Day 7 - Morning time. Yahoo.
I had to sort through 400 pics today, so I have quite a few, which means I'll be less wordy today, and let the pictures tell the story. Hope that's ok with you.....yeah, yeah, I hear ya....of COURSE that's ok. : )
The morning ritual of writing and checking out the comments from the fuzzy comment mailboxes...or something like that.
Amy and Leah reading comments.
Kyle and Jacob hanging out before breakfast.
Fontana and Kim reading and writing their warm fuzzies.
Jovita takes the warm fuzzy comment stuff very seriously.
Just before breakfast, another short devotional from Hank.
John and Rosy talking together. With John, it's usually something funny.
He's such a card this guy. I LOVE him. At least HE likes getting his picture taken.
Joanna's smiling, but she has hurt her back and is in some pain. Annette had the joy of praying over her back and it healed a great deal. Joanna was very pleased about that, as were we.
Serve is an interesting animal at times. Things don't always go as planned. This has been happening for Joanna this year. She hurt her back, but she's also without a participant. Plans were made for someone to come, but they fell through. She's handling it well, but I do know she would like to be with a participant. She is doing other things to serve here, but if you could simply pray for her that would help lift her spirits as well.
Breakfast is served.
Kim and Megan enjoying the food.
Bonita and Kayla enjoying each other's company. Bonita is such a nice person. She drove us today to the park using Hope Centre Bus. It was a hoot.....if you ever meet Bonita, you must take the time to get to know her.
Shellie's still looking perky : )
Rosy, this is a very nice picture of you....who took it : )
Now this is an interesting picture. If you enlarge it you'll see that both Megan and Fontana seem to be getting sick. It sure wasn't because of the food.....
After breakfast was a short devotional that the group did together to get them ready for church.
After church we handed out these candles taped to paper. The night hawks helped put these together last night. Thanks for serving in that way too.
The craft from yesterday.
There's that Megan again, pulling those funny faces. She told me she wouldn't be doing this any more.....I don't think she can help herself. Kim has a nice smile, don't you think?
Time for some card playing before church. I think Kyle won.
I went out to get some pain pills for Joanna. That was before Annette heard about Joanna's plight.
Worship practice was beginning. Jovita loves music and she did some liturgical dancing. It was wonderful to watch.
Megan and Fontana being ushers.
As were Amy and Leah....
No one seemed to be coming through the doors for Hannah, and I think she was getting frustrated or something : )
Kayla and Amber are getting to know each other well. Kayla has a wonderful laugh. It's just like Shellie's. I always know were Kayla or Shellie are.
Worship began and the praise team, along with John, Kyle and Jovita led us in worship.
The church was pretty full for a summer Sunday. The SERVE team sat together up front.
Jovita, Kyle and John worshiping God.
Shellie did a short talk during the service. She used a candle.
The SERVE team was commissioned this morning.
After church the candles on the cards were handed out by the SERVE team.
Fellowship Time.
Each of the SERVE team has been paired up with a prayer partner. Some of the prayer partners have been getting quite extravagant in their support of we as SERVE members. Here Ben is reaping the rewards of a very giving prayer partner.
I met this woman at church. She went to school with my cousin Phil. It's a small world.
A neat moment with Amy and Leah.
We had lunch. Shellie's family stayed.
Our prayer partners came for lunch too, so we got the chance to meet them. Apparently Annette met a couple with the same last name as her husband, John. I think they might have found some sort of distant family connection, but I'm not sure. Annette said Mr. ???? certainly looked like John's side of the family, so who knows : ).
The result of the morning devotional time.
I finally found a place to sleep that's not too hot, and has very little light coming in. It's between two rooms and it's perfect.
Kyle stole my Tilley hat and is showing it off with Kyle #2. : )
A mother/son moment...... : )
After lunch it was time to go to the park and play some water games, but also to ride some motorcycles and take a ride in this nice convertible.
We took the Hope Centre bus. It was HOT!!!!
Almost like riding in our van on the way up here. I rode in the bus too. It was so much fun. Every time we turned a corner I would slam into Jacob or Fayth and the rest of the bus would do the same in their seats. We had a hoot...even Bonita got into the swing of things...no pun intended, Bonita.
At the park it was time for sunscreen. Apparently Amy put sunscreen on some time ago and sat under a shelter and STILL got burnt, so she wanted LOTS of sunscreen on.
Jovita getting excited about taking a convertible ride.
John taking a convertible ride.
Hank barking out orders..... : )
We had 8 or 9 motorcycles show up today from a biker church. Impressive.
Leah enjoying the ride.
Fayth is on the back of the Pastor's white motorcycle. An appropriate color. Fayth got to go for an extended drive.
Kayla riding with her dad.
Megan smiling a proper smile.
Kyle being hugged by Kim.
Kayla #2 in the convertible.
Chris getting ready to ride.
I took a ride in the convertible too. I never understood why there is air conditioning these things.......
The group peeling off to ride around the park and on city streets. Everyone really enjoyed the rides. Thanks to all who donated their time.
