Things that make me go hmmm....

2008-06-26T00:16:00.002-04:00

Well, everyone, it's official. Ryan is the new youth minister for Grand Central! He applied for the job and the elders met with him yesterday and he accepted. So, YEAH to Ryan!!!!! HIs official first day is the Monday after July 4th because we will be on vacation until that. We are at Work Camp right now, and we are exhausted, but it has been soooo worth it. Pray for good weather the rest of the week so houses can get painted. Thanks to everyone who had been praying for Ryan and this job. We love you all!

2008-04-29T09:20:00.002-04:00

Teaching..........I love it! I could not have asked for a better job! I teach at a small Christian school in Parkersburg and I love it! It's totally different than what goes on in public schools. Ryan is teaching 6th grade at Madison Elementary, but his job is cut at the end of the school year due to 6th grade going to Middle School. So we don't know what the future holds as far as his job! I hope to stay at NCS as long as I teach! That's how much I love it! Ryan and I bought a house in December, so we are busy fixing it up and making it ours. We are so busy in the evenings after we teach all day that we are hardly home. Yet, our house always manages to get messy even without us there! It must be our cat! haha Well, not much else to update everyone one. Have a good day!

Teaching Update

2007-09-14T16:20:00.000-04:00

School is going really well! I just finished teaching the 3rd week and I absolutely love it! I use to say that 5th grade was my favorite grade, but I have completely fell in love with 3rd!!! I think I could teach 3rd grade the rest of my teaching career! I have 15 students, 10 girls and 5 boys, and they are wonderful! I love all of them! Everyone is upbeat and positive at North, totally different than public schools. All of the teachers are ladies which is really neat. We have a devotional together every Tuesday and I feel that I have already made really stong relationships with several of the ladies! I love it!!!! I have some classroom pets: 3 hamsters and 1 Beta fish. The hamsters are Wilma, Betty, and Chuncky and the fish is Fred. I bought Wilma and Betty and a student bought Chunky. I apparently bought Betty pregnant because I walked into my room this past Monday morning and heard strange noises. I walked over to the cage several times before Betty sat up and all of the little babies popped their heads up. They were really pink when they were born, but 4 days later that already have lots of black fuzz coming in. The mom is a black bear hamster and it looks like they are all going to take after her! Can you imagine the kinds of questions and comments I get from 3rd graders!?! And we have already discussed how we are going to split 7 baby hamsters among 15 students. We are taking pictures of the babies as the grow and change so we can look back on it later! It has been a great teaching experience though!

Now, on a completely different topic:

Sunday we had S.O.S. (September Outreach Sundays) at GC and Express and Ambassadors from OVU performed. While Express was singing an upbeat song I looked over and saw a little girl probably between 2-3 and she was dancing her bottom off! She was wiggling and jiggling and didn't have a care in the world. I couldn't stop thinking about how innocent and care-free she was. She danced with such happiness and excitement..........isn't that how we should be all of the time? We're saved, we have hope, Jesus has washed our sins away and made us clean......Oh, to be a little girl again.

MY NEW JOB!!!!!

2007-06-06T14:01:00.001-04:00

Well, again it has been forever again since I last blogged. I know...I'm horrible! We don't have the internet at home, so I don't have much of a chance to blog. However, today I had to! I had an interview at North Christian a few weeks ago. They were hiring for 3 different positions so I thought I should at least give it a shot. The interview went really well and a few weeks later they asked me to come back to talk to the Pastor of the church. The Pastor couldn't come because he had a toothache, but we had the meeting anyway. They told me they hoped to know by the end of the month (May) who they were going to hire, but as of June 1 I hadn't heard anything. I thought that maybe they hired other applicants and that's why I hadn't heard. I talked to one of my references and she told me that they had called her on May 31 to ask her about me, so that made me feel a little better. On June 5, the principal called and asked if we could do a breakfast meeting at Bob Evans today. So, at 9 I met him for breakfast and after we ordered our food he informed me that out of 40 applicants I had been selected as one of the three. In the interview they asked me what grade I would want to teach if I could chose any grade. I said 5th, so because of that they put me in 3rd grade. I am now officially a 3rd grade teacher at North Christian School!!!!! Yeah!!! I'm so excited! For those of you who have been praying for me thank you. I'll try to keep you posted more often if I can!

