The Happiest Place on Earth

Jillian and I just got back from our vacation in Florida with my family, and one of the days, we spent at Disney's Magic Kingdom. They call it the happiest place on earth. It was a wonderful day and we spent time riding rides, watching shows, eating lunch with Winnie the Pooh and frolicking around singing zippity doo da. Ok, everything but the last part. We were with my niece and nephew and they were loving disney world, but by the end of the day, they were tired, crying, complaining, and very irritable. By the end of our day at the happiest place on earth, we had the unhappiest kids on earth. It made me think of the difference between joy and happiness. The truth is happiness only lasts for a little while. Joy is a complete satisfaction. Happiness leaves us wanting more. Joy doesn't leave us thirsting for anything else. Of course, the question is what is the source of your joy or happiness? Is it something of this world like disney world or video games or food. If it is, you will never experience true joy. A complete joy comes from knowing Jesus Christ and resting in his promises with the security of knowing you are his forever. That is joy.

It's good to be home and I will see all of you soon!

You shoud comment on this post.

Well, you guys, I've noticed that people rarely leave comments on the blog anymore. Why is this? I don't know the answer, but I know I want things to change! So, let's see how many comments we can get on this post. You could be part of a revolution! No pressure to be clever, funny, or interesting...just leave a comment. In fact, I'll give you a question to get you going....What word or phrase do you overuse? Or, if you don't find yourself overusing a word or phrase, what's one that you've noticed people overuse? For me, it's "Heck no!" Oh, and you don't have to answer the question. Any comment will do. And, if you leave a comment under your name I will give you candy at church tomorrow morning. Am I trying too hard?

Happy commenting!

The year ahead....

Hey, you guys! Just wanted to let you know that this year the Edge calendar of events will be online only. No more paper calendars...this is 2007. : ) You can find the link on the right side of the blog under "Links." So, go check it out. See what is in store for the year to come. It's going to be great!

I hope you're having a good day! You should go do something summery!

Optical Illusions!

These are all chalk drawing illusions from a guy named Julian Beever....pretty cool.

Batman and Robin

The hose and water are chalk.

There's not really a hole in the ground. : )

Which is your favorite?

AGOW!

Hey everyone, AGOW! time!

This week's AGOW is Triangles!. use the keyboard and the mouse to avoid the triangles on 2 separate screens. if you can't chew gum and walk, you probably won't be very good at this game!

"play with a friend, or split your brain!"

Be Deliberate.

Okay, here's the challenge for today:

Deliberately encourage someone today. In other words, be intentional about lifting someone up. Purposefully say something nice. Practice some planned kindness. Do you get it?

The fact is that human beings by nature are selfish. When you know Jesus, you get the chance to love others and be unselfish. But sometimes, it takes practice to love others before it comes naturally. So, today, why don't you make a point of loving someone else by encouraging them? The more you do it, the more natural it becomes. And trust me, thinking about others more than yourself is a way better way to live.

"Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others." Philippians 2:4

Comment and tell me how it goes!

Post #270

Happy Sunday, folks. After I write this blog, I'm definitely going to relax. It's been a long week.
How was your week? I hope you are savoring each day of summer...August is only two days away. And you know what that means. School.

So, this morning we talked about two of the promises of God. One is that He promises to be your strength in times of trouble. The second is that He can give you peace and joy during those times, too.

The way to make good on these promises is to trust Jesus and live a life committed to Him. This is your part to play and then you can experience the beautiful things that God promises.

Today, enjoy the blessings of knowing the one true God. : )

p.s. This is a picture of my adorable foster brother. It has nothing to do with this post, but I just thought this pic was too cute to keep it to myself.

AGOW!

Here is your addicting game of the week. I am sure most of you love tetris, well this is basically another version of it. Have a blast with it and don't play it too long. Let's hear the high scores. Have fun!

TETTROLAPSE!

Leadertreks Progress

Many of you know that our Leadertreks Mission Trip team worked on building a deck and a shed this summer. We weren't there to see the completion of the project, but I wanted to give you guys an update of what it is looking like these days after several more teams came in behind us to do more work. Check out these pictures.

