A Walk A Day . . .

new pics

2006-03-23T12:09:00.000-08:00

t.g.i.f.

2006-02-17T12:13:00.000-08:00

T.G.I.F. and a big event was cancelled this weekend at work due to impending bad weather. YEAH. maybe a chance to catch up on housework. i can't remember the last time i stayed home on a saturday. i hope it gets as bad as they say, better chance of being "stuck" inside.

youth group wednesday night was interesting. we had a "business" meeting with all the kids. i wanted their input on upcoming events and ideas. we recently received a donation of $1200 for the youth. we are trying to decide what to do with that money, maybe buy a projector and screen. we are also about to start G-Force. does anyone have any comments are suggestions to help make this a better bible study? my older youth are going to try to be the captains.

we are also starting Flood for the older youth. any suggestions or opinions here?

also planning a pj party, only this one has a twist. we had a pj party before and everyone had a great time. this time i want to use the "pj" part of the pj party to corrilate with the importance of a "prayer journal" or "spiritual journal".

i am also planning a "remote controlled car race" fund raiser event. need lots of ideas here.

meat pie on the fly

2006-02-14T10:27:00.000-08:00

gosh, seems like i just keep posting these problems. i am so dissappointed. we, "some" of my youth group and i and "1" of my 6 student advisory committee members worked so hard sunday on our 9th annual Valentines Banquet, and only 25 people showed up. we had food for 40. it was the worst turn-out we've ever had. even the parents of more than half of the youth group didn't even show up to watch their kids perform a mystery dinner. it was free food and entertainment, no dress code, no pressure. no people. i was sad. AND get this . . .

3 of the 6 student advisory committee members ("sacm" for short) took 3 of the youth members out to eat after church instead of staying and helping the rest of us decorate and prepare for the banquet. one of the "sacm"s is the preachers wife, one is the mom of one of the youth, and one was the grandparent of one of the youth. i just couldn't believe it. we were busting our butts trying to get everything set up, and the play practiced, and the kids in costume, and they take a casual 2 hour lunch. i am eating a meat pie on the fly and running my other youth ragged. it just aint right.

lies and tears

2006-02-14T09:57:00.000-08:00

i wanted to write this yesterday, but didn't get to squeeze it in my day. we had more drama this weekend with the youth group. sometimes i feel more like a drama referee than a youth minister. remember, mrh and jm, the girls that lied to mrh's mom about going on the youth trip? well, they lied again this weekend and told mrh's mom that i was taking them to town to get clothes for our valentines banquet skit. only they went with one of jm's friends, (a boy! and a boy of a different race, which is a big issue in our little rural part of the world). well, mrh got caught in the lie, so she lied again and told her mom that her and jm took "my" truck to town to shop. (i was out of town on saturday.) so, guess who calls me. mrh's mom. she wanted me to know that the girls took my truck to town. she said that her daughter can no longer be with jm and family or our youth group until further notice. jm called me a few minutes later wanting to explain to me that they did not take my truck, but did go with the boy! and she didn't know what to do. crying her eyes out that her dad would not understand and she didn't know what to do. she wouldn't tell him about the boy, only that she went with a friend. we talked on for awhile and she went back home with her dad. (he had brought her over to my house so she could explain in person that she had not taken my truck).

the next morning, i asked her if she had told her dad the truth about the boy!. she said that he never asked her another question about the situation. he never spoke another word about it. nothing. well, he did tell her that she could not go out of town on her spring break, like she had planned. so, i talked to her about "the lie" and about using my name and the youth groups name in those lies to get what they wanted out of mg's family.

as days go by

2006-02-07T05:55:00.000-08:00

well, just like my handwritten journal history, i haven't posted in a few days. busy, busy, busy. i saw jv (see post titled jv) this past weekend. keep praying for him. he is not in school anymore, he found out that since he got suspended while in the g.e.d. program, he can not return. that doesn't make any since to me. i asked if he had gotten baptized, and he mumbled a negative answer.

jm, a 16 year old girl in my youth group, that spends alot of time at my house (she came over last wed. nite after church, and i carried her home on sunday nite) asked if she could move in with us. she says she hates going home and loves being at my house. seems to be a common thing at my house. they come over, spend some time here, and don't want to go.

work at the arenas is not good. my dad, who happens to be my boss, who happens to be working in south louisiana (not because he cares so much for the people, but for the money he can make down there) is being hard headed as usual. we (my sister and I, who both work for him) can't make a decision on our own, and don't like the ones he makes. i have decided to start pulling my input and presence out of that place (am working from home today). it goes way deeper than i can spend time typing here, but i know i am in a dead end place, and wasting my time trying to make it work.

we went to a barrel race friday night. my second horse, who has only been to one other barrel race, won $67. it wasn't a great run, but i know he has the speed and ability to be a winner, he is just waiting on me to catch up.

well, guess i better get to work, i have so much to do today. we have a valentine's banquet this weekend, and i am not prepared.

jules

"justin"

2006-02-02T09:15:00.000-08:00

a very talented cousin that loves to sing praises to God.