Forever...and ever....and ever....

2007-04-09T20:48:00.000-04:00

So it has been forever since I last posted. A lot had been going on since December 18th. Sorry! I'm not going to have enough time to write about it tonight. Ryan is on his way to pick me up from my mom's (I was helping her decorate) and then we are rushing home to watch "Thank God Your Here!" It looks so funny. When I get another spare moment I will try to update everyone!

Happy Holidays!

2006-12-18T10:09:00.000-05:00

Happy Holidays everyone! I hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas and New Year! Friday is my last day to work at Powell Apartments. If you didn't know, OVU owns the apartments, but as of January 1st, we will be owned by a new company. Luckily I am also subbing, so I will still have some type of an income. Subbing has been slow, so hopefully it will pick up soon! Ryan is also subbing as well, and he's still employed through the church part time working with the Powell and Young Adult ministries. We would love to land a full-time teaching job next fall, so pray for that! My brother moved back to Parkersburg and is going to go back to OVU in the spring! I'm glad he's back. He had a really rough time at Harding this past semester, so I'm glad he's back in town. Devin is still in the hospital, but hopefully she'll come home soon. Her birthday is on Friday, the 22nd, and she won't be home to celebrate her birthday, and we're not sure about Christmas yet, so pray for her. She's away from home and it's hard on all of us. Other than that, there's not too much going on. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Thank God for PRAYER!!!!

2006-10-23T15:24:00.000-04:00

My family is going through a lot of stuff right now....if you could just pray for God to show us what He wants us to do right now, that would be greatly appreciated!!! We are trying to see God's will for our family, but when the storm clouds roll in it's hard to see the sun shining. What would we do if we didn't have prayer?

Kingdom Assignment

2006-09-12T09:55:00.000-04:00

So, how cool is this.....

A small group of GC members read a book called The Kingdom Assignment by Denny and Leesa Bellesi. (www.kingdomassignment.com) There was no way that we could pass this opportunity up. At the Bellesi's church in CA, they passed out $10,000 ($100 to 100 people) to the congregation and told them that if they accepted the money they had to agree to three conditions:

1. This is not your money, but God's.
2. Do something outside the walls of the church to further God's kingdom.
3. Return in 90 days and tell us what you did with the $100.

We ended up having more than 100 volunteers, but we didn't have extra money to hand out. A member saw that there were 6 people left up front after church without $100. They handed the minister 6 $100 bills that they just happened to have in their wallet that day. Another lady was chosen to be in the group of 100, but she didn't receive any money either. A member saw that she didn't have money, so he handed her 2 $50 bills. How awesome! Besides the people in the group that had read the book, no one at church saw this coming. It was great! This just happened this past Sunday, September 10th, but we have already heard a ton of stories from this challenge. Someone called the newspaper and radio about the whole ordeal, some people are either already using their money or have a good idea as to what they are going to do with it, and some are having a tough time with it. They have to remember that it's God's money, not theirs, so some feel a huge responsibility regarding how the money will be used. We want them to pray and ask God for direction and guidance for this. Some might struggle with God about what He wants them to do. Keep checking in over the next 90 days (at least) to see what happens. This is going to be amazing!!!

2006-09-08T11:14:00.000-04:00

"Well done is better than well said."

~ Sir Winston Churchhill

Awsome? I think so!

Wedding Pictures!

2006-08-29T20:59:00.000-04:00

My nephew, Peyton...isn't he cute!

Ryan & I at the reception! It was a beautiful spring day!

Ryan & I right after the ceremony...we had to sneak another quick kiss in!

Mom & I........how cute are we!

I love this!

