Sad and happy

Received sad news today. One of my classmates back home in Maine died this morning. They say it appears to have been a heart attack. His passing is a big loss for our class. Warren was well liked by everyone, and was central in keeping our class list current... he knew where EVERYONE was! Wow... ya just never know when it's your time.


On a much much more positive note, I realized that in my last post, I got so carried away with my excitement over being healed, that I neglected to say

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JASON MY LOVE!!!

Yesterday was my honey's birthday... he is 35 and acting 20! LOL! He's just a kid in a grown up's body! We had a wonderful time celebrating his birthday with family yesterday! It was our family, Ben and Stacy's family, Jack and Julie, Peter, and two friends from church, Sandy and Rebecca. Yes, Sandy is the one and only great Sandini that I have blogged about before! She is my adopted 24 year old kid! hee hee! And Rebecca is the fab blogger who let me link to her videos of my boys at church camp! Thanks again!

Anyway, back to my darling husband! We had nice family time, and went for a LONG walk after cake and ice cream. Very relaxing! My 3 year old nephew and I watched "Finding Nemo" and I just laughed and laughed! That has to be my all time favorite movie!!!! I totally relate to Dory... she is the best! For a gift, I gave my husband a lobster (which I had my mother-in-law pick up so I didn't give it away!) and I made him a joke gift. It is a yellow T-shirt with a picture of a broken leg stepping in a pothole... and it says, "CAUTION: I "BREAK" FOR POTHOLES!" LOL! I don't think he was impressed, but he wore it on our walk, which was highly appropriate, since the road we walked on was, as my 7 year old calls it, a "pot hole mine"! Tons of pot holes! I love you, Jason!

Well, I could ramble on and on, but it is 11pm... time for bed! Tomorrow is supposed to be a scorcher! May have to head to the lake and see Grammie and Papa tomorrow! Talk later!

God is still God

Testimony time! I am so excited and so thankful to God that His Word is TRUE! He still heals people today just like He has always done. Thursday night, I hurt my back. For two days, I lived on Advil and Tylenol, sleeping with a heating pad, and walking really slow or not at all. It was very painful. Saturday night, my boys and my husband prayed for me. Sunday morning when I got up for church, I was still hurting. By the time I got to church, I was walking all hunched over. It was excruciating. So...... during the morning praise and worship, I had a talk with God. I said, "I KNOW your Word is true! I know you are a healer! I have seen you heal so many others, and now I claim that healing for myself! Nothing is too hard for you. I intend to praise and worship you this morning the way I would if my back DIDN'T hurt (a statement of BIG faith, because I normally lift my hands, dance, stomp my feet, jump, and sway.... all difficult with a lower back injury)." So I did. And it hurt like crazy at first! But then I got a warm sensation in my back, and the pain began to lessen... one song later, my back was pain free! I was so thankful! I worshipped even more! And after service, I was talking to my friend Sandy Wells who sat behind me that morning. I told her what happenend and she gasped... "MY back was killing me when I came in here this morning!" she said. "And now it doesn't hurt at all! I didn't even notice that the pain disappeared! But it's gone!" We both praised Him together! Don't tell me God isn't real, or doesn't do all those things he did back in Bible days! That is a lie! He is still healing! People are still being born again of the water and Spirit with the evidence of speaking in tongues! People are still being raised from the dead! (See Bro. Lee Stoneking's website!) There is a false teaching in Christianity called the doctrine of cessation. It means that the gifts of the Spirit STOPPED back in the days of the apostles. They say, "Speaking in tongues isn't for today. It was only for the apostles to start the church. You don't need to speak in tongues to be saved." Guess what? That is a lie from hell. That is exactly what the enemy of your soul wants you to believe. That way you stay lost! My King James Bible says that Jesus Christ was THE WORD made flesh. And THE WORD says that Jesus Christ is the SAME... yesterday, today, and forever. His Word never changes, and it will never pass away. It will always be true! If the Word states in Acts 2:38 that you must repent, be baptized in Jesus' name (not in the titles Father, Son, and Holy Ghost) and receive the Holy Ghost speaking in another tongue as the Spirit of God gives you the ability, then that is exactly what you must do to be saved from eternal hell. People in this day and age don't like the word Hell. It makes them uncomfortable. They don't want to believe a loving God would send them to such a horrible place. Well, He doesn't. WE DO! He died on the cross so we wouldn't HAVE to go there! But when we reject His truth because it makes us uncomfortable or it doesn't measure up to what you believe, then you make the choice YOURSELF to go into eternal hell. Man, I'll tell you what.... that is a no-brainer to me. I choose heaven! I choose Jesus Christ, the TRUE Word made flesh! And I can reap some of the benefits of my choice right now, here on earth! Like having my back instantly healed. Like peace in my heart when tragedy strikes. Like joy in the middle of a dark, evil world... joy that you just can't find in this world. It comes from heaven. I realize that everyone is free to believe what they want, and that's okay.... but if someone told me a bomb was going to go off in the building I'm in 10 minutes from now, and I chose not to believe it because it made me uncomfortable or I just didn't think it was true.... it wouldn't change the fact that in 10 minutes I would be blown into eternity! It's hard to imagine why people don't give the truth a chance. If the Bible isn't true, then no one has any hope. But I know too much about him! I know Him personally, and I have experienced His truths for myself! Jesus is real, and His Word is true, and He is the ONLY way to heaven! If you want to know more, go to this site for a quick 20 minute Bible study that could change your eternal destiny! May God bless you!

