VBS

This past week was CTK's VBS. For those of you who are new to the conventional church VBS stands for Vactaion Bible School. It's an opportunity to reach out into the community to teach children about the God story.

Christ the King was priviledged to host 300 children between kindergarten and 5th grade. They would arrive on campus around 12.0opm and leave at 3.00pm. Between the hours of 12.00 and 3.00 children had time to learn different activities like drama, art, sign language, taekwondo, x-training, serving elderly men and women...or even hip hop; they were also taught of God's unfailing love for them. A great opportunity.

To be honest, VBS is contained chaos!! It 300 reasons why Brian doesn't do children's ministry. So, this post is to those who thrive on children and who are committed to teaching them.

For Those of Us who Grew Up in the 80's

I just found this and couldn't resist putting it up. So, click on nintendo and once there click on nintendo choir and enjoy!!!

Colorful Colorado

And so here we are...at the bottom of the Royal Gorge. For those of you who have never been there, it's in Canon City, Colorado (made famous, of course, for the Gorge and the State Pen). We are very near the Arkansas River as it cuts its way through the Gorge. This was our last stop before leaving the ever beautiful Colorado.

It was our pleasure (at least in hindsight) to take 84 high school students and 14 adults to Adventure Experiences Base Camp, near Almont Colorado. Base camp is very near 10,000 feet and we spent the week rock climbing, working through the teams challenge course, and of course hiking up to Jenkins Bowl (roughly 13,103 feet). For those of you who have never been up to the mountians near this altitude...well, its amazingly beautiful...but, um...rustic (which is a nice word for livin' in the woods). Students were able to experince outhouses (double deckers at that), one shower for the week (due to the high cost of heating water), packing food in and trash out, and how deep to dig a hole if you need to "go" while out in the woods. If all that doesn't humble you out, we don't know what does.

The theme for the weekend: "The Mountian". The more you read the bible the more you come to understand that God often reveals himself on the mountain. It was our hope and our prayer that students would encounter God while on the mountain. While most of the students enjoyed the rock climbing, challenge course and hiking, many students commented on the Prayer Trek. We sent the students, and the adults, out for a solo experience on the mountain. They were given a CD with songs and leadings for prayers and were asked to go and come back when the CD was over. It took most students two hours to come back...how amazing is that...two hours of prayer, uninterrupted prayer: 100 people on the mountain spending time with the creator of the universe...you and God...if you haven't tried that in a while...you should!

Below are a number of pictures that show pieces of our trip. To see more click and go to the student ministries site at CTK. Enjoy!!

Gone Texas, Part II

Even before leaving the state of Missouri, Brian insisted that before returning for the final year of seminary he would find a cowboy hat that fit him (and his "style") well.

Needless to say, the year has flown by with very little comment about the hat...not even a peep from the man himself. It seems the hat will remain in Texas forever.

Brian was priviledged to travel to Katy, Texas for a confrence of church planters. For those of you new to this gig, church planters are crazies who birth churches from nothing (believe us when we say that they are flat out crazy). While at this confrence, Brian and the rest of the crazies went skeet shooting (sounds more like play time than a conference). The group was split into teams and let loose for the day to see which team would shoot the best. The winners were to receive a wonderful prize, while the losers would be handed something they didn't really want.

Believe it or not, Brian's team won the shooting competition and were rewarded with what you see above. It seems that we'll be returning to St. Louis with a hat after all!!

Fore

Well, for those of you who know us...you know that we are not golfers. Brian tries real hard, a grip it and rip it kind of guy. Brian's the kind of golfer people want when they need someone to point and laugh at. All joking aside, we were graciously given tickets to the Shell Houston Open. We had never been to a PGA golf event...and we had the afternoon...so we thought "why not."

The tournament itself was held at Red Stone Golf Course in Humble (which, by the way, is pronounced without the "h"...it sounds like Umble [we don't know, we just do it]). Humble is only 10 minutes from our home. Great we thought...we'll drive. Well, there is no parking near the site. So we drove 20 minutes in the other direction only to get shuttled back the 20 minutes we drove.

We were also quickly informed that cell phones, cameras, etc. were not allowed on the course. So, the above pictures are the tickets for the day and an AP photo of Staurt Appleby (who was still the leader when this post was being composed). For not being golfers we enjoyed the day. Needless to say, these men can really hit the golf ball. Plus, we perfected our golf clap.

To the "Original" BW

BDub's

We realized that many of you have been waiting in suspense for the story of the "Y". If you have no idea what we're talking about, then read the post below.

A very wise friend of ours noted, "Brian, someone spelled your name wrong" (If you look at the picture with Bryan [oh, we're sorry, Brian] playing with his mudbugs you will notice an incorrect name tag).

Brian is NOT the only BDub in the world (much to his dismay), nor is he the only BDub at Christ the King Lutheran Church. In fact, the other BDub works with our BDub at the church. What is so amazing is that both of them have the first name Brian/Bryan. The problem is that the staff has a difficult time remembering whose is spelled which way. And so it is that BDub's simply share their names. It wasn't at all offensive when our BDub had to wear the other BDub's name tag for the evening. In fact, the two are shockingly similar. So, here's to the BW's in the world.

Mmm, Mud Bugs

Having grown up in the midwest, we were both raised on meat and potatoes; not much demand for seafood in the square states. But down here in the South, seafood is something else.

Christ the King had its annual Shrimp and Crawfish Boil (wow, we just had potlucks). Basically, the church gets together and boils a whole ton of shrimp and crawfish, they cover the tables in newspaper, every member brings their own "adult beverage" and the eatin' begins.

Well, Brian was new to the crawfish (which, by the way, they call mud bugs in this here part of the country) eatin' experience (see the picture above). So, he quickly sought the advice of Nikki's (a member of our Kairos gathering) family, all of whom are from New Orleans. They quickly taught him the art of eatin' mud bugs.

First, one pinches the tail, and with a firm grip on the body...separates the two. If one is experienced, he/she would then place the tinest bit of meat between the teeth, turn the tail ever so slightly (like a key in a lock) and pull. If one is successful, he/she would have pulled out all the meat there is to eat in said mud bug. But, that doesn't alot for the best part. Those who really want the full experience are to take the body, crack the torso, and the suck the juice out of the head. It's common for people to go through 5 pounds of crawfish. Brian did!

So, the next time you go out for seafood, try ordering the mud bugs!