Update on Fall Festival

South Florence Baptist Church, in Florence, SC hosted our annual Fall Festival last Friday. It was a BLAST!! Despite the crazy weather, it rained and rained! Did it stop anyone from having fun? no. Did the church call it off? no. There were

• 2 hay rides, (never stopping for the weather) It wasn't a bit spooky, until you went through muddy puddle, thinking, 'maybe it wasn't such a good idea to go hayriding in the rain!';
• a train for the kiddos
• a big 'ol bouncy slide-super slippery, from the rain, and all those youngins' little feet!! Yep, my daughter got about halfway up, informing all, "It's too slippery, I need help" Here I go, pulling off socks and shoes, make it halfway up Mount Everest, oops, I mean the steps. When, what to my wondering eyes should appear, but my little girl already sliding down. She didn't need help, I think it was just a ploy to get me up there!! haha! KIDS!

As if the slide wasn't enough, as soon as I wobbled off of there to get my shoes, I rounded the corner and all I felt was the squish, and the splash of stepping in a mud puddle! ---I may have lost that pair of socks to the garbage can, but I gained a whole lot of fun!

• pit crew challenge-where people could race against the other player using tools to change the tires on the car
• cake walk
• other small carnival games
• hot dog dinner

and finally,

• "trick or treating" going from one Sunday School class to the next, getting candy from decorated rooms lit by orange lights and lamps

It was an absolutely wonderful time!! Remember us, if you're in the Florence area next year!!

Fall Festival

Our church will be hosting a Fall Festival on October 26, 2007 at 6 pm. There are many fun things for the kids to be involved in, such as a cake walk, little games, bouncy inflatables, pumpkin patch, a hot dog dinner, and so much more!! We are already making plans to be there, and looking forward to the opportunity to reach out to the community! If you're reading this blog, and are in the neighborhood, go ahead and make plans to bring your kids too!!

South Florence High School Homecoming

As I mentioned in this post, we are sponsoring our local football team players. What a GREAT experience! Our family was able to go to their homecoming game this past Friday night. The weather was threatening of a storm, and spirits seemed a little low, with the sprinkles and wet bleachers. But, God was FAITHFUL! The weather cleared up some, and the people started coming out! I wish I'd have taken my camera, so many people from our church showed up, sporting their team member's jersey number, and we all sat together, lookin' good in the stands! Showing that South Florence spirit!! Near the end of the game, we were able to see "our" player get out on the field, and show us some of his stuff, which I thought was incredible, since he is only in the 10th grade! After he came off of the field, we were standing at the bottom of the stands, and were able to call out to him. He heard his name, turned, and waved at my son. You would have thought my son had just seen the President or someone wave to him. He talked all the way home about how "his" player waved at him! It is really awesome how God is using this young man to make a difference in our boy's life. So often, "you" hear about how there are no good role models for children...who would've thought, "Hey, why don't we get the role models that are right here in our community?!" We had such a wonderful time out there this weekend, how's your weekend??

Girls NIght Out

I had used up my last dollar that was taken from the dryer (haha! I collect any money I find & put it in a cup!) when I bought a ticket to our church's 1st ever Womens Banquet. It was a night of 4 F's. Food, fellowship, fun, but most importantly a faith filling message! The food was catered in-delicious! Fellowship-just what could be better than a room full of other Christian women?! Fun-absolutely! Full of faith-that was our guest speaker, Cindy Beard. She is a contributing author of She! magazine. But even more than that, she is a Christian with an awesome testimony!! Being a recovering cancer patient, she had stories that came from both high and low points in her life. At times I was crying from emotion, and the next minute, I was laughing so hard that I was crying! The message that rang out loud and clear, was this; God is faithful. God is always faithful! Thank you God! What a WONDERFUL time I had during this Girl's night out! I was thankful that I had spent my last four quarters! God is faithful, and I was blessed, as were many others that night!

Children's Church

At our church, we have started teaching children's church every third Sunday. When asked if we (my husband and I) would do it, it was a quick answer, yes. You see, we had been praying together that God would put us in a place that we could serve Him. Less than a week after we starting praying, doors were being opened! Children's church, is just one of them. So, let me tell you about it... Our Sunday was last week, and we prayed, and had read over the lesson, and was as prepared as we thought we could be. IT WAS SUCH A GOOD TIME!! There were 13 children, the Bible lesson was out of Genesis, and how God made the animals. There was a puppet show, Bible story, snack, a song, craft, and a game. The kids were even asking for more when their parents showed up! I am still so excited that I've been put in this position! My favorite highlight was when we prayed, a child asked if he could pray, and it was the sweetest most sincere prayer--my heart was blessed! Looking forward to next month's lesson and experience!

WOW! This is AWESOME!

"You're sponsoring what?! OOH, that's really cool!" That's the response I'm getting from people I'm telling about what's going on at my church, South Florence Baptist. We, as a church have been given the opportunity to be able to sponsor our local high school football team, through Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA). There are 60 players, so there are 60 church families participating in this. We are backing and encouraging our "adopted" player this year, as well as our youth minister, Jeffery, going out to have a devotion with the players each week

   This past Sunday, was awesome! The players, their families, and the coaches were invited to our church. So many showed up, it was a full house! We (my family) were unable to be in the sanctuary due to keeping children's church, but that's a whole other blessing (post to come soon). All of the prayers that came before this day, truly set the way for the worship that was experienced.

   I am SO excited about what is going to come of this!! Stay tuned for updates, but until then, Go Trent! and all of you Bruins!!

(Our youth minister is pictured in the blue shirt in middle~one of the guys!) GO SOUTH FLORENCE!

(High School & Church!!)