1. Connor - this kid inhales Peeps like no other.
2. Molly - if you're wondering, her nose is yellow from sniffing a dandelion. Kids . . .
3. Baylea - Why yes, this much candy will make your teeth fall out. Seriously, how long does it take for the front two teeth to come in?
4. Cole - his first Easter! Guess who got to eat the candy in his basket?

It was a nice Sunday. Great services, an excellent lunch, and a relaxing evening. It was even sunny, which is somewhat infrequent in this area this time of year. 

I came across this picture recently and thought I'd use it to try posting my first pic. It's maybe a year and a half old but it's one of my favs. Baylea's on the left. She's currently a first grader, loves anything princessy, and loves to worry about things that will never happen. This week's phobia: tsunamis. I promised her tsunamis in Michigan are very rare. Molly is in kindergarten, is quite the social butterfly at school, and is sprouting freckles across her nose. Looks like Daddy's girl, don't you think?

I'm trying to get some more photos on here but am having difficulty getting the files off my mini DVD-R discs. Suggestions are welcomed.

Step of Faith

This week marks a milestone in our family. As of this week, Brett is a full-time pastor. Yay! After five years of him pastoring and holding a full-time outside job ("bi-vocational" he calls it), Victory has come to the point where it is now beginning to support its own. No more days of will it-or-won't-it make it questioning.

If you don't know, Victory was started in '01 with just our family of (then) four in a hotel conference room. No visitors for the first two weeks. On the third Sunday, the door opened and in walked the first visitors. A year and half later, we were blessed to get a permanent building- an ugly green former restaurant/bar with no windows. . . and the bar still in it. Yes folks, for the first several months of services you had to walk past the bar to get to the meeting room. Not too many Baptist churches can claim that in their history.

We had major renovations in '03 (no more bars, Miller lite signs, or red backlit mirrors with mermaids etched on them -I'm not making this up) which resulted in something that actually resembled a church. God has been good and we are now running around 45-50. The people here are absolutely wonderful- they have a real heart for the Word of God and ministry.

So now, Brett can fully devote his time to his calling. He'll get to spend more time with the kids during the day, free up days to write sermons and lessons, and not have to worry whether he's being unfair to either pastoring or a secular job. It's been a blessing to help minister to this area, and I'm thankful for the faithfulness of God.

I'm not sure what's gotten into me lately, but I have been contacting long-lost friends like crazy lately. Old school friends, old youth counselors, old junior high leaders, old church buddies . . . Well, not OLD friends, but former friends. . no, that doesn't sound right either. Anyway, it's been fun. I hope it doesn't mean that I unknowingly have a terminal disease with just a few weeks to live and subconsciously decided to reach out to everyone who meant something to me. I hope not, but y'all can periodically check Toledo obituaries in case.

Maybe after turning 30 (yeah, thirty) I kind of gained an attitude of Who Cares? You know, if I feel like contacting someone I haven't talked with in many years, then I'm gonna go for it. Who cares if the last time they saw me I was a doofy cheerleader with BIG hair?

Perhaps this is a small part of the wisdom that comes with age. Why let feelings and insecurities over things that happened 15 years ago keep myself from reconnecting with people that are part of my life story and are part of my good memories? I hope I continue to gain more of this confidence over the next decade. It just might be worth the crow's feet and slowed metabolism that have accompanied it. Notice I said might.

So if you come across this, let me know. Say Hi. Let's catch up. I promise not to bring up your embarrassing past, if you don't bring up mine. And yes, I totally thought my huge hairdo was cool.

Victory's Latest

Things have been going well at Victory lately. Last Sunday we had 50 in attendance, which is one of our highest Sundays yet. Momentum has been gaining, and members have been fantastic in finding ways to help out in various ministries.

Last weekend we held a Fear Factor activity for the youth. The youth department was basically organized just a couple months ago and has done well with consistency. There were around 20 teens that showed up for the activity, so we were thrilled. There were four challenges that could be participated in, with points awarded for attempting, completing, and winning each one.

The first one was hilarious! Four kids raced at a time and started at the back of the pews. They had to crawl under the pews all the way to the front of the room. Our pews, which were donated to us from another church, have these knee rests that can be in an up or down position. (We Baptists don't do much kneeling during a service, but they make great footrests!) These rests made the crawl underneath harder because you kind of have to do a sort of over-under crawl. Anyway, at the front of the room waiting for the racers was a huge tub of flour that had wrapped pieces of bubble gum in it. Without using their hands they had to pick up a piece of gum in their mouth. I was worried that they might all be shy, but I was wrong! They all just buried their heads in the flour and went at it. It was sooo funny, all the counselors were laughing their heads off. It took longer than expected, but everyone managed to find their gum within three minutes. The first one to blow a bubble won their heat.

The second game involved a blender and beets, anchovies, dog food, and other things. Most participated, and most drank the whole cup! Just in case, there was a puke bucket, which was needed a couple times. Apparently, one teenager decided she could make it to the bathrooms instead before she blew. . .she was wrong. We had a nice trail on the carpet that had to be cleaned up. Funny thing was, she didn't even tell us she'd made a mess, we discovered it later on. Eeewwww.

They also had to hold their faces underwater while dangling a live worm from their mouth. The big decision with that was which end of the worm should go in their mouth. I'm glad I didn't do it! The last thing they did was to go into our pitch black unfinished basement and find 10 glo-sticks.

The activity was a hit! They all seemed to have fun, and a girl ended up with the prize. Justin gave a devotion and presented them with the gospel. Two teens ended up getting saved the following Monday at the Bible study, so the weekend was very profitable. We are now going to start planning a May Amazing Race deal.