Thanksgiving blessings to all

Wow, lots has gone on since my last post. Andrea and I just returned from a great trip out West, getting to see Las Vegas, the Hover Dam, and the Grand Canyon. The Grand Canyon may be the most incredible thing God has created. My jaw was dropped the entire time we were there. It was a great few days to relax, enjoy, and refuel a little.

I wish everyone a very blessed and happy Thanksgiving this week. Make sure you take some time to give God some credit for all the things in your life that make you smile. If your crazy enough the brave the shopping arenas on Friday best of luck to you. The last time I went on a black Friday someone took my legs out with a shopping cart. Seriously people!

I get to preach in "big church" this Sunday (I have deemed the Sunday after Thanksgiving National Associate Pastor Preaching Day). I'm really excited though because we are kicking off a new series entitled There's Something About The Name. Throughout Advent we're going to be looking at all the different names the Bible ascribes to Jesus and exploring their significance. I get to talk about my personal favorite this Sunday, Servant. If your not too full from Turkey or busy stalking deer we'd love to see you this Sunday. Plus, this is my first time preaching for TV, which is kinda cool and scary at the same time.

What an Event!!!

Wow! What a crazy night we had on Friday. Nearly 90 middle schoolers invaded HRC for a night of games, friendship, Blue Harbor Water Park, and worship. We may have even set a world record for amount of soda consumed in one night (even I thought it was ridiculous, and that's saying something!). Plus it's not every night I get bit by a 7th grader AND get thrown into a pool by a 6th grader. Nearly every student made it the whole night, enjoying late night activities such as lazer tag, glow in the dark dodgeball, a game room, tons of video game systems, a dodgeball tournament (which was more intense then the state basketball tournament), and more. A very tired group headed out Saturday morning expressing having a great night. The Event saw over one dozen students commit their lives to Christ for the first time, and over 40 students pledge to renew and strengthen their faith. Praise God for such awesome work!

A huge thanks to the army of volunteers that made this possible, as well as our students who so willingly invited friends. Without our high schoolers who spent the night and the various shifts of crazy, ah I mean willing, adult volunteers who came in and out throughout The Event this would have never been possible. Special thanks to Tammy Horswill and Laura Dolfin for bravely arriving at 10am to start clean-up, as well as the adults who came to help at 1pm. Also a big thanks to Pamela Krueger for heading up the food and Kurt Dulmes for putting together the praise band. Our intern, Ryan Arentsen, was also an amazing help and led a riveting game of Let's Make A Deal. Again, what an awesome night, so thanks to everyone involved and a big praise to God for making it possible, safe, and meaningful.

Weekend update and EVENT FAQ's

Thanks so much to everyone who helped with Service Day #2. We were able to work on four homes, all of which had quite a bit to be done on. Thanks to everyone who helped rake, lay chips, move rocks, move a windmill (yes, that's right), haul ancient farm equipment, and more. And I also proved I am an excellent fire starter (Phil taught me everything he knows!).

Here are some answers to questions we've been getting about the Event. They are going out to everyone at HRC tomorrow, but we wanted to get them on the web too. We are so excited for Friday night and can't wait to see all 80+ of you that night! So awesome.

Arrival time: You may arrive and register in the narthex anytime between 4:15-4:45 Friday night. If you are going to be later then that please call the church at 564-2879.

What to Bring: Sleeping bag, pillow, tennis shoes (for various running activities), swimsuit (girls: we really prefer one piece or tankinis, but if you don't have one don't worry about running out and buying one.), and a towel. You also may want sandals for Blue Harbor.

Spending money: No money is needed. EVERYTHING is included in your fee. If you wanted to bring money for the arcade or snacks at Blue Harbor you could, but you are responsible.

Video game systems and TVs: Thanks to all those loaning us TV's and video game systems. If you could have them to Andy's office by 8:00pm Wednesday night that would be fantastic.

Volunteers: If you volunteered to help at any point of the night you should have received a letter in your box about the volunteer meeting on Wednesday night at 6:30. If you would still be interested in helping us out please speak with Andy as we could still use more hands.

Clean-Up: We need ANYONE and EVERYONE who can to help with clean-up on Saturday, November 14th at 1pm. Your help is greatly appreciated.

A week in the life....

Wow, we have totally had a lot of stuff going on around here this week. On Wednesday we somehow had middle school and high school praise team practices, had over 1,000 pizzas delivered for our big fall fundraiser, and managed to have an exciting night of MS youth group with a couple of fun games, some great worship, and a message on grace. Best of all I have some awesome volunteers and staff who make my life so much easier, taking care of the fundraiser, our high school band, and the message for the night. We in no way could have the ministry we do without all the tireless efforts by others. I'm also getting super excited about the MS Event in a few weeks. We're seeing tons of non-church students signing up, and I pray God can work wonders with them through The Event.

Thursday night 10 of our guys headed down to Germantown for an evening of fellowship and stuffing ourselves with rack after rack of ribs. As always, the ribs were amazing and way to much food was consumed.

Friday I got to enjoy a day off with my family in Milwaukee, which was soooooo nice. I even WILLINGLY spent an hour of a half with my wife in a MATERNITY store. Now that's gotta be award worthy does'nt it (I'm thinking at least a Nobel Peace Prize)???

Saturday four teams of middle school and high schoolers worked on 10 different houses throughout our area during weekend one of our rescheduled service day. We raked up a crazy amount of leaves (70 bags maybe???), washed lot of windows, did some trimming, gardening, as well as some other things that got houses in our community ready for winter. Thank so much to all who helped, braving both the cold and wind in the process, to bless the people of our community. I got to endure more of the cold Sat night as I watched CG-B down Oostburg in the 2nd round of football playoffs. CG-B has a fantastic squad and I wish them the best next week.

Sunday was a typically busy day, with morning worship, Sunday school, and high school praise band practice in the am. For HS Youth Group we started at the Baker house to watch the end of the football game. It just stinks seeing #4 in purple playing so well. Grrrr. We then headed back to HRC to have a massive garbage war (yes, we cleaned it up) and continued our Save the Planet Series. We looked at Genesis 2 where God tells us to not only use his creation, but to also be stewards of it. While there are lots of people yelling at us to care about the environment is important for us as Christians to know that God wants us to not only enjoy his creation, but help maintain and take care of it as well.