Random Friday thoughts

Swimming lessons over

Well, today is Friday. The boys finished their 2 weeks of swimming lessons today, and they both passed! YAY! Nick moves on to level 4 next year, and Adam moves to level 5. They are both very pleased with themselves! (so is mom!!!)

Summer schedule

Hard to believe that summer is going by so fast! I made a calendar for the boys before school got out, outlining what their summer vacation would look like....

1. One week off.
2. One week of church camp.
3. One week of family reunion camp.
4. One week off (which ended up NOT being a week off, because their cousins came up from Florida for that week. We spent 3 days with them!
5. Two weeks of swimming lessons.
6. One week off.
7. One week of cub scout camp.
8. Two weeks off.
9. Back to school.

Well, we are currently up to number 6 on the list. How did this summer zip by so fast???? But I am actually excited about getting back to work at my little K-2 school! And the boys are actually both excited about school this year (how did that happen???).

Birthday time

Sunday is my husband's birthday. We will be having a "burgers on the grill" party at Ben and Stacy's house after church that day. Will be a fun time with family.

Great news!!

My brother got fabulous news today! He got the job he was interviewing for as full time firefighter for the dept. he has volunteered for for years. YAY TIM!! Not only was he one of four men hired, he was hired as SENIOR firefighter, at a very significant pay rate! We are so proud of you Tim!!!! Tim also toured us around the construction site of the new fire station they are currently building... very impressive. The station has training towers and other things like confined space areas for training purposes built right into the station. Neat!

Church picnic

Hmmm... what other random thoughts can I post here? Tomorrow is the VT churches picnic in Rutland... that will be fun! The boys are pretty excited about playing in the softball game. Don't think Jason will be playing this year with his sprained ankle, though! :(

Well, that is about as random as they come. I'm beat. Time for night night! See y'all!

Cool videos of my kids from church camp

Okay.... I have no clue how to post a video to my blog yet. SO... my good friend Rebecca has a blog over at livedigital.com and she posted a bunch of pictures and videos from church camp on her blog site. SO... I am going to post links to the videos on her site here.

Click here for video of Adam and the junior crusaders singing the very cool song "Every Move I Make".

Click here for video of our little precampers (that includes Nick!) singing "Making Melodies in my Heart" (thumbs up!)

