Pics from church camp (Part 1)...................

I am lovin' Lil's expression in this picture!! Cracks me up!! :)
Claire & Jase playing on the floor...
Lily & Claire taking song leading seriously!!
Kylie, Lily, Claire & Alaina (our own little quartet) :)
Claire, Lily & Jase in the sandbox


*I'll post some more tomorrow! What a FUN & CRAZY week we had!!

~Julie~

sweet note ....

Well, I am supposed to NOT be blogging but I just HAD to share with ya'll this sweet note I got in my mailbox today! (I will try to take a picture of it and post it later). It's the prettiest card with dainty little flowers and this sweet poem from our precious friend & cousin, Melissa!! What a wonderful surprise and encouragement for me! :)

"A person can hear, but a friend listens for the meaning,
A person can look, but a friend sees the heart,
A person can know, but a friend understands your dreams,

Thanks for listening, seeing & understanding!
Thanks for being my friend!"

Well, you're welcome & Thanks so much for being such a wonderful friend, sweetie! LOVE YOU, TOO!!! :)

And, here are the lyrics to the song included in the card (I love music and girl, you know that! You just spoke right to my heart today!)

I Was Made To Praise You by Chris Christensen

"I was made to praise you
I was made to glorify Your name
In every circumstance
To find a chance to thank You
I was made to Love You
I was made to worship at Your feet
And to obey You, Lord
I was made for You"

LOVE those words; so much truth in them. :)

Thanks, Melissa, precious friend, for making my day!!

operation treat bag is ....SUCCESS!!!!

We handed out treat bags last night to area kids . We gave away ALL of the bags and met A LOT of nice people! They seemed really happy that we were giving away the candy and that they had a safe place to bring their kids to get candy! One lady kept saying, "This is so nice that a church is giving out candy and I know it is safe". And a lot of little kids were excited because the treat bags were in their words, "awesome"! One little boy said, "you don't just give away a little candy, you guys give away A LOT of candy; SWEET!" and thanks to having young nephews and nieces, I know that SWEET is the word that means we did REALLY good! =)

It felt good to see all of the smiling faces and our youth interacting and meeting new friends, hopefully! We did not do this to get people to come to our church, although that would be nice! We did this to serve. Think about that for awhile. I think all too many times we are to focused on "getting them in church" (which don't get me wrong, we should focus on that) but in the process of getting them "saved" or "forgiven" or "baptized" or "in the church" we forgot to find out who they are. We forget that Jesus called us to SERVE as well as to spread the gospel. What are your thoughts? Do you get what I am saying? Just something I have been thinking about a lot lately.

Anyway, we had a great time! And wonderful fellowship with our brothers and sisters, as well!

HAVE A SAFE & HAPPY HALLOWEEN, EVERYONE!!!!

You've been Boo'd...

INGREDIENTS

1 cup packed brown sugar

1/2 cup white sugar

1 cup shortening (I use the butter crisco and it is soooooooo good in these!)

2 eggs

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 cups candy-coated milk chocolate pieces(M&M's)

DIRECTIONS

In a large bowl, mix sugar, eggs, shortening, and vanilla thoroughly. Add flour, salt, and baking soda to creamed mixture. Blend well. Add 3/4 cup of M&M candies. Drop dough by teaspoonful onto cookie sheet. Slightly push a few candies on top of each dough ball with remaining candies. Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 9 to 11 minutes, to your liking.

A friendly ghost has come your way

To wish for you a wonderful day

.He left a small gift and something sweet

Never heard him come cause he's light on his feet.

You must be light on your feet too,

Cause this is what you have to do:

Choose two friends, and choose them well.

Now this is a secret, you musn't tell.

Copy this poem, and the sign twice,

If you do it by hand, make sure it looks nice.

Take a couple of gift bags down from the shelf

,Or a plain paper bag, you can design yourself.

Fill them with sweets, and a gift of your choice.

Leave em' on your friends porch,without any noise.

Hang this sign on your door, for all ghosts to see.

They'll know you've been "BOO-D", and will leave you be.

This is only a game, to have a little fun

,Let's see how far it goes, before the month's done.

Now you have 24 hrs. to visit your friends.Please don't be the cause of our games early end.
Happy Haunting!

I don't know how many of you know about this but it is a fun little activity that we participated in when I worked at our local elementary school back way before I had my kids. It is fun for me because I like any excuse to do some baking! =) This year, I am going to try and do this for some church friends and some family on both sides. But I can't tell you exactly who because that will ruin the surprise! =) These cookies are a GREAT way sweet treat to put in your BOO bags or baskets! So, feel free to try this idea! Pass it along, HAVE FUN & start a new tradition in your neighborhood or family or church (we in NO WAY celebrate or promote evil and I would have nothing to do with anything that did; just want to clarify that point!) This is just a FUN way to reach out to people!! =) Have fun & Happy Fall!!!! (You can use the poem above or the one printed on the link I gave you at the beginning of this post!)

HAPPY FALL!!!!!!!!!!!

*I will probably do a part 2 of this post because I will find more cute crafts & yummy treats that would be awesome for this; I always do! =)

Love,

Julie

Please join my family in prayer for Brooklyn...

This is an email I received from my dear friend, Denise, yesterday. Please keep her sweet niece Brooklyn and Brooklyn's son Logan and the rest of the family in your prayers. Pray hard and often. This is truly something that only the Lord can take care of. Thank you.

"please pray for my niece brooklyn, she has cancer. it started out as a small place on her back, they tell us it has now spread up her spinal column, beneath her breasts, and under her ribcage. as of today, she is in the hospital in a semi-coma. she just turned 21 in march, and her little boy logan just turned 1 in march. I would very much appreciate your prayers." Denise

Light some candles...

"My point is this: Uncontrolled anger won’t better our world, but sympathetic understanding will. Once we see the world and ourselves for what we are, we can help. Once we understand ourselves we begin to operate not from a posture of anger but of compassion and concern. We look at the world not with bitter frowns but with extended hands. We realize that the lights are out and a lot of people are stumbling in the darkness. So we light candles." Max Lucado

Just some links I found today...

This guy is the kind of preacher that I wish every man had. I think he really gets it. And this guy has a very challenging post that I just had to share.

So, if you get time, read these and tell me what you think.

Love & Prayers,
Julie