beside still waters

Sand sculptures

2011-07-23T13:13:00.001-05:00

Here's a photo dump from our sand sculpture day. We're on our second-to-last day: beach, packing, cleaning, driving to Norfolk for the night. We'll get whatever rest we can for tonight and head out after church in the morning around 10am. Hope to be in Dublin 12 hours later.

Had a fantastic week. Thank you all for your prayers, Jason and I have really enjoyed the time with your students and God has definitely been at work. Last night we played a couple of hours of Capture the Flag in total darkness on the beach (with the exception of everyone's glow necklace halo). No moon, seemingly no end to the running, tagging, strategizing. Good times. We've worshipped, studied, discussed, swam, walked, shopped (yesterday), danced, eaten and eaten and eaten, laughed and prayed enthusiastically. God is good.

Update! The beach is grand.

2011-07-20T09:28:00.000-05:00

We've been coy, I know. Having all this fun and not telling you about it. So, here's the thing: I finally gave over responsibility for picture-taking since I hadn't been able to update the blog. Now that pictures are being taken daily I can tell you about our trip.

The morning starts with personal bible study from 7.45-8.30. The students have guides I've prepared that follow our teaching for the week. After Bible study we have breakfast together until 9 and then free time until lunch at noon. Lunch is eclectic: sandwich meats, mac and cheese, fruit, etc. Everyone makes their own meal and we hang out a bit until our 1.15 discussion groups. We break into guys and girls groups and discuss the morning's personal study. Then we pray for one another and break again at 2 until 4pm for beach time, reading, naps for some, etc. The 4-6pm hour is set aside for our Community-Bonding experience. Monday we went to the local lighthouse and walked the spiral staircase to the top of the tower. Tuesday we played a flag-football game on the beach. Today we'll have a sand sculpture contest, Thursday is the Jorts Volleyball Tournament, and Friday we visit the local shops for some souvenir-ing and ice-cream.

Once we finish the community-bonding we head back to the house for dinner. Our students are divided into work groups to help cook, serve, and clean up dinner (with the oversight of our food dominator, Elise). We've had fantastic meals. From 7.30-9.15 we have an evening worship service led by the leaders but co-led by students. We have them read scripture, pray, lead the music, etc. Jason will be teaching his first large-group lesson tomorrow night!

In case you're curious, the topic of our evening worship:

Sunday: The problem of brokenness, the relentless tide of God's restoring work (Amos 5)
Monday: Restored to be Christ-Centered (2 Corinthians 5:14-21)
Tuesday: Restored to be Gospel-Driven (1 Corinthians 9:19-23, Phil 3:13-14)
Wednesday: Restored to be Cross-Dependent (Galatians 2:20)
Thursday: Restored to be Shalom-Focused (Isaiah 58)
Friday: Restored by Rest (Matthew 12:1-13)
Saturday: Thanksgiving (Psalm 73)

After our evening worship we have another group activity, more or less. Sunday night we watched the worst movie we could find. Monday night we played Sardines (reverse hide-and-go-seek where we all start in the driveway of the house and try to find one person hiding within). Last night we took it easy after a very active day and played games and watched movies. Tonight we'll go on the crab walk (taking our flashlights to see the small crabs scurrying at the water's edge). Tomorrow night we will try to play mini-golf and Friday night will be our annual late-night capture the flag on the beach with glow necklaces. Awesome.

So that's a day in the life right now. Enjoy the pictures! More to come tomorrow.

Part of the very short walk from the house

task: dig a hole.

Neil and Chris in a brisk tide

Jason's getting a great start on Stillwater community bonding

Bridget's first trip with us. We're so glad to have her along.

task: done. Not pictured: enthusiastic beach tow truck driver.

Trademark Lane competitive drive on display. Being better than boys at stuff since 1992.

Alex thinking about participating. Also: doing that thing with his face.

Victorious leader of victorious team. Encouraging claps!

4 ever.

The man is an asset. Brad hauls, serves, leads discussion groups, sets things on fire.

Which streak is more likely to be broken? DiMaggio's 56-game hitting streak or James' streak of terrible pictures taken? I don't know how I do it, I just pack my lunch box, put on my hard hat and go to work.

Last day, last thoughts and last photos

2011-06-29T22:59:00.000-05:00

Home safe. Tired, but a good tired. Grateful for what we saw, experienced, felt and understood, and grateful to have been there to watch God's story unfold in many lives. Some last random thoughts, lessons and observations:

- You have to turn the volume up on the movie if you want to hear the best parts. Timing is everything.

- Baken-ets (bold&spicy variety) -- and yes, that is the actual name -- are now considered a banned substance on all future stillwater trips. For those not familiar, Baken-ets = pork rinds.

- The trip leader is expected to know at all times the answer to any question relating to time of day, time to destination or time until future food consumption.

- Compression shorts are a good thing to wear to waterfest.

- Lots of steps down = lots of steps up

- achieving consistent water temperature in a shower can be harder than you think.

- Worship with 800 middle schoolers is pretty awesome.

- Somewhere between Covenant and Dublin is a Pilot travel stop with the largest display of slim jim/jerky products this writer has ever seen.

- the weather changes quickly on top of Lookout Mountain, in a beautiful way.

- God never stops working. God never stops caring for us. God never stops speaking to us. Even when we listen to other voices. I pray each of us has ears to hear the One who knows and loves us best.

day 4

2011-06-29T05:59:00.005-05:00

Whitewater - Marietta, GA. There'd be more photos, but we were all enjoying sliding and floating in the lazy river too much, the thrillseekers and laid back among us each finding their places. We learned much about momentum and weight distribution and gravity. another great time.

Back for the joyful reunion of two roadies, Edge Has Talent, more great worship with Wayne. Learning that, like us, even the guys in the Bible have real life stuff to deal with, and that they are in fact human. And about a perfect heavenly Father who never stops working in us and caring for us.

See you all soon.

Day 3

2011-06-28T05:48:00.000-05:00

WaterFest. The visual is much more descriptive than my words, so check out the photos. A word of warning: those tasked with laundry in your homes may want to stop some students in the garage for sorting. It was a great time, and as you can tell from the pool shot below (taken after waterfest), folks got clean.

More tournaments. Dodgeball and indoor soccer this time. We threw and kicked and caught and cheered. more good times.

The best time, though, was learning that a God who can incinerate rock and powerfully change the landscape for His people is also the God who turns our hearts toward Him and changes us. He's doing it. It is a truly beautiful thing. As your students about the party that never..stops.

More to come.

Day 2

2011-06-27T05:39:00.012-05:00

So, yesterday we took a walk in the woods. Down a trail. Down some steps. Many steps (ask Carter how many) into Cloudland Canyon. We were rewarded with the cool water of the falls at the bottom, and it was a good time, as you'll see below. And who knew a big bus could make that many three point turns on a mountain road? Many thanks to Mark, our driver for getting us there. He's awesome.

We returned just in time for tournaments (we had participants in bball and ping pong), and you'll see there wasn't much time to change. We definitely had the best team playing in swimwear.

Much more, of course. More mullets. Worship. Understanding worship. Discovering that our own personal Baals are neither big enough nor powerful enough to answer our need. Seeing all around us the One who is.

Enjoy the pics of the day....

Yee-Haw!

2011-06-26T06:31:00.014-05:00

7:06am, June 25: (while eating marshmallows) "what time are we stopping for lunch?"

question repeated with regularity up to noon lunch stop. replaced with "what time is dinner?" shortly after arrival.

A full day. Here are some experiences and achievements of the day:

3 movies watched (sort of), a few cat naps, footballs tossed, a Lawn party for students, dance contest victory, catfish nuggets, Wild West dance party, a couple of roadies with mullets, a fire alarm pulled, a hunt for wifi (ok, that was just me), worship with Wayne and getting to know the prophets of Baal and Asherah...and maybe...starting to understand our own Baals.

