Sunday Softball

With a banner day that began with her baptism, how do you follow up a day like that?  At the ball park, of course!  

She was so funny, her team lost her game and her response was, "that's ok, besides I'm saved!" 

Perspective.  The rest of the day, nothing shook her.  Wouldn't it be great if we could respond to all of life's surprises with that attitude!  

May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you the same attitude of mind toward each other that Christ Jesus had, so that with one mind and one voice you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.  Romans 15:5-6

Abigail's Baptism

In 1988 I watched as Jon was baptized at the Owasso Church of Christ by Dennis Hendrickson, and my heart was full!  On February 20, 2000, Jon baptized Frankie in the same baptistry, and again I thought I could know no happier feeling.

On June 10, 2010, with great joy, Jon baptized Caleb at the McDermott congregation.  My joy was complete today as Jon baptized Abigail!  

Praise be to God!!! To my children, I am confident that, 'He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.'  (Phil. 1:6)  

I rejoiced with those who said to me,

    “Let us go to the house of the Lord.”

Psalm 122:1

Everybody Likes Cookies and Pizza

We love our time with our Metro family on Wednesdays!  Today Abigail baked chocolate chip cookies to share with our friends.  With our family in other states it has been a blessing to have all the added 'Grandpas' like Mr. Arvid, Mr. Jerry & Mr. John.  These men help the guest shop and help Abigail with her Spanish.  

Caleb is usually unloading trucks or moving boxes.  Today I found some suspicious characters in the cooler.  Oh wait, that's Mr. John, Mr. Austin and Mr. Jason, nothing suspicious at all!  

I've given a 'shout out' before to the awesome people at Tom Thumb and Starbucks in The Colony that make weekly donations to Metro.  Today, I want to say 'thank you' to the Papa John's Pizza in Plano at Legacy & Coit.  They donate pizzas weekly to Metro.  For our local friends, please tell these business thank you for their generous hearts when you shop these businesses!! 

So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live your lives in him,  rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness. Colossians 2:6-7

Leadership Training for Christ Sunday Worship

What a real treat!  Yesterday afternoon we got the call from the North Texas Leadership Training for Christ (NTLTC) Director asking if Caleb would be willing to give his 'Un-Called Out' speech at the Sunday morning worship services.  It was so awesome to see him on stage with other young men who led singing, prayers, etc. for the Easter Sunday services.  I know there were smiles in heaven as my Daddy, Grandaddy and Great-Grandfather looked down!  

The message is the same as the Speech event I posted earlier and due to my poor video taping skills the other is probably a better recording but for posterity sake, I am uploading this video too!   Caleb, I am so amazed and proud of you!! 

When services were over on the car ride home, I asked Caleb, "Did you see me in the back video taping?" Caleb responds, "Hmm, woman in a bright purple sweater, standing on a chair in the back of the room. . . nope, never saw you!" :)

A Few of My Favorite Things

As if this weekend wasn't busy enough with all of the Leadership Training for Christ events, Abigail also had a double header this evening.  She finished up her last LTC event and then Jon rushed her to the ball fields!  

I hung out with Caleb at LTC because he had one last event, but the two of us made it in time for her second game.   I think they won one game and lost the second, I know she was one tired little girl after all the business of the weekend!! 

then because of this the Lord your God will bless you in all your work and in everything you put your hand to. 

Deuteronomy 15:10

Leadership Training for Christ Drama Performances

Ever the performers, of course the kids both participated in the drama events for their age groups.  Abigail's group included 7th and 8th graders and was a skit about a youth group headed on a mission trip to Madagascar.  Abigail plays the part of the youth minister's wife, named Mrs. Kirkwood! 

Abigail & Roy

Caleb's skit is made up of 9th - 11th graders in a meeting of Fellowship of Christian Athletes electing their newest vice-president.  The adult coordinators for LTC drama this year did an outstanding job!  Not only was this their first year to coordinate the event, they wrote and coordinated three separate teams!   I'm so grateful for their dedication to the kids!  Again, I apologize for my poor video taping skills!! 

Act according to whatever they teach you and the decisions they give you. Do not turn aside from what they tell you, to the right or to the left.  Deuteronomy 17:11

Leadership Training for Christ Speech

Once again Mr. Cooner worked with the young men for Leadership Training for Christ (LTC) speech event.  He is great at helping the young men cultivate their ideas and encouraging them to feel comfortable speaking God's Word in front of a group.  All three of McDermott's high schoolers did a wonderful job, each had a little different take on the theme Called Out, taken from the Life of Moses in Exodus, Numbers and Deuteronomy.  Caleb's speech above he entitled the 'Un-Called Out,' and refers to those in Korah's group and others who rebelled against God.

