check the list and let Marianne know what you can come up with for gratis. then we will purchase the rest the week of the trip.

Day 1 – Mural:
Various art technique supplies (cindy is helping to gather this list)

Already donated:
Roll of Paper from Mike Sailer

Day 2 – Cards:
mini brads – 500 or so
flower petals (with holes in the center)
glue sticks – lots
any other misc embelishments
blue paper
scissors (maybe they have some there already)

I have:
Scored card stock with envelopes
various colors/shapes of paper scraps

Day 3 – Bookmarks:
White and Blue embroidery floss (probably 30+, Six-strand 8.7 yard skeins)
Embroidery Needles (30+)
Snowflake Stamps
Stamp pads white, and shades of blue and purple
Black waxy string (10 spools)
beads
snowflake charms if anyone can find any inexpensive ones

I have:
Pre cut card stock
some beads (silver and multi -colored glass)
some black waxy string
a couple stamps and cleaning supplies
Cross charms (lots)

Mobiles:
Not feeling this one anymore, unless someone has an epiphany about how to make them.

Day 4 – Ice snowflakes:
Cookie cutters (I think metal, check with Cindy) – snowflakes and snowmen or other snow themed – even round
fabric scraps

So this gives us four solid activities, we can have a free “Kalidescope day” on Friday, or if Dan or someone has another idea, that would be great too. I will be leaving friday morning, so Dan has offered to lead that day for whatever the craft is.

Hope this helps get things spelled out a little.

Thanks.
Marianne

we will have:
guitar
drawing
singing
photography
acting
dancing

and be praying for our team, the team in poland, and the kids we will soon be getting to know!

glad to be GO!ing with you!

brian

Have you ever been there? Those are the unsettling thoughts of Solomon as he divinely journaled through his relationship with God in the book of Ecclesiastes.

for the next 3 weeks we will be wading into the waters of being MAD@GOD and unearthing the two perspectives of

John 10:10
The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I [Jesus] have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.

and

Ecclesiastes 1:2-3
“Meaningless! Meaningless!” says the Teacher.
“Utterly meaningless!
Everything is meaningless.”
What does man gain from all his labor at which he toils under the sun?

One thing i know for sure-God can handle you and i being MAD@HIM and the first step is fessing up to it.

so, consider being right out there in the open and jotting down the stuff where we have been (or are) MAD@GOD.

what about you?

how would you and your family fill in these blanks?

In Our Marriage, We desire:

As A Couple, We will:

As a Family, We desire to create a family that:

As Parents, We desire to raise children who:

take a crack at it. we challenge you to pencil out a mission for your family. don’t even worry about the words, get the heart of your family’s mission. what picture is inside mom and dad that the family needs drawn for them? how will kids know if they are accomplishing a greater mission together if the parents don’t define the mission?

deuteronomy 11:22-23
If you carefully observe all these commands I am giving you to follow—to love the LORD your God, to walk in all his ways and to hold fast to him-then the LORD will drive out all these nations before you, and you will dispossess nations larger and stronger than you.

those are the orders God gave families? how would you define the mission of your family unit?

go on record with your family mission in the comments below. and then shore up other family units by praying for them and their mission.

Kids ages 8+ spend over 7 ½ hours/day (53+ hrs/week) using media.

3% of 8th graders report smoking daily
8% of 8th graders reported having had 5+ alcoholic beverages in a row within past 2 weeks
25% of 12th graders reported having had 5+ alcoholic beverages in a row within past 2 weeks
8% of 8th graders reported having used illegal drugs within past 30 days
22% of 12th graders reported having used illegal drugs within past 30 days

And the most gripping stat about our families is this: 20% of kids 6th-grade and up have not had a 10 minute conversation with at least one of their parents in more than a month.

There is battle going on for the family. We need to confront the enemy-complacency in parenting. In the drive through culture, we have become “drive through” parents. We are speeding through the list of things to do, see, and experience. We could use a reminder of why we do what we do, how we do it and why it matters, and what is at stake. We could use a challenge to pull the “family unit” together and complete the mission. We need some heros that show us what it means to desire to “Go above and beyond the call of duty.”

And we will need to do this together. We are in a teaching series entitled “Family Unit” on Sundays at Cedar Ridge.

So what battles do you face as a family? What stands in the way of being the Godly home you were meant to be? What would you say are the biggest battles you face as a family unit?

