august announcements

Hey everyone, sorry there hasn't been a post in a while. Here are some updates:

1. Wed., Aug. 15 is our last summer dinner. We're going to bump up the time to 5:30 to accomodate people who have meetings and choir rehearsal at 6:30 and 7:00. The main dish is lasagna, and we will be brainstorming about things we can do this fall. I have learned that we are allowed a small budget (if one of the committees gives us one), and so we can also talk about that.

2. Let's all participate in the weekly WED dinners/discussion at church, starting Aug. 29 from 6-7:30 PM. The youth are also starting a monthly(?) family-style contemporary worship service, so we can think about getting involved in that. The first service is Aug. 19 at 5:30 PM.

3. Look for summer recipes from our dinners coming soon on this blog!

4. If you join facebook (www.facebook.com) we can start posting events and start a group on that, as well. A lot of people already belong to facebook, so that might be an easy way to communicate events and get more people involved. If you don't have a name, get one, and then let me know!

4. Prayer requests:
-Sarah and Adam are moving to Florida on Sunday--keep them in our prayers as they begin their new life down there.
-Sheena's aunt, Sara, was diagnosed with melanoma.
-Jay T and Beth, who are trying to move, put their house up for sale, and deal with sick kids-- all at the same time.
-the Pastor Nominating Committee

Wed. night dinner June 6

Hey everyone,

We had a good turn-out at last week's Wed. night dinner (12 people!).This is a casual dinner/bible study weekly event, so if you're there regularly you're welcome OR if you can only come once in a while, you're welcome, too!

This Wed. night (June 6) at 6:15 at 2341 Tucson Dr. the menu is:

Homemade pizza (various toppings include: plain cheese, pepperoni, green pepper & onion, ham & pineapple, garlic, mushrooms, tomatoes)(Rebecca)
Fruit (Adam)
Salad (Sheena)
Dessert (not claimed yet... Does anyone want to volunteer?)
Crystal light, milk, water (Rebecca)

PLEASE RSVP by Wed. at noon so that I can know how many pizza's to make! If you want to tell me which toppings you like in your RSVP, that would be great, too.

This week we are going to study a letter written from Paul (Phillipians 1 & 2) written in the contemporary, everyday language of "The Message." Here is a link to the first 2 chapters, so that you can read it if you have time.
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?book_id=57&chapter=1&version=65
Click on the next arrow to get to ch. 2.

It was hard to pick, but here is the verse we will try and memorize together after dinner:

"If you've gotten anything at all out of following Christ, if his love has made any difference in your life, if being in a community of the Spirit means anything to you, if you have a heart, if you care- then do me a favor: Agree with each other, love each other, be deep-spirited friends." Phillipians 2:1-2.

See you Wednesday!
Rebecca

Guess who?

Can you guess who some of us managed to get a photo-op with at last week's UK baseball game? Hint: His name starts with a B.

Announcements:

• We had 8 people show up at frisbee this Monday... that's great! Let's see if we can invite more people personally to come.
• Don't forget the Memorial Day cookout (see most recent post)
• Our group dinner will start next Wed, May 30th (see most recent post).
  

Prayer requests:

• Our bible study this summer
• VBS (coming soon!)
• Ann and Jason (they're getting closer to the due date!)
• Josh and Gordan (soldiers)
• Les (in Hazard), Sarah (in E-town), Sarah (moving to Florida soon), and Joey and Rachel (in Scotland)
• Thomas H., a colleague of Maggie's, who lost his father to cancer last week. Thomas and his wife have >1 year old twins.
• Shannon and Ryan (Rebecca's sister and brother-in-law) are serving as missionaries in Romania for 4 months. Pray that they will be a blessing to those that they meet and that they will be blessed in return. Romania is not a friendly culture to be in...people there generally don't like strangers (or each other).

Memorial Day Fiesta!

Announcements:

1. If you haven't made plans yet, you should definitely plan on coming to the first annual...

Memorial Day Fajita Fiesta!!

Date: Monday, May 28
Time: 3:00 PM
Where: Home of Nick and Sarah Wear
1370 The Kings Court, 40515
Who: Young Adult Group. Children Welcome!

Hola!

I'll be preparing a menu featuring steak and chicken fajitas on the grill, homemade Mexican rice, homemade guacamole and Nick's famous margaritas! The way I would like to set this up is to have a list and everyone sign up for 1 or 2 things. We will need:

2-3 packages small tortillas
Grated cheese (cheddar or cheddar jack)
Beer
2 large onions
1 pint of sour cream
4 limes
4 lemons
2 green bell peppers
2 red bell peppers
2 yellow bell peppers
5 avocados
4-5 vine ripe tomatoes
1 bunch cilantro
1 jalapeño
1 or 2 bags of ice

Also, we need one or two people to make a dessert (whoever volunteers first gets it!), and one person to make a fruit salad or fruit tray.