It's Official

2006-08-25T16:32:00.000-04:00

Well, it's official! No, J.T., I am NOT pregnant! I am officially a Wood County Substitute! I know, it would be better to have a full time teaching job, but I am fine with subbing for a year. And they could call me at anytime and I could get a full time job! So, I am pretty excited! I got my photo ID taken today! Gorgeous, I tell you! Absolutely gorgeous! I don't have much time to blog right now, but I wanted to let all of the teens know that I could show up in your classroom someday! haha How fun would that be? I'm a mean teacher! Oh, and we are currently in the process of creating a Powell Ministry blog. We already have it set up, we just have to add more posts, pictures, info, etc. So keep it in mind, keep praying for the ministry, and spread the word! http://powellministry.blogspot.com

I Love NOLA!!!!

2006-08-09T16:17:00.000-04:00

Well, what a week. A group of 24 teens and adults returned home Saturday morning around 3:45 am from one long and very hard week in New Orleans. Now, if you know me even slightly, I am not much for being hot and sticky and sweat? I don't think so! But there was no way that sweat was going to stop me from going. We went to New Orleans for one week to gut out a house. Our group was big enough to split in half, so we actually gutted 2 houses. By gutting I mean that everything, EVERYTHING had to come out. We took out personal belongings, refrigerators, ovens, toilets, tubs, water tanks, floor tiles, ceilings, dry wall, etc., etc., etc., until we had concrete floors and the studs remaining. Talk about exhausting!

Our group was wonderful, though. Our teens didn't complain. Our adults didn't complain. We all worked very well and very hard together. It was a trip I wouldn't trade for anything. Almost a year later, Aug. 27th to be exact, New Orleans still looks like a ghost town. Businesses are still closed, houses have fallen down, some were torn down because it was so damaged. A lot of people are under the impression that everything is back to the way it use to be. But it's not. We drove down the streets and saw the X's on the house were it told who searched the house for bodies, when they searched, and how many bodies were found. As we were driving down the road, I saw one 0 after another after another and began to think that this area was lucky that it was only property damage and no one died in their home. Until we passed a house that said 2 and then another that said 3. That's when it hit me. I began to realize how big of a tragedy this really was and still is. Although I don't think I will ever fully understand how huge it once was, I do understand that I am lucky. No, more than lucky. I am blessed. I have a home, friends, family.....I can only begin to imagine the hardships that the residents went through and are still going through.

One of my favorite things to do was to wave to people out the window of our huge charter bus. Now, they are tinted windows, but people knew exactly why there was a charter bus going through their neighborhood. (I guess it could have been the neon yellow shirts that gave us away.) The best thing was when people would wave at us first. They were very appreciative of everything that we were doing. Someone told a member of our group that it's because of the church groups like ours that New Orleans is still surviving. No doubt about it, we were showing Jesus to New Orleans.

The night before our first day of gutting we had an orientation about what to expect. They told us to take a break every 15-20 minutes. I looked at Ryan and we both chuckled. Yet, by the first 15 minutes of work on the first day, I realized that they weren't kidding. We were wearing work boots, long pants, a T-shirt (if not 2 T-shirts), protective glasses, gloves, and the worst thing.....a doctor's mask. I don't know what they're called, but I do know that they were ridiculously hot! Not to mention that we were also ripping out the entire insides of a house. During the first break, I was looking up and down the street and the other houses and the destruction to them and I see this guy wearing shorts, tennis shoes, and a T-shirt which was NOT bright yellow. At first, I didn't have a clue as to who he was. Then I realized that it was the bus driver. Paul, who drove us around during the week was a Christian, too. He is from Bridgeport, WV and was he ever wonderful? He worked with us 3 of the 4 days. Why not the 4th? He is an associate minister at his church and Thursday was his only chance to prepare his sermon. How sweet is that? I really think that he gave the group an extra push when we started to really feel worn. We loved him. And I think he loved us, too. When we switched drivers on the way home, he cried as he got off of the bus and drove away. He was an amazing man!

