We have had a wonderful and busy last few weeks at church! Personally we celebrated an anniversary, my birthday, battled a violent stomach bug and most recently celebrated Gibson's 1st birthday!
The youth went to camp (mission fuge) in Williamsburg, KY and we have seen a positive outcome of renewed committment in a desire to show Christ's love for others by ministering to their needs, our youth are certainly growing!
This past week we have had VBS at church, We had approx 35 student and close to 100 people particapate this week, it was wonderful to reach out to the community and hopefully we formed some lasting relationships, (Matthew and I taught 4th-6th graders).
I know this is a short post to catch up on so much but God is working at Fox Hill and we are thankful :)
Friday, July 16, 2010
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
Hello Again ;)
Wow, what a difference a month can make! A lot has happened since my last post so I'll try to hit all the "high points" of the last four weeks!
On May 4th we had our "youth night" at Capri Pizza in the Willow oaks shopping center in Hampton. The first Tuesday of every month the restuarnt will donate 15% of the food purchases that evening to our youth mission fund to help with camp expenses! Matthew, Ethan, Gibson and myself were invited to eat with some wonderful church friends (thank you Max and Pam!) and we saw lots of church members! The night was a success and we look forward to this time of fellowship next month!
On Thursday May 6th we celebrated Matthew's 26th Birthday!
On Friday May 7th we invited the youth "regulars" to leave their mark on the youth room and paint a brick with their name the years they were in the youth group and a favorite scripture verse. We had a great time with the kids and its nice to see their names on the wall to remind us what we're doing! There was some drama that night when a parent who was in a hurry and not paying attention opened Matthew's office door and hit Ethan. He was crying but it took several minutes to get out of him what hurt. Finally he told us his foot and we could see the big toe on his right foot was swollen and black, we got him ice and it seemed to satisfy him!
On Wednesday May 12th Ethan got up complaining with his toe and hadn't slept well the night before, I was afraid it was infected and called the dr to see if they could check him out, they could but I would have to wait so I dropped Gibson with my aunt and headed to the dr. To make a very long day/story short I will say the Dr thought Ethan's toe/foot might be broken so I had to go to the hospital for x-rays and what I though would be a quick visit turned into almost 6 hours! Praise God nothing was broken but we have to keep it bandaged until the toe nail falls off and a new one grows- near impossible on a two year old!
The evening of the 12th was a business meeting to discuss Matthew's job and the possibility of full time. Our youth graciously set through the entire meeting to vote for Matthew and exactly one year and one week since the day Matthew lost his last full-time God blessed us with our first full-time vocational ministry position!
On Saturday the 22nd we had the churches annual spring fest, birds, ponies, police dogs, jumpers, slides and food. We had lots of visitors attend (the best count of people we could get was between 175-225!) and several people were interested in more information about our church!
We are so thankful to be in ministry and so desperately seeking God's will in every aspect of this journey! Please keep us in your prayers as we adjust to 24/7 ministry and pray for the relationships within the church that everyone will want to be God pleasing in their thoughts and actions and that any damaging or decisive people will be removed for the fellowshsip of God's people. Pray for the members of the church as we can see God working there that they will be receptive to the Spirit and open to changes within the church, Pray for our students that they will be on fire for God and a light in their school. Pray for our family as we begin this journey, that we will allow God to use us to the best of our ability and that we are open to whatever he asks. Pray for Matthew as his classes are beginning again this week that he can find the balance between school, work and family times and also pray for me as I seek God's "placement" for me in the various ministries at the church that I won't try to do too much or too little but that I am sensitive to the exact place that God is preparing for me to work in.
We love you!
On May 4th we had our "youth night" at Capri Pizza in the Willow oaks shopping center in Hampton. The first Tuesday of every month the restuarnt will donate 15% of the food purchases that evening to our youth mission fund to help with camp expenses! Matthew, Ethan, Gibson and myself were invited to eat with some wonderful church friends (thank you Max and Pam!) and we saw lots of church members! The night was a success and we look forward to this time of fellowship next month!
On Thursday May 6th we celebrated Matthew's 26th Birthday!
