The 15th was ok if I remember right. We talked about the first part of our purpose statement (fellowship/safe and caring community) and actually...it did really go well. Only 3 kids were there but the Crowley's showed up at the end. Good to have them back.

The 22nd was ok. I really wasn't prepared that well but we talked about evangelism. Well, I talked about evangelism. There were 5 kids there, too. Next week will be better for sure.

Last night was our "Celebration Night" at The Rock. It was our first meeting on our new night (Sundays) and I thought we'd celebrate with games and food. It was a little dissapointing to only have 6 kids show up, but we still had a good time. We played "Not in my backyard" with balloons and after we were done they popped their balloon and inside was a 1 or 2. They then shared 1 or 2 unique things about themselves according to the number they got. We also played the "gum game" wherein they split into 2 teams and did a relay. The first person put on a pair of work gloves, ran to the table and opened the pack of gum, unwrapped and ate a piece, then ran back and passed the gloves to the next person in line. Then THEY had to go unwrap a piece and chew it and so on until the gum was gone. The first round was really close, but in the second round team #1 won handily. Then we played the "skittle game." Each color skittle is assigned a point value. Then the two teams alternate picking a skittle out of the cup (no looking!) and the first team to rack up 300 points wins. It was actually really close and was really fun!

After the games I shared my testimony. I think they were bored but they seemed to listen. I don't know if it affected them in any way, but I hope it did. Man, I need to pray so much more. We talked a little bit about Sept. 11th and they had some good insight. None of them really feel affected by what happened at all. We're in such a little town, the threat for us is extrememly small. So, being so far away from it and bombarded through the media...it got old real fast. They admitted they felt bad about feeling that way, but it was honestly how they felt. I encouraged them to remember the families affected directly and to pray for them. Then we prayed as a group for the families.

Overall, the night went alright but was not representative of what I WANT our group to be. Our group will be challenging and real. They'll learn to dig into the Word and wrestle in prayer. They'll ENCOURAGE each other and look to serve others before themselves. But, I suppose I need to be doing these things first...