And Now It Is Broken

The ground that is...

Sunday after the late service we held our ground breaking ceremony for our new Sunday School addition. We were blessed to have Lindy Calery turn over the first shovel full of dirt.

Right before she dug in I said: "That passage (Ephesians 2:13-22) speaks of the foundation we have in Jesus Christ. It is only by Jesus Christ. The purpose of a Sunday School is only because of Jesus Christ. The only reason to add on to a Sunday School building is because of Jesus Christ. The great commission is there, to go out and teach, but we've had barriers. We've had problems with not being able to do that. And that's why I asked the Calery's, and Lindy especially if she would be willing to break ground. I think it's very symbolic that that barrier has now been removed. Just as Christ has removed the barrier of our sin, now we remove a barrier for the children to be able to come and learn about the love of Jesus, and especially those that would have a handicap."

Several other Sunday School children also picked up the shovel at the end of the ceremony.

On Tuesday a little bit bigger shovel was called in.

And by Wednesday noon the foundation was all dug!

We did encounter some concrete, some stones, and a little bit of metal in one corner of the building site, which was anticipated from the comments at the special Voters' Assembly. The good news is that it was only the corner and it was nothing that would keep us from being able to utilize the present location. The excavator was able to dig deeper and bring the entire site down to virgin soil.

It is expected that Friday and Saturday we will be bringing in some sand and bring this corner back to footing grade and then footing concrete forms will built, or at least begun. Volunteers who wish to join us on Friday or Saturday are welcome to come on out. We've already seen some of our members out here, and greatly appreciate any help!

Not Our Main Objective, But Cool!

I knew about this, but yesterday I received a card and picture from a wedding that took place. Now, weddings happen all the time, but this was a first. First, because the couple met here at our Fixin' Up The Thumb Servant Event.

Here's the whole story:

"Greg,

I'm not sure if you'll remember us but we both attended Fixin' Up The Thumb. I (Cara, maiden name Debrovodsky) attended in 2000 and in 2002...I'm Emily Norman's best friend. Kory attended in 2002 (from Faith Lutheran in Topeka, KS). We met there in Caro, ended up keeping in touch, both chose (separately) to go to Valparaiso University. On July 30, we got married! We wanted to say thank you and to let you know that God can use servant events in crazy ways! Maybe you should warm future servant event go-ers that they could end up married, or maybe not. All the best! In Him, Kory & Cara"

Congratulations Kory & Cara!!!

Now, that doesn't mean that we're going to be encouraging couples on the Servant Event....just want to make that clear.

Ground Breaking Ceremony

There will be a special Ground Breaking Ceremony this Sunday (August 27th) at 12 noon. Please help get the word out!

We then look forward to the excavator starting early next week!

Full Steam Ahead

At a special Voters’ Assembly on August 20th the following motion was passed:“That St. Paul Lutheran Church secure a loan from Church Extension Fund, to be added to our existing mortgage, not to exceed $80,000, in order to complete the proposed Sunday School Addition.” That was the final approval that we needed to start the actual building. It won't be long now and you'll be able to see progress at the work site!

In the devotion for this Voters’ Assembly I quoted Ex. 35 which was the first building project in the Bible. One of the verses says: “Everyone who had blue, purple or scarlet yarn or fine linen, or goat hair, ram skins dyed red or hides of sea cows brought them.” By the end of the building project, Moses had to tell the people to stop bringing stuff because they had enough. I don’t think we’ll be using too much blue linen (or sea cow hides for that matter) but we are still in need of your donations so that we can make our loan from Church Extension Fund as small as possible. We’ll also need people to donate their time and skilled labor. And if you’re not skilled, you can do what one member mentioned to me when she said: “I can bring you peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.” There will also be a skilled labor sign-up sheet in the narthex of church.

If you can make a financial donation to this project during construction, simply mark your check “Sunday School Addition.” If you use one of your Building Fund envelopes make sure it is marked “Sunday School Addition.” Donations can be placed in the offering plate on Sunday or dropped off at the church office.

Thank You Note Leads to Voters'

This Sunday (8/20) we have a special Voters' Assembly meeting at 9:45 a.m. to discuss and vote on a special addition for our Sunday School building. One of the main reasons for this addition, although not the only reason by any means, is to make our Sunday School handicapped accessable.

It was then interesting to me to receive this thank you card from a home that we worked on this summer as a Servant Event project. This note was received from Tammi Hutton, her son Ethin is confined to a wheelchair and is learning to steer with his head.

"Dear Greg & your wonderful crew of volunteers:

I can't thank you enough for the repair to my son's handicapped ramp. Being a single mom on a fixed income, I find it difficult to come up with extra money for many things (even necessary repairs, like Ethin's ramp). Not only did you provide the materials (which I know aren't cheap), but you did a professional looking job! I no longer have to worry about his safety! God Bless you all!!!!!!!!!!!! Thanking you from the bottom of our hearts, Tammi & Ethin Hutton"


Right now Ethin would not be able to attend our Sunday School. I know that there is nothing cheap about building, but what is it worth to teach "the least of these" about Jesus?

I hope to see you here for the Voters' Assembly on Sunday.

From the Arctic to 100 Degrees

Yesterday was the end of our Arctic Edge VBS, and today it's 100 degrees. Whew!

We had an absolutely great week!

There were 115 children, a moose, some puffins, and a bear in attendance.

We even wrote a song to go along with our VBS.

Puffin, Puffin, Oh Birdy
Let my fishy go. I am so hungry
Puffin, Puffin, Oh Birdy
Let my fishy go. I am so hungry

Action girl told me just the other day
That I should move over here and stay
Gotta get the children
up and outta their pew
And lead them all in these actions too.

Puffin, Puffin, Oh Birdy
Let my fishy go. I am so hungry
Puffin, Puffin, Oh Birdy
Let my fishy go. I am so hungry

Well me and VBS coming to the Arctic
And a great big grizzly comin’ after me
I raised my air freshener
and tossed it to him
All of VBS screaming with me

Puffin, Puffin, Oh Birdy
Let my fishy go. I am so hungry
Puffin, Puffin, Oh Birdy
Let my fishy go. I am so hungry

Well a big ol’ moosey is a comin’ too
So what did you think that I did do
I raised my guitar
and played these three chords
And all of VBS did the moosey salute

Puffin, Puffin, Oh Birdy
Let my fishy go. I am so hungry
Puffin, Puffin, Oh Birdy
Let my fishy go. I am so hungry

I may never play "Pharoah, Pharoah" again, we had so much fun with this.

Thank you to everyone that made this week such a success. I couldn't do it without you, nor would I want to!