Nurse Kevin

So, last Thursday Kevin drove me to Chattanooga to have my wisdom teeth cut out. Needless to say, I was not thrilled at this turn of events, but it cost my dad a lot of money to create this smile so it just didn't seem right to let my wisdom teeth hijack it. 


Here are ten reasons why Pastor Kevin deserves a medal for being my nurse for 4 long days....


1. While I was sitting in the waiting room, bleary-eyed and planning escape routes, he promised to storm the surgery room and rescue me from the clutches of Dr. Spann if I yelled, "Kevin! Help! Come get me! Save me! I can't do it!" 


2. He listened carefully to all of Nurse Pam's instruction about post-surgery care and faithfully pulled the car around to the correct entrance to collect me after my morning of surgical adventure.


3. Not once did he pick up his phone or a camera to video/photo-document my drugged state of being. Hence the lack of photos for this post. This was a no camera zone.


4. He faithfully donned his latex gloves to remove and replace soggy gauze and listened without laughing when I mumbled proper gauze placement instructions incoherently.


5. Every time I turned my hazel eyes in my moon-shaped face to him and asked, "Does my face still look swollen?" he faithfully said, "No, I think its getting better," when in fact my face was obviously trying to double in size without asking my permission.


6. He brought me pain pills, rented movies, fluffed my pillows, arranged my blankets, cooked scrambled eggs, bought me a milkshake, and kept me from tipping over when I unwisely decided to stand up and walk around.


7. When I decided to break my 15 year "no throwing up" record as the anesthesia wore off, he stood next to me to make sure I didn't fall down or run into the furniture as I wove my way to the bathroom. No kidding - it was similar to what happens when you drop a Mentos into a 2-liter of Diet Pepsi - eruption is imminent.


8. Every once in a while he'd poke his head into the room and say, "Are you okay? Do you need anything?" just in case I was too loopy to remember to ask.


9. He gave me a pep talk in the car before we went into the surgery center and gave me ideas about how to distract myself from the IV that I knew was coming. (Luckily, Nurse Pam was good so I didn't feel it!)


10. When I'd start to fall asleep with my glasses on he'd take them off and put them on the nightstand so I didn't roll over and smoosh them into my face. 


I'm doing much better and went back to work today! Hope your hubby is as awesome as mine!


Mandy

Breathe

About 6 weeks ago some of the ladies at church began meeting at my house on Tuesday nights at 6pm for a Bible Study. However...this isn't anything like any women's bible study you've ever done before....

1. There is no workbook...Why assign homework if it stresses us out to the point that we don't enjoy the study?

2. Ladies of ALL ages are attending....I wanted a variety of perspectives and experiences to all come together and mingle in my living room :)

3. There are no "fill in the blanks" flip charts, videos, acronyms, or matching questions. 

For our study, we're all reading one chapter of the book each week and then coming together to talk about it - and how its changing us. We're getting to know one another in an environment where we can be encouraging - where we can help carry one another's burdens to Jesus.  Its a study for the hassled. worried. hurried. and stressed among us. (Go ahead 'fess up....you fall into one of those categories!)

Check out Breathe: Creating Space for God in a Hectic Life by Keri Wyatt Kent. You can get it on Amazon for cheap. Keri's writing style is very conversational and full to the brim with real life examples you will relate to. This study will touch your heart and remind you that your value comes not from what you do but from who you are. - You are a beloved child of God.  

Let me know if you like it!

Mandy

Go Warriors!

Fall is in the air and I can sense that its football time! It might be the moans of agony coming from the living room every time Georgia touches a football or maybe the chill in the air or the fact that your backside is numb after about 10 minutes of sitting on the bleachers, but you can just feel it around here.


Either way, Marion County's homecoming has come and gone once again...check it out. 

Hannah is one of my seniors and she was the best yellow jacket ever! The senior float involved her getting squashed by a giant fly swatter....Jordon is her cousin and maybe the sweetest "all boy" I've ever met. 

 We're serious about supporting our kids! We paid to advertise on the fence at the stadium. There's one at the softball field too. 

One of our other seniors, Dylan, is #20...He's in this picture somewhere. This kid has the most heart of any player out there....and he's our comedian. 

You wouldn't think Dylan or any of the other players would know who's there and who's not. A couple of weeks ago we tried to flag him down but we didn't think he saw us. We were talking about the game the following Wednesday night at church and we told him we figured he couldn't see us, but Dylan said, "I see you. I always know who's there." Kids know when you care enough to show up! 

