Happy Birthday Dara

What can I say about Dara that really does this woman justice? I mean, come on, this gal just oozes sweetness and love. I'll give it a shot, but this blog ain't big enough to say it all!

1. Dara is a gorgeous girl but is 100% prettier on the inside!

2. She is a wonderful pastor's wife, which by the way, is not always an easy "job."

3. She has the gift of hospitality. You feel at home the moment you walk through her door.

4. She's somewhat famous for her sweet tea and I LOVE her fried green beans!

5. The girl can flat out sing! Makes me just a little jealous...okay... a lot jealous! :)

6. Dara is very creative and artistic.

7. She is very compassionate and will come to your rescue whenever she can.

8. She is a terrific mom and is always striving to be more of what Jesus wants her to be with her kids.

9. Go figure...she's nuts about Pastor Josh. I guess someone has to love that crazy man. :)

10. Family is super important to her.

11. Dara is a dedicated American Idol fan. Don't even talk when it's on TV! You'll get the David Branham SHHHH!

Well, Dara, I just barely skimmed the surface of your many wonderful traits. I pray you have the best birthday ever! We love you lots!

Happy Birthday Reese

Today is our "adopted" daughter's birthday. Teresa, aka Reese, has been a part of our lives for the last 16 or 17 years! We got to know her when she was still in college and needed a place to stay during breaks. Reese lost both of her parents when she was a teenager so we have tried to be fill-in parents as much as we can. We quickly became attached and have been through a lot together over the years including family deaths, Reese graduating from college and marrying the man of her dreams, them living in England for a year, and David and Reese having their two beautiful kids, Rebekah and Nathan. (We get the honorary titles of Grandma Lori and Grandpa Randy! :) ) They all live in Duluth, now, so we don't get to see each other very often. David and Reese pastor a Methodist church in Duluth and are world travelers whenever they can. We are so proud of Teresa and her family and are SO blessed to have them as a part of our lives. Happy birthday my girl! Can't wait to see you all on August 7!!

Happy Birthday Cale

We had the honor of joining the Adair's for Cale's family birthday party. We are so proud of him...he graduated to Creek Kids today! He and Colin are diaper free and livin' large in three-ville! Way to go, Idaho!

Opportunity

Game time!

On Friday night and Saturday morning, I had the opportunity to do a couple of kid's services for some PKs with Pastor Heath Adamson's Seven Project team. What a great group of kids. It was fun to have an intimate group to speak to and talk about how our families minister as a team! I know when our kids were young, I tried to make sure they never felt left out of what I was doing in ministry AND balance it with not having them feel like they were living at the church. PKs have some challenges in those areas and I was so honored to have an opportunity to pour into their lives for a short time.

Keaton's VBS

Angela's boys hiding so they didn't have to do cheerleading!
Go team!

Pastor Keaton getting ready to teach a cheer.

I took some time Thursday morning and drove to Montezuma to crash Keaton's VBS. I hadn't been out to his church, Community Hope, for quite a while and wanted to give our boy some encouragement. I picked up the Albers clan from Runnels and off we went on our adventure. Keaton did an awesome job organizing (as usual) and had a great turnout of about 60 kids. They did a sports camp theme, which works so well for them since their church building is right next door to the elementary school and it's fields! It was fun to see Keaton's pastor, Todd Jones, and family who happen to be old friends of ours. Angela's kids were so great and they always crack me up. Isaiah was so excited to get to go and see his fav Pastor Keaton that Angela said he was up and ready to leave the house at 6:30 AM! He was sorely disappointed to hear Pastor Lori wasn't arriving until 7:45. Loved seeing my boy in action! Makes his momma very proud! Even when he taught the cheerleading section of the sports camp. :)

Blessed My Socks Off!

I'm on my way out the door to speak at a retreat but had to share a wonderful blessing that came my way this morning! I stopped at Starbucks for my fav beverage and I felt someone staring at me. I turned around to find an adorable little girl with big brown eyes and a huge smile on her face. She looked to be barely three and as if she knew me. I greeted her with a "hi there sweetie," which got me an even bigger smile. My mind was racing to recognize this cutie-patootie and looked for an adult type person that may belong to her. Here comes this woman that looked familiar and she said, "Hi, you're Pastor Lori, right?" I said yes and she continued by prompting her daughter with a "say it...tell her." The sweetest little voice said, "I am a person of character." Her mom continued to tell me that everyday since Super Saturday her daughter carries her "Hermie" umbrella that she won and says our Big Idea for the day..."I am a person of character." That little girl remembered that from the beginning of July and also recognized me as the source for her lesson. Wow, it totally made my WEEK! As a children's pastor, you sometimes need those little reminders that what you do does in fact "take" and God's Word never returns void. Thanks Lord for the blessing!

