On OCC & Church & Concerts & more

We're baaaack. Kevin and I had a fantastic time at the four day National Youth Workers' Convention. We missed all of and are excited to get back into the swing of things and start applying ALL we learned (which was ALOT!) :D

We will see you at 5:30pm for youth group this Sunday!

Oh and don't forget about the Sunday morning service. Please invite your family--your parents and siblings--to join you at the church service @11am. Sunday School is at 9:45am (there are adult and teen SS classes.)

Have you been building your collection of items for your Operation Christmas Child Shoeboxes? They are due November 15th and we are looking to head to the Dollar Tree this Sunday. Who needs to make a trip to the store with us? If you do, be sure to bring at least $10 to purchase the items needed to fill your shoebox. You can also purchase a clear plastic shoebox for $1.

For the four of you who have signed up to help serve at the Milan Rotary Dinner be sure you are dressed in White shirts and Black pants and at Father Joe's Catholic Church at 5pm.

The Nevercast Concert is quickly approaching. Have you invited ALL of your friends? Have you received permission to hang fliers up in your school hallways? The concert is November 20th. For much more info check out the event invitation on facebook. At least 5 local Christian radio stations will be posting the concert info on their community bulletin boards and possibly announcing the concert on the air.

----

PS: be sure to check out the new photo links along the right column! Click on the pictures and you'll find the complete photo album.

Updates. And Milan Rotary Dinner Info.

This Friday is Light the Night at the church from 6-7:30pm.

Dress up.

Help out.

Have fun!

Kevin and Mel will be in Cincinnati at the National Youth Workers' Convention from Friday until Monday.

There is No youth group this Sunday, November 1st.

Starting Sunday, November 8th, we will having Bible Quizzing Practice during Sunday School time @ 9:45am. Even if you're not quizzing right now, getting in on practice times might change your mind. You can jump in at any time! Our next quiz is Saturday November 14th.

We will be serving at the Milan Rotary Club Dinner on Saturday November 7th.

Arrive at Father Joe's Catholic Church (or ride to Milan with us) by 5pm .

Wear black pants and white shirts.

Be prepared to help in these ways:

Coat checking.

Valet parking (only with a license).

Clearing tables.

Washing dishes.

We must have at least 8 students helping. Who's in?????

Shoeboxes & Wisdom

So who has been taking the challenge we gave on Sunday?

The "go without your weekly luxuries and save money to fill a shoebox for a child who desperately needs it" challenge.

Operation Christmas Child is an amazing experience.

You get to bless a child in a needy country on the other side of the world.

You maybe have a part in changing that child's life forever--if they believe the message of the Gospel of Jesus Christ which is presented to them.

You may get to contact this child and learn more about them through letters.

You have the opportunity to challenge yourself.

To give up Taco Bell. To order water instead of pop when you're out to dinner. To save the money you might spend on that candy bar. or those french fries. or that nail polish. or those shoes. or that energy drink.

To save save save your money (or the money you normally spend out of your parents' wallets).

And to put that toward filling a shoebox.

Full of goodies.

Stuffed animals.

Hard candy.

Coloring books.

YoYos.

Soap bars.

Tshirts.

Toothpaste.

And so much more.

So start collecting your shoe boxes RIGHT now.

Bring them in to youth group each week.

These can be real cardboard shoeboxes or the plastic ones from the store.

And in the meantime (between now and November 16th) start collecting items with which to fill these boxes.

If you buy things little by little it won't hurt your wallet quite as much. :)

You can start a pile in our youth room of the things you're going to fill your shoebox with.

And then we'll fill them and wrap them together.

Oh! And don't forget about the $7 cover charge that must be included.

Let's challenge the adults and bring in even more boxes than last year!

-----------------

In other news don't forget our ongoing topic for discussion--wisdom and foolishness.

And be thinking this week about what those have to do with our friendships.

Next week should be quite a challenging discussion!

Be looking up more information in the book of Proverbs (near the middle of your Bible) on wise versus foolish.

KNOW what we're talking about!

Dig in!

If you have questions, you know where to find us!

-------

P.S. I have officially booked our hotel for Dare2Share

It's amazing! Check it out here.

And please let me know ASAP if you or a friend has not yet registered for Dare2Share or would like more information!

HAPPY First day of School. :)

1. 2009 National Christian College Fair

free admission & financial aid workshop.

Toledo:

Wednesday, Sept. 23, 6:30-8:3pm

Toledo Christian Schools

2303 Brookford Dr.

Toledo, OH 43614

OR

Detroit:

Thursday, Sept. 24, 6:30-8:30pm

Franklin Rd. Christian School

40800 W. 13 Mile Rd.

Novi, MI 48377

For more info: www.nccf.us or call 1-888-423-2477

2. EverydaySunday and Like Jonathan in concert at Spring Arbor Univ. THIS Friday.

• leaving from our house at 4pm
• stopping at the Parlour for dinner/ice cream (bring $$)
• touring SAU campus
• jamming at the concert at 8pm ($5)

I need to know by Thursday who is definitely attending. And we will definitely need extra vehicles. So ask your parents if they want to come and drive some teens with them. Or if they will allow Kevin or I to drive their vehicle for the night.

3. Dare2Share $44 and pre-registration form due by Sept. 15!!!

4. Crot's Corn Maze: Sunday Sept. 20th. leaving from our house at 5:30. Bring $5.50.

5. CarWash--FREE: Saturday, Sept 26th. 2-5pm. Monroe Tractor Supply Co.

You NEED to get sponsors.

