Your prayer is appreciated!

At the Loft this year we bring in the New Year with an all niter for the Loft and Beyond students. I haven't had an all niter lately and not with the neighborhood students. My idea of doing all niters with junior high through out the years has been to keep them busy doing something. Students these days can make it difficult to entertain. Anyway we appreciate your prayers. We are following what the Lord wants so He will make it happen. And the Good News with go forth. We are pulling out an archive from the past, 'The Cross and the Switchblade' to view that nite. Thanks for praying

Yesterday, was the day that we had the privilege to clear out the LYNC items at the old office. The LYNC office which is moving to our home at 1950 Willow Street Pike. Yesterday I went to the bank to open a CY (Community Youth) account. I needed a certain number so I have to wait to today to finish that job. Online we were able to see that my application for the name Community Youth had been registered with the State of PA. Also interesting was receiving a letter from Ed Weber and LYNC on the same day that my letter from CY came to the house (I always send myself a letter so I know when the letters are received by our friends). Here is Ed's 1st paragraph, "We have some exciting changes in store at LYNC in the new year. Dan Snyder is leaving his position as our Executive Director to pursue graduate studies and local city church ministry and our LYNC Board of Directors has selected Ed Weber, former LYNC Director of Media and Events and founder and Director of Youth Ministry Innovations, to assume Dan's position and continue the vision and work of LYNC." Ed is taking on the passion and position of moving the vision of networking forward with the name LYNC under the current non-profit organization of YMI (Youth Ministry Innovations). The Board of Directors also in that October 31, 2008 meeting established me as Director of the 501-C3 organization of Lancaster Youth Network of Churches, Inc. and establish a new fictitious name for 'my' ministries. Anyway your prayers are appreciated for this transition. I really am excited for this transition because the passions that God has laid on His people's hearts will best be served in this new setup. Make sure if you have any questions you ask.

Toby Mac -Lose My Soul

Another song that helps keep us focused on Jesus First!!

A CY Day of Skiing?

The question mark has to do with whether it was a CY event or not. I know it really doesn't matter but what a great day with many friends and family. How does a day like this happen. I don't know sometimes but I know our great God guides us as we are willing to do whatever He leads us in doing. I guess this event evolved from an idea Mark had since Kristy's step brother was going skiing with friends and they thought of going along. We thought we could join her family. By the time we thought of joining we had close to a group of 15. Well let us try and ask some others so we can get a group rate. As these events can develop we ended up with 22 and we were driving two vehicles. What a great day. Camelback was crowded but because we had a group we entered at a different place and missed all the lines. Wow was that nice. We stayed thru the evening and basically had the group lodge to ourselves. We had to ski to the last minute 10:00pm. We had to chase Keith and Ken off the slopes. They had some lessons and picked up on boarding really well. One concussion and a lost cell phone but a great day giving glory to God on the slopes. Someone called the last number on the phone which was a friend that was near by and we were able to get the phone back. Jeff on the way to get the phone found a $50 bill. The concussion was not too severe and most of us had bruises and sore muscles but thank you Lord for another opportunity to give glory to the Him in whatever we do. Thanks for your prayers and the adventure continues as we follow our Savior.

Continued... A Week in the Life

Wednesday nite we had our Loft and Beyond Christmas party. Many times we play a game called "now you have, it now you don't" but as we do many times at the 'Beyond' nite we do something to remind us that life is not about us. We had everyone bring a gift and $2. The week before we all came up with service tasks that we could be apart of doing in the coming year. We attached these service tasks to the gifts and each person bid on the service they wanted to share with someone in the next year. The money they bid from their $2 was then placed in the Gain banks that we got from our project at the Global Aid Network. The money will be given to build wells and feed people 10 cent meals. It was different but we were able to try and help ourselves to see that life and Christmas is not about us but giving as God gave, sacrificially and unselfishly. We spent time looking at the real story of Christmas in God's Word the Bible and saw how those who came to Jesus at first worshiped and gave and told others. Anyway a great nite sharing truth.
Friday and Sat. at the Loft this weekend was more cleanup and updating. Sunday afternoon is when the LS High School Bible study gets together. After the Truth Project they have been meeting in different homes of students. We requested they have their Christmas gathering at the Loft. We had invited about 60 of Jeff's friends. Over 30 showed for a suprize 18th birthday celebration for Jeff. Wow was he suprized!!!!
Monday nite was our regular Junior nite. 23 students for Christmas fun and the Truth shared, Jesus the Savior born at Christmas.
CY wants all to see the youth in their own community and ask God what He wants them to do about these youth.