Please e-mail or call me with what you would like to bring and I'll put you down. If you have any questions just ask!!!

Adios!
Sarah Wear
sekw82@aol.com
859.684.7429

2. Ultimate Frisbee

We have decided to extend an invitation to the entire church, so the youth and hopefully some others will join us. Mark Monday nights at 7 pm on your calendars! Meeting place: church.

3. Wed. Night Dinners

The last church-wide dinner is next week, and it is a free cook-out. I challenge people to invite a friend or two. The best way to get people to join our church is a personal invitation.

The first young-adult dinner is May 30. This will be a planning dinner, where we will pick out what we want to study, how often we want to meet, and what we will eat all summer.
So mark it on your calendars:

Wed, May 30
6:15 PM
Dan and Rebecca Dekker's backyard, picnic table.
2341 Tucson Dr.
Lexington, KY 40503

Children are always welcome, of course.
I will provide the first dinner, so let me know if you're going to be there! After that, we will start a pot-luck style meal, with people taking turns bringing a main dish, a fruit, and a veggie.


Prayer Requests:
Please see Les's post below.
Also, continue to pray for the Kazee's, and our soldiers in Iraq-- Gordan Dame and Josh Thomas.

Street Sense by a Mile!

Well folks, the 2nd Annual "Silence Derby Festival" was a smashing success. 20 horses, 18 people, 2 dogs, and a 'veritable cornucopia' of good eats, makes for a good time. It may be worth reporting the end results of the betting:

1. Jackson Silence & Street Sense took the coveted "Special Dark" bar.
2. Dan Dekker & Hard Spun finished a close second for the "Nestle Crunch."
3. Yours Truly (Les) & Curlin rounded out the Confection Trifecta for the ever popular (& since missing) Butterfinger.

I have some pictures from the festivities, although my camera's unwillingness to shoot close shots means I don't have many to share. Most of the pics I took are of the Silence children. We should all be blessed with photogenic children.


News of Note:

• Nick & Sarah W. have volunteered to host a Memorial Day Fajita Fest at their home (tentatively titled "Remember the Alamo," perhaps?). More info to come...


• Congratulations to Sarah L. for graduating with her Master's degree from UK's College of Music. (I know she studied Opera, but I don't know what the actual degree title is. Suffice it to say that she is truly a Master of Opera.)


• Sarah is also starring as 'Jeanie,' in the world-renowned Stephen Foster History / Musical this summer in Bardstown. If you're not familiar with the story, Jeanie is the proverbial girl of Stephen Foster's dreams, and the subject of several of his famous songs. Mucho Congratulations.


• Congratulations to Ben on his mom's graduation from UK's College of Nursing with her PHD. (They grow up so fast, don't they Ben?)
  
• Along similar lines, Les's sister Bethany will be graduating from Georgetown College this weekend with a major in Psychology, just in time to help him with some therapy.
• Maggie's mom will be ordained in the Presbyterian church to the Ministry of Word and Sacrament this summer! She graduated last year with her Masters in Divinity from Columbia Theological Seminary, and has been serving as a hospital chaplain.


• Following dinner on Wednesday, we will be continuing our series of meetings about the future of BPC. Last week's meeting was very revealing, and very reassuring, in that many of us felt similarly about our visions for the church.
  
• Dan & Rebecca have offered to extend Wednesday night dinners through the summer by hosting a weekly potluck & Bible study for the Young Adults. Again, more info to come...
  
• The new couple we've seen the last couple of weeks at church, Wednesday night dinners, and at the Derby Party is Rachel & Joey. They are friends of Les & Maggie's from UK Law. If you haven't had a chance to introduce yourself & chat with them, you should do so. They're good people!

Prayer Requests:

• Summer travellers: Les (moving to Hazard for the summer); Rachel & Joey (fleeing the country for Scotland); & more as we confirm travel plans.
• Ben as he prepares & takes final exams.
• Sarah W. as she plans & prepares to study at Intermezzo over the summer.
• Thomas H., a colleague of Maggie's, who lost his father to cancer this week. Thomas and his wife have >1 year old twins.

Summer Schedule

Hi everyone!
Sorry it's been so long since the last post. We've got got 3 events coming up soon, and I wanted to highlight them here.

Derby Party
Call to the post! The Silence family will be hosting our annual Derby party in their home on May 5th starting at 4:15 PM. Bring a salad or side dish or drinks and they will provide the rest. Feel free to dress in Derby attire or casual clothing, whichever you prefer. Adults and children are welcome. The Silences live at 3339 Wood Valley Court, not far from the Tates Creek exit off New Circle. Call Beth or Jay T at 699-8966 if you have any questions.


See Sheena play cornhole with Ben and Ryan at the 2006 Derby Party.