A group from Waterdown, Ontario joined us for the afternoon. They took some motorcycle rides as well. They are spending a week at the Indian Family Centre. We began our games soon after they arrived. Simple games like this one. You take one shoe or sandle, and you see how far you can kick it. Chris won. Some of the kicks were hilarious
Another simple, but fun, game was throwing a water balloon at each other and then stepping back each time you catch it.
A final water game was filling paper bags with water and then throwing them behind you to see how far they would go. You then had to go to the bag and stand there. Some people got hit by other people's water bags. Lots of fun.
Jerry finally arrived from Youth Unlimited. He should have been here yesterday but his airline wasn't being too helpful in getting him here......Glad you made it Jerry. Jerry is the program coordinator for the SERVE's that are run through YU and is visiting to see how a Special Needs one works.
After all the fun was over, and everyone was pretty much wet, except me, I got rid of my camera and let the group have a crack at getting me wet. Jacob we the first to chime in.
Amber was NOT going to let me win, but I got her pretty good.
Kyle surprised me from behind. There was a tap there used to fill up the water bottles, but I used it as a spray tool, quite effectively I might add.
Small group time happened after we got back from the park. Jerry was pressed into service right away being a final checkpoint for all the group. Welcome to SERVE, Jerry. : )
Supper was running a bit late, so small group time happened first.
The crazy group, but Fayth looks tired, or grumpy, or something. Jacob look perky, and Jovita just likes posing strangely for any picture.
Another small group getting into the Word.
The final checkpoint.
Jerry and I talked some shop while waiting for the groups to finish, and worked on our computers. He kind of looks like me, doesn't he?Scary.... : ) He's a good man, that Jerry. How could he not be with the facial resemblance. : )
A nice picture of Kayla, Kim and Fontana before supper.
Lasagna and bread for supper. Cute Chris.
Hey, I'm in a picture for a change. Hannah looks like a very dainty eater.
A group enjoying dinner, and there's that Jovita with her pose again.
Kyle wanted a picture with me, but little did I know that he wanted to trick me. I seem to be growing something out of the back of my head.....thanks Kyle.
After supper it was time for worship again. A good group tonight as Hope Centre people came out as well.
Kyle and Kim expressing themselves in worship.
Leah and Amy. Buds....
Shellie was up to her antics again tonight. Another road block discovered with Kayla.
Ben and I had to swish mouthwash in our mouths and keep it in for a LONNNGGGG time.
Here we go.................
We tried to keep it in. I even put my arm way out so I could pass the test....but...
We didn't. We spat it out before time was up. However, we were allowed to stick our tongues out a Shellie (I've been wanting to do that for a VERY long time) and she sprayed a mouth wash on our tongues and THAT proved doable. We PASSED.
Kyle spent some time up on stage with Shellie too.
He had to help Jacob figure out how to drink Rootbeer out of a container with one straw in the container, and one out. They figured out a creative way to do this.
Then Shellie loaded Kyle with stuff to carry, but also asked him if he wanted to hug his bud, Jacob. He wanted to hug is bud, so he had to empty himself of all those things that were holding him back from this. It was touching to watch him do this and then.....
To hug his buddy, Jacob.
Kim helped with the final phase of the race and getting to the checkpoint.
Then it was time for worship again.
Shellie's son taking some bonding time during that song. Nice.
Annette praising God. Nice.
After worship time it was craft time. EVERYONE wanted to paint a picture frame tonight, so that's what they did.
Kayla and Kim working hard.
Kyle being bugged by one of our mentors....hmmm....
Whew, that was a lot of activity in this day. It was a good day. A day of continuing to bond between mentors and participants. A day of fun and laughter. As I look upon this day, I am struck once again by the privilege I have of watching all this go on. I see participants who, like Jacob, teach me so much about life, love, and faith. I see our youth being mentors and doing SUCH A GOOD JOB at it. There are touching moments that no one sees, but I watch and smile. I see the beauty of character come out in all of our mentors and I am humbled by their willingness to do this work of service in God's Kingdom. They (the mentors) are all changed, even if they don't see that they are being changed at this point in time. I am proud of this team of mentors and all they give. I think these unique Special Needs SERVE's are such a great idea...and that was echoed again by a parent of a participant that I happened to be talking to today.
We may not be building, or painting much in the days to come, but we are investing in each other's lives, and that's what this is all about, isn't it. ? : )
Well, before I post this blog, it's time for Megan to add some thoughts about her time so far....so here you go Megan......
Megan's comments
Well today it is my turn to add my thoughts to help deepen Ron's thoughts and shallow entries. So where to begin...
Hi Everyone! Today was a really great day and a lot of fun! It was neat to get to know our friends better throughout the different activities in the day.
I would just like to share with you a few of the reasons I love participating in SERVE.
This is the third year I've done it and I find each year God teaches me different lessons for which I will find out later this week.
The worship services are a big part of why I love SERVE. You can really sense God's presence in our worship services. There is such a great feeling of enthusiasm in the sanctuary. And it is neat to see how everyone contributes and worships in their own unique way.
Another reason I love serve is developing relationships with the participants and other mentors. And seeing them have a lot of fun!!!
I am very excited to continue this experience in the days ahead and continue growing and working to serve God as we begin our work sites and more activities.
That's it for tonight as I am instructed to go to bed.
Until later, Megan
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