No clever title . . .good thing there's pictures!

All my blog titles sound like news headlines. . . perhaps it's because I wait to blog until I have 12 things to blog about . . . so I'm going to write about last night before anything else comes up.

Last night was the Christmas Program and dinner at the Agape Center. Children's programs are the same everywhere - the kids aren't sure they really want to be there. Mary and Joseph were 2 tweens who definitely didn't want to be there! :-)

These are the 3 wise men - Montrell, Corey, and Kijuan. When they went to give their gifts to the baby Jesus they realized that they had forgotten them under their chairs. So they went clamoring (?) across the stage and over their chairs to get their gifts. The things that you try to rehearse away are always the best part of the show.
MarKayle and Porshe.

Danielle and Megan

Kenyetta

Corey and Trevon

Trevon put his crown on me just as they took the picture. . . :-)

Shopping!

I went day-after-thanksgiving shopping! I am not necessarily recommending this to anyone, although my friend Jenni and I already have a plan about next year. :-) I can't post any pictures of me from the experience because I was lookin' a little mangy. We left the house for Walmart at 4:45 when it seemed acceptable to be mangy. I didn't really consider that we'd still be out at noon in Kohls and still looking mangy. My big find (and motivation for getting up early) was a GPS. My grandpa's been telling me I should get "one of those things that tells you where you are and finds where you are going". I've officially gotten lost enough to agree that a GPS would be helpful. My job involves going new places to meet new people, so it will always give me the opportunity to be lost. Besides, not all of the places I am going are places I want to get out of my car alone to ask for directions. I think with all this cheap gas I might road trip it to NY - only 10 quick hours away! - to try out my new toy.

Walmart had 28 dollar pink vacuums on their sales. Right now I only have a little patch of carpet in my apartment to vacuum and a very friendly land lord who has a vacuum downstairs - but I decided it was one of those things I would want to have for the rest of my life. And since it was on sale and pink it was the second great find of the day.

If you haven't yet played Settlers of Catan I am recommending it in this order: 1) Believe in Jesus, 2) learn to play Settlers, 3) come visit Megan in Chicago. It's an "exploration and strategy" game with multiple variations so it really is never the same game twice. I got to play twice a day for 3 days during Thanksgiving with some friends in Michigan that I went to Bible School with.

I found this giant tool box on sale for 15 dollars at Sears, making it my 3rd great find for the day. It's definitely also the least practical purchase - making it the one I'm the most excited about! So I took the tool box with me to the dollar store and sat myself down in the container isle to find perfectly sized containers to fit in the tool box and hold my game pieces.

There are containers under the containers and some spots on the lid so I have plenty of room to expand my strategy board game collection. I even found a game shop down the street from my house that has strategy games and every Tuesday night people come play games. You can trust and believe that I am going to make my way down there soon!

It's still a little surreal to me that I live here and am doing full-time ministry with urban children! I've been in Michigan all week for staff development, helping with the high school retreat, and meetings . . . and look how pretty it is here! We get "lake effect" snow, which is big and fluffy and just sits in the trees. This is your official invitation to come volunteer at Winter Blast on Feb 20-22 with campers and experience camp in the winter!