For intellectual stimulation...

This is a poem that was written by one of the teens at the Teen Center where I work. See I had this great idea that whoever could write a poem at least 8 stanzas long would have their name entered to win a free prize. I though it's artistic merit granted it at the very least it's very own blog post. PS, you haven't read it unless you've read it to the very end. I'm telling you this piece of journalism will go far.

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Cheetahs are fast Cheetahs are cool
I wish I had a cheetah To ride to school

They are nice They are awesome
They are better Than an Opossum

They might be nice They might be mean
But they are fast You have seen

They are faster than lightning They are faster than a truck
They are faster than a jet I bet you a buck

The cheetah I would have Would like you
Also it would like Winnie the Pooh

If I had a Cheetah I would name it Lil
I would go shopping for it At Goodwill

The End
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I'd really like to see this poem's true meaning discussed in a college English class. Particularity the whole awesome/opossum line.

There is a river...

OK, I'm going to take a shot at a completely serious blog post! Serious but rather cool. This is the final posting I will do on Psalm 46:4, however, I thought it would be good to write what all of you forgot about in youth class, at the bribe of candy no less! When the psalmist wrote, "There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God", he was illustrating that although many great cities had rivers flowing through them, Jerusalem's source of sustaining power came only from God. The cities that had rivers flowing through them could depend on good crops as well as the trade with other cities that came with it. Although Jerusalem had no river, it had God who, like a river, sustained the people's lives. As long as God lived among the people, the city was invincible. But when the people abandoned Him, God no longer protected them and this was the reason they were eventually conquered by the Babylonians. See, you could have fit that in a comment! :) ->Much thanks to Zondervan Study Bible for the notes as well as Will, Tyler, & Kenny who provided an excellent object lesson in class by joining in with the canoe ride and getting wet. :) You men are true Courier de Bois! (Uh, they were Frenchmen who used canoes a lot)

Congratulations Esther!

Esther, pictured here with Emily, is the official winner of the contest of who could recall last week's lesson. I added Emily here just to torture here :). Stay tuned for future quizzes!

Psalm 46:4 Quiz for Burlington Youth Group!

Psalm 46:4 There is a river, the streams whereof shall make glad the city of God, the holy place of the tabernacles of the most High.
Here's a challenge to the youth group. Leave a comment saying what we talked about last youth service. This is for a reward! P.S. No copying! If someone leaves a comment you have to build on it! :)

The dare...

You see it started like this. The great Joseph Krohn is on a new preaching kick. He's got that verse stuck in his head about "He that findeth a wife findeth a good thing". So after prayer meeting Wednesday night as I was listening to his exhortation, I dared him to go share his new found revelation with President Avery. As part of the dare I told him I would blog about it if he did so, "Joe, you can't ever say I don't keep my word." :) I believe President Avery commented something about "Twisting scripture to say whatever you want it to say". :)

Softball Saturday @ 1:30!

Everyone in the Youth Group is invited to Idle Wild Park on Saturday, 8/26/06 for a game of softball!

The Great Joseph Krohn Popped the Question!

It's unbelievable! Joe and Clarissa are engaged!And as you can see from this picture I got of them from the bushes, they managed to keep the 6 inch rule the entire time! Finally Clarissa suggested they hold hands and that's when I felt it was my time to leave. Joe, just let me know when you want that video tape. You better hurry though, I'm being offered some pretty big bucks for it. (OK, Just Kidding. This picture was obviously taken at the GBS Valentines Banquet in the early days of their relationship!) Click on the headline to visit Joe's blog. --> Congratulations Joe & Clarissa!

Kenny's Blog!

He did do it! He's got a blog and now he's armed and dangerous. Click on the Link above or check it out on my updated "LINKS!" section below archives.

