Amy Scott's Thoughts

Sharing the thoughts that bounce around in my brain!

Sundaes, Birthdays and Eggciting Times! March 29, 2013

Filed under: Children's Ministry,Family Time — Amy Scott @ 2:07 pm

It’s been a whirlwind kind of week! Lots to do in preparation for our giant community egg hunt tomorrow. Lucky for me, I have a sister who loves me dearly and came into help me twice this week in the office. I’m deeming her my Easter Eggstravaganza Lifesaver! Not only did she come to help, but she also brought Starbucks both times! What’s not to love about that? After some long and busy days at work, I think we’re in an amazing spot for the hunts tomorrow. Everything is ready. Now it’s just time to hide the eggs and have some fun!

Sundae Sunday!

Sundae Sunday!

This last weekend was a special one for our Children’s Ministry. We’ve been in the middle of an offering challenge in the month of March. The kids were given the goal to raise 30lbs of change and they did it in record time! The reward for this challenge was ice cream sundaes. Since they reached their goal early, they got their reward early as well. It was fun to see the kids all excited about giving and the ice cream! Turns out we had just enough ice cream to go around for our kids, but not for our leaders. Since I couldn’t leave the leaders hanging, I ran over to McDonald’s and picked up 7 hot fudge sundaes. Let me tell you, that felt weird to order. I had the strong urge to explain that they weren’t all for me. I don’t really think the McDonald’s employees cared. With their goal met, we have given the kids a new challenge. The goal is to reach 50lbs by the end of the month and they are 6lbs away right now. It’s totally doable, but we’ll see if the Easter weekend throws them off of their game. If they can reach this new goal, we’ll have doughnuts next weekend for them. This BGMC experience has been a sweet deal! I’m so proud of our giving kiddos!

Jeremy's Birthday Cake!

Jeremy’s Birthday Cake!

In the midst of the children’s ministry mania, my hubby had his birthday. I will admit that we didn’t do a great job of celebrating just him. His actual birthday kind of got taken over by the egg hunt. We did go out to dinner at Olive Garden and get Blizzards for dessert at Dairy Queen. We celebrated with food. The great thing is that the day before his birthday, we spent most of the day with his family celebrating. At least one day was focused truly on him. Jeremy got to choose the meal of meatloaf and mashed potatoes. We had Funfetti cake for dessert and then we played sports on the Kinect. We ended the family time with a dance party. Good times and fun memories! I’m so blessed by hubby and the wonderful man that he is. He is so stable and good and calm and steady. He really is the rock in my crazy life. I’m grateful for each year I get to celebrate with him. He is truly worth making a big deal about!

That’s the update for this week! I’ll keep you posted on how the 2 giant egg hunts with 70,000 candy-filled eggs goes. The weather looks like it’s going to be sunny and warm. I’ll be honest – that is all God! What are the odds that we would get such a nice day at the end of March?!?! The answer is God’s grace and goodness! Amen! I can’t wait share the highlights from our Easter weekend! I have a feeling it’s going to be a BIG weekend all the way around!

 

March Madness! March 23, 2013

Filed under: Children's Ministry,Family Time — Amy Scott @ 1:03 pm

I apologize. I feel like my blog is getting a bit neglected right now. March has been so busy and so full that when I have down time I’ve spent all my energy and I really have nothing left to write about. I don’t like that feeling, but it happens from time to time. It’s just life. Busy, crazy life.

Lego Trophies!

Lego Trophies!

Here are a few highlights from the past couple of weeks. My hubby had Pinewood Derby races last weekend that went super well. Jeremy is creative and he made his own trophies for the kids out of Legos. They were a big hit!

We had a big day of meetings as a team at work to talk about our personalities and leadership. It’s always interesting to see how everyone around the table falls when it comes to personality assessments. We’re all different and it’s insightful to know where someone else is coming from. It’s also empowering to know who you are and how you’re wired.

