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.

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.

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!!

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!

Memeories

Memories are so special to me and I am so blessed that I have racked up over the years so many special church related memories. You can add the Saturday night Baron's game to that list. You know I am not a baseball fan but I really enjoyed Saturday night. I enjoyed getting to know the adults in the van better and the atmosphere at the ballpark and of course the funnel cake & pizza. Unfortunately, I will probably never forget that I went all the way into the mens bathroom right up to the urinals without paying any attention until I got to close!! I LOVED the fireworks and the ooh and ahhs of the kids watching those fireworks will be in my memory forever. I know the kids will file those memories away for safe keeping too. I think when they are older they will remember riding that old church van, loaded up w/ sugar snacks, praying as a group outside the ballpark, eating all that food & let me tell ya , we have some skinny kids that can put some food away, getting autographs & of course I don't think they will forget those fireworks! I hope when they are older they can say I went here and there with my church and had a blast. I hope they tell their children all about it and have a desire to make sure their kids are in church & know about Jesus. I hope we have kids who become adults who are not afraid to stand in public somewhere like a ballpark & say ok now lets pray before we go in. The events & fun activites are important but how they see us add Jesus to the mix is the most important! I will be out of church on VACATION Sunday & Wednesday but wonderful adults are covering the classes! Shay Layton will teach Sunday school next week, John & Bridget Sims has children's church & Allison will teach Wednesday night. Here is a huge list of everything for the month of June!! Oh and I almost forgot..next time we have pickle palooza I'll limit the kids pickle intake since we had one vomit pickles the next day!! haha lol!! Hopefully nobody will vomit ice cream this week!

May 23   Ice cream party

From now until June 6th "Operation Ben Clough"  boys summer clothing drive sizes 6 - 14. Anytype  new summer clothing, socks, underwear & shoes will be donated to the Etowah Mission Center in memory of Ben Clough. There is a box for donations on the table in the hall close to the office.

June 13th wed. night kids Katie Smith & Mollie Williams will teach on missions and the 5th grade boys will take the van to Sonic for ice cream. Send money with your child. Leave church @5:45 be back by 7:00.

June 15th Trussville Playstation. I think we will leave the church at 6:00 but I will let you know forsure by Wed. night. This is for all kids. I was also hoping to get us a ticket price around 15.00 but it is looking like 20.00 per child is the best I can do. There are restrictions on height for the go karts so check out trussville playstations website to make sure you child can ride. Just put this date down as a definate activity & I'll have more info coming soon.

June 17th  Doughnuts With Dad. In celebration of Father's Day the kids and their Father's & Grandfathers will have doughnuts before Sunday school as a  time just to sit & relax together. 8:45 til 9:15 

June 22nd Community wide movie night in the gym. Featuring " Yogi Bear". Free concessions & I will need some volunteers to help w/ that.

Each Wed. we will still have a lesson or devotion but we try to mix even more fun into the mix since it is summer. Still hoping to have a pool party! VBS is scheduled for July 23-27 and I know Allison will be looking for lots of volunteers. Would love any cheap ideas for trips. Have a great week & I'll see you all Wed. night!

When God called me, He equipped me with Women of GREAT INFLUENCE!

