Things just don't slow down!!

Well we are back but right back in the swing of things!! Jeremy's brother is getting married this weekend so this week is crazy along with all the stuff happening at church for the fall. This weekend the percussion group is meeting with Pastor Jeff to just share with him some of the things that are on their hearts as far as youth group. It is some great things that have come out of our week in Indy. It is easy to say things when all the emotional stuff is going on during a convention. I hope that we can all follow through with the things that God has placed on our hearts. With God nothing is impossible! Watch out Wisconsin Rapids!!

Shopping day!!

We did get to sleep in today but it was obvious that everyone was tired today. We got things squared away for tomorrow. We will be playing at the Convoy of Hope and doing some street promotion to bring people in who are need of the ministry of the Convoy. The kids spend the day shopping and hanging out at the Mall. Today was Cassie's day. She decided she wanted to go the Superchick concert in the afternoon and went to the concert and also got their signatures and photos of them. She also got a photo with Dave. He was the video guy for the convention week. Everyone wanted to see him becuase that meant you would see yourself on the screen at the service that night. His video crew wasn't with him but he agreed to a picture with Cassie. :)We decided to go the spaghetti factory for supper...bad idea. So did every other group of people. We waited for almost 2 hours to eat. I thought the kids were going to pass out. But we made it through and to service. Matt went early and got us some "sweet" seats. What an amazing night. The kids that wanted to become campus missionaries were commissioned tonight along with the adult overseas missionaries who were meeting at the adult service. It was a live feed back and forth between both services and Thomas Trask prayed for and commissioned the students. The kids were given a "Fire Bible" the new penticostal bible that was created just for students based off of the adult version of the fire bible. The kids were so fired up and are ready to come back and change their schools and community. It is neat to hear what God is placing on their hearts. I will probably not post tommorrw because time will not allow me too. Thanks for allowing your kids to be a part of this amazing week. I am excited about this things that God has for them and challenged them to do when we return!

Performance Day

Today was rather intense but a ton of fun at the same time. We woke up with plenty of time to spare to practice and get to the convention center without having to rush. With 30 monutes to go before performance we realized our original copy of the music that we needed to give the judges was left at the hotel.....a twenty minute walk. You wanna talk about panic. Little did i realize we had a track star on our team. Megan agreed and off she went. The kids started praying as she started running back to the hotel to get our music. Without it they would have been disqualified. As the kids were praying I was told that our room was running 20 minutes late. Isn't God good!! Megan came back in record time dripping with sweat. As we saw her running down the hall it was a "Chariots of Fire" moment. We cheered and then fed her plenty of water!! Pastor Dean, Leata, Mayville and Waupaca came to see the kids. They were great! After our performance we took our cans to the exhibition area to have it recorded by Valley Forge College. We were stopped several times to play. What a great time. After, the group went to have the cans signed by the "Planet Shakers" who asked them to play for them. After they played the drummer from the group and another band member just came and jammed with the kids for a while. What an awesome afternoon. Then our results. We picked up Cassies results and then ours. We both recieved Superiors on our entries. Cassie had two judges that gave her superior with honors and so did we. We were each .6 away from recieving a Superior with honors overall so they did really well. The judges said the team was very engaging and looked like they were really enjoying themsleves and Cassie's judges enjoyed the variety and diversity of her piece. The kids should be proud of themselves!! Tonights service was another great time of worship starting off with a half hour prayer service. After worship with the planet shakers Rich Wilkerson spoke. I know that God is challenging the kids about what steps they will take when we leave here about strengthening and sharing their faith. Tomorrow......our sleep in day!

Another full day

Wow....the days just keep getting better! We spent the morning in the human video room and got to watch our friends from Mayville perform. They were great. We also spent time in the art gallery and had a chance to see Cassies artwork. Her results haven't come in yet. The waiting is killing us! We did lunch at The Fountain, an old 50's style eating place that hadn't been touched since the 50's and then we went Duck bowling! What a hoot. You'll have to ask your kids about it. We did dinner with Pastor Dean and Leata before service at the Weber Grill. And then the service tonight.....they have been so good. This time together has really brought this team of kids together not only performance wise but spiritaully as well. Thanks for your prayers. I can truely see God at work. :)

What a Trip!

Well the last two days have been anything but boring! We arrived just when we thought we would, around dinner time. After a very adventurous trip here. Actaully we made pretty good time, made several stops including one to fix the trailer lights that weren't working and one to a hardware store to pick up some kind of fan to blow in the back of the van. The rear air is not working so after watching the kids sweat profusly for several hours we did something about it. Now we have a sweet makeshift oscilating fan with a metal gum wrapper for a fuse in the van. Whatever works!! (Thanks Matt!!) Tuesday was a wild day. After Jeremy and I stood in line for 2 hours we managed to get everyone checked in, including Cassie's artwork. We did lunch at the mall, walked through the exhibit area, shopped a little and had service. What an amazing service. Planet shakers from Australia did our worhisp and Reggie Dabbs spoke. Ask the kids about "the dances" we learned! I think the service was what all of us needed and the time of commitment at the end was great. We will spend time tomorrow wathcing Mayville's Human Video and we will do lunch at "The Fountain" along with Duck Bowling. More to Follow.......... Oh by the way, we play at 10:59 on Thursday (what kind of time is that??).

Hours to Indy

One final post before we leave. I had way too much left to do so I never made it to bed. We had animals to deliver and Bethany to take to Brittany's. It's 1:49 and time to start showering. I have been praying all night as I have been doing laundry that God's pressence would be in all we do this week. (and help us survive the trip there!!) The kids asked Pastor Jeff to come and pray with them before we leave. What a trooper!! He agreed! :)

Final Prep

Wow, we leave in less than 24 hours! I have spent the last day putting together schedules for the week and info pages so eveyone is on the same page. I didn't realize all the last minute things that need to be done. On top of all the things I needed to do for this trip, I had totally forgoten about the youthworkers meeting this morning!! But what a refreshing time- a reminder to me especially of the fact that what we do isn't nearly as important as who we are. I hope this week will teach all of us that God is way more intersted in who we are in Him than what we can do.

Two days and counting. I picked up our shirts with our sponsors. They look awesome. It still amazes me that people are willing to do that for us. Today is crunch day. Around our place we need to try and get eveything done so we can take a breather tomorrow before we leave. Fat Chance!! Tomorrow is going to be a really full day: Sunday morning service, afternoon practice and a devo night at the PULSE Center with P. Jeff. So much for taking it "easy"!

Indy here we come!!

Three days and counting!! Indy seemed so unreachable just months ago but here we are ready to embark on a journey that will hopefully impact all of our lives. We will try to keep you updated daily as to the days events and any other sweet tidbits you may want to know about how the kids and adults (pray for us!!) are doing. Keep us in your prayers as we go to learn & serve!