Sometimes We Just Need to Laugh

Garrett helped carry in game supplies





Payton's creative mind came up with this pirate costume. We hardly recognized her!

We didn't have much in the way of decorations, so I "created" this overhead transparency to bring out our theme in the sanctuary.

On Monday several of us walked a few streets and passed out flyers about the carnival and VBS. The response was mostly positive. At 6:00 Monday night we kicked off the carnival with a crowd (maybe 20??) kids eager to see what was going on. The rain that started at about 7 slowed things down a bit, but the Lord was faithful (as always!) and the youth were able to keep the kids attention by getting a head start learning the songs.

Timmy was ready for the kids to arrive. Each of the youth (and John) ran a game for the carnival.

Eileen (Rich's wife) is on the left. She HATES having her picture taken so I had to sneak this one in.
The man in the green is Dan. He moved his family's membership to a church with a thriving childrens program, but they came to enjoy the carnival and catch up with old friends. His wife is the one who was very pregnant last year during our trip. Next to him is George and then Rich and, or course, Keith.

Robby has been our cook and we have been eating well!

I haven't seen much of Rob R, John , Keith or James. They went to the Parsonage Monday morning with the intention of cleaning the deck and completing some concrete work, but boy did they get a surprise! They found a sewer leak! They were able to fix the problem pipe, but not without knocking a few holes in the walls. Their work load has been increased quite a bit! That whole situation reminds me of our Lord and how He works. ( I know, strange but think about it.) Our expectations don't change His plan. When we try to do God's work with our own expectations we usually get surprised. Although no one was excited to find the broken pipe, the fact is it was there. With no one staying in the parsonage it might not have been discovered until a Pastor moved in. What a Godsend! I pray that God is using us to prepare this home for whomever He is sending to pastor this struggling church, but I know that His plan is perfect, even when it doesn't follow my expectations!