God's promises series

What is a promise? What promises are found in the Word of God? How do God's promises impact our every day life? For the next few Sunday mornings, this will be our topic of conversation. The Bible is full of promises if we just look so we are going to do just that. There are also things we think are promises from God if you are a Christian which are not true. I hope everyone who is in town can make it this Sunday as we take a closer look at the promises of God.

Peace is a Promise

I think that one of the most delightful things in the Christian life is realizing that God makes us promises in the Bible that we can put our trust in. I love discovering a promise in Scripture and claiming it as my own. Like that God will take your pain and use it for good if you trust in Him or that you can't escape God's presence and that Jesus never changes. Dwelling on these things is like rushing inside during a stormy day, wrapping yourself in a warm blanket, and watching the wind from a spot near the fireplace. Peaceful and protected.

Philippians 4:6-7 has a promise that I rely on a lot. "Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."

Do you see it? When you're worried, take it to God in prayer and He will give you peace that you can't even understand! Sometimes it can be hard because we might not believe God can give us that peace or we don't trust Him to take care of our worries. But when we really believe His Word is true and we faithfully come to Him, we get peace. Jesus is good!

Has God ever given you peace that goes beyond understanding in a hard time? Thank Him for it!

AGOW!

Hey Everyone!

Here's your AGOW! for this week...it's a puzzle game, sort of like tetris. How well can you fit the blocks into the space?

enjoy Phit!

What Now?

So Doe River Gorge was a great experience, a spiritual high, an incredible time of growth. This morning we talked about what to do after you have a really good week of spiritual growth and than you get back to normal life. Remember that it's kind of like jumping off of a high dive. You get a great thrill when you jump but when you hit the water, you have to swim. Since you guys are back from a thrilling time spiritually, you must realize that you have to keep it going...keep swimming, keep working on your commitment to Christ. Every day is a new day and a chance to commit that day to following Christ. Spend time reading God's Word, spend time praying and communicating with God. If you develop these disciplines, you will continue to grow in your love for Christ. I am excited to see how this past week will impact you guys for the rest of your lives! Don't let it end...keep on swimming!

Doe River Gorge

Sorry about no posts for the whole week, but we were all at Doe River Gorge this week havin' a great time and didn't have access to the internet. Since 65 students were at Doe River, there weren't a lot of people to check out the blog. So anyway, Doe River Gorge was a really great week! Most of the students that went took major steps in their faith in Christ this week and some came to know Christ for the very first time at this camp! Praise God for that! Anyway, thanks for praying for us if you did! I hope everyone can make it on Sunday because we will be talking about Doe River Gorge, what happened there, and also showing a video of our week. See you Sunday!

I'm leavin' on a jet plane, don't know when I'll be back again....

Actually, I'm leaving on a bus and, if all goes as planned, I'll be back next Friday. But it's still a good song.

Early tomorrow morning, 71 of us from Edge are going to Doe River Gorge, an awesome camp in the mountains of Tennessee. Pray that we have safe travel and make the most of our time there. I trust that God will use it to teach us something more about Him. Even though I know I love Doe River and I'm excited to go, I'm a little sad, too. My brother is back for a few days from the camp he's working in Wisconsin, so I'm sad to miss most of his visit. Also, I'll miss my little foster brother....oh, and the rest of my family, too. : )

My point in mentioning these small bummers is to note something lovely about this Jesus we serve!

In the past seven years, I've been away from my family a lot. And the people in my life have moved around a lot. In the play of my life, there haven't been too many consistent characters. Know what I mean? But God has been my one constant, the one thing that doesn't change even when my friends, location, or job does. God's presence in my life is the same and He is the same! It's super comforting to know that His love for me and His grasp on my life remains. There's a lot of strength in that. So when I think of leaving my family, or something else familiar even for a week, I remember that God is the same yesterday, today, and forever!

Actually, that's in the Bible... "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever." Hebrews 13:8

Happy Fourth of July!

Independence Day....are you feeling patriotic? I'll be honest, I've never really gotten into this day. But today, I'm really enjoying it. I ate blueberry and strawberry pancakes this morning, I'm going on a run with my dad, and later I might watch fireworks. I think it sounds like a simple day, doesn't it? I love that. Sometimes we need so much to be entertained and happy, but I think there's merit in taking inventory of your blessings and just enjoying them. So, today, I'm enjoying good food and family. How about you? What are you thankful for? And what are you doing to celebrate?