Happy Birthday Amy

Today is a special day...my friend Amy Main's birthday!! Amy has been a HUGE blessing in my life and the lives of everyone who knows her. How does one person sport such a gi-normous heart in such a small body? Amy is one of those people who knows what to say and do to make your day 100% better. Here's a few reasons why I ain't lyin'...

1. She was one of my biggest helpers when I had knee surgery. Early morning trips to physical therapy with a smile on her face and a bounce in her step!

2. She is always rescuing some of our JCFC moms who need an extra hand with kids for a variety of reasons.

3. We all know paper is her spiritual gift! :) And she shares!

4. She is an encourager. I have never heard her speak a negative word about anyone!

5. Amy is a positive person and I've never seen her grumpy. (I need to follow her example on the grumpy thing!)

6. She is a terrific mom and has learned to embrace this time in her life.

7. You can see how much she loves her man just by watching her look at him.

8. Family is WAY important to her. I love it when she talks about Favorite Cousin Heather and the grands. She adores her baby brother and is so proud of him.

9. She is faithful in her walk with Jesus and is always looking to invite people to church.

10. She has the gift of hospitality. She will open her home to all and makes you feel so very welcome. (She makes the best chicken and rice!)

11. We are kindred spirits when it comes to jewelry!

I could go on and on but just hit some of the highlights! Hope your day is as special as you are Amy! Love ya bunches!!!

10 Random Things About Me

Okay...who really wants to know? Not anyone, but I'll play along with my friend, Jenn, who tagged me. I hope you all still trust me with your children after you know more about me! :) These are in no particular order!

1. I would love to drive a BIG machine that can destroy things. Like on Extreme Makeover - Home Edition on demo day!
2. I always say I'd like to live in a warmer climate but can't seriously think about moving from Iowa.
3. I have six brothers (five living) and two sisters. I'm the oldest...no age jokes, please!
4. I will claim, without hesitation, to have the BEST husband and kids in the world no matter what you say!
5. One of my favorite sounds in the world is the laughter of children.
6. I would LOVE to learn how to play the violin, piano and the drums. Seriously...I do have rhythm...just no musical ear!
7. The places I'd like to travel to are Italy, Hawaii and Australia and back to Michigan to see my family.
8. I have an addictive personality! I can't miss Survivor when it's on and read way too many blogs. I stay away from video games for this very reason!
9. I may be a pastor now, but was in a church maybe three times in my life before I gave my life to Jesus at age 19. I knew NOTHING about the Bible when I got saved.
10. I passionately want kids to know Jesus loves them no matter what! (I know, that one isn't so random!)

All right..now let me hear from Angela Albers and Trudy Umphress. They are two of my past partners in ministry and awesome women of God!

Back to "Normal"

I am back after another awesome week of camp. The only bad thing was I brought home a WICKED virus. I'll spare you the gruesome details but let's just say I haven't been this sick in a long time.

The second week of camp had a different feel as far as campers and counselors, but not bad different. Just a new dynamic. It's interesting to see mixes of kids from rural and urban areas - the similarities and differences. GREAT counselors at both camps and super fun people to boot.

Dawson from JCFC went, too, and all the way home he talked about going next year! I take that as he had a good week. :) He made some buddies from one of my best friends' churches who he bunked with. We got to pray together every night at the altar, which was so great to have the opportunity to focus on one of my kids.

Keaton came back for the second week to be the camp's co-sports director. The pics are him helping the camp speaker tell the story of David and Goliath. Guess which part he played? Ha Ha! He was a "big" hit as always. Gee, I wish he would come out of his shell.

One of the best things that came from camp was a new friendship. Our speaker, Pastor Jason Noble, was so fun to get to know. He is the from the National Children's Ministry Agency and the director of Kid's Quest and Character Connex. What a great guy! He and I really hit it off and had some great brain-storming sessions about kid's ministry. He has a beautiful family in Springfield, MO, a wife Paula and four kids including twin four year old girls. He was a blessing to me and a great encouragement.

Both Thursday evening services, Pastor Jason had the kids share testimonies of what God had done for them at camp. Many came forward to say they were healed of sicknesses or felt God speak to them about following a call into ministry. It was incredible.

We had a live band for worship that rocked the house! They are from the Jefferson AG with Pastor Jeremiah. The band was Pastor Jeremiah on drums, a teenager on lead guitar and three kid vocalists that all could sing lead, another kid guitar player, and a 10 year old bass player that made you drop your jaw he was sooo good. Jason Huffey would have been proud! So cool to see kids using their talents for the Kingdom! I would LOVE to have live worship in Creek Kids some day.

I have a ton of e-mail and blogs to catch up on! It was great to see all my kids yesterday and hope to see the rest at Alpha this Wednesday. Thanks to those who have been praying for me and camp!