Ultimate Frisbee
Adam is organizing a weekly ultimate frisbee game for the summer. This is a great opportunity to have fun and get some exercise (all of us need both of these things). You don't have to be great at frisbee, or even know how to play ultimate frisbee. I willingly admit that I am terrible at frisbee, but I am going to play anyways. We will be meeting on Monday nights at church, either in the soccer field or the lawn in front of the church (next to Lane Allen Rd). The time is yet to be finalized, but it will probably start each week around 6:45-7:00. We hope to see lots of people there!

Be there at the first game this coming Monday, May 6! We will work off Jay T's Derby pie together!

Wed. night dinner and Bible study
As most of you know, the weekly Wed. night church dinners do not happen during the summer. In addition, a lot of the people in the young adult group are living alone this summer (while spouses are off working in other states or cities). Dan and Rebecca have agreed to host a weekly dinner at their house every Wednesday evening starting on May 30th. We will eat on the picnic table in our backyard (as long as the weather is nice) and follow dinner with a short Bible study. We live about 5 minutes away from Beaumont. If you would like to join us once or weekly, anyone is welcome! Time is yet to be determined. Members of the group will take turns providing either an entree or 1 veggie or 1 fruit. (You don't have to help with the whole meal, just one part of it).



Look for more information coming soon about this weekly fellowship opportunity.



Recruitment

If you see someone at church who looks new to you, introduce yourself! We are always looking for more people to join our group. It would be great for this group to continue to snowball into a huge bottom third of a snowman, if not the entire snowman!





Prayer Requests
1. Bill D., who lost his father recently.
2. Ann, Jason, and Caroline K. 28 weeks and counting! Way to go guys for making it this far!
3. The family of Sima Maiti, one of Rebecca's friends who was killed in a car accident.
4. Robin H. and her mother Rachel S.; Robin is a coworker of Maggie's.
5. Ben's dad's friend passed away several months ago. His name was Jules Delambre. I am sorry I didn't post this up here earlier; I missed the comment Ben left several blogs ago. But as families continue to grieve for a loooong time after they lose their loved one, I am sure your prayers could still do some good.
6. Continued mind-body-soul healing for Les's uncle.



Also please pray about:

The direction and future mission of this group. I feel that God has really been working among our age population at Beaumont. However, I feel that eventually we should evolve into something more than a socialization venue. We originally formed this group out of a wish and desire for friendship and companionship with people in a similar age group. Although that is a great purpose for our group, I also believe that God would like us to grow spiritually together as well. Pray specifically that 1) we can discern our mission, 2) become more organized, and 3) that several leaders will step forth to help guide the growth of the group.



Perhaps one way that we can begin to grow together spiritually is by starting off each social event with a prayer together. We need to keep God at the center of our group; without Him, we can accomplish nothing.



In Him,

Rebecca

We love our families, but we don’t always like what they do…

As some of you may know by now, my uncle attempted suicide Thursday night. High on drugs, he argued with his wife, who left their home to bring my grandmother to “talk to him.” By the time they got back, he had fired a pistol into the side of his face. Two days and some surgery later, he is stable and remains in the hospital. The range of the long-term physical consequences remains to be seen.

The emotional and mental toll this has taken on my family has, however, started to show. My grandmother is obviously upset and uncertain. The rest of the family is experiencing a range of thoughts and emotions: We’re tired, and we’re angry that he could do this. We’re distraught that someone we love is so injured, and we’re numb. We are letting the doctors take care of my uncle, and we’re stepping up to take care of each other.

My uncle has been an addict for a very long time. He’s been in and out of treatment several times. Unfortunately, there is no cure for addiction; it must be continually dealt with through treatment, abstinence, and discipline. Unfortunately for many, not everybody wins the fight. Even while lying in a hospital bed, the fight continues.

What has been reassuring, though, is that we’ve been talking about it. Most of my family has been very frank about the facts here: my uncle shot himself, this wasn’t an accident, and his addiction is very much a cause.

I have personally decided to continue to be open with myself and others about what happened. We are okay talking about drug addiction and suicide when it’s a societal problem; when it’s a member of the family, we whisper about their ‘problem’ or their ‘illness.’ Somehow it makes us feel better – like it didn’t happen. The thing is, though, if our problems never happen, we never figure out how to solve them.

Maggie, my parents, and myself have been talking through all of this as well. I would leave you with some of the questions we’ve discussed.

- Why is there such a stigma surrounding mental health care? When someone has cancer, we surround them with care and talk about it openly. When someone is depressed or diagnosed with a mental illness, we get nervous, and frequently whisper about their “problems.” We view cancer as something that happened TO us, and treat mental illness as something we DID.
- How would Jesus approach tough love? How would he differentiate between enabling and caring?
- Jesus told us to love each other unconditionally. Can we, as Christians, ever say “Enough” and walk away from someone who obviously needs help?
- When, if ever, is it okay to let someone stop living, if that’s what they choose to do?
- How do we as younger people deal with the dichotomy of being angry with our elders, while recognizing that they are our elders and should "know better"?