Enjoy!!!!!
Michelle

A spiritual feast!

Hello again! Yesterday was a great day for being fed spiritually. I am feeling an intense drawing of the Spirit to come closer to Him. I sang a song at church last night that I heard on the TPC Memphis site, that is just the heartbeat of my life right now, and it ministered to me so much even as I sang it. I hope it blessed others as well. It's called "I Need You More". Other songs I wanted to sing (although I didn't get the opportunity) were "Just a Closer Walk With Thee" and "I Just Want to be Where You Are". My heart longs to know Him more and more! The Word of God says "If I be lifted up, I will draw all men unto Me." He's definitely drawing! And I am definitely lifting Him up... every chance I get!

Mid Week Bible Study

My pastor preached an interesting message last night about the importance of attending church... particularly the mid-week Bible study lessons. The reason it was so interesting?? His point was that the people who were there listening to the message didn't need to hear it, and those to whom it was directed were obviously NOT there to hear it. He told us that those who don't consider mid week Bible study (tailored specifically to meet the needs of the born again believer) to be necessary or relevent, more times than not will stop coming to Sunday services as well.... then stop coming altogether. The Bible is clear that in the last days, the love of many will wax cold, and that those who are only lukewarm in their relationship with the Lord will be rejected by him. Lord, I don't want that to be me!!! His point was that some people say, "I can stay at home and have church with my dog!" Or, "God speaks to me through the animals." That is ridiculous and totally NON-biblical! The Bible encourages us in Hebrews to come together with the rest of the believers in the Body of Christ often; more and more often as the Day of His return draws near. Judging from what I see happening in Israel right now, I'm thinking we should be gathering MUCH more often than we do already! I am 100% guilty of not making the Tuesday evening prayer meetings.... I want to go! My flesh does not cooperate, but I need to tell it to "SHUT UP!" and just GO!!!!! I could go on and on about this lesson, but this post would be way too long to read if I did!

God Night

My very good friend Petrina and I used to do something called "God Night" quite often a couple years back (before she had the nerve to leave the country and go to Bible College... hee hee hee). It was an awesome time! We'd choose whose house to meet at, and when we got together, there was no "visiting" or "social time" allowed. As soon as you arrived, it was prayer time! Fellowship with the Lord! Then we would sing! Then, we would sit on the couch with our Bibles and pop in a preaching video (usually Bro. Jeff Arnold... he's amazing). And we'd furiously take notes, rewinding and replaying, pushing pause to just take a shout and praise break... sometimes we would stop it to debate some point he made, or share an experience WE personally had that was similar to what he'd just said. After all was said and done, THEN we would visit and fellowship with each other for a while. I cherished those God Nights. Well, we had our first one in quite a while last night, but this time, we invited Sandy to participate, and my husband happened to be home, so he took part as well. It wasn't quite the same as in times past, but God never changes, and the message we heard was VERY powerful (yep, Jeff Arnold... he's hilarious!). The title of the message was "The Testimony of Jesus is the Spirit of Prophecy". There was a LOT of meat to chew on in this message, and it caused me to think about some things in my mind that I just can't seem to work out in my own limited wisdom and knowledge. I have some things that I can take to God in prayer as a result of this message, and dig into the Word to try and figure it out.

