And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

Colossians 3:17

This is the verse that is the foundation for our student camp, Camp Whatever. This is the sixth year, we have taken students to Horns Creek camp in Ocoee, Tennessee. To see  how it has grown, how adults who love teenagers will take a week away from work and family, and to see how students have deepened their walks each year, is one of the greatest joys I have been apart of in my walk with Lord.

It had been a couple of years since I had gone and this year, I went as the girls counselor. For a few months, I have been available to do counseling for girls on Wednesday night. To say that girls these days have a lot to deal with, is an understatement.  At camp, I was able to do the same. Once you separate a student from the world, wear them out, and have adults continually focusing them towards Christ, it is amazing to see the barriers come down.  Not only are they open to hear from the Word, the also are more open to share the hurts that so many deal with on a daily basis.  In some cases, they address sin in their life, and in some cases, the sin that has been done to them.  To see students who are far from Christ, come to salvation, leaves you breathless.  And, then to see a student commit to chase hard after him, without shame and in complete abandonment, leaves you challenged.

I was both this past week.

How are you pouring into the next generation?

Last week we had our VBS style emphasis at our church, Lifepoint.  I helped coordinate all of our preschool workers and student volunteers. This year we opened up Pre-K to the community and had a great turnout! I got to love on some babies and toddlers, which was good. I am content in being able to love on them in doses and hand them back to mommy or daddy! We had around 800 kids on our two campuses and raised around $3800 for Haiti relief.

I love that our church focuses on children and students. I love that our kids worship with music that speaks to them, their age and their generation. The message is not watered down, which many often confuse with a hipper style of music or the use of lights and motions.  Our kids are learning to worship in spirit and truth and that following Jesus is about giving Him your life, not just a moment, a prayer or an acknowledgment.  They are learning what it means to follow Christ.  Last week they learned about Heroes in Scripture and their example. I am doubly excited to see our middle and highschoolers serving.  This week is possible because they sacrifice time at the pool, with friends, or hanging out in front of the tv for time spent investing in the lives of preschoolers and students. They are growing because they are serving Him.  Such a blessing to watch them grow in their journey with Jesus by being His hands and feet.

Emery was  on the praise team again this year and she did a great job!  It is so cute to watch her and we know that she is learning that leading others in worship is a privilege and that her role is to simply point others to Him.  No focus on self or on being the center of attention….at least that is our prayer.  Bradley was able to be in worship this year.  He came home singing some of the songs and talking about what he was learning, as well.  He told us all about, “the woaves and the fish.”  The girls were also able to invest in our neighbors this week. We don’t have many kids in our neighborhood, which is very evident in the summer.  Our neighbors had their nieces visiting and they came for two days.  The girls were so excited to be able to invite them. We are praying that they get to continue to see these sweet girls in the weeks to come!

My friends Jenn and Kim have inspired me to actually share what I am thankful for this month, instead of letting the month go by without thinking about it!  Some  may be specific and some may be general.  I encourage you to take the time to think and share what you are thankful for!

I may be a day behind but I am not going to let that stop me!

1. On Sunday, our church launched a campaign called The Sending Church.  The vision is to raise money to send over 30 missionaries, to launch 6 campuses in 4 countries, in order to reach 1.4 billion people with the Love and Salvation of Jesus.  I am so thankful that God called us to this place almost 6 years ago.  He has used this church to stretch us, refine us, challenge us and inspire us to see beyond our four walls for the cause of Christ. 

2. I am thankful that through unforseen events, I got to spend the day in Knoxville with Bradley.  I have relaxed, spent the day with Luann, and even took a nap.  Also, for a husband who stepped in to fill by mommy duties for the afternoon and evening!

My prayer is that throughout this month, we may all take time to stop, think about how God has blessed us and call out praises to His name!

“My soul glorifies the Lord 
    and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,”

Luke 1:46-47

We had a great week at church!

First of all, we had an amazing VBS week.  I will admit, I am not great with kids.  I love them, but feel much more comfortable with teenagers.  Call me weird, but I do.  But, when you have kids, I think it is important to be a part of the things they are involved with, so I help out each year in VBS.  We began using a Group curriculum a few years back and I really love it.  It is so creative and truly brings the Word to Life!

This year, my pal, Ashley and I, were roped into, volunteered to coordinate our preschool workers.  We had around 100 preschool children, and that was just for our workers kids!  It went great and I think everyone had a wonderful experience, for the most part!

We also had almost 800 kids on campus all week, raised over $3000 to build 4 wells in India (our goal was 2) and had 44 children indicate they were following Christ for the first time!  I was able to counsel with two precious girls and I could barely hold back tears.  Baptisms do the same thing to me- get me all teary eyed, every time.

All in all, it was a a very exciting week.  Emery also was a part of the praise team and help lead out in worship.  She loves it and has already informed us that she wants to do it again.  Love that kid.  Completely different story, she also got her hair cut short and it is adorable if I say so.  B also got his summer buzz and it just about sends me over the edge because he looks way too old.  But, his daddy insists on buzzing that hair!

On Wednesday, Jason and Pat, were interviewed by Outreach magazine because Lifepoint made the 100 fastest growing churches in America.  Again, we are so thankful to be in a place where God is at work in the lives of people and that as a result, those who are far from God are entering our building each week and hearing what a life with Christ is about!  It is so not about the numbers but about God and His glory!  He alone is drawing and leading people to our church but more importantly to Himself and I pray we continue to be faithful to His leading.

