Thursday, July 19, 2007

Church...what is it for?

This may not be the best time to ask a question with so many of you going on vacation and all but, I'll go ahead and post it and wait to hear your responses.
We are in the process of looking for a new church home. As we visit different churches the question has come to me..."What is church for?" "What is the purpose of church?"
It seems that different churches exsist for different reasons. Some may exsist for the sake of relationships with each other, keeping one another accountable. Others may exsist for evangelism, reaching the lost...etc. I feel we need to answer that question before we can find a "home". So, I thought I would ask if any of you have thought through or wrestled with this seemingly easy question and find out what your thoughts are on the subject.

Monday, July 02, 2007

Girls VS. Wild

I know that this is like my (Elizabeth) third post in a row, but i HAD to tell everybody this story! Its little lengthy... And sorry for any spelling errors, its late and im typing fast...

Well this past week our churh had a camping trip, at Bass River State Park. For those of you who arent familar with this area Bass River has hundreds upon hundreds of acres of the Pine Barrens surrounding it. I tell you this because it will be important later on in the story.

Okay, well anyway Me and my family arrived at the campground on Thur. and we were setting up and stuff... and it was Extremely hot that day! But anyway later on around 3 O' clock My friend Sami got there and me , her, and our friend Jessica decided to go on a bikeride. Well I know this campground very well because our family has been camping there since i was really little. So we were riding around and we came back to the road that our campsite was on, ( This is where the story takes a sharp turn) Well all three of us stood there at the beginning of the road and i said " So, do we want to go back or just keep riding?" Well we turned and saw a little hiking trail right next to us. So we decided to go down it. (Bad idea) Well it was a really clear trail, that obviously was used alot. So we followed it for awhile and then Sami saw a much smaller more adventurous trail off the the left. And us being ones for adventure took it. Well we followed this trail for awhile and it brought us out to a dirt road; and all dirt roads must lead somewhere right? (haha) So we start riding along on this dirt road thinking that it should bring us back around where we began. So we were riding , and riding, and riding. And this was one really really long road, with lots of intersections and turnoffs. so we found ourselves a little confused, and we looked ahead and we saw the parkway. Well, we decided that riding to the parkway was way to drastic, we had only been lost for a little while, and we would find our way back. So we kept going,.....and going,.... and going.

Now these dirt roads turned out to be a complete maze! They just kept turning and dividing and crossing onto more roads and before we knew it we were completely and utterly lost! None of us knew exactly where the camp was compared to where we were now so we had no idea what direction to go. and we couldnt follow are tracks back because we had already riden for miles and we figured that we would HAVE to hit a paved road eventually! There were car tracks on the roads, so they had to lead somewhere. So we just kept on riding. now remember when i said in the begining that bass river is surrounded by hundreds and hundreds of acres of pine barrens, yea that thought kept floating threw my mind as we were riding along. And also remember in my previous post about me hurting my foot, yea well that only happened a week ago, so my foot was hurtin pretty bad.

So anyway, a couple hours into our little adventure i start to get a little panicky. Im starting to realize how lost we really are. And im very clausterphobic, and i dont like being somewhere where i feel trapped or i cant get out, and that little phobia wasnt helping the situation at all...neither was my foot, or the fact that i was wearing flip flops and i was developing some pretty nasty blisters between my toes. So here is each of our attitudes: Im scared of dying in the woods, Jessica is scared that when we get back she will get in trouble, and this whole prediciment hasnt really phased Sami. So on we go,We had to keep walking our bikes because the roads were getting really sandy, and I walked my bike half the time because of my foot. Whis was slowin us down quite alot. but we kept going. And the one statistic that kept running through my head was " A great majority of people who get lost in the wilderness end up dying only 1/2 or 1/4 of a mile away from a busy road." That helped.

I also found out that when in such situations your survival insticts really perk up. I always remember my dad always saying "When you are lost in the woods always listen for the parkway" Because there are few places you can go and not hear it... Well we found that place! We got sooo far out in the woods that we could hear absolutely nothing!!! We also tried to get Sami to climb a tree to see if she could see anything, that didnt work. We tried to map out where we where compared to the parkway and the sun setting, that didnt work. Me and Jessica ate wild blueberries, that did work. We tried screaming for help, that didnt work.So we did the only sure fire way to get us help, we had a prayer meeting right in the middle of the woods...

