It's been a whirlwind the past few weeks... graduation was last weekend and today was the last day of school for students. Here's a quick update of what's been going on.
Seniors! Last weekend was the baccalaureate service for graduating seniors. Students from our youth group planned and led the service, it was fun to see them in action, using their gifts. 2 of our students read Scripture, 1 gave the student message, our group praise team lead worship, and AJ gave the main message. He taught from Proverbs and encouraged students to make wise, Christ centered decisions as they set out into the world.
^Our CP (career practicum) students! We made it through the year together. These are the 4 students that came during their school day to help us in the office and learn what it means to do ministry. We did a lot of discipleship with them and read and discussed a number of books. This fall, 2 of them are heading to Wheaton College near Chicago for Army ROTC, 1 is going to Concordia, Nebraska on a track scholarship and 1 is going to the Cadence Discipleship Training School in Chiang Mai, Thailand for a semester before heading off the Bible college next year. I'm super proud of each of them and can't wait to see how God will continue to grow them for His glory!
^ Michelle turned 16 a few weeks ago and had a big party. She asked AJ and I to come and share a few things about her and the beautiful woman she's developing into. It was a huge privilege to be asked and it was fun to get to speak words of life to her. Michelle is a great musician and helps lead worship for both the middle and high school youth groups. She's also a great friend to many and consistently strives to be a Light to those around her. I give her a ride home from girls Bible study each week and it's always fun to hear what God is teaching her.
My middle school girls!
^ For end of the school year fun day, Suzan and I invited our middle school girls to a really cool park about an hour away. We enjoyed a picnic lunch, took a boat ride (and saw lots of huge carp fish and ducks) and then walked through a butterfly garden, an aquarium area, and we saw some monkeys and a lot of cool birds (like flamingos and penguins).
^Suzan and I had a lot of fun with our middle school girls small group this year. We had four girls who consistently stuck it out with us ... we had about six other girls who joined us throughout the year too, but they were involved in a few other things and had to miss now and then. We recently completed going through the book of Colossians and discussing the supremacy of Christ.