AGOW!

Hey everyone, here is the Addicting Game of the Week and it's a pacman game where you must fill 80% of the box...you'll see how it works. it's good and it's addicting. Have fun!

HERE IT IS!

Last Day of the trip...

Well, our time here is coming to a close. We just finished our last work day and we got a lot accomplished. We were able to finish building the floor of the deck and started on the railing of the deck. We also put steps on both sides of the deck. Then we put walls on a shed. Finally, we made 2 picnic tables to go on the deck. The whole purpose of the deck is to have a place for the church to hang out on when it's nice out. It is going to be a great tool to help this church grow closer to Christ and each other through fellowship. The shed is going to be another great place where the church can store all of their stuff because there is not a lot of space inside the church. All in all, God used us to accomplish much for the sake of His Kingdom! He also used many of you to be a part of it by praying for us while we were down here. I hope to see many of you on this trip next year! See you all Sunday to hear more about the trip!

Workin' Hard

Here we are, day 4 of our work here with one day left to go. Our team is learning a ton, and bonding really well. I love that our team has no cliques and they are all getting along. We are growing a ton here and it's fun to watch all of our students taking risks and stepping out in faith to do great things for Christ. Here are a couple pictures of us working hard on the worksite building a deck and a shed.

We're in Kentucky, y'all!

Hi, Friends! Today marks the halfway mark for our LeaderTreks trip! It has been challenging and fun at the same time.

Isn't it weird that hard work can be fun? I think in our case it's fun because it is for a purpose. Sometimes, as in our case, it is easy to find purpose in our daily activities. We're helping a church community by building onto their church. But, in other cases, it is hard to find meaning in our days. When I worked at Starbucks, I had a hard time seeing how my time there honored God. I came to realize that everyday should be lived out with worship and purpose, no matter what the job. This meant making the best lattes I could while being as Christlike to mean customers as I could. It also meant loving my co-workers in a way that made Jesus look good!

So, making each day purposeful can be hard, but it can be done! Do your best for Jesus and love the people around you. Remember, what you do today can impact eternity.

Now, a word from some of the LeaderTreks girls....Jenn T., Meredith F., and Jessie O.

"Hello, Edgers! We are having an awesome time, even though we smell really bad right now. Who knew serving the Lord could be so much fun? Seeing the joy in the church goers faces when they see the work we are doing is indescribably heart warming! We truly recommend that you come next year!"

A Man named Wetzel

Yesterday, we met a man named Wetzel who is one of the church members at the church where we are working. I had a chance to chat with Wetzel today and he told me a little bit of the history of their church. The building was built 5 years ago and the church only had a handful of people that came, few of which had good jobs and made decent money. So these few people came together in faith to build this church. Wetzel said that he used to work at his job all week and then on every Saturday, he gave his time to help build the church building. What an amazing thing.

Wetzel and a crew of 4 of our students built 2 picnic tables the last couple days and when he was finished, he had each of them sign their names and also write the Scripture verse, Colossians 3:23, which was such a fitting verse for what we want to do this week.

It says, "Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart as working for the Lord and not men."

Wetzel is one of the great stories of someone who follows Christ with everything he has and who truly lives by the words of Colossians 3:23.

Keep praying for us down here...THANKS!

AGOW!

Hey Everyone! You're Addicting Game O' the Week this week is....


STUNT DIRT BIKE!

Make your way over a variety of obstacles in the dirt bike or 4-wheeler of your choice. Enjoy!

COW

Alright, ok, well, while Todd is down in Kentucky he'll be keeping us all updated on all the cool things our group is doing, but in the mean-time he gave me the task of keepin' this blog-train rolling...so it's Monday and that means it's COW time!

This week's comment of the week goes to Hayley and her comment about commenting (and ALIVE)

hayley said...

finally after all these months! FIRST COMMENT!!!! now all i need is cow and sow although i don't think we are doing sow anymore. anyway that festival looks cool. but then again all festivals are fun. anyway, i'm happy now, so i will just stop typing right about....Now.