So we kept going... Well Sami decided to go ahead of us (because she weighs like 100 lbs and was way speedier on the bike) And i lagged behind because of my blasted foot and Jessica because she was riding an 8 year olds bmx bike. Anyway so we hear Sami scream "I found a house!!!" We all get super excited and take off down the road. Now this is where our story starts to look a little like a horror movie. The house has a gate with tons of signs saying "dont enter", that didnt stop us. It looked to be like some teenagers make shift shooting range, that didnt stop us. There were deer heads hanging and bullet holes covering everything, that didnt stop us. and there were old Micheal jackson records hanging allover the building, that kind of scared us a little but it didnt stop us! So we see that this big ugly building has a direct tv satalite so there had to be a phone! so out next task was to break in. We were turning to our criminal ways for our own survival. Well the door is deadbolted shut, so we start whacking at it with metal poles, that doesnt work. I try to pick the lock with my bobby pin, that didnt work. Sami went on the roof to try to tear her way in, that didnt work. We tried to saw the door open with old saw blades, that didnt work. We Tried to uncover the windows which were all nailed shut, that didnt work and resulted in hornet stings. We tried screaming for help again, that didnt work. We also started halucinating thinking that we were hearing helicopters coming to save us. And here is the weird thing, we were suddenly really happy and giddy, singing and joking around as we were stranded in the middle of the woods, it seemed almost like a dream or a movie. Im not sure why, but it did lift our spirits.

So by now it is starting to get dark, And i was really starting to believe that we were going to have to spend the night in the woods. we had stayed at this God forsakin building way to long so we start riding again. Well now we had an adreniline rush and we were flying down these dirt roads on our bikes. Well up ahead i spot some sort of tower with a red light (A tower from heaven!!!) And it was miles away so we take off... well on our trek to this tower we came across the most wonderful thing in all the world that God could have let us stumble upon; A PAVED ROAD!!! WITH YELLOW LINES!! AND CARS!!!! We were freaking out happy!!!! Well or next task was to flag someone down, haha, we looked like homeless woodland people. covered in dirt and sweat and bug bites. so we didnt have to much luck trying to get someone to stop for us. Then finally a family stopped for us and called Sami's Dad. now this is like 5 or 6 hours later, and it was dark. And the State Police, the Park Rangers, And some people from our church were out looking for us. The road we had popped out on was ten miles away from the campground, and who knows how many miles we had traversed on those bikes in those woods.

So we left those woods with a new sense of life, Tons of bug Bites, Blisters, really really really sore butts, And a great story that we can pass along to all generations after us. Not to mention many speeches about not going anywhere without our cell phones, and people always making fun of us because of our lack of direction. But I can say that im happy that got lost in the woods with two of my best friends, and A God who never leaves my side.


The End

~Elizabeth.

Tuesday, June 26, 2007

Camp Wounds

Well Last week me and Cody went to summer camp.... And of course we had tons of fun hangin with friends, playing sports, swimming, and listening to great preaching!

But my (Elizabeth) Camp week didnt start off to wonderful... I'll start of by explaining that in order for the girls to get up to thier rooms they have to practically climb Mt. Everest. We have to climb an almost vertical road( and when it rains it is very slippery) and then climb 2 sets of stairs...With ALL our bags and pillows and Blankets ect...

Well I safely carried up all my luggage (2 Suitcases, a sleeping bag, and pillow) And me and my friends Sami and Christina were calmly walking down the stairs to get back down, Now I had nothing in my hands, it wasnt raining, and there were no supernatural occurances that would make my decent at all dangerous... AND I had only been at camp for maybe 2 hours... Well anyway we were going down the stairs and there was one step left, ONE! only one left!!! and for some reason my ankle just decided to give out, at a wonderful moment... and i fell...down ONE step, onto the concrete and into a hole where the water would run out of the gutter...

Well i got up thinking all was good... I was laughing it off and then i saw Sami and Christinas faces and i looked down and there was blood EVERYWHERE! I had scraped a good percentage of the skin on my legs off, took a big chunk of skin off 2 of my toes and i couldnt feel my foot!! BECAUSE OF ONE STEP!!!!! Well anyway they ran down to get my youth pastor so he could get the car and drive me down to the nurses station, and i hobbled up 2 flights of stairs to my room so i could get some of the blood off me ( I left a blood trail, lol).... Well yea, that was the great excitement of my summer camp adventure... when we got to the nurse guys place i didnt tell him about my ankle because i really really really didnt want to go to the hospital... so i just ommited that little bit of information...So i enjoyed the rest of my week gimping around on a busted foot...but i still had fun!!!

I felt kinda stupid though because whenever anyone asked me what happened (because my legs looked pretty gruesome) I couldnt be like "Well, i feel out of a 70 foot tree!" or " Yea i was walking through the woods and a great grizzly came and mauled me!" no my answer was "Well, i fell down ONE step!!!"...


