Vertical

I'll never joke about it again...

2009-09-02T09:11:00.001-07:00

Today, I actually did spew coffee.

It happened just after I got to work. I took a drink, it was hotter than I expected and it went down the wrong pipe. I coughed, mouth closed, trying to keep the scalding hot coffee from spattering all over my computer screen. Then I coughed harder, and a fine spray of brown liquid seeped through my clenched lips. That made me laugh...and cough. Tears were streaming down my face. I spewed out another huge spray, then totally lost the mouthful of coffee all over my desk, chair, keyboard, and floor.

IT WAS HORRIBLE!!

Now, I smell like coffee and my keyboard sticks. Plus, I think I burned all of the nose hairs out of my nasal passages. I'll never joke about it again...

Real Challenges at REAL LIFE

2009-08-10T09:03:00.000-07:00

REAL LIFE started this week. For those unfamiliar with it, Real Life is the annual student conference held at First Baptist Church of Bridge City. Over two hundred area students were present, of many denominations and ages. As always, the teaching and music were wonderful, but this year's speaker, Mike Satterfield, laid down some unique challenges that spoke to many hearts, mine included.

"Revival will begin with the men of the church," Mike said, his voice strong with urgency. He then called for the men eighteen and older to walk to the altar so that we could pray for them. In response, the men who were present were humbled, many moved to tears, and so were the rest of us. I knew then that we were in for a blessed week, one filled with choices and challenges--hopefully that will leave us with fresh convictions for the coming year.

Camp Monday

2009-07-21T11:42:00.001-07:00

We arrived safely at camp and spent the first day just getting registered and into our rooms. The facilities here at Bambi Lake are very nice (much like the facilities at Newton). We are enjoying our first Centrifuge experience, and REALLY enjoying the wonderful weather. It's hasn't been too hot or too cold, which makes the recreations times a lot of fun.

I'll try to post some pictures for you later today. Right now, I'm off to the lake for some swimming with the kids! They've all been great, and it's been a lot of fun spending time with them all.

Leaving Comments

2009-07-21T11:35:00.001-07:00

Hello everyone,

I understand there may be a few of you who are confused by the process of leaving comments, so I thought I'd give you a quick tutorial. :-)

Step 1: At the bottom of each post is the word "comments" with a picture of a pencil behind it. Click on the word "comments."

Step 2: A window will open up. In that window is a small dialogue box where you can type your comment.

Step 3: Sign in with your Google Account and password, or your gmail address and password. If you don't have either of these, you can sign in as "Anonymous."

Step 4: Click "Publish your comment."

And that's it, although it make take a little while for your comment to become visible on the Internet. Hope this helps clear things up a bit.

Sunday Service

2009-07-21T10:53:00.000-07:00

What a wonderful week we had at Crossroads Community. They truly welcomed us with open arms, then blessed us by including our group in a special prayer time they had for all of the people going to Centrifuge--in both services!! Here is a glimpse of our Sunday morning worship.

After church, we took the kids to Lake Michigan for an afternoon of relaxing and swimming at the beach. They were amazed by how cold the water was! At barely 67 degrees, very few of them actually went swimming. The rest were content to lay on the beach, or swim in the boat channel, which was MUCH warmer.

Later that day, my family surprised me by stopping by to say hello. I was very happy that the kids got to meet all of my sisters and my parents. It was a wonderful afternoon all around.

Busy, Busy, Busy

2009-07-19T04:54:00.000-07:00

It's been a busy--but satisfying--week here at Crossroads Community. Friday and Saturday, we worked on the grounds cleaning up the landscaping, painting the parking lot, scrubbing down the brick entrances, and cleaning out storage closets. What a great feeling to have accomplished so much!

Pastor Scott was especially grateful that we cleaned out the entire youth storage closet. He said we did in a couple of hours what might have taken him a full day to accomplish. Yay!

We also cleaned the sanctuary, vacummed all of the carpet, and mopped. Once that was finished, we went to a dollar movie for some down time, then went to the home of a couple here at the church for a HUGE FUGE fellowship with the youth of Crossroads Community. Along with swimming, we roasted hotdogs, played volleyball and football, and had a bonfire. What a great time! Thank you to Sheila and her husband for their wonderful hospitality.

Day 2...And Counting!