The title of this blog doesn’t just have to do with my busy month, it also reference the fact that I got pulled into doing a NCAA bracket again this year. While I would say my choices are an improvement over last year… the team I picked to win this year is already out. This really shouldn’t shock anyone considering I don’t watch college basketball. This is what happens when you pick at random!

This week kicked off celebrating my hubby’s upcoming birthday. We had dinner with my parents and sister to honor the birthday boy. We had pizza and pie and my dad did our taxes in the middle of it all. Exciting stuff, I know! I’m praising the Lord that we don’t owe anything and my parent’s sent us home with a ton of leftovers – pretty good night in my opinion. We have more birthday festivities tomorrow with Jeremy’s family and then Monday (the actual birthday), Jeremy and I have plan to go out to dinner to celebrate. It’s nice in this busy season at work to take time and focus on how awesome my hubby is! He is worth celebrating!

Of course with a major event coming up in the next week, I decided to take on a major spring cleaning project around the house. Makes sense, right? Okay, timing might not be my thing. I spent Wednesday, Thursday and Friday of this week going through our closets and purging. Part of the process was reorganizing our closets and getting better storage solutions to contain and organize our stuff. This lead Jeremy and I on a trip to The Container Store because Walmart and Home Depot didn’t have the right sized storage containers. As always, The Container Store didn’t disappoint and I was able to finish up all my reorganizing last night! It feels so good!

This leads to me today! Where… I… FINALLY… decided… to… REST! Praise the Lord! I had left over pie for breakfast and jumped into watching Les Mis – a random purchase from the day before. It’s been nice to be a bit low-key today. Eventually I’ll have to get ready for church this evening, but right now I’m trying to forget that I’m a responsible adult. It’s kind of  hard because my mind keeps going over when I’m going to print the programs for Easter Eggstravaganza and how many I should make and what colors I should use and will we have enough paper. Then there are  lanyards to update and wait! Isn’t today supposed to be a day off? Well, sort of… oh my! I might be going a bit crazy. This too shall pass, right?

So that’s the update for me! It’s been a full month of meetings and family and big events and pie and basketball (that I don’t really watch, but Jeremy shares the updates) and car races and taxes and birthdays and all those other normal day to day commitments! No wonder they call it March Madness!

 

The Bunnies Are Back! March 20, 2013

Filed under: Children's Ministry — Amy Scott @ 11:45 am

I couldn’t help it… When I saw the Bunny Mallows back in stock at our local Walmart, I had to pick up a bag! I had so much fun making mini-cupcakes last year with these fun marshmallows on top. Of course, I couldn’t do the exact same thing as last year, so after a trip around the seasonal section, I came home with cute polka-dot and green cupcake cups and some fun sprinkles! For a flavor change, I went with lemon cake mix and strawberry frosting. I really like the pink color of the frosting and was hoping for a Strawberry Lemonade flavor combination! Here are some photos from the project, as well as a glimpse into the bunnies from 2012.

2012 Bunnies

2012 Bunnies

The Supplies

The Supplies

2013 Bunnies!

2013 Bunnies!

A Bunch of Bunnies!

A Bunch of Bunnies!

 

 

 

Oh Easter Eggs… March 15, 2013

Filed under: Children's Ministry — Amy Scott @ 4:26 pm
Ready to fill!

Ready to fill!

It seems like Easter Eggs are a never ending topic of conversation right now. With Easter right around the corner, everyone wants to know how the filling of 70,000 candy filled eggs is going. I’m happy to report that it’s going well. We only have a couple bags left and they should hopefully disappear this weekend! I know I’m planning on grabbing one for my Growth Group on Monday.

70,000 eggs seems like a lot… because, well, it is a lot. The great thing about filling eggs is how easy it is. Everyone can chip in and make a big task manageable and fun. My mom called me this afternoon to tell me that she would be filling eggs while watching a movie. This inspired me since I’d recently purchased more candy and I had a small bag of eggs sitting around the house. I decided to fill some myself. It doesn’t take too long to fill a bag of eggs. It can be incredibly social depending on how you fill the eggs. My Growth Group has done it together twice. My Wednesday night class filled eggs together this week. It’s just a fun activity to do with a group because it’s not too challenging so you can chat and laugh while you do it. It hardly seems like work.

