Speed With Direction...

The best thing for me about Memorial Day is the party at Chuck and Bobbie Haupert's house. Every year they open up their home to friends from the church and since I've know them forever, I've enjoyed many, many parties. But this year they REALLY opened their home. The party began at 6:00, but about 15 minutes later, the clouds rolled in and the rain came pouring down!

Now some hosts might have been tempted to call the whole thing off and reschedule for another, nicer day. Not the Hauperts! In no time at all the party moved into their house, and although I don't know the exact count of people, it had to be around fifty. Not everyone has a house that could accommodate a gathering that big, but their house is just the right size. (We did get outside for a while to play whiffle ball!)

What could have been soggy mess turned out to be one of the best Memorial Day parties ever. And for me the most exciting part was knowing most of the people that were there. In years past, there were some that I knew, but for the most part, most were strangers. It was great to know faces and the names that went with them. So a huge THANKS to Chuck and Bobbie for opening their yard, and their home to everyone. It was fun!

Another great Sunday has come and gone. The last KidStuf of the season was amazing. I'm feeling much more comfortable up on stage. For those of you who don't know, that's NOT my favorite place to be. But the more I get up there, the less I feel like I'm going to be sick. Getting out that "hula hoop" of comfort is becoming a daily thing, with fairly good results.

I'm getting ready to go on a Family Life retreat and I'm pretty excited. I'm hoping that this is going to be a huge learning time. Everyday I'm faced with the reality that I don't know everything. And although I'm totally okay with this fact, I'd like to learn all that I can. So that's my prayer for the next 27 hours. I'll be back on Wednesday, hopefully in time for Aqua.

Oh, and check out Gordo's blog if you get the chance. It's very, very, very funny!

It's been 7 months since I started working here and 9 months since I moved back from Kentucky. In some ways I can't believe how fast time has gone, and in other ways, I feel like I've been here forever. I left behind some amazing friends at my old job. Friends that knew me really well and loved me anyway. Now I know that God doesn't want me to worry, that He is in control. But I did feel a bit nervous about getting to know my new co-workers. I'm not the best at meeting new people. I wondered if I could find folks here that could fill in the gap that my bluegrass friends left?

The answer was "YES"! God has put me in a place where I love coming to work and I love the people I work with. Some of us went out to Cici's Pizza for lunch today and I was reminded again about how much fun they all are. I have been blessed more that I could imagine and that's something I need to remember next time I start to worry. God cares about me and wants me to have close relationships with people, just like He wants to have a close relationship with me. That's amazing and wonderful to have God love me like that!

Another Sunday has come and gone here in Velocity, and I got to spend time with some of the most dedicated folks at NewPointe. The small group leaders who work with grade level kids are on every Sunday morning. Our goal is to provide someone, outside their family, who is going to build into a child's life. To do that, it requires a lot of time and a lot of energy, and we have a lot of kids! At the old building, it was about 90 kids a morning spread over two hours. Here at NewPointe, we have around 250! It's an incredible blessing and an incredible challenge. I'm so thankful that my volunteers have hit the hill running. Kids are excited to come through the doors every Sunday and one of the reasons is the small group leaders make it fun to get to know God! So a HUGE thanks to everyone who serves in Velocity. Both the kids and I know how much work you're doing and it's appreciated. THANKS!

Okay, so I'm entering the blogging world. To be honest, I'm a bit unsure about it. Although I do love to chat and am VERY energetic, sharing with people that I don't know is a bit daunting. I'm hoping that by starting this, people can get to know me and my passion better. What's my passion? Hanging out with kids and helping them come to understand that God wants to be their friend... forever. This is something that I was able to learn at a young age and it totally, without a doubt changed my life. That's what I want for every kid that I see on Sunday. That's my heart and my prayer every day. I want to bring kids closer to Christ.

Maybe this blog thing is going to be kinda fun.