We had a full week and one where I know the seeds of faith are being planted in our children.  Parker and Emery are both asking a lot of questions about being a Christ follower.  We did have a funny moment in the midst of a conversation. Jason was talking to the girls about having love in their heart and Parker interrupts with “How can you have love in your heart when it is a muscle?”  That kids is so logical and literal at times, it is scary.

Today, we spent some time together as a fam, at the pool.  It was hot as blazes, so it was a great way to spend the day!

Yesterday, we started the Love Dare series at Lifepoint. I love writing that!
Pat is preaching through the Song of Solomon. Yes, you read that right! How funny is it that we had the largest, non-holiday Sunday, on this particular day?

As a part of this series, we are going through the Fireproof small group series and reading the Love Dare for 40 days. For those of you not familiar, the recent moving Fireproof uses a book called, the Love Dare to help a marriage heal. I must admit, confess, lay it out there, that I did not have high expectations of this movie. Lifepoint showed the movies last night in our Auditorium and let’s just say, I almost shed a tear! This movie totally exceeded my expectations of average acting, slow story line and “Christian” cheesiness. I get really nervous when something is labeled, “Christian” and it then only mediocre in quality. I think if you are going to put it out to the world to represent Jesus, you better come with excellence.

I think this movie is a must see for any married couple, no matter how good, bad, ugly or pretty your marriage is. It is just a great reminder of what a covenant of marriage should look like.

Jason and I started the Love Dare challenge today and I think we have both done just fine! Day 1 is about showing patience. I really didn’t have reason to be impatient with him today, so it was great! Or maybe, I just didn’t look for a reason to be impatient!

What a great month to commit to your marriage! Check back this week for a great book giveaway!!! One of my most favorite books for us girls on the subject of intimacy! Maybe that will hook you to check back!

Tonight is the last night of a 3 day event at our church called the Sacred Gathering. It has been a focused time of prayer, worship and fasting. We held the same event 4 years ago soon after we arrived at FBC and it has been as incredible now as it was then! I did not come into this event praying and seeking the Lord about anything specific, I just wanted to seek HIM.

He has not failed to show areas of my life that are sinful. This is never a fun process- to wrestle with God over areas of disobedience or complacency, yet He always leaves a mark that leaves us unchanged. I am forever grateful and in awe of His tenacious pursuit of holiness for my life and for His church.

He has also not failed to encourage my heart in His Greatness and Love.

I have many things swirling in my mind and heart that I am still processing and seeking how they will be lived out daily for me. I do know some involve more specific prayer and a return to some spiritual disciplines that I have grown lax in.

I read this verse yesterday and it just poured over me and I hope that it does the same for you.

Read more about the SG at our staff blogs- Jason and Pat

We have had VBS this week and it has been a lot of fun!

I have gotten to be involved in helping kids learn a bible verse for the day and some application for the bible story. It has been really encouraging.

I will be the first to admit that kids make me nervous. I have spent so much time teaching middle and high school aged students, so I feel really comfortable with that age group. I am much more intimidated by the 6-10 age group! I don’t know how to fill time or come up with fun games. I know 1-5 (that is the age of my kids) and I know teenagers!

For example, we are talking about Jesus. I had asked this particular group of 1st and 2nd graders to tell me some things about his life, death, resurrection, etc. As we are talking, I almost say, “He was born of a v*i*r*g*i*n,” but quickly changed it to, “born of a Mary. I mean, in a manger, with animals around.” I thought to myself, “I have no idea if they know what the v-word is and I have no plan or desire to answer that one for them.” I realize this is an important part of Old Testament prophecy and the pointing to Jesus as the Messiah, but I was not quite ready to open that can of worms to a seven year old!

I stepped out of my comfort zone and it has been great! I pray that God’s Word will take root in their hearts and minds and that they will see the joy and importance of hiding God’s Word in their hearts. I have been reminded of how important it is for me to do and to continue to do with our kids. They are such sponges and can soak up so much at this age and I want to take advantage to how God has wired their little minds to learn eternal Truths.

His Word is alive, powerful, useful, relevant and so much more!!

Jason shared a great post about an experience we had this weekend.

This is one of the many reasons I adore our church and the people in it!

Hey girls out there who live close to me, I have a request! A couple in our small group, Brad and Amy, just had twins! A boy and a girl. They are fairly new to our church. Brad sang the U2 song during the Christmas series and has led worship a few times with Ron. Their families do not live close. So, I was wondering if anyone would like to prepare a meal for them. They are precious people and after 3 weeks, Amy is on her own starting today. If you would like to help out you can post here or email me at kelstew@comcast.net. No pressure, nor will I think you are not a sweet lovely lady, but I thought it wouldn’t hurt to ask!
Click on their blog to see those cuties!
Thanks!

I think I want to get a fancy blog design done! I change way too often!
Our church started a great series 2 weeks ago that has been really great. It is titled Pure Sex. Now before I get censored by the family friendly bloggers, it is about sex the way God designed it, between a man and a woman who are married to one another. Our pastor has done such a great job of addressing this issue in a unique, classy, biblically accurate way. It has caused a lot of conversation within our church due to the fact that we are using the sermons as a guide for discussion in our small groups. Our students are also going along in a series titled, Guard Your Goodies! They are teaching on the pursuit of a pure lifestyle.
Last Sunday he spoke on pornography and it was truly eye opening. One stat he shared that stuck with me was this: The pornongraphy business grosses 57 billion dollars worldwide. Microsoft grosses 37 billion. Wow. We are foolish if we don’t think this is effecting men and women in our churches. I would highly encourage you to listen to these sermons on our website or you can download is on itunes. We also have discussion questions on the web. Just click on the above link.