2009-07-16T19:00:00.000-07:00

It's always fun to see kids learn to love working for the Lord! Once again, we split our group in half. Some of us went back to the park, and the rest went to work with Habitat for Humanity. What a job! Our kids worked hard clearing a site for a new home. When they finished, I'm proud to say that the area was ready for the work crew who would be coming in to start construction on the house. Great job, everyone!!

After such a tiring day, we felt it would fun to take the kids out for a little R & R, so off to Independance Lake we went. The kids had fun playing on a huge inflatable raft Pastor Scott brought...well...until their lips turned blue. It was very easy to spot the Texans. They were the ones shivering on the beach while EVERYONE else raved about how hot it was. Actually, it was a balmy 84 degrees today, and the water temp was probably around 75-80. Yeah.

Tomorrow, we'll be working at Crossroads Community Church doing some clean up and repair to their facilities. Thank you so much for your continued thoughts and prayers. God has been faithful to strengthen us day-by-day!

Party in the Park

2009-07-15T08:00:00.000-07:00

Today was our first full day of missions. What a good job the students did! I was so impressed with their attitude and energy.

We got up at 8:00 this morning, and headed to the church for breakfast. After cleaning up, half of our group went to a nearby park, the other half to the Hope Clinic.

The kids at the park enjoyed making balloon animals, creating art with sidewalk chalk, and blowing bubbles with the neighborhood kids. Here are some pictures of everything they did. One of the youth created this picture of Spiderman. Pretty talented, huh?

The other group went to the Hope Clinic for some cleaning and yard maintenance. According to the kids, some of the weeds were as high as their waist! They got it in shape, though, and very quickly. Afterward, they bagged all the trash and carted it away. Great job, everyone!!

Down Time

2009-07-14T20:45:00.000-07:00

After supper, we had a few minutes of free time to catch our breath and unwind from our long trip. The kids enjoyed playing Wii, ping-pong, and basically just "chil-laxin." (Yes, we learned a new word from the youth here at Crossroads.) :-)

We're heading to the host homes shortly. I don't think we'll have any trouble getting the kids to go to bed tonight. After such a busy day, they've been asking US when they can go to bed. LOL!

The kids are learning to make balloon animals. Tomorrow, we'll be in the park ministering to the children of Ann Arbor. This is such a neat skill! I'm bringing the instructions back so we can add it to our list of ministry tools.

Our First Rehearsal

2009-07-14T20:24:00.000-07:00

What an exhausting day!! Every time I turned around, the kids were sleeping. LOL! I bet they ALL sleep good tonight.

Our first rehearsal and setup may have looked confusing, but we really got a lot accomplished. All of our music and props are set up, and we're ready for tomorrow night, when we'll have our first worship service with the youth at Crossroads Community.

We did get to fellowship a bit with the Crossroads Youth Band. They set up their equipment and ran sound checks. Dallas, Abby and Ben will be joining them, so we will have a joint praise band! How neat to have such talented kids from both churchs praising together!

We made it!!!

2009-07-14T06:00:00.000-07:00

It was a long trip. . .with countless rest stops, endless miles of chatter, and multiple state lines--but we made it! Thank you, Lord, for Your traveling mercy.

Lee, Stephanie, and I were about ready to pass out when we finally pulled into Ypsilanti, Michigan, where my brother-in-law and sister live, but thankfully, they had a warm breakfast and steaming coffee ready. After washing up (orders of Mr. Lee), the kids sat through a short orientation, where they got to meet the youth of Crossroads Community Church and find out what the plan is for the rest of the week.

The kids will hand out flyers in the neighborhood this afternoon, letting people know that we will be witnessing in the park tomorrow. That ought to keep us plenty busy. For now, it's time to catch a few z's!

Indiana!

2009-07-14T03:00:00.000-07:00

Indiana was quite different from the other state lines we crossed. By 3:00 in the morning, the kids just DID not want to pile out of the van to have their picture taken.

I wonder why?

Supper Time!

2009-07-13T20:48:00.000-07:00

Time for supper. The sponsors and I decided it would be good to load the kids up on turkey. If we had turkey, that is...

Ah well, maybe they’ll go to sleep once they’ve eaten a big fat burger and a bag full of fries...

Or maybe they’ll play the alphabet game one more time. LOL!

