Thanks for a fun evening...

First, I appreciate everyone who completed their "assignment" for this week. Now that you all are able to post, I expect you to be active participants in this endeavor. Bookmark the blog, that's how I remember to check it everyday.

Second, I thought movie night was a blast (even if we didn't watch Gladiator, which I didn't want to watch anyway). Perhaps we will have a separate guys and girls movie night next time. The guys can eat pizza and watch Gladiator while the chicks eat Bon-Bons and do each other's nails while watching The Notebook.

I only got one photo from the night, but I thought I'd still post it. Janell really likes getting into the spirit for these events, as you can see.

I am thankful for...

I am thankful for a few things, actually. One, my husband. He is patient with me, makes me laugh, and I think he is kind of cute, too! Second, this pregnancy. I am thankful that God is blessing me (us) with the opportunity to learn more about His love for us through parenting our child. Third, this YAM group. I really enjoy being involved in the group, the bible study, and the fun activities that are planned! Thanks for being a blessing to me!

I Am Blessed

I am blessed for my family, friends and church family. I have so many supportive people surrounding me. I am so grateful for this. I know that someone will always answer their phone or texts or come and talk/listen when I ask. I feel comfortable and cared for at our church. It is amazing to me that people (that were once strangers) are so loving and supportive. It is refreshing and encouraging. Thank you!!

I'm thankful for...

Well, I know mine's a little late, but I have a valid excuse...I was out of town, and very busy.
Here it is:
I am thankful for creation/nature/seasons, etc. One of my favorite things about Autumn is seeing the different colors of the leaves/trees. They are so beautiful! When my cousin and Grandma were in town a week ago, Christina and I rode around one day just looking and taking pictures of the trees. I know it may sound cheesy to some, but it's truely beautiful to me! It's amazing how God has given us this gift of creation to enjoy and to take care of. And it's amazing to think about how it all works together; animals, plants and humans. There's something beautiful (in its own way) about all four seasons. For me: Autumn is my favorite, because the temp is JUST RIGHT, and the leaves are absolutely gorgeous. Snow (only on the first day) is beautiful in the winter. The flowers and everything turning green is nice for Spring. And you can finally put away the jackets for sure at summertime. Isn't it just amazing?! If for no other reason, it all just brings a smile to my face...it makes me thankful.

I'm thankful for...

our church. The worship team went to a conference workshop this weekend, and it was a good reminder to me that we have an incredible and encouraging family of believers here. It was interesting, and kind of sad, to hear stories from a few of the churches about how unwilling people are to change and grow. I feel like our church is very accepting and loving, and in general very supportive of the efforts others make to serve God and each other. I'm not trying to be overly spiritual here, but it really was impressed on me that I have a lot to be thankful for here. And of course we have a rockin' young adults group! : )

P.S. I vote for Big Fish, but my computer won't let me vote, so just add it in your heads.

My blessing this week is...

The blessing I have noticed this week is my beautiful wife and our new baby(Baby Jalapeno). I am so thankful that the place I now occupy in the universe is so good(unimaginable four years ago). I have truly acsended from the worst time in my life and Dawn has restored happiness to me. I love her for the way she takes care of me and worries about me, how much fun we have together, and now she has given me something no one else can. We went to our 12 week ultrasound on Wednesday and the baby is about 5cm long and he/she was moving all over the place! He/she was kicking, turning and jazzercising like a pro. I could see the legs and arms and even the fingers moving as well as the heartbeat(approx. 150bps). I am so overjoyed that this pregnancy is going well. We have so many good friends who are praying for our new baby that we cannot express our gratitiude adequately with words.
I am also thankful for the many friendships we have started since attending TTCC. My Church is in Hinsdale and I cannot establish the same types of friendships there, so I appreciate how accepting you all are. In conclusion, I am thankful for the people that we care about that stand by us in pursuing Jesus Christ.

A Dual Purpose Post

What I am thankful for...

I am thankful for my wonderful wife. Without her, I wouldn't be the same person. She really is the perfect complement to me, and she helps me to become a better person by challenging me to do things differently or think about something in a new way. She's also gone this weekend, so I'll miss her a lot. :(

(I'm not in trouble, so I'm not trying to get brownie points)

2nd thing I'm grateful for is my new car. So, I don't want Casi's Mustang.

Finally, in case you haven't heard, there is this thing called the internet, where information is available on demand. So, if you've never heard of something (like a movie called Keeping the Faith), you can find out about it quickly and easily. In case your internet is not working correctly though, here is a synopsis about the movie.

What I'm grateful for...

Andy- thanks for the reminder about what we are supposed to be posting about... I have been trying to remember for the past couple of days.
I am grateful to God that I saw a turkey walking down Rt. 31 yesterday morning. It seems silly I know, but it seriously brightened my morning and put me in a really good mood. It made me smile and made me laugh as I was telling my co-workers about it. I had some suggestions from coworkers that I should've tried to catch it...can you imagine? I would've for sure been on You Tube!
Anon. and ARod...you're right about Good Will Hunting. I voted for it, but haven't seen it in like 10 years so I forgot about the language. My concern with these movies is...aren't they all long?? I would prefer a movie not 3 hours long! Also, what is Keeping the Faith? Andy- can we have a description on that movie?