Moses also said to Korah, “Now listen, you Levites! Isn’t it enough for you that the God of Israel has separated you from the rest of the Israelite community and brought you near himself to do the work at the Lord’s tabernacle and to stand before the community and minister to them?  He has brought you and all your fellow Levites near himself, but now you are trying to get the priesthood too. It is against the Lord that you and all your followers have banded together.  Numbers 16:8-11

Leadership Training for Christ Girl's Speech

We are very blessed with Jon having a great job, a roof over our heads, and food on the table.  But sometimes I do miss not having any of our family in the state!  Thank goodness for our little blog, with the help of YouTube we can share with our Oklahoma, Arkansas and Maryland families our musings!  

Here is another video from Leadership Training for Christ, this is from Speech.  Abigail was the only girl again this year from our congregation to participate in Speech.  She was very excited to see a girl friend, Natasha, from Camp Blue Haven in the same event!  

I am fairly confident I will never be asked to video tape anything professionally!  Sorry for the movement, but hopefully the grandparents will enjoy!! 

Therefore if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any common sharing in the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind.  Philippians 2:1-2

Leadership Training for Christ Bible Bowl

Our last event for Friday night at Leadership Training for Christ (LTC) was Bible Bowl.  This event is very different from the Texas Bible Bowl.  It is really more basic Bible knowledge, things the kids should already know, with some new material they would have covered in preparing for Bible Bowl.  

In the case of the Life of Moses, Bible Bowl would cover questions about Moses being placed in a basket; found by Pharaoh's daughter; killing an Egyptian task master; fleeing to Midian; the burning bush; Plagues; the Red Sea; Ten Commandments and entering the Promised Land.  Most of the events covered are stories the kids would be familiar with from their Sunday School Class, but it does give them encouragement to study their Bibles further.  

Caleb, Abigail and their friend Ryan all answered 97 out of 100 questions correctly.  It is a fun event with no pressure, and meant to encourage the kids to see all of them in one room who have spent time studying the same scriptures! This photo shows about 500+ kids taking the oral test in a ballroom at the Hyatt Regency! 

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 Hebrews 10:24-25

Leadership Training for Christ Puppets

The kids second event at Leadership Training for Christ (LTC) this year was Puppets.  Who knew my kids would love this event so much!! They have wonderful coaches who write the cutest scripts and just make it a great experience for the kids.  

Abigail and the 7th & 8th graders performed, 'Moses the Musical.'  You will hear here solo on the Moses edition of We Are the Champions.  Caleb and the 9th - 11th graders had a western feel using the 'Called Out' theme.  Caleb is the puppet on the far right, he has used this puppet every LTC performance since 3rd grade.    Enjoy! 

When Israel was a child, I loved him,

    and out of Egypt I called my son.

Hosea 11:1

Leadership Training for Christ Sign Language

The kids first event at Leadership Training for Christ (LTC) was sign language.  They both signed the song, "I Am a Sheep" for the judges.  It is fun to watch their variations, Caleb is much more expressive and in this one event Abigail is more reserved.  Both kids received Gold Medals for their efforts with encouraging comments to move on to the next level! 

Mom, Sissy & Dad watching Sign Language

In your hands are strength and power     to exalt and give strength to all.  I Chronicles 29:12

Metro Relief Open House

Today Metro Relief hosted an Open House for the Community.  It was an opportunity for people in the community who have seen the bus, or driven past the building to stop in and check it out.  The kids and I helped give tours and answer questions to potential volunteers. 

The bus was even opened up and serving soup like we do in Unity Park in Ft. Worth and South Dallas.  It was a great outreach to let local businesses and residence allowing them to explore opportunities to make a difference within our community!

These are some of my favorite people!  The volunteers are from different walks in life and various circumstances have brought them to the pantry.  The guest are equally diverse, there are so many stories that have led them to need a hand.  Hopefully the help up we give them through the pantry will keep them from being on the streets. 

 those who were hungry are hungry no more

I Samuel 2:5

Softball Season is Off to a Great Start

Softball season is in full swing!  Abigail had her second game of the season today.  She was very happy because she cracked the stitches on a softball!  It's not the same as knocking the cover off, but it demonstrates how hard she's hitting! 

