. The boys (a.k.a Richard, Caleb and Blake) drama performance was entitled, 'Assignment Hinderance.' Caleb and Blake are demons serving as stumbling blocks assigned to believers. Caleb has been assigned to one of our McDermott Ministers, Mark Bryson, portrayed by Richard. Blake is serving as a distraction to would be follower, Alexis from Texas. Love these kids!
If anyone causes one of these little ones—those who believe in me— to stumble, it would be better for them to have a large millstone hung around their neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea.
Christian drama is wonderful, there are so many things we kind humor in human nature and laughter is always golden! The funniest part of this skit to me is Baylor playing Momma and Ryan as her adult son! Baylor is great, she is unrecognizable in her costume, so funny!
Yes, that is the cardboard Jesus that Caleb cut out and I made which you have seen in previous posts. He just looks so inviting!
Sarah said, “God has brought me laughter, and everyone who hears about this will laugh with me.”
Leadership Training for Christ encourages youth to discover their talents for the Lord's work. In their lives there will be the need to profess their faith before others and speech is a great avenue to get them comfortable with professing their faith.
There is a girls speech and boys speech, each gives a five to seven minute speech on the LTC topic, "Extra Mile." Caleb took his speech in the direction of how easy it is to go the extra mile in the wrong direction like the Pharisees and Sadducees had done. Abigail used Ruth from the lineage of Christ in Matthew as an example of a female going the Extra Mile.
Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect,keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander.
Abigail's Leadership Training for Christ Chorus was in the 3rd-6th grade division. This year she had new coordinators for chorus and she loved the ladies working with her group, but also missed Ms. Vyneta! Ms. Vyneta was her groups coordinator for the last three years and they have a sweet bond!
The kids did a wonderful job performing 'Seek Ye First', 'There is a Redeemer', and 'Breathe of Heaven' (including ASL signing). Having watched Frankie participate in LTC Chorus and Caleb, it is so sweet to see Abigail enjoying singing! When listening to the kids sing there is no doubt why God loves to hear His children's praise !
Then Moses and the Israelites sang this song to the Lord: “I will sing to the Lord, for he is highly exalted.
Panoramic view of the testing hall from a couple of years ago.
Bible Bowl, one hundred questions, multiple choice over the book of Matthew. Each year the subject matter switches from Old Testament to New Testament. As the kids get older, Bible Bowl gets easier. When they are younger they have more time but they have a lot to study, sometimes just defining the words before they can master the material. Now they are familiar with the vocabulary and have other Bible knowledge to add the new material too, the studying is much easier.
Abigail competed with Abby, Tate and Roy, definitely a winning combination! I know she was thrilled to be on a team with girls this year! Caleb was of course with his amigos, Richard and Blake and Ryan. The boys are competitive but it brings out the best in them.
This year Caleb chose to help teach the younger kids in Bible Bowl on Sunday nights, so before the competition he ran around to the younger kids giving the last minutes high-fives and encouragement!
let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds,not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another
It's that time of the year, Spring, Easter weekend; must be time for LTC! The kids begin preparing in December or January for most of the events they will compete in this weekend. Generally they have practiced for all of the events on Sunday afternoons. Yes, it does mean that our Sundays are packed from 8am until 7pm with 'church', but honestly I can't think of any better use of our time.
Hanging out in the lobby on Friday waiting to check into our rooms you never know who you will run into, why, it was card board Jesus and Blake! Notice the phone, Jesus is calling His disciples. Bible Bowl humor at it's finest!
The kids first competition this weekend was Sign Language. Ms. Gungan worked with the kids to prepare them to introduce themselves and their song to the judges using ASL. The judges then played the song 'Freely, Freely' and the kids signed and mouthed the words to the judges. Each of the youth wait outside the room until they are called, so no one gets the advantage of watching the other kids go first etc. Abigail was the only girl in this time slot with the McDermott boys. I got tickled watching the boys meticulously sign the song, and then there was Abigail. She bounced her way in the room, her arms flew as she signed, she had great expression and in general well, jazz hands! The difference in boys and girls.