On Friday May 7th we invited the youth "regulars" to leave their mark on the youth room and paint a brick with their name the years they were in the youth group and a favorite scripture verse. We had a great time with the kids and its nice to see their names on the wall to remind us what we're doing! There was some drama that night when a parent who was in a hurry and not paying attention opened Matthew's office door and hit Ethan. He was crying but it took several minutes to get out of him what hurt. Finally he told us his foot and we could see the big toe on his right foot was swollen and black, we got him ice and it seemed to satisfy him!
On Wednesday May 12th Ethan got up complaining with his toe and hadn't slept well the night before, I was afraid it was infected and called the dr to see if they could check him out, they could but I would have to wait so I dropped Gibson with my aunt and headed to the dr. To make a very long day/story short I will say the Dr thought Ethan's toe/foot might be broken so I had to go to the hospital for x-rays and what I though would be a quick visit turned into almost 6 hours! Praise God nothing was broken but we have to keep it bandaged until the toe nail falls off and a new one grows- near impossible on a two year old!
The evening of the 12th was a business meeting to discuss Matthew's job and the possibility of full time. Our youth graciously set through the entire meeting to vote for Matthew and exactly one year and one week since the day Matthew lost his last full-time God blessed us with our first full-time vocational ministry position!
On Saturday the 22nd we had the churches annual spring fest, birds, ponies, police dogs, jumpers, slides and food. We had lots of visitors attend (the best count of people we could get was between 175-225!) and several people were interested in more information about our church!
We are so thankful to be in ministry and so desperately seeking God's will in every aspect of this journey! Please keep us in your prayers as we adjust to 24/7 ministry and pray for the relationships within the church that everyone will want to be God pleasing in their thoughts and actions and that any damaging or decisive people will be removed for the fellowshsip of God's people. Pray for the members of the church as we can see God working there that they will be receptive to the Spirit and open to changes within the church, Pray for our students that they will be on fire for God and a light in their school. Pray for our family as we begin this journey, that we will allow God to use us to the best of our ability and that we are open to whatever he asks. Pray for Matthew as his classes are beginning again this week that he can find the balance between school, work and family times and also pray for me as I seek God's "placement" for me in the various ministries at the church that I won't try to do too much or too little but that I am sensitive to the exact place that God is preparing for me to work in.
We love you!
Sunday, April 25, 2010
Under Attack?
I know I'm not very good at keeping up with this blogging thing, I have the best of intentions but somehow I always get distracted and whenever I sit down to blog I can't remember what it was I was going to say :(
That being said we've been averaging between 15-18 for Sundays and Wednesdays which is awesome because the students are very excited and consistent! We had some extra week day activites the week of spring break and had good turnouts for both those events as well. We're looking forward to summer ministry opportunities and being able to reach students who have more "free time" during the summer months.
On April 15th we had our big fundraier for camp. Outback steakhouse brought food and cooked and our students served. We held a silent auction during the dinner as well featuring items that were donated by church members. The event earned the students around $2000 for their summer camp/mission trip and also give the church an opportunity to see Matthew and I work together as a couple and together with the students. We viewed the event as a success!
April 24th marked our 90th day at the church and what was the last day of our 90 day interim. We gave the personal committee a list of all of our expenses and asked them to make the job full-time and offer enough to meet our needs. On Wednesday evening we received a call with a counter-offer. While the committee didn't feel at this time they could pay quite what we asked they offered close enough to that amount that we knew God was calling us to full-time ministry at this church. There will be a business meeting on May 12th for the church to vote on the position so please pray everything goes smoothly at that meeting! May 6th marks the one year anniversary for Matthew loosing his full-time job and since then God has supplied EVERYTHING we've needed so we're continuing to trust Him!
Please pray for us this week as yesterday we were going to Macarthur Mall for a "family day" and our honda accord broke down. We believe it was the timing belt and it was towed to a shop and we're waiting to hear from them. Today while leaving church the power steering pump in my jeep wrangler broke and that had to be towed also :( Fortunately, my dad and Matthew were able to remove the old pump and should be getting a new one to install in the next few days. That leaves us with only Matthew's 2-seater honda until one of the other cars is fixed. We thank God that in both events we were in safe locations and getting tows was quick and easy. Please pray that the repairs are also quick and easy.
As God continues to provide for our family we are thankful. We are thankful for you as friends who bathe us in prayers and we are looking forward to the things God is doing at Fox Hill Road Baptist. On may 22nd we have a spring fest which is a huge outreach event and we are hoping to be able to make contacts with many families and youth through that event. Please start praying now that God will use us and our church to reach that community for Him.