I could type for weeks and weeks on the whole experience, but I don't think I will ever be able to share with you what I was able to take away from New Orleans. The people who were impacted by Katrina still need us. They need prayers, support, help rebuilding their homes and their lives. We heard someone say that if the rebuilding process stays at this rate, it will take another 10 years to get New Orleans to be anything similar to what it was. I will never forget my experience there!

I LOVE NOLA!!!!!!!!

Check out the Grand Central Youth Ministry link to check out a very small amount of pictures.

The Many Mysteries of Mystery Mission Trip

2006-07-21T09:54:00.000-04:00

OK....OK....I am sorry for not posting lately. It's just that my summer has been packed and I haven't had much of a chance to sit and just update everything. So, I'll update you now while I still can. On July 8, Ryan and I loaded up the U-Haul with VBS supplies, luggage, sleeping bags and a few miscellaneous items for the Mystery Mission Trip. The kids grabbed their seats on the church bus and we were even able to leave 15 minutes earlier than scheduled. By the way, teens, Ryan and I were very impressed that everyone was on time. Now, for those of you who still don't know the mystery location, we drove about an hour and a half out of town, ate lunch, turned the bus around and came back home to Powell Apartments and Aqua Isle. The original plan was to go North and eat at the food court in a mall. So we leave the church, drive through Williamstown, and cross the bridge into Marietta, Ohio. About 3 minutes past the bridge, a crazy man speeds up next to me and is waving his arm. My first guess was that he was drunk, so I almost didn't bother looking. But, I did and it was a good thing I did. As he's pointing backwards he's yelling something about a door being opened. I have no idea what he's talking about, so I told Ryan that we should probably pull over to see what he's talking about. I look over again to acknowledge that we understood him and he starts yelling something like, " The door....on the U-Haul....it's open!" Ok, so we are now sitting in the parking lot of Auto Zone. Ryan, Adam, and myself jump out to take a look. And, the door to the U-haul was open. Not just cracked, but completely open. Somehow, the door managed to come up. We had latched the door properly before leaving and we even put the pad lock on it. We gave the lock and the door a couple good yanks before leaving, but obviously that didn't matter. Not only did the door open up, but it took the latch and lock with it and was jammed into the track that the door sits on. Since we were at an Auto Zone, Adam went in and bought this huge screwdriver. We pulled and pushed and finally unstuck the stupid latch and lock. Next was checking to see what we had lost. The kids got out and we had them look for their luggage, sleeping bag, and pillow if it wasn't with them in the bus. We ended up losing more than we thought. While we are sorting through everything, Ryan walks along the road all the way back to the bridge to see if there is anything in the road. Nothing! Where was everything? We loaded everything back up, checked the door....excessively.....and drove back to the church. We thought we might find the lost items if we drove back. We get to one of the main intersections in Williamstown and there it is......a pillow, which happens to be Ryan's. I ran out to grab it, but right before I got there a car was nice enough to run right over the stupid thing. I grab the pillow and jump back into the van. As we pass the place where the pillow was found, we see what could have been a cookie cake. Ah, yes, the cookie cake. Matthew Jonas, who turned 18 on the very day, was sent with 2 cookie cakes and a few 2 liters of pop for his party. Let's just say that we were left with 1 cookie cake and we had milk. hehe Poor Matthew. And later we found some traces of the purple icing on Ryan's pillow case. Wonderful! So we drive all of the way back to the church and all we found was Ryan's pillow, the remains of the cookie cake, and the 2 liters, which had exploded on the road and on the back of the U-Haul. Now the great thing about not really having a specific route to take is that we decided to drive to Clarksburg for lunch. And if the kids were even somewhat good with directions they would have realized that we weren't going North at all! haha The majority of the kids didn't figure out where we were going until about 20 minutes outside of Parkersburg when they saw the "so many miles to" signs. Lovely Jenna had been persuaded by the teens in the back of the bus that we weren't going home, but that there was a Parkersburg, Pennsylvania. Oh, Jenna, I love you! We stayed all week at Stewart Hall which is the Junior/Senior dorm at OVU. We had a devo that night and the kids were asked to tell their honest immediate reactions and thoughts. Ryan and I had thought about this moment several times. What if they are so mad that they don't want to do it now? A lot of our teens said that once they found out we were doing it at Powell were fine. Actually, it was so neat to hear some of them say that they were very excited. Our goal was to teach them that , yes, you can go to another city, state, country to do a mission trip, but don't forget about your own city. We talked a lot about how God puts you where you live for a reason. We not only did the VBS for Powell kids, but we also had kids from Aqua Isle, which is right down the road, come too. We had been bringing a large group of kids to church on Wednesdays, but because of summer, our numbers were really low. And it's not just about the numbers, but we brought 11 kids to church this past Wednesday. That was great! We even had 3 from Aqua Isle come to T.A.G. last night. The Mystery Mission Trip was excellent. Molly, Ryan's mom, cooked lunch and dinner for us the entire week. We have never had such amazing meals on a mission trip before. The kids couldn't stop thanking her. It was wonderful! We have teens helping with the Powell Ministry who weren't involved before. Ryan and I couldn't have asked for the trip to have been any better..........except we could have done without the U-Haul story.........but that's where the memories are made, right? Thanks to everyone who participated and who helped. It really meant a lot to us.

