Ack!

We only have two more weeks of LOGOS!!! Say it isn't so!

This past week, March 5, our Senior High youth had their last "off campus" get together at the Elliott's home. They put some finishing touches into the worship service they will be leading this Sunday. I am very excited about this!

Our middle schoolers had the building to themselves after dinner again. We played Spoons and who knew it would be so much fun to pass cards around and grab a spoon? We had a great time!

The theme for dinner was Dr. Seuss night and I wish I had remembered the camera because our dinner dean, Connie, had TWO costumes for the evening! A bright pink "Whoville" type and a "Thing Two" wig and outfit! We had green eggs (but not ham) and biscuits and Nancy even made some decaf coffee!

Table Game at Training

David was the dinner dean for our Staff Training and he had us play one of his favorites. Watch the video and see if you can guess what it is!

Staff Training

On the 7th of February, several people from our LOGOS staff gathered at the church for a LOGOS Encounter led by me and David. We spent the morning on the basic theology behind LOGOS, had a wonderful lunch, played outside (what great weather!) and ended our day with an inspirational worship service. It was great to have so many people from our new elementary ministry attend! I suspect that this time together will go a long way toward strengthening our ministry for our young people, as training has that wonderful way of invigorating our imaginations and spirits.
Here are some highlights of the day:

Chinese New Year

We were supposed to celebrate Chinese New Year on January 22 this year, but the furnace had other ideas. We've had to cancel LOGOS in the past due to inclement weather but this was the first time we had to cancel due to inclement weather INDOORS. Seriously, it was warmer outside than inside! Well, okay, not really, but it felt like it!
So we postponed Chinese New Year to February 5. Officially, we were behind the date, but since the Chinese calendar is on a lunar cycle, we fell within the parameters of celebration. The senior high group was offsite that night at the Weiner's home but they had the same meal the elementary and middle groups had - chicken lo mein! Connie Moore, our dinner dean, had access to a truly spectacular dragon that she brought to decorate our space. Pictures below!





The table game at dinner tested peoples' dexterity with chopsticks and the middle school group found their Chinese zodiac animal and made banners with Chinese proverbs and symbols.
We had a great time!

Souper Bowl of Caring 2009

Wow! Our annual Souper Bowl of Caring brought in a lot of families for dinner (some who had never come before), 151 pounds of canned food for Loudoun Interfaith Relief, and $240 for hunger relief! Our elementary, middle, and senior high youth made place mats, helped decorate the tables and served drinks and soup for our guests. You can see even more pictures of this night at our Facebook page but here are a couple that show the crowd and the fun we had.

Tubing at Deer Valley

AHHHHH!!!!! is not a braking system we were told at breakfast on Saturday



but, AAAAHHHH!!! is a good way to warn people that you are hurtling uncontrolled down a hill on a missile!

5th Annual Winter Youth Retreat

Snow showers on the last day.

Table games!

Waiting for the syrup......

Setting the Lord's Table..

WHOOT! Sausage!!

We had a blast his year! The camp had gotten a nice snowfall and since the entire eastern half of the country had gone into a deep freeze over MLK Jr. weekend, the snow was still on the ground when we got there the night of the 16th.

The whole group got to stay in the Lakeview Lodge this year and after everyone arrived and got stuff loaded into our rooms, we went up to Alexander Hall to play games and have some fun. We played Donkey Tag until the Deer Valley Staff introduced us to a new game they call Survival. I had seen it once a long time ago when we still lived in Ohio and it is a wild game! You take tables and set them on their sides so that you make a pen out of them. Everyone gets inside this makeshift corral and on the signal, a ball starts getting pushed along the ground using only hands. If the ball hits someone from the knee down, that person is out. The game goes until one last person is standing.

Then, after we spent an hour or so playing games, we went back to the Lakeview for our first Bible study. David led the study this year and we looked at the passages from 1 Corinthians and Ephesians that teach about the gifts of the Spirit. We spent a lot of time taking an inventory and finding out what our most prominent gift might be. Several of us were surprised by the our personal results. Others of us were affirmed by them and now we need to look for ways to put them to work since we are back home.

Saturday was a blend of the Bible study, very good food, and excellent tubing!! The snow was abundant and powerdery and made for a chilling faceful on the way down. Only three people sustained injuries; one abrasion, one fat lip, and one truly spectacular flip over the straw bales. To be honest, I was very concerned about that one until the flip-ee began moving again.

On Sunday morning after breakfast, we gathered in front of the fireplace for worship where everyone participated by either doing a skit, singing and signing a song, or interpreting the Scripture passage through movment. I preached and two of our adult elders helped serve communion. Grant played his guitar throughout the service. It was nice.

After worship, those who wanted to went back to the tubing hill, and others started the trek for home. The kids and I left because I wasn't sure I would get up Mount Davis in my little car what with it snowing again. I was glad I left when I did because we did have a bit of a struggle on the steep incline. But through sheer will power and some well timed prayers, we got up the mountain.

Here are a bunch of pictures; most of them on the hill!