KIDS CAMP 2009

Wow! What a week. We had 37 kids attend our Kids Camp (aka VBS), only 13 of those were members' kids. A team from Wynne, AR was here for the week to help, and help they did! What an amazing effort! We couldn't have done it without them. My mom also came out for the week and was a huge help! (not only at camp, but at home where she did my laundry! woo hoo!)
We held the camp at a local park in the evenings. We charged a small registration fee to give "value" to the camp and to help ensure kids would return throughout the week. We also served them sandwiches for dinner each night. There was one family of foster kids who would devour 4-5 sandwiches each (and they were little kids, ranging from 3-8). It was really disheartening to think that those sandwiches may have been the only real meal they had for the day.
All the kids really seemed to have a lot of fun. The parents had nothing but praise for us. It was a long, hard week, but SO worth it!
We had 2 professions of faith, both of them parents!


To conclude the week we had a children's service this past Sunday. Jake preached, speaking on the plan of salvation. We did all kid's songs, ranging from "God is Bigger Than the Boogie Man" to "I Just Want to be a Sheep". Our 'special' was Veggie Tales' "Cheeseburger". What a hoot! We had just under 70 in attendance and everyone raved about the service. We even had some suggestions that this become more regular, like possibly doing a kids' service once a quarter.
We also had 3 kids raise their hands at the end of the service wanting to know more about asking Jesus to come into their lives to be their boss and forgive their sins. (We didn't ask any of them if they wanted to do it then, so that no one was doing it just because friends were.
Instead, we wrote down names of those who raised their hands and Jake is setting up appointments with their families to go speak with them individually at their homes.)

This was such a successful week for our church. We have at least 2-3 families who are interested in joining our church because of it. Thank you for your prayers. To God be the glory!

You give and take away...my heart will CHOOSE to say, Lord blessed be Your Name

So the good news is Jake still has a job.
As many of you reading this may have heard on the news, Fontainebleau, Jake's employer, declared bankruptcy this week. A good portion of the people in his office were laid off. It was a sad day for him as he helped coworkers carry their boxes of belongings out to their cars.
What we found out later yesterday was that anyone left working for the company was having to take a mandatory, across the board, pay cut.
Jake is in the process of updating his resume and seeing what else is out there.
When he came home and told me, though I could see the stress and worry in his eyes, his statement to me was, "This only means God has something else in the works for us." His faith is unwavering. He still feels that we are called here for a reason and that our season here has not yet ended.
Today opened with more discouraging news. The title company apparently is holding up some paper work and therefore we cannot close on the house this week. Our loan officer hopes to close by the end of the month (Me too, seeing as we will be homeless if we don't). Not only that, but the fees from the title company came in higher than expected, so we have to come up with more money for closing...and our interest rate was only good through the 15th, and since we won't be closing then it will expire and the new interest rate is higher, making our house payment go up.
There's more, but I won't bore you with the details...suffice to say, the last 2 days have been pretty much the worst days since we've lived here.
I know my God is in control. He knows the outcome, has the big picture in His hand. He has seen us through many many times before, and I know this time will be no different.
I've spent most of the day crying. I'm so glad my mom didn't leave until this afternoon, because I don't know what I would have done this morning had she not been here to lean on.
Please be praying for us during this time. Pray mostly that we will lean on His unfailing strength.
Ending on a positive note, our Kid's Camp is going on this week. (It's our "VBS") We have had 37 kids registered and attending. Only 12 or so of those are members. We have had a lot of positive feedback from both kids and parents. There is so much to tell you about it, I will blog next week and include pictures.
Jake is correct, God has something in store for us, and just like our move to Vegas, it may not be anything we would have ever imagined. He is good, all the time.
"I say, 'You are my God, my times are in Your hands.'"

End of School

So there have been countless times over the past month and a half that I've thought about sitting down and posting a blog, but one day becomes two and the next thing I know...it's June! Where has this year gone?

The kids finished school today. JD said he was sad because he loves school. Though Cora enjoyed school very much, she was also ready for summer break. I'm sure JD will be as well, once he remembers the freedom summer brings.
JD made honor roll all three trimesters. We're obviously very proud. His only non-A was an 89%...I think I can live with that. Cora also did well, 4 out of 6 grades were A's. We were blessed with wonderful teachers this year. We know God put those teachers in our lives for a reason.

Cora's class

JD's class

We're looking forward to my mom and Amy Fike coming in tonight. Tomorrow night (Friday) Amy will be doing a traditional Muslim Tea with the ladies from our church, and my mom will be speaking on how women should act as ladies.
A volunteer team from Wynne, AR will be coming in tomorrow evening to help with our Kids Camp we're having next week. (It's VBS, but because so many people we are trying to reach either have negative thoughts towards "church events" or don't understand VBS, we're choosing to call it Kids Camp.) It will be held M-F evening. Please be in prayer for the children already signed up and those that will sign up this weekend. Also pray for the kids in the park each evening that may wonder over and take part.

I'll be flying the kids to AR on the 18th. They are excited to see family and friends. Though I'll only be there 3 days, they will be staying through July 12th. This should give me a good opportunity to get us settled in our new house. Hopefully we will be able to close on it the end of next week!

Sorry this is a short one...I'll write more soon and promise to get out a newsletter very soon.