Thank you for continuing to pray for us, until next time!
That being said we've been averaging between 15-18 for Sundays and Wednesdays which is awesome because the students are very excited and consistent! We had some extra week day activites the week of spring break and had good turnouts for both those events as well. We're looking forward to summer ministry opportunities and being able to reach students who have more "free time" during the summer months.
On April 15th we had our big fundraier for camp. Outback steakhouse brought food and cooked and our students served. We held a silent auction during the dinner as well featuring items that were donated by church members. The event earned the students around $2000 for their summer camp/mission trip and also give the church an opportunity to see Matthew and I work together as a couple and together with the students. We viewed the event as a success!
April 24th marked our 90th day at the church and what was the last day of our 90 day interim. We gave the personal committee a list of all of our expenses and asked them to make the job full-time and offer enough to meet our needs. On Wednesday evening we received a call with a counter-offer. While the committee didn't feel at this time they could pay quite what we asked they offered close enough to that amount that we knew God was calling us to full-time ministry at this church. There will be a business meeting on May 12th for the church to vote on the position so please pray everything goes smoothly at that meeting! May 6th marks the one year anniversary for Matthew loosing his full-time job and since then God has supplied EVERYTHING we've needed so we're continuing to trust Him!
Please pray for us this week as yesterday we were going to Macarthur Mall for a "family day" and our honda accord broke down. We believe it was the timing belt and it was towed to a shop and we're waiting to hear from them. Today while leaving church the power steering pump in my jeep wrangler broke and that had to be towed also :( Fortunately, my dad and Matthew were able to remove the old pump and should be getting a new one to install in the next few days. That leaves us with only Matthew's 2-seater honda until one of the other cars is fixed. We thank God that in both events we were in safe locations and getting tows was quick and easy. Please pray that the repairs are also quick and easy.
As God continues to provide for our family we are thankful. We are thankful for you as friends who bathe us in prayers and we are looking forward to the things God is doing at Fox Hill Road Baptist. On may 22nd we have a spring fest which is a huge outreach event and we are hoping to be able to make contacts with many families and youth through that event. Please start praying now that God will use us and our church to reach that community for Him.
Thank you for continuing to pray for us, until next time!
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
Palm Sunday
I am really bad at keeping up with this blogging thing :( but I will try! This past weekend we had a painting/movie night on Friday to finish painting the youth room and then we had pizza and watched the Blind Side. Awesome movie!
Sunday morning the church had their annual Easter Cantana and we had TWENTY students come for Sunday School! We had 5 students come that haven't ever been to class before and we were able to make contact with them and hopefully they'll come back! With next week being Easter we're hoping for more students to come that haven't been since we've started at the church, we have some activities planned for spring break that will hopefully aid in getting those students more connected/involved!
We just passed our 60 day mark for working at the church, my how times flies! We are praying that this will become a permanent, full-time position as we can see God working in the church and are glad to be the ones he's using for this work! Please continue to pray about that!
No church this Wednesday but we will have a Maundy Thursday service this Thursday at 7pm!
Sunday morning the church had their annual Easter Cantana and we had TWENTY students come for Sunday School! We had 5 students come that haven't ever been to class before and we were able to make contact with them and hopefully they'll come back! With next week being Easter we're hoping for more students to come that haven't been since we've started at the church, we have some activities planned for spring break that will hopefully aid in getting those students more connected/involved!
We just passed our 60 day mark for working at the church, my how times flies! We are praying that this will become a permanent, full-time position as we can see God working in the church and are glad to be the ones he's using for this work! Please continue to pray about that!
No church this Wednesday but we will have a Maundy Thursday service this Thursday at 7pm!
Monday, March 8, 2010
Lock In
Friday March 5th we had our first youth lock in, we had 41 youth attend and only 20 were church members the rest when visitors! We had an amazing time of games and fellowship as well as worship and a message from our friend Mark Turner. It was encouraging to see that many students attend and be genuinely interested and know we are just scratching the surface of the number of students that live in the area.
Sunday morning we had 15 students come for Sunday school, we are still working through the book of John on Sunday mornings. This week we started on time and most of the students arrived on time!!