It was a great day, and we're taking in all the Edge has to offer, all that God has for us to see. More later. Here's a glimpse of our good time.

A roof over our head

2010-08-17T09:53:00.001-05:00

At 4.53 local time on January twelfth, two-thousand ten, the ground at Leogane turned to heavy cream. Only sixteen miles away in Port-au-prince the earth rejected nearly every solid structure, throwing them from their foundations and turning their proud walls to rubble. The ground slipped eastward by nearly six meters in some places. The ground moved. In the poorest country in the western hemisphere where the average home was little more than an optimistic shack, most were even more homeless than before.

In the days that followed an Associated Press reporter began taking aerial photos of the devastation. Over one particular area of Port-au-prince he took this picture:

You can see this entire village huddled together in tents in the middle of buildings that look much more stable. What these homeless ones have learned is that it is safer together with a tarp over your head than in their separate concrete homes. That no matter how strong our places are that we build, the places we put together for safety – the ground can still shift, the conditions can still render them hazardous, condemned. What we have yet to learn is that there is safety in numbers.

Speaking to a church millennia ago, the Apostle Paul speaks about the same thing. You are members of one body, you suffer together, you rejoice together. You belong together. The idea that we are not our own, that we belong to a greater and more significant body comes across as the most absurd of ideas. Like making middle-schoolers run hurdles. In our world ‘look out for number one’ makes a lot more sense than ‘you are one body.’ In our world, those that depend on others are left in the cold, disappointed, weakened by naïve trust in people. The time for that kind of community is long-gone. Here to stay is the virtual community where I can like what you like or I can ‘unfriend’ you altogether.

But if we are to believe what God has for us in this little verse, there is much more to this body than just being together. There is the one that holds the body together, the one the Bible calls ‘the head.’ He makes the body move, gives it life, holds it together. He is the one that makes this community a place where life happens in the midst of all our broken down buildings. He is the one that offers what we’ve always longed for: a place to call home, a place to belong. He is the one, full of resurrection power, that can bring life out of us, breath out of our lungs, hope from wherever hope has gone to die. This body exists not merely to be comfortable, or to marvel at its members (I have nine hundered friends!), but to be the setting where nothing less than the miraculous happens. Where the heart-homeless are transformed into people with more than a roof over their head.

Day 4 - a short primer on trip culture

2010-07-23T07:03:00.007-05:00

Same stuff, new day. And that's a good thing.

After a great day of ministry we took a trip on the Redline train from 95th street (the end of the line in the far south of Chicago) to Howard (north of the city) and back. This was today's ministry experience. BridgeBuilders allowed only three students (and one leader) in each car of the train and made them spread out. They wanted us to get a sense for the stratification of an urban area. Pretty much everyone was able to pinpoint the moment that things changed on the train (35th street) and the majority became the minority. Everyone loved seeing the change in neighborhoods and the novelty of not driving.

As our work projects wind down, I can't help but think about the next steps we take away from Chicago and back to our own city. There will be no way to truly distill the experience for all of you. You won't be able to walk in our shoes or make sense of things in quite the same way. That's ok, it's why we go in the first place. The inability to communicate the things we saw and felt is a part of trip culture. But there's something sad about that, and i expect our students to struggle at least initially. Ultimately, though, we really hope this doesn't remain a unique experience.

What we've learned can transfer to Dublin, Hilliard, Powell, Marysville, Columbus. If we've learned anything (and your students should be able to tell you this), people everywhere bear two qualities - they are made in the image and glory of God and they are touched in every way by the brokenness of this world. One is a more enduring legacy than the other. And we've learned that it is our job to work toward the glory of God in each person and each city. In that sense, the experience of Bridgebuilders should not only be replicated, but should become routine. This is simply what we do because we are God's people. So pray that our passion is not merely for an unique experience but for a mission just beginning.

Another thing about trip culture: downtime tells the story of uptime. After our ride on the train our downtime began with worship and teaching. Again our students listened attentively and sang enthusiastically. Once we returned to the church for the night the kids stayed up playing cards, eating pizza, talking and laughing. The downtime said that our uptime had been profitable, maybe even transformative. We've had a great week.

The following pictures are three looks at downtime: worship, card-playing, and of course eating.

Day 3

2010-07-22T07:13:00.008-05:00

quick update today:

After our work project this morning we listened to some local ministry leaders describe ministry in the Southside. Then we ate dinner together (which was Chicago-style deep-dish pizza) and then headed out to see the city.

After spending a considerable time trying to park (where does everyone park?), we walked to Millennium Park, splashed around a bit then walked to Navy Pier. We let the students pair off to explore a bit, though they pretty much stayed in a large group. We finished off the evening with the entire group riding the Ferris Wheel and sticking around for fireworks. Absolutely picture-perfect evening!

day 2 bridgebuilders

2010-07-21T05:55:00.006-05:00

Another great day.

This afternoon after our work projects we went downtown to participate in a 'meal share.' The students were grouped into threes and made an extra lunch between them to share with a homeless person downtown. Their assignment was to try and eat with one of the homeless and have a conversation to learn about the homeless experience. In some cases the students were only able to give away the lunch. Some of those holding signs didn't want to talk. Many of our students had fairly lengthy conversations. Good stuff.

Unsurprising fact 1: things get stolen, especially in low-income neighborhoods. Among our group we had an iPod touch, phone, phone charger, and cash stolen. Amazing that this was probably taking place during the teaching time the night before. What were we learning about? Loving your enemies and being willing to give even when you aren't sure you can trust the person you're giving to. So we learned it, then we really learned it. Our students were given an opportunity to pray for their enemies. God is good.

Surprising fact 1: They received their stuff back. This never happens. When you have things stolen in this environment, they're gone. The church where we're staying took it very personally that their guests were abused. Some of the church staff, we found out later, have extensive connections. I don't have connections like this. Less than three hours after they were made aware that someone entered the building and stole from our students, the items had been located and the thief identified. God is good.

Unsurprising fact 2: We were really tired today. Monday was long and the teaching was deep and extensive. We slept for a second night away from home. So when we settled in Tuesday night for some additional challenging and lengthy teaching i thought we'd struggle. After all, I'm an educator and I know that you have to give adolescents smaller bursts of teaching - especially when they're tired.

Surprising fact 2: Not a student wavered. They were engaged, they were listening. They were raising their hands to ask questions and give feedback. They were taking notes. I was trying to take everything down on paper right along with them. Really great stuff. God is at work.

Today after our work project we'll be eating Chicago-style deep-dish pizza and then heading out for a night on the town. Navy Pier here we come!

Day one retrospective

2010-07-20T07:22:00.013-05:00

Hello everyone!

Sorry we weren't able to post an update before now. I've now found my spot for wi-fi and will be updating about this time each morning. This trip has already exceeded my expectations! Let me first give you our daily schedule then some thoughts about the trip thus far.

schedule (all times Central):

-7:30am breakfast

-9am-2pm work projects

Group A - Sunshine VBS/Tutoring:

Laura Kessler

Laura Pilgrim

Nate Hyzdu

Kelsey Payne

Group B - Sports Camp

Brent Veerman

Michael Kytka, Jr.

Group C - Peace Camp (physical improvements and older-child VBS)

Kelly Arehart

Hailey Tiarks

Annie Lane

Group E - New Beginnings (ministry in the projects)

James Kessler

Sam Wyatt

Chris Deakin

Michael Siano

Jake Stankey

Group F - Mural (painting positive art to be displayed throughout the neighborhood)

Sarah Stankey

Alex Thompson

Kara Dorr

2:30 - 5pm Ministry Experience

Yesterday - Pacific Garden Mission tour (largest homeless shelter in the nation)

Tuesday - Meal share (groups of three share a bag lunch with a homeless person downtown)

Wednesday - interview with local ministry leader - then free night out

Thursday - the 'L' experience (riding the Red Line from the southernmost point all the way to the northside to view the segregated nature of the city)

Friday - Historic tour of the southside to understand the long narrative of brokenness and restoration in the Southside.

