Back in the Ville

It's good to be back in the Ville! Our family has just returned from a trip to Indiana where I received my Master of Arts, Ministry Leadership from Indiana Wesleyan University. IWU graduated over 1700 students on Saturday in three different ceremonies! It was a rewarding experience all-around, and we were glad we made the trek. We stopped in Ottawa on the way out, and had a Christmas evening with Gayla's family. Our time in Indiana was split between visiting friends and shopping ;->

Indiana was getting a 'severe winter storm' (anything over 3 inches is severe for them!) >ha,ha<. We pretty much followed the storm home which made for a long trip. We holed up just west of Cleveland Sunday night and drove 24 hours from Cleveland to Fredericton Mon-Tues. After a few hours of crash time this morning, I went straight to, where else, the Irving for a cup of Peruvian and a piece of banana bread. Yum.

We spent a couple of nights in Indiana with Wayne and Colleen Derr. Wayne is the General Director of Stewardship Ministries for the Wesleyan Church and Colleen is the Director of Children's Ministries. Colleen had recently been to Guatemala and brought home some really sweet coffee. More yum. Other drinks to keep the driver awake included Starbucks Christmas blend, Dunkin Donuts original, Krispy Kreme, and even a surprisingly good sip from a BP gas station and their Wild Bean Cafe. Even more yum.

We also spent a couple of nights with Jon and Mel Steppe, their kids Leah, Jasmin, and Tyler, and their Yorkie Poo, Mocha. Mel was our chauffeur for a lot of the shopping. (thanks Mel!!) Jon serves as a Director with Global Partners. Thanks for the good times Jon and Mel!

Hitting the ground running:
We have our December board meeting tonight. Who plans a board meeting on the day after a 24hr drive? Oh yeah, that was me. ;-> Looking forward to it!

We had 4 people accept Christ at our December 9th service! Woo Hoo! (very technical term for Praise the Lord - I have my masters degree!) One of the highlights of this service was a Roman soldier tearing apart the manger and turning it into a cross. Very cool effect.

I have heard many 'glowing' reports of iWish 3 ...iWish for Peace. Way to go Pastor Mark and team for creatively communicating the most important message in the world. For those of you who like to know these things, there were 242 here on Sunday.

iWish 4...iWish to worship the Child is coming this Sunday. We'd like to find 3 wise men to help illustrate the message, but we can't find any. Hahaha. That was lame.

Our 2 Christmas Eve services are coming up next week. Hard to believe!! 4 and 6 PM, identical services, candlelight, carols, children's presentation, a Christmas pic of your family, and a few other surprises. Have you invited a bunch of people??

Thought for this Sunday...We might come to worship on Sundays thinking, "I hope I get something out of this...". Worship is not about what you get, it is about what you give. The wise men brought their gifts of worship. What is yours?

PT