Celebrate Good Times, Come On!!

This Saturday we are heading to my hometown of Culpeper to celebrate the wedding of my neice. She and her husband, Scott, were married on July 4th in Mexico. Saturday is a reception back home for friends and family. I am sharing some of their beautiful wedding pics here and I hope to have lots more to share from the reception!

Good Times. Wish I could have been there.

My sister, Judy (mother of the bride) and her daughter AshleighMy brother-in-law escorting his daughter to the gazeboMy neice, Jessica (far left) and my nephew Justin in the middle, looking quite emotional. The bride and groom with my neices and nephew Jessica, Justin and Janel The family of the bride (from left) my nephew Joseph, the Bride and Groom, my brother-in-law Robert and my sissy, Judy.

Can Camp Change a Life?

I spent an amazing week at camp with the youth of my church, Powhatan Community. Our focus of study at camp was the Millennium Development Goals (MDG's) that were set by the United Nations in the year 2000 to eradicate injustices around the world. Some of the goals are:
Eradicate Extreme Poverty & Hunger
Achieve Universal Primary Education
Promote Gender Equality and Empower Women
Reduce Child Mortality
Improve Maternal Health
Combat HIV/AIDS, Malaria and other Diseases

Each evening we spent time, as a church, processing our day. One of my favorite observations from a rising 9th grader (pictured above) was this:

When asked "What are you taking home with you?"
He answered, "I saw God through the kids I worked with all week.....they were so happy and accepting of me. What I will take home with me is that camp can change your life."

The picture of Corey here is priceless to me. The contentment of the child in his arms is evident. These were children who were in a YWCA daycare that our campers helped run. Many children just "showed up" without parental escort, some as young as 2 years old. They wandered back to their homes at the end of the day, again without a parent present. Corey and the others showed them the love of Jesus.

My prayers are that these children will come to know their real Daddy who never leaves them to wander. Only He gives purpose and true contentment.

Corey, I agree. I think camp can change a life.

Off to Camp (again)

In two days I will be heading off to youth camp with 14 others from my church. This is the second trip I will have done this summer with the youth. This trip is more of a camp as opposed to a "mission" like we did with World Changers last month.

Passways is a camp where youth can choose a "track" that best speaks to their gifts, talents and how they connect with God. I am really looking forward to seeing how God speaks to each student through their own "taylor-made" experience.

If you want to come along on this adventure with me, I will be blogging here:

http://www.pccpassways.blogspot.com/

Otherwise, I'll see you in a week!!

Hangin' With the Youth

Tonight I spent the evening hanging with about 25 youth from Powhatan Community Church at Windy Hill. Windy Hill is a local sports complex that has Putt-Putt, an 9 hole course, Go-Karts, batting cages, driving ranges, etc. etc. As a group we decided to ride the Go-Karts and play a round of Putt-Putt.

I don't think we impressed anyone with our mad driving skills or our stellar putting but WE HAD FUN!!

I love volunteering with the youth.

It keeps me feeling young

It keeps me humble

And it most definately keeps me LAUGHING!!

The Happy Couple

Ashleigh (my niece) and Scott Found
7-04-2008
Puerto Juarez, Mexico

Happy Fourth of July!

Happy 4th of JULY!!!

My cousin Mike and his wife Renee have a Fourth of July celebration that is pretty unbelieveable! Hundreds of folks invade his property for fun, food, music and of course....FIREWORKS! And I am not talking smokebombs and sparklers....
The event started as a birthday tribute to Renee's grandfather who celebrated his 90th year tonight. The celebration has become quite the event over the years and now it is THE place to be.
This year some folks brought their RV for an overnight stay!