A Week in the life of the Loft

Last Monday, 8 days ago the Loft was a wreck during the day. Mark is home from college and usually there is something electronic that needs to be fixed or upgraded. A good friend gave us a fairly new HD 32 inch TV and so Mark was putting that into the system. Also he had picked up two throw away computers from college that he recreated our family computer and the Loft computer for great speed and storage space. Mark's girlfriend, Kristy was here with us and she wanted some work so her job was to clean the Loft top to bottom. So the place was in a creative, cleanup shambles. By 7:00 the place was useable for our regular Monday nite Junior High meeting. I pick up Lincoln students at 6:30 and bring them to the Loft (5 this nite). Packed house with about 28 students and 5 adult staff. Human knots and a Truth discovery time and some rowdiness and another opportunity to live Christ before students.
Tuesday I am getting sick but I set up to bring all my science classes from Lincoln Middle School to the Loft for their Christmas gift from me their science teacher. Each class has about an hour. We enjoy the different activities and I bring out some more of our pets. We share free donuts that we get weekly from Willow Valley and get to live out Christ's life before the students. Mark gets to help monitor these students. What a joy to share with them students some of the things God has provided us. "Are you rich, Mr. Brubaker?" We really are not rich but God has given us many things and we like to share them with others. 80 plus more youth passing thru the Loft and the light of Christ shining forth.
5:50 am Tuesday and time to get ready for school. A week in the life...... to be continued!!!! :)

Launching Community Youth - CY

For over 30 years God has blessed Karen and I with the chance to share the good news of Jesus with youth in various locations and ministries. I remember being involved with Lancaster Youth for Christ as a child helping doing mailing with my mom and constructing Scream in the Dark with my dad. God has allowed us to serve Him by serving youth. For years I served on the staff of YFC, eventually Directing the ministry. YFC transitioned to serve youth by way of LYNC (Lancaster Network of Churches) these past 8 years. The LYNC ministry focused on networking youth pastors with each other in order to reach community youth. As that transition took place God lead us to begin a YFC type ministry at our home for neighborhood youth. I continued to work with LYNC raising our support. In 2003 God lead me to pursue youth work in the local school by using my teaching degree that I had since 1981. Wow, what a great way to serve youth in the public school. While still receiving donations thru LYNC because the beginning salary of a teacher was much less then what I had been making after over 20 years with YFC/LYNC. These past years the Loft ministry as well the networking of teachers with CEAI (Christian Educators Association International), the after school ministries and the connecting the school students with the Loft ministry have grown much. While not being able to directly network with youth pastors during the day like in the past the networking heart continues. We are the Body of Christ, we must work together to reach our world for Christ. I continue to see the need to network but what God continues to provide for us is the audience of youth. Even at 50 years old I love being with youth and giving them fun and showing them Christ.
So what is Community Youth and what is this launch? In a nutshell: the non-profit organization of LYNC is being handed to me to direct once again. The actual networking of youth pastors will continue through Ed Weber and YMI (Youth Ministry Innovations). He is called by God to continue the networking and will use the word LYNC. I believe in the networking and am on Ed's Board of Directors but God has our families focus right now to be in direct working with community youth, thus the non-profit organization with official name Lancster Network of Churches with begin ministering under the name Community Youth on January 1, 2009. How will this change what our family does? We will continue to follow the Lord in reaching youth. It is exciting to be able to place all the various activities we have been providing for youth as a family directly under a non-profit organization. We are not sure what this will do for our donation. Also the times we live in make giving a challenge for some people. We are not making our decisions to serve based on donations. God has given us the ability to work with youth and has given us many different resources to serve youth. We will continue to be good stewards of the 'talents' God has given us. We continue to serve and are now excited with serve under the name of Community Youth. We look forward to see how God will bless youth as we obey His leading.
Thus the launching of Community Youth - See Why at CY - See why Jesus Christ loves you. Thus the ministry email: cyjcly@gmail.com

What happened to my blogging?

