Sheryl, Austin and Kayla spent the weekend in Colorado Springs helping Miranda, Jeff and the kids move to their own home. Or should I say, watching the Body of Christ at Pikes Peak Christian Church help them move. Sheryl said that on Saturday morning, people with pickups and trailers began to arrive and in a couple of hours, everything was loaded, moved and unloaded. People continued to work at painting and cleaning and unpacking. Sheryl said it was awesome and almost overwhelming. Praise God for His Body! I’m so glad I’m a part of the family of God! What a blessing it is for this Dad to have the assurance that his children are well cared for by their Christian family. I believe this is a byproduct of training them up in the way they should go.

Questions for parents to ponder

What’s the value of training up a child in the way they should go?
Does it matter if that child hides God’s word in their heart?
Is it good enough to get them to the baptistery?
Does it matter if they have the Holy Spirit in their life?
When they are given the choice to go over to a friends house for the night, what standards will guide the choices they make?
When they go off to school and have the opportunity to choose their friends, what standards will they base those choices on?
When they are left at home alone for the evening, what computer programs will they choose to access, or what TV programs will they choose to watch?
When they go on their first date, or 4th or 12th date, what standards will they make their choices by?
When they move out of the house and go off to college, what guide will they use to live their lives by?
How prepared are they?
Are they well grounded?
If so, in what?
Are any of these questions important to consider?
What can you do about it?

Family Reunion

"I'm 87 going on 70," my father prodly proclaimed. "At least that's what the doctors tell me," he continued. I believe them. Dad looks and gets around great. He's driving, better than many of the other people on the roads, and still teaches Sunday School and preaches a sermon now and then, when given the opportunity. When I grow up, I want to be just like him. It's funny, I remember saying that when I was much younger, and I still feel the same way today. I am so thankful for the priviledge of being trained up by such a Godly man. It was great to go to the reunion and see all the family that attended. I enjoyed hanging around with everyone, and listening as they shared memories of years gone by. A special treat this year was when Tim's boys, Matthew and Benjamin, showed up. The last time I had seen the boys, they were about 10 and 3 yr's old. How good it is to have them as part of the family again. I was saddened that the only one that could go with me from my family was Shane, but at the same time it was great getting to spend some "one on one" time with him. The Williamsons and the Blanshans are much like I remembered them, but much more grown up now. Many children have been added to their families, and it was awesome to meet them. For those of you who couldn't go this year, begin now to make plans to attend the next one in three years. It is time well spent, and I hope to see you there.

VBS, the summer event where parents bring their children to the church and drop them off for other people to watch through the morning. Sometimes I think thats the only way we think about it. It's soooooo much more!
First and foremost, VBS is and opportunity to share Jesus and the truth in His Word, with the community. Also, it's probably the event that gets the most people (all ages) from our congregation involved in any one activity. This creates awesome opportunity to get to know one another better. It also gives opportunity to people to discover and develop their talents. It places adults and youth side by side, working with a common goal. It reinforces the family structure within the body of Christ. Seeds are planted, cultivated and in some instances harvested. What a great event.
I want to say in advance, to those of you who will be helping this year, THANK YOU! If your not helping, and would like to help, it's not too late, please give me a call. If you have children, live in the area, and would like to bring them, please do.
VBS is for ages preschool through 6th grades. The dates are June 22 - 26, and the time each morning is from 9:00 to Noon. Please join me in praying that all who are involved will be blessed.

The dates for the Centurian Cycling Club ride on the Mickelson Trail have been set for August 28th - 30th. Please plan to join us on that beautiful ride down the Mickelson Trail through the middle of the Black Hills in SD. It's a great trip for families. I'll be posting more info as I get it.

To prepare for the Mickelson trail bicycle ride this fall, we invite you to come and join us as we ride with the wind on Wednesday evenings in the Centurian Cycling Club here at WestWay. We meet at the church and leave on a ride which ever way the wind is blowing. At the end of the ride, we have snacks and a bible lesson. Then we load the bikes on a trailer, hop in the vans and head back to the church to go home. It's a great time of fellowship. A van with a trailer will follow the group incase there are break downs with the bikes or just physical energy so you can be picked up when needed. Please plan to join us.

Fatherhood

This weekend the son of a friend of mine was in an automobile accident on the edge of town. He suffered a broken neck with severe damage to his spinal chord. As a result, he is paralyzed from the chest down and is suspected to be this way for the rest of his life. As I visited with my friend, he mentioned that he was questioning whether he had done a good job in raising his son. I think this is a question that all parents will have in their minds at some point or another in their lives.
There are lots of ways to get advice on raising children. Some are very good and some may not be. How do we know we are doing our best? I would like to throw in my 3 cents worth, on this subject.
1. Seek God’s help, when planning a family and at every stage of their life as they grow and mature into adulthood. He created you and them. Who could be better to help you do your best?
2. Be there for them. Don’t let your life become so busy that you’re not able to spend time with them every day. I know that this is hard to do because of varying circumstances, but when you decide to have children, you should make the commitment to being there at least 358 days of the year if at all possible. You can’t do the best job at raising them if you’re not there. When you are around them they will seek to be like you, so take advantage of this to show them Christ living in you. Know that if you're not there that this important part of their life will be compromised.
3. Establish healthy communication with them from the time they are born and keep those lines open and available for the rest of your life. Communication must go both ways. Many great moments will come from this step.
These three areas are very basic and I know there is much more to raising children than just these three, but if you do well in these three, I believe the rest will fall into place with God’s help. Trust in him and he will bring it to pass
I have attached a picture of my son-in-law holding my grand daughter to illustrate what I have been saying. Notice the look on Kadences face as she pears into her daddy’s face. There is a love and a devotion that will be there forever if Jeff cultivates it. I know that’s his goal and I know he is seeking God’s help in doing so. Therefore, I know that it will happen. Praise God. What comfort this brings to this PaPa.
As to the friend I mentioned at the beginning of this letter, he has been doing his best in raising his son for the past few years and because of that, he will be able to make it through this very trying time in their life. He lives the verse that says, "Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus." 1 Thess 5:16-18 NIV

elderly

Last week I had the privilege to spend an hour at the Village with some friends of mine. They aren't exactly the kind of group that you would expect someone my age to be running around with, yet I found it especially rewarding to be with them.

They averaged approximately 40-45 years older than me and have experienced many more changes in their lives and the world around them, than most people I know. Most (all but two) of them were women.

We spent the time talking about The Word of God in the Book of John. Specifically the 13th and 14th chapters. It was fun to listen to them as we talked about The Lord's Supper and how he taught the Apostles to serve by setting an example for them in washing their feet. These people understood what it means to serve.

I remember thinking as we talked, "It would be good to bring some of the children from church up here to meet these people." Oh we have gone caroling there and have even taken May baskets up to give to them. But I think it would be good to bring the children up and play Bible trivia with them some day. It would be good for the children to see how important the Word of God is to the Elderly, and it would be good for the elderly to be around the energy of the children, if only for an hour or so.

I was especially touched when I read from the 14th chapter of John were Jesus says, "Do not let your heart be troubled; believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father's house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you. If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also." These people had those verses memorized, and you could tell that the verses had special meaning to them.

Is your heart troubled? Do you have any hope? Memorize these verses. Jesus was talking to those who were close to Him. He was talking to those who believed in Him. Come close to Him. Believe in Him. Know that he has gone to heaven to prepare a place for you.

I'm quite certain that some of the people that were there at The Village that day took great comfort in those words and the promise they bring. What a blessing it was for me to witness that. How about you? Can you take comfort in those words?