And to make matters worse... I was told that day that someone had told my Mom, because my phone had no service... but no.. My mom found out like 4 days later after it was passed along through everybody else and thier grandma, And im sure once it got to my mom she probably did think i got mauled by a bear... But no, I fell down one step.
Sorry for the lack of pictures... lol



Cody and his friend caught sleeping on the ride home...
My foot!




Me!

Saturday, June 23, 2007

Elizabeth --- The Great Cat Catcher!!!


Well, Several times I had looked out my dining room window and across the yard, in front of my shed, I spotted 2 little kittens frolicking around. Suddenly I got this great powerful urge to capture them. I assume I get these strong hunting instincts from my great "Thompson" ancestors.



Well anyway, I set up some squirrel traps baited with some Tuna, and put them in the shed. And within 2 days I caught both kittens!!!























And then about a week later i noticed that the mother cat was hanging around.... So then my hunter instincts took hold again. And my newest task was to catch her!




And I did.... but ... When i was trying to put her in the cage she ran away... So I will have to try again!!!

-Elizabeth

Tuesday, June 12, 2007

What do you think? Do we look alike?



Right now I really see Cody in Cheyenne. She definately has his mouth nose and chin. She is just a more female version and definately has those Thompson eyes.










Monday, June 11, 2007

So who do you think I take after?

Yesterday in between choir practice and evening service Cheyenne decided to trip over the curb in the church parking lot. I guess she gets her clumsiness from me and her need to rip her face off from her dad. I will own up to the clumsiness because just on Saturday two hours before Elizabeth's picnic I cut my leg on a picture that I had dropped and then tripped over. I should have had stitches but I couldn't go because people were coming over. So we have had a very interesting weekend! The barbecue went very well by the way!





Thursday, June 07, 2007

Graduation

Well she has officially graduated. Here are some picture and her speech under them.




create your own slideshow


Before anything else I would like to thank God, for his patience, forgiveness, and grace. And for the blessings he has given me.


I would also like to thank my parents. Even though my dad is no longer here, I would like to thank him for grounding my family in Christ, and for everything he has taught me, which I will keep in my heart throughout my life. And if my Dad where here right now, I know he would be proud and happy that I actually made it through high school.


And to my mom I owe lots of thanks. Not only for loving and supporting me but also for standing strong even when times got rough. My mom has not only been my mother, but also my teacher in and out of school, and without her I would be nothing.


I also want to thank Pastor Erickson and his family. They have always been there for my family and all of them have been a great influence in my life. I could never ask for a better Pastor. I consider the Erickson’s my “Second Family”. I know that if anything where to go wrong they would be there for me.


I would like to thank all the teachers who have had their hand in who I am today. I am thankful that not only were they my teachers but that they were also my friends.

And last but definitely not least I would like to thank my friends. They have always been there for me and supported me throughout my Dad’s bout with cancer. Without them I’m not sure where I would be right now. I am thankful that God has given me such amazing friends who have always been a great influence on me.


I can remember the first day of kindergarten like it was just yesterday, and now I am graduating high school. These past 13 years flew by so fast. And even though I am a bit reluctant about the future, I know that with God I am ready to start the next chapter in my life…..

Tuesday, May 22, 2007

Saturday, May 05, 2007

The Mexican Woman

Here is the photo of the Mexican woman. I played around with it and came up with this look. I thought about cropping the picture to be just her but, I really like the table and the window in the picture too. We would like to use this photo as part of our ministry brochures/website etc. We need to set up a non-profit organization if we are going to continue the work in Mexico now that we aren't working through Crossroads. We have decided on the name "For the Fame of His Name". Hopefully in the next few weeks we can start working on all of that. Calixto is already preparing the Pastor's conference which will be held the 1st week in November.

Friday, May 04, 2007

Catherines 1st hair cut

Catherine had her first hair cut today. You have to check out our blog, www.thearces.blogspot.com to see the photos. We just can't get over how different she looks! When she looked in the mirror the first time she said "I look like Alexia!" I also bought a satin head wrap for her to wear to bed at night to protect her hair, I haven't downloaded that picture yet or I would have posted it too...she looks like a beautiful Aunt Jemima! Her appointment lasted 3 hours and she needs to go back in 8 weeks. She'll need to get a job soon just to pay for her salon visits and salon products!!
We just got back from Minneapolis. We went to "Children Desiring God" conference. I wish I could tell you all that we learned! It was so very good. Check out their website for great resources www.childrendesiringgod.org Even though we aren't working with our church in children's ministry it was still so very good to hear just as a parent.
We even ran into some NJ people. A large group from a CMA church in Vineland were there and a couple from Egg Harbor Twp. That couple (the Longs) go to church with Tom and Linda! In fact he had just spoken to Uncle Tom on the phone that morning! Isn't that too funny, what a small world!

