Wednesday, June 30, 2010

Thursday, June 24, 2010

Jr. Camp has gone well this week. I haven't taken many pictures at all because I need both hands to hold on to Josiah. He doesn't do well with sudden & loud screaming or seeing his daddy dressed up in a weird outfit and acting crazy during a skit.

Last night Michael preached a message about how something controls us at all times. He brought out Gumby to illustrate this to the kids. We allow things like fear and peer pressure dictate what we do and how we respond.


Then he talked about how God wants us to allow the Holy Spirit to control us but unlike Gumby, God will not tie us up and make us do anything. He will guide us but He gives us a choice as to what we decide. Good food for thought.


Right before dinner, my sweet nephew brought me flowers! I thought it was so sweet even if it was a bribe to get points for his team! I absolutely love the fact that it is in a tea bottle. In case you wanted to know he picked them up by the roots. :)


Josiah has loved visiting out at camp. He's been goofing off at dinner. If he's not making faces at the person across from him...


Then he is begging the cafeteria ladies for another brownie...


We are looking forward to the final night tonight. It is Family night and we are praying that families will come out and be under the sound of the Gospel.


Thanks for stopping by,
Joy

Saturday, June 19, 2010

Brownies by Josiah

1) Open the brownie package


2) Empty contents into bowl


3) Add your eggs


4) Watch it spin round and round


5) After it bakes, enjoy it with a glass of milk


6) Act really hyper

The End! 

Thanks for reading about how I make brownies. Maybe one day you'll be a great baker just like me!
Love, Josiah

Thursday, June 17, 2010

VBS

The final night of vbs went well. There were 22 kids with I think 3 visitors. 
Michael finished his creation and was showing off saying that he was so strong he could lift a fire truck.
The little boy who won the truck brought 7 visitors throughout the week, the runner up brought 5.
 The local fire station came with a truck to show the kids. They did a short presentation then we all went outside to see the truck and learn what kind of stuff is kept on the truck.
Here's the gang in front of the truck.
We really enjoyed the fellowship with the people of this church. It really felt like a family, and of course they fell in love with Josiah. Oreo cookies and all! :)
This is what Josiah looked like on our way home.
We are so thankful the Lord allowed us to have such a nice time at Ocala Baptist Temple, and praise the Lord for the two souls who were saved!

-Joy

Wednesday, June 16, 2010

VBS

Night #3 went great! There were over 20 kids last night and at least 5 new visitors! Michael used this young man for one of his illustrations talking about the armor of God. At the end of the message he trusted Christ as his Saviour!
Michael has promised a balloon bigger than himself to the person who brings the most visitors. Here is what they'll be getting.
It is still in two pieces because it wouldn't fit in his hiding place put together so I'll have a better picture later.

Tonight the local fire department will be coming by and talking to the kids. They are excited about seeing the trucks and the firemen. Most of the vbs programs we'll be apart of this summer has a firefighter theme.

This will be the last night of vbs, so we'll be heading home after the service is over. Then we'll be gearing up for Jr. Camp!
 Thank you for keeping us in your prayers!
Joy

Tuesday, June 15, 2010

VBS

Praise the Lord!  We had a great night of vbs last night! There was an increase in attendance as well as 5 or so visitors. The best part was one boy about 10 or 11 yrs. old received Christ as his Saviour!

The puppet stage stayed together last night! What a blessing to my arms. The duct tape worked like a charm.

However, I do feel a trend setting. Sunday night our stage fell apart and last night the window on our truck wouldn't roll back up. Michael was able to get it to go back up finally when we got back to our motel, but he informed me not to roll it down unless its an emergency.

So if you ever see us in a drive-thru opening our door up instead of using our window, you'll know why. :)

Looking forward to Night #3,
Joy

Monday, June 14, 2010

Go ahead and laugh!

It is simply providential that I took this picture. This is our puppet stage being put together. It is made of pvc pipe. What you can not see it that there is a connector at the half-way point of the pipes my headless husband is pushing together.
This is what the stage looks like when it is completed.
So, why in the world am I telling you all about this? It really is a funny story... now.

We were only about a minute or so into our puppet skit. I'm holding one puppet while Michael is holding two puppets. My arms are a bit too short to hold the puppet up properly. My forearm barely goes over the top so I have to rest it on the pipe. Have I mentioned that I have hardly any upper arm strength?