5pm - Dinner

6:30 - 9 Teaching by ministry director, praise and worship (absolutely transformative, incredible application of God's word.)

9-10 debriefing by ministry staff/reflection

11pm - lights out

Some thoughts:

We've come to Chicago to learn a paradigm about how to understand our mission in this world from a group that seems to understand it well. Here's how the paradigm was explained to us last night through Psalm 113: God is attentive, God responds, God dignifies. This is our task everywhere, and part of our challenge will be to understand how to be attentive to needs, how to respond and how to dignify those around us in Dublin (where we are better at hiding our needs).
Seeing the homeless shelter was a great experience, and thinking more about it during the debriefing was enlightening. Students were able to see what works well about this gigantic mission (filling a need where local churches fail) while also seeing where it fails (the lack of real personal attention and intimate care - that is, dignifying the poor).
my recurring thought during the work project period: these kids are paying to serve. They have very little downtime to listen to iPods and do what they want. Yet they are joyful. God has made us for this kind of work and it is amazing the joy He can bring when we are living like real human beings. This is a good lesson to learn and relearn.
I can't believe we have four more days of ministry ahead.

More tomorrow. Enjoy the pictures!

NOTE: pictures taken mostly by Sarah, also Kelly. Really thankful to have them along.

Day three update (belated)

2010-06-24T16:22:00.005-05:00

Hey everyone!

sorry the day 3 update is so late; we had to be up and at 'em early today for whitewater rafting.

Day three (yesterday) was mostly about what the Edge calls 'church time.' Basically, each church has an hour to themselves to hang out as a group. We elect each year to stretch that out (which means we don't compete in some of the team sports events that afternoon). Like last year, we took the afternoon and hiked down Cloudland Canyon. The view was incredible and, being well stocked with water, we finished the hike without incident. While we were down there we saw a 90 ft. waterfall and swam in two smaller ones. Really great time. Hope you enjoy the pictures!

Day two.

2010-06-23T06:42:00.010-05:00

Day two went well. Photographic evidence below!

The girls began the day with a fire alarm allegedly triggered by too much hairspray on one of the halls. I'm not making this up. Our girls had enough pluck to give us the O-H-I-O at 7am while they were waiting to be allowed back into their rooms...

Below is Kurt, our morning speaker. He's an actor that uses his talents in ministry to students and adults. In this shot he's portraying fictional characters that interact with Jesus. Really good stuff

Spent some time at the pool, as you'll see in the next couple of photos. You can't beat the view - right behind them you have a look at the Tennessee Valley from the mountain.

WaterWars is the yearly mud/gunk/lunge/collision/soap fest out on one of the fields. The county fire department was kind enough to supply us with a water truck for the proceedings.

Now, the shot below is a fine example of manly overconfidence. We had beaten the girls at the tug o' war. Fantastic. Mr. Williams with an interesting way of encouraging the girls. Of course then the leaders were removed and something changed.

The boys surprisingly lost. Something about girls maturing faster than boys.

That evening we had our Thrift Store Formal. The girls dressed famously!

Keep praying for us. More news tomorrow!

ready to get going

2010-06-22T05:56:00.007-05:00

as you all know by now, we arrived safe and sound (maybe not sound. ha.) at 3:30pm yesterday afternoon. The drive went very well with at least one of the guys in my van saying they were a little sad that we had to get out of the vans. wow.

After arrival students headed off to Edge Induction - basically a major obstacle course and quick introduction to the theme of the week. We moved everyone into their rooms, handed out keys (by now many students had already spent money on shirts, etc. impressive), and went to dinner. We had a couple of choices for food. I asked about the chicken fried steak. I was told to eat the chili-mac instead.

[this is where the picture of us smiling and eating would be found if i had remembered to take one. Note that everyone is smiling. Someone in the background is encouraging someone else. People are laughing and no being middle-schoolers. Your child is particularly helpful. It's really amazing]

After dinner the students gathered on the chapel lawn for the pre-evening activities.

Afterward we had some time of praise and worship as well as a very solid opening talk about the book of Jonah - his theme for the week. We split into girls/guys groups for small group time together. Really great conversation there.

Now, everything went fairly well until the night game. The counselor hunt. Let's just say that i was determined to not be found this year. And i succeeded, as did Steve. The difference is that Steve knew the game was over and went in about 30-45 minutes before i did. Our students left me to the mercy of the elements. Just went back to their rooms. I might still be out there if i hadn't finally given up. I think i'll be able to find a way to return the favor at some point.

Good things on tap for today: morning talk and small groups, lots of singing and hanging out, soccer tournament (our boys are particularly confident/cocky about that one). We'll give you another update tomorrow morning. Keep praying for us!

The Stillwater Summer Trip

2010-03-10T11:35:00.003-05:00

Who: mature, completed 9th-12th graders

What: The Stillwater Summer Road Trip

When: July 18-24

How Much: approx $300

As all of you know, the Haiti earthquake caused us to revisit our choice for the Stillwater High School Summer Trip. After much thought and research, I’ve settled on partnering with a ministry on the South Side of Chicago called Sunshine Gospel Ministries. I first became aware of their work from our denomination’s Mission to North America office. After reviewing their literature and speaking to the ministry director, I feel confident this trip is not only an acceptable second option but am convinced that we will be uniquely blessed in pursuing this ministry opportunity. I’ve prepared an FAQ for your benefit below.

What would be the focus of the “Building Bridges” Chicago Trip?

The focus of this trip is learning how to minister the gospel practically while crossing cultural and socio-economic barriers. In learning to do this students (and leaders) will focus on the truths of the Gospel that allow us to cross any boundary in service to one another. Whether or not your student ever deals with people of vastly different socio-economic and racial backgrounds (a virtual guarantee), working through the gospel truth as it relates to ministry in these contexts most certainly helps us understand the truth on a deeper level.

Why are we not going to Haiti this year?

There are a couple of reasons for the delay of our Haiti trip until (hopefully) the summer of 2011:

We would need to answer questions about security, sanitation, viability of Living Hope as a staging area for ministry before we could begin planning for the trip (airline tickets, etc.) In speaking to those that have visited in the past few weeks it seems unlikely that we could have answers to any of those questions in time to put together a trip. This left us with no realistic option but to delay the Haiti trip until next year

What other options did you consider?

I considered the Creation Music Festival, a Mexico Missions Trip and Ridge Haven or Ligonier adventure/outdoors camp. Ultimately, I believed strongly that we needed a strong service-focused trip this year and of the opportunities open to us I believe the Chicago trip affords us the best opportunity for a successful ministry/learning opportunity.

Why go to Chicago when we could do the same thing in Columbus?

First, while it is true that we could do the same sort of thing in Columbus (service to others, practical ministry), partnering with Sunshine Gospel Ministries gives us the advantage of being taught by those that have been in this type of ministry for a long time. The teaching component of the Bridge Builders opportunity is the main reason why we’ll be traveling to Chicago.

What will a typical day on this trip be like and where can I find additional information?

A typical day (http://www.sunshinegospel.org/bbprogram.html) will involve supporting a children’s program (somewhat similar to VBS) and some practical ministry opportunities in Chicago’s south side neighborhoods. We will receive excellent teaching from Sunshine Ministry through their ministry director (an ordained elder in our denomination). We will of course have our own time for reflection and bonding in the evenings and one night will be traveling into the more touristy section of the city (Navy Pier, Sears Tower, Giordanno’s Pizza, etc.).

Additional info can be found here: http://www.sunshinegospel.org/bridgebuilders

Cost, chaperones, etc?

The trip will be taking place July 18-24, the cost will be around $300 and I will be looking to take at least 15 students and 3 chaperones in addition to Laura and me. This trip will require students to fundraise and apply – we will not take just any student that’s interested (or bored). I’ll be interviewing prospective students personally.

