Had some sweet Daniel-time today and how precious it was! He's responding a lot more to people with smiles and even some tiny baby-laughter (you know that adorable little grunting sound??) and even cooing to answer you. My how much fun it is to have adopted nieces and nephews!! I've missed getting to be with little Faith and Abby who are growing up far too quickly in College Station without me being there to see them. :(

Having the quiet hour while Daniel slept was much helpful in my beginning to feel more confident about CI. The one thing I've found that helps me be the most comfortable going into the seminar is to have the songs and verses down backwards and forwards and inside out. Sometimes you think you know something until you're standing up in front of 80 kids and they're waiting for you to teach them the next line...and suddenly it's not there!! I haven't yet found much worse than that panicky moment when you stare blankly into the sea of faces trying to remember what comes next. Last year I was much more confident about both songs and verses and the seminar was just FUN! Between Paris and working 40 hours a week (a first for me while planning CI!) I've been struggling to find time to really focus on memorization. The teacher training is somehow much easier for me to pick up here and there and write a little but I feel like I have to have a chunk of time to really focus on verses. Then there's always so much to do at the house! But being here at Stephen & Melody's apartment there were no distractions (with Daniel asleep hehe), and total silence for concentration. It's not completely there yet but I do know it enough now that I can practice in the shower or in the car. :) Biggest hurdle done!! Songs are much easier.

I'm so very excited about the program this year. I always am and I don't know if it's MORE than other years but I was telling my friend Abby that my role with CI right now is exactly what I LOVE doing. If I could do this a couple of times a year it would be so very awesome! It made it so very hard to turn Amy down when she asked if I could possibly stay long enough to help with their missionary retreat in the Alps in Oct/Nov.

I'm soooo very excited about Paris right now I could just burst. I will admit I waffle between feeling homesick in advance and wanting to run around like a five year old with the thrill of it. I wish I could just teleport back and forth between here and there, it would make things so much easier!! I'm hoping I can think to bring everything that would be useful and know what to not bring because it will just be in the way. I do finally have both of my suitcases in my room ready to go and they have about three things in them (a sweater, a hoodie, and my power converter). Very soon I will begin packing more in earnest! I'm hoping to take a few things that will help me feel more comforted and like I'm close to home, like candles with familiar scents and my big memory board that Erin gave me that has pictures of me and friends. :) I want to replace a couple of the pictures, hopefully I'll find time to print them out. There were a few I would like to have taken with me and various ones but oh well. I just wish there were more time between CI and when I leave because I know I'd like to have been able to have some of those pictures!!

Well I've spent as much time as I dare not working on CI or Paris for now, please continue to pray for me to have clarity of thought and for finances! I know God is so good about providing us with exactly what we need when we need it. I'm looking forward to seeing how everything comes together!

exciting possibilities

:: "Now unto Him that is able to do EXCEEDING abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us" ~Ephesians 4:20 ::

A few weeks ago I started having this funny little feeling that I wanted to do something. I didn't know exactly what but I wanted it to be something kind of off the wall crazy and out of the ordinary. I didn't really expect it needed to be anything huge, in fact the first time it hit I just painted my toenails blue and that helped. It made me smile anyway and I shrugged the feeling off as too much caffeine and went back on my merry little way.

It kept niggling away though in my subconscious, and a week or so later I randomly said "I want to go to London!! Wouldn't that be awesome??" It was a completely random, far out (in my mind) thing to do although something I would really and it made me feel better just saying it out loud. One time I mentioned it to Sarah and being the ever wonderful encourager she is her reply was "You should TOTALLY take Anna and go!!" This made me happy to think about and I think I said to Anna "Let's go to London on Spring Break". Riiiight. :)

Not very long after this Savanna told us that a friend from Champion Forest had told her a missionary family in Paris we knew of wanted a nanny for 6-8 weeks this summer while they were having a new baby. Savanna of course said "No way!" but something inside of me jumped. I asked her if she thought they might be interested in letting me come help. She put me in contact with the friend on Facebook so I could ask her myself and I sent her a message explaining who I was and that I was interested in hearing about the opportunity in Paris. She said she would talk to them and find out how to get us in contact with each other. I really wanted to do it but was trying to not get too worked up about it until I heard if they were even interested in having me. I am normally very much a homebody and I would rather be at home than anywhere else but there was just something about this trip that made me want to go.

A few days later Amy Cross messaged me. She said they thought they had found someone to help but she was interested in hearing a bit more about me. I was a little bummed that maybe this wasn't going to work out after all but sent her a paragraph or two about myself. Amy replied that she'd like to have me fill out a little questionnaire and told me about the general timeframe she would want someone to come. I filled it out and told her I would check with my boss to see what she thought about my taking off that time. Amy said she was very interested to hear the outcome. So I emailed my boss and tried desperately to push it all to the back of my mind.

The next day my boss called me and said "So let's talk about summer!" I kind of held my breath to hear what was next. "I talked it over with some of my family and stuff and I think this is a fabulous opportunity I definitely want you to go do! I think we can make this work." This was all the encouragement I needed. Right away I let Amy know that it was all clear on my end that she should just let me know if they decided to have the other girl come and help or if they'd like me to.

