We have had a good but somewhat exhausting past few days!

Last night was our Jr. High party.  We do an activity like this every quarter and it is always fun!  Jr. Highers are much easier to please than High Schoolers.  :)  We all gathered at the church, Steven did a devotion, then we played games, some of the girls did a "craft", and watched a movie until midnight when their parents picked them up!

Getting ready for another thrilling game of Toga

Can you guess which one is mine?

Steven's lesson was inspired by Barkley.  If you have known me or been reading this for any amount of time, you know Barkley is notorious for running away.  Steven and I just couldn't understand why it kept happening, but finally realized a few weeks ago that it gives a great picture of how we can be sometimes with our Heavenly "Master".

*We are his master... chasing after him... calling after him... pursuing him... wanting him to come to us so we can be with him and take care of him.
*We provide all of his needs and many of his wants.  He is never wanting food, water, or shelter.  But still He longs for freedom even though it is very dangerous
*He doesn't understand the seriousness of his disobedience.  He could get hit by a car or run too far away and never find his way back.
*He is distracted by things of the world... exploring new things, chasing after rabbits, enjoying the thrill of no leash/fence/limitations.
*We call his name... He
A  Ignores us and keeps running
B looks back at us to make sure we are still there... He thinks about coming but ultimately decides not to
*He takes us for granted in that he knows that we will always find him and welcome him home with open arms because WE LOVE HIM.

I know this can seem silly, but I think it was a really good illustration for them!  Steven used Luke 15 and talked about the Prodigal Son along with this lesson.

We were at the church until 12:45 cleaning, and this morning we had our two teens from the "Buy a Teen" fundraiser come over to help us remove the stump from our "flower bed"!

I'd say they did a pretty good job, wouldn't you??  :)

We took them to Fazoli's for lunch, then I ran some errands... still on the search for the perfect dresser for our guest room!