One of the girls said it feels like we’ve been on the road for DAYS. I didn’t have the heart to tell them we still have about eight hours to go…

Just like that...

2009-07-13T17:54:00.000-07:00

we're out of Missouri and in Illinois. "The Land of Lincoln" as the license plates say.

These photos were taken at a rest area just off of I57. The temperature is a balmy 79 degrees. What a welcome change after the blazing temperatures we've been having in Southeast Texas!

Matthew seems to pondering our next stop, and Joey, Coby, and Brittney are enjoying these beautiful flowers.

Detour!!

2009-07-13T16:39:00.000-07:00

Last time we stopped, I told you we’d planned on traveling through Tennessee. Well, LOLA (that’s what we call our navigation system) kept insisting that the fastest route was on I55. So, here we are in Missouri.

It is now 6:30pm. The kids are getting tired, as you can tell by their less than chipper smiles. :-)

Still, they’re doing good, and the complaining has been kept to a minimum. Really, the only complaint so far is that the batteries on their phones have run down. Well, that and that there is no signal where we are at the moment. LOL!

LOLA says we have 627 miles left to go. We’ll stop for supper in about an hour. See you then.

Lunch Time!!

2009-07-13T12:06:00.001-07:00

It's lunch time!!

We are in Little Rock, Arkansas, which means we have almost a third of our trip behind us! The students have already begun asking when we will get to Michigan (groan!) which means we may be in for a long afternoon.

Some good news...the vans have been running perfectly, and so far, traffic has been light. We are making remarkable time for traveling with so many.

Our next destination is Memphis, Tennessee. Once there, we'll head straight north for several miles. Hopefully, the weather will continue to cooperate...and so will the traffic!!

BTW...it is 2:06, Texas time. We'll be switching to the eastern time zone soon.

Our First State Line!

2009-07-13T08:53:00.000-07:00

We crossed into Arkansas at 11:13am. Good time! The kids have taken my instructions to heart, and are making their bathroom breaks quick.

We have quite a ways to go in Arkansas. Little Rock means we will have 1/3 of our trip behind us. Thank you, Lord, for the safety You’ve given us so far!

Several of the kids have asked me to say hello to Hugh Dearing. He is one of the youth who intended to go to camp with us, but couldn’t because of an injury he sustained on his go-cart. We miss you, Hugh. Wish you could be with us!!

On The Road!!

2009-07-13T08:37:00.000-07:00

Morning came early today. At 5:45am, we had twenty kids and adults lined up and ready to go. With our luggage safely stored on the U-haul, we grabbed a quick breakfast and loaded the kids on the vans.

This was all after a brief scare, however. A steam line blew up at BASF last night, and for several hours, we weren’t sure if Lee’s vacation time would be cancelled. Thankfully, our God is bigger than any obstacles Satan can throw in our path! We hit the road at exactly 6:20am.

The kids were so excited to finally be on the road. They said goodbye to their parents then jumped into the vans. I had to pull them all off again for a group picture. LOL!

We made a brief stop for fuel in Center, Texas. The kids slept (well, except for a couple) most of the way. Our first stop, they loaded up on snacks and drinks.

Next post…ARKANSAS!!

Michigan 2009: How we got there...

2009-07-04T05:52:00.000-07:00

Well, it hasn't been an easy trip. I've been so proud of the hard work our students have been willing to put in in order to make our trip to Michigan a reality. Along with candy bar sales, Stars for Christ, and a Valentine's Banquet, our kids put on a Garage Sale/BBQ fundraiser which raised almost a fourth of the total cost of our trip. Way to go, kids!

But we've had some fun times, too. Here are some pictures of the students relaxing after one of our big fundraisers.

Stay tuned for our road trip photo journal. We'll be stopping in each state along the way. Follow our progress and leave us a comment or prayer. We look forward to sharing this experience with you!

A Blogging Experience

2009-07-01T12:54:00.000-07:00

Welcome to our site!

Vertical is the youth ministry of First Baptist Church Orangefield. We are thirty members strong...and growing.

We believe God has given us a vision--moving forward and upward in our quest to bring glory to Him. This blog has been created in an effort to show where we have been, and where God is leading. Join us on our journey as we travel across America, bringing God's message to those in need.