 He loves that we show up to support them...regardless of the score at the end of the 4th quarter. 

This Friday night JCN is sponsoring 5th Quarter....aka feeding 60 ravenous football players and their fans pizza at the Warrior Fieldhouse after the game. Its going to be exhausting but its a great way to tell our kids that they're worth our time and attention! Saturday we're throwing our annual Fall Festival....

So if I don't post pictures immediately, its probably because I'm in an exhausted coma or Kevin squashed me in the sumo ring....

Mandy

Happy Birthday "Paster Keven"

I'll go ahead and apologize for being a blog slacker. I promise that I've been trying to post, but my camera and I got in a fight with the Mac again and it has just been downhill from there. I've outsmarted it for the time being.....just so we could all say "HAPPY BIRTHDAY!"... who cares if its 3 weeks late. It just makes the birthday fun last that much longer. 

 This was the photo on the front of his birthday card from me this year....We will definitely re-enact this in another 40 years.

The kids all wrote cards to "Paster Kiven" so I picked out a few to share. They speak for themselves.....

 To: Paster Kiven

From: Robbie

 When can we go play golf. And can I go with you.

I hope you have a great Birthday Special "K"!

Love, Abby-Lynn

P. S. I love you :)

Happy Birtheday Paster. Keven. you rock. 

A special Birthday boy like you your a good Pastor like god wanted you to be. 

Love, Gracie-Mae Jordan

I took the birthday boy out for some italian at Tony's in the Bluff View Art District....take that Olive Garden!

Mandy and Kevin

Backpacks

About three weeks ago, something tragic happened. Kids all over town threw fits -  stomped their grungy, sunburned feet, and cried crocodile tears as they scratched their mosquito bites. 

Summer had officially - ended. The school bell started ringing. Gone were the bathing suits, flip flops, and hours of endlessly texting their friends. They emerged from their houses bleary-eyed. Dressed in collared shirts, khaki pants, and shoes that did not bare their toes.

They huffed and grumbled and lumbered to bus stops and waiting mini vans all over town - heavy laden with backpacks - filled with paper, pencils, and hand sanitizer. (They're a pretty germy bunch)

When all of us adults finally quit chuckling and snapping those blackmail-worthy "First Day of School" photos, we realized that some of the kids in our community didn't have everything they needed for the traditional trek back to the classroom. 

So, the JCN Women's Ministry set to work stuffing backpacks with all those much needed learning necessities. This year we were able to buy and fill 15 backpacks for kids at Jasper Elementary School (baby steps people, baby steps). Next year, we hope to provide even more backpacks for the students in our community.

Happy School Year!

Mandy

The Really Good

This one goes in the good category - for sure.


I can't believe we've reached our 1 year anniversary mark of pastoring Jasper Church of the Nazarene. It has gone so quickly! So much has happened over the last year - just check out our blog's history! Life at the church has its frustrating moments, but I think that's true of any group of people who attempt to journey through life together. We are all learning together to love God and love each other. 


Our people are wonderful and the church is blossoming. Not only are we remodeling some of our physical spaces but we're also asking God to remodel the way we see others. We want to see and love the world the way that he does. We're building relationships with people in our community who desperately need to be loved. Overall, I think life here with the flock God has given us is even better than I expected it would be. When we hear other pastors talk about the things that they are dealing with at their churches it makes us feel very blessed to be where we are. Our people are very enthusiastic and supportive. They really are excited about what God is doing in our midst. They truly love us and I think of them as family. I would honestly be devastated if we had to leave. I can't imagine not living here with them.


It is inspiring to watch God use our very imperfect efforts and work in ways that transform people at the very heart of who they are. I can't tell you how often I feel  like a 6 year old with glue covered hands and marker on my face - holding up my homemade, macaroni necklace to God - hoping he'll like it. But when we offer what we have with a loving heart, I truly believe God treasures it much like mothers who treasure those homemade gifts offered by their loving children. 


We aren't the flashiest show in town, but we sincerely seek to love "the least of these" - realizing first and foremost that we fall into that category ourselves. It is our belief that no one is ever scared into loving Jesus. Fear never inspires love. No one is ever shamed or belittled into loving Jesus. Those things may inspire rigid obedience, but never love. Love is a completely different thing. There is no equation for it. No boundary. No 3-step plan. Nothing fancy or pretentious to this way of life. We are much less concerned with dignity than we are with loving people as they are, until they sense the love of Jesus. That's our only plan. :)


I recently prayed with a young woman at the altar and helped her to open her heart to Jesus. I've prayed with and for many people, but I had never done that before and it was a very humbling experience. There is something very powerful about being there when heaven and earth so clearly meet one another. Its almost like your heart stops for a moment and when it starts up again its beating in a whole new way. I'm sure I'll never forget that first experience, but I hope many more follow. In the last two months we've also had two young men get saved who have struggled with drug addiction. We are working to encourage and disciple them as they learn how to live like Jesus. It is a testimony to God's unfailing grace that they are beginning to walk a new path that is marked with light and hope. We thank God for his faithfulness to us, our church, and our community. Pray with and for us as we continue on into our second year!