The New Stillwater Schedule

2010-02-04T14:26:00.002-05:00

I've thought a great deal about Stillwater's mission: to encourage and equip students to minister the gospel in a broken world. I feel that we've done a fairly good job of being a gospel community, we've listened well to the Word of God, we've worshiped heartily. But I've often felt that we haven't taken formal discipleship seriously enough. We haven't had very effective small groups where we can hold one another accountable for the truth we hear. The new Stillwater schedule is an attempt to do just that.

I know that schedules during the week are difficult for creating and sustaining small groups: all of you are so busy. That's why we're moving small groups to Sunday night after Stillwater. We'll start a half-hour earlier so that we can fit in a 30 minute small group discussion after we hear from the Word of God on Sunday nights. I believe that this change will really give us the opportunity to challenge one another in the battle of faith. I hope you're able to make Sunday nights a priority: we're doing this because we all need to grow in grace.

Hope your week is going well and that you're ready to be challenged, encouraged, healed and renewed Sunday night. see you there!

Bonfire and Capture the Flag - Sunday night

2009-11-12T13:24:00.003-05:00

Hey everyone,

in all likelihood this will be our last chance to get outdoors in the crisp weather for a little bonfire and CTF. Wear some warm, dark clothes!

Stockholm Syndrome

2009-11-04T11:40:00.006-05:00

“you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you first walked… but God, being rich in mercy… made us alive together with Christ.” - Ephesians 2

One of the great ways to understand the gospel of Jesus Christ. Is to know that the good news is good news about freedom; that you and I were once a prisoner, that we are some days still prisoners by our own designs, but that Christ is the one who sets captives free. This is the good news, and if we’re honest about our own hearts then maybe we’d admit that sometimes being captive to former things is precisely where we want to be. That to have our chains taken away is even a little terrifying – after all, if we aren’t chained to those former things what will we cling to? What will make us feel normal, what will dull the pain, what will cure the boredom, the fear, the anxiety? Stockholm syndrome is for many of us just a day in the life.

This week at Stillwater we talk about freedom for people that don’t want to be free, and the merciful God that holds the key.

Being sealed, being promised

2009-10-14T09:26:00.002-05:00

"In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory" - Ephesians 1.13-14

The great, rambling first chapter of Ephesians turns to this idea of being sealed. The Apostle Paul, the writer of this book, tells us with joy that we have been sealed, we have been promised. For some of us there is nothing but peace in the idea of being promised this good thing by God himself. For others perhaps it's another thing entirely to believe in promises. Maybe you've been promised much and received little, maybe being promised anything is a painful thing for you, living in a world of broken promises. Perhaps you have found, as many have, that promises are sometimes kept, but often not. maybe for you, the time for promises has long passed, and the God that promises you anything is going to have to prove himself first. Maybe this is you, and maybe it's me as well. I would guess that this inability to completely trust is all of us at least a little bit.

So much of how we live is driven by the fact that we can occasionally feel anchorless, listless, ownerless. What are we here for, to what purpose? To what future can we really look? Do we trust everything to our own devices, to our gifts and talents. Can we predict at all what will happen to us? Can we guarantee that our gifts and talents won’t fail us? Can we guarantee our good health, or the good promises of the people around us, or our intellect? Can we guarantee that good work will pay off, that our work ethic will lift us up? Can we guarantee that there’s more in store for us than getting old, losing our wits, losing our freedom? To be sealed, to be owned by God, to receive a commitment from the king of the universe is the certainty we need in an uncertain world. And the guarantee that God will keep his promise to us is not merely his word, but his very breath, his very person, his very spirit given to us. This is not merely a promise-making God, but a promise-keeping God. This week we'll be looking at the way this great promise challenges and renews our hearts. Hope to see you at Stillwater.

The people that put things back together

2009-08-02T06:26:00.002-05:00

"and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross."

Colossians 1:20

There are days that I actually believe this, that God intends to put all things back together. On those days I'm excited to serve others, excited to be a Christian, delighted in the great honor God gives me to be a part of his immense project of reconciliation. Then there are times when I don't believe this, and I forget about my greater purpose in life, when I forget that the world is a bit bigger than my immediate concerns. On those days, God still loves me - though i know he grieves my hard-heartedness. This passage is a truth I need to hear. I need to know the truth of this passage when life is too big, to broken, to unmanageable and overwhelming. I need to know the truth of this passage when I feel that I have everything under control and I've forgotten God. As a group of God's people, we need to know the truth of this passage if we're ever going to do what He's called us to do: join him in putting things back together. If you need a refresher on who we are as God's people when we don't know the truth of this passage, here you go:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9V7zbWNznbs

See you at Stillwater...

photo dump!

2009-07-08T06:57:00.015-05:00

We're going to hit you with a lot of pictures this morning. Along with our beach time, teaching time, etc., we also headed to the dunes of a local state park (tallest on the east coast!). So far in our study of the Shepherd's Tide - 2 tim 2:13 - we've talked about the faithfulness of God to make us righteous (or right). Today we will look at the faithfulness of God to make us compassionate. Enjoy the pictures!

This moment brought to you by Abercrombie and Fitch

First full day at the beach

2009-07-07T05:48:00.007-05:00

Well, long day of travel on Sunday and a morning of travel yesterday. We got to the house around noon and unpacked. Some kids went out to the beach while others hung around a bit and relaxed after all the driving. We went food shopping and organized everyone into rooms. Last night we had our first worship session: becca and I alternated leading singing and I focused on the core teaching of the faithfulness of God from 2 Timothy 2:13, which is our week's theme. After the teaching the students broke into small groups and talked about "low tide," which is the specific ways they recognize their need for God's grace this week and they prayed together. Afterward some kids played cards, others worked on a puzzle and still others just layed on couches and talked. Really good times. Oh, and our not-senior boys cooked and cleaned. They've got duty again tomorrow.

Today will be our first full day in the OBX. Below you can see our daily schedule:

8:30-9:00: breakfast and "high tide" (a devotional i share with the students about the goodness of God)

9:00 - noon: Beach time

noon-2pm: lunch together, devotions, small groups

2pm-4pm: beach time

4pm - 6pm: community bonding experience. Today we're headed to the dunes.

6pm-7pm: dinner

7pm-9pm: Praise and Worship, "low tide"

9pm - 11:59pm: Late night group and free time

Midnight: lights out!

more pictures to come...

Still moving

2009-07-02T05:56:00.006-05:00

Enjoy the pictures below. Today was the annual "church day" at the Edge where our group is free for a couple of hours to do whatever we'd like to do together. In years past we've hiked to the bluff for a great view of the valley. This year we decided to visit Cloudland Canyon State Park, a 30 minute drive from campus. We hiked down a waterfall trail and spent a couple of hours swimming in fresh water ponds. A really beautiful and fun day!

Pray for us as we go whitewater rafting on the Ocoee River today...

day 2

2009-07-01T06:58:00.013-05:00

Day 2: water day, worship day, superhero dance party day, beautiful day...day.

Yesterday was a blast, and busy. Finally able to post pictures so get ready:

Tricia and Bailee getting ready for the Superhero (sweaty) Dance Party

The Wayne Kerr Band is back this year. They've been fantastic so far.

I really don't know what they're doing here. I think this happened during the leader meeting

The girls having their small group time on the lawn. It was a gorgeous day

Alex making good use of his parents' hard-earned money

This is me yelling. I think i'm taunting another team competing against us. This happens sometimes.

We're trying to figure out this thing where we raise our hands during worship. Not our thing, but we're trying.

On the drive we took a really sharp incline. Or i forgot to rotate this one.

Faith writing a letter in case she doesn't make it back home. Emily with her game face on.

Alex getting schooled on the court. This girl was very good. This was only one of her successful three-point-shots.

Neil with intensity. They boys won one and lost one.

WaterFest Pictures a-plenty. Faith is sure this is fun. Bailee, not so sure.

