Monday, June 25, 2012

BLESSING

All I have to say today is another lesson learned. Did something I didn't want to do because it was the right thing to do and God turned it into a blessing! We serve an AWESOME GOD!!!

Missing all our softball & baseball players & their families! Good luck on all your games! Get back to church as soon as you can!

This coming Wed. night: Popsicles, playing & devotion.

Remember VBS will be coming up July 23-27. Our theme is the Olympics! Allison Williams does a great job at putting this together but I know she will need lots of support. Start praying about how you can help.

Monday, June 18, 2012

Hear Instruction and Be Wise..... Not Like Me

Still funny how God plans messages & lessons. After last week realizing I need to get out of my comfort zone & share Jesus with those I prob would not approach, God sends me the message again! I know He is telling me something because here was my Sunday school Bible verse: Hear instruction, and be wise, and not refuse it Proverbs 8:33. This applies to my whole life! LOL I don't not follow instruction well. My parents will attest to that! If my Daddy told me one thing you can bet I was going to do the other. Save my money, I'd spend every dime, guy no good, at that moment perfect in my eyes ( husband excluding because my daddy loves Jami), study and get an education, I flee Auburn after one night, Gadsden State, JSU no degree, drive carefully, nope 3 wrecks in one month. At 39 my Daddy still tries to tell me what to do and I still roll my eyes and ignore him. I am not forsure Joey and I are really related. I can't remember one time in my life he was ever in trouble. He followed instruction! So my lesson in ss was about the parable of the sower. There is 4 types of people in this parable. The person who hears God's message but does not understand it.. not me I understand it fine. The person who hears & accepts God's message but does not cause it to become lasting. Still not me. The person who hears the message but allows the worries of the world to choke it out of his life. Ugh, sometimes I kinda fall in this category. The person who hears the message & uses it in his life, goes out and tells others about Jesus. The one I want to be all the time! I feel like God gave me some instruction last week about stepping out of my comfort zone, I struggled hard with that..was not effective at all because I let several opportunities pass by. So here it is, God gives me this verse telling me to follow instruction because He sees I did not listen the previous week to His promptings. He is used to me not following instructions! Thankfully my earthly Father & my heavenly Father give me numerous chances!! LOL God knows I need them! Just going to try again this week and see if I can do better at following His instruction. I did step out yesterday in preaching & move from the 3rd pew all the way to the very last one. I didn't like it.

Great night this past Friday at the Trussville Playstation with some fabulous church kids. I wanted to stomp them in laser tag but I was the absolute last person in points! Figures! Doughnuts with Dad turned out well too. We are so blessed at WBBC to have such great male role models for the kids. Friday night is a community family movie night. "Yogi Bear" starts @ 7, free concessions from 6:30- 6:55. Invite someone because I want to see the gym packed!!! Have a great week and I hope to see a bunch of kids Wed. night. Looking forward to the WBBC mens softball starting up tomorrow night.

Monday, June 11, 2012

Stepping Out of My Comfort Zone

So funny how God lines conversations. preaching & opportunities up. After the youth went to Six Flags on Wed.  Arlo was telling me about the scavenger hunt & how the youth were challenged to go up talk, get a pic with people that they might normally shy away from. Examples were someone w/ lots of tattoos & piercings. Then Joey spoke about how we do the same ole things because we are creatures of habit, sit in the same ole pew, teach the same way in Sunday school & expect church to always start at 11:00. These topics made me start thinking. I always sit in the same pew. I might get to know others in the church better if I moved around some or I might have a different perspective on how the service was sitting in the back verses the front. I might be a more effective teacher if I mix Sunday school up a little. You all know by now that I am shy & struggle with this so definitely walking up to a person who looks different than my normal friends would be hard for me to do. I am always in my comfort zone. I pretty much don't travel outside of RBC during the week, I talk to the same people & visit the same stores. If I was a dog, I'd be a good dog because I stay close to home. So last night we decided to venture all the way across town to Alabama City & pick up Little Caesars pizza. I was waiting in the car for Jami to come out &  there it was.....God showed me what I needed to see. This extremely dirty young guy walked in front of my car. He was slouched over like the entire weight of this world was on his shoulders. He was the picture of down & out, pitiful looking!  The Christian inside of me should have gotten out of my car & went up & talked to that young guy but the devil won & shyness along with other fears took over. The only thing I even said was to Jami when he got back in the car & that was did you see that poor looking guy???FAILURE, DEFEAT, DEVIL PREVAILED! But did the devil really win? I tossed and turned all night, praying sometimes specific, sometimes random thoughts. I woke up early with clear vision that I need to step out of my comfort zone or I am not going to be a very effective Christian. What does this mean for me? I don't know yet but I think this week I am going to purposely shop on the other side of town & let God place someone in my path I can talk too. I know I will be in a different pew Sunday. Who knows... I might be sitting beside you!

