Youth Weekend

I know I'm always running 2 or 3 weeks behind on this thing, but we might as well all get used to it. Its the same way with laundry, Christmas shopping, dusting, and cleaning all of Kevin's junk out of the car...it all keeps getting shifted to the bottom of the to-do list. The weekend of November 13th was our designated Youth Weekend (I know you've slept since then but so have I so hang with me). This can be classified in the "good" category of blog posts. The TNU group "Rooted" drove over from Nashville on that Friday afternoon and set up their band equipment in the sanctuary and then joined us for pizza in the fellowship hall. I've discovered that youth gatherings of any kind are really similar to middle school dances....everyone separates into gender-based groups and the two sides never meet. Mingling is a completely foreign concept when it comes to junior high kids meeting new people. Lookout Valley Church of the Nazrene brought about 16 kids up for the Friday night service and we loved having them! Friday night's music was really loud in our little sanctuary so the kids had a hard time following along but we got all the kinks worked out in time for the Saturday evening service.

Saturday morning at 7:30am we met 9 of our kids at the church to take them down to the Chattanooga Rescue Mission. We don't have a church van so some of our parents joined the mayhem to serve as chauffers for the day. A few of our friends from Lookout Valley got up early to meet us down there. We spent the morning cleaning the laundry room, organizing the food pantry, mopping, sweeping, raking leaves, and lugging in supplies. I'm sure it sounds like we worked them to death, but believe me when I say they had a good time (and I have the blackmail pictures to prove it!) The mission is in the process of remodeling and moving into a recently purchased school building. They were running behind schedule so there wasn't too much for us to do that day. Right now the mission is cramming about 75 people a night into a place meant to house about 35 at the most. Until they can move into the new building they'll continue to put mattresses on the floor in the chapel and hallways to get people out of the cold.

On Sundays, Sunday School begins at 10am and morning worship begins at 10:45am. At about 10:15am some people in the parking lot heard a loud pop and the lights went out all over the neighborhood. Yep - a transformer blew. So we had Sunday School in the dark. The TNU kids came to my class and after a short lesson on "joy" I gave them all a chance to talk and get to know one another better. I think it shed a little light on some options my high school kids hadn't every considered. Most of them have never even visited Trevecca. Although its not for everyone, we want them to have the option of seeing what its all about. We're planning a trip in February to take them all to a TNU basketball game.

After Sunday School we were preparing to have church in the dark and the musicians were going to play acoustically since the electric guitars, bass, and keyboards were out of commission. Just as things were getting started the lights came back on and everyone cheered. I think the kids enjoyed experiencing a new music style and having a speaker focused mainly on them. The parents and older folks in our church enjoyed it also and were faithful to support our youth throughout the weekend. We look forward to more events like this in the future.

Regrouping once the lights came back on

Sure Dylan, Matthew, and Brandon (aka: hear no evil, see no evil, speak no evil) look innocent...but don't let them fool you.

Group shot in front of the mission

What's raking without a little air guitar?

Josh (pastor at Lookout Valley) and me being stupid with the camera.

I know the tree looks pretty but its FAKE. Who plants fake trees in the front yard?

Chattanooga Rescue Mission: The building on your left is the mission kitchen and housing for the men in the Christian Discipleship Program and the one on the right houses the women.

Blake, Christy, and Dixie...laundry room cleaning crew

Laura, Sawyer, and Hahhah serving lunch

Do you know how to use an industrial deep fryer? Neither did we...but we do now. Trial by fire...or deepfrying.

Still to come..Thanksgiving.

See you next time...

Mandy

Tennessee vs. Alabama

On October 24th we had all the teens and college kids over to the house for a Football Party and cookout. We had about 11 people show up. We grilled hotdogs and had plenty of chili, chips, and cookies to go with them. The kids really wanted to schedule it for the Tennessee vs. Georgia game (in order to heckle Pastor Kevin) but that one was the day after the slumber party and I just didn't think I could handle that all in one weekend. So they settled for Tennessee vs. Alabama since we border that state and have a few Alabama fans among us. Its way more fun to watch a sporting event if you can harrass those around you. Its actually the only part of the sport that I like. I have a previously unknown talent for heckling. We had one lone Alabama fan and everyone else was rooting for Tennessee. Even Kevin was hoping the Volunteers would win (gasp! I know!) because they were the underdog and he thought Alabama was over rated. I didn't really care either way (I figure neutral is good...just look at Switzerland - no one bothers them and they have great skiing and the worlds best chocolate). I guess I'm a Georgia fan by marriage, but I really just like to socialize.

Hannah Shea has not had a quiet moment since the day she was born. I did not duct tape her....the kids did it. I did confiscate her cell phone til half time so she would stop texting. I'm pretty sure she's going to have carpal tunnel.

Josh, Christy, and Blake. Christy was voted most spirited...just look at her socks. Festive AND team appropriate.

Haley had a Halloween party to go to after the game so she modeled her costume for me. Best go-go girl I've seen lately.

