January

Christmas is over and 2008 will soon be too. It has been a fun and eventful year here at the church and I have so many great memories of so many of you. Thanks for making my year as amazing as it was.

Thanks to all the youth and adults who were able to help out with the cookie fundraiser! You did a great job making thousands of cookies. This fundraiser will really help us out with our trips.

Speaking of trips we have a ski trip coming up. Several churches from town will be joining us as we head to Mt. Kato on January 18th. Sign up by the 11th and deposit for your activities then too. The prices can be found on posters in the church, or just ask me. We will meet at church at noon to leave and will be back between 9:30 and 10:00. Bring money for lockers to store clothes and for dinner which will be at the lodge. This means more time to ski, snowboard, and tube! YAY!

I hope you all have a safe and happy New Year!

Winter Things

Almost nothing beats the first fresh blanket of snow. The world seems totally made over and magical. Of course most of that first snow has melted and created mud by now but that snow reminds me of life after we find out what Jesus did for us. Have you remembered lately? If you haven't maybe that fresh snow has melted to create mud...Don't get stuck. Remember that that fresh start is always there!

Ok now for the updates.

First we have the cookie fundraiser going on. You all should have received the order forms by now. Please sell the cookies! Even if you are not going on the summer trips you should sell them. We are constantly using the money we raise not only for the summer trips but for the ski trip, youth group supplies, prizes, and bringing cool bands in. So please help out even if you are not going on a trip.

Second there is a great chance for you to serve your church! The Lutefisk meal is December 7th and your help is needed! They need people to roll lefse at 1:00, and also to help out at the 2:30 and 5:30 shifts. If you want to help out please let me know when you can and if there is something you would like to do. Also we get a donation from the Lutefisk committee so please come help! Any elementary youth wishing to help out can be tum tees and hand out candy canes...I don't think I spelled that right but you hopefully understand.

Third is the GO FISH concert! That is December 12th at WHS gym. The concert is at 7 and tickets are sold at the door for $15. Anyone who purchased tickets from the church should contact me to pay and pick up tickets.

And please come to youth group! There have been some of you that I have missed so please come back! We will be making boxes for the cookies next week and will play a game of your choice.

Summer 2009

I know it seems pretty early to be thinking of next summer...seeing that this summer just ended a little over a month ago, but here at church plans are being made. The youth team deliberated and the youth of this church spoke and our summer trips are set.

Senior high mission trip: Ozark Mountains in Arkansas! Head to the Ozarks and the small town of Booneville to serve local youth through an outreach program called kids club, and to serve others through work projects. Whether it is making a child smile, or putting a new coat of paint on a old house this trip is about doing the work of God. Already several youth have signed up, so sign up today to reserve your spot. Our deadline for sign up is November 7th. A $25 deposit is due by then. Once we know who is going we will discuss fundraising requirements, training, t-shirts, and our adventure activity will be decided. This trip will be from June 13th through the 19th.

Junior high (middle school) trip: Fort Courage! Fort Courage is located near Custer South Dakota and is a camp set up like a pioneer trading post. This rustic camp has a lot to offer. We will do low ropes courses, ride horses, make food over fires, hang out with other youth, worship, have bible study, hike, and do much more! Sign up is by Amy's office and a $25 deposit is due when you sign up. There is no deadline as of yet to sign up. This trip will be July 12th through the 17th.

*Anyone who is interested in scholarships for these trips should contact Amy or the youth board to set up the scholarship. The important thing is that these trips are possible for all the youth in our church.

Whats up?

With school going on our lives are busy, busy, busy! So that is why the flamingo fundraiser is now over. If any families still have the pink envelopes they should send them in to church with their donation. Also thanks to all the youth, parents, and families that participated. We raised over $1,000 with this fundraiser and its because of you!

