Tuesday, July 31, 2007

Back From Senior High Camp

Greetings All!

I'm back from a great week of Senior High Camp! God blessed and we give Him the glory for a number of life changing decisions.

I had a great group of guys in my cabin, two from Perry, one from Council Bluffs, one from Nevada & Philip from Clear Lake.

Everyone had a great time - thanks for your thoughts and prayers!

Sunday, July 22, 2007

Vacation Bible School

VBS is in the books for this year and what a week it was!

As a Pastor I'm so thankful for the folks in our church that are willing to do whatever it takes to make ministry a success.

Our theme this year was Bethlehem Village published by Group. The program was very good and the idea of setting up our church basement as the Bethlehem Village worked very well. We had a bakery, farmers market, toy shop, perfume shop, music shop, mosaic shop, coin store, a census taker and a dye shop. We had a village begger, High Priest, blind begger, and a Roman Centurion.

What a great week! Praise the Lord!

Pastor Steve

Tuesday, July 17, 2007

Rain Glorious Rain

We are dry in North Iowa! We are in dire need of rain and the showers of blessings came yesterday!

Last evening the storm clouds rolled in and when the wind and rain were over I had 9/10ths of an inch of rain! PTL!!

This is a good start and I'm hoping for more - the forecast looks good!

Pray for rain and carry an umbrella!!!

Pastor Steve

Jr. High Camp 2007

Jr. High Camp is in the books for 2007 and it was a fantastic week! I feel so privileged to have been a part of the week.

This year the 9th graders were kept in Jr. High and were party of "Springboard" which was used to help them realize the importance of right relationships with parents, teachers & peers. The teens responded very well and seemed to really enjoy the week.

The evening speaker was Pastor Stephen Moore, who did a great job with the Word of God! God saw fit to draw 20 young people to Himself and many others made dedication decisions. Missionary Henry Johns was the morning speaker for the 7th & 8th graders, Dave Callison handled the mornings for the "Springboarders".

As for me, I was the boys Dean. We had a great week with very few matters that the dean would need to be involved. It was an honor and privilege to be asked to have this position. Thanks to Pastor James Reynolds.

Pastor Steve

Saturday, July 07, 2007

Are We Done? - We're DONE!

Daniel and Maggie are getting married on August 11th and it seemed so far away - until today.

Let me back up a bit, when the news of the future nuptials was released I knew that Lynn would need to get a new dress and some shoes. Oh! I was sooo mistaken. With in the last few weeks I was informed I needed to get a new suit ... new shirt ... new tie ... and more than likely new shoes.

Friday morning Lynn suggested that we head over to the mall and check out the suit separates at JC Penney's. They had nothing that I was interested in and a very small selection too boot. On a whim we ventured into Mooreman's, a men's clothing store uptown Mason City. There we found a very nice charcoal suit, it was a bit out of our price range but our only other option was a trip to Des Moines. With gas at almost $3.00 a gallon, we decided to go local.

That logic all changed on Saturday morning, Lynn suggested that we load up Amy & Susan and head out to the outlet mall in Medford, Minn. The ides was that we might be able to find Lynn's dress. She had found a dress in a catalog but they were sold out of her size and we were now back to square one.

We arrived at the store and Lynn must have tried on 15 or 20 dresses. By the time we finished she decided on a beautiful dress for the wedding and a wonderful casual outfit for the rehearsal dinner. Shoes were purchased and we headed back to Clear Lake. Following supper we headed to Mason City for the last few items. At about 9:30PM we walked out of the last store and I look at Lynn and said, "Are we done?" She replied, "we're done!"

I have know since last Christmas that the wedding was coming, but the reality is beginning to settle in. Daniel is getting married. Wow!

Pastor Steve

Thursday, July 05, 2007

4th Of July In Clear Lake

As Iowa goes there is only one place to be on the 4th of July and that place is CLEAR LAKE!

The day begins with the best parade in the state. This year was no exception! The only wrinkle was that the "Billary Road Show" was in town and the former President and his wife were walking in the parade, that in its self really bogged down the process in the beginning. They were the 5th or 6th unit in the parade and they were just creeping alone with the heard of protection, media and them pretending to enjoy the experience.

Sidebar: Bill Clinton got some serious WHITE hair! Dude was glowing in the sunshine! Almost hurt your eyes to look at him. This morning on "Fox & Friends" they compared him to Bob Barker!!! What a riot!

Once the "Billary Road Show" got off the main stage the parade was off and running. And as always everyone had a great time. Now I need to mention a special thanks to Ivan and Brenda for letting us invade their yard for the parade and a special thanks to all who brought goodies! Patty, your caramel pecan rolls were excellent, my new favorite!

After the parade we headed back to the house for a bit of lunch and to begin preparations for the cook out at John and Mary's. This year the Cox's brought marinated chicken breast & the fixing's for Italian sausage sandwiches. Good food and great fellowship!

After supper we made our way to the church and then walked down to the lake front for the annual 4th of July fireworks display. Clear Lake has a great fireworks show every year and this year was no exception. The local paper said that there was $50,000 worth of fireworks this year and it was an incredible show! The concussion from the really large shells was powerful, you literally could feel the shock wave.

After the fireworks we headed back to the church for the final activity of the day. Waiting for the inevitable car accident at the corner by the church. If you have ever been to the Clear Lake Baptist Church you know that it is located on a weird configured intersection. Now before you get all "your sick waiting for an accident" on me; you need to know that there has been an accident at that corner the past two years and this year we were prepared and ready to call for the police if needed. The good news is that there was NO accident this year and everyone behaved themselves and got through safely! There were still plenty of close calls and near misses but in the end ... all was safe on our corner!

What a great day! Time spent with friends, remembering the price of our political freedom, enjoying food, fun & fellowship. At least that's the way I see it!

Monday, July 02, 2007

They Stole My Shopping Cart!

A week ago last Saturday Lynn, Amy & I were at Wal-Mart. We were doing the little family shopping thing and picking up just a few items we needed before Lynn & I headed off to the national GARBC conference in PA.

We were having a great time laughing and carrying on as we are want to do from time to time. Amy and Lynn spent over 20 minutes looking for new sunglasses, just the perfect ones that they really liked. I picked up some dog food and other assorted items. Then the girls wanted to look for flip flops. (Their new favorite past time!)

Not wanting to be left out on a chance to harass and irritate my favorite ladies I parked my cart out of the way of traffic and wondered over to the shoe department. After a wonderful time of pestering I left to retrieve the cart but someone STOLE MY SHOPPING CART!!!!!

At first I though that Amy took it but we caught up to her and she did not have it. We looked everywhere and no cart! Then we had to get another cart and start the hunting and gathering process all over again. As you can imagine there were no sun glasses that were as perfect as the first set!

I was so fired up! Who would steal a shopping full of stuff? What would you do with the stuff that you didn't want? What are the odds of walking into Wal-Mart and finding the random shopping cart with everything that you were going to purchase to begin with ????? What kind of person does these things!?!?!?!?!?

For the record we NEVER found our cart. Lynn and Amy got to the point that it was way more funny that I was so steamed and then they started laughing at me and my attitude. Why could they not see that this was NOT funny. They laughed at me the rest of the evening...so unfair! No one cares but me. I WANT MY CART BACK!!!!

I need a nap -

Pastor Steve