Please continue to pray for us, we will be starting a study on Wednesday nights based on John Macarthurs book "found: Gods purpose for your life" and we are looking forward to the student interaction.
We are praising God for the lock-in attendence and praying that in the coming weeks these students will come back!
Sunday morning we had 15 students come for Sunday school, we are still working through the book of John on Sunday mornings. This week we started on time and most of the students arrived on time!!
Please continue to pray for us, we will be starting a study on Wednesday nights based on John Macarthurs book "found: Gods purpose for your life" and we are looking forward to the student interaction.
We are praising God for the lock-in attendence and praying that in the coming weeks these students will come back!
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
Painting Day!
Fifteen in Sunday School this morning, and my sissy came!! Woo-Hoo!! Now it's just trying to get them to arrive on time ;)
And during the service there were two more baptisms plus there are others waiting to be baptized! It's amazing to see God working!
Matthew and some of the youth stayed for a time of fellowship after the worship service, it consisted of painting the youth room and pizza! We're trying to give them times to grow together as a unit and develop christian friendships, what better a time to do this then while "sprucing up" the youth room!
Looking forward to the coming weeks with these teens and praying God uses us to work in their lives!!
And during the service there were two more baptisms plus there are others waiting to be baptized! It's amazing to see God working!
Matthew and some of the youth stayed for a time of fellowship after the worship service, it consisted of painting the youth room and pizza! We're trying to give them times to grow together as a unit and develop christian friendships, what better a time to do this then while "sprucing up" the youth room!
Looking forward to the coming weeks with these teens and praying God uses us to work in their lives!!
Friday, February 26, 2010
I'm a slacker :(
OK it's be over a week since I updated :( Sorry, I Have no good excuse other then I've been slacking!
A week ago Wednesday we had 14 kids! That's the most we've had so far and it was an awesome time of fellowship, Matthew spoke on the sovereignty of God and it developed into a great time of conversation. He tried to show a John Piper video but as technology would have it, it wouldn't play :( That opened the door for great conversation and we are consistently impressed with the questions being asked!
Sunday morning we had 13 and Matthew is working through the book of John. We're still seeing lots of kids in the worship service that aren't' coming to Sunday School so we're trying to personally connect with them and invite them to class. (Sunday school is first so it's easy for kids to float in for service and not come to class!)
In church news we had 2 people baptized on Sunday and there are at least 3 more waiting to be baptized! Almost every week people are coming forward to make decisions or join the church! It is so encouraging to see God working!
This Wednesday night we decided to have a "game night" and just a time for fellowship and developing friendships. We had 17 youth come! and 3 of them haven't been before! We're excited about upcoming opportunities and looking forward to God's working in and through our lives!
Please continue to pray for the youth, that they will bring there friends and become on-fire for God in their schools and communities, pray for Matthew as he ministers to the youth and their friends and as he seeks God's leading for lesson plans and times of fellowship. Pray for the church as a whole that it continues to grow in God's plan and that God continues to work there and grow His kingdom through us! Thank you!
A week ago Wednesday we had 14 kids! That's the most we've had so far and it was an awesome time of fellowship, Matthew spoke on the sovereignty of God and it developed into a great time of conversation. He tried to show a John Piper video but as technology would have it, it wouldn't play :( That opened the door for great conversation and we are consistently impressed with the questions being asked!
Sunday morning we had 13 and Matthew is working through the book of John. We're still seeing lots of kids in the worship service that aren't' coming to Sunday School so we're trying to personally connect with them and invite them to class. (Sunday school is first so it's easy for kids to float in for service and not come to class!)
In church news we had 2 people baptized on Sunday and there are at least 3 more waiting to be baptized! Almost every week people are coming forward to make decisions or join the church! It is so encouraging to see God working!
This Wednesday night we decided to have a "game night" and just a time for fellowship and developing friendships. We had 17 youth come! and 3 of them haven't been before! We're excited about upcoming opportunities and looking forward to God's working in and through our lives!
Please continue to pray for the youth, that they will bring there friends and become on-fire for God in their schools and communities, pray for Matthew as he ministers to the youth and their friends and as he seeks God's leading for lesson plans and times of fellowship. Pray for the church as a whole that it continues to grow in God's plan and that God continues to work there and grow His kingdom through us! Thank you!
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