So yea what happened to my blogging you may ask? Well, I am several things that make me procrastinate on my blogging. One is that I am a perfectionist. So if I can't have nice pictures about an event or a slide show I won't think it is good enough and so I put off doing anything. Two, I am a with you person. I don't enjoy talking on the phone or communicating in a none face to face way, so I just put it off. Three, it is time consuming to try to fine pictures and to describe what happened at an event. I am someone who does something and moves on, I don't spend a lot of time dwelling on what happened. I love to thank our Great God about what He did but I don't pout about the past or rejoice too much because I have moved on to the next thing. Four, I am more of a private person, so I will talk to Karen and rejoice and tend to not 'brag' to others about what is going on, I am not a 'salesman'. Five, I am a strong starter and set my goals high but usually don't accomplish everything I set out to do at the level that I start. But I am very faithful and usually find the steady pace on which to continue what I start.
Anyway there are 5 maybe answers to where my blogging went. I am going to try and start blogging again and try to overcome these things about me because what God is doing in our lives is way to amazing to stay quiet. And blogging seems to be away to get the word out. Thanks for your patience with this servant of our great Savior Jesus Christ.

Wow how time flies!!

Can't believe this much time has past since the last blog. I knew I would be challenged in this blog world. But I am willing to try. Tonite we started something new in our neighborhood outreach. We started 'The Loft and Beyond'. A event for Senior High students in the neighborhood and other how want to be challenged to in life. This event is similar to our 'On the Road' last fall. Some nites we will stay at the loft but most nites we will be out beyond the Loft taking life experiences that will increase students awareness the needs around them. Last year we did a rake and run, helped with Operational Carelift and much more. What a great start. We took our 15 passenger van thru out the neighborhood and knocked on the Senior highers doors and invited them to 'The Loft and Beyond' handed them a flier. We were able to take one with us. We had a total of 14 including Blake Craft and Julie and I as leaders. The kids loved the time at Buchmiller Park playing ultimate frisbee and football. We returned to the Loft and for a soda and a brief truth time about martyrs as heroes because they believed the Truth, Jesus. Wow, God blessed!!

What a great trip so far!!

We left Frontier camp a day late because the mechanic replaced our fan clutch in our van. So we left Sunday morning about 6:30 on our way to the Grand Canyon. Part way there we decided to drive straight thru to the canyon. As we were getting back on the highway after supper someone told us that our tire was going flat on the van. We pulled off the road pumped up the tire from 20 pounds to 40 pounds with my bike tire pump, made a u turn and went back to the town to a truck repair stop and the they changed the stem that was going bad. God sure was involved in the timing. The repair shop was only open for another half hour. We could have been out in not where in the middle of the nite with a real flat tire.

We arrived at the grand canyon at 4 am and slept in a parking lot until sunrise. We enjoyed the sunrise over the canyon. We had a breakfast and got to our campsite by noon. We spent the day exploring and getting ready for our trip into the canyon the next two days.

Tuesday and Wednesday we hiked down and out of the Grand Canyon. A total of 16 miles. We were tired, but we loved the accomplishment. We left the Canyon and drove toward Bryce Canyon and found a campground about mid-nite. We slept in and enjoyed Bryce Canyon for about 3 hours and drove to the Autrey's home Thursday nite. We have had a great three days here where we have been able to access the internet. We are getting ready to leave here on Sunday afternoon. Not sure when I can post again on the trip. Thanks for your thoughts and prayers.

Check out the new slide show

We have been staying out Julie's friend's Chris home in Utah and so we have been able to download some pics. We are getting ready to go take a hike, so I will add to another blog later!!

Last Nite at Frontier Camp - How time flies!!

Tonite at royal campfire students shared how they were challenged to live for God this week at camp. Some shared how they gave their lives to Christ this week. Many shared how they are in a spiritual high like other years and this year they don't want to go back to their old ways. We need to pray that they add the spiritual disciplines into their lives so they will keep walking with the Lord even after they come down off their "high feeling".

We too as a family are going to need to cling to the Lord as we leave tomorrow, Saturday July 12 and head on our vacation as a family. We have to greatly appreciated working with Christ's Body in Texas. Wow, as one walks with God it is so great to just plug right into another place in God's work and serve and be blessed and be a blessing. Our God is Amazing!!!!!