Over the years our LTC sign language has come in handy, we have run into deaf people at Braums' and the grocery store who have seen the kids signing and started up a conversation. My favorite story was several years ago working at Brother Bill's Food Pantry in downtown Dallas and Caleb met a deaf lady picking up groceries. No one at the food pantry had been able to communicate with her. Caleb was able to get her name, address and visit with her. She was in tears and hugged him, so happy to communicate with someone.
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You shall not curse the deaf or put a stumbling block before the blind, but you shall fear your God: I am the Lord. Leviticus 19:14
Road trip today to Fort Worth for Casa Manana's Children’s performance of Disney's Winnie-the-Pooh! Sissy loves Winnie-the-Pooh, when she was young we joked that she was Eeyore and her little friend Alicia was Tigger! Frankie sported her favorite Eeyore shirt and Pooh Corner hat for the day’s festivities!
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There we several familiar Disney tunes, like “Winnie the Pooh” and “The Wonderful Thing About Tiggers.” My favorite tune was when they ended with a snippet of Kenny Loggins’ “House at Pooh Corner” that was my first solo competition song in seventh grade! It is also the lullaby I sang to all three of the kids when they didn't feel well or had trouble sleeping. After the show we took our rumbly tumblies to Dairy Queen for lunch unfortunately they were out of honey!
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Jonathan said, “. . .See how my eyes brightened
when I tasted a little of this honey.
I Samuel 14:29
Our family loves all things baseball and softball, mainly because Jon loves the sport. Jon has coached or assisted with every one of the kids teams. This season Abigail is playing with the rec league 12U team and loving it. She loves playing catcher, but is blissfully happy swinging a bat or just throwing the ball. My favorite part of softball season is watching Jon out on the field with his baby girl and the concession stand nachos!
because of your father’s God, who helps you, because of the Almighty, who blesses you with blessings of the skies above, blessings of the deep springs below, blessings of the breast and womb. Your father’s blessings are greater than the blessings of the ancient mountains, than the bounty of the age-old hills.
Usually the weekly trip to Extra Innings is a trek made by Jon and the kids, but today I tagged along. It is crazy that my little girl can whack the ball over and over and over! Frankie would never want a ball to come at her that fast. Caleb loves hitting and he has a beautiful swing but he's a boy. I'm talking my little girl, the baby of the family smacking the ball!
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Jon loads the balls and cranks up the speed and she swings away! She is blessed that her siblings willingly shag balls for her. Usually after she makes it through two or three buckets then Jon and Caleb take turns hitting!
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Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them,
for the Lord your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.”
Our May 3rd Oz play is getting closer and closer! Today our cast gathered at the park by the Interurban Railway Museum for cast photos! It is fun to see the play coming together. The kids get excited seeing each other's costumes.
The girls and I made the poppy and fighting forest costumes and Caleb picked out the munchkin and emerald city townsfolk costumes. Everyone else was responsible for providing their own costume. I love seeing the creativity they each have in putting together their characters!
There was an actual photographer who snapped the professional pics, but these are my snap shots of a couple of the groupings.
And just as we have borne the image of the earthly man, so shall we bear the image of the heavenly man.
Our Plano Education Association of Christian Homeschoolers offers a Public Speakers Club using the Toastmasters model. Caleb has participated in Toastmasters for 2 years in The Colony and for a year in the DFW Speech and Debate.
Our PEACH group meets twice per month for youth 8th grade and older. So far this year they have made and Ice Breaker, Informative/Expository, Reading Recitation, Non-Verbal Communication, Demonstration, Impromptu and Persuasive.
Our speech coordinator always makes sure there are impromptu games to get everyone started. Youth take turns introducing the next speaker and also provide oral evaluations on each speech. Every once in while the moms get in on the fun.
I may indeed be untrained as a speaker, but I do have knowledge.
Jon is so happy, softball season has started up for the Spring! Jon and Abigail hit the batting cages at Extra Innings once a week through out the year but that just doesn't compare to playing on a dirt in field. Jon continues to help coach as he always has with Caleb's baseball teams and Abigail's softball teams.
Abigail continues to play catcher and loves it. I even looked out at practice today to see Jon batting and Abigail playing catcher. I'm sure he was hitting fly balls for the girls to catch.
The father of a righteous child has great joy; a man who fathers a wise son rejoices in him. May your father and mother rejoice; may she who gave you birth be joyful!
