Closing Time

Today I officially stepped down as the PWOC president, and we installed Misty as the new one. I'll admit, it was a bit more emotional than I was anticipating. I was really glad today wasn't my last day there- that would have been awful! Misty has been our 1VP of Programs and will do an excellent job as the president. Her husband just got back from Iraq about 6 weeks ago, so she is in a good position to serve these ladies, as many of them just said good-bye the same week Misty's husband came home. Really, PWOC had a lot to do with me enjoying the Army; it got me integrated and connected much sooner and easier than anything else. And though my husband was home this past year, seeing how the deployed spouses supported each other gave me much hope for our next deployment.

Sunday is my last day at Kids Church. I am a little more readily giving that one up than PWOC- though I won't miss having to get up early and miss church (well, the first half of it anyway...) every Sunday morning, I will miss the kids. It took a few months to really get into the swing of it, and I feel like I am just now developing relationships with the kids and parents. Oh well, there will be more opportunities at the next place...

I have learned so much this past year being involved in the chapel ministry. More than anything, I've learned a lot about how a chapel runs- this has been invaluable to not only me, but Jonathan as well. I've learned to be more professional and formal (working so closely with senior officers demands it) and to allow for more grace. Then there's the Funds Office... this is run by Chaplain Assistants, who have a oftentimes thankless job. They will have upset folks in their office all the time when things aren't going right, but most don't even notice all the effort they put into that happening as little as possible. I have learned that giving them plenty of notice- and doing everything in my power to help- goes a long way.

I really have been so blessed to be here this year, as it was such a great learning experience. I now feel that when we go to the next place, I will be so much better equipped and prepared. There will be plenty more things to learn there- the FRG is a world largely unknown to me- so I'm glad I'm ahead of the curve in the chapel community.

It's so funny to think that, just under a year ago, we were leaving Grace. It seems like a lifetime. I had no idea what this Army life would be like; I had no idea about a lot of things! I knew it was sad to leave, but I was excited about what was ahead. I would say it's pretty much the same now. Though this chapter isn't quite closed, I'm at the point now where I'm not so much worried about board meetings, curriculum, and teacher schedules as I am the baby. That's a good place to be, I suppose.

Every new beginning comes from some other beginning's end...

Without a Hitch!!

Whew! I am breathing SUCH a sigh of relief!

I don't remember if I posted about this... but a few months ago, something inexplicable came over me, and I decided to put on a children's Christmas program. Well, long story short, it ended up as only a small part of a large installation chapel Christmas Music Fest. Which was tonight. Kids Church sang two songs, then a couple narrators read the Christmas story from Luke 2 while other kids acted it out. After seeing how the practices went the past few weeks, I was REALLY nervous... but they did great!! They were super cute in their little shepherd and angel outifts, and the kids sang louder tonight than they ever have.

And now, I can breathe.

I learned A LOT through this. I'm not sure I will ever do it again... though, if I do, I have a lot of good dos and don'ts! Okok, sooo... more "don'ts" than "dos"...

Have you placed your guess in my delivery pool yet (see below)? You can go here to see the calendar with the dates everyone chose. Again, it's fine to have more than one person on the same date.

Now for the matter of the prize... I have no idea what it will be- that depends on who wins! (So no worries, Rhonda- if it's you, I PROMISE it won't be coffee! :-) I mean, don't expect some fantastic grandiose award... but it will be cool nonetheless!

ETA: If you tried the calendar earlier tonight and google tried to make you sign in, I changed to a different calendar program so you won't have to do that- try it now!

Crayon Box

I have started about three posts, only to realize none of them were interesting enough to publish. So, instead, I have decided to grace you with several of my here-and-there thoughts, a "crayon box" of sorts...

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The last few nights, Jon and I have sat out on the deck... and I could wear SOCKS! Yes, and long pants, and - get this - long sleeve shirts! Ah, bliss.

On that note, I purchased a homemade pumpkin spice candle from a PWOC friend, and she delivered it to me today- can't wait to try it out! (Every fall, I spend like $3 on the Walmart version, which kinda smells a little for about 10 minutes, then it just burns. Glad I went with quality this year.)