Pray for God's traveling mercies as we head out on our journey. We head out tomorrow for the Grand Canyon 1100 miles away. We have a campsite on Monday nite. We will hike to the Colorado river Tuesday and camp on the canyon floor. Wednesday we will hike out and continue traveling. We will head north and site see until we visit with Chris Autry's family in Salt Lake City. Chris is Julie's friend from WWC. Saturday Mark, Kristy, Julie and Chris will fly back to Frontier Camp to finish the summer and the six of us will head north to the Grand Tetons and Yellowstone National Park. We hope to spend our 25the anniversary in Yellowstone. We will visit Mount Rushmore and the Badlands and arrive back in Lancaster for Jeff and Vicki's LS band camp July 31. We appriceiate your prayers. I can pick up my emails on my phone but am not sure we will be able to blog. Feel free to phone us if you want. Don's phone: 717-823-7908

Can't believe tomorrow is halfway through!!!!

Wow!! Tomorrow will be half way thru our stay here at Frontier camp. What a great week we had for the first week of Junior camp last week. We did many different things. It is a great joy to serve God with a group of people like God has here at Frontier camp. The campers were definitely a challenging group but God worked and we did have 16 that indicated they trusted Christ during the week. What great opportunities to live out Christ before the campers.

Yes, we are tired. We appreciate your prayers. The Lord is giving strength and will continue to help us use our gifts and abilities to present the good news of Jesus. I do not have a long time to share more details now and I am on a borrowed computer and internet service so I am keeping this short. Thanks so much for you prayers.

Wow, One week of training behind us a Frontier Camp

You'all know that East Texas is a huge flat land with lots of grasslands and pine forests and miles and miles and miles of not much. We are here at Frontier Camp 10 miles from the closest town. I went on a bike ride this morning and rode 14 miles and am not sure I really got anywhere. The heat is amazing also, but I understand that Pennsylvania is having a lot of heat also.

What a great week we had this past week we got to watch Mark and Julie shine in their repective ministries. Mark produces a DVD of videos for the campers every week. Julie is the Trading Post manager and helps in the General store and in the Challenge Coarse with high ropes etc. Kristy, Mark's friend and Chris, Julie's friend each served as senior counselors this past week as the rest of us were in training. We learned all the in's and out's of camp, we have been certified in CPR and First Aid. Every detail was explained in detail and we were tested on it all Saturday morning. Of coarse with some bonus Karen got a 100% and I got a 99.5 %. We were trained in our specific areas also. I will be leading a support staff Bible study to night and speaking at campfire on Tuesday. I will also be leading the outdoorsmanship class and working with grounds and maintenance.

What a blessing from our Lord, Vicki had a chance to experience the teen camp before she has to serve in the kitchen this week. We participated in the rodeo on Thursday and learned to square dance following. What a joy to be part of the Body of Christ in another part of His church. We appreciate your prayers. I am needing to end this post because we will be heading to a local church soon.

The internet is not easily accessed out here "in the sticks" the camp uses a satellite connection and only have so much to use every day. So I am not sure have often I can post. I have not figured out how to send pictures at this point so words will have to do at this time.

Thanks for your prayers. We are picking up our email regularly so feel free to send some to our donkbrubaker@verizon.net email.

Serving our Savior,
Don
for all

Mr. Brubaker's Top Ten

Today was the last day to have all my classes for science. I started the year by introducing myself with Mr. Brubaker's top ten. I use these to help the students get to know me a little bit.

10. I am ___ years old and proud of it!
9. I like chocolate!
8. I like middle school students!
7. I like to have lots of pets!
6. I like to exercise and ride bike!
5. I enjoy backpacking!
4. I am a youth pastor!
3. I am a Father of six children!
2. I am a husband to Karen!
1. I am a follower of Jesus Christ!

I use this time of sharing to make sure they know that I am about helping them search and discover the truth. I want them to know that the most important thing about me is that I am a follower of Jesus Christ. My prayer is that they have been observing me all year and they will be curious about this teacher who follows Jesus.