Well, can you guess what happened next? My end of the pipe comes out of the connector. Michael has both hands busy with the puppets. So guess who is stuck holding the pipe up with the other hand. About a minute later one of Michael's puppets exits stage and so he puts the pipe in the puppets mouth to help hold it up. By now both of my arms are screaming at me. I don't know whether to laugh, cry, or moan in agony.

It doesn't end there, my friends, no, it gets worse. All of a sudden my pipe pops out of the center connector. Now I am holding up a 3 ft pipe entirely by myself. Michael's puppet never enters the stage again, even though he speaks a few more times. We lose our place in the script and Michael asks me 'Where are we at?' Now how am I supposed to show him where we're at? (You should be laughing by now. Go ahead, you know you want to.)

Have I mentioned yet that the puppet scripts are long? I am not exaggerating that at all! Just ask my cousin who helped us record them.

Finally, the skit ends! I was never so happy to hear the end of something before. Michael has to quickly leave but before he does he quietly says "fix it!"

Really? Me? Fix it? You're kidding, right?

No he wasn't because there is a part two to the skit in just a few minutes. I was able to get the pipes together but the slightest touch would make them fall again. So for round two we had to hold the puppets straight up. STRAIGHT UP, PEOPLE!

Duck tape, also known as gray tape, or as my momma would say, MacGyver tape, fixes everything right? We'll be investing in some before tonight. Oh. yes. we. will.

It's a little blurry, but this lady who was keeping Josiah for me walked him down to drop pennies in the boys bucket. We thought it was so sweet. He clapped for himself after he dropped his pennies in.

Despite falling puppet stages, the night went well. There were four new visitors last night! Michael has promised a balloon larger than himself to whoever brings the most visitors.

Thanks for having a laugh with me!
Joy

Saturday, June 12, 2010

A merry heart

 A merry heart doeth good like a medicine: but a broken spirit drieth the bones. Proverbs 17:22

Here are a few things that have put a smile on my face this week.

I am so thankful for all the blessings that the Lord has given to me that make me smile.
What has made you smile this week?

Friday, June 11, 2010

Independent Baptist Church

Sunday morning we headed to Sebring, which is about an hour south of us. Michael held a special jr. church service to 'kick off' the church's vbs.

For those of you who do not know this is the church where my sister & brother-in-law serve. So it was nice to be able to fellowship with them a little bit after church.
 Josiah was THRILLED to see Thomas! He kept tackling the poor lil guy so he could give him a hug. I'm sure in another year Thomas will be tackling Josiah and we'll all be laughing our heads off!
Sunday Night, Michael preached in the adult service. Then the church had cake & ice cream afterward.

We also went back down to the church today to help close out the week of vbs. Michael did some crazy game of jousting with an office chair as their 'horse'. I was much more calmer and painted a few faces of those who could be torn away from watching the game for a few seconds. By the way, there was only one casualty from the game. I'd say that is really good for Michael. 

Here are a few pics from today...


We leave Sunday after the morning service in order to get to Ocala to start off 4 days of vbs that night. Please pray for us as we are traveling.

Thanks for stopping by!
Joy

Thursday, June 3, 2010

Last night we went and visited Cleveland Heights Baptist Church in Lakeland where Michael did a special kids meeting. The kids have been working hard on memorizing scripture over the last few months so this was a special night to reward them for all of their hard work. We had a wonderful time together and it was great to visit with the Aldridge's.

Michael did some magic and balloons for the kids before preaching.
 Then we had a little target practice!
If you are interested in keeping up with us this summer as we travel I've posted a calendar of our meetings in the sidebar. We would appreciate your prayers as we travel.
Thanks for stopping by!
Joy

Tuesday, June 1, 2010

Here is a video of our Jr. Church class singing in the main auditorium this past Sunday. After they sang, the names of those who had perfect attendance since January were called out. They received a certificate and a goody bag once we returned to our class.



The kids were so nervous beforehand and extremely excited afterward. It took a little bit to calm them down once we got back to our class.

Praise the Lord, there were a handful of parents who came to watch their kids sing that normally are not in a Sunday morning service! To God be all the the glory!