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If you read my husband's blog, you remember him posting a couple weeks ago about a Derek Webb song. Yes, to calm any family grumblings, it was in fact my brother-in-law, Dave, who introduced me to this favorite of mine a couple years ago (by the way, Dave, I don't think it was KFC- I think it was a mom&pop diner that took about an hour and a half for us to eat at...) Derek Webb used to be in Caedmon's Call (and is married to Sandra McCracken of the same fame), then went solo. His album "She Must and Shall Go Free" is all about the church and has incredible lyrics. Both Derek and his bride are also a part of the Indelible Grace project- if you've never heard them, look them up on iTunes!!

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There is another brigade out of Ft. Stewart getting ready to deploy next month, so the train behind our house has once again been busy transporting various fighting vehicles. It has been a long road for this brigade, as they were "supposed to" deploy in July, then it kept getting delayed... the only thing worse than a deployment is an incessantly delayed deployment... the more time they spend here now, the longer it will be before they come home...

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The pregnancy is going well. I'll have to take a picture so y'all can see! It's funny, I now weigh what I did on my wedding day. Today someone told me my nose is getting bigger. Has anyone else heard of "pregnant nose"? Apparently I'm out of the loop on this one. I am pretty sure, though, that the wee one has changed her sport of choice from soccer to gymnastics- sorry, Dad!!

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Kids Church is going well, too. After starting to plan the Fall Fest, I was made aware that MWR (Morale, Welfare, & Recreation- they're in charge of the "fun" stuff of the Army) is doing one as well, so I'm just going to set up a booth at theirs. Easier for me. We're also doing a Kids Church Christmas program that will be a part of the Installation Chapel's Christmas Music Festival. It should be pretty cool!

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And, in closing, courtesy of MASH, "Be brave, be loyal, be true... and keep your white flags handy, just in case..."

Fall Festival

Alright, so I need your help. I'm beginning the brainstorming of this Fall Festival...

What carnival games did you like as a kid (or your kids like)? I'm trying to come up with ones for which I wouldn't have to build things such as a clown that you can throw bean bags through... think "laying around the house" or "Walmart." Here's my list so far:


face painting
painting mini pumpkins (ok, I admit... this is in itself the reason I'm doing this whole shindig...)
bucket bonanza
ring toss
duck pond
cake walk
moonwalk (the big inflatable bouncy thing... I can rent one from the post)
football throw

Any ideas??

Anyone wanna move here and help? :-)

I have two words for you:

Seventy-four children.

That's how many we had at Kids Church yesterday. 74.

We normally average around 50, but since we didn't meet last week, I expected around 30-35 (I hear it always drops after an off week, which held true the week after Easter).

Fortunately, I had four volunteers. A whopping four. Two of whom had never been there before yesterday, so were completely clueless (though I will say they did a great job jumping in for crowd control- one even taught a class!), and the rest of us were too busy to show them the ropes. (2 weeks ago, NO volunteers showed up- not one... I had to call 2 friends to fill in last minute, and I'm glad I did- there were 60 kids that week...)

I came home and crashed, thinking of ways the whole program can run more efficiently. It was really designed for 30-40 kids, so this is just way too many, and becomes super chaotic with that many kids. Of course, it's a great problem to have- but one that will need resolving right quickly!

Kids' Church

I began a new ministry today. Well... the ministry isn't new... I'm just new to it.

Anyway, I'm helping out with Kids'Church at Ft. Stewart.

With so many of the chaplains deployed, these ministries are severely lacking in volunteers... and with the surge and accelerated deployments, it is all happening quite quickly... as in... last week.

There are about 80 kids Kg-5th grade who come on a Sunday morning- this is one of those ministries that is all the chapels on post, plus unchurched kids that the bus picks up or whose parents drop them off. In that way, it's more like an AWANA program than a Children's Church. It only lasts about an hour, though, so there's barely enough time to realize what's going on before it's over! This morning they took a count of how many kids have a parent deployed right now- about 75% of them do. As you can see, it's vital that we keep reaching out to these families right now.

There is actually a possibility that I could be hired as a contract worker for the children's ministry. There's a bit of a process that has to happen, but it would allow me full reign of the ministry- and get paid for it!! From what I know of the position so far, it seems perfect for me! I won't know anything for a few weeks, but it looks promising!

Since the gospel service continues well after Kids' Church, I was able to go and be with Jon for the last half hour or so of the service. And... I didn't have the urge to cry AT ALL! Improvement... (funny sidenote... I was talking to one of the other KC volunteers who attends the gospel service, and she comes from an Anglican background- she said she was entirely caught off guard her first time!)

Anyway... I'll keep y'all posted... happy Sunday!