Yes, please!

Yes, please!

I will admit that filling eggs is probably my favorite part of Easter Eggstravaganza. Set me down with a bag of candy and a bag of eggs and I’ll go to town on the them. It’s not complicated and it’s not overwhelming. Seeing 70,000 at one time is a little overwhelming, but we don’t expect one person or one group to fill them all. We do them together as a church community and it always gets done. I love contributing in this way.

By the time Easter rolls around, I will be ready to move on past eggs and egg related conversations. However, it’s not all about the eggs. We have volunteers to coordinate, prizes to purchase, a petting zoo to set up and a pony rides to get in place. Don’t forget inflatable bounce houses and face painting. It’s great to see the community get involved as well – Applebees will be doing our face painting as well as giving out coupons. McDonald’s donated close to 1000 free dessert tickets that we’ll hand out as the first kids arrive. Even OSMI, donated some youth passes. The prizes and donations keep coming in this week and I’m excited to share these goodies with our community.

Just two weeks away from the big day. Until then, I will probably have many conversations revolving around eggs. I guess I can keep my sanity given it’s only a season. One that will quickly be here and gone.

Join us!

Join us!

 

Me again! March 13, 2013

Filed under: Children's Ministry,Cooking Experiments,Family Time,Women in Ministry — Amy Scott @ 2:15 pm

I couldn’t help but laugh yesterday when we got invited out to dinner. Of course, I wanted to see family while they were in town, but that would put my “plans with other people streak” up to 9 social days in row. I’m not sure that is a record, but it’s been a crazy week and a half. Anything but routine. However, that leads me to today. Wednesday. Yes, I’ll have class tonight, but today I feel like myself again and that my life has somewhat gone back to normal.

When I get super busy I notice that I don’t read and write as much. In fact, the last few weeks I really haven’t the desire to pick up a book. Strange, I know. I’ve learned that I only have so much energy and when I choose to invest it being social a lot of the things that feed my introverted soul get push to the wayside.  It’s been a great day for me to journal. I miss my times with a pen in hand or spent at the keyboard (like right now). I also gave a couple hours to reading. Surprisingly, I went from having no books I’m interested in to a pile sitting on the window sill next to me. This feels normal! This feels like the Amy I know so well.

I also had time to make a class snack. I’ve been going a bit retro in my class snacks.  Last week it was no-bake cookies from my 1963 church cook book and today it was Rice Krispie Treats. Out of the blue, they sounded so good! I can’t remember the last time I’ve made them! My favorite part of the process would be cleaning up the bowl with a spoon after it’s all said and done! I can’t let those small krispies covered in marshmallow go to waste, now can I? I’ll do my best not diving into the pan before I have a chance to share them with the girls!

I don’t want people to get me wrong. I’ve had a delightful time socializing over the last week. On Sunday I had a tasty dinner and dessert with my parents and sister. You can’t beat the combo of Chipotle and Menchies! They are a match made in heaven. Monday I met with a children’s pastor from down south. The great thing is we are around the same age and in the same line of work. Living in rural Lewis County means my interaction with other female ministers is limited to non-existent. I really enjoyed getting to know her and I do believe we will meet again in the future. After one coffee date it was off to another, I met with my mentor, Vicki, since I was in her neck of the woods. It was great to catch up since I hadn’t seen her a while. I love my times with her because she encourages me so much. No matter what she is cheering me on and telling me that I can do it. It’s nice to have someone believe in you even if you are unsure of yourself. Like I mentioned at the beginning, yesterday was dinner with Jeremy’s brother while he was over on this side of the mountains. It was a great meal and I’m always glad for an opportunity to see out of town family members.

