The Last Month of Summer

I figured it'd be real silly if I let the whole month of August go by without a single post. I have been very very busy, but I think I can manage to squeeze in a quick post. :) As most of you know, I was gone a lot in July and August. Let me give you a quick re-cap of the last month of my summer. :)

July 11-14 - Lauren & I went to visit Rachel in Galveston! We had a great time relaxing at the beach and pool and very much enjoyed catching up!

July 17 - Pokeno on a boat - this was a great time with my girls :)

July 18-24 - High School Mission Trip - I did blog about this, but it should be listed to show how much time I spent away this summer

July 30-August 6 - Casey & I went to Guatemala on a mission trip with our church - life-changing. Will for sure blog about this soon

August 7 - Scott & Erin visited us and we went on the boat and to Zanata's for dinner! Good times!
August 8-13 - Casey & I went to Riviera Maya, Mexico for vacation - it was amazing! Will for sure blog about that, too :)

August 12 - Summer II ended and I have 9 hours of straight A's under my belt :) I did my online class on high school mission trip, Guatemala, and Mexico and still pulled it off somehow!!
August 16 - I started back to school - staff development week - the craziness begins!!
August 20 - Lauren gets hired at my school as the library aide! I get to see her everyday :) So fun!!
August 23 - 1st day of school! I have my 3rd year of 6th graders. They are a lot of fun and very sweet!!

August 27 - went to a movie with Casey and then shopping with Lauren
August 28 - went to Kristin's baby shower (I can't believe my friend is having a baby!!!) then went on the boat with Casey & Lucy!!
August 29 - lunch with Casey, Jeremiah, and Lexi, doggie date with Lauren, Daisy, & Lucy, 1 hour massage at Massage Envy, and hanging out with my mom in the evening!!

Let's see what's in store for September!! I bet it's good ;)

4th of July

Before fireworks Casey and I went out on the boat for some 4th of July tubing and skiing fun! We took Lucy with us and captured some pretty sunset photos! :)

We followed up the boat time with fireworks at Harry Meyers Park in Rockwall! It was a really good time! :)

Come Find Me in Heaven!

Our last night at the kid's club was awesome. There was a very somber feeling in the air. Our students knew they were about to get into some important stuff with the kids. Because they allowed God to use them, over 20 children came to know Christ on our last night!!! It was such a fun and celebratory night!!

playing red light, green light!

sharing the Gospel

making "Jesus bracelets"

saying goodbye to our friends - the ones we met in 2003.

The saddest part about mission trip is saying goodbye to the little friends we meet and build relationships with, but it is so neat to be able to tell some of them that we will see them again in Heaven and that they need to come find us when they get there!

Tie-dye Fun!!!

On Wednesday we told the kids the story of Noah's Ark, painted rainbows, and then tie-dyed shirts to remind them of God's promise to never flood the Earth again! The shirts were a hit, and we will be passing them back to the kids tonight (they have been hanging out to dry)! Because Casey & I were at the tie dye station all night, there are not many pictures of day 3, but here are few shots from the end of the night when we got together and sang songs with the kids (always a fun time:)!

Tonight is our last night to minister to these sweet kiddos and I am sure tears will be shed when we say goodbye to them! Please pray hard for our students tonight as they share the story of Jesus and His crucifixion, burial, and resurrection. We will follow up by making bracelets with 5 colored beads representing the plan of salvation - black representing the sins that we carry, red representing Jesus' blood sacrifice for our sake, white representing our sins being washed white as snow, green for our growth as Christians, and finally yellow, which represents the gold streets of Heaven where we will meet Jesus and see each other again!

Even More Kiddos Than Before!

On Tuesday morning some of our kids went to a women's shelter to help clean up their donation pantry and clear brush while another group went to a church to begin painting. They did an awesome job and worked without complaining. They have really been serving others and each other all week and it is a very neat thing to watch.

Our 2nd day of kid's clubs was awesome!! We had over 70 kinder-6th grade kids show up as well as the same 15-20 teenagers! Our students did a great job telling them the story of Daniel and the lion's den, playing with them, and showing them Christ's love! Check out some of our pictures from Day 2!

Please continue to pray for our students and the little children that they are reaching out to.

Zephyr & Kid's Clubs!

Monday morning we headed out to Zephyr Baptist Encampment to cut down trees, wash windows and cabanas, rake up leaves, and pull weeds! The students had great attitudes and worked hard for several hours before heading back for lunch!

A couple of boys kept us very entertained with their pretty singing while they worked. ;)

Ready to wash some windows!!

Around 5:30 we headed towards Diaz Park to start our Backyard Bible Clubs! We were so excited to meet some kiddos! When we arrived there were a lot of teenage boys there playing basketball and skateboarding. It was a great opportunity for the students to minister to some people their own age. I don't think they expected this, and they did a GREAT job making new friends and building relationships! Not counting the older kids, there were about 25 kinder-6th grade children on Monday night. There were probably 20 teenagers that stayed and hung out with us as well. Several moms also stayed and we were able to get to know them as well. It was a great first night!!

Teaching the story of Jonah in the whale using a water bottle, blue food coloring, baby oil, and a whale cracker :)

And like I said before, our kids did a great job getting to know the guys their age - which is often the most intimidating!

They students did such a great job at making connections, and in the group last night many of them talked about the impact that these little kids and teenagers are already making on their lives. We hope to be able to form relationships this week that will enable us to share our faith with them before we leave and hopefully see some make decisions that will change where they spend eternity. Be praying for this!