Isella Rose and Memorial Day Weekend

Generation ME - How do we reach them?

I was talking with my friend Doug the other day (yeah some of you know him-crazy teddy bear of a jesus freak) and as we talked, the conversation turned to reaching the 20 somethings.

He mentioned the learnings of the US Army in how its old training methods weren't working anymore with this generation ( the screaming in your face, top-down authoritative model, whatever else they normally did was failing).

They turned to the work of a sociologist who was an expert in this area. One of the learnings Doug shared was the fact that when these guys were sent to Iraq, they were better taught by their buddies who had already been in the environment - in other words, they seemed more receptive learning peer to peer, smaller groups. Yeah not rocket science but they made the shift and who did they turn to?

They turned to this book by Jean Twenge (a prof in San Diego) Generation Me. I need to read it first but it may be a helpful resource in understanding how to connect with this next Generation and introduce them to Jesus. Order it.

Little Jesse

Please pray for Jesse. She has a brain tumor and is one of Joy's kids from her class. We are devastated by this news and though she went into surgery last night - so far she has a lot of challenges ahead - with radiation, chemo, etc.

Her mother lost her dad when she was only 7 months old. Though remarried, her mom is overwhelmed at the posibility of losing her only daughter as well. This is where God's people grieve and intercede with the family in prayer. Please pray for little Jesse.

Though God has a greater love for Jesse than we can possibly fathom, it does not minimize the pain we all feel for her and her family. We feel powerless and yet know that God is very real and very involved with his goodness, His presence and His comfort. I am reminded that our bodies are only containers for our souls - perishable containers that cannot destroy who we are in spirit. God has taken care of that possibility with Jesus. Nonetheless, we can pray. It can heal us physically, heal us emotionally and spiritually... but alos provide us with a grander perspective in the eternal hope that comes from a loving God.

James 5.13-18
13 Are you hurting? Pray. Do you feel great? Sing. 14 Are you sick? Call the church leaders together to pray and anoint you with oil in the name of the Master. 15 Believing-prayer will heal you, and Jesus will put you on your feet. And if you've sinned, you'll be forgiven—healed inside and out. 16 Make this your common practice: Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you can live together whole and healed. The prayer of a person living right with God is something powerful to be reckoned with. 17 Elijah, for instance, human just like us, prayed hard that it wouldn't rain, and it didn't—not a drop for three and a half years. 18 Then he prayed that it would rain, and it did. The showers came and everything started growing again.

My Sis

My Sister, Wendy, as many of you well know was whisked into surgery today. Many of you rallied and prayed for her - THANK YOU! She is doing fine, just getting out of surgery for a BURST APPENDIX - yes all you experienced appendix burstees knew from the description and so the doctors got with the program and are taking care of it. At this point, she will be in for a few more days but should be out soon. Please continue to pray for her quick and full recovery. Poor Husband Tony has been balancing bedside duty and making sure Isella is in good hands with Grandpa and MorMor (swedish for Grandma) Kerr.

Wendy - no more surgeries allowed. We love you!

Thank you Lord for your comfort, peace and presence.

Our Sweet Small Group

Here we are right after we had a BBQ feast to celebrate all the guys moving a 450 lb. tree fort from the back yard to the Lanfried's front yard. Yeah - good thing Skip has a small group to help him:). Matt squatted it while we watched.

"We are better together" is totally true. Not only is this group meeting every other Tuesday Night wrestling with God's word together, but we actually enjoy being together. Go figure. Living a life following Jesus was never intended to be an individual adventure - we are in it together. We love these guys (and gals)! (From left to right - Skip and Lara Lanfried, Kelly and Mike McFadden, Matt and Kristy Irons, Erin and Joy Kerr, Justin and Kirsten Sogoian).

They are some of the peeps I notified to pray for Wendy's surgery going on as we speak! Wen - we love you and are praying for you!