Youth group is in full swing. Just a reminder that there will be no youth group on October 15th due to MEA. Also the 22nd is a special day for all of us. We get to dress like pirates! I know there are some of you who would love to dress up, and some who would prefer not to. If you feel like it then I encourage you to dress up, if you don't then your help with this service project would be amazing. Senior/junior high youth and all adult helpers will meet at church at 5:45 and then head to American Reformed (the church behind Perkins) for a short worship/prep meeting. We will hit the streets at 6:30 and hopefully we will collect more than the 300 pounds we got last year. If any parents are interested in helping, please have them contact me.

The elementary youth will also be having a pirate night. Elem youth are encouraged to dress up and bring canned food items to church. There they will get to hear about pirates for the pantry and will participate in some daring pirate activity. Parents are also needed to help run the elementary youth group since I will be out on the streets with the older youth. ARRRRRRRRR

Fall 2008

School has already started and with it the laziness of summer has quickly ended. I hope that everyone has had a great experience so far with new grade levels and new schools. Another change you can look forward to is that of youth group starting back up again! On the 17th we will start youth group again. We will be having meals once again this year but are going to try to have the meals catered by a local pizza place. So a $2 donation is encouraged for the meal. This will help cover the cost of the pizza. Parents and senior high youth are welcome to come help serve the meal by setting out pizzas, pouring drinks, and cleaning up the kitchen. The time of youth group is the same: Meal @ 5:30, Elementary youth group @ 6:00-6:45, Senior/junior high 7:00-8:00. *I am in need of help from both parents and responsible senior high youth to help out with Elementary youth group.*

I look forward to seeing you next Wednesday evening!

End of Summer

It doesn't feel like summer should be ending yet but the end of summer comes closer with every day. However the fun of summer is not over yet! We are still in the process of flamingoing and should be for another month. We are currently over a third through out hit list and with each week more names are crossed off. We will be flamingoing every Tuesday, Thursday, and Sunday as long as we have the flamingo sets in. If we are not going to be flamingoing you will be contacted.

Another fun thing that is going on is lifelight festival! We are heading there on the 29th and so far we have a great group signed up. You still have one more day to add your name to the list! The best thing about this trip is that it is FREE and you get to see tons of great bands like Family Force Five, and Switchfoot. So yeah it's gonna rock. And you also get to cheer me on in a race on the 30th, or if you wish to join me in the race that would be amazing!

Just a heads up about something coming this fall...We are going to start a youth youth team here at Church. The team will be made up of you and other youth and will be meeting every other month. Our first meeting is in October so I will send you more information between now and then.

Enjoy the last few lazy days of summer!

What a summer!

Wow what a summer! This summer was so packed with church activities I feel like summer has passed me by. It's almost August! Well with the summer being so packed it was also packed with tons of fun. The mission trip we took this year really touched my life. I saw how hard the youth were working from our church and how much we were affecting the people in Lodge Grass. It was an amazing experience and has me pumped up for next summer.

Music at your fingertips!

If you were one of the lucky ones who got to go to Sonshine or Lifelight with our church last year you probably learned just how much I love music and how many different varieties get me pumped up and ready to dance, work, or just have fun. Well after many months of ordering, downloading, and burning our church now has a cd library. The library is not finished and hopefully will never be "finished" with all the new music that comes out. Right now there are a bunch of cds in cases and they are just waiting to be checked out by you! Each cd has all the songs on the back and should be labeled with a sticker to inform you what type of music that artist(s) performs. Some of them could be labeled under three or more different genres but I used the first one that the band themselves used. We have Rap, Alternative, Pop, Ska, and of course Rock. Come check out artists like Stellar Kart, Jeremy Camp, Hawk Nelson, and Barlow Girl. There is a blue check out slip in each of the cases. Please write your name on it and put it in the small cardboard box that is on the shelf next to the cds. Oh and the cd library is on the bookshelf closest to my Amy's office. Under the cds are some books that are free to be taken home. I encourage you to check out these cds and keep looking as more will hopefully be added each couple of months. Please return the cds so other people can enjoy them. So get your cd player, boom box, or computer ready and grab your headphones and check these cds out!

New Blog

Hey guys, we are switching our blog site due to limited accesability and many program problems with the last site. So hopefully this will be something that you are able to check for monthly and possibly weekly fly updates.