this has been a great month!!  the people i've met as i conducted the 2 teacher training classes have been so nice, and i can relate to them since they also have a passion to reach children for Christ.  i' am really enjoying the good news club i'm teaching.  i've got three adults working with me at a public elementary school (Parkside); all three of them have never worked in the ministry before and are really getting into it.  i'm very excited about their working.  i hope i'll be able to turn this school over to them next year so that i can get another club started in another school (hopefully one closer to me. parkside is 35-40 min away.).  our club meets every tuesday right after school; since it is on public school grounds, every child has to turn in a permission form.  so far we've met 4 times.  46 kids have come so far, and i've got forms for 7 who haven't come yet.  tuesday of this week, we had 34 kids there!  the kids seem to enjoy it.  the hard thing, tho, is that we DO meet right after school so the kids are tired and that the room is kinda warm.  but the teacher who let us use her room is glad to have us there; two of her kids come, one of which was saved in club last year.

well, two big things happening in oct.  on friday the 13th i'll turn 23!  yea for me!!  then on the 18th my mother is having back surgery.  she's having two discs fused.  the doc told her she'd need to have two pints of blood at hand in case she needed it.  (you never really know if you'll need it in surgery or not.)  of course mom didn't want the blood bank. who knows where that stuff's been? yuck.  dad is giving her one pint of blood, and she trying to get me to give the other. sure i'd give it to her if it didn't involve needles.  i've got a deadly fear of those things.  when i had a tetanus before i went on a trip to guatemala, i almost hyperventilated.  i asked if i could just cut myself and let them get the blood that way; i was told no.  i wonder if they'd be able to knock me out with a gas and get it that way so i don't see/know/feel anything...

i finally finished putting together picture cd's of my church's mission trip to guatemala - from feb/mar.  dad had pulled together pictures from several of the team members, and i was burning them on cd's.  however, it took 3 cd's for a set and multiply that by 10 sets.  needless to say, we ran out the type of cd's we needed.  then months later when we got more, i finished burning and then printed the label-pics right on the cd's.  they look great.  dad said i should tell the team members that there's a surcharge for all the hours i spent in getting the cd's put togther.  it was fun doing it; would have been more fun if i'd had the materials i need a few months back.  oh well.  works the same.

my sis got a puppy a few weeks ago.  it's a mini mini schnauzer.  it's name is spanish but is mr bean in english.  jen got him a little teddy bear too!  he's only about 3.5lbs right now, and he's several weeks old.  he'll never get big, but he's sooo cute.

my basement's a mess but is better than it was.  i can only seem to get a little bit done each week.  i think it'll be lovely in a few months...unless a new cycle of mess begins.  speak of, cleaning is what i'm trying to avoid doing at the moment.  guess i can't avoid the inevitable.

the Lord bless and keep you, may He shine His face upon you...

She dwelt amoung the untrodden ways Beside the springs of Dove, A maid whom there were none to praise And very few to love... - William Wordsworth

anyway, this week is krunch week for the fall season.  i'm conducting 2 wkly Teacher Training classes this year (one in decatur and the other in cullman), and I'm hoping to get enough help so i can teach a Good News Club in a public school - we were in it last year but this year my co-teacher can't do it so i need new people to work.  it didn't seem like it, but there is sooo much to put together for the classes and Bible club!  i'm really excited about all of it tho.  this fall, kids will hear about God's attributes ("Our Awesome God") and then about Joshua ("Joshua: God's Warrior").  i love the CEF lessons.  i learn a lot from them.

monday of this week was the first day of school for the kids in the missions school my sister teaches at in Guatemala.  she's got 3rd graders again, i think around 14 or so.  and this year she's the elementary coordinator (or something), which basically means she's got more responsibility and work for her.

this next sunday is the last day i've got my current sunday school class because all the groups are about to go up to the next age category.  i'll get a whole new group of 4 year olds.  my co-teacher and i are doing a little something special for the out-going kids this sunday and then something for the in-coming kids the next.

then a few more sundays, Awana will start at my church.  i'm working in sparks (k-2) and will be teaching the Bible lessons.  i'll be interesting...a couple of the kids coming in are a challenge; you can't tell from day to day if they'll like each other or not.  on occation, they are nice and kind. they're doing better than they were a year ago so there's hope.

it's almost a definite that i'll be going to australia this january.  almost everything has fallen into place.  a few more things to work out and i'll be buying plane tickets.  the tickets will be around $2,500 or so; hopefully less.

i believe that i have completed a well-rounded ramble and thus i must off to work (ie gotta go work now).

oh my cow, what a summer!  after nine days of training (Christian Youth In Action), i came home to start the 5-Day Clubs (Bible clubs).  my sis came home for part of the summer while i was at the training.  i taught 5 wks of Bible clubs.  i had the 4th of july wk off, tho.  my family and i went camping in the smoky mountains [oh, yeah!]