Steal the bacon on a wet, soapy tarp. Not pictured: sweaty, soapy mess.

Wise people look on.

Just a couple of the characters they're using to drive home the point of gospel heroism

Here I'm receiving a complaint about an injustice i've caused. This also happens from time to time.

Tug-O-War with an innertube. Our girls dominated our boys in this event.

Domination, again. But, as you can see from the smiles our boys didn't mind losing to the girls, for some reason.

Getting ready for another event.

Jordan was key to our victory here. Steady...

Victory

They brought in a Water Truck to wet down the giant slip-n-slide

Tyler showing perfect form

Aftermath of a collision.

Alex kind of riding this the wrong way

That's better

This is the only event i was forced to take on. It was messy.

meals together.

up and at 'em

2009-06-30T09:53:00.005-05:00

Hello everyone! We've had a great week so far. Technical difficulties will prevent us from posting pictures until at least tonight, but here's our daily schedule so you can know what we're doing at a given time:

8am - breakfast

9am - morning meeting (music, worship, some wake-up-right-now types of activities)

10:45am - small groups/devotionals (everything focused on what we heard during the morning meetings). This time is usually out in the beautiful sun on the lawn in front of the chapel - overlooking chattanooga valley from the mountain. nice.

11:30am - lunch

1:30pm - large group game (today it's "water wars"). Tomorrow is our church time during large group. just our crew will hike to an overlook and hang out together. We'll also take our group picture there.

2:30 - 5pm - tournaments and hang out time

5pm - dinner

6:30pm - Lawn party. This year at the lawn party they will be attempting to break a different guiness book of world records um, record. They have a TV crew here to record the attempts and the Guiness people are on hand to make sure of things. No kidding. Last night we set the record for the largest game of duck-duck-goose. Our own Kelsey Hanson was the first to roam the outside of the circle. With 800+ in attendance, that was quite an honor. Incredible stuff.

7:45pm - Evening meeting. We have an incredibly gifted pastor teaching this week. His focus is on being a "hero" for God - right from the text of Hebrews 12. Our evening meetings are heavier on teaching and praise/worship time. The kids really sang well last night.

9:45pm - small group reflection. We divide into guy/girl small groups and talk about the message

10:30pm - Edge After Dark. Last night we had a crazy game of "protect the light." the kids had to protect the leaders carrying candles up to the chapel from the gym. Edge workers were attacking the candles with waterguns. We decided to borrow from the Romans and Greeks and create a Phalynx, protecting the core. We got very wet, but were very dedicated on the long, eventful walk.

12am - bedtime. really.

Hope that gives you an idea. Pictures hopefully soon!

JK

safe and sound

2009-06-29T16:06:00.003-05:00

Just a quick note to let you know that we arrived on time and in one piece at the Edge Conference 2009. Much singing in the car, iPod shuffling, eating. Good times. First photo update will be tomorrow morning.

Trips Aplenty

2009-06-23T18:41:00.001-05:00

This will be information central to you parents (and non-traveling Stillwater kids) to keep updated on our summer shananigans! If you're looking for information packets, they're on the right side of the screen. Scroll down!

Solomon's Porch this Sunday Night!

2008-11-20T12:52:00.002-05:00

Wanted to remind you that this sunday night is Solomon's porch due to the Thanksgiving weekend holiday.

Join us for a great Q/A discussion covering topics like:

-does committing suicide automatically condemn a person to hell

-if God elects some to heaven, does that mean he also elects some to hell?

-as well as any questions from you Sunday night.

Also, as an added bonus, our own Becca Lane will be performing a new original song for you while you munch on some snacks and drink some hot chocolate/cider/tea... good times!
See you there!

Middle School Pool Party Info

2008-09-22T16:33:00.003-05:00

Hey everyone,

Some of you have been asking for direction's to Carter's house for the pool party. Here you go:

9110 Tartan Fields Drive

Dublin, OH 43017

From the church:

1.Turn left at Avery Rd/Avery Muirfield Rd
0.3 mi

2.Continue on Muirfield Dr
1.3 mi

3. At the traffic circle, take the 2nd exit and stay on Muirfield Dr
1.9 mi

4. Continue through Glick intersection
0.3 mi

5. Turn left at Tartan Fields Dr
0.5 mi

9110 Tartan Fields Dr
Dublin, OH 43017

looking back

2008-08-05T10:33:00.002-05:00

Well, it's Tuesday and I'm just getting to a final trip update... something about nine days away, not enough sleep and 302 emails...

The trip was a successful, something that I was taking for granted before the nearly serious accident we survived on the way home. Here are some thoughts:

We honored God. Not only in our work, which took some dedication and sacrifice, but also in our interactions with each other and our willingness to deal with uncomfortable circumstances (anyone dying to sleep on that church floor today? Or how about some shrimp with antennae and eyeballs?!).

We worked hard. It's easy to be motivated before the heat gets to you; it's a little bit more difficult when you're tired, sweaty and you have a headache. And people are annoying you. And you've been bitten by more than a couple of mosquitos. but whenever work needed to be done on this trip, it was done - and done well. I think the Lord was pleased by our sacrificial work.

We learned about love. Our study in 1 John 3 was focused on understanding our salvation through the love and service we give to others. As we love others, God reminds us that we are his children.

I was proud to be with all of you and was so thankful for what God did in our midst those nine days.

hard work and a change of scenery

2008-07-30T21:32:00.014-05:00

Today we finished the bulk of the painting and a great deal of carpentry. They've added tasks to our work order since we've been progressing so well - including the building of a porch, stairs, etc. Since these homes are built on wood posts, the porches and stairs are particularly important. We hope to be done with our tasks by Friday lunch, allowing us to spend some extra time hanging out together, but we'll see.

Wednesday night is "eating out" night, so we went to Sung Long Chinese Buffet just down the road from Lagniappe. We ate a considerable amount of food. After that little jaunt, we went down to the coast to see a monument of sorts - an old Oak tree that served as a life-saver for a family caught in the tidal wave during hurricane Katrina. They were able to hold on to the limbs throughout the flood until they were rescued. A woodworker later carved angels into two of the outlying limbs of the tree. We spent some time looking over the monument and then headed to the beach for our bible study.

Of course, there are also the daily work pictures... below:

Day Four

2008-07-29T20:38:00.013-05:00

Weather was cooler today, but it was also rainy. We worked straight through from 7:30am until lunch, but were foiled by a storm after we ate. Unfortunately, our construction day was done. At the same time, it was fun to spend time together. We played games, told stories, showered thoroughly and ate well (Shrimp Po' Boys anyone?). Our study tonight was a mixture of 1 John 3:11-15 and Jonah 1 - about obedience and the idea that answering God's call, even when it hurts, can be God's means of rescue for us from a life of self-centeredness. It was a good time of study and a great day overall. Thanks so much for continuing to pray for us!

Porsha forgot socks, so we purchased some socks for her from the local Wal-Mart (which by the way is never just one, but at least two or three Wal-Marts - along with a couple Waffle Houses). These socks were hilarious.

Worked on scaffolding today.

Awesome posed shot. We're obviously just pouring over those blueprints.

Here's what happened: Porsha put paint on her face, then painted mine. Of course I kindly allowed myself to be defaced.

Alex... has a drinking problem...

This guy is not in our group. He sleeps in the bunk next to me. Uncomfortably close to my bunk. He slept all day, with his aviator sunglasses on. Hard work here. And hard sleeping.

We played this game while it was raining. The back of this box is ridiculous!

Day three

2008-07-28T21:29:00.012-05:00

hot. humid. good.