Please list your battle in the comments below. And return here to see other people’s battles so we can be PRAYING together for each other.

this week for Easter at Cedar Ridge, we land this i believe series with i believe life is better because i believe.

what i believe drives how i decide. what i decide determines what i do. what i do charts every turn of my life.

this last week a group of 50 ladies rented a room at our parkside community center for a rally for magic gummy bears (not the real name of the thing they are selling, promoting, and hyping) they brought in a speaker from california to help them get excited about magic gummy bears again. and to tell them how to make more three way calls upline and downline (whatever that means) so that more people will buy magic gummy bears. what drives 50 nicely dressed, intelligent, energetic women to sit in a room for two hours and listen to the socal sycophant? the answer is: they believe something. they believe that magic gummy bears will make their life better. either the product itself or the benefits of selling the product. but they believe life will be better because they believe in magic gummy bears. why else would you give up a gorgeous spring morning? why else would you spend time learning more about the product? why else would you look for opportunities to tell people about magic gummy bears. they believe life is better because they believe. and that belief is charting the course of their day, their calendar, their time, the places they go, the way they see relationships, and more.

me too. i believe life is better because i believe…in Jesus. and what i believe drives how i decide. what i decide determines what i do. what i do charts every turn of my life.

i believe life is better because i believe.

Celebrating Life this weekend at Cedar Ridge and you are invited. 8.30a | 9.45a | 11.00a

What does it mean to love? Is love an emotion? Is love an energy? Is love an action? Date movies, pop music, romantic poems, red roses, and latte art hearts come to mind when “Love” is the theme. In the bible, God spells out what love is and what it isn’t in the 13th chapter of Paul’s first letter to the church in the ancient city of Corinth. What about today? What about me? What about the church? What does love sound like, look like, feel like, and act like?

join us this weekend as we start a new series out of 1 Corinthians 13 on L O V E .

Oh, and we would LOVE to have your trainwreck dates stories! tell us about the biggest trainwreck date.

your story could be part of the Sunday, February 14th worship experience.

And don’t say we didn’t warn the knucklehead men in advance-Valentines Day is Sunday, February 14…so make the reservation, order the flowers, get the card-break the cycle of MVK (masculine valentine knuckleheadness-itus)

“Love, love, love, all you need is love.” –John Lennon

use the comments section below to share your thoughts, challenges and insights.

let me know how life unplugged for a week looks for you.

we are spinning in a world of dizzying virtual communications right now-text messaging, facebook, cell phones, email, blogsites, chat, skype, and so much more. More ways than ever to communicate and connect. But many times the technology of communication leaves us isloated, distracted, and even alone. Are we living in the illusion of relationship when the reality is we are “Virtually Alone”? What does God’s word say about relationships in a virtual world? Could it be that we need to back up, slow down, and unplug some of the technology so we can connect face to face?

the choice of God for communicating the most important things ever-face to face. why didn’t he just wait until now when He could have gotten the word globally out in nano second through the genius of technology. sure seems like he picked a strange time to start a revolution. except that His revolution was relational. and his preferred method of communication: a really slick dvd, a mass email, a tantalizing fw:, a text, a full length feature film in 3D, HD, 1080pi…

nope.

his preferred method of communication was a person.

John 3:16-17
“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.

we will explore the pitfalls and benefits of the virtual age in three weeks:

11.22 Virtually Alone | TXT ME
11.29 Virtually Alone | Face to Facebook
12.6 Virtually Alone | Twittered and Tattered

this sunday, we will gathering up all group leaders at 9.00a and 11.15a to talk about the new way. but here is a sneak preview…

in january, we will be rolling out a whole smargasboard of GRO groups-study the bible 101, discover my strengths, the life and teachings of Jesus, a survey of the old testament, books of the bible study, marriage, parenting, mens, womens, financial peace, how to tell my story, and more. sounds good right?

we will be working on a trimester calendar for GRO groups. so the GRO groups that launch in January will last 12 weeks. this will give us a great focused time (december) to promote and help people find a group. and then everyone starts together. at the end of 12 weeks, you are out and you choose a new GRO group that will last for 12 weeks, and so on. in the course of a year, you can grow in three different areas-a bible study, marriage, discover my strengths. you would also have spent meaningful time with 36-40 different people instead of the same 8 or so in a typical ongoing group. you also have an easy on and off ramp into GRO groups.

and new people will have the red carpet rolled out to them. the sign ups will be simple-look over the catalog of groups and choose one by topic, teacher, or time. and each group will that new car smell every time they start. everybody loves new car smell. the group will be new each time-even if it is made up of long timer ridgers and new ridgers. so nobody will be the new kid in the class (remember that first day at school as the new kid? ouch). new relationships will be formed, helpful and interesting life topics will be covered. a better way to move along the spiritual GROwth path will be laid out with a simple way in.

there is more to this, obviously. like how big will GRO groups be? how will care happen for people if they are only together for 12 weeks? who will facilitate these GRO groups? how can child care happen? what GRO groups will be offered ever time and which ones will be occasional?

so come find out more this sunday.

and if you really want to dig into the details, you can pick up two different books: Activate by Nelson Searcy and Search to Belong: Rethinking intimacy, community and small groups by Joseph Myers.

2 thessalonians 1:3 “…your faith is growing more and more, and the love every one of you has for each other is increasing.”