We Have a Winner!!!

Drum roll please!...I can't see you, but I don't think you're doing it. Oh, well. And the winner is...

Corrine!

The winner was selected through a very scientific process. I wrote all the names on a piece of paper and Judy randomly selected the winner. Corrine, I'll get the book in the mail to you some time this week. I know it will be a blessing to you.

Thanks to everyone who participated. That was fun!

200th Post!!!

Congratulations for sticking with me through 200 posts. If you are just joining this blog already in progress, you have a lot of catching up to do. I know I haven't done well at keeping up in the last year and I greatly apologize for those that check every day (believe it or not, there are a few of you). I know you just can't wait to hear what I have to say.

In celebration of my 200th post, I'll be having a give-away. My friend, Mary Ann, recently did this on her blog and I thought it was a fantastic idea. (Maybe I liked the idea so much because I won.) So anyway, on to the give-away. I'll be sending one of you the book, Crazy Love by Francis Chan. I love this book and plan to read it again soon. It is convicting, but you also go away in love with your Savior.

So how do you win? Leave a comment by Monday, October 19th, and please include your email address if I don't already have it. I moderate comments, so if you don't want your email address published, sent me two comments - one with your email address letting me know not to publish it and another comment that I can post. You all know how much I love comments...and if you didn't know that, now you do. A winner will be chosen randomly and announced on Tuesday. I will ship this book anywhere in the world.

Thanks so much to my faithful readers!

Start Spreadin' the News

Some of you that already know may be wondering why I haven't shared my latest news here yet. So I guess it's time to spread the news. This is difficult news, yet exciting at the same time. After much prayer and searching of God's heart, I've decided that it's time to leave IRBC. There are several factors that come into play. It's getting more difficult to keep up with the pace of camp life. I also want to be more involved in local church ministry, which is my love and passion.

I have loved my time at IRBC. Not only have I had a chance to minister, but being in the ministry here has changed my life. I will miss it more than I can put into words.

So now come all the questions...What are you going to do? Where will you live? Will you move to Illinois to be by family? Will you stay in the area? Those are very good questions...I'm glad you asked them. I have no idea. None. Nada. Zilch. Zero. But I know that I serve a God Who goes before me and knows all the steps He has planned for me.

I plan to be done at the camp on December 1. And right now, I'd like to take a month off to get my feet under me a bit and get a clear head. I'll probably start looking to answer all those probing questions after New Year's. Thanks for your continued prayers and support.

Heath Update: I went to Mayo Clinic again on Friday. I'm starting to get some answers, but it may continue to be a long process. He wants to establish a pattern with my immune numbers before heading into any kind of treatment. No recent bouts with bronchitis or sinus stuff, so I'm thankful.

On a lighter note...It snowed!!!! I could hardly believe my eyes yesterday when I saw it. Not only did it just snow, but it snowed all day!!!! Here's a picture to prove it.

God's Chisel

This video is powerful. I hope you enjoy it and it makes you think a bit.

Hilarious!

If this doesn't make you laugh, you need help.

Fun with Family

During my time off, I was able to go to nortern Illinois to visit my brother and his family. I don't get to see them often, so I was amazed by how much my niece and nephew have grown. We had such a fun time. Even though my time with them was short and I don't see them nearly often enough, I'm thankful for the time I did have. I'm very blessed with a wonderful family.

Here we are baking some brownies. They are great baking assistants!

Here I am with my favorite big brother.

Yep, he's a goofball...but you gotta love him.

And here is my gorgeous mother. My dad doesn't seem to be around when I have the camera out.

My time off has been very restful. Lots of naps, lots of time with my family and time with my Savior, which is the most important.

Fun with Friends

I bought the Dancing with the Stars workout DVD a while ago. There are two reasons. Reason number one is that I secretly would love to learn to dance. Reason number two is that I thought it would be a fun way to get exercise. Let's just say it's not Dancing for Dummies.

I really stink at it. Not just kidding you a little bit. Yep, I'm terrible at even a dancing workout.

So it's now become a fun thing to do with friends. Because I don't want to be the only one that stinks at it and I'm very glad to say that all my friends are pretty terrible at dancing as well. So I thought I'd share a few pictures of my friends looking silly. Notice there are none of me. Yes, I'm an evil friend. I did promise them the pictures would not end up on Facebook, but would make no such promise about my blog. (Insert evil laugh here.)


I think Lynn and Keri are trying to Cha-Cha-Cha.

Ooo. They're getting into it now!

I think this is when they decided they were good and we needed to start "Dancing with the Camp Stars." I don't think that's going to fly. (By the way, please ignore the bag of trash by the front door. What can I say? I'm human.)

Leavin' on a Jet Plane...

Okay, I'm not leaving on a plane, but in my Jeep. I'm taking off tomorrow morning for 2 1/2 weeks. I'm headed to my parents' for some much needed rest and relaxation. This isn't really vacation time, but a time to find some refreshment physically and spiritually.

To put it simply, I'm drained. I need to rest my body and feed my soul. Please pray for me as I take this time away. I want my heart to be in tune with God's.

I may or may not blog during this time. We'll have to see how it goes. Not that I've been great at keeping up anyway. Maybe some refreshment will give me creative ideas again.

Thanks for your prayers.

It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year

No, it's not Christmas. It's time for Jr. Girls' Class to start up again!

Tonight was our Joy Club kick off. Our numbers were a little down in class tonight, but we hope to see them grow. It's so wonderful to be teaching these girls the truths in God's Word again. It brings such great joy to see them understand something and put it into practice.

I took just two pictures tonight, but thought I'd share them with you.

Stacey and I have been partners in crime for the last three years. I'm excited to begin the fourth year teaching with her. Carrie is joining our team this year and we are excited to have her as part of our class.

Growing Up

My sister-in-law emailed me these pictures tonight. I can't believe my niece started her first day of Kindergarten! But I guess I have to since there are pictures to prove it. My nephew was in pre-school last year at the their church, but this year he is going to the same school as Autumn. This school happens to be where my brother started off his school years. My mom also went to school there from K-12 and my grandma taught 4th grade for lots and lots of years. I guess there's a little bit of history there.

Seeing these pictures made me think of my first day of school. I remember it quite well because my dad got me to the bus stop late and had to take me in himself. Yes, I was late for my very first day of school. It has scarred me for life. Maybe that's why I still hate being late and have to be early everywhere. Hmmm. Don't worry...I forgive you, Dad.