Today is a short break. A calm to be me and do what I do best. Tomorrow I have a breakfast meeting with another children’s pastor. It’s blind date week for me since I haven’t met either of these children’s pastors before. As valuable as networking can be, I’m always a little on edge when meeting someone for the first time. I have my own insecurities I  have to deal with. Tomorrow night is our local AG business meeting. The nice part is that it will take place at one of my favorite Chinese restaurants! General Tso’s Chicken here I come! So as you can see, even a busy schedule has its perks.  I have a feeling that March will continue at this pace with a Pinewood Derby this weekend and our giant Easter Eggstravaganaza quickly approaching. I’m thankful though for quiet days where I can read and write and make childhood treats for my girls. These days are the ones that hold me together. I finally feel like me again! Here’s hoping the feeling sticks around!

 

Professor for a day and other happenings! March 9, 2013

Filed under: Children's Ministry,Family Time,Women in Ministry — Amy Scott @ 2:42 pm

I told you I would give an update on how teaching a college class went. Here it is… It went great. The class was small – only three young ladies, but that was okay with me. It made for a very informal and conversational environment. We were talking about some heavy topics in children’s ministry so it was great to have that focused time with them. The awesome thing about being a partner with Jeremy in ministry is that opportunities like this are available to me. Because I do a lot of mentoring and personal meetings with students, I had plenty of real life examples to accompany the chapters in the book we were discussing. I love sharing with young people that I am an ordained Assemblies of God minister. It’s not about being cool, but I hope it inspires them to do the same thing and get credentialed. I’m not just a wife or administrative assistant, I am pastor at the front lines. I always want that to be clear. It was an excellent opportunity to share my passion of pastoral care with these college students. Jeremy and I make a wonderful team and between the two of us, we were never searching for something to say next. The time flew by! I was a little concerned that we would fill it all and it happened effortlessly. God is good. They told us we covered the chapters more thoroughly than any of the other subs had done in the past. We felt good that we have given them some solid things to think about. I’m learning more and more that it’s easy to talk about my own personal experiences. I don’t have to be a brilliant teacher, I just have to share what I’ve learned from walking down this path a little farther along in the journey. I love teaching. So who knows, maybe in a few years down the road this whole college professor things might be something worth pursuing. I’ll need to get my master’s degree first, but honestly, I love school and learning. There are so many options and potential for the future. Teaching this class was a win for me and I’m glad that I stepped out of my comfort zone to do it.

Uncle Jeremy playing with the kiddos!

Uncle Jeremy playing with the kiddos!

As, I mentioned in my last post, this week has been a very social one for me. Jeremy joked that people are going to think I’m lying when I say that I’m an introvert. Well, I am not lying. I am just a friendly introvert. It’s been so fun to have family in town this week. After our day in Seattle, Jeremy and I drove back home to hang out with his parents and our niece and nephew. Jeremy hadn’t seen the kids yet, so it was a lot of fun to watch him interact with them. He is a wonderful uncle! Yesterday, we drove down south to have dinner with Jeremy’s brother and his wife. We got dressed up and went to a nice restaurant. It was a lot of fun. Nice to do a date night and go all out! Today my friend, Kaly, and her son, Lucas, come over for brunch and to inspect our new floors. It’s fun to have people over to take a peek at the floors. I had fun playing with Lucas on our new area rug. He loves remotes and coasters. The simplest things can be so entertaining. I also had a great time catching up with Kaly since she doesn’t live in the area so we only see each other once a month or so. She was down visiting her parents. I always appreciate when she includes me in her weekend plans!

Enjoying a dinner out!

Enjoying a dinner out!

The busy life just keeps moving onward. Tomorrow Jeremy’s dad is coming over to help Jeremy assemble his new green house. Jeremy is like a kid at Christmas! We’ll have dinner with my parents and sister tomorrow night as well. Monday, I have two meetings down south. One with another children’s pastor and one with an old friend and mentor. I guess the social streak will be 8 days in a row. Not bad for a little introvert.