In other news...anyone know of someone looking to buy a 2003 Mustang Convertible?? I have one for sale! :)

Being Comfortable

In the book "When the Game is Over, It All Goes Back In the Box" by John Ortberg, he talks about the danger of not challenging ourselves. Like we talked about tonight, we grow the most in our relationship with God when we are challenged or taking risks. I'll summarize what he says from the chapter called "Roll the Dice". My words will be in italics.

God doesn't interrupt our lives for small things. God asks Noah to build an ark. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego had to stand up to the King when no one else would. Joseph was made a slave and imprisoned. Moses had to defy Pharaoh. These people did not lead comfortable lives, but God used them through their challenges. Hebrews 11 gives a whole list of people who were called by God. They didn't have to respond in the way they did, but they made that decision to trust God, and God used them through that.

In these stories of God calling these people, you never hear them asking for an even bigger challenge. Their first response is generally fear. Sometimes people like to say that God would never ask them to do something they can't handle easily. They will often quote 1 Cor. 1:13, where Paul says "[God] will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear". People are given more than they can handle everyday in our fallen world. Holocaust, death, martyrdom, cancer, war. People are given burdens they cannot handle.

When God challenges us, our 1st response is almost always fear. It is up to us how we respond to God's calling, and see how God will use the challenge to grow us and help reach others around us.

We need to be reassured that through any challenge we face, God has promised He will be there for us. In Joshua, God says "Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go." God doesn't promise bad things won't happen to us. The promise is that nothing can separate us from God's love. We may suffer. We may hurt. We will eventually die. God will never leave us though.

Back to Andy's words- Sorry for writing so much. I felt like Ortberg does a good job of dealing with a tough subject though. If you want to read the actual book sometime, I'll let you borrow it. And, now to lighten things up a bit, here is a photo of Janell and I in our Halloween costume.

More photos

Overall, Dave was thrilled with the evening.



















Dawn is the happiest looking severed head I've ever seen. (Click on the photo so you can see it better)




















Janell makes a much more convincing severed head.

















Apparently Jeremy's conversation was captivating. Nick couldn't keep his eyes open.











Thanks to everyone who could make it out.

Corn Maze

The group.















Adam decided to be scary redface man for the night.

















Staci gave it two thumbs up. Especially her friend in the gorilla suit.













Awww, so sweet!















Shawn's trick from being scared was apparently keeping his eyes closed. I'm not sure what's happening with Dave here though.

Happy Birthday Andy!

I, uncharacteristically, didn't take many pictures on Saturday. But here are the few I did take. Andy- hope you are having a great birthday!

And Tera says she doesn't like kids....

Looks like Lucas won her over!

A few random tidbits...

1 - There is no Coffee House on June 16th. I think everyone knows that, but I just noticed it's still on the calendar. That's when Debbie and Giles will be at Church. I hope everyone can attend. So far, it's only Casi coming from our group. :( I think hearing about missionaries our Church supports is very important/encouraging.

2 - I've been enjoying getting into God's word more deeply lately. Getting away from the "baby food" type of study. I've been studying Galatians, and I've really gotten a lot out of it. I really enjoying reading about the early Church, and seeing how there are still so many parallels to Churches today.

3 - I'd encourage you all to start/continue a deeper study of God's word. It has really revitalized my spiritual life lately. I think I'm going to be in the market for a good concordance soon.

4 - Let's talk about our 4th of July plans on Sunday.

Mini Golf Pictures

Mini Golfing

We hope to see you there on Sunday! Let me know if you have any questions. I'd also encourage everyone to come to the informational meeting. It's a great way to keep up with everything that's going on behind the scenes. :)

Updates

I've updated the calendar to reflect what we've got planned through May. I looked at the calendar, and Mother's Day is May 13th, so we won't have group that night. Spend some quality time with your mothers. :)

Shout out!

Hey guys,

Just saying hi and I hope you all have a good week since we didn't meet tonight (except for Jeremy, who I think decided to have his own Crown class without the rest of us). ; )

I don't know how you guys are all feeling about the class, but I know personally I've slacked off a little on doing the homework every day and about being careful with how I spend my (God's) money and how I think about what He's give me. I will be praying for myself and our whole group this week to continue to revamp the way we think about money, possessions, needs and wants. Its hard to change our mindset in a culture where we are constantly confronted with newer, faster, better products that we "need" in order to keep up with everyone else, but the more I think about what it means to be a Christian, the more I'm convinced that this is a huge aspect of our relationship with God and each other.

Anyway, didn't mean to go on and on, I've just been struggling with this over the last couple weeks and wanted to share what was on my mind.

Hope everyone is doing well!

Pictures from Game Night

Happy Birthday Staci!

Staci sculpting underwear and Tera looking mortified!

Vanessa blindly drawing an afro.

Janell's banana split

Danny's version of a tornado- we were disappointed.

Game Night!

If you notice on the calendar, our game night is now going to be on Sunday, March 18th from 7-9. We'll meet at 6:00 that night for Crown Class. Invite your friends to come. We'll have some snacks and refreshments.

I sent an evite out. If you know of anyone else I should send it to, let me know their e-mail address. There are a few people that I missed, I think. Here's a URL for the evite too.

http://www.evite.com/app/publicUrl/andymccann72@hotmail.com/gamenight