Congratulations Hayley! First Comment and COW all with the same post! Rock On!

Safe Arrival in Kentucky

I am writing from Pippa Passes, KY. We arrived safely to our mission trip destination and all is well. Thanks for your prayers if you were praying for us. I hope edge this morning went well. We are staying on the side of a mountain in Kentucky in trailor homes. We have 1 shower for 20 people to share. We are in the middle of nowhere and this week we are serving God by helping with construction on a church helping build a deck and a shed. We are tired tonight so we are going to sleep, but tomorrow starts our work, so I will update you tomorrow. I plan to post each day so that you all can keep up with us on our journey through this week.

Revolutionary Love

Good morning! How has summer been so far? I saw a lot of you volunteering at VBS. The basement of the church was so not lonely this week. I loved having you guys there. Volunteering is such an important thing in life. It helps us to see outside of ourselves and realize the value in doing something that isn't about us!

I'm going to switch gears a little, but here is my train of thought. Volunteering...helping others...other asking for help...people asking too much of us...

Do you ever hear someone say, "I can't let people walk all over me." In other words, "I can't let people take advantage of me." I would argue that, often, it is our calling to let people walk all over us. Look at the words of Jesus:

"You have heard that it was said, 'Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth.' But I tell you, do not resist an evil person. If someone strikes you on the cheek, turn to him the other also. And if someone wants to sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well. If someone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles. Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you." Matthew 5: 38-42

When someone asks you to go a mile with them and you are already willing to go the second mile, it is almost impossible to say someone is "walking all over you." So, the next time someone asks too much of you, really evaluate and see if God would want you to go the extra mile for that person. You'll find the answer is often yes! Imagine if all Christians did that all of the time. The world would have a hard time resisting the Jesus inside of us!

With the love of Jesus inside of you being acted out in your day to day relationships, you can revolutionize your own world. : ) It's exciting.

Kentucky Mission Trip

This Sunday, once again, I will be gone with 17 students on a mission trip to the sticks of Kentucky. I will miss you guys who are back here. I would ask that you pray for us while we are on our trip. We will be doing some construction on a church down there as our main project. Pray that God will use this trip to change our team and make us leaders for Christ. Also pray that we would have an impact on the people there by the work we do. Thanks for your prayers! Our team will be back next week, and edge on Sunday, July 1st will be all about our Leadertreks trip. You will hear from our students about how the trip went and some stories to go with it. It will be great!

Check out some of the action from last year's trip!

Alive

Hey guys, this week is the Alive Festival if any of you have ever heard of it. It is basically this big Christian Music festival where all the best Christian bands put on concerts. If you are bored over the next couple of days, tell your parents to take you down there. For more information...go HERE.

Edge Hang Out Night!

Don't miss the first Edge Summer Hang Out tomorrow night, Wednesday, June 20 from 7:00-8:30 PM. We will meet in the high school room where we meet on Sunday mornings. It will be a casual night of just hanging out, eating, playing games, and having a good time together.

Come and bring a friend. It will be a great time.

See you then!

Father's Day!

Father's Day...did you celebrate your dad today and tell him what you appreciate about him? If you haven't, there is still time left!

Sometimes days like this are tricky because not everyone has a dad to celebrate with. The really good thing, though, is that there is a heavenly Father to celebrate everyday. One of my favorite things about God is that He is a Father who is unchanging and whose love for us is the same everyday.

In my own life, I want to make each day out of the year a day with more celebration - more worship - for the Father who has a plan for my life, will bring justice to the earth one day, and saved me from myself. In the words of Martha Stewart, it's a good thing!

Strange, but true....

Did you know....

The Mona Lisa has no eyebrows. It was the fashion in Renaissance Florence to shave them off.

Most lipstick contains fish scales.

Porcupines float in water.

The only 15 letter word that can be spelled without repeating a letter is
"uncopyrightable."

Dolphins sleep with one eye open.

Owls are one of the only birds who can see the color blue.

Every second, Americans collectively eat one hundred pounds of chocolate.

A toothpick is the object most often choked on by Americans.
A website told me these things are true, so they may or may not be false. : )

That's soooo embarrassing!