One of my favorite illustrations in his message was about the TV show "Gunsmoke" (with Matt Dillon and his sidekicks Chester and Festus). When the Marshall would head out of town, he'd leave these two in charge of law enforcement until he returned. When he came back and asked about things, they'd say "A bunch of guys came in and raped the women, and burned down buildings, and busted up the bars having fights and stuff." "Well, do you have any of them in jail?" the marshall would ask? "Oh no... we don't want to offend anybody." "WHAT???? Well, did you have any hangings?" "Oh no, we try to be tolerant."
Then the marshall would say, "Didn't I give you a gun?" "Yes." "Didn't I give you bullets?" "Yes." Didn't I give you power of attorney when I pinned the badge on you?" "Yes." "Don't you realize that you became my replacement body while I was gone???" You see, if the church ever woke up and realized WHO WE ARE... the replacement body for Jesus Christ, we'd turn our state and our nation, and the world upside down in a day! We have been given a weapon (prayer) with powerful bullets (the Word of God) and power of attorney (the Holy Ghost inside us) so we can be Jesus' replacement body while he's gone!!! We can do all the things He did while He was here, and GREATER things than He did, because there are so many of us! He was only ONE! We are MILLIONS! We should have this entire world evangelized by now! We need to stop being Chester and Festus and step up to the plate and do what God has called us to do... preach the gospel of the kingdom! Reach the lost before it is too late!

Okay... I was worried about this post becoming too long to read... mission accomplished! Sorry y'all! I could say so much more! But I won't. Please, this week, lift Him up, and feel Him drawing you closer to Himself. Be blessed!!!!

LOOK UP, FOR YOUR REDEMPTION DRAWETH NIGH

Well... I have to say that these are certainly exciting times we live in! With all that is happening in Israel, we may very well be standing on the edge of the return of Jesus for his bride! I have heard the message from every preacher I have listened to this week, and they all preached the same scriptures and the same message.... Jesus is coming SOON! Be ready! Look up, for your redemption draweth nigh! I know that I am ready. I have obeyed the Word of the Lord which states that unless you are born again of the water and the Spirit, you will NOT see the kingdom of heaven. I was born of the Spirit on May 17, 1992, speaking in another tongue (language) as the Spirit of God gave me the ability, and I was buried in baptism in Jesus' name on Aug. 2, 1992, taking on his name, just as a bride takes on the name of her husband. I KNOW I am ready. Are you? If you aren't sure, I'd love to give you a 20 minute Bible study that would let you make that choice for yourself. Or, you can check out either of these sites... Endtime Ministries or A Place Prepared for You.

Sunday evening, we had a house full of company after church. One of our visitors was Sis. Pat Cutts from St. Johnsbury. She was spending the night with Rebecca so she could fly out the next morning to a Deaf Conference in Gaithersburg, MD. Yes, Pat is deaf, and it was so wonderful to visit with her without the "benefit" of having an interpreter. We had a wonderful time! Even my husband and my boys were signing with her a little bit! She is a terrific lady!

Today, I got a call from my hubby telling me that he was on his way to the ER... as a patient.... again. He rolled his ankle in a pothole. If this sounds familiar, you are correct. He did this two years ago as well. At least this time it wasn't quite as bad. But he's out of work for a while. On the way to the ER to pick him up, the boys and I were singing "God can heal anything, anything and everything, there ain't nothin' He cannot do!". We sang it with FAITH! Believing GOD can heal Jason's ankle in a moment!

Yesterday was such a busy day, that today we are having a quiet, lay-low type of day. The boys are watching "Quest for Camelot" with Dad, and I am blogging and resting. Rest is spiritual. Rest is good.

Well... that is all for now. Pray. Get in the Word. Be sure your soul is ready for the return of the King of Kings! I'm going to go spend some time with my Lord right now. Peace.

Colorful mood and funky socks

I'm in somewhat of a colorful mood today. So I thought a rainbow post would be kind of cool. I had the coolest thing happen to me today! I can't remember if I blogged about the "funky socks" letter I sent out months ago. It was a chain letter type thing, where you send one pair of funky socks to the top person on the list and mail a new list to 6 of your friends. I don't usually do that type of stuff, but socks are fun, and it was from my trusted church friend in Rutland. So I figured it would be fun to do, and perhaps actually get the 36 pairs of socks. Of course, as you probably already know.... not one pair of socks arrived in my mailbox. UNTIL TODAY!!!! :) My wonderful friend Pam in Maine sent me a package, FULL of the coolest socks! Watermelon socks, socks with stars, polka dots, stripes, flowers, even a pair of magic socks! Those are about one inch square in the package, you put them in water, and voila! One very cool pair of socks with deer with big antlers on them! I believe she was feeling rather bad that she didn't participate in the funky sock exchange when she received my letter, so she just sent me a bunch herself. What a huge smile she put on my face! That is simply a fun package to get in the mail. Even the package itself was bright and colorful! Pam, you are the best!!!!!!!