They had a really good game, they even won! I enjoy watching how the girls are coming along in their skills.  This is Abigail's second season to play with the Shock Waves and she really enjoys this group of girls. They all seem to enjoy a good ball game, play hard, but don't take them selves too seriously! 

Give glory to God by telling the truth,

John 9:24

Texas Bible Bowl 2014

As you know, 31 youth and adults from McDermott traveled last weekend to the Texas Bible Bowl competition.  This weekend 200+ youth from congregations in Texas, Oklahoma and Arkansas met up in Marble Falls, Texas for the Texas Bible Bowl.  Twelve of those youth were from McDermott Road. Our youth were accompanied by 19 McDermott parents, grandparents, and extended family. 

In preparation, these McDermott youth spent an hour and half in classroom instruction for 26 weeks! That is time outside of our McDermott Bible Class schedule.  It was 39 hours of instruction over the Life of Moses, which included 51 chapters from the books of Exodus, Numbers and Deuteronomy.  These youth also spent time at home with their families; reading, studying, listening to these 1,622 verses plus, completing 191 pages of Life of Moses Bible home work of over the course of the last six months!

Below are the incredible results of my McDermott kiddos!  

Elementary 6^th Grade and Below

Elementary aged youth grades 3^rd – 6^th compete on an individual level.  Our Elementary age kids from McDermott and their accomplishments included: 

Zayle Gordon - Honorable Mention
Noah Sears - Honorable Mention
Joey Georgen - 7th Place
Robert Sanderford - 6th Place
Matthew Kearney - 4th Place
Zachary Sanderford - 2nd Place

Jr. High Division Grades 7^th-9th

In the Junior High Team Division, (Grades 7^th-9^th), McDermott took one Experienced Team (Experienced meaning they had competed in a Texas Bible Bowl or National Bible Bowl before); our McDermott Team took 3^rd Place, with:

Roy Duncan
Ethan Rhodes
& Zachary Sanderford (playing up from 5^th grade)
along with +1 Member of Magnolia Church of Christ

In the Individual Competition in this division the following youth competed with their results:

Ethan Rhodes – Honorable Mention
Roy Duncan – 4^th Place
Ryan Duncan – 2^nd Place
Abigail Kirkwood – 1^st Place

Sr. High Division Grades 10^th-12th

In the Senior High Team Division (Grades 10^th-12^th), McDermott took one In-Experienced Team (In-Experienced meaning they had never competed in Texas Bible Bowl or National Bible Bowl before), our McDermott Team took 3^rd Place, with:
Caleb Smiley
along with +3 first time competitors of the Magnolia Church of Christ

Individually, in this division, Caleb Smiley also took 10^th place.

In the Senior High Team Division, (Grades 10^th-12^th), McDermott took one Experienced Team (Experienced meaning they had competed in a Texas Bible Bowl or National Bible Bowl before); our McDermott Team took 1^st Place, with:

Richard Duncan
Ryan Duncan (playing up from 9^th grade)
Abigail Kirkwood (playing up from 7^th grade)
Caleb Kirkwood

In the Individual Competition in this division the following youth competed with their results:

Richard Duncan – 4^th Place
Caleb Kirkwood – 1^st Place

In the overall division, (including adults and coaches) Caleb Kirkwood took First Place answering 232 questions out of 250 correctly.

I am so proud of these kids hard work! I have loved every bit of my last 27 weeks coaching these AMAZING kiddos!  

April Fools 2014

Sissy LOVES April 1st!!! She loves the fun.  We try to avoid mean or harmful pranks, just fun silliness! Today we have found nail polish 'spilled' on one of our math books!  

Last night Abigail took a potato and wrote, "HELP, ME!" on the bathroom mirror.  The message showed up when Sis showered and the bathroom was all steamy.  Next , Sis proceeded to the down stairs bath room to find a note on the mirror that read, "Mirror out or order!  Do not use!".  She just giggled, and proceeded getting ready, never removing the note! 

At breakfast I put a few drops of blue food coloring under the instant dry oatmeal, so that when hot water was added their oatmeal turned blue.  

At lunch Frankie was very skeptical about lunch.  She carefully inspected her pasta for surprise.  Only the surprise was that her Kool-aid was actually Jell-O!  

After school the kids delivered a tray of brownies to the Gungans.  Only it was a tray of brown letter E's! We may owe them a real pan of brownies now!  

We finished up the day with a word seek and find of animal names that Abigail printed off for Frankie, except none of the words were actually in the puzzle!   Whew, what a busy, silly day! 

Here are a few of the April Fool's from previous years! 

The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.”  Psalm 53:1