Do you mind if I selfishly use this blog to vent about something? I find that talking about things that are bothering me is extremely therapeutic. And, since I'm alone in my office in the basement of the church, I only have you to talk to.

Recently, I would say in the past year and a half, I've found myself blushing if I experience any sort of awkward or embarrassing situation. Actually, it only has to be mildly uncomfortable, and I can feel my face turning bright red. This never used to happen. I felt so blessed that my discomfort didn't manifest itself by turning my face into a cherry tomato. Alas, now all you have to do is tell me there's a piece of lint on my shirt and my cheeks start to burn. Not only my face is affected, though. I get so warm! The weird part is, I won't even know I'm embarrassed and someone will mention it and then I grow redder. Sigh.

I'm so embarrassed about being embarrassed.

As usual, I think this can be turned into a quick spiritual tidbit to feed your soul. If I could give myself some advice, I'd say, "Get over yourself." My embarrassment comes from caring what people think of me. Not only that, but it must also stem from something deep inside of me that thinks there's something cool about me in the first place. What I mean is, if I know I'm just like everybody else, that I'm kind of a goof a lot of the time, and that's okay, it wouldn't matter when I do something stupid. If I had a true humility that understood how great God is and how little I am, it would be like, "Hey, I'm human. It happens." But instead, pride comes into play, and I care that my cover is blown and people see me for what I am.

Did I take that too far? I think you can be humble and a really balanced person and still get embarrassed at times. But I think when we see ourselves for what we are - just people who are a kind of goofy and loved by God - the little embarrassing things don't matter so much.

Proverbs 11:2 "When pride comes, then comes disgrace, but with humility comes wisdom."

Depressing...

I could not bare to watch the Cavs lose last night. I had this horrible feeling after they lost. I couldn't believe it. You should have seen me watching this game. I was on the floor and on my knees and jumping up and down. It was probably pretty funny to watch, but that is how into this game I was. I started thinking about the things that I get passionate about in life such as the Cleveland Cavs in the NBA Finals and other things that are not eternal. Than I started thinking how I don't even always get on my knees for God. I don't always jump up and down over the joy that comes from the salvation I have in Christ. That really hit me. What do you get passionate about and how does that compare with your passion for Christ? There is a thought for the day and a lesson I learned.

Finals Watch: Game 3

Alright, everyone. The Cavs and Spurs will play game 3 tonight, but this time we are in Cleveland. The last 2 games were pretty rough for the Cavs, but now we have 3 home games in a row and anything can happen. Don't give up on the Cavs yet. Remember last series against Detroit, we lost the first 2 and won the next 4. Let's go Cavs! We need a win tonight!

AGOW

This week's addicting game is a penalty shootout. Since I am soccer player, I like this one. Try it out. It's not easy. Have fun...who can score 5 in a row? it's not easy to do.

click here

COW

Ok, first of all, the Cavs had a rough go of it last night, but it is by no means over.

Secondly, the comment of the week goes to "short but sweet." Whoever you are, you have been a faithful blog poster so you deserve it. Please tell us who you are though so that we can give you the prize for COW. You also did pretty sweet on the AGOW which I thought was really hard. You did way better than I did.

Way to go...here it is...

short but sweet said...
well i played the game and i got my best score ever i went 185.76yd cool\Go cavs!!!!!
Tue Jun 05, 12:10:00 PM

Tell us who you are "short but sweet."

Finals Watch: Game 2

All right Cavs fans (which I know is every one of you)! By the way, don't tell me you are a Spurs fan. Game 2 is tonight and it's going to be a different story tonight. Game 1 was rough, but I think we have figured some things out and I am pumped to see the Cavs turn things around tonight. Since this is historic that the cavs are in the NBA Finals, I thought we would do a series a blog posts dedicated to our beloved hometown team. We will call it the finals watch. Each game, there will be a new post and I want the cavs fans to give a shout out. Then tomorrow, I want some feedback about the game! GO CAVS!

It's a good day.

Today is a beautiful day. You can't deny it. Today, I went on a picnic, which I think is a perfect beautiful Saturday afternoon activity. Then, I drank a soy latte, which I consider a perfect any day activity. So that just increased my joy. And, I spent the day with people I really like. That's an essential for me to have a good day.

