ClassNEWS

Hey guys! I am still having issues with this class news thing. I cannot seem to remember the password to get in. anyway...I have it now. Yeah!

What a few weeks we have had. We have gone out of the country to the British Virgin Islands on a sailboat for 8 days, which has always been a dream vacation for Stacy (and I too am sold now). This trip was an amazing opportunity for our family. It was neat before we left how God impressed upon me, "this is my blessing for you". WOW! The God of the universe is really interested in every part of my life. So much so that He blessed my family with this amazing trip. It is amazing what happens when you look at things through this lens. It made me look for Him the entire trip. In the sunrises and sunsets, in the beautiful weather and the rain. It was like it was all for me and He was doing this to bless me. And it did bless me. What if I looked at each day like this? What if I looked at each day as a blessing from God? Because it is, when I think about it. Although, I don't normally stop long enough to think about it.

Today is a sad day, we had to put Molly (our golden retriever) to sleep today. Stacy and I took her to the vet this a.m. This was our third trip in 3 weeks. She had not responded to her medicine and was continuing to get worse and not eat. I knew this was the best decision for her, you know our bodies are not meant to last forever. It was weird, as we stayed in the room while they gave her the injection knowing this was the best option, I began to cry. In fact, I am crying as I type this. This is really strange to me, we know it is the best but yet for some reason it is very sad. Crying has always been something I don't really understand. I do know that it is okay to cry which has not always been the case for me. I guess I need to just embrace it and be thankful that I do cry.

I look forward to seeing you guys on Sunday. We will begin our new classes May 4th. We will have 2 classes to choose from for the summer. The reason we are only doing 2 is because in the summer people are usually traveling. We will do this cycle for 3 months as well. The two options will be "in-depth bible study" led by Todd Brachey. Then the open forum that we have been doing. We may choose to do a study in the midst of the open forum, not sure yet. I really would like for us to do the curriculum "A Walk across the Room" by Bill Hybels. Begin praying about which group you will be in.

This 3:16 series on Love will go until April 27th. We are offering the bible study at night from 6-7pm in the worship area. We had about 60 people there last week. If you did not join us and would like to do, you can pick up. Also, Life Journey is coming up next Sunday, April 13th from 4-7pm. If you can make it I encourage you to do so....it really is good with a dinner included. You won't want to miss April 20th, this is the Sunday of the ministry fair. This is the day that each of our ministries that are in our church advertise what they offer and you can choose to sign up to participate in any of them. some are one day commitments and some are year commitments. I encourage you to find some area to begin serving in, even if you are not sure you will be good at it. You will never know what you like and don't like until you try. Also, for those of you that feel maybe you don't know enough to teach (which probably includes all of us) I encourage you to volunteer to help teach in the children or youth area. This is where I served for 8 years and I learned more teaching then I did sitting in a class. Just a thought.

Oh, last but certainly not least....our APRIL social! Saturday, April 19th we are having a fish fry at the Dohanos's new home. Charles will be cooking for us. We will meet and eat and then Natalie is planning a great time of competition as we compete in the "AMAZING RACE....BBC style". Where your tennis shoes and comfortable clothes. There will be prizes for the winners. Don't miss it! Invite a friend to come with you, this is a great opportunity to include others in what community looks like. I love you guys! Thank you for loving me. Hope to see you this weekend. wendy