OK, so next Friday a group from GC leaves for New Orleans. We are going down to do some disaster relief work. It's gonna be hot, but I won't complain. How can I complain about heat, when these people don't even have a home? I have just recently came to realize how blessed I really am. We leave on July 28th and come home on August 5th. Ryan and I are sneaking in a very short (one day, one night) vacation before we head out. It's the only us time that we have really had this summer. I miss him! We are going to a minor league baseball game and just relaxing while we can. School will be starting for kids before we know it and we have yet to find a teaching job. So, please keep both of us in your prayers. We are planning on subbing through the first year if we have to, but we would love to have our very own classroom and our very own students. How exciting! Well, keep the GC group in your prayers as we travel to New Orleans next week.

"Let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will know what God wants you to do, and you will know how good and pleasing and perfect His will really is." ~ Romans 12:2

Mid-Ohio Valley Work Camp ~ 2006

2006-06-22T15:27:00.000-04:00

Well, this week of work has been interesting. Usually I work Monday through Thursday 12-4 and Friday 8-12. This week is Work Camp and I have been helping feed about 125 people or so lunch everyday. So my hours are definitely different, but I have had a lot of fun. It sounds like Work Camp was successful yet again, even though it is officially not over until sometime tomorrow. And, considering that stupid Satan was trying to ruin the week...well did we have news for him...haha There is no way that rain will ever stop Work Camp from happening.

Last night there was an illusionist and he was amazing. He did a rubberband trick right in front of my face, literally, and I am still amazed. He was great! The speaker for Work Camp this year has been awesome. He knows how to communicate to everyone, teens and adults alike. He has done a great job. Last night he made us bow our head and imagine that we were at our own funeral. He made us listen to what friends and family said about us. He made us think about whether or not people were at peace with the life we lived. He really hit home with a lot of people. So, thinking about that, I want to let all of my friends and family know just how much I love them and I am truly thankful for all of the memories, blessings, and relationships we have shared. I love each and everyone of you!

Anyhoo, please keep my sister in your prayers. Just when she starts doing great and things look promising, something triggers her to react negatively and it sets her back. So, please pray for her and my mom. My mom drives to Barboursville at least once a week and it really wears her out.

Well, I think that is about it. I am ready for Work Camp to be over so I can see my husband again. haha I'll write later.....

Just to let you know...

2006-06-08T16:06:00.002-04:00

This summer is going to be crazy. We are almost finished moving from one apartment to another, we are both working, and we have a ton of extra things going on over the summer. Ryan has something every week during July. We are both going to Mystery Mission Trip, especially since it was his idea, we are now going to New Orleans to do some Disaster Relief work, he will be doing Work Camp, which I will go to when I am not working, he is counseling a week of church camp...they tried to get me to come, but I don't do bugs very well, especially spiders..., we have our yearly VBS at GC, not to mention we still do all of our usual events with Powell residents. WOW.....it's going to be crazy...but I'm sure it will be a lot of fun and very worthwhile. OK...I have to go home to fix dinner for the hubby....more to come...when I get a chance!

