Happy Halloween!

The boys got to dress up twice this year! First up was "Let's Pretend Day" at their Mom's Morning Out program.

Dalmation & Spiderman, respectively

Evan with his teachers Mrs. Jere' & Mrs. Dawn

Second was the Fall Festival at our church. It was a lot of fun!

Me & the boys (& one sad looking puppy)

Walking over to the festival, ready for some candy!

Evan's favorite game, Angry Birds!

Nana & Evan

Nana & Levi (slightly distracted by his sucker)

Levi on the Groovy Bus

Takela painting Evan's face

His robot face!

Oh, & here's the story behind those cool pumpkins on our front porch:

Checking out the inside of the pumpkin

Evan sticks his tongue out while focusing just like I do :)

Levi loved the freedom of painting it any way he wanted to!

Check out the end result on the steps behind us!
Not bad for our first time decorating/carving pumpkins!

Youth Ministry Update, 3 Years Later

Fall Retreat: Tug of War

This month marks three years since we loaded up all our stuff & moved from Georgia to Mississippi to serve at Redeemer Church in Jackson. It's become a tradition for me & Ryan to take the time each October to reflect on all that God has done in & through our lives while serving here. I wish I could sit down with each of you personally over a cup of hot tea (sorry, not a coffee drinker!) and share with you from my heart how God has been working. But since that's not a possibility with most of you, this blog entry will have to suffice for now.

If I had to briefly sum up the first two years in ministry here, specifically regarding youth ministry, the first year would be exciting. Everything was new, we were fresh. You could call it the honeymoon stage. If the first year was exciting, the second year was hard. The newness wore off, we began to realize the complexity of urban youth ministry, the difficulty of reaching students from different socioeconomic backgrounds & cultures. Frankly, at times, we wondered if it really could be done effectively. Adults have a hard time bridging these gaps, so could we really expect teenagers to be able to do this? This was a question we really weren't certain about the answer to.

The second year, & honestly, half of the third, really brought us to a place of humility, an utter dependence on God, realizing that in our power, yes, this ministry looks impossible. But what I love about the hope of the Gospel is that in Christ we have the power to do all things. I really began to pray fervently for Ryan, that God would give him wisdom on how to run this ministry. He was open about the difficulties he was facing, requesting prayers from others. Those prayers really began to change things.

Over this past summer, Ryan really focused on pursuing youth that he knew would be excellent leaders, those who had a heart for the Lord & just needed a little push to step up & help him lead. He met with them, trained them, & helped them understand the vision of the church & our youth group, which is to minister to families in our church as well as the people of our neighborhood.  Ryan recruited & trained more adult leaders, bringing in a local expert to help train them in how to handle behavior issues that often occur on Wednesday nights at Crossroads (youth group worship service). He created clear rules & specific consequences that are posted in the youth room. I am so proud of all he has done.

The result? It has been an amazing start to this first semester! All of these changes have made a drastic change in the climate of Wednesday nights. The Student Leadership Team has done an amazing job stepping up and leading all aspects of the night. The adults understand their role & feel empowered to speak up if students aren't following the rules. Students who used to have major behavior issues have realized that they've got to "get it together" if they want to keep coming, & the good news is they do want to keep coming, so they're "getting it together". Does this mean there have been no issues this year? Of course not. But all of these structures have really served to create an atmosphere in which these students can really hear the word preached & be given opportunities to serve.

New rules & consequences,
modeled by Quinton

New registration table, run by students
 (with cool attendance IPad Ap to keep better track of visitors)

Ryan & I now believe that not only is a youth group like this possible, it's absolutely necessary! This is what God calls the church to be like, made up of different people, from different walks of life, gathered around one essential thing: the Gospel of Jesus Christ! We also believe that when students leave our youth group, they have the opportunity to walk out the door as pretty mature Christians because they will hopefully learn to see people through the eyes of Christ, not through the eyes of their culture.

We are entering our fourth year here at Redeemer excited about all that God is doing through our youth group. We love these students we've been entrusted with & desire for those who know the Lord to grow in their faith, and for those who don't have a relationship with the Lord to put their faith in Him. As always, we covet your prayers as we continue to serve here.

Autumn Awesomeness

I love fall, the cool mornings, low humidity (well, most days...), changing colors, & an excuse to bake & devour pumpkin bread. Ahhh...these are life's simple pleasures.

Another thing I love about fall is the endless array of outdoor activities there are to choose from here in Mississippi this time of year. I think there's a particular concentration of fun things to do right now because we've finally risen out of the oppressive heat & awakened to remember that there's a beautiful world out there to enjoy!