I am currently home ALONE.... yes, alone! Adam and Nick are each at a friend's house, and my husband is working an 18 hour shift. And I am here... able to relax and do whatever I want! It is very nice! I have worshipped to a great Alvin Slaughter CD, visited with my next door neighbor and her little boy, had lunch, and blogged. Life is good. I hope this color scheme isn't too much for your eyes. I really like it, actually! :) It fits my mood! Notice the post about the dead mouse and the ruined carpet... that was posted in black, which definitely fit my mood at that moment in time! This afternoon, we are going to a BIG birthday party for my neice Monique who is here from Florida. It will be a wonderful family time, and I will get to see my mom!! I hardly ever see her anymore! I love my mom. :)

Well, I don't really have anything else to blog about.... If I get inspired later, I'll pop back on and update you then! Bye!

Hello all! Lots to chat about today. Let's start with my visit with my step sister and her family yesterday who are up from Florida. We got together at my mom and Ray's camp for the day (it was perfect, sunny and 76 degrees, with a gentle summer breeze). Everybody wanted to go out on the pontoon boat. It can only hold 8 people, and we had 10 of us. So Jody (my step sister's husband) and I opted to stay ashore while they all went out. It was just the two of us for a little over an hour. We talked about EVERYTHING, all of it having to do with church, Christian living, endtimes, the Word, children needing the Holy Ghost, revival, etc. etc. etc. It was so spiritually uplifting, and I was so encouraged! He did tell me about a dream he had that was terrifying, and it did leave me pretty unnerved, but my husband and I talked about it, and I prayed about it (earnestly), and will continue to pray about it, until I have some peace of my own. Once they got back with the boat, my step sister Bobbi Jo and I had a wonderful visit of our own, talking about Bible studies, and about family stuff.

So, if that wasn't uplifting enough, we came home from camp to have a life group leader's meeting at our house. The topic? Revival! VERY lively, everyone very involved, and again, very uplifting and encouraging. I discovered a hidden talent of Matt Malone... he can do a PERFECT imitation of Bro. Lee Stoneking! It was hilarious! Anyway, I've been thinking since our life group ended...... yes, thinking. Dangerous. But seriously... I brought up a topic at the end that I think warrented MUCH more discussion, and perhaps should be discussed further at the next gathering. All of our revival discussion focused around reaching adults. I suggested that CHILDREN need the same focused evangelistic attention as adults. After all, if Satan can get ahold of this generation of children, (and he is making a valiant effort), then the church's next generation will be lost. Perhaps it was dismissed because we were out of time. But, I would like to see the church spend money to bring in children's evangelists like Bro. Squires or even Sis. Tammy Griggs! There are people out there with excellent children's ministries, and our children need preaching on their level as much as adults do. In the gospel, when the disciples were arguing amongst themselves about who was the greatest, Jesus placed a child in the midst of them and said basically that if they didn't become like a child, they would in no way enter the kingdom of heaven. He also said, "Let the children come to me, for of such is the kingdom of heaven." If we do not reach the children, Jesus will not be pleased. I will be praying about it fervently.

What else? Oh... my brother-in-law Ben sent me a cool picture that I in turn sent to another of my brothers-in-law who happens to be a lobsterman in Maine. Check this out!



I thought it was cool! Someone definitely had too much time on their hands when they created that.

Well, I suppose I should get busy doing... something. I don't know what. My house is clean, and my laundry is done. Guess I'll go read. I'm currently reading a book my friend Sandy loaned me called "Gianna... aborted and lived to tell about it". It is a very powerful story, invoking many emotions. Time to read! Talk to you later, I'm sure!