We had our first day of work today at Lagniappe. After waking for breakfast at 6:30am, we got to the worksite fairly early and did a bit of wood-working and painting. We're working on a new house belonging to a man named Scott. He lost his home in Katrina and was living in a FEMA trailer since the disaster. Along with getting to know Scott a bit, we dug a ditch to remove a lot of standing water around his home and tried to make the best of a difficult situation for him. While we struggled a little with the high temperatures (around 96 at one point with humidity in the 90s as well), we were drinking water constantly and were well sunblocked. Overall, i think everyone has the sense that our time is well-spent and that God is using us in powerful ways.

Same thing tomorrow. Enjoy the pictures!

more stuff

2008-07-27T21:25:00.008-05:00

(heading over the big bridge into Mobile...)

We arrived at Lagniappe (Bay St. Louis, MS) this afternoon after a 5.5 hour drive. We're really glad to be out of the cars and settled in our new digs. They're.... sufficient (and Spartan).

I was surprised by the level of organization at Lagniappe. They're serious about restoring this city - for them, it's a full-time job. We'll have responsibilities even beyond our work sites each day - including cleaning up the grounds, working in the kitchen, even cleaning the bathrooms. Basically, everything we'd be doing if we were in Dublin... right? I'm really excited about this week. Oh, and we talked about 1 John 3:1-6 this evening as well - God has lavished his love upon us by making us children of God... so we should act like it. Good stuff.

(You know it's humid when the Starbucks sweats)

(still taking goofy shots)

(living quarters for our men)

(the COMPOUND. don't be frightened. it isn't that kind of compound)

on our way...

2008-07-26T20:50:00.007-05:00

Pretty easy day of driving. A little bit of whining in my car (i thought the car was hot. apparently not). As you can see from the picture above, I was kind enough to eventually relent on the boyfriend-girlfriend riding privileges. Just barely.

We're staying at Community Presbyterian Church in Moody, AL (just outside Birmingham). We got in around 6:30 local time (Central) and ate at Milo's - pretty much the local eatery... with the sweetest iced tea pretty much anywhere. We talked a bit about 1 John 3, which will be our focus this week and asked the question: "why are we here?" Ultimately, what we want most, is to serve Jesus this week. We're off to a good start.

A couple of shots of our driving, and our rooms for the night...

reflection...

2008-07-02T19:52:00.005-05:00

This was a fantastic trip. As a leader, I had high expectations and I was stunned to see those expectations not only met but exceeded. We had a great group of kids, laughed A LOT, started new traditions and upheld old ones. Let me list the ways I felt the Lord blessing our time together:

We had incredible teaching. Our large group meetings weren't just powerful learning times for our kids, but for me as well! I was hugely impacted by God's word and was thankful to be changed by our passage in Luke 15. This is without even mentioning our group times together, which only confirmed that all of us were learning a great deal.

We participated heartily in worship. We sang, and clapped and lifted our hands (i did once even without being told to) and even chanted "O-H-I-O" where totally inappropriate. I was blessed to watch everyone singing and enjoying our times of praise.

We created a good story. From beginning to end this trip was the story of God bringing people together and learning how to follow him more closely. The story was peppered here and there by hilarious observations and funny-uncomfortable experiences here and there. I felt like we pretty much enjoyed the conference to the fullest.

We changed. I prayed a lot that God would do a work in us (as did parents and friends of students). I can tell you that I believe those prayers were answered. I saw boys grow more into manhood and girls growing more confident in the Lord. You can't beat that.

So those are just a few of my thoughts as I sit back on my deck having thrown my first load of nasty edge-laundry (including those hard-won Edge shirts) into the washing machine. I feel relieved, thankful, and hugely blessed.

in a hurry

2008-07-01T16:32:00.007-05:00

so sorry that today's post is so late, but we've been busy! Here are some pictures that'll give you a feel for our day:

The Return of the showercaps for waterwars!

Our fake eating shot...

Our fake laughing shot...

Day 2

2008-06-30T07:04:00.008-05:00

Great day today. We had our usual morning program (which they call the "Morning Show"); basically it was a lot of yelling and various people ate things that we would not ordinarily consider eating (like Vienna Sausages covered in marshmallow fluff). Then we heard our morning talk and grabbed lunch. Afterward we embarked on "church time," which is our chance to do something as a group. As is now an Edge tradition, we headed down to the bluff (about a mile hike) and caught some glimpses of the Cumberland Valley. It was a fun time, though a bit humid on the hike back.

We were all pretty tired, but three of our boys (Matt, Ted, and Kevin) had signed up for the 3-on-3 baskettball tournament, so we went and supported them. They had no subs (other teams had as many as seven) but they made it to the finals having allowed only one total basket in their previous four games! Strangely, they were hit with a new rule for the finals that allowed the team they played to compete with them - and the other guys won by one basket. I was really proud of how our guys handled a bit of an unfair situation.

The evening program was awesome, as usual. Music was great (and loud) and the message, which focused on the way that sin distorts us, was powerful. Looking forward to day 3: the Edge Idol (featuring a certain Sherret) and our water war (complete with Stillwater's traditional shower attire). It'll be a great day. Talk to you soon.

we're there...y'all

2008-06-29T06:54:00.011-05:00

This year's edge conference started on schedule this year! We actually arrived in time for the kids to get through the arrival traditions (trust-building exercises, running around, laughing, etc.). The drive there was easy (thanks to all of you who prayed!): we had a stop near Lexington for lunch and charged forward through Knoxville and arrived around 5:15.

This week we'll be studying Luke 15, which is both a parable and picture of Jesus dealing with the religious and non-religious alike. Last night our speaker talked about the fact that Jesus eats with sinners, welcomes sinners and pursues sinners. After the meeting the kids searched for their hiding counselors (i'm sorry to say that our kids were a little bit slow here... or maybe our hiding place was incredibly awesome) and ate some late night ice-cream. We finished the evening at "summit" which is basically our boys and girls dividing up and talking about that evening's talk. I can speak for the boys when I say that we had a great time together. The goal for our boys this year is the same as our boys from last year: to own the ideas present in Romans 12:10-11 --

"Love one another with brotherly affection, outdo one another in showing honor. Do not be slothful in zeal, but be fervent in spirit. Serve the Lord."

I told our boys that my goal for the week is not just to have a good time and learn about Jesus, but to be better men.

Some sidelights:

-some of the kids are having their first "southern" experience. We're actually attempting to master the dialect of this strange people (strange meaning "different"). We're working on our "ya'll" and such.

-We've already lost one room key. It didn't even last a day.

(celebrating a successful lunch stop at Arby's - not the Arby's mind you, but the stop)

The music for the week is being led by the Wayne Kerr Band. They're really good.

Our week's speaker, John. (we went to the same seminary)

I don't know what to say here. I think we're going to see more of this guy.

Even our listening is INTENSE.

Going Somewhere?

2008-06-16T13:27:00.002-05:00

Hey! We're excited about going places this summer and hope you are too. If you're headed on one of our trips, please take the time to click over on the trip forms on the right. Print them, fill them out and bring them to one of the two mandatory parent meetings:

Edge Conference: June 23rd, 6:30-7:00pm

High School Summer Beach Trip: July 21st, 6:30-7:00pm

Days One and Two

2008-01-19T23:07:00.000-05:00

Well, if you have not heard, we made it to Stowe and we completed our first day of skiing. The ride here was long and, well it was long. There was the usual bus activities going on:

Listening to music...

Jazz Hands...

Sleeping...

Some of us even multitasked by sleeping with our eyes open.

Overall, the bus ride was not too bad. We got in late and went straight to bed. This morning was a little rough, but we left pretty much on time and everyone had a great day of skiing. The weather was not too cold, sunny, and blue skies for most of the day.

After the ski we headed back to the Honeywood Inn and enjoyed an awesome dinner which was followed by some collosal brownie sundaes!

Then we finnished off our eveing with devotionals and group time where we sang praise songs and Dave gave a wonderful message.

Retreeat update

2008-01-03T15:11:00.000-05:00

Look on the right! That's the Winter Retreat Info Packet. Sign and return!