Two Days and counting - Texas or Bust

Hopefully not bust. Our oldest children Mark and Julie did have a bust on their way to Texas two and a half weeks ago. They blew their transmission and were held up in Arkansas before they got picked up by the mechanic from Frontier Camp. We never like those kind of interruptions in life but I guess they are the things that help us trust in God more.

Wow, time is ticking down until we head out for Texas ourselves. We are feeling the crunch in trying to get every thing done before we head out. We really appreciate you prayers.

A Day to Remember - Memorial Day 2008

We praise God for all who have served our country, so we can enjoy freedom. It seems despite the great effort of those in our military we seem to be losing some freedoms. Maybe because of the thinkers and those in government have turned away from God. Not just the thinkers and government but many others in our nation have forgotten God. I am reading through the Bible this year and have finished up Judges and am heading into 1 Samuel. When God's people forget Him, God has given them over to their own desires as Romans 1 talks about. How about me and us have we forgotten God in some way in our busy lives.

What a day to remember in another way. 8-10 paint ballers enjoyed Triple Lake Retreat over nite. We praise God for the cabin in Halifax that we can share and allow many to enjoy. 9:30 Am Karen took Vicki and Ken and Chris our neighbor and two from youth group to the cabin. I went to the Strasburg parade where Jeff and Keith were marching in the school bands. After that we took 20 youth from LS up to the cabin in our other two vehicles. (see slide show) What a great time in a hot day to play volleyball, soccer, frizbee, swimming and a good old water balloon battle. Yes, fishing boating and tubing on the ponds. We praise God for 'Triple Lake' and 'Big Red' and the hearts to share with many.

What a whirl wind life is....

but God is in the wind with His still small voice saying keep going. God says."I am making a difference in your world. "

I can't believe it has been three weeks since the last blog but life is flying by. I think about all kinds of things to blog about but I don't get to it. Sometimes it is because I want to just blog it perfectly or have some good pictures or slide show or something and I don't have the time for that so I don't do anything. I have to learn that blogging is just sharing what is happening regularly then people can know the work that God is doing. I will learn. I do like the idea that I can share with anyone who wants to log into the great work our great God is doing in this part of His world.

Just a few of the things that have been and will be. We have been wrapping up some of the school year scheduled events such as the Monday nite Loft meetings, after school Bible club in my classroom and Senior High Bible study in the Loft. We have 8 more student days at school and we leave for Texas in 11 days. Mark and Julie left for Texas 10 days ago. Wow, was that an adventure with the transmission in the car blowing out in Arkansas (that should have been a blog but anyway :) AAA took them within 200 miles of the camp and the camp machanic came and picked them up. Praise God for His timing, watching over His children and the Body of Christ working together.

We appreciate your prayers that we can think of all that we need to for this adventure at Frontier Camp in Texas. Thanks for sticking with us.

Where have the last two weeks gone - On A Treadmill

Not sure where to begin, these last two weeks have zipped by. I finished my Master's project which I didn't think I was going to be able to do two week ago by the University and the Lord helped be get it done on time so I could graduate on April 27th. Yea! 4 years of hard work!!! I was not actually at the graduation ceremony in Harrisonburg, VA but knowing that it took place was great. I have yet to see my diploma.

I completed my project on Tuesday and we all left for Wisconsin on Wednesday after school at 4:00. What a great trip, what a great time as a family and seeing Julie graduate from the one year WWC (Wisconsin Wilderness Campus) of PBU. We had snow on graduation and the lake was still frozen but we praise God for safety in all our travels. It was a challenge packing two college girls things into 'Big Red', our 15 passenger van and 8 of us traveling home. But with a car carrier on top and a hitch 'shelf' we got everything home safe in the first snow for a WWC graduation.

The 'treadmill' rolled on as the National Day of Prayer youth edition on Wednesday and Lincoln bible club attending Thursday and a Loft retreat for the weekend. But I couldn't go on all of it because I was teaching a Continuing Education class at LBC on Bullying on Saturday morning. Monday nite after the Loft meeting the 'treadmill' slowed down a little and I feel like I can begin to start concentrating on our final plans in heading to Texas in June. What! Texas, yes we will tell more about later.

God's exercises are so invigorating. His timing is so amazing. His energy is so abundant. Thanks Lord for your amazing work, in and thru and around your people!!

