The Wall

I'm afraid I've fallen off the photo-taking / blogging bandwagon in the last week or so. I have been taking photos, but they happen to be mostly of inanimate objects! This beautiful quilt arrived last week. It comes from intern Emily's church in Indiana.

Another auction item -- anyone interested in an antique radio?

I did discover some recent photos taken of some very highly animated objects! Not too long ago, I opened up the Rec Center after school, and these guys had an absolute blast jumping and rolling in our miniature inflatable bounce house.

I was told that they wanted their pictures posted on "The Wall," so I grabbed my camera and began clicking away.

Now their smiling faces grace "The Wall" of the Rec Center, along with updated photos of other children who currently attend Rec Center, Kids Klub, and Tutoring.

Thursday Quiz

It's a Thursday quiz.

What Bible verse best describes Phoenix right now?
a) Genesis 6:17 "For behold, I will bring a flood of waters upon the earth..."
b) Genesis 7:17 "The flood continued...."
c) Psalm 29:10 "The Lord sits enthroned over the flood..."
d) All of the above

What town, according to Wikipedia, averages 85% of possible sunshine and receives scant rainfall, the average annual total at Sky Harbor Airport being 8.3 inches?
a) Seattle, Washington
b) Detroit, Michigan
c) Nashville, Tennessee
d) Phoenix, Arizona


Yep, it's true, folks. The desert is having a flood. At least five inches of rain were predicted for areas of the Valley today. That's like 60% of the year's rainfall coming on one day. In case you haven't figured it out by now, the correct answer to both of the questions above is (d).

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In other news, when all of this water evaporates, we're going to have an auction! Items have begun arriving:

These are just a few of the items that have been donated. Visit our auction site to preview more items and find out all the auction details.

The Old Spaghetti Factory

Yesterday evening, we gathered at this spot in the heart of downtown Phoenix:

We started with salad....

munched on some warm French bread,

and then moved on to oodles of noodles.

Doesn't such teamwork just bless your heart?

Aim Right has a lot of Alfredo-ites and not as many Marinara-ites.

See? Alfredo-ites!

More Alfredo-ites!

At last....a brave Marinara-ite!

A teen wrote these words on a thank you note to the donor who generously made the meal possible: Thank you with all the love in the world...God bless.

Indeed!

Volunteers

We couldn't make it without volunteers.

And we're blessed they're volunteers, because we couldn't pay them what they're worth.

An anonymous donor recently sent in a sum designated for a meal for volunteers, staff, and youth. That meal is scheduled for this evening, and through this generous donor, we'll be able to pass along a small thank you to our hard-working volunteers, because they certainly deserve appreciation for their dedication to this cause.

I recently came across this brief, humorous video a church produced on why donuts are the best form of appreciation for volunteers. See if you agree!

We Love Our Volunteers

Work Hard, Play Hard!

Our Tuesday evening tutoring students (currently all boys!) probably look forward to recess way too much. During recess, they learn important life skills like How to Play Pool Without Poking Your Buddy in the Eye.

How to Play Air Hockey and Keep the Puck on the Table

How to Jump-Start Your NBA Career

How to Make Cookies a Healthy Snack: Pair with Fruit Juice

In addition to recess, students have two 30-minute segments of one-on-one tutoring and also participate in a brief, fun, educational group activity at the end. This week we had an old-fashioned spelling bee featuring "oo" words.

The winning word had not one, but two sets of oo's.

Cookbook!

Weekend Highlights

First up, how about Warner and those little red birds?! (Sorry, Packers fans!) This photo was taken in the spring of '09 when Kurt Warner and his wife Brenda spent some time with our Team FUN group. Team FUN participants have the privilege of meeting the Warners once or twice each year.

And....how about the first Teen Night of 2010?

Caleb shared the Word.

Beginnings

The interns are all back from Christmas vacation, the neighborhood schools are in session again (no snow days here!), and most of our programs are beginning this week.

Despite the past few weeks of no "organized" activities on the premises, I've noticed that the basketball court has been a frequent gathering place. Teens to little tykes have been shooting hoops or riding their bikes or just hanging out and watching the action.

That's a good thing.

People are our business, and without people, we might as well close down tomorrow.

Our Kids Klub lesson tonight is the Genesis account of creation, and I've been reminded of the elementary truth that people are God's business. The first 25 verses of Scripture are silent about people, but from Genesis 1:26 until Revelation 22:21, the story of humanity and the God who created and redeemed them for His glory saturates the text.

I love how this portion of James Weldon Johnson's The Creation portrays the forming of the first man:

Up from the bed of the river
God scooped the clay;
And by the bank of the river
He kneeled Him down;
And there the great God Almighty
Who lit the sun and fixed it in the sky,
Who flung the stars to the most far corner of the night,
Who rounded the earth in the middle of His hand;
This Great God,
Like a mammy bending over her baby,
Kneeled down in the dust
Toiling over a lump of clay
Till He shaped it in His own image;

Then into it He blew the breath of life,
And man became a living soul.
Amen.
Amen.

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Created in His own image.
Beautiful words.
Words not referring to
kangaroos or
daffodils or
parakeets or
mountain ranges,
but to people.

I'm looking forward to sharing with several little people about their amazing Creator tonight!