Good morning. It has been a while since I have blogged but I wanted to let you know what will be happening soon and talk about things I have witnessed in the past. 

Lets start with the soup lunch fundraiser. Thank you to everyone who cooked, set up, served, cleaned up and especially those who donated. We were blessed with $477.00. I have not received an email back on the cabins but both are showing booked for the times I requested so it has to be for me! I'll start planning out the trip this week and begin seeing who wants to go for sure. Please don't think this will be like a luxurious vacation. You could end up on an air mattress because I will put as many people in a cabin as I can to avoid us renting one. It will be fast paced and you will probably have to help cook and do dishes. We cook breakfast and supper at the cabins. It will take all us adults working to make the trip a success. It is about the children so their needs and wants will come first. There will be no time to go shopping at the outlets! lol If you choose to go you will have a good time, the kids will have a good time and adults and children will get to know each other much, much better. This will be the 4th or 5th trip we have done to Gatlinburg as a children's group and I have so many great memories! The very first trip we did, Amy Martin's car got hit, while it was parked in front of the cabin,  and while all the kids looked on. The man just continued to drive on, even with someone trying to stop him. The police came and it was a habitual offender who was intoxicated. It was our first night there and it was CRAZY!! I didn't think the kids would ever stop talking about it. Anyway, I look forward to this group making some memories of our own!

So now that we know we are going, we need to come up with some definite plans to raise money. Even though the cabins are free, I like to offer to pay the cleaning fees. We will need to rent vans, gas, food and I like to make sure all ticket prices are paid for kids. So the next fundraiser coming up is the Parents Night Out for Saturday night, February 14, from 6-9pm. We thought this might offer couples a chance to get out for Vday without the kids. This would also be great for a single parent who just needs a little alone time.  How awesome would it be for that single parent, who more than likely is on a limited budget, to be gifted 3 free hours. Offer to pay this for someone as an act of kindness. This will be for newborns thru 5th grade. The price is $10 for one child and a max of $25 for 3 or more children. We will show them a movie, feed them pizza, and make a Vday craft. I am asking very few parents to work this with hopes that some of you with kids will use the service! How can you help? Sign your children up today!  Tell everyone you know who has children!! We will have limited space and I ask you send me a message with how many kids no later than Feb 11. 

I'll check the church calendar and if it is open for February 22 or March 1, we will do a spaghetti lunch after church.  I'll let you know by the end of the week. 

Okay so I have a lot of planning to do so I need to get off of here and get a move on. I do want to encourage you to have your child in the Kidz Zone on Wednesday nights. This month we are studying Joseph and how even though his brothers hated him, sold him, God was always with him and blessed him.  We will be having the kids Valentine party February 11 in the gym. I"ll let you know as it gets closer as to what you can send. 

Before I go I wanted to mention our youth group.. this is me coming as a  youth parent not a church employee. Over the years I have witnessed many things at WBBC. I have seen preachers go, music ministers go, almost no congregation (seriously all fit on one pew), deaths, growth, remodels, just many changes. Six months ago I watched not just our youth but the parents, myself included, be torn up, confused, and shocked by our youth minister situation. I personally felt like I had been kicked in the gut and the wind knocked out of me. I cried more about that situation than I have ever about any other church issues. I am not going to rehash any details, this is not ment to disgrace him or his family or even bring attention to what happened. I say all of this because what I saw Sunday was a youth group who showed resilience. I saw a group who had faith in Jesus. I saw kids that had been through a hard time (personally in my own home many unhappy conversations), they leaned on the church and trusted that Jesus had a better plan in store for them. What we saw Sunday was God's faithfulness. We trusted God, He placed a call on Scott's heart and Scott responded to the call and the kids continued to trust in Jesus.  I know God is still working and who knows what tomorrow holds for the youth, the kids or our church. What I do know is that we have a testimony. We can say, we had a tough time, the devil tried to tear us apart, we trusted God and we were able to see much better days come. I am thankful for the testimony and I am thankful my kids my kids learned a real life lesson. I can't wait to see God continue to work thru all the ministries, all the groups and each individual at WBBC. Have a great Tuesday!