A week later I heard from Amy and she told me what her ideal plan was for having someone come and help and gave me three sets of dates with an extra set to possibly add on to one of them. By this time the church had announced this year's graduation date and Mom reminded me Micah was going to be participating--and the day was about two weeks into the best set of dates I saw. I really wanted to consider the second set but it would cover the week of this year's IBLP seminars and I really wanted to still be available to help with that. I was just a bit disappointed because I just didn't have a peace about either of the sets and emailed Amy. After discussing these things she offered July 26 - September 26. I couldn't think of any reason why those wouldn't work. It would be leaving the Monday following CI (and unfortunately meant missing the CMT conference) to be there in time to go to Poland for their missions conference, and include a week in August for sightseeing. It was way too amazing to take in. Just like that it all turned back around again...I really could go, this could really happen!!

Even now plans are continuing to take shape. I am so thrilled that God has opened the doors for me to do this since it combines two things close to my heart (children and missions). I've signed up for a 12 week beginner course in French online in hopes I might can learn a few useful phrases. :) Throughout this whole time Ephesians 4:20 kept coming back to my mind and how awesome God is to create these sorts of opportunities for us. It's truly far surpassed anything I could ever have dreamed or hoped for. While on the one hand July 26 seems so far away on the other it seems amazingly close like I could never get everything together and accomplished that I need to before then. I cannot wait to see how the rest of this unfolds. God is so good!!!

Houston IBLP Seminars

 

Mark your calendars! The IBLP seminars are coming to Houston on July 23-25 at Sagemont Church. Seminars that will be offered: Basic (available in Spanish), Advanced, and Anger Resolution Seminar There will also be a Children’s Program offered for children ages 5-12. Click for Times and More Info Seminars Overview Basic Seminar The Basic Seminar addresses seven Biblical principles that apply to every person, regardless of culture, religion, age, education, or social status. It emphasizes the factors needed to develop and maintain healthy, growing relationships with God, family members, and friends. Advanced Seminar Building upon the foundational principles taught at the Basic Seminar, the Advanced Seminar discusses more specific application of Biblical principles to the areas of marriage, family, education, and finances. Anger Resolution Seminar The Anger Resolution Seminar equips individuals with the tools necessary for identifying and removing the root causes of anger and shows how God’s truth and power can achieve what our resolve cannot. It also explains how to avoid anger by learning to give verbal blessings. IBLP Houston For additional information concerning IBLP Seminars and other resources: IBLP Headquarters - Oak Brook College of Law - Verity Institute - International ALERT Academy - ALERT Cadet

 

 

 

Some would gather money
Along the path of life,
Some would gather roses,
And rest from worldly strife.

But I would gather children
From among the thorns of sin;
I would seek a golden curl
And a freckled toothless grin.

For money cannot enter
In that land of endless day,
And the roses that are gathered
Soon will wilt along the way.

But oh! the laughing children!
As I cross the sunset sea,
And the gates swing wide to Heaven,
I can take them in with me!

~Isabel Gray

The Houston CI has a website!

Thanks to several people the Houston IBLP seminars have their own websites now including the Children's Program! You can check it out here. It's pretty spiffy. :-) You might also see some faces you recognize...

Houston CI, part 2

Okay I promised and I did hear some of you did enjoy my first installment so here is the second. Sorry for the delay!!

Well on Friday morning I was not really feeling excited about how my part of large group was going. Things just weren't flowing and didn't feel right and the kids were very chatty. After one particularly rough large group was over though it was like a big DUH. Ben said, "Megan we haven't been praying before we come out for large group." HELLO, earth to Megan!!! I also decided to get Mrs. Lawless & Mrs. Fessenden in on it and gave them a schedule of our large group assured me they would be praying during those times. What a dramatic difference!! I have always believed it but now more than ever I am firmly convinced prayer is most of the work. The weekend was so packed I don't know that I could even post all the pictures but I will see if I can't get one picture from each skit and I will try to put them in the right order.


This was the Authority skit with the parachutist (our parents are our parachutes).


This one is the God's Omelette where David (unsucessfully) tries to keep all of God's commandments (you break one you break them all).


So...hahaha...this was the Pocket Watch story which I always remember being horribly sad. Somehow they made it funny?? And still got the point across. Who knew!!



We had a game time which went over quite well!! This is dodgeball -- teachers versus kids. Hah.

Hockenstock! This one is about different kinds of lies (for Responsibility).


Job...

The Rose (Love)



The frisbee chasing dog.


The Muddy Glove illustration done in a skit. This was a first for me to see as well and it turned out absolutely hysterical (okay so they were all super funny!)

Parent Presentation!

And last but not least, Musical Chairs! The theme behind this one was the last shall be first and the first shall be last.

