Its Halloween!

I spent last night (after Kids Club) walking through the 5th scariest Haunted House in the United States. It really was scary; and so much fun!!! I went last year and had a blast and I have decided to make Haunted Houses a yearly thing. I enjoy them almost as much as I do Amusement Parks! I went with a group of friends and we all had fun laughing at one another being scared for about an hour. Why is it fun to be scared? I don't know...but it is! Actually, I don't like actually being scared, which is probably why I like Haunted Houses. Its not real fear, its just fun! The 3rd scariest Haunted House in America is right outside Philly and includes a Haunted Corn Maze. Since I think corn mazes themselves are scary (even in the daylight), it should be really fun! Can't wait for next year!

Tonight will be the first Halloween in 3 years that I am not with the girls. I'm not really upset about it, I am really looking forward to a night off! (I cancelled Prayer Pals). The girls are going to dress up as boys (wearing their brothers' clothes), which I think is really cool. On a side note, Miguel is going as an M&M which I think will be the cutest thing ever! Hopefully I will at least get to see him.

This week is a very busy week with clubs and Revolve this weekend. I'm getting a cold which I hope will be gone by Friday. I really want to be able to pour into the girls this weekend. Next week won't be nearly as busy (I hope!) so I am hoping to put off my household needs until then.

Gizmo Standing Guard

Why is Gizmo standing guard? Well, if you remember I have no ceiling in my kitchen right now. I also live next door to an abandoned house. The weather is getting colder, which means mice are indoors. They are next door. They are trying to get in my house. However, when they get to my house...there is no ceiling for them to run on so they fall to the floor!!

So far only one has made that mistake, and Gizmo took care of that one very fast. Unfortunately, I discovered this phenomenon the same time I discovered that my overflowing toilet had leaked through the bathroom floor...onto the kitchen floor. Gizmo didn't warn me of the water or the mouse...I think he enjoyed watching me slip and scream at the same time. :)

All the water has been cleaned up (thank goodness Bonita, Linda, Monique and Tasha all have their own bath and beach towels at my house!), and the mouse is taken care of as well. I have heard some rustling in the walls but, as you can see, Gizmo is standing guard to make sure no mouse gets through. I am hoping the first mouse's death will be sufficient warning for any others to stay away. We'll see... :)

Its been an interesting day!

Oh, and say what you will about Gizmo being fat and spoiled, but nothing compares to my parents' dog. :)

Busy...or boring?

It has been a VERY long time since I have written! Usually that means that I have either been very busy, or that I have nothing exciting going on. This time its a little of both. Other than the usual clubs and work I haven't had a whole lot going on.

I did head down to VA this weekend for a surprise visit with my family. I actually got the chance to surprise each of them individually and it was really fun. My mom was the only one home when I got there and it took a few seconds to register in her head who I was. The look on her face was priceless. :) Next came my dad who called to talk to my mom and I answered the phone. He thought he dialed the wrong number at first before realizing that I was in VA. I did the same thing to my brother, haha. Apparently I have a very recognizable voice since my dad and brother immediately knew it was me on the phone...they just weren't sure why I was there. :) My face is apparently less recognizable, however, since my mom didn't seem to know it was me when she first saw me. It was a fun day!

So, I spent the weekend hanging out and relaxing with the family. We did some work around the house...though honestly my mom did most of it. I did help open difficult windows and carry some heavy things after my dad left. We spent most of the weekend just hanging out, though, and it was nice. Of course, Saturday was filled with mostly football which is always fun. I had some great conversations with everyone and even got some alone time with my brother on our way to and from KFC...and then on our way back again when we realized they messed up our order. In all...a pretty boring but good weekend.

Now I am back in Philly and have hit the ground running. I have a lot of AIM work to do this week as well as my normal Cornerstone stuff. Plus, this Friday and Saturday we are taking a group of 25 teen and pre-teen girls (including Bonita and Linda!) to the Revolve Tour (basically Women of Faith for young women). I have invited all of them to spend the night at my house in Friday (since we have to be up and ready to go by 8 a.m. Saturday), which means I need to do A LOT of cleaning and rearranging of things in my house this week. I'm not sure it will all get done, but I am going to try!!!

Long Week...

This is such a long week. I can't believe its only Wednesday!! I don't know why it seems so long...it hasn't been a bad week and I haven't been overwhelmingly busy, but for some reason I feel like it should at least be Friday, if not later. Oh well. So, here is a recap of the week so far...

As you see from my last post we went to Olive Garden on Sunday to celebrate Miguel's birthday. It was pretty fun, but it took 3 hours for us to get out food, eat and then get home...the service was VERY slow. Obviously, the kids kept themselves (and us) entertained.

Monday night was God Squad and it went really well! I was nervous at first because we had a lot of teens there and it was starting to feel a little crazy. It all went well though and I had a great time in my small group. Dale's brother continues to come to God Squad and Teen Club, which has been really cool.

Kids Club also continues to grow. I think we had about 75 kids this week...10 of whom turned in permission slips and 14 of whom were new visitors. It was crazy!! I felt pretty unprepared this week, so I didn't think it went as well as it could have, but everyone else seems to think its going well. It's still a lot of fun!!

Tonight was Prayer Pals and the theme of the week continues...we had a ton of kids there! It got a little crazy with only 2 leaders there and some of the kids were a little wild. Overall it was good though and I'm glad to have so many kids...attendance was low over the summer.

So, nothing exciting but that's my week so far! :) The next few weeks should have some more exciting things to report... :)

Some Pics

I know I haven't posted in a while, sorry about that. I will try and actually write something later, but for now I wanted to post some pictures from our birthday celebration for Miguel on Sunday. I can't believe he's 10!!!

Cancer

Cancer is one of the scariest diseases of all time. While we have been researching it for decades, there is still no way to 100% avoid cancer. We can 100% prevent AIDs. Even malaria is preventable and treatable and could easily be eliminated, like smallpox, if we could get the right people the right medicine and protection. With cancer we have discovered ways to lower our risk, but everything I have read always goes back to, "some cancers are unpreventable. Many are untreatable". We can avoid smoking, stay out of the sun, eat right and exercise our entire lives and still get cancer. That is scary. Every year, in America, there are approximately 1.5 million NEW cases of cancer (skin cancer is not included in that statistic...not sure why).

What is cancer? Cancer is basically a mutation of normal cells. Often mutated cells just doe of, however on occasion they do not and in fact create more mutated cells. When the mutated cells make more mutated cells eventually the mutated cells start to take over the normal cells and thus cancer. Sometimes those cells mass together in a certain body tissue and form a tumor. Other times the cells just wreak havoc in the bone marrow or blood stream. Either way, the mutated cells begin to take over the body and the normal cells have no defense.

What is the cancer in my life? The mutated crap that takes over the truth of Christ? The junk that overtakes God's goodness? The ugliness that hides Christ's goodness?

Cancer is not easy to treat. The mutated cells have to be killed off, and in the process many of good cells are killed off. It is a long, difficult and often painful process...one mutated cell isn't going to kill you, but thousands of them will. People can be cured of cancer. If they are willing to go through the process of chemo and radiation...if they are willing to get sicker before they get better, people can be completely cured of cancer.

Am I willing?