it was a nice break.  the summer was awesome. i had one teen teacher (worked 2 wks) and 3 teen helpers (worked various wks).  at least 378 kids attended, heard the Gospel, and were given the opportunity to receive Christ as Savior.  10 kids made professions of faith and 6 had assurance of their salvation!  i had lots of fun with the teen workers and with the kids we taught. 

finished clubs 2 wks ago, so last wk was my first one off.  didn't sit around or sleep tho; i wrote, printed, folded, stuffed, stamped, labeled, and mailed close to 300 newsletters for CEF of NW AL. kinda fun but mostly monotonous.

on fri and sat of last wk, i was in chattanooga visiting my bestest friend.

we went shopping at the mall and just hung out.   on sat we sat on the bed watching dvd's until 4 something.  but then i had to leave at 7pm(est) so i'd be home before it got late (my parents would prefer i didn't drive in the dark [for some reason]).

in late august, Good News Clubs and Teacher Training classes (which i teach) begin.  i'm getting all that ready now the summer's over.

oh, and a big opportunity i'm looking into is going to sydney, australia december 28, 2006-january 16 (or so), 2007.  i might be going over there to help a CEF ausie couple i met at CMI (the training i had in missouri) fall '05.  they'll be conducting their first CYIA. since i've had training and experience with this program and am very interested, they've asked me to come help.  don't know if it'll work out, but i hope so!  it'd be soooo cool!

well my sis has been back in guatemala for almost 3 wks.  the school where she teaches begins early august.  it's been a little lonely w/o her here. she and my good friend in chattanooga are really about the only ones i can tell anything to and just hang.

odd piece of info: my church has a new pastor.  he's a pastor/teacher and has a doctorate.  he and his family seem really down to earth and very nice.  his daughters are 28 (amanda [i think]) and 26 (jessica) and are both married; his sons are 24 (charles) and 22 (harrel [spelling?]).  i think they'll be fun - i've met jessica, her husband chris, and charles.  i like 'em anyway.

ttfn...ya'll come back now ya hear 

a friend shared a cool insight into mondays, so i thought i'd pass it on.  "count it all Joy when you encounter monday. a liberal interpretation of scripture to be sure...He is a refuge and tower...But why would one need a tower or refuge if one had no 'mondays?'  so joy and 'monday' can go together."  COOL HUH?!?  i kinda knew it in the back of my mind but it was cool to have someone point it out to me.

it's almost time to head to montgomery for cyia training (all CEF staff and teen summer missionaries in alabama come together to teach and prepare the teens for summer Bible clubs).  we head down june 1st and come home 9th.  it's usually fun, even more so as a staff member.  i will be teaching the teens two classes and 3 of the stories in the staff's club demonstrations.

my sis is going to be home soon.  she'll actually get back while i'm in montgomery.

oh, gotta run!  ttyl

i found some funny things i thought i'd share.  included in this laugh moment is a get fuzzy comic and "silly quotes."

frame 1- satchel "why are you so angry today, bucky?"  bucky "why are you so angry?"

frame 2 - satchel "i'm not agry at all."  buck "well, good for you, sunshine."

frame 3 - satchel "...you seem angry."  bucky "please back away from the cat."

and now silly quotes part 1

*"Sometimes they write what I say and not what I mean." - Basepall Player Pedro Guerrero on reporters

*"I cannot tell you how grateful I am -- I am filled with humidity." - Gib Lewis, speaker of the Texas House

*"We all get heavier as we get older because there's a lot more information in our heads." - Vlade Divac, Basketball player

*"Traditionally, most of Australia's imports come from overseas." - Keppel Enderbery

*"Those who survived the San Francisco earthquake said, "Thank God, I'm still alive." But, of course, those who died, their lives will never be the same again." -Sen. Barbara Boxer,

*"Solutions are not the answer." - Richard Nixon, former U.S. President

*"Chemistry is a class you take in high school or college, where you figure out two plus two is 10, or something." - Dennis Rodman, NBA Basketball player

*"It is wonderful to be here in the great state of Chicago" - Dan Quayle, former U.S. Vice-President

*"This planet is our home. If we destroy the planet, we've destroyed our home, so it is fundamentally important." - H. Ross Perot

*"I was under medication when I made the decision to burn the tapes." - Richard Nixon

*"Most cars on our roads have only one occupant, usually the driver." - Carol Malia, BBC Anchorwoman

*Not only was Sue having a nervous breakdown, but she was having a tough time mentally too - Simon Bates

*"Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; but I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein

*"If it weren't for electricity we'd all be watching television by candlelight."
- George Gobel

my last goldfish croaked about 3 weeks ago, so i got a new one this weekend.  he's bright orange and is named spongebob. he had a pet snail (gary) in the tank, but i think gary croaked from shock when i cleaned the fish tank. he's not moving...at all.  oops.

saw my little 2nd cousins on sunday.  they are sooo cute and funny.     brileigh and anna.

well, ttfn.  must back to real life.