 

Social Week March 6, 2013

Filed under: Children's Ministry,Family Time,Women in Ministry — Amy Scott @ 1:48 pm

Even as an introvert, I  do have some weeks where it seems like there is always something going on and people to see. This is one of those weeks. It’s all good fun stuff and I’m getting to hang out with some great people.

One Last Meeting

One Last Meeting

Monday, I met with my A/G Network mentor before she leaves for Africa later this month. We’ve been meeting for about a year on a monthly basis. At first it was a little strange meeting with someone that I’ve never met before. Since she’s been in missions her whole life, I wasn’t sure if we would have anything in common. The great thing is that there is a lot you can learn from people who have walked different roads in life. She’s been able to offer me a whole different perspective on ministry. Plus, she has really great stories about living with no power and running water from time to time. I admire our missionaries so much and what they are willing to do to share the gospel around the world. Her heart and commitment to Africa are inspiring. It was sad to say “good-bye” to our monthly meetings, but thanks to technology, I know we’ll keep in touch. Monday was also a Growth Group night for me so I had some ladies over for our study on One Thousand Gifts. It was a full day!

Hangin' with my niece!

Hangin’ with my niece!

Yesterday, I got the joy of having breakfast with sister-in-law, Andrea, and her kiddos!  It was a great morning. We had doughnuts, which I totally can’t remember the last time I had one. Very tasty! My nephew taught me how to play stick golf on his mom’s phone. Let it be known that anything related to golf I am extremely poor at and this game was no exception. Lucky for me, Carson cheered really loud when I finally got the ball in the hole. It made it worth it. Since this branch of the family tree lives three hours away, it’s always a special treat to see them and hang out.

Today, my sister came over for lunch. I made french toast and she chatted with me while I made no-bake cookies for my class snack. Even though we live within a half hour of each other, her school and work schedule can sometimes be opposite of mine. It was fun to catch up on life and just chill and relax. One of the great things about hanging out with April is that there really is no frills necessary. We sit, we talk, we eat. Nothing fancy. I don’t mind being that kind of hostess!

The big day of the week will be tomorrow when Jeremy and I teach a class at Northwest University. Just call me Professor Amy! Jeremy and I went over the material this morning and I think we’re set. Now we just got to do it. Hopefully it goes well and I can add it to the list of things I’ve accomplished. It’s just one day… I do realize it’s not the same thing as teaching a semester. Baby steps. After the class, we’ll see if traffic allows me to go to a family party that evening. So the socialness just keeps on coming!

Friday we have a dinner plans down south with Jeremy’s brother and his wife. I haven’t seen them in a long time, so it will be great to catch up. We’re going to a new restaurant for Jeremy and I. It will be a bit of a food adventure. I like checking out new places.

I will admit that Saturday is looking pretty good to me. Yes, I will still have church in the evening, but I’ll have the ability to stay in pajamas until late afternoon if I want to. I’ll need a little down time after all this socializing. It’s a good week filled with fun opportunities with awesome people. I probably won’t have much time for blogging, but I promise to let you know how the teaching experience goes. Maybe this will inspire me to get my master’s degree and become a college professor…. who knows!

 

A Winter Wonderland Sleepover! February 16, 2013

Filed under: Children's Ministry — Amy Scott @ 7:43 pm

One of the biggest events of my calendar year has just come and gone. I will admit that I’m still in the post-sleepover haze, but it’s a good haze. It speaks of working hard and giving it my all. The theme for our 9th annual sleepover was Winter Wonderland. It was a lot of fun to transform the building and make the theme really come alive.

Winter WonderlandDecorating is a key part of any gathering because it sets the vibe and tone for the event. We had white Christmas lights on as they walked into our main meeting space. These were left up from the Valentine’s day dinner the day before, but once we hung snowflakes and blue and white paper lanterns from them, you’d never know they were a leftover decoration. Our main space had snowflakes hanging from ceiling. The tables were decorated with alternating blue, white and silver tablecloths. The centerpieces were lanterns with flickering flame-less candles inside. We had two Christmas trees on stage with more white lights. The bottom of the stage was outlined in snowflake garland. Our background screen welcomed the girls with a snowflake pattern looped giving it the effect that it was snowing in the room. I love the details that go into making a theme come to life!