So that was the totally crazy, absolutely fun, and completely insane weekend of CI 2008. :-) I was sorry to see it end. I really wish if I was going to put all the work into it that I could do it two or three times in one year. Oh well, hopefully we'll be doing it again next year. :-)

Houston CI, part 1

Wow, where to begin on such a packed week? For me it probably began about the first week of June. Curriculum had to be ordered, staff found, teachers recruited...not anything terribly time consuming until we discovered the catch this year--the Institute was not sending all of our supplies on the big truck. We had to purchase everything ahead of time ourselves. Cue major panic! Where was the money supposed to come from? How many kids should we prepare for? What am I doing???

Of course the more I contemplated the bigger the questions seemed to be and the fewer the answers I had. Things couldn't just be "simple" this year because that would be easy. Melanie and I had quite a few Google Talk, AIM, email, and phone conversations trying to hash it all out. I remembered how busy poor Melody stayed last year in materials and that was just sorting through the boxes of supplies already sent for us.

When we had enough teachers for 12 teams sign up it was decided to halt further recruitment. That was probably plenty of teams for 100ish kids and still plenty should we have more than 100 (I was thinking optimistically of course!). Melanie and I had decided to plan for 100 kids since we'd had around 86 last year, but after pre-registration ended at 20 the numbers given us were that we should plan for 50. That made me nervous!!! Monday before the conference Hannah and I decided to go ahead and buy the craft supplies even though we hadn't yet received the money for it. I didn't think we could wait any longer. Since we were buying ahead anyway, we bought for 70 and hoped we could make it work at least the first night should we have more kids. At this point I was waffling back and forth over whether or not I had way over-prepared with the number of teachers. As I was reading through the curriculum and making teacher training notes I came across "El Shaddai" which means "All Sufficient One". It talked about faith and trusting God to give us everything we needed. It was almost as if God said to me there "You have trusted me for money, you have trusted me for food--do you not trust Me to bring you children?" Ouch!!!

On Wednesday, Sara, Hannah, and I met at the Bogners' house for some craft prep. The goal was to have all the supplies cut out and sorted but of course it took much longer than we hoped. The guess is that we spent around seven hours cutting thread, dowel rods, little boys and girls, and miscellaneous other shapes. Ben and Emily drove in at some point in the evening and helped cut as well but we still didn't finish.

Thursday we headed to the church and brought all our stuff upstairs. Since several volunteers made it there early for teacher training we put them right to work!!


The afternoon went very quickly between teacher training and preparing the rooms. The children began arriving around 6:15 and kept coming until 8:00! Before all was said and done we had 93 kids!! God is so good. :)




For all my friends who taught CI growing up I had to be sure to tell you which stories and songs we did and include a few pictures. The first night our song was "Consider the Ant" and we used the Camel for Design. Stephen was pretty hilarious as the camel and actually drank I think a 2 liter bottle of water on stage.


So that is all the pre-seminar stuff and Thursday, hopefully part 2 will come tomorrow with the rest of CI. :)

Houston Children's Institute, July 17-19

Wow what a weekend!! It was absolutely amazing, completely exhausting, and totally crazy!!! To start with I had some amazing friends helping me and have to say thank you to them first.


Hannah -- You are SO AWESOME for helping with the craft prep!! I could never have done all of that myself and probably would have given up and sat in the middle of the floor crying. I wuvs you!!



Aaress & Tim -- Fabulous work on Wisdom Walk. You really helped keep the stage crew free to prepare for large groups (or catch our breaths) and materials was able to keep everyone stocked, all because of YOU. :)


Erin -- it was so cool to have you there this year! I know you didn't have much to do officially but unofficially you were such a help since you were available to run errands, get drinks, and be in skits. I love ya girl!!!


Sara -- The pictures are fabulous and you were such a help to have around!! It was really fun being able to work with you again. :)


Melanie -- The planning ahead of time was so much easier with you to ask headquarters all the questions for me! I don't know who to talk to about anything so I would have been totally lost. Also you did a wonderful job with games. :D


Amy -- once again it was sooo much fun working with you on stage. I can't imagine doing it by myself and having you familiar with stage work really helped.


Ben -- I can't even begin to describe how grateful I am for you driving down and being our ring leader. :) You are absolutely a natural both at working on stage with the kids and keeping leaders in line haha! I hope to have the privilege of working with you again someday!!



There are so many parts to this whole weekend that I am afraid I will forget something. God really worked in so many incredible ways and I really want to try to share as many of them as possible. I am going to post in parts so that it is easier to do some now and more later. Look for part complete with pictures soon!

One week and counting...

CI is next Thursday through Saturday. We only had 13 kids preregistered as of 4 PM Tuesday. I hope we get more kids or we're only going to have one kid per team hah! Some lucky team will get two kids. ;) I am trying to write teacher training and finish memorizing hand motions but my brain is foggy... :(

Teachers needed!!

Hey everybody we are gearing up for the Houston seminars this July 17-19 and need teachers for the Children's Institute!! If you are interested in helping please let me know so I can send you an application. You can email us here. The clock is ticking so please let us know soon!!

Save the date!

Houston Children's Institute

July 17-19

More details coming soon...