Yeah for Ryan & Jessie!!!

2006-06-01T15:10:00.000-04:00

Ok, so nothing new has really happened since yesterday....EXCEPT....Ryan and I found out that we passed our tests that make us certified teachers. Yeah! It's a good thing since they were really expenisve. $200 a test....and since we both had to take it that made $400 and if we didn't pass and had to take it again then...well you know....so that was great news. Well, that's the only new information I have for you today!

Update!!!!!

2006-05-31T15:43:00.000-04:00

Holy cow....it's been a long time since I last wrote on here! So much has changed since my last post. Ryan and I graduated from Ohio Valley University on May 6 both with Elementary Education degrees. Hallelujah! That is very exciting for us! Ryan is interning with Grand Central Church of Christ's Youth Group again this summer, so that will definitely keep us busy! I am working at Powell Apartments as a part time receptionist, I guess that's what you would call my job, but I do about anything they tell me to. Right, Melissa? Ryan and I have planned a Mystery Mission Trip for the teens in July. We are very excited and it's a lot of fun because the teens don't know where we are going or what we are even going to do. They like to try and trick us into telling them a little too much information, but we are doing a really good job at keeping it a secret. So for you teens who read this, don't bother trying!!! haha We are almost completely moved to our new apartment in Vienna which is very cozy. It's comparable to our married dorm apartment, but we have a garage under us as well as no neighbors on the other side of the wall or under the floor. It has a nice big deck that my grandpa.....and my brother.....put on, so we can relax out there. It's really nice and we plan to live there for a while. Ryan and I are job hunting in the area for teaching positions for the fall. We would gladly accept any K-6th grade job in Wood County. I would love to be hired at North Christian School in Parkersburg. I love the atmosphere there and I think it would be an ideal job for me. I have the application, but I am still waiting on my test scores to come through! Grr....we have waited too long for them. They should be here by now. Well, I am going home to the new apartment so that we can cook dinner and do a little more work on it tonight! It's coming together quite nicely, but we still have a little bit yet to move. Thanks to everyone who helped us with moving and getting the apartment ready! You all were wonderful! That's a wrap!

ONLY 12 DAYS LEFT!

2006-04-17T18:28:00.000-04:00

Ryan and I have been student teaching since the beginning of January. With only 12 days left, we are very excited to graduate. We have been at OVU for four long years and we are ready to be finished! We already have an apartment lined up after we graduate. We can start moving some stuff in on May 25, but it's officially ours on June 1. Yeah! It's a garage apartment right behind Dairy Queen in Vienna. We are renting it from 36th Street C of C, so they are giving us a good deal on it as well as helping us update the apartment with major repairs and providing paint. They are also being nice enough to let us bring Sidney, Ryan's cat, with us! We are definitely experience senioritis now! Ryan is employed by Grand Central C of C again this summer, so we will continue with that. We have been very blessed with working with the youth group. Everything is looking good for the summer so far. I'm still looking around for a job that will work with Ryan's schedule since we will need to travel a lot during the summer. Well, I know it's been forever since the last time I blogged, but I have to get back to making lesson plans for this week. Oh, and Ryan, I love you!!!!!!

A Letter from Ruth!

2005-11-30T21:42:00.000-05:00

Hey everyone! I have been really busy and haven't had a lot of time to write lately, but I wanted to let all of you GC teens know that we received a letter from Ruth, our adopted child from Peru. I wanted to let everyone know what it said, so here it is:

I greet you in the precious name of our Lord Jesus Christ. I write you on behalf of Ruth who in these moments is very happy to know you are her sponsor. She expresses much love for all the people she knows, she is very affectionate and her favorite color is pink. Her favorite food is fried chicken with potatoes. The child lives with her parents and her two older siblings; at home she has some animals like a big pig, a dog named Sultan and a cat named Miau. Now she is in 1st grade, because of her age she was as a free student but she has done a good job and she is in the 1st grade. She thanks you so much, many kisses and hugs. God bless you!