What is a perfect day for you? Is it active or lazy? Sunny or rainy? Inside or outside? Spent alone or with people? Does it involve food (I only mention that because a perfect day for me has to include good food)?

It's beneficial to talk about what makes a great day, but it's also good to talk about how to make each day good. Jesus tells us to pick up our cross daily. To me, that means surrendering each day to Jesus...asking him what He might have for me, making decisions that honor Him, and putting away my selfish desires. When I do those things, there's no way the day is wasted. And that's a good day.

"Then [Jesus] said to them all, 'If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.'" Luke 9:23

It's the weekend!

Happy Friday, everyone! For a lot of you, it's your last day of school. I really miss the "last day of school" feeling. You should cherish it.

How was the year? Life goes by really fast at times and I think it's good to stop and reflect. So....let us reflect. What was the best part of your year? What was the worst part? Did you learn any big life lessons that change the way you think? Has your relationship with God grown stronger or weaker this year?

Today, I'm going to take some time to thank God for all the good things that happened this school year at Edge. After all, every good thing comes from Him. Will you do that with me? I also want to create a focus for my summer. I have to do that in order to live life intentionally and with purpose.

How did you like reflecting? I thought it was great - let's do this more often!

Leadertreks Mission Trip

Hey everyone, I wanted to remind you that we have a team of 19 people headed to Kentucky on a missions trip on June 24th! I talked about it at edge this past Sunday morning, but I wanted to mention it again. We need your prayers for this trip. Here is the list of guys and girls going on the trip. Read through the names and pick one out to pray for! That would be awesome. Here is a picture from last year's trip. They will need your prayers because they get to operate machinery like this. Trivia: does anyone know who this fine young lad is? Hint: his nickname is on his T-shirt.

Leadertreks Team
Conner Waldron
Meredith Fisher
Ali Clem
Jenn Trimble
Olivia Zeller
Nick Seemann
Adam Carothers
Andy Perkins
Laura Paisley
Savanna Wilson
Catherine Potesta
Taylor Bright
Josh Fasnacht
Jessica O’Grady
Heather Palmer
Katelyn Lotz
Cole Rako

Jillian Stouffer

Todd Iannetta

Our trip takes place June 24-30!

AGOW!

Hey there Everyone! I hope you're having fun at your last week of school!
A good rainy day summer activity: go back through the old Addicting Games of the Week and see if you can do better at then than you did the first time! Who knows, maybe there are some that you missed that you will really like! You can get to them by going to the sidebar to the right and look under the "posts for section" that will provide you links to every AGOW. EVER!

anyway, This week's AGOW is a nice little gem called Double Wires. You're like Spider-Man, only more noodlely (is that a word?)

Enjoy!

COW

The comment of the week goes to Adam Seal who has won it a couple times already. Adam can always be counted on for a great comment and this is another one. Adam replied with a great point to the previous anonymous post about liking both the Cavs and the Pistons. Here it is...

adam seal said...
anonymous,u cant root 4 detroit and like the cavs. thats like liking the red sox and the yankees.
Wed May 30, 04:05:00 PM

Great point, Adam! Get your prize on Sunday!

Congrats! Don't forget to post everyone. If the same people always post than the same people will get the COW. C'mon people, post some comments.

Yard Work

Today, I worked in my yard (please kids, don't try this at home), weeding, planting, bulldozing, and stuff like that. I don't always like working on that stuff cause it is hard and it is hot outside, but when I see that our yard looks nice afterwards, I feel a sense of accomplishment. I feel good about myself. Our yard looked bad because it had a lot of weeds and it needed a lot of work, and the only way to make it look good was to work on it. I think that is the same with our lives as believers and followers of Christ. We desperately want to look a certain way. We want other people to like us. We want God to be proud of us. We want to be a workmen who do not need to be ashamed because he is one approved by God (2 Timothy 3:15). However, it takes work. We have to put time in to improving our relationship with Christ. We have to work at it. All relationships take work. What are you doing to improve your relationship with Christ? God has done his part and still is doing his part, but what are you doing? There is a good challenge for us today.

Were you a witness?