DLmail 5/28/2009 broken arms & stuff

It is almost over and it was awesome. Our tour of duty, Sept. 08 through May 09 concludes this Saturday evening. It has been quite a year. We have seen weeks with solid numbers of kids and weeks that were pretty slim. We have seen changed lives. We have connected with and gotten to know many great kids. We will send those 5th graders off to Quest and we will await the fresh faces of the new 4th graders who are so eager to experience the Factory. They'll begin in a week, we'll be back in Sept. When I say we, I mean the Stewarts (with Momica possibly still on baby hiatus to start), myself, possibly my wife Pam, and Timberly Miller. I will talk to Tim and Zach as well, and I expect they might re-sign for another stint, or at least I hope so. Kevin is even in talks with some former leaders about getting back on the team.

They'll be much welcomed as we are bringing in a huge group of incredible 4th graders. I know many of them personally and they are the best. Next year will be really fun.

This Saturday I will be absent, attending the dance recital my Erin has worked so hard for since last September. Kevin and Monica are scheduled to be there and I am hopeful Tim and Zach will be there as well. I plan to keep connected this summer as much as possible. I know I am looking forward to the Stewarts relocation from Bloomington back to Peoria next month, making getting together so much easier.

As far as the programming this Saturday, it is mostly large group with the nicely tall in stature Gary Webb running the show. Small group time will consist of signing and passing out certificates to the exiting 5th graders and enjoying their company one last time. Pretty easy and should be a very satisfying evening.

I wished the timing was different for the dance recital, but it is what it is. The end of school, the break from dance, the conclusion of the track season...all things that are really welcome events in my little family. It has been a very long and difficult 2009 so far, laced with some fantastic moments. But man it will be nice to take a break. We aren't on easy street. Pam begins radiation soon, barely recovering from chemo. And Josh is juggling a couple of baseball teams, so we are finding ourselves at ballfields a lot right now. But there is a really cool side to that. We see DL kids at the games. I wondered last Saturday if the kid my son collided with while sliding into 2nd base in Dunlap was a DL kid. I had a lot of time to wonder as Josh stood safely on 2nd base, having just slid over the outstretched arm of the 2nd baseman, breaking it. Yep, this fuzzy pic (focused on the fence), was taken during the game delay after the moment that both boys will talk about for years, Josh about coming out unscathed, the other boy about the time his arm was broken.

Thank you for serving this year. KEEP IN TOUCH! I will miss you all and Discoveryland so much this summer (so much so that I might show up to serve a time or two).

DLmail 5/14/2009 tired, butt running

This is a keeper DLmail, only because it is rare that I write one nowadays. I am getting tired I suppose. I took a job as an assistant track coach at Chillicothe Jr. High. We began practices at the beginning of March and have only taken one weekday off since. It gives me something to look forward to in the afternoons from 3:00-4:30 (longer on meet days), but it has made my workdays noticeably harder. I am always behind, but I have really gotten to know a lot more kids a lot better. It has been worth it. The head coach even told me he is doubling my pay since the kids have had such great performances, improving each week throughout the entire season. So, 2 x $0 = argh. As the season has progressed, I have resorted to coaching from a sitting position, too tired. The kids have adapted well to their sad, tired coach. Sectionals this weekend, state the next and we are done.

Just like this track season is coming to an end, so is our season in DL. For us September to May people, it feels like it is time to take a break. Our struggle to field volunteers in May is second only in difficulty to December. We squeaked by last weekend with me, Tim and Marjean Moser. It was one of those Saturdays. It is never good to enter the room and hear "the mainstage guest speaker is late, she missed her plane, but we hope she will take the stage by 6:45." Now it is one thing to entertain a bunch of adults waiting in the auditorium. It is an entirely different story in DLand. We survived with some solid help from superteacher Kevin Elder, but it was maybe less than really fun. Although small group time was great. Obedience is an easy topic to get into with these kids.


This Saturday we will kind of limp through again with myself, Kevin and Zach. We'll lose Momica to a family commitment. We'll also welcome a bunch of 3rd graders for the evening. They will enter and we'll treat them to the snack shack and maybe some nerf kickball. They will then taste our plug-in time, worship, large group teaching and finally an abbreviated small group time before returning to the Treehouse to be dismissed. Plan on it being a busy evening. I will be pulling in to church either sunburned or soaked from the Sectional track meet in Morton on Saturday. If it goes late, I will certainly call to advise of my tardiness, but I really don't think that will happen. I really hope not. Really, really.


We continue studying Obedience (trusting those who lead you by doing what you are asked to do) this weekend with the Bible story The Lord calls Samuel, found in 1 Samuel 3:1-19. The memory verse is found in Hebrews 13:17 "Obey your leaders. Put yourselves under their authority. They keep watch over you. They know they are accountable to God for everything they do." The bottom line - obeying your leaders can help you know God. For your small group leader info, click here. For any mainstage messages you have missed, click here (except last weekends Mother's Day message, that message must be copyright laden because it isn't an option to listen to).


In all the hustle and bustle last Saturday, my camera never made an appearance, so this DLmail is two dull pictures, plus a thousand words. Sorry.


And then there is this. I added 20 lbs. to my frame since mid November 08. I went from running 30-40 miles weekly to coaching runners while sitting on my butt. But this week, with preparations for the August St. Jude run gearing up, I have felt a twinge of motivation to get back into running, working out and eating right...until... I had a meeting with a guy from Lancaster Co., PA yesterday afternoon. He left me with the most delicious 48 oz. box of handmade pretzels. I haven't eaten any yet, they just sit on my desk and stare at me. Then this morning John Stephens comes in to my office and hands me a huge cinnamon roll from The Confectionery in Morton. It stares at me and cruelly wafts fragrances my way, and I have a knife. Have I ever mentioned I am addicted to food? This is a hard day. My twinge is fading.

The Intriguing Fanny McCoy Situation

THIS MOMENT REGARDING THE FALL OF FANNY MCCOY WAS NOTED IN THE PEORIA JOURNAL STAR. http://www.pjstar.com/raceforthecure/x114619092/Magical-emotions-at-Race-for-the-Cure SHERI AND LISA (...MEDICAL HELP...JUST BEHIND ME AND THE CAMERA IN THIS PHOTO BELOW, TAKEN ABOUT 20 FT BEFORE FANNY MET THE HOLE) CAME RUNNING AND IMMEDIATELY BEGAN CARING FOR FANNY'S INJURIES. MOMENTS LATER STEPHANIE, A TRAUMA NURSE, ARRIVED AND ASSESSED AND NOTED SHERI AND LISA HAD IT ALL UNDER CONTROL. BIBO, THE WRITER OF THE ARTICLE, DIDN'T NOTICE THE GROUP WITH FANNY WAS PAM'S POSSE, NOT JUST WAITING WITH FANNY FOR MEDICAL HELP TO ARRIVE, RATHER PROVIDING THE FIRST RESPONSE MEDICAL ATTENTION AND COMFORT AND PRAYER NEEDED. THE POSSE ACTUALLY WAITED UNTIL THE AMBULANCE AND EMT'S ARRIVED BEFORE LEAVING HER.