Still Kickin' and a New Place

Just a quick post to let you all I'm still alive! I was at Kid's Camp this last week and am going back Monday morning until Friday. Last week's camp was great. I love altar times...watching kids enter into the presence of God is incredible. We had 250 kids last week and should have close to that this week. Lots of kids accepted Jesus into their lives and testified how God really blessed them. I have been a part of the camp for about 13 years and it's something I always look forward to. I come home pretty wore out but it's one of those good worn out feelings! Hard to describe.

Also...long story, but we found out Wednesday that we had to move to our new apartment Saturday! Eeeek! We got the keys Saturday morning about 11 and moved it all in one day and are almost totally unpacked. Randy and Micaela are left to clean the other place while I'm at camp. A big thanks to Michael and Ed for the muscle. The new place is on the other end of the building and on the third floor. It's the same set up but a few upgrades - better light fixtures, faucets, nicer carpet, laminate floor in the kitchen and entry way and a fireplace in the living room. God really blessed us with a better place for the same price as the other one! Gotta love that. We'll be sending out the new address wen I get back from camp.

Super Day for Super Saturday

We had a lot of fun at our second annual Super Saturday! I am so thankful for many things that the Lord did yesterday. He gave us good weather (a little hot but I like it like that!), an AWESOME team to help me, a pretty good crowd and lots of great donations. We got tons of pictures, too many to post here but I have to share a few. It was nice that our crowd included many people outside the JCFC regular attenders, I'd say about half. I already have some new ideas for next time. Thanks to all who were able to come and a HUGE thanks to all who helped. Super Saturday takes a village. :)

What's a Mom to Do?

I can't help it...my son makes me laugh! He found this magazine stuffed in the arm of a chair someone gave us and of course it became his newest site gag! That's my boy!

It's Gonna Be Great...SUPER SATURDAY

One more reminder...Super Saturday in this weekend! Be at Willow Springs Park at 5547 Wistful Vista Dr. in West Des Moines for our second annual character building program! The program officially starts at 11 AM on July 7, but you'll want to arrive early and register for some incredible prizes for the whole family. We will have free hot dogs thanks to Texas Roadhouse and 99.5 KZZQ's famous Q-Cruiser will be there at the start playing some tunes. Bring your camera to take a picture of your kids with the Grape Ape and don't forget the lawn chairs! Most importantly, invite some friends along. We want to be a blessing to our community, church family and the people you care about. Oh, by the way, the GRAND PRIZE FAMILY GIFT BASKET FOR ONE BOY AND ONE GIRL, is worth over $400!!! It includes lots of gift cards, golf passes, a beautiful Bible and a salon package for mom! Sweeeet.

JCFC Good Times

Keaton, Jacob, Michael and Micaela...four of my most fav people in the world!

JCFC's fearless youth leader and my "adopted" son, Michael "Obie" Oberbeck

Awwww...baby Claire

Summer fun in the kiddie pool

The cutie Patterson crew

We gathered at the Sustala's house for a 4th of July cookout. Ed was incredible on the grill and everyone brought some yumm-o eats! It was fun to relax and just hang out with some of the funnest people ever! It's such a blessing to not only have such awesome families in our church but have such wonderful friendships with them.

Thanks Ed and Angela for your hospitality and for Keaton and Jacob embarrassing me as always! Note to self....hide Keaton's bull horn!

Happy Freedom

Happy 4th of July everyone! I am so thankful to live in a free country where I don't have to worry about being arrested for worshipping God or speaking my mind. I can be whatever God has called me to be, live where I want to live and enjoy many luxuries that most countries can't imagine. Enjoy your day and throw up a prayer of thanksgiving! Don't go crazy on the hot dogs...save some room for dogs on Super Saturday!

Busy Weekend

We had a fun, busy weekend. Saturday morning, we went to our buddy Jaron's baseball game. Wow, he got a couple of great hits! Sister Kaitlynn and brother Landon got it on the fun, too.

We then met Keaton and his friend Michelle at Jordan Creek Mall to catch a movie. We went and saw Evan Almighty and really liked it. Kinda cheesy, but pretty family friendly and a great story line. Keaton and Michelle came over for a quick dinner that ended up being a gab fest until 11 PM!! Good times with my kids! I'm so blessed that our kids don't mind hanging out with old mom and dad!

Today at church was different for Randy and me. We had the day off! It was good to sit in "big church" but felt kinda weird. Pastor Josh preached a great message from his "Deeper is Doing" series from James Chapter 3, Taming the Tongue. I caught myself looking at my watch a couple of times thinking..."the kids are probably having their message right now", "the kids are having worship now"! I know...I'm odd. :) It's good for us to take a day off and it's good for the kids to listen to someone else, too.

After church, we had a great Chinese lunch and got this cute pic of Colin. Love that little bugger! No pun intended. :)