Big thank you to all the church parents who wrote such sweet notes in my card & for the Red Lobster gc. I appreciate you all acknowledging me! I love you all and your kids and I am so blessed to get to work w/ each of them!
Yesterday in church you heard some comments about mother's and their influence on their children. I wanted to take a minute and talk about women in general & their influence on others. When we 1st started going to WBBC I really did not want to be there. I fought God, HARD!! You have heard me say this many times.. it was all old people.  I finally gave into God's will and in me His work began. I can look back now and see why God place me at a church w/ so many old people. I needed to learn & receive encouragement from them. Once I decided to try and start a kids program they were right behind me. Mrs. Carr would call me and say have you tried this or looked here for that & then lifted me up w/ words of encouragement. If I needed help trying to find a Bible verse, I would call Mrs. Johnson. Never once did she act like I was a bother. She always new exactly what I was looking for. I also learned about being dedicated and faithful to the church by watching Mrs. Carr & Mrs. Broom. Both were sick and longed to be at church. I would watch Audrey Broom on Sundays, wearing a scarf on her head (she was battling cancer) go up to visitors and welcome them. I struggle w/ being shy but I told myself, if Audrey can do this so can I. I started praying that God would help me overcome my shyness. I would go into the bathroom and pray before I came into the sanctuary & over time God has slowly taken my shyness away. Sometimes, I still have to go pray about it but for the most part I can say it doesn't bother me to walk up to a visitor & welcome them into the church. I also find myself thinking of them when I am not in the mood to go to church or if I am just not feeling well that those ladies were heartbroken when they could not be in church. Cancer and bad lungs tried to keep them from the church but any chance they had they were there being dedicated & faithful.  If Audrey Broom can shake hands while fighting cancer my tiredness is not a reason to stay home. Those women probably had no idea they were influencing anyone. So I wonder if us younger women have thought about who we might be influencing. Not just our own children but think of the child who sits on the pew with you or the young mother struggling to get all her kids to church. Are we influencing them the right way? Do we lift them up w/ words of encouragement. I hope to do better at this. I want to be a woman of Godly influence on others. I know I still have a long way to go as a Sunday school teacher and still alot to learn but I still receive so much encouragement from my church family. God called me to work w/ kids ( I don't know why but I am glad He did) but He also equipped me w/ Godly women at WBBC that I was able to learn from and continue to learn from. I am so thankful for that!

Don't forget Pickle Palooza Wed. night 6 om
Barons game Sat. night. Meet at the church at 4
Wed. night May 23 Ice cream party 6 pm

Ramblings

WOW! Church was so emotional for me. God just always delivers and I felt his presence so strongly this weekend. Arlo had asked me previously in the week to be a driver for the scavenger hunt. My twins had spend the night plans & I lined up my mother in law to keep Jack for me. Jami had worked Sat. so I really wasn't into driving. Nothing against the youth but rarely are all our kids gone & I really thought if I didn't need to drive Jami & I would go out to eat that night. I went on to the church & surprisingly met Jami there early (rarely does he get off on time if he works a Sat.) Kids & parents started coming in & Arlo asked me to drive. Looked like a good dinner was out of the question. But God knows what we need, when we need it! I ended up w/ 3 great girls. Katelyn, Maggie, Joy & we picked up an extra while out... Madison. Those girls were such a pleasure to hunt with! I am always with boys so it was so refreshing to have girls with me, to hear their giggles & see excitement. That better be the only time I ever see those girls in a police car again! lol We didn't win but I truly felt like a winner just because of the experience. Arlo had a speaker lined up. He talked about as young people we went to church & knew who God was, but as youth sometimes do, got into some wrong things. One thing turns into another then you have done something else wrong. Boy, have I been there. Then he spoke about as an adult he finally found God for real. He said to us," I know you know who God is or you wouldn't been here in this church tonight, but does God know you?" WOW..I hope God knows you!

Then came the relay for life video at church. Cancer has definitely hurt so many of us. It was great to see a picture of Ben. I loved the Clough's shirts they wore yesterday.  They said,  IN LIKE BEN & had heaven on there. What a family! Then Katelyn & Arlo speaks. God made a beautiful young lady when He made Katelyn, so honest & so loving! She puts it all out there & that is how us adults should do it too! God is doing a great work thru Arlo right now. Well I have rambled enough. Here is what is going on this month for the kids.

This Wed. night will be missions w/ Katie Smith & Mollie Williams
Saturday May 12  Kids meet at church 5:00-6:30 for Mother's Day dress rehearsal & pizza supper.
Wed. May 16 PICKLEPALOOZA
Sat. May 19 Barons game
Wed. May 23 ICE CREAM PARTY

Children's Church schedule
May 20th Allison Williams
May 27th John & Bridget Sims