Teens, just as a side note: I received a letter from Compassion international that due to Christmas fast approaching, they must receive Decembers' payment by Dec. 13th. We also still need to send in our money for November. Please PLEASE bring $2-$3 dollars on Sunday and we should be in good shape. We, as a group committed to sponsoring Ruth, not just a couple of us. We need everyone to help us with this. See myself or JT to give $$$$!

Love you all bunches! Hope everyone is safe and healthy! God bless!

~Powell 2005~

2005-11-01T15:32:00.000-05:00

All I have to say is:

Woo-hoo!!! Praise God for Powell!!!

TEMPORARY Parents!

2005-09-30T19:43:00.000-04:00

Well, I woke up this morning at 5:30 to get ready to leave for COSI with my Methods of Teaching Science class at OVU! I left at 6:45 to make it school on time to leave by 7:30. Ryan and I are temporary parents this weekend. We are watching Hannah and Rachel from church while their parents take a weekend vacation. So, for the time being, we have a home, a Jeep, 2 daughters, a deck, swing, the works! Someone also reminded me that I am also a temporary soccer mom! haha That's funny! (Right, Kelli?) I woke the girls up at 6:45 this morning and then left and didn't get home until 7:00. I am pooped! I had a good day and I am looking forward to hanging out with the gals and Ryan for the rest of the weekend.

God's at Work!

2005-09-26T23:28:00.000-04:00

This evening, SNEA (Student National Education Association) had a guest speaker come and talk about a new policy that is becoming mandatory in the state. She started off her talk with an interesting story and I just had to share it. She and her husband are both teachers in Wood Co. Her husband has something wrong with a disc and is unable to stand for long periods of time. She took him to the YMCA tonight to swim since it might help relax him. After he left to go to a class, which is out of the city by a while, she realized an hour later that her keys to her car were with him. This was 50 minutes before she was to come and speak to the students at OVU. She went inside and, not having a spare key to this particular vehicle, found a key to a car that she and her husband owned over 5 years ago. She said she stood by her door and prayed, "God, please let this work!" She inserted the key into the door and it worked. Not only did it open the door, but it started the car, too. Now, if that isn't God at work........

Alive, Alert, Awake, but Not Enthusiastic

2005-09-23T07:04:00.000-04:00

7:00 AM. I am getting ready to observe, then school, then lunch, then observing, then......When will I ever get a break? I am running around Wood County like a chicken with its head cut off. I drop Ryan off here while I go there and then I pick him up from here and we go there.....GGRRRRR!!! I just want one day to do nothing! After a while of going crazy like this, I begin to get very burnt out on life. The other day I was sitting in the car waiting for class to start and I was listening to KLove on the radio. One of the guys was talking about how we lead such hectic lives and he mentioned Psalm 116:7. Now, my Bible reads differently than his must have (wink wink) but he stated that Psalm 116 tells us to "relax a little, God has been good to you!" I love that! In fact, I think that I have found a new favorite Bible verse. I, as well as a ton of others, need to just relax and enjoy what God has done for us. (Does it remind you of the Pizza Guy? haha) Have a great day

Pizza Guys and Lawn Chairs?

2005-09-09T18:36:00.000-04:00

Once again, I drove by the local pizza place to see that kiddie pools are no longer cool to sit in, but that the new fad is to sit on a reclining lawn chair. I strongly believe that these guys are trying to get a tan before winter approaches . I can't help but to just laugh out loud out them. Not because I am making fun of them, but because they bring a sense of light-heartedness to my day. I always mention the guys to Ryan and he says that I am obsessed. Okay, so maybe I can't help myself from looking in their direction when I am driving down the road, but how could I resist looking at two guys sitting in a kiddie pool, or in this case, on a lawn chair, holding signs encouraging us to buy their pizza? I guess you could say that I am obsessed with something that makes smile and laugh and feel joy! Wouldn't it be wonderful if everyone could feel this kind of joy all of the time? They can! All they have to do is know God. If the answer is that simple, then why don't people flock to him? If you know God, then you know what kind of joy I am talking about.And if you don't, remember how you feel the next time you drive by and see those pizza guys sitting out front. Take that feeling and multiply it by infinity. That's God!