Wedding Update

Well I know you've been just dying to hear about it so I'll give the latest update on Cherie and I's wedding. Everything seems to be coming along pretty smoothly. Mrs. Davison has already completed most of the flower arrangements for Cherie, the bridesmaids, and the church. Cherie had originally planned on using real flowers, but after going to a funeral and having a reaction to flowers there, she changed her mind.(:
Last night Cherie left me listen to a sound track she had in mind for the wedding and I don't mind saying that it's awesome! It's hard to believe it's only a little over a month away. It looks like Amber Jones is going to be the photographer along with two others who will help. Dixie Pearymen will be the coordinator. Cherie's dress has apparently turned out good and is ready for the 30th of September (for reasons undisclosed, she won't let me see it).
All this to say that we're making a strong case here to just bump up the wedding date by a couple of weeks but I think Sis. Jones vetoed that one. (:

Links!

Ah yes. After years of trial and error I've finally figured out how to do it. Check out my new links section below "Archives". Please note that they are in a much more efficient order than certain other blogs due to them being alphabetically ordered by their first name.

Week of Summer Camp Completed!

This past week has been a rather interesting one in the life of a YMCA worker. Every day I went to Ockerman Elementary School where I left with a group of a about 10 4th - 6th graders in order to take them to a Summer Camp. We had a great time! One cool part of it was that there was 5 Spanish kids that came. We hit it off great! I think I've played more soccer in the last week than I have in quite a while! Maybe it's just because English is a second language for them, but these Spanish guys had a terrific sense of humor! From the time I picked them up in the morning till when we dropped them off at night, these fellows never stopped cracking jokes. They also taught me a few Spanish words, but I'm a bit leery of saying them because I have a feeling their not very appropriate. Yeah, they told me what they meant, but due to the peels of laughter I'd send them into whenever I'd say them, I'm not sure I believe them! I also worked at the Teen Center till 7:00 in the evening on Wednesday through Friday. So after spending about 10-11 hours a day with teens and kids, I'm about worn out! The cool part of it is that they might start coming to Church. They all seemed really excited about it. Well I'm about ready to go resurface the driveway of Cherie and I's new home so this is over and out to all of you.

Do you think of people as individuals?

No really. It's harder to do than you might realize! For those of you not in the youth group, last Sunday we talked about looking at the people we go to work with and even those in our youth group as individuals. For example, it's easy to treat Joe (randomly inserted name) as a friend, even a really close friend without really thinking about his life and how I can specifically help him. Who knows, this might be the week he might really need you! Sometimes when we think of ministry, we get that nervous feeling. That feeling that says, "I really don't feel like getting up at fountain square and giving a presentation about the basic message of the Bible." But the best place to start is to treat every single person who comes into our lives as we think Jesus would treat him/her. It will take practice. It will require praying that God will help us to be, to each person we come in contact with, the light that God would have us to be.

Iced Cappuchinos

The Burlington Youth Group met Saturday night in the GBS parking lot for a game of street hockey (the campus had a distinct Canadian feel to it for the evening). Due to the excessive heat, a clear winner was a bit undecided! However, after playing for about a hour and a half. We all came inside and enjoyed some of Ezra's iced cappuchinos. Ahhhh........

Tyler, Andrew and Timmy had other plans for cooling off.

This is Jeremy.

Yes, your right. These pictures are pure revenge! The product of local tabloids.

David ponders the effects of ice cream and coffee on an exhausted system.

Here's a bunch of jolly chaps enjoying some iced cappuchinos after a hot and sweaty game of hockey.

This powerhouse of a defenseman has the incredible ability to stop slapshots as he clearly showed just prior to this picture being taken.

This picture clearly shows that while some people are indifferent to cameras, others are downright scared of them.

Street Hockey and Iced Caps

Do to popular demand the Burlington Youth Group is planning a Hockey night at GBS this coming Saturday night @ 6:30 pm. It will be followed by a time of Iced Caps and refreshments. May the best team win!

Hired on full Time

I received good news from my supervisor at work on Monday when she advised me that I'm now hired on at the Y as full time. While this won't make much difference with hours, it will have some changes in responsibility as well as some benefits such as vacation pay and most likely health insurance for Cherie and I. It was a real answer to prayer! With marriage only two months away, it couldn't have come at a better time.