All our activities centered around theme. We had two crafts – one was a tissue paper mitten where they made a stain glass effect on a clear plastic mitten. We also had a station for them to decorate their own foam snowflakes. Each girl used jewels, markers and puffy paint to make a snowflake as unique as themselves. We had two game rotations. The girls got to do a snowball fight (crumpled paper, not real snow – we don’t have any of that around here) and play winter sports using the Xbox Kinect. Our final rotation was snack. Who doesn’t love a warm mug of chocolate on a cold winter day? We did a special treat and let them make their our mug brownies. It was a hit and the room smelled amazing! It’s hard to beat a recipe that allows you to have a fresh, hot brownie in a minute using the microwave.

Once the activities were all done and the girls were settling down, we had a great group devotion done by our School of Ministry intern, Nikki. She shared how we are all God’ s princesses and she got the girls really excited to read the scriptures she was sharing. They were all told how beautiful God thinks they are and how he made them just the way they are because he loves us. At the end of her lesson, each girl was given a hair clip that looked like a tiara.

After the devotion time, we split the girls up into two different rooms. The younger girls watch a short movie and the older girls watch a full length movie. Once the movies are over it’s bed time! We had a great group of sleepers this year, but that didn’t help me get more sleep. I usually can’t stay asleep  for a full hour the whole night. Too many sounds to keep me awake. I feel responsible for all these girls so my ears are super tuned in. It’s all good though because I got a good long nap this afternoon.

The morning starts with waking up them – super chipper like – they all thought I was morning person! I had them fooled! We ate a wonderful breakfast of Costco muffins together and then it’s time to pack up and clean up. This one hour is the most transformative of the whole event. The building goes from being completely overrun with girls to totally empty and clean. It’s like we were never really there! 

I’m still getting my pictures downloaded, so I’ll share a few in the days to come! It was another great sleepover and I’m so blessed to serve these young ladies and their moms. I’m also so beyond blessed by all the leaders who came alongside me and helped to pull off this giant party. This is team effort! I certainly couldn’t have done it alone!

 

Comfort Cookies and Other Things I Need February 6, 2013

Filed under: Children's Ministry,Cooking Experiments,Women in Ministry — Amy Scott @ 3:44 pm

My day hasn’t turned out the way I expected. It hasn’t been bad, but it’s had a few bumps that I didn’t foresee. It seems like my week has been a bit bumpy as well. I keep trying to stay on top of it all and I just don’t feel like I’m keeping up.  So in order to avoid a panic attack, here are the few things keeping me together.

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies!I wasn’t sure I was going to have time to make a snack for my class tonight, but things fell into place and I was able to home this afternoon. I decided to make Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies because oatmeal and chocolate are some homey and yummy and comforting. I needed to make something that would feed my soul and these cookies are the ticket. I had just enough oatmeal on hand and they turned out great. Tonight is a snack that I made for myself more than the girls and that is okay.

Prayer has been the one constant in my life over the last week. While I’m pretty routine with my prayer time, it seems like this last week I’ve stepped it up. When you’re empty, the one place to fill up is at the feet of the Father. This morning especially I took a lot of time to read my Bible and pulled out my prayer journal to pen all my thoughts to the Lord. Throughout my day, the constant connection to the Lord is what brings peace and assurance to my heart. When I talk with God it reminds me how small I am and I how I really can’t do this without him. Prayer has been sustaining my life and giving feet to my faith. Without it, I’m sure I would fall apart.

When the stress level rises I turn on the music. I’ve been listening to Switchfoot and The Rocket Summer. I love losing myself in lyrics and singing along to these heart songs. As the music fills my home I find myself relaxing and my blood pressure lowering.