Keep our kiddos on your prayer list. We have a youth revival scheduled for them this weekend - Friday thru Sunday. A team from TNU is coming to preach for them and introduce them to some contemporary worship. The services will be at 7pm Friday and Saturday night. We're feeding them pizza Friday before the service so they can mingle with the TNU kids. On Saturday we hauling them down to the Chattanooga Rescue Mission so they can participate in a service project. We want to slowly open their eyes to the hardships many people face and how they can help. They'll be doing light maintenance and serving a meal as well as eating with the homeless so that they have a chance to talk to them. That part may get interesting...I talked to them about what we would be doing last week and I was surprised to find that they're all scared of homeless people. Its not something they see much in their little town of Jasper, TN. I hope they will begin to see that there isn't anything to be afraid of. Maybe someday they'll realize the scariest thing would be not to care or help those in our community who find themselves on the outside looking in. We'll let you know how it goes and post pictures. I'll try not to make it a month late this time!

Mandy

Crow Creek Pumpkin Patch

Most of you know that I have been working as a substitute teacher at Jasper Elementary School until God decides to fill me in on my future place of employment. About 90% of the time I work in the special education class. Is it my calling in life? No way...neither is 3rd grade or teaching elementary school music (anyone who knows me KNOWS I can't carry a tune in a bucket) but it gives me something to do and it doesn't take up weekends or holidays. I have discovered that I like special ed way better than subing in a regular classroom. The student to teacher ratio is way lower....about 12 students, 1 teacher, and 3 aids. The chances of surviving the day in one piece are way higher and I am smart enough to appreciate that. Sometimes I sub for the teacher and sometimes I sub for an aid. It gets chaotic and messy and frustrating sometimes but it doesn't really bother me....just another day in the life of CDC. If you go into any classroom expecting anything less you're asking for punishment.

A few weeks ago it was their turn to head to Alabama for a visit to Crow Creek Pumpkin Patch. We took our elementary school kids, the middle school and high school special ed classes, and the students from Whitwell, TN (yes, those eyes in the back of my head came in handy). When we arrived they loaded us on wagons and gave us a tour of the farm. Besides pumpkins they also grow cabbage and some other stuff. When we reached the back of the farm where the pumpkin patch is we let the kids out, paired them each with an adult, and sent them off to choose their own pumpkins. The only rule was that you had to be able to carry whatever you picked out. Because we've had a REALLY wet autumn...most of the pumpkins had rotted in the fields so the farm owners shipped pumpkins in from elsewhere and scattered them around for kids to find...sort of like hunting really big Easter eggs. After all the pretty pumpkins were chosen, we climbed back in our wagons and made our way to the petting zoo. They had a goat, miniature pony, chickens, and some other smelly animals in too-small pens.

The kids really liked it and they must have completely lost their sense of smell beforehand because it was NASTY. Purell hand sanitizer became mandatory after that because lunch was next on our list. We made our way to the picnic tables only to discover that they were all in use. So we made the best of it and let them all take off their shoes and jump in the corn pit. Yes, you read that right...the pumpkin patch has a 3 ft deep pit of shelled corn, complete with decking around the sides and a slide. I'm pretty sure we could have skipped everything else we did and gone straight for the corn. It was their favorite part and made me extremely nervous. There is no way that can be sanitary or safe. I kept waiting for someone to start bleeding or screaming. It just seems to me that small, hard, pellet-like objects that are easily thrown, swallowed, or stuck in bodily orifices is a bad idea. But what do I know?...I don't have any kids remember. Anyway, we found corn in the classroom for days afterwards and I was real tired of saying "Stop throwing corn!" by the time lunch rolled around. After getting all the shoes on the correct feet we set them down for lunch....they ate at lightning speed or didn't eat at all because of that silly corn pit. As soon as they were done they dove back in. We let them play until the bus came to pick us up and then it was back home to Tennessee. We wore them out pretty good....a couple fell asleep on the way home.

Picking our pumpkins. Isn't that view amazing? The day was just perfect!

Nikki...my pumpkin pickin' partner. There were just way too many choices.

The smelliest goat....ever. N-A-S-T-Y.

The corn pit! Excited does not begin to describe their reaction. There is a smaller (not pictured) corn pit to the left....it was all the same to me.

This sign did NOTHING to stop the corn projectiles. A bull horn or speaker system with a looped "PUT THAT CORN DOWN! ITS ALL FUN AND GAMES UNTIL SOMEONE GETS AN EYE OUT!" would have been much more effective.

Okay, so even though I don't relish jumping in a pit of corn as an adult I probably would have thought it was awesome when I was a kid. Will I let my kids do it?....probably. I'll just have 911 on speed dial - just in case.

I hope you get to do something this week that makes you laugh and play as hard as they did at Crow Creek!

Mandy

The Fall Foliage Is Here!

One of my favorite things about living in Tennessee is the changing of the seasons. Its all made grander by the mountain views. Now, we know we don't have Rocky Mountain grandeur or anything but we love to look out the window all the same! When you have lived in the flatness of Kansas City any hill or valley is exciting stuff.

Now we know why they're the Smokey Mountains

Our front porch view

I know its hard to tell (hey, I'm no professional) but the leaves really were bright and beautiful.

This time of year its easy to see that someone (yep, you guessed it...God) is behind the creation of our beautiful landscapes. I think he gets a kick out of our "ooohhh's" and "aaahhhh's" over the things he's made. So go ahead, tell him how great you think it is....or better yet - How great you think he is.

Mandy