"katie and paint"

2006-02-02T09:13:00.000-08:00

day after wednesday

2006-02-02T08:49:00.000-08:00

thrusday morning. day after wednesday night bible study. where do i start . . .?

first, one of my youth, i'll call him, "the informant" because he usually feeds little morsels of information to me about what some of the others in the group are up to, told me a whopper last night. there is one student in my group, Mrh, that has strange parents (actually they all have strange parents) but this poor child hasn't much hope. She made all A's and 1 d' on her report card and is grounded for 1 month, only school and church (her catholic church). thing is, she goes to a catholic church with her parents and my church for the youth. she comes to our church on wednesday and sunday nights, and stays for about 30 minutes before her parents pick her up and take her to catholic church. anway, her folks are very strict, and this weekend she told them a big lie. she told them that she was going on a youth camping trip with our youth group (which we didn't do), but instead went to texas with another member of my youth group, jsa, and her family (to visit her mom in prison). Actually, she is dating, jsa's brother, jcb, behind her mom's back. he didn't go with them this weekend, so at least he wasn't with her all weekend. mrh lives 2 houses down from me. it would hav been so easy for her folks to see me driving down the road, not at a youth camping trip, and catching her in this lie. my, my, my, whatever shall i do?

second, the pastors wife, also a childrens sunday school teacher, and very vocal and opinionated member of my "youth advisory committee" , informed me last night that she doesn't want to teach ss anymore. in fact, she doesn't want to be a "planning and doing" part of any of the events at the church. she feels like she just needs a break. she feels inadequate and like she is not doing a good enough job.

so there, that's my update for now. need to get back to the working part of this day.

just when you think things are running smoothly, BAM, you hit a log in the water that you didn't see.

Meagan

2006-02-01T08:47:00.000-08:00

Another cousin in Florida 05.

Rebecca

2006-02-01T08:45:00.000-08:00

My cousin, Rebecca, on our annual family reunion trip to Florida. Taken in 2005.

Oh, Happy Day

2006-02-01T08:36:00.000-08:00

wow, this thing really does work. already i have met 2 new people. and i thank them for their kind comments. i don't have much time to post just now, as i have a horse to ride. actually, i am getting paid to ride this horse for someone else. YEAAHH. two dreams have come true for me in just 2 weeks. i was handsomely rewarded for some pictures that i took of a horse for his owner, and i am getting paid to ride a horse. it is cool to get paid for doing something that I love doing (photography and horses and photographing horses). Ah, the American Dream. Ah, God does answer prayers! here are a few more of my photos. enjoy.

"guess who i am"

2006-01-31T11:55:00.000-08:00

visitor at our fall fest

bound by blood

2006-01-31T11:52:00.000-08:00

Jessica and brother Russel at my house. Cool kids in my youth group.

jv

2006-01-30T10:02:00.000-08:00

why do i feel the need to blog? i started a blogsite last wednesday, and this is the first chance that i have had to actually post anything. i do not have the gift of gab and i keep most of my personal thoughts, well, personal. but this seems to be the new thing to do, so i thought i would give it a shot. i have been reading some other blogs, and i feel quite inadequate about starting my own. but here goes my first topic, since it has been on my mind ever since the moment i met "the topic" . . .

i'll call him "jv" to keep his identity personal. jv is 17, he is in a 9th grade g.e.d. program at his school (the last grade he completed was the 8th). he has been in youth homes for the last 2 years, and is currently in a foster home in my home town. he was adopted by a family when he was very young, maybe 2, and lived with them for about 8 years. they decided to give him back to the state (don't know the details why). he has been kicked out of several youth homes. he was arrested for battery some time back. jv has been living with his new foster family since dec. 10th, only been at school 2 weeks, and was suspended for fighting. he "claims" he didn't start it. they "claim" he just walked up to this kid and began to punch him. his foster mom says she doesn't know what to believe, told him they are going to get past this, forget it, and start over again. in order for him to remain in her home, he has to go to school. he told me he didn't think he would ever be smart enough to even pass the g.e.d. test. he is so "damaged" by the life he has been delt and my heart went out to him. he is very immature for 17. he only sees things one way, its like he is stuck in this vortex of defeat, lies, and dissalusion. he has run away from homes, and families, and he said, "sometimes i want to run away and just lay down somewhere and see if anyone will come to save me."

i talked to jv for nearly an hour yesterday. i asked him where he got the black eye and things started from there. i invited him to come to our church, and he said that he was getting baptized soon. we talked about his decision, i told him that with God in his heart, he should try to handle the confrontations at school better. "he asked if you could get baptized two times, in case this one wasn't real or he messed up again after". we talked about praying, he asked, "what good would that do, if i ask God to let me pass the g.e.d. test, would He"?

i hope to get to see him more. i have lifted up prayers for him every time he crosses my mind which is quite often. if anyone reads this, please pray for jv and for those around him to be what he needs to find his place in this life and with God.

my first post

2006-01-25T14:19:00.000-08:00

hello. my name is julie and i am a new blogger. more to come. later.