Bad day

Lest one think that the northern apostolic mom has all good days... today is proving most difficult and frustrating. I have something dead in my kitchen (most likely a mouse as we have killed 8 in recent weeks, and I have the mouse tirds everywhere to prove it), and it reeks like the sewer, and now my youngest son and his little neighbor friend upstairs have destroyed my living room carpet. They thought it would be cool while mom was distracted cleaning up mouse poop and looking for a dead animal to get out the fabric paints from my church camp supplies and paint on the living room rug. I only have lestoil here at home (no carpet cleaner), and the lestoil just ain't doin' it..... I am ready to cry. I have yellow, red, and blue spots and streaks all across the rug. I shudder to think of the cost of replacing a 20'x10' carpet... I'm fairly certain we cannot afford that. So please pray for me, because I didn't handle it well at all, and my son is very angry with me, as am I with him. YES, it's partially my fault because, A.) I wasn't watching him every millisecond, B.) I spent the only $20 I had on milk, butter, bread, and cheap food so we have something to eat in the house INSTEAD of going to buy the giant rubbermaid tub I was GOING to buy to put away the church camp supplies. And I thought he was smart enough to know you don't paint on the living room carpet... I was wrong again. Yes, I am having a huge attitude problem right now. I know it's obvious. Please pray for me. Looks like we need a financial miracle.... again. *sigh*

Reunion pictures

Here are the pictures I told you about in the last post.













This is my mom and her 90 year old aunt. Isn't she a peach?















And this is my VERY cool grandpa, 89 years old, virtually blind, grinning ear to ear on my brother's Harley! Awesome!!!!

Life Update

Well, I hardly know where to start. It's been a LOOONNNNGGGGG couple of weeks, and my brain is pretty much on overload. Since we've been home....

Thursday was the first day in about a month that I had NOTHING on my calendar, so you know what I did???? NOTHING! My pastor tells me that rest is a spiritual thing. I concur wholeheartedly! Friday the boys had dentist appointments (no cavities) and then we went back to the campground to swim one last time with their cousins from MA, before they head home. It was HOT... like 93 degrees, so the pool was a refreshing thing indeed.

Saturday, I had the privilege of going to another family reunion, this time on my mom's side of the family. I went without hubby and boys due to scheduling conflicts. I rode with my mom and Ray, and my brother caravaned with us on his Harley. The occasion? Aunt Anne's 90th birthday! She was awesome! She never came up for air! She can talk a blue streak, and has a VERY good memory for a 90 year old who has had a series of mini strokes over the past few years. She was delightful! I have a few pictures, but they are on my hubby's laptop, which currently is being obnoxious, because it will NOT connect to the internet. SO... until we deal with that, I can't put up the pics. I will tell you though, I got a hysterical picture of my blind, 89 year old grandfather sitting on my brother's Harley! He was such a riot! He hopped on that thing like he was 25 years old again, grinning ear to ear. My grandmother was totally unimpressed (disgusted, really). You'd have to know her to appreciate that statement. Whatever. I love my grandparents to pieces, and after losing Jason's grandmother, I couldn't wait to get to this reunion to tell them so, and give them both a few big hugs! My grandmother's health is not good at all. She looked awful, really, at this gathering.... tired. I would be too if I were almost 89!

Today was day one of swimming lessons for both boys. They had hours and hours of practice time in the pool at the campsite last week, so they should do very well this year in lessons.

My step-sister who brought me to the Lord 14 years ago is up from Florida with her family for a week. They just arrived last night. I can't wait to see my neices!!!! It's been quite a while since we've gotten together. Should be a fun week!

Hmmmmm.... have I left anything out? OH YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! How could I forget????