Winter Retre(e)at Update

2007-12-27T09:41:00.000-05:00

Hey everyone! I've received quite a few questions from some that haven't received information about our upcoming retreat. Here's the skinny:

When: January 18-21
Where: Stowe, VT (at the Honeywood Lodge)
Who: you and 30 of your friends, plus some chaperones (that are at least friend-ly)

What: Here's a vague rundown...

-Friday the 18th
*depart early, say 7am or so
*change bus drivers halfway there...
*arrive in stowe around 8 or 9pm

-Saturday the 19th
*ski during the day
*worship, games, bible study at night

-Sunday the 20th
*same thing as saturday

-Monday the 21st
*same as the 18th, back to Dublin

Now, here are some additional details you need to know:
*cost - $265 (this does not include the price of rentals which you can buy either here or in Stowe)
*deposit - $75 (included in total cost) and must be received by January 6th!
*trip packet will be posted on this website hopefully in the next week, just download it and bring to the final parents' meeting (TBA).

last post from the beach

2007-07-12T23:25:00.000-05:00

We're at the end of our week, spending our last afternoon on the beach before we head out tonight for Richmond. It has been a great time: we've learned a great deal, worshipped well, grown closer as a group and seen God work in hearts this week. Yesterday was a typical beach day with a not-so-typical beach evening. After our beach challenge - the relay race you see below - we had a bonfire on the beach followed by a late night game of capture the flag (hence the dark clothes and eye-black) on the sand right along with our friends the ghost crabs. It wasn't difficult to get people to hit the sack as soon as we got back to the house.

So here we are, last day, no injuries so far and taking in every last drop of beach time. Continue to pray for our travels and for our last large group time this evening. Should be excellent. See you tomorrow late afternoon!

(Capture the flag above with glow necklaces)

day 4

2007-07-11T22:45:00.000-05:00

Today we continued our theme on "dealing with doubts." We focused on knowing God as a way to deal with doubts. Our worship time was really great, our time on the beach afterward was also fantastic. Our Beach Challenge today required the four teams to create a raft from trashbags, duct tape and rope. Some really good work and some "bus projects." Enjoy the pictures from today...

Day 3

2007-07-10T23:05:00.000-05:00

Today we were finally on a regular schedule and we made full use of the time. Wake up time was 8:30 and we spent that time working through our devotional booklets. 9-10am is breakfast and showering time: 28 people can make that a challenge. From 10-11 we have our morning large group time where we spend some time in worship through music and the bible and then split into male/female small groups to discuss what we've heard. 11-4pm is free time and we spent a good deal of it on the beach, in the pool, and eating lunch at the house. It is a thirty-second walk to the beach from our house so there's a great deal of walking back and forth during the day.

Four o' clock marks the beginning of our beach challenge hour. We've divided into four teams and yesterday had a silent sandcastle building competition. There were some pretty incredible designs. Kim, Jarod, Arianna, Becca, and Max pulled out the victory with some crafty use of vegetation. Good times.

6-7 is our dinner hour. Tonight Ben, Paul, Slavic, and other miscellaneous boys grilled our BBQ chicken. 7-9 is our evening large group: more singing, teaching, reflecting - tonight we didn't head out to the beach during that hour because there was some lightening in the area. 9-11 we watched "the movie," i'm not sure how it can be funnier than it's been in the past, but it was. Of course the 11pm hour is reserved for the (optional) crabwalk and we had most of our group head out again for it tonight. Lots of flashlights, jumping around and startled screams... those little ghost crabs can really scurry.

Lights out was a little tardy tonight due to a music and dance infection felt house-wide. Eventually we were able to corral everyone.

Today: more of the same, which is a good thing.

a long way home

2007-07-09T21:30:00.000-05:00

We've arrived in the Outer Banks and it's time to update you on everything we've done so far...

we woke up this morning at All Saints Church, having fallen asleep relatively soon after arriving. we were tired. We woke up around seven and packed up, wrote thankyou notes and piled into our caravan. We were on our way to help ImpactRichmond by working on a home in the city. The summer heat has fully arrived in Richmond; the midday sun was ridiculously hot - and it felt sticky/humid. I have to say that I wasn't entirely confident that things were going to go as planned. In truth, things were better.

The house we were working on belonged to Mrs. Wilson, a recent widow in an old two-story brick building. Not only were we able to paint the fence, cement a portion of her walkway, seal the basement walls and caulk her bathroom tiling, but we were able to spend some time talking with her. She lost her husband two weeks ago and felt painfully lonely. It was a delight to listen to her story.

We finished early and headed to Corolla, about 3 hours 45 minutes from Richmond. We were surprised by our house, to say the least. It's beautiful, plenty of space to stretch out, a huge square diningroom table, not to mention picnic tables on the deck, etc. Lots of places to eat together, and some great spots to sit and read. Everyone is thankful.

After disembarking and unpacking a little, we headed to the beach while dinner baked. We spent a few minutes praying, thanking the Lord for a safe trip and praising him for the week we're already enjoying. Perfect weather, soft sand, and some very heartfelt thankyous.

Lasagna was on the menu for tonight, it was fantastic - thanks to Britnee and Daniele for putting it all together. Right now people are in the pool preparing for our first crabwalk (beach time with the ghost crabs). Hard to imagine things going better right now. continue praying. enjoy the pictures!

2007-07-08T22:23:00.001-05:00

We've arrived and unloaded in Richmond at All Saints Reformed Presbyterian Church. We have, not coincidentally, just met the two nicest people on earth. Bill and Jane were terriffic hosts - offering the church to us for the evening and even preparing some drinks and snacks for us. Ben and Paul shared a special acoustic performance, "Action Jackson: a tribute." Good times by all.

By the way, we were definitely not not partaking in a (seatbelted) dance rave in one of the vans this evening.

More tomorrow. Plus pictures.

in the books

2007-07-01T22:30:00.000-05:00

great day today...

We had our normal morning program, followed by lunch, followed by "church time." The conference added this hour and a half block of time this year so that groups could spend some time together on Sunday. Some churches played basketball together, others swam and still others went into chattanooga. Since I went to college here, I knew about a great spot called "the bluff" about a mile's hike away from campus. Everyone was game, so we took a trail down to a beautiful cliff - you can catch some of the pictures below. Our time I think was tremendously rewarding and a bit different from what everyone else was doing. God continues to surprise us with his goodness on this trip.

We played more tournaments this afternoon and we were winners again, the girls bringing home the indoor soccer championship.

Oh, and Jack and Curtis had ticks removed. awesome.

full day

2007-06-30T21:22:00.000-05:00

Things are going as... planned so far. We had a tight schedule: breakfast at 7:30, a morning assembly, some random comedy relief, lunch, a massive water war, tournaments, a sliver of free time, dinner, a lawn party, an evening assembly, a camp-wide game of red-light green-light in the dark, some ice cream and (hopefully) lights out soon.

We've begun to put together our group's collective identity. we are the kids from Ohio, and the kids that win at Volleyball, and the kids that jump around during the worship songs, and the kids that yell "O-H!..... I-O!" Did i also mention that we're the kids from Ohio? Enjoy the pictures. Tomorrow night is the Edge Idol, and it's possible that we may see a special performance from the resident Stillwater Band (Up and Over). We'll see. Jordan Kuhn drum solo too. good times.

how we begin

2007-06-30T06:16:00.000-05:00

Thanks to those of you that prayed for our travel: we arrived safely without incident. Unless you count the hour-long traffic jam in Knoxville, the water-main break at our lunch stop somewhere in Kentucky and the frightening number of billboards advertising Shoney’s (there was also a “Bimbo’s” gas station, which was odd). We even grabbed some Mr. T’s Pizza on our way up the mountain. Everyone arrived in good spirits.

The first night we received all the necessary handbooks and gear, had our first evening program (with a pretty good band), wore our 70’s getups, and stretched the lights out time just a bit (12:15ish I believe). All in all, a successful start. I had a couple of people take pictures and this is our photographic essay from our travel and the first hours at the Edge.

