Category: Church (Page 7 of 7)

Chilly Easter

04/07/2007 / Blake

This morning we headed up to the church for the Easter Egg Hunt. But this one was unique. All the little kids were bundled up in coats and toboggans. It was stinking cold! My two year old did quite well, but my 5 year old hardly got any because she wanted to finish coloring and writing her name on her picture before going outside.

So we walked over next to where the two year old was, and she gave her big sister some of her eggs. Even the Golden Egg she found. I doubt we see that happen any more in the years to come (the golden egg part.)

But as cold as it is right now (highs in the 50’s, lows in the 30’s) compared to the 80+ we’d been feeling, it should be interesting tomorrow at church for Easter Sunday. The day that so many females have that special, cute, perfect dress to wear. The dress that is almost always a “warm weather” dress.

So will all these women/girls be tough and wear it tomorrow and be cold, or postpone it til next weekend. As if Al Gore needed something else to be wrong about!

Favorite Thing About Church

02/17/2007 / Blake

We just began a new service in our church w/in the last month. It’s not in anyway traditional like the other two services. Tomorrow will be the fifth time it’s ever occurred. Our five year old has been going, seeming to like it. And she doesn’t leave the service when it’s time for the little kids to go to their own room. She says she wants to stay in there w/ everyone else.

But last Sunday after church she asked me, “Dad, you know what my favorite thing about church is? You know what my favorite part is?”

I was expecting something about the music or people she sees in there or that they have a table w/ donuts and cookies….something like that.

“Dad, it’s when Mom goes and gets Ella from the nursery and she runs up to me all excited and hugs me for a whole minute!” I’m glad these girls love each other!

Ah…the party & Ping Pong

02/05/2007 / Blake

Tonight was the Super Bowl Party. We had lots of soft drinks, lots of candy, too much pizza, and some fans. Obviously most of the people were for the Colts. I guess the Peyton Manning thing and him being from the South and all (didn’t Grossman go to UF?) But there were a few Chicago fans who kept everyone honest

But the real action was on the Ping Pong table. We had one donated to us a couple of weeks back. I thought it’d get a little use, but ignored by most people. But boy was I wrong. There are people around it constantly. And I’ve been playing really well too. But tonight I suffered my first defeat tonight.

We put on a tournament. Twenty Four people were in it. Some good, some not quite as good. But good fun all around. But I got put out in the semi-finals by a dark horse favorite. I’d had only 3 points scored against me in the first three games! I mean, c’mon! But I fell 21-18. It stung a little, but it was fun.

Then Around The World was the group ping pong activity of the night.

And oh yeah, the Colts won!

Isn’t She Beautiful?

01/05/2007 / Blake

I heard about this while listening to the “Blessed are the Peacemakers” sermon series from Rob Bell. But just heard it in passing. But then the very next day a friend mentioned it and wondered if I wanted to go. For whatever reason it didn’t seem to be possible.

But soon after looking at it more, and hearing that our pastor is going and a few small things were going to be able to make the way easier….I’M GOING!

So we’ll be heading up to Grandville, MI later this month for a conference at Mars Hill Bible Church w/ teaching and Q&A w/ Rob Bell and the staff of the church. It should be quite awesome, and I’m looking forward to being with the people I’m up there with.

Here are a few interesting things from the FAQ on the site:

Q: Who is this seminar for?
A: Pastors, Youth Pastors, small group Pastors, Worship leaders, seminary students, college students, elders, board members, church volunteers, church planters, church staff members…etc.
Q: Will I be receiving a packet of information in the mail prior to the seminar?
A: You will receive an immediate email response at the time of your registration confirming your registration. There will be no literature sent to you about the seminar, the content of Rob’s teachings, nor any of the discussion groups previous to your arrival.
Q: What will the weather be like in Grand Rapids, MI during the seminar in January?
A: The weather will be cold, with a high probability of snow, wind, and bitter rain that makes you wish you were somewhere else. This is not a seminar for the faint of heart. Grand Rapids is not for sissies.

Not for sissies, huh? There’s no way my wife would make that trip then. She hates cool weather.

My office helper

11/29/2006 / Blake

She needed to come by for a bit with me today. She’s helping a lot. Tries to answer the phone whenever it rings, throws my cell phone to see if it will bounce off the floor, and makes it difficult to type when she’s in my lap because she thinks she’s a better typist than me.