Bro. Jim Nevius and his family were in church yesterday on their annual family vacation from Metuchen, NJ. We just love having them come and worship with us! Bro. Nevius's preaching was dynamic and anointed, deep and heart-changing. His morning message was about revival, and his evening message was about STAYING in the church... that is where we belong if we are going to make it to heaven. Both messages were outstanding. Sis. Nevius sang "My Redeemer Lives" (Nicole C. Mullen) in the morning, and "Held" (Natalie Grant) in the evening. What a voice! Her singing is powerful and anointed. And their daughter Joanna is so cute, worshipping with all her strength (she's four). In fact, everyone worshipped with all their strength, despite the 90+ degree temperatures (our church is NOT air conditioned). God moved in a wonderful way! It was great!

Okay, now I'm done. Time to do some laundry. (I hear my air conditioned bedroom calling me away from that hot, nasty responsibility). I got two books from the library today that I have been wanting to read for a long time... Philip Yancy's "What's so Amazing About Grace?" and Max Lucado's "It's Not About Me". What better way to spend a HOT afternoon, curled up in an air conditioned room with a good book? Yes, and folding laundry in between. *sigh* Later.

Finally home!

Wow! It's so good to be HOME! We have been gone for 11 days, and it feels like forever! But we have had an excellent time! I already told you about the first six days (church camp). Now, here is "the rest of the story".

We came home from church camp on Thursday, and actually stayed here at home that night. Friday, we hooked up the camper and headed to a local camping resort for the family reunion that was planned for Julie's side of the family. It's original purpose was so that the entire family could come together one more time to spend some quality time with Rheuby, as she wasn't getting much better. Unfortunately, she didn't make it, but we had the family reunion anyway, and it was so comforting to be "together" as a family during such a difficult time. The kids practically LIVED in the pool, and the adults had GREAT quality family time, laughing and just loving being together. The funeral service was very nice, with Jason and Ben both reading scripture. The chapel had a GORGEOUS view of the mountains, and after the graveside service, Roy, Shawn, and Terry all played guitar and sang "Will the Circle Be Unbroken." Again, lots of tears and smiles, knowing how pleased Rheuby would have been! This is indeed a wonderful and very special family I was privileged to marry into!

After 11 days of being gone, my children and I are a little ornery and crabby. It will feel SO good to sleep in my own bed in my air conditioned room after a WONDERFUL shower! I feel so clean!!!!! No more sunblock, bugspray, sweat, and general grime associated with camping! And NO MOSQUITOES IN MY ROOM!!!!!!! Halleluia!

Really, it has been an awesome time! I feel like I really got to KNOW some of the family better this time around, because we were together for so long. Mike and Gina are awesome to hang out with, and I met Jay and Pat from Montana this time around! Also, Terry and Colleen came from Colorado. Was really great to get to know them, too!

Ok, done rambling, I'm waaaaaaaaaaaaayyyyyyyyyyyy beyond exhausted. Time for BED!
Love y'all!

Pictures from church camp 2006

Hello everyone! Well, here are some pictures from this year's church camp. It was really fun, and really exhausting. Of course we had the added strain of Jason being gone a lot due to his grandmother's death. But God was good, and gave us the strength and resources to adapt and overcome! I think the best part of camp was the Saturday night concert by the NH/VT district choir. WOW!!!!! They were totally awesome!!!! Unfortunately, I don't have any pictures, but I DO have the CDs and the DVD, so if you want to see or hear it, and you know how to contact me, let me know... we'll enjoy it together!!!

In the mean time, let me give you sort of a "tour" through the week.



This is the gym where we set up the precampers "Treasure Island". We had lots of fun "discovering the riches of Christ".



These are our precampers (minus my husband) :( But Candice and Karl were a total blast to work with! We also had Br. and Sis. Davis come out of retirement to give us a hand. We had a great time!


This is the precamper display table we set up in the lobby the last night of camp. It gave us a chance to show everyone what we had been doing all week! T-shirts, giant mural, keychains with all our treasure hunt clues, and treasure chests covered with jewels and filled with treasures dug up in the sandbox! What fun!