Summer Retreeat

2007-02-23T10:58:00.000-05:00

Well, things are getting settled for the Summer Road Trip. Above is the house we'll be staying in, just across the street from the ocean. Clique here to visit the home's website. It's bigger than last year's home, so we're looking to load up about 25 of you for the trip. Here are the details:

July 8-14 (Sunday-Saturday)
OBX (Corolla, NC, to be exact)
Signups begin next Sunday night!
Deposit ($75) due May 6th. Total trip cost = $225

making the turn for home

2007-01-21T21:16:00.000-05:00

We're settling in for our third night at the lodge. We've about finished our "community bonding experience" or "game" and are going to spend some time in worship together. The second day of skiing was beautiful. It was still a bit cold, but it was clear and sunny - leading to some incredible shots of the mountain. Dinner was tasty, we celebrated Livy's birthday with some birthday candle-d cheesecake. Good times. We'll be leaving pretty early in the morning and should be getting back in town around 8pm or so.

Winterizing...

2007-01-20T18:05:00.000-05:00

Hello from Vermont (apparently the Teddy Bear State) -
Well, what a drive! We rolled up in the early morning and hit the sack and woke up to 8-12 additional inches of snow - three feet in the last week and a half. Fresh powder everywhere... as a matter of fact our bus was buried in the fresh snow and we needed to call a tow truck to unearth the tires. Awesome.
It was cold. Cold cold cold. Cold with capital letters - the kind of cold that makes you try exceptionally hard to remember warmth. Cold that needs special thermometers. But that's why they make layers. The skiing was excellent! Our lodge is a riot - there are teddy bears everywhere - someone had a teddy bear on their bed when they arrived - a bear with a straw hat. The lodge is very comfortable and as I write this we're getting ready for dinner (lasagna) and some kids are playing cards on the floor. Kari is doing a wordsearch, Kim is sleeping by the fire... livy is chilling out with Sarah. Some of the boys are playing cards, others are planning their routes tomorrow. It's been a great bonding time - tonight will be our first praise and worship session - we'll do some singing, we'll talk about God's word - 1 peter, and we'll play some games to keep things light. Speaking of light, lights out at 11. See you soon. People took pictures... enjoy them.

Change of Locale

2007-01-10T09:24:00.000-05:00

Since Holiday Valley lacked the necessary SNOW for skiing, the Winter Retreat will be taking place in Stowe, VT. Its going to be a blast and there are still spots open! New information packets will be arriving in your mailbox soon.

Open Gym

2007-01-10T09:02:00.000-05:00

On Wednesdays and Sundays there will be open gym 30 mins before Stillwater (6:30). Bring your friends for a quick game of basketball! Short-shorts and tube socks optional.

New Year

2007-01-03T15:04:00.000-05:00

Happy New Year!
Stay tuned for info on Stillwater's 2007 events and for instructions on how to make your very own plaid New Year blanket!*

*This is easily adapted to make a sweater.

Interested in Serving Others?

2006-11-06T15:40:00.000-05:00

On December 1st and 2nd, we need some of you to serve food or babysit during the NPC Christmas production of "The Letters". Your tips will go towards helping others this holiday season through Samaritan's Purse. If you are interested in this wonderful opportunity, contact Laura Pilgrim at lpilgrim@npc-dublin.org or sign up outside Stillwater.

Winter Retreat

2006-11-06T15:32:00.000-05:00

With all of your learnin' and studyin' going on after Christmas break, you are going to need a "holiday" in January. Sign up for the Winter Retreat outside of Stillwater, but act quickly, because it will fill up!

Post Roast

2006-10-17T12:05:00.000-05:00

It's that time again when we eat grilled food, play cornhole, and catch marshmallows on fire.

Post Roast this Friday 10:15-11:45.

Invite everyone you know!

A Message From The President

2006-10-11T12:22:00.000-05:00

My fellow Americans, due to the recent thunderstorms, the seach for the Dub-Lumbus was postponed. However, we have remained vigilant and have not let this minor setback take our attention off the goal. I hope that you will join with me on October 21, 2006 at 6:30pm to find the Dub-Lumbus. Stay afterwards from 10:15-11:45 for ice cream (vanilla is my favorite) and a movie! Thank you and God Bless America.

Paint very fast

2006-08-14T10:46:00.000-05:00

For those of you heading out tomorrow morning, remember that you have to have a signed permission slip/waiver in case you are seriously injured or die. download the waiver here:

http://www.splatterpark.com/media-files/splatterpark%20waiver%202006%207-06%20web.pdf

retrospective, 1.

2006-07-08T12:36:00.000-05:00

The day after is just as pleasing as the week. It was a great trip. From the incredible servanthood of our leaders to those hilarious neighbors of ours (YEAH, man), we were blessed with ideal surroundings. It was great just to get away and be around this group for a week; we learned a great deal about God and his majesty and glory from Psalm 8, we thoroughly exhausted our worship books and licked up about every drop of ocean the Outer Banks served up. The pictures below only tell a part of the story, be sure to ask one of the survivors about their time.

2006-07-08T12:34:00.001-05:00

on the way to the ob.

2006-07-08T12:34:00.000-05:00

2006-07-08T12:33:00.001-05:00

2006-07-08T12:33:00.000-05:00

the boys' room

2006-07-08T12:32:00.001-05:00

praise and worship time at the house...

2006-07-08T12:32:00.000-05:00

heard the legend of Sarah yet? She's the most phenomenal youth worker we've ever had. Here she's performing one of her many thankless tasks... cleaning.

2006-07-08T12:30:00.001-05:00

2006-07-08T12:30:00.000-05:00

lots of sleeping on this trip...

2006-07-08T12:29:00.001-05:00

lots of laughing on this trip

2006-07-08T12:29:00.000-05:00

we haven't figured out the species of Kari's stuffed animal yet.

2006-07-08T12:27:00.000-05:00

spent each day's teaching and praise time on the beach...

2006-07-08T12:26:00.000-05:00

we had beautiful weather - thanks for praying.

2006-07-08T12:25:00.000-05:00

lots of us in the water, body surfing. notice jackson in the foreground after a handful of shells in the trunks.

2006-07-08T12:24:00.000-05:00

card playin'. no money changed hands.

2006-07-08T12:23:00.000-05:00

we had four guitars and six guitarists on this trip. music was a big part of our week.

2006-07-08T12:22:00.000-05:00

the day to day. we drank massive amounts of water

2006-07-08T12:21:00.001-05:00

rudy getting his hair done

2006-07-08T12:21:00.000-05:00

dan doing that thing he does...

2006-07-08T12:20:00.000-05:00

summa cum laude and magna cum laude. which is which?

2006-07-08T12:19:00.000-05:00

freshm--sophomores enjoying the swing. good times...

2006-07-08T10:48:00.000-05:00

one of eight fla-vor-ices Kari enjoyed that night...

2006-07-08T10:47:00.000-05:00

kati and our new friend karissa

2006-07-08T10:46:00.000-05:00

...see Joyce and Dave in the background. We have much love for the trip mom and dad. They kept us well fed and safe and such. and they let us help from time to time.

2006-07-08T10:43:00.001-05:00

much brotherly love exhibited...

2006-07-08T10:43:00.000-05:00

Bryan Zelle showing major talent

2006-07-08T10:42:00.001-05:00

the indispensible travis dillion

2006-07-08T10:42:00.000-05:00

tyler graham, male model.

2006-07-08T10:41:00.000-05:00

we LOVED the house...

2006-07-08T10:40:00.000-05:00

this hammock was never empty...

2006-07-08T10:39:00.001-05:00

the lounging/launching area

2006-07-08T10:39:00.000-05:00

2006-07-08T10:38:00.001-05:00

jarod constantly keeping us in stitches

2006-07-08T10:38:00.000-05:00

fun times at the surf shop