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Today, we took Ethan to the birthday party of one of his cousins, 8-year-old Hannah. The party took place at Slinky Action Zone (Duncansville, PA), a place where kids can play all kinds of games. It’s a popular party spot for kids. It was Ethan’s first time there. He jumped right in and had a … Read more
We’re going to visit family and friends in Tennessee for the week of Thanksgiving. Due to a pretty crazy year (in a good way), it’s a long overdo trip! It’s been just over a year since we’ve been to Tennessee. The last time we were there, we received the first photos of our baby boy … Read more
Today, we started something new, holding a time of “hanging out with the pastors.” We invited people from both West Side and Centre Grove to join us at Old Town Road Dairy from 11:00 am to 12:00 pm. We had a great response our first time out. Today’s meeting was scheduled on pretty short notice … Read more
Tonight was trick-or-treat night in Clearfield and it was a busy night on Nichols Street! We had an estimated 132 trick-or-treaters come to our door between 6:00 and 8:00 pm. Our family night began with carving a jack-o-lantern, then we distributed candy to trick-or-treaters for the next couple of hours. Ethan helped hand out most … Read more
As we wrote about last year, we enjoy participating in Operation Christmas Child each year around this time. In our new ministry settings, the youth groups from Centre Grove (who has been active participants in the outreach for several years) and West Side are both leading efforts in the two churches to assemble gift-filled shoe … Read more
We have gotten to do some different recreational activities in recent days, including mini-golfing with the West Side and Centre Grove youth groups, biking with Skip and Nancy Koerber on the local rails-to-trails, and feeding the ducks with Dick and Joann McCrum where the river runs through Clearfield. As we head into the colder months, … Read more
Back in July 2008 I wrote about my task management journey, my search for systems to help me be more and more productive. I stated my believe that “there’s always a better way!” I also discussed my latest attempt at using an online application, Remember the Milk. While I like the (free) service, I have … Read more
On Sunday, Joleen, Ethan, and I attended our district’s first (of what may become an annual event) “local pastor sabbath.” It was intended to be an opportunity for Local Pastors (and Student Pastors and Appointed Lay Speakers) to share a day off together. We gathered at Gethsemane United Methodist Church in Allport (located across the … Read more
Today is Blog Action Day. Thousands of bloggers are focusing on the issue of poverty from many different angles perspectives. In this post, I want to highlight a few words from the Scriptures that indicate that helping the poor was a core value in the first century church (the decades following the death and resurrection … Read more
When we were in Kansas City last week for the Leadership Institute at the United Methodist Church of the Resurrection, we received a 7 Days of Prayer prayer guide. Many churches are using this prayer guide to join together in prayer for the renewal and transformation of our churches. Here it is … Seven Days … Read more