Everything is relaxed, we can act a little silly, and someone else plans activities for us to do! I have no idea whether I will be back for more of these next summer, but I will not be disappointed if I am!

Attitudes Change

So this summer I think I have read my Bible more than I have in any other season of my life, and I've realized that I really enjoy it. I mean I never DISliked my Bible, but I've never sincerely been excited to go spend time in the Word...I had more of a neutral attitude I think. 

Attitudes change. I am just about finished up with a Beth Moore Bible study on the book of James (I missed a couple videos that I need to go back and re-watch.)  She puts together some truly stellar studies that get you turning pages through your Bible constantly and reflecting on what God is telling us through it all.  One cool thing about Beth Moore is that you do her study and then see how excited she is about it in the videos.  She says stuff like "And this is the part where I found myself in tears as I was typing at my keyboard," (she phrases it much more tastefully than I just did.) I usually read this kind of thing, say "Uhh...yeah...," read what it is that she found to be so astonishing, and think "Yeah, I guess that's pretty neat."  But I never really get that same kind of "WHOA!" feeling.

This morning I was working on putting together this Bible study for a group I'm going to meet with on Sunday. I ended up somehow being lead through a whole bunch of different verses on the Gospel. I chose to do his part of the study because I had some questions related to the topic and wanted to find answers. I typed out verses I found, kind of connected them to one another, and then this understanding hit me like I can't even explain to you. I had so much joy that I sat by my computer and laughed for a minute. I told God I had no clue what to do because I was so excited. Naturally, I called my Mom and texted Deb to tell them what had happened. And I felt my heart praise the heart of God.

So I have a feeling you all are currently having the "Uhh...yeah..." response I usually give to Beth Moore. I'm ok with that...because here's the thing. I told myself I wouldn't ever be distinguished enough in my Bible knowledge to be able to find the kind of truths that she finds in the Bible. THAT IS SO WRONG! I'm going to be honest. I had never sat down and really sought the truths God wanted to show me. Have you? If so, please tell me about it! If not, please ask God to show you how awesome He is! You won't regret it because God promises He'll come through.

"Ask and it will be given to you. Seek and you will find. Knock and the door will be opened to you." - Matthew 7:7

Summer Sizzle!

Summer Sizzle was amazing. 'Nuff said. Well, not really...because I'm obviously going to tell you more about it.

As counselors, we began and ended each day with prayer, which was definitely necessary. Starting the day drawing from God's strength and ending the day thanking Him for the great things that happened kept us sustained and focused throughout the day. Of course there were tons of praises said during that time, but we shared struggles with each other and prayed for each other.

All the counselors were great, but I think I was especially blessed to be able to work with Emily, Jerica, and Naomi.  We had a ton of fun with our girls, and I learned so much from them! 

We were with a group of fifth graders - They call us Mellow Yellow. 

(Y-E-L-L EVERYBODY YELL YELLOW!)

We began each day with the girls in worship. Throughout the week during this time we sang some great songs together, watched skits and heard testimonies from counselors, and  memorized Matthew 5:3-10, the Message version of the Beatitudes. 

After having all the girls together, we split into our teams for Something Real time. We studied the Word with the girls, talking about what it means to be the light of the world. We shared about how Jesus wants us to give him our burdens, be the young women he created us to be, and love and care for one another. 

The most precious part of Something Real for me was praying with the girls. After the main lesson we wrote prayer requests down on slips of paper and each took one to pray for someone else in the group. I felt like I was truly in fellowship with the girls during this time. 

The food team provided us with delicious meals each day, and our tables were beautifully decorated with candle lanterns - another example of what light looks like!

Monday, Wednesday, and Friday all the girls went to St. Mary's gym for Zumba! Personally, I love Zumba. It's possible I had more fun than the girls did. However, I think it's safe to say most of them liked it quite a bit too!

Each team got the chance to go swimming one afternoon of the week. The yellow and orange teams went to the lake Monday, and the other teams went to the BVU pool on Wednesday and Friday. 

We played a game of shark in the water, and I was thoroughly exhausted after so much hunting of minnows and running from sharks that I was ready for snack when we got back!

