Uprising Photo Stream

I've talked about our youth group, The Uprising, but I haven't posted any pictures of the teens I love. So here's a photo stream of my favorite teenages. These are the things we do on a given week:

We Play Games 

(Bailey, the fearless, Quidditch team captain)

(Gettin' into the game)

(they're such good sports)

We Eat Snacks

(they demolished these and more)

We make funny faces

(don't mess with Keegan!)

(love that Kelsey is making a face too)

We "love on each other"

We Celebrate Birthdays

(Happy Birthday Katelyn!)

We listen to a lesson and discuss

We design t-shirts and vote on them

(great t-shirts Kelsey! Can't wait to get them made!)

So that's what Uprising is like on any given weekend. We are so blessed. We couldn't ask for a better group of teens and we love each and every one of them so much. Thank you for being so wondeful, Uprising. You bless us more than you know.

I heart Romania

I love Romania, I always have. I love the Roma people; I love the gypsies. I love the people no one else loves. Ever since I was a little girl I knew I wanted to go to Eastern Europe and work with the teenage girls that no one wants. 

When Reeve and I were engaged we both felt the Lord's calling on us to go to Romania and work with teens. We felt the call to go to the ones who didn’t belong to anyone, to the unwanted and the disowned. We know that we have felt that way ourselves and know that 2 Corinthians promises us that God “comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God.” (1: 3-4) We know that we have been through trouble and have been disowned so that we can love on those that have seen trouble and abandonment. We didn't know when and we didn't know how, but we knew He was behind it. We've dreamed of different ways the Lord was going to send us but we know, somehow, He has a plan that we could never dream up.  He knows the way and we are following His method and His timing. I've dreamed about people we will work with and places we will see. I've always been one to see things in dreams in visions.

Last year we were introduced to an organization called For God's Children International (hereafter FGCI) at the National Missionary Convention in Lexington. Of the hundreds of organizations represented, they were the only ones that ministered in Romania. Their booth was right in the front of the convention center so we were able to run over to the booth in between sessions without having to run to the end of the convention hall. When I started meeting people from the organization I had to resist the urge to say “I’ve seen you before! In a dream!” Sounds crazy, but I swear it’s true. We fell in love with these people and immediately felt like we’d known them for years, like they were family.

The New Arrivals!

(Aren't they beautiful?)

One of our best friends gave Reeve and I a washer and dryer! For two years we've been carting our wash to mo mother-in-laws or another friend's house to do laundry - but now we have a washer and dryer at home! We are so thrilled and thankful!

The installation process took a little time and elbow grease. Reeve had to replace one of the valves for the washer and the plug for the dryer. It wasn't an easy process and that darned old valve did NOT want to come out!

Terrific Tuesday: cut.color.crochet

As the weather gets colder I gradually take my jackets, sweaters, hats and mittens out from hiding. Just the other day I unloaded a bag of scarves and found a purple pashmina I thought was lost forever, and a super-cute, crocheted, white hat and scarf set that I had forgotten I had. So in the spirit of the cooler weather, today's Terrific Tuesday feature is about a crochet genius.

Cut.color.crochet is a 27-year-old hairstylist from Trenton, New Jersey. She is also a self-taught crocheter (is that a word? I hope so.)  Here's what she says about her projects, "I find it very relaxing, and the end result always makes me happy." (Much like how I feel about making bread.) She also says, " I love picking out yarn, and choosing the colors - I am completely connected to everything I create." (Like the local farmers I talked about in this post a few days ago.)  She opened her shop on 10.10.10 (the same day CenterPointe had it's grand opening!) and she's been growing ever since. I fell in love with cut.color.crochet because I was looking on etsy for a pair of affordable mittens. I LOVE homemade mittens. I have a pair that my mother made while I was in the womb and I love them. I also love fingerless gloves, and crocheted hats and scarves.

Let's take a look at the fabulous art of cut.color.crochet:

The item I found most clever on her shop was the Bearded Hat:

This is a hand-made hat with a detachable beard. I LOVE this idea. I am totally buying one for my husband...IF I can convince him to wear it. I think it's so incredibly clever to attach a crocheted beard to a man's hat - especially if your man, like mine, doesn't like to grow a beard. (I don't like them either, too scratchy!) The hat has buttons on the inside to adjust or remove the beard. So clever! Her bearded hats sell for $35 and can be special ordered in the colors of your choice. The beard comes in brown, gray, black, red and white.

Most Embaressing Moments

My old youth leader and fellow blogger, Olivia, recently posted her most mortifying moments on her blog. I Loved this post so I decided to post it my own blog. I think I have three mortifying moments that top the chart and here they are:
Era: Elementary School
Mortifying Moment: My mother had cut my hair super short and a boy on the bus asked if I was a boy or a girl. I responded "What do you THINK?!" His response "ok"

Fall Festival

This weekend Centerpointe is hosting a Fall Festival! Come on out for games, hay rides, face painting, food and more! And the best part is it's Free! My small group will be hosting the Duck Pond. And our youth group will be working booths as well! Come on out to 865 Greendale Road, Lexington this Saturday for a great time!

Hope to see you there!

For more information go to www.mycpointe.com/fall-festival

Local Spotlight: Kelley Farms

Corn Maze Master Jack Lane carefully plans out his image. He draws it out on paper until it looks just right. He does all the math required without help of a GPS. And then he begins the painstaking process of working row by row and stalk by stalk to carve the likeness of the University of Kentucky's men's basketball head coach into a cornfield.

Every year Kelley Farms features a 10-acre corn maze with a beautiful birds-eye view and has featured greats like Abraham Lincoln, Daniel Boone and Henry Clay. Last year they featured a horse and rider for the World Equestrian Games hosted in Lexington. This year it's John Calipari. 

We think a lot of Coach Calipari," said farm owner John Kelley in the written release. "We just want to let Coach Cal know how much he means to Kentucky and how much Kentucky appreciates having him lead our basketball team."

Kentucky loves Coach Cal. We love his style, we love his recruiting, we love that he got us to the final four. We LOVE that we can hear him yelling from the nose-bleed section. And now we have another way to appreciate Coach Cal. This corn maze features two mazes, one for beginners and one for advanced explorers. The maze will take you about an hour to finish - unless you take too many wrong turns!