The Challenge for Monday Nite Lofters

The challenge went out to the students from LS and Lincoln Middle Schools at the Monday nite Loft meeting. What is keeping you from running the race with God the best that you can run. Hebrews 12:1-3 tells us 'to throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entagles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. We are to fix our eyes on Jesus.' Notice at the end of the video the young man looks to the cross. How about us? Are we being held back by some baggage as we seek to live for the Lord Jesus Christ. We can pray for ourselves and the students at the Loft to focus on Christ alone.

Sweetly Broken Lyrics

On the side bar you will see a group of 4 videos off YouTube. The song is Sweetly Broken by Jeremy Riddle and video by different people to add visuals to the amazing words. On Thursday at the after school Bible Club I was showing the students the blog and the video and thought I should place the lyrics on the blog. So here you have them.

Jeremy Riddle and Sweetly Broken
To the cross I look, to the cross I cling
Of its suffering I do drink
Of its work I do sing
For on it my Savior both bruised and crushed
Showed that God is love
And God is just
(Chorus:)
At the cross You beckon me
You draw me gently to my knees, and I am
Lost for words, so lost in love,
Im sweetly broken, wholly surrendered
What a priceless gift, undeserved life
Have I been given
Through Christ crucified
Youve called me out of death
Youve called me into life
And I was under Your wrath
Now through the cross Im reconciled
(Chorus)
In awe of the cross I must confess
How wondrous Your redeeming love and
How great is Your faithfulness
(Chorus 2x)

Entering the Blog world

Wow, when I finished college in 1981 I had completed all my papers and projects without a computer. Texting and Facebook and even cell phones were unheard of. We would send out letters to people that were interested in what was happening in our lives and ministries like Lancaster YFC where I was hired in '82. We didn't have the internet. Wow, how times have changed. Entering this Blog world and instant message world is interesting to say the least. I am not big on talking. I don't usually talk for the sake of talking so this IM, Facebook, Texting world is a little out of my zone. But I have always been willing to learning anything. I never thought I could type without having written the words on paper first. This typing and thinking at the same time is something I never thought I could do but most of us can do most anything with practice. So here I am thinking and typing at the same time. God is so good and so amazing in how He works in our lives I thought there has to be a way of portraying that to the world.It seems that blogging may be a way that I can take part. So as you see me in the picture, sitting on a bench between two of the ponds at our cabin on Saturday. I hold a toad that is getting ready to jump. I too am a 'toad' jumping into this blog world with the desire to show off how amazing God is and how He is amazing in Karen and my life and the life of our family. Part of getting the message of how great our God is in our world is to get the word of this blog out. So that is something I want to do. I go from day to day and think that was so cool and God is so great, I could put on our blog but I don't always take the time. Maybe this will become my journal of the stuff of praise that the world can know. Karen and my world isn't any more important than your world, God is at work all over. It is just that this blog can be a small piece (puzzle piece) in the amazing picture that can be put together by all those willing to give the Lord Jesus Christ and God the Father glory. Join with us in this praise of God. Note: the toads at the cabin were so loud of there praise to God when we were up on Saturday it seemed like is was a chorus of praise. I want to be a 'toad' praising like that. :) Don

Praise as a Way of Life

What a great evening praising our Lord with the children's choir at church. It just reminds us of the importance of living a life of praise. This morning as we were in our worship service we were hearing about how to win over anxiety. The key is two things: stop being anxious about anything (that sounds good but how do I do that if that is my problem) the second thing is to pray about everything. What a life that is to pray and then to praise. We can only do that as we keep our eyes on the amazing God of the universe. So the challenge is to not worry about anything. We are not saying that no anxious thoughts will come into our lives but we should not harbor those thoughts but instead we should pray and praise. What a great way to start our day and week.

Happy Birthday Kristy and Beach Adventure

Thanks Karen's mom and brothers for a great time enjoying the house in Wildwood, NJ over the weekend. What a great time do some birding (birdwatching) and just mess around in God's creation of the beach. See slide on side bar. It was a great opportunity to celebrate Kristy's 20th birthday. Just getting away can be refreshing. What fun we can have as a family, thanks Heavenly Father!