Tuesday and Thursday were field trip days. Sadly, I was unable to be there Tuesday because of a doctor's appointment, but my team went to Faust. They all had the chance to get their hair and makeup done and their nails polished. Based on the stories I heard, I think they had a great time! Look at these beauties!

Thursday we went to Cool Catz Pottery. Each of us cut a clay letter and painted it. I really enjoyed this field trip because I got to sit with the girls, chat with them, and get to know them better (and make a letter of my own, of course.)

Wednesday and Friday we went to different workshops that were held at St. Mary's church. 

Kristy taught us about different animals in nature that glow, and the girls made UV bracelets. The beads are clear inside, but when they are exposed to sunlight they change colors. The girls wear the bracelets as a reminder that they need to keep close to the light of Christ if they want to keep shining their light too!

With Katrina, they painted art pieces to hang on their walls that remind them of Jesus' light. After they had painted their main design, they put finishing touches on with some glow in the dark paint!

They learned about how to read nutrition labels and made a few snacks: one healthy (yogurt, fruit, and granola) and one not as healthy, but still delicious (microwave brownies with ice cream.) They also learned about skin care and tested some Mary Kay products.

In our last session, we made pots together. It was fun to see all the creativity!

After our normal activities on Friday, we broke up into groups for service projects. The girls collected canned food all week, and some of the teams went to different store locations in the community to hand out fliers about the Bridge and Summer Sizzle and ask for donations. 

My team went to Methodist Manor, a nursing home in the community. I was a little nervous that the girls would be shy, but they were great! We walked around to different rooms and talked with the residents, and the girls had so much fun. They were eager to ask each person his or her age (I'm not sure all of the residents appreciated this, but some thought it was funny,) and we did our Yellow Team cheer for them (quietly, of course.)  We went down to the dining hall, and one of the men there said "You're going to sing for us, right?" Well, that wasn't planned at all. No worries! Naomi played two of our worship songs and we sang along, and then we did our cheer again. The girls really had fun at the service site, and even the ones who said they were afraid to talk later told me they were surprised how fun it was! I was very proud of them.

Then we went out to Summit church for supper, water games, and a bonfire. It was a great time for fun, but also a time for reflection and conversation about what God did during the week.  We had a short devotional in our teams about the burdens and sins in our lives, and the girls wrote down sins they wanted Jesus to take away and burned them in the fire. We prayed together and counselors prayed with some individual girls as well. Girls who accepted Christ and wanted to commit to shining their light for Him put their name on a star and pinned it to a map of the world. 

The last part of the evening, all the girls gathered around the campfire and shared about how God impacted their lives during Summer Sizzle. Many girls shared their appreciation for their counselors' support in allowing them to open up and talk about what they were struggling with. Some shared about how they felt like Summer Sizzle was the first time they ever felt like they could be free to be themselves without having to worry about other people making fun of them. One young lady shared about how she accepted Christ last year at Summer Sizzle and now realized how important it is to maintain her relationship with Him all the time. All of these things were testimonies to the many many ways God was at work in all of us throughout the week.

In closing, we all lit candles and sang "We Are" together one last time, proclaiming to each other and to the Lord our commitment to shine His light for all the world.  I prayed with my girls one last time, and we said goodbyes. 

The girls had a lot of fun and grew a lot, but God definitely taught me many things as well. I received many reminders that the God I was teaching the girls about is not a God who is distant and unloving, strictly giving us constant orders on how he wants us to live. He is a God who sits beside us, endures hardships with us, and whispers truth to us along the way.

I also learned what a blessing it is to pray with other women. I'm not talking about a sit around the table and say a quick "thanks for my meal" prayer. I'm talking about getting real and pouring out your heart to God together. Meeting after a rough day on Thursday, a few of the other counselors and I talked and I shared some of the things I was feeling discouraged about.  They had been having some of the same feelings, and together we  rebuked the lies the enemy had us believing and got on our knees to pray to God. I had almost been to afraid to talk with them, but I am so glad I did. I can't even express to you the freedom I felt after being honest and affirming one another.

How wonderful it is to fellowship with my Summer Sizzle sisters in Christ. Keep shining the light, ladies! 

"He who began a new work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Jesus Christ" - Philippians 1:6