Rain, rain, go away!

2005-09-01T18:42:00.000-04:00

Finally, the rain has come to an end, but the people down south are facing much more serious problems. I could honestly never imagine myself going through a hurricane and trying to start over again. My prayers and thoughts are with them. This is one of those events where people question why God allowed something this horrible to happen and sometimes I don't know what to say. I don't think God did it to punish those people, but it happened and now they have to join together to overcome the trials that they are going to go through. I don't think that I will ever forget the images I have seen of the damage and the stranded people and the children clinging to adults, but I will also never forget the amazing power that God has. I think that events like this help us to refocus and regroup and remember what is really important in life.

"I can only imagine........."

But I don't wanna go.....

2005-08-30T18:51:00.000-04:00

Ryan and I started our senior year of college this past Wednesday and instantly our lives became hectic. Something about school automatically adds more stress than any other commitment. I have 18 credit hours with 30 hours of observations and I don't know where I am going to put them in my schedule. Ryan and I are co-presidents of SNEA this year, which is a professional organization for teachers. I am working as a Development Associate for Ohio Valley University this fall. Ryan is also still working with the youth group until the end of the year. We are involved in so many things already that homework doesn't start until 10 or later. My schedule this year is so busy that I, Jessie Marie Ice, had to make a decision a not join choir. I have been in some type of choir for years now and its going to be odd not being in the group, but I had to prioritize. For all of you who are students out there, my advice is to still relax (Just Breathe!) and enjoy the surroundings that God has placed you in. You never know when you might be taken away from them.

Mexico Update

2005-07-29T20:38:00.000-04:00

Well, the teens left last week to head down to Mexico to build a church there. They are finished building the church and they had a day of relaxation and a chance to go to the Mexican market to grab some souvenirs today. They are leaving tomorrow and should arrive home late tomorrow night. Don't forget to click the Grand Central Youth Ministry link to see some pictures. The church looks great and we are excited for you all to return home. Great job teens!

Hola!

2005-07-24T17:50:00.000-04:00

I was just checking out some of the pictures that are posted on the youth groups blogspot from their mission trip in Mexico. Right now they are in San Antonio, Texas where they are staying for the week. This week they will be building a church for the Christians in Mexico to worship in. There are only a few pictures up right now, but they will be posting pictures all week. I am very glad that Ryan and I are working with the teens this summer. We have a strong passion for the youth group and its success and we are very proud of everyone who is devoting a week of their summer to help build a church for other Christians. Keep up the good work guys! Can't wait to hear all of your stories when you get back! Be safe! God bless!

Pizza Guys and Kiddy Pools

2005-07-19T02:39:00.000-04:00

Shortly after naming my blogspot "Things that make me go hmmm....", I drove by one of our many pizza places to see a teenage guy holding the sign trying to encourage people to buy their pizza. Now, first of all, this was a different guy than the two usuals. Secondly, he wasn't standing and holding the sign, he was sitting......in a kiddy pool, shaking his head to the beat of whatever might have been pumping out of those headphones he was also wearing. I wasn't having a bad day, but that kid made me smile and laugh and just enjoy that moment. And even if it had been a bad day, I don't think that I could have held back my smile and laughter.
Sometimes the little things like a pizza guy in a kiddy pool reminds me that our good has a sense of humor. I remember talking about God's sense of humor with my mom when I was younger. We talked about whether or not the need to actually have a belly button was necessary. And zits? Surely God could have thought of a better way to clear your pores of dirt and grime. I could go on......but I won't. I believe that God needs to laugh and be able to enjoy His creation and I think that He purposely planted that pizza guy in that little kiddy pool to make me enjoy, even for that brief moment, what He has created.