I SURVIVED!!!!

Lindsey and I were real excited about the trip. Just to get away for a few days was great.

We made it back. I had a great time, but I am very exhausted. The bus ride is what done me in. I just re-couped from the bus ride to Orlando. Only to be tortured for 11 more hours for the trip back to Spartanburg. But let me tell you!! It was great. Just so you can be jealous. I laid out in the sun on Saturday..... The weather was absolutely beautiful. God really blessed us while we were there.

James done it up good on the planning part, as far as traveling at night. The kids slept most of the way. We arrived in Orlando about 9:00. a.m. on Friday morning.

We stopped at Golden Coral for a wonderful breakfast buffet. I got a few shots of some of the kids enjoying their fellowship time after being cramped on the bus for 11 hours. Here we have Steven, Sara, Kaitlyn & Scotty. On the phone is James.

Here we have Tianna, Lindsey & Sara. Tianna is always laughing or trying to make someone laugh. This kid is the bomb..... Once the plates were full these kids were doing some serious eating.

These are the Cisney brothers. Brandon (aka Sweeney) and Derick. These are two of the coolest!! Derick always trying to pick up the ladies. He is a for sure ladies man. NOT!!

JaMichael , Brandon, Zac, & Jeffrey

After breakfast we headed off to the motel. Where we waited until 3:00 to check in- It was a long wait. We stayed here at a 4 star motel. It was very elegant. The decor was gorgeous. Between the wait we went to the IZone area. Which was a room full of inflatables. It was a lot of fun for the youth. I got one pic while we were there and that is of Presley preparing to bungee jump.

The theme for the convention this year was "Set Apart". Encouraging youth to be different from the world. I will post on this later, I personally think it deserves its on post. Great theme. This was the first Wesleyan youth convention I have been a part of. It was great!! Great speakers and great worship. The bands were awesome too. I was very impressed with the program and what it had to offer the youth.

Speaking of being Set Apart, this is Adam Robbins. An 18 year old who graduated from Chesnee High school in 07. This young man was a chaperon on the trip this year. He is a great role model. Just an all around good kid. God has called him into the youth ministry. He is already teaching the youth on Wednesday nights he also has a small group on Sunday nights. I am very impressed with how God is using this young man. He is definitely Set Apart!!!



Until next time....

Auction

What a shock to my body being out in the cold weather last night. It was down right nippy. We had our last fund raiser for the year and it actually turned out pretty good. We had a spaghetti supper and then an auction. I do not have the final tally yet, but I would say we raised close to $1200.00. Which was a great help. We are very close to meeting our goal. Here we come Orlando.....I can't wait.. I am very excited about being able to spend some quality time with some of the youth.

Who will give me $10.00, Now who will give me $11.00, could be heard from our Pastor. He done a great job. Maybe he has found his second calling.... We really did not have that much to auction off, but he has a gift of driving up the cost of what we did have. Hats off to your Pastor Hall.

I am totally exhausted and am ready to hit the sack. The youth really helped out tonight. Thanks to JaMichael, Adam R, Brandon H, Katelyn, Harley, & Jessie. These guys worked hard tonight and I was very impressed.

To Taylor, Lindsey, Tianna, Sara, Tara, Presley, Scottie & Zac- You guys are great too. I know you have already raised your money and it was pretty sweet for you guys to come out and support the others. James done a great job with the auction.... This is a really good fund raiser. Who would have thought....

Untill next time.....

Skeet Shoot

Today is the day.. Hoping for a good turnout. We are hosting a skeet shoot to raise money for our youth to be able to attend the National Wesleyan Youth Convention. Our church has a great youth ministry (hats off to James Henderson). God has blessed us with some great kids. Most of the kids that attend our church are from single income families, single parents. How can you tell them "NO" they can't go becasue they don't have $550.00. This convention should possibly be where they meet Jesus Christ. Do we want to take that chance, Well, NO we don't. You might think this is not your typical fund raiser for a "church", listen, I just do what I am told. I was told to arrange the lunch.... So guess what? Soup and Salad are on!!!!

I am hoping this brings us closer to our goal. Which is around $22,000.00. We already have $16000.00 thanks to our wonderful giving church. We are expecting to raise approximately $1000.00 today and we only have 4 weeks to raise the rest. But we are having faith God will provide the rest. He has in the past, and I know he will not let us down.

It's off to the grocery store, so I can start preparing my salads... I hate grocery shopping... uuurrrgh. But someone has to do it.. Wanted to share so photos of some of the greatest kids..

Update on Mom

Mama is finally doing better. The medicine they have her on is helping her. She is getting back to her old self. She makes conversation now, tries to read. She is watching some TV now. Her favorite is Jeopardy and Wheel of Fortune. The ladies who care for her are so good to her. I see them as God's angels. They have been a huge part of her healing process. We are so use to caring for her that it has been hard to let them do it. I know mama as been a blessing to these nurses as well. She is so kind to them...

God is so good! He has brought us through so much. I know mama is exactly where she needs to be. God knew me and my other siblings that care for mama needed the rest. Not only physically but mentally as well. I simply think of Psalms 23 when I think about what we have been through and how we got through. God will never let us down. He restores our soul, Just as my blog states, I am drinking from my saucer. My cup is surely running over.
Until next time....