 Lots going on with the kids this week so here is the list!

Wednesday night June 13. 5th grade boys go to Sonic. Bring money for whatever you chose to eat. Be back at 7. The rest of the kids will be doing missions with Teresa Coley & Mollie Williams.

Friday night June 15th . Leave church 6 pm for Trussville Playstation. Cost is $25.00. Should arrive back by 10. Need to know who all is going so I can plan on transportation.

Sunday June 17th Doughnuts with Dad. 8:30 in the fellowship hall. For kids to bring the special men in their lives to church for a lite breakfast. Will need some moms to volunteer to help with this.

Friday June 22 Family movie night in the gym featuring " Yogi Bear". Free popcorn & drinks. Step out of your comfort zone & INVITE SOMEONE!!

Monday, June 4, 2012

JUNE: A Packed Month

I am going to try & not ramble to much but get straight to all the KID STUFF for the month of June. It is a month packed full of activities. I want to remind you that even though we are out of school, vacationing & in general moving at a slower pace we should not take that approach with God. If anything, with the extra time we have, we should use it to pull closer to Him. Of course, I am one to talk! LOL I always pack my bible when I am going on a trip but I realized almost at the end of my vacation last week that I did not pack it. That is right... I said at the end of my trip. I went almost a whole week without even thinking about reading my bible. I felt horrible when I realized that I had really put EVERYTHING ELSE in front of God.  So this is the 1st Monday morning that we are home on summer vacation and I am making plans to get closer to God. I hope you do too! He wants us and I NEED Him! Here is a kids list for June.

"Operation Ben Clough" last day to turn in boys clothing or shoes is June 6. I have not given alot of details on this but I would love to see this become an annual event in memory of Ben so I will definitely have bigger plans next year!

Wed. night kids June 6: Water Wednesday Playing water games so have your kids wear clothing & shoes that will not matter if they get wet. Bring a towel

Wed. night kids June 13: Katie Smith & Mollie Williams will teach on missions. 5th graders will go to sonic. Load van 5:45 be back @7:00. Bring money for whatever you chose to eat.

Friday night June 15 Kids go to Trussville Playstation. Ticket is $25.00 but that includes 3 go kart rides, 3 laser tag games, mini golf & skating, pizza & drink. Leave church @ 6 pm

Saturday June 16 Brotherhood swim party for young guys. At Tom & Teresa Coley's home. They need some men to volunteer to chaperone & I believe time is 2-5. Bring a towel!

Sunday June 17 (Father's Day) Doughnuts with Dad. 8:30 in the fellowship hall. This is a 1st for us but I wanted to celebrate the terrific Father's we have in our church. The kids & their Father's, Grandfather's, Uncles, a male who is important in our children's lives are invited for doughnuts and a time to relax together before Sunday school. I will need a few mom's to volunteer to set up and help serve.

Friday June 22 Family movie night in the gym, featuring "Yogi Bear". This is for the community so invite some folks. Bring a chair or blanket. Free popcorn & drinks. 6:30 - 6:55 concessions  & movie will start @ 7. Will need volunteers to help w/ concessions.

If you have any questions please email, text or call me. Have a GREAT 1st week of summer!