You definitely need to mark this date down because I can't wash all the cars alone!

Fun stuff

update: Thursday

Sweet event for teens this weekend @ the Ida Festival. Head to the teen event tent from 4-9pm for free food, prizes, Wii tourneys, live entertainment, and more!

---------------------

Thanks for all who came out and participated and helped with the Softball Night. Another success!

1. schedules. We would love to have a copy of each of your sports schedules, music events schedules, ballet recital schedules, etc, etc, etc. The reason for this is...we heart you guys. And we love checking out your wonderful talents in action. Whether you play the flute or dunk the basketball or spike the volleyball or hit one out of the park or sing in the choir or whatever, we'd love to know about it.

2. personalization. decoration. We think it's about time our basement (aka your youth room) get a little personality. Wouldn't you agree? We want you guys to make it yours by bringing your favorite posters to hang or some school paraphanelia or personal artwork or photography or whatever. Get creative! Make collages, paint pictures, do some graphic design.

check out this awesome design Chris & Isaac came up with in their own room! It's made from all the cd jackets pieced together. So start collecting paper cd covers:

3. corn maze we are planning on going to a Corn Maze on Saturday Sept. 19. fun stuff, right? There are a couple options that we have to choose from. Your input is important:

$5.50 Crots Corn Maze--Ottawa Lake (35 minute drive) (the one we went to last year)

$9.50 Corn Maze Fun--Dundee

$10.00 Farmer Charley's--Monroe

Now, here's the deal. Crots is the cheapest but it's a bit of a drive. Dundee is expensive and is just a corn maze. And Farmer Charley's in close here in Monroe and the $10 includes tons of stuff--like bonfires, hayrides, flashlight mazes, and more. You can check out each of these websites by clicking on the blue links above.

4. bonfire We're hoping to have a bonfire within the next month or two. Be listening for details. You won't want to forget your marshmallows! :D

Let it be Known!

1. Softball Game & Hotdog Roast--this Sunday @ 6pm.
Invite everyone you know.
Bring your own equipment (balls, bats, mitts, helmets, etc).
Spectators should bring their own chairs.

This is a youth group sponsored event so if you can arrive @5:30 (we'll probably be at the church by then) and help set things up that would be awesome!

2. Concert on the Plaza @ SAU--Friday, Sept. 11th
Like Jonathan.
Everday Sunday.
The Parlour.
Spring Arbor University tour.

(ps. Those blue words are all LINKs to their websites!)
Leaving from our house @ 4pm Friday.
Bring $5 for the concert.
And $5-10 for dinner & ice cream (or pack your dinner!).
We'll take a tour of SAU campus.
Then jam at the concert starting @ 8pm.
Bring extra cash if you want souvenirs.
We'll be back around midnight. (We may be able to drop you off if you live in Monroe.)

We're going to need extra drivers/vehicles. Parents, you are welcome to come and if you can lend a vehicle and/or drive some students let us know ASAP.

3. CARWASH. Saturday, Sept. 26th 2-5pm
Hopefully in the new Walmart Parking Lot. That will be decided soon.
Get sponsors!
Compete with each other.
The money you earn goes to YOUR account--for Dare2Share and The Mission Trip.

4. Dare2Share. Feb. 5-6. Columbus Convention Center (Ohio).
Registration is $44 if you pay before Sept. 17th.
After that it increases to $54. Then up to $69.
I'll be ordering tickets on the 16th. So if you want to come I'm going to need your fee.
Save your money. Don't buy your daily coke. Or that new sweatshirt. Or skip your fastfood addiction for a week.
Hopefully some if not all of that $44 will be repaid to you once we've done our carwash!!!
So RAISE money for the carwash!!

Parents, I have informative letters about Dare2Share as well as release forms that will be sent home shortly. For more information see their website: http://www.dare2share.org/columbus.

Calendar stuff

There is SO much on our Spirit Fire calendar! Do you still have the "upcoming events" handout we gave you Sunday? Is it on your fridge or in your file of calendars just like we talked about? I hope so! :D

This week is VBS! Thanks so much for all of you who are being such fantastic volunteers. These kids will not forget our ministry to them!

Coming up this Sunday: Welcoming New Students (especially upcoming 7th graders!)! Join us at our house at the usual time--5:30pm. We'll head out to Nortel Lanes (on Telegraph Rd.) for 2 games of bowling. Each game costs only $1 and shoes are $1 which means you need to bring $3. We're also getting pizza, so bring your appetite too! Your parents can pick you up from the parsonage around 7:30pm.

Coming up this Wednesday (not today...but next week): our first official Bible Quiz Practice! All are welcome to join us--the more people involved the more fun and the better the practice quizzes are! Come out and give quizzing a chance! We're all still learning all the ins and outs of this competitive way to memorize God's Word. It would be to your advantage if you are well versed in I Corinthians chapters 1 & 2. Read over those chapters at least once each day and try to really know the information in those chapters.

And besides all the great activities that are listed on your take home calendar and along the side of this blog, we have added a concert at Spring Arbor University. Friday, Sept. 11 @ 8pm SAU is hosting Like Jonathan and Everyday Sunday in concert on the Plaza! We plan on leaving around 4pm in order to have time for a stop at The Parlour as well as time for a Kevin-and-Melanie-led tour of SAU campus. You'll need $5 for the concert and $5-10 for ice cream and/or dinner at the Parlour. We'll probably get back to the parsonage/church around 12:30am.

Oh, and speaking of concerts, don't forget about the Nevercast concert here at the church on August 21st @ 6:30pm. Invite EVERYONE you know!!