Monday, April 23, 2007

Teen Conference



Here are some pictures of a youth conference me and Cody went in York Pa....

All our eyes are kinda freaky in this pic....




We played in a volleyball tournament where we came in 2nd out of 15 other teams.... Our name was the " Gallowayans "...



Cody and Justin cheering for our team.....













Chincoteague

Here are some pictures from our Vacation in Chincoteague VA.....







The house we stayed in.....






The beach in Ocean city, MD....



Cheyenne....


Veiw from Balcony........

Wednesday, April 18, 2007

Easter and Spring

It has been a while since I've posted anything. Time just seems to be flying by these days. Only a few more weeks before our work at Crossroads is finished. Calixto has been working late quite a bit in order to wrap things up. There are so many mixed emotions surrounding our moving on but, we are confident in our decision and in God's leading! Please pray for us as we make this transition and seek the next step in our lives!
Here are a few pictures from Easter. We had 2 families over for lunch. It turned out to be a very chilly overcast day but we had a great time together. The younger kids in the picture are part of the Crowe family, they will be leaving for the Ukraine in the next year to start mission work there. Check out their website www.liftupyoureyes.org (I'm not sure why I made the pictures so small?!)
Christopher with his basket of loot.
Catherine was so excited about her basket! She wasn't too happy about the egg hunt since all the boys found the eggs before she did, although just this week she found 3 eggs that apparantly were overlooked...so that brought a sense of justice to her heart
The week before Easter was a beautiful spring day, we spent some of the afternoon outside just enjoying the warm sunny weather
Our beautiful, overgrown azaleas!

Monday, March 26, 2007

My Bees 2

I found out the hive that almost died was queenless .So i put a frame of eggs from another hive to see if they would make a queen . In less then a week they made 2 queen cells.
This is the brood in one of my other hives.

Sunday, March 25, 2007

My Dad's Mexico pictures B

Here is the line of men passing the buckets of concrete. When they are empty they are thrown down to the empty bucket line. You can see me in the brown shirt on the bottom right of the picture. I was catching them from off the roof but the men didn't like throwing them to me so they sent someone down to catch them and then pass them to me instead.
Here is an oven...they were cooking sacowil (sock-ah-wheel). It is pork meat in kind of a corn hash stuff wrapped in banana leaves. After the food is inside they pack the entrance with mud to keep the heat in. Around 10pm they were having a pretty difficult time getting it out. Meals are generally eaten late in Mexico but this night especially so as the roof work went on until 11:30 or midnight, and dinner was eaten afterward. We were told they don't often start church services until 10 pm at this mission church...can you imagine?
The girls and women were very proficient at carrying water like this. They were bringing more water up from the spring for the concrete.
Here is Jack Bradshaw, our pastor's father-in-law who was my dad's traveling companion for the week. He is 77 or 78 years old!
This is my dad's host, Raquel. He stays with her family everytime he goes to Tamazunchale.

Saturday, March 24, 2007

My Dad's Mexico pictures A

Here are some of my dad's photos of Mexico. This church is in Petlapixca (peck-la-peesh-ka) about an hour from Tamazunchale up in the mountains. This is how the church looked when my dad and Jack (another Sr. citizen from our church) arrived. They worked on pews while a group of students from LeTourneau worked on getting the roof ready to pour concrete. Our team was at a different site at the beginning of the week. Notice the slop of the ground under the building.

Here is a view from the side. All of those logs in the foreground become supports to hold the wood to hold the concrete until it dries.
One of my dad's jobs was to make sure Candido knew how to make the pews from beginning to end. Here he is busy sanding the piecesof wood. this open area is where the church presently meets for their services.

The "crew" busy at work on the assembly line. To the right of Candido is his oldest son, Isaiah. He has an amazing story. When he was a baby about 9 mos old he died and was dead for 4-5 hours and then God brought him back to life again! Wow!

Here are some of the women busily preparing lunch in the kitchen. Of course most look away when the camera comes out!! My dad kept motioning for them to smile for the picture and when they finally did most of them didn't have many teeth!! No wonder they weren't smiling!

Whacky Hair Day

Tracy never posts so you never get to see pictures of her kids. I downloaded Mexico pictures from my dad's camera and these were on there too. This must have been funny hair day at school! A belated happy birthday to John, Victoria and Alexia...they turned 9 last week!


Tuesday, March 20, 2007

My Bees



This is how good my bees made it through the winter . They have been bringing in pollen and there is alredy brood . Only one of my hives almost died .