Earlier this month, Ryan & I enjoyed a date morning after dropping the boys off at their Mom's Morning Out class at a local church by going to the Canton Flea Market, which is a huge outdoor arts & crafts festival. We had a good time, mostly browsing, but I was thrilled to purchase a cute, artsy birdhouse (it's actually a bird-chapel with a cross steeple, perfect for our manse) for our backyard. The boys were excited too, & we bought birdseed, but for some reason, we've had no takers. Not sure how to get the birds to visit. Any ideas?

For about two weeks in October, THE thing to do around here is to visit the Mississippi State Fair. We took the boys & they seemed to really enjoy it. There's a petting zoo, pig races, lots of spinning rides (which neither Ryan nor I care a thing about), and more carnival junk food than a person could possibly eat. .

Evan can barely contain his excitement awaiting the pig race.

Ryan & Levi at the pig race

And they're off...

The boys loved feeding the animals

The cute furry bison

Notice the striking (albeit frightening) resemblance

Ah, the pure joy that comes from eating fried batter with
powdered sugar on top (aka Elephant Ear)

Finally, this past Saturday we went to the Mississippi Agricultural Museum for their Pumpkin Patch experience. We got to take a hay ride, have a milk & cookie snack, & pick out a pumpkin to take home. It was a beautiful day, & the boys had a great time. 

Evan's silly face

Levi enjoying a sugar cookie snack

Me & Levi on the hayride

Ryan & his boys on the hayride

Picking the perfect pumpkin

Late Summer Vacation, Part 2

After an incredible week one of vacation in Atlanta, we hiked on up (okay, drove) to the Great Smoky Mountains for a family reunion on my side of the family in Gatlinburg, Tennessee over Labor Day weekend. We had a wonderful time reconnecting with family we had not seen in awhile (the time together just passed too quickly!). I had not seen the mountains in several years, and man, I missed them!

Evan was quite excited about his new pirate gear
from Grammie & Poppy.

The whole clan gathered for dinner! Gotta love the huge
table at the cabin!

Levi, enjoying another ride in the car

Playing in the creek

Fun with Poppy looking for golf balls since the creek was by a golf course

Late Summer Vacation, Part 1

One of the perks of Ryan becoming an ordained minister last year is that he now receives 4 weeks of vacation a year. Other staff members highly suggested that we take 2 of those weeks together to be able to truly unwind, so we followed their advice (thanks, Laniers!) the end of August. It was wonderful!

We spent the first week near Atlanta, staying with Ryan's mom, Gail (aka Nana). While we were there, we acted a bit like tourists by visiting some local attractions. We also were able to reconnect with some of our old friends (although it still wasn't quite enough time to see everyone we would have liked to, so if you live there & I didn't see you--boo! hopefully next time!).

First, we visited the Aquarium, which I would highly recommend to anyone with kids! I had visited there a few times as a teacher, but never as a parent. The joy on their faces was priceless (although the dolphin show was a little scary for them-too many flashing lights & loud noises)!

Not sure what they're looking at,
 but at least they're both seated & smiling!

In awe of the whale-shark

Loved seeing the special exhibit on frogs

Levi preferred to walk the museum himself
(with Nana's help, of course)

We also visited Zoo Atlanta. I had not been there is years, and again, it was fun to go this time as a parent. There were some fun animals that the boys had never seen before, their favorite being the pandas!

Making animal noises while looking at the giraffes with Poppy

Levi's favorite animal

Cheering on the tortoise.

It seemed to motivate him...

My little birdies

Uncanny resemblance

Slightly frightening :)

Front row seat to watch the Panda eat his lunch.

Such a beautiful creature!

And last, but certainly not least, we were able to have a family reunion with some of Ryan's family.  We were honored that some of them drove down from South Carolina & over from Augusta to visit us while we were in town. It was a great week!

Cousins & their kids

The parents responsible for all those folks in the picture above-
my mother-in law, Gail, and Aunt Nancy & Uncle Bill

Brother Love

Ever since Levi started walking the beginning of June, a whole new world of play has opened up for him & Evan. It's been a blast watching the two of them having fun playing together (& a mother's dream come true, because now they actually entertain each other!). I love that they love each other so much, & I hope this brotherly love continues to grow throughout the years.

Here are some of the snapshots I've been able to capture (you'll notice some blurriness; sometimes they're just too fast!).

My Construction Workers (notice the blankies they take with them to the job site!) 

There's something about a guitar case that cries out to be sat in! 

Look how still they are for story time with Daddy!

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And just a few minutes later...

Wrestling time-their favorite time of the day!