Central Family

Hello again all! I thought you might enjoy a little history lesson about our new church family in Huntsville. Sunday night I cornered one of the ladies, DeLois Smith, at a Lifetalk meeting about how this church family became so racially, economically and culturally diverse. (To give you a visual on this go to centralfamily.org to see a group shot of the congregation in 2007.) I picked just the right person to ask because DeLois and her husband Ed were one of two couples invited to join the Central church back in 1978-79 for the specific purpose of reaching out to the college campuses with the intent of bringing younger and more racially diverse i.e. African Americans, to Christ. You see, Central's population was dying, literally dying with so many older Christians as its members. The elders at the time made a deliberate decision to study a church in Gainesville, Florida which exhibited a spirit of togetherness not yet found in the Huntsville area. The elders worshiped with and studied that church for 2 and 1/2 weeks to see what and how they achieved racial diversity in a loving, Christlike way. So the Smiths and another couple came to help achieve this goal. It was rough going in the beginning with 150 members or so deciding to go elsewhere, but gradually got better over the years. DeLois related a story of two elderly spinsters who took her by the hand and assured her that although this experience was new to them, they appreciated her patience and promised to do likewise. I'm thankful the elders opened themselves and the congregation to a new day of greater communtity in Christ.

A Wedding, Jack Daniels, Baseball and Flat Jesus, oh my!

We enjoyed another whirlwind weekend filled with old friends and new. Saturday called for a road trip to Manchester, Tennessee to witness the wedding of Chris and Heather Nelson. I must say that Drew and Jessica rocked it out with two pre-wedding songs. Heather's sister and cousin are also very talented singers and musicians. On the way to the wedding we passed through Lynchburg, TN home of Jack Daniels and the less celebrated Davy Crockett, King of the Wild Frontier. Scott did not let us stop on the way through to take a picture of Flat Jesus at the Jack Daniels Distillery. Who is Flat Jesus you say? The Wednesday night ladies' class is focusing on taking Jesus with us wherever we go, so.... Flat Jesus is our homework assignment for this week. It is not intended to offend or become an idol. The intention is to get Jesus off the pages of the Bible and right next to us in real life as He actually is. Cause for great discussion, n'est pas? Our Father's Day present to Scott was enduring 3 hours in the 98 degree/98% humidity watching him play old men's baseball. Good times. It was a close one (6-4) but we came out on the losing end. Scott's teammates were nice men and we did enjoy some baseball comraderie. Tomorrow calls for early morning blueberry picking. Hope you have a great week!

Out of the Mouths of Babes

This week Davis, Bailey and I were able to help with Central's preschool VBS. We were studying Joseph's life and how God used all his circumstances to bring about good. One particular, precocious 3 year old had a lot to say this week during the group assembly time. After singing a crazy, action packed song she yelled out, "Those people must have been drinking a lot of alcohol!" Que? She was referring to the reaction of the people on the day of Pentacost to the disciples speaking all different languages that we discussed in her life group Sunday night. Now, I was the only adult in VBS who knew what she was talking about, but I'm sure the other adults are wondering what exactly goes on at her house. Good times.

Eureka!

I think I may have figured out how to put pictures on this blog. If this works, you will see pictures from our vacation in May to Florida with the Bolay family. Abigail was not too happy about the sand, Caleb enjoyed the pool more than the ocean, Bailey and Davis body boarded like champs, Denise wore her fleece jacket the first day because it was FREEZING COLD, Scott played golf, Lance studied a lot, and Daphne added to her already olive base tan. A couple got married on our 15 year anniversary, and yes I took a picture of them, and no I am not a stalker. All in all it rocked. The neighborhood kids at the top are: Kaysean, A.J. (when he saw this picture he said, "I was saying HEY right there in that picture."), Tamiah, and the whole gang rolling down the hill while 2 other people jumped over them. That's what kids do when they are bored and the pool is not open yet. Clearly I need help with layout. Better luck next time.

Too Much Pork

Last night we enjoyed one of Huntsville's legendary restaurants, Gibson's BBQ. The folks there have been serving up BBQ since 1956. Their t-shirts read, "Too Much Pork For Just One Fork." Genius slogan. I'm not the expert on BBQ, but the hush puppies were to die for. Our friend Jim Norville says that Huntsville has more restaurants per capita than other large cities because engineers can't cook. Of course they can build rockets but who can do that on an empty stomach?

Speaking of pork, how about those Diamond Hogs?! Scott showed his true colors while golfing today amidst several Alabamans. Nothing like being in enemy territory to bring out the fan in you. Here's hoping the football team beats Alabama this year!

On another note, this mother's ears are delighted to hear Davis pleading for "just a few more minutes of reading, please?" He spent the better part of Saturday morning reading in his room. Let the Hallelujah chorus begin!

Ode to the W/D

Some of you know that we have been schlepping our laundry to the Teen House across the street from the church building every week. The dryer takes FOREVER and we get to spend quality time entertaining the kids i.e. teaching them to play pool. Watch out Tom Cruise there's a new hustler in town. Last night Duane and Scott loaded up the W/D for us and brought it over. So, without further ado I present:

Ode to the W/D

Although we did not know you
for lo these four weeks,
you make our clothes so clean
they will probably squeak.

You spin and you tumble,
you rinse and you dry.
The noise you make--melodious,
it makes me want to cry.

I love the W/D
right in our very flat
I can't live without you
and that is that.