Wed. night, our sweet little precampers worshipped God and had lots of fun making a melody in their hearts! Thumbs up!!!! Everyone enjoyed it, even the Dist. Sunday School director and Dist. Superintendent, who were given crowns, and invited to join in the fun with us!


Here are our "precampers of the year" - Hannah, Makayla, Joseph, and Jacob!


This was Adam's first year as a junior camper. WOW! It's a whole different ballgame when you leave precampers and become one of the juniors! I think it was just as difficult a transition for MOM as it was for Adam. He stays with his counselors the whole time, and sleeps with the junior boys in his own dorm and everything! I sure missed him! Here he is sporting some cool "dredlocks" that he borrowed from Bro. Rubinate, one of the crusade teachers. They did lots of cool stuff when they weren't in services, like water fights, frisbee wars, dodge ball, bowling, etc. There was never a dull moment, and those boys were EXHAUSTED!



This is Bro. Burke, one of the Junior boys counselors... need I say more?



Adam and I took advantage every chance we got to fit in a hug and squeeze when we saw each other at the evening services! We missed each other a lot!


The junior choir was AWESOME!!! They sang a song called "We Worship You", and brought the congregation to their feet! If I can ever figure out how to post a video of them singing, I'll do it later! They sang their camp crusade song TWICE, and the place went crazy! Every single person in the auditorium was really into it!


Sis. Griggs - I love this woman! And she has a special place for Adam in her heart! She is such a tremendous woman of God! The juniors (and everyone else) had a BLAST in her crusade services!!! I love the Rainbow song!


Now... lest it seem like Nick is left out here, I want you to know that he and I were PLENTY busy all week! After precampers, he and I would go to lunch, then hang out and play pool or foosball, then go to the junior crusade, then go to dinner, then get ready for church, and after church we usually went and hung out at the snack bar till after midnight. Phew! That boy was totally wiped out! But we had a great time! I just didn't bring my camera to all the "down times" during the day. But this picture is of Nick standing by the little pond near the cafeteria.


These are the junior campers of the year! The boy was our Burlington pastor's son, Paul Gene!! YAY Paul Gene! We're so proud of you!


THIS is OUR pastor's daughter, Helene, receiving the senior girls camper of the year trophy! GREAT JOB, HELENE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


And this is our pastor, WITHOUT hair, receiving his recognition plaque for his years of service as the District Sunday School director. You should have seen him the night he had hair.... it was SCARY!!!!


And last but certainly not least is my excellent friend Sandy, otherwise known to my boys who love her as the Great Sandini! She took Nick to the annual Senior boys vs. Pastors softball game. It was an excellent game, with the senior boys getting the trophy for the second time in a row! Score: 24-23. VERY close! The pastors all needed to get prayed for that night for healing! LOL! Just kidding, although they definitely admitted to being pretty sore.

Our evening preacher was Bro. Jay Stirneman, from the MA/RI district. His preaching was VERY powerful! We had deep moves of God every night at the altar, and God spoke to many many hearts through his preaching. Wow. I missed the day time teaching, because I was working with the precampers, but I hear that Bro. Scotty Teats was phenomenal! I want to hear his message regarding your relationship with your pastor. Everyone said that message was incredible!

Well, that is all I have for now. We had fun... we missed Jason... and our family won't be the same without Gram. Thanks for sharing in the virtual fun!

We miss you Rheuby

Rheuby Conant Frechette

Nov. 9, 1917 - July 1, 2006

We headed for church camp on Saturday morning, excited for an uplifting week, only to get there and receive the news that Rheuby had passed away. It was devastating, and we spent the week travelling back and forth, on the phone, and trying to carry on despite heavy hearts. Rheuby, we love you so very much, and will never forget you. Your life has really meant something and you made a difference in this dark world with your smile, your laugh, and your love. We will miss you.