I’ve been rereading some great books by authors I dearly love and have touched my heart. I’m reading both Cold Tangerines by Shauna Niequist and One Thousand Gifts by Ann Voskamp.  Both books are celebration of life and about finding light in the dark. It’s so good for me to be reminded. God is here in the small moments of my daily life. His gifts sustain me and I continue to count them because they are like bread, they give me life. Authors can good friends and I’ve been hanging out with some the best buddies through the page.

However, I can’t spend my entire life making cookies, listening to good music and reading soulful books. Today is Wednesday which means ministry. I have dinner with a young student whose family is going through some very serious trials. I’m not exactly sure what to tell this tender heart as we converse.  I will do my best to encourage her and to give her peace. I’m praying for God’s words because mine seem so flat and not enough. This situation is bigger than us and that means we need to give it to God. I hope I can help her see that God is walking beside her each second of this difficult journey. After dinner it will be time for church and I will see my class of girls for the first time in two weeks. The cold had me down last week, so I’m happy to rejoin them. Today is a week before the sleepover deadline so I’ll be nagging them pretty hard to get those permission slips in.  I also feel like such an adult when I remind them of deadlines.

Speaking of being an adult, I still need to clean the kitchen up from my cookie baking! Signing out!

 

What Goes Around… January 28, 2013

Filed under: Children's Ministry,Women in Ministry — Amy Scott @ 8:45 pm

I’m not sure if it’s Children’s Ministry or just working at a church in general, but I get exposed to a lot of bugs. January has been a pretty illness prone month for our staff at Bethel and the Scott household seems to be no exception. At the beginning of the month it was the flu. I only got a touch of it, but my hubby got it bad. Now it’s my turn to go down, not with the flu, but with a terrible sore throat. The strange thing  is seemingly came out of nowhere.

This weekend I preached in Children’s Church because our curriculum had us at Deborah, Barak and Jael. I just couldn’t pass up a chance to empower our young girls. I’m a firm believer that Deborah is a prime example of God giving leadership to women. I also think it’s impressive that Jael was so brave and received the honor for the victory. After preaching my voice felt horse and I thought I was just a weakling who over used my vocal chords. In the middle of my afternoon plans, my throat started to hurt and hasn’t stopped since.

I wonder if it has anything to do with the conversation I had with a student yesterday… She came up to me at the beginning of worship and asked me what to do because she has strep. I told her to listen to the music and in her heart follow along and tell God how much she loves him. I was assuming that she was fine to be at church, but now I wonder…

I also have a friend who was down last week with a cold and still getting over it… I tried to keep my contact limited, but…. Oh well, I guess that is the thing about a church job. It’s hard to keep your distance from people. Let’s face it, people show up at places all the time when they should be at home in bed. I do it too. We push ourselves, especially when it comes to church because it would be unholy or we want to see our friends or we don’t want to let some down when we should stay home. I’m sure people do the same thing with work and sending their kids to school. We just don’t have time to be sick. I know I don’t.

However, I am sick. It doesn’t matter where I got it. I’ve spent the day watching mindless movies on Netflix and trying to not swallow. Watching mindless movies is not so bad, but I’m finding that unless I want to lay in a pile of my own drool, swallowing is a must. Arg. Here’s hoping this bug goes away as quickly as it found it me. I’ve heard of the 24 flu so many this will be the 24 hour cold. I’m just praying against strep throat. The last thing I need to a trip to the doctor and meds.

Okay, I think this qualifies as the most productive I’ve been today. I should probably sign out before I undo all the good I did by resting all day. It seems like no matter what – what goes around seems to find me. Thank you children of Bethel Church for shooting holes in my immune system. I can’t say that I love sharing every bug with you, but I guess I’d rather get it from people I love.

Time to read a book in a bed. Praying for a sore throat free day tomorrow! Who knows, it could happen! I believe in miracles and healings! Amen!