I have one more Wisconsin post but I’ll save that for another day.
Today I’ll write about another (shorter) trip to see (yet) another beloved person.
This one!
It was recently Talk Like a Pirate Day so she and some college friends dressed up in fine pirate fashion.
An early morning outing.
She is having such a great time at school; we couldn’t be more thrilled with her experience so far.
Steve and I are taking the afternoon and evening to drive to Regent and have dinner with her and wander around the campus. Steve hasn’t seen her for over a month so he is especially glad all the schedules worked out. I’m one happy mama that her college choice put her two hours away from us and not ten hours. Happy day.
In the meantime, we are gearing up for Cowboy Cookout Sunday this Sunday.
I am so in awe of our decorating team who know who to do this kind of stuff. They are brilliant!
And here is Cowboy Pastor Steve. He will be performing a song he and I wrote called, “Hard Keepin’ Up With the Jones” where he does a Garth Brooks imitation. (His sermon is on contentment so it will be a perfect tie in.)
After the service we’ll have lunch, petting zoo, pony rides, games, slushie machine, bounce house, volleyball–we are hosting this event and inviting people who don’t usually go to church to come and check it out!
Here’s the poster I designed.
Lots of good stuff going on . . . . more later.
Hi Becky: I was just wondering what is expected for Meganate in Florida and also for the rest of you because of Hurricane Matthew. I would love to see some sort of an update on that. Praying for everybody in his track.
Mel,
Over the past 3 days our Outer Banks forecast went from potentially catastrophic to light tropical storm type weather. Very thankful!
Florida, of course, is going to get slammed along the coast; fortunately, Nathan and Meagan are inland and from what it looks like, will also just be getting tropical storm weather. (Winter Haven, FL)
Sarah looks great! College life certainly seems to agree with her. As others have said, wish I lived in your area too! You guys seem to have an awesome church and the Cowboy Cookout sounds like fun. Hope you have a good time and a lot of attendees.
Kari,
Yes, Sarah seems to be well suited for the college experience; we’re so proud of her.
Cowboy Sunday went great although we were much in need of a nap when we got home. Whew!
Enjoy both events – the visit with Sarah (who amazes me with each post as she settles in and thoroughly enjoys this latest chapter of her life) and the Cowboy Sunday Fun. Still on my bucket list – to attend one of your church events!
Mary,
Glad to know we are still on your Bucket List. You just come for a visit any ol’ time!
Such fun. I am so happy that Sarah is doing well and enjoying her college life. The Cowboy Sunday looks fabulous and would be nice to be there. We are doing a Harvest Festival type outdoor event October 22 on the backside of our property. We will have food and games and inflatables. It is from 10-3 I think on that Saturday. We are basically trying to reach the ones not in church. We don’t want to take members from other churches unless they are interested in making the move. Our Pastor is very strong on that. Take care and know you are in our prayers. Hugs to all.
Ann,
It’s nice your church has enough property to do a Harvest Festival. I love that your pastor is strong on not drawing people away from other churches; that is the way it should be!
Oh how I wished I lived closer. Your Cowboy Cookout looks like a lot of fun.
Mel,
We had a great turn out and happily, the rain that made an apperance at 9 a.m. went away and left us with sunshine! Fun event and I even wore a cowboy hat!
It looks like Sarah is adjusting to college and enjoying herself! Our church has a smoke off to coincide with the annual meeting every August. The church provides the meat and sides and everyone brings a dessert or rolls – we end up with oodles and gobs of dessert. The smoke off is pretty competitive among some of the men.
Phyllis,
I have never heard of the name, “Smoke off.” I’m assuming it’s some kind of bar-b-q cookout? Whatever it is–it sounds yummy!
And you’re right. Gusy can be pretty competetive when it comes to cooking.
Such wonderful picture of the girls on Talk Like a Pirate Day! (I love the day, by the way; I’ve always enjoyed spending the day saying “Aye, Matie!” to people.) Sarah has such a wonderful sense of style, and it’s great to see she already has her own “posse.”
The poster is wonderful, and the decorations are breathtaking!! If we weren’t talking thousands of miles, I’d make an effort to get there!
I need to stop now. It seems I’ve used up my ! quota for the day.
Jan,
I have hereby renewed your “! Quota” so that you will have plenty for future comments. 🙂
The biggest incentive for the girls dressing up was that they could go to Dunkin’ Donuts and get a free dozen if they talked like a pirate. Sounds like a good incentive to me!
That looks like so much fun and a really great way to get people in to see what your church is all about. We are Episcopalians and our church seems to be either misunderstood and/or off-putting because of the ritual, I assume. We struggle to get new people. In fact, our congregation is really shrinking. So sad. We have tried LOTS of community outreach with little success. Now our Dean (we are a cathedral) is retiring so the search has begun for her replacement. Hopefully a new, possibly younger, Dean will attract new members.
Sarah looks extremely happy. So good to see that she is settled in and having a good time and making new friends. 🙂
Have a great weekend!
LeeAnne,
I had to look up what a Dean was and also, how having a Dean relates to being a cathedral. Always interesting things to learn from other denominations.
Hopefully your new Dean will help as you continue to reach out to younger (and new) members.
what fun and awesome outreach to community! so glad Sarah is having fun – I knew she would fit right in- you did a good job on the poster
Becky,
Glad you liked the poster; graphic design is one of my favorite things to do.