Meeting for prayer at Mickey D's

There is so much to share of what is happening in our lives and the opportunities to live out Christ as truth everywhere we go. I guess I will have to spend more time blogging just to give more glory to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ :) Today, this morning I had the chance to leave the house at 5:35 AM on my bicycle and ride to the McDonalds (see bike locked under sign) near McCaskey High School just a short distance from Lincoln. I met with Jared a McCaskey East teacher. What a great time to be encouraged and talk thru scripture and pray for our students and teaching. We were discussing where we think our students hearts are when it comes to the types of soils as Jesus gave the parable in Mark 4. We know many have hearts that are like the path, the gospel is sown but the evil one comes along and snatches it away. We also believe many heart soils are filled with 'rocks' that hinder healthy growth of the seed. We thought many christian hearts are like the soil that has thorns and thistles that choke the plant and don't let it produce much fruit. Wow, there is no way we can do this work alone. Thanks for your prayers!!

We are Made in the Image of God

What a fun nite at the Loft taking pictures at our annual Digital Picture Scavenger Hunt. A list of possible pictures with a point value are given to each of five teams. The teams had 4-5 students and 1-2 adult leaders that drove the team around taking pictures for the craziness of it. Dumpster 'diving' to wading in a creek kept the teams active and having a blast. As we enjoyed rootbeer floats we were reminded that we as humans are a special creation of God made in His Image. We are so special He died for us. Thanks to all who pray for this every Monday nite service to 6th-8th grade youth. See the slide show for the winning teams pics.

The Joy of Worshipping with a church family

I know I haven't always wanted to go to church but I have learned that I need too. Most of the time I want to and it is such a joy to be with people of a like precious faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. What a joy to laugh with our small group (the binoculars please: an inside joke with our small group) and learn the need to perservere in prayer.
What a fun time with some of the college students for lunch. Thanks for the peppers, Blake! The next college age lunch is in two weeks.
More times with a church family but not 'our' local assembly. What a great time viewing the Truth Project DVD with a group of LS students. We praise God for revealing Himself in His designed creation. This time is truly a time of worthship with a mix of students from many different local assemblies.
And finally a great time with our own Grace Student Ministries. Being connected with the Body of Christ is a must and a great joy!!!!!!
I knew it would be a marathon day but what a joy. I sit here getting ready to finalize my lesson plans for school this week and hear the children in the playroom with some neighborhood children laughing and playing games waiting for pancakes. Wow, God you are amazing. Worship comes in many ways and various places.

What a great day for a bike ride!

It sort of came together at the last minute, the details anyway. Karen and I went over our calendars and decided that today would be one of those day I could plan a bike trip with Jeff Bitner and some of the GSM Jr. High guys. It did not work for Jeff to help but I decided that I could plan this one myself. You never know who is going to be able to go but it would even be fun if only Keith and just went on a ride. It looked there would be six of us; Ryan, Luke, Jonathon, Daniel, Keith and I, then at the last minute Jeff decided he could go. The Heritage Bike Trail in York County is were we went. What a nice trail! We started with prayer and it was neat to see God with us. He reminded me to bring a tow rope. I had to be towed on one trip because I broke my chain so that is something I like to take on trips. We needed it. Three of us came back to the car and trailer while 4 others went on down the trail. We needed to make the connection at the end. We 3 in the car got to the town of Glen Rock and did not see the other 4 so I took off on my bike back up the trail. I was racing down the trail and had gone about 2 miles when I saw a fisherman. I was ready to pass him and I felt prompted to stop and ask if he had seen 4 bikers. I passed him and then decided to go back. I turned around and went back and asked him if he had seen 4 bikers. He said no and that he had been there about an hour. I thought maybe they had not come through. as I was looking up I saw someone way down the trail. I went toward the biker and realized it was Jeff trying to catch and tell me they had gone on. All that to say we have a great God that takes care of every detail and makes our connections at the right time.

Praise God for a great safe trip and a chance to spend some time with youth!!

See slide show for pictures.

Joining the Online Blog World

What a scary thot to be joining the online world and the virtual world community. I have been wanting to do this for a while. My three oldest children have Facebook pages. I thot I would let them enjoy that aspect of the virtual community. This Blog is a great way to have the world see the amazing work that God is doing and a great way to communicate the power and work of God in our lives. We praise God for the opportunity to be His messengers of the Truth.