We hope that you are also sensing God at work all around you,


Mandy and Kevin

Fearlessness

We're adding a new category to our blog. The insane category.

Last Saturday Kevin and I took 26 teenagers and young adults whitewater rafting on the Ocoee River. 

In the week prior to the trip I'm pretty sure I answered the question, "What happens if I fall out of the raft?" no less than 5763 times. I kept having visions of that Kevin Bacon movie - The River Wild while mentally rehearsing scripts of what I would say to parents when I brought home a child that was seriously maimed or otherwise gravely injured.

You guys know how I feel about conflict.  arugments.  strife.

It makes my stomach ache. I break out in a cold sweat and my hands start to shake. 

But, regardless of my instinct to lock them in the nice, safe, dry van, I looked my fear in the face.

I stared that river down.

And I said: "Please take Kevin. Not me. He's lived longer than me. And the kids...they love me..."

Just kidding.

Anyway, rapids are classified on a scale of 1 to 5. One being the waves a baby deer makes when lapping water from a bubbling forest stream and five being waves reminiscent of those toward the end of The Little Mermaid when Ursula the Seawitch meets her well-deserved fate. 

Our crew kept to the class 3 and 4 rapids. I did promise their parents I would bring them home with all their arms and legs, you know.

We were about to start our watery adventure (or plunge toward imminent death) and I was worried - 5 seconds from calling a timeout. There were several reasons for this irrational fear. 


1. My rafters couldn't lug the raft down the ramp to the water.


2. One of them toppled into the water while climbing into the raft.


3. At one point the guide said, "This is going to be terrible if you guys can't paddle any better than this!" 


4. At another point the guide looked at one of my girls and said, "Honey, your paddle's not even touching the water."


About halfway through our run down the gauntlet of death, one of my girls slid out of the raft to float in a guide-approved stretch of calmness - and then couldn't climb back into the boat. In the process of getting her to the river bank so she could climb in, our guide ran us into a giant pine tree (being short came in handy) which launched girl # 2 into the water. They were dropping like flies.


Now I know why lifejackets and helmets are mandatory.


I have to confess that I was no help. completely useless. I had no idea what to do but try not to fall out myself.


Eventually, everyone made it back in and we continued on our way. By the time we reached the last rapid our paddling had improved 400% and our guide was no longer begging God to dry the river up like the Red Sea to save him from our ineptness at water sports. 


What can I say? I'm from Indiana. Its a landlocked state.


Check out our perilous version of "Row, Row, Row Your Boat" below:

ITS COMING.

ITS HERE... This is my raft. I am the one in the front left - wiping 9 gallons of water out of my face after almost being swallowed alive by the river. 

Kevin is in the middle on the left - gray t-shirt. about to fall out of the raft.

Yep, he fell out. 

Kevin - 0

River - 1

[SIDE NOTE] Let it be known that Mandy Knight did not fall out of her raft at any point during this experience.

Looking death in the face - and giggling. Yes, they were giggling. No screaming in terror. No begging for their mothers. 

Our college kids flipped their raft....no casualties...unless you count one pair of water shoes, and Laura's big toe. 

My raft again - I've got the red t-shirt on in the front - doing my best to at least drown gracefully.

When the river bank finally came into view at the end I was exhausted. I turned to the kids - counted heads - and said, "Wanna do it again?" Dumb question - of course they wanted to. And I want to also! It was awesome....nerve racking...but awesome.

It looks like we have a new summertime tradition. And since no one needed stitches or an ER visit I count it a success. 

Until next time,

Mandy

P. S.   The Official List of Injuries Incurred by 28 People in 5 Rafts on 1 Trip Down the River   

          1 jammed big toe

          1 bruised knee (falling out of afore mentioned raft)

          1 swollen knee

          1 sprained foot

          1 smashed nose (paddle to the face)

          6 bruised arms (lifejacket burn)

          1 squished hand

          6 near drownings (remember the flipped raft?)

          3 chipped fingernails