"I Yearned About Jesus"

I had to share with everyone a heartwarming story sent to me from Jessica, one of the moms who brings her boys to our church:

"I just wanted to send you a quick message about our day and hopefully brighten your day. I took the boys out for some running around this morning and promised Ben if he helped mommy he could get a toy at Giant Tiger - whatever he wants. When we got there and were looking around Benson picked out a statue of Mary, Joseph and baby Jesus. He told me that he wanted them in his room over his bed, and he said baby Jesus will take care of him. How wise! I was so shocked. He walked around the store holding his statue and telling all the old people who it was, and that he "yearned about baby Jesus" at church!!! I was so proud and happy all at once. What a smart little boy, and only 2 1/2 !" -from Jessica-

Ben certainly is adorable! He brought his little statue to church with him and hugged it tightly all through the service. One never knows what precious things these wise little hearts will treasure. Jess, you and your family are a gift to Good Shepherd. Thanks for this story!

Halloween with the teens

This October, I took our teens to the Snyder Family Farm's Haunted Barn and Corn Maze.
http://www.snydersfamilyfarm.com/nightterrors/home/nightterrors/home It was a dark and, well, rainy night, but we managed to have a lot of fun. Our group consisted of Eleesha, Erin, Cameron, Dorothy and Joseph, with older sister Melody F. and young adult Vincent N.
Here are pictures of us in the corn maze:
I see Cameron has his trusty umbrella ready to fight off all unfriendly types.
But Cameron, that's Joey!


Erin is not scratching her nose, she's pointing at the ghosts....

Are those glowing orbs spirits, or just rain drops lit up by the flash....?


Vincent is ready to protect us all.


It started raining pretty steadily, so we decided to take cover in the, er, haunted barn....

The gatekeeper barred our way, but eventually we got in.

And made all sorts of charming new friends!

Isn't he handsome?

This one got a bit cranky when I complimented him on his nice, modern Blackberry.

He was just a scream. (Well, somebody was screaming....)

And this clown wasn't having a happy night at all.


Maybe the fact that he had been chained to the wall had something to do with it.

And this fellow was everywhere!

And I mean,

EVERYWHERE!

Joseph's face was glowing yellow when I took this, but he seems okay in this picture....

Vincent kept us safe, thank goodness.

We all came home safe and sound, and mostly dry.

It was great fun!