So, I guess I did drink the Kool-Aid

11/21/2006 / Blake

The kool-aid is tasting good. The Mac came in and now I’m sitting in front of it. It’s small, sleek, yet 15.4 inches. I guess I’ll be figuring out the ins and outs of it soon. I’ve been looking around the last few months at online opinions. And there are a lot of people who say, “Mac is the best and here is my grocery list for why…” and then there’s the camp that says, “PC’s are more than fine and here’s why when comparing ~~apples to apples~~ oranges to oranges they’re just as good…”

But I read one statement that rang true. Even though there are plenty of people who LOVE their machine, be it Mac or PC….any of the ‘switchers’ you read about are the PC to Mac people. I have never read someone say, “I used to be a Mac user only. But I switched to a PC and now I’d never think of going back.” I’ve NEVER heard of that. And it’s speaking volumes to me.

Now I’ve still got a long ways to go in getting my feet wet w/ this machine. I know it can do a lot of stuff that I’ve not even begun to scratch the surface of. So here’s to exploration and learning. This will be a great ministry tool. I’m excited to see what happens with it!

Am I To Be Like Eve?

11/14/2006 / Blake

Well, it seems that Eve couldn’t resist the apple. She gave in and partook of the fruit. Now I don’t mean to say that an Apple is sinful at all. But I’ve been looking over the fence at the Macintosh computers for a bit. I hear all the buzz. I see all the neat tools. I hear the “once you go back, you’ll never go back!” phrases.

But after some needed switcheroos in the computer setups in the office, we made a purchase. And we purchased a MacBook Pro. It should be here w/in the week. We expect to be using it for various media manipulation and editing as well as some desktop stuff. It’s got the horses. And we plan to let it run!

Does anyone recommend any media projection software? We’ve been using MediaShout for PC’s for around a year or so. I’ve seen ProPresenter and LiveWorship both for the Mac. Any thoughts?

Ice Cream Eating Contest (Bomitada Fest!)

07/26/2005 / Blake

Still here in Costa Rica. One more work day and then a day to get things together to head home.

I feel sick. Like I need to puke. We had an ice cream eating contest tonight. Me, Becca, and Utah. Here´s the setup:
1. Eat 8 ice cream bars from the cooler. Rotate different types. Eat them all together. You can´t go on to the next one til everyone is ready.
2. Then run about 3/4 of a mile. Again, not a race. Run it together.
3. Eat 7 more bars.
4. Walk half a mile, then actually race back. This is the only part that is an actual race.
5. If you hurl, you´re out.

Yesterday Becca was talking about how much she likes ice cream. I suggested an ice cream eating contest since I liked it a lot too. Utah said he was in. So we went to the store and bought white shirts to make our own commerative shirts. Bomitada Fest. Means Puke Fest or Vomit Fest

At lunch today we were all thinking it was going to be harder than we expected. But pride was already making us talk big game. We started and hit a mini wall after eating 6 ice cream bars. But kept on going, no problem. It was quite funny. I figured there´d be 6 or 8 people who would watch us. But there were dozens upon dozens..all with cameras and the like. Felt like we were having the paparazzi shower us with attention. Seriously. Crazy.

Then the run. We had people running with us, people on bikes, people in cars going along side of us. We felt like we were running the last mile of an Olympic marathon with everyone cheering. But the run was no problem. Actually made us all feel better.

Then the next 7. Figured these would be harder. They were. At around bar 11 or 12 it was a bite by bite thing. Tough. Very hard to swallow. But we did it. Becca and Utah were feeling it pretty hard. I didn’t feel it as soon as they did, but it hit me hard too. Each bite was a chore. At #14 Hannah tried to help Utah and poked his bar in his mouth and he pukes. Then pukes again. Thankfully there was a trash can right beside him. He´d been close arleady. Sorta stinks that Hannah caused him to bow out though.

Number 15 was the hardest. It was one of those cones wrapped in a cone. We both eat the cream and then work on the cone. Very slowly. Veeeeeeeeeery slowly. We didn´t want to stand up for the race in fear of losing it all. Our stomachs felt so heavy and tight.

But we walk the first leg. A crew still around us but not quite as large. Then we hit the garbage can and start the trek back. Starts as a walk. Becca asks if she starts running would I run too. The van is beside us so I run around the back to the other side. She thinks I’m sprinting so she starts to run. I see her and she slows. But then starts to run again. I run slowly thinking she´ll slow down..but she doesn’t. So I have to sprint to hope to catch her.

I finally catch her, and we talk as we sprint. We both agree we feel like blowing chum everywhere. I expect her to win at this point because I had to catch up. But I slowly pull away and make it back to the tree to touch it first. At this point neither of us have puked any. But we both are feeling quite distended in the abdomen area.

But the cool thing is that it was a fundraiser for the church down here. We will have raised a little over $345 when all is said and done I believe. Then you subtract $25 for the ice cream bill. Many pictures were taken. So I will post some when I get back

But hats off to both Becca and Utah. I would have quit way before if not for them. It was good fun with good people, and I hope to never do it again any time soon…until next year!