Hey, now that you survived the holidays it’s time to move into the winter grind.  we’ve got some great stuff coming up in January.  On the 17^th we’ll have a burger night to go with our “Fuddruckers: Watch You Language” message.  On the 24^th we’ll be hosting a fashion show with clothing feom Fashion Bug as we talk about dressing modestly.  On the 31^st we’re holding a health fair to promote “Taking Care of Your Body”.  Come check it all out.  By the way, I’m thinking of having a party at my place called “Brody Bash 08″.  Interested in coming?  ~Robert

Due to the snow cancellation from last week we are going to have youth group this week so we can have our Christmas Party.  Wear your favorite Santa hat and bring your favorite boardgame.  We’ll provide all the yummy food!  We’ll meet at our regular time, 7:00 to 8:30.  See you there.

P.S.  Sorry for the blank post last week.  I had really witty comments about the snow but they seem to have disappeared into cyberspace.  ~Robert

Hey the first decent snow fall of the year is going on right outside my window and I heard school is getting out early.  Congratulations.  Hmm…this leaves me in a dilemna my car is basically a sled in the snow.  Do I leave now before it gets worse or do I wait and hope the snow plows take care of things?  Guess I’ll wait it out.  In the meantime why don’t you guys check out all of the new pictures that are posted on the website from the Thanksgiving Eve Rally and the Girls retreat.  Lots of good stuff.  Seeya.  ~Robert

Well, Jeremy’s team has done it again.  We have two very cool videos on the website from the Thanksgiving Eve Rally.  One is an overview of the whole night and the other one shows the complete drama.  Definitely worth checking out.  I especially hope you share the drama video with your friends.  It has a powerful message.  I’ve already had people write to me and tell me they cried during it.

Well another Thanksgiving Eve Rally is in the books.  It was a great time.  I think we had about 200 there.  Pastor Nathan did a great job with the message.  I don’t think he stopped moving the whole time.  The drama/dance team was incredible!  The band rocked!  Jeremy’s tech team was excellent as always, 3 video screens, fog, live cameras and an animated running turkey for the countdown with live video in the background.  Hard to describe but funny to see.  The only downer, and it was minor, was that some kids just weren’t listening.  I think Pastor Nathan handled them well.  It’s one of those interesting things about youth ministry, the one’s you really want to reach can be the most challenging at times. 

We had lots of help for set up, in fact so many people came I had to go out and get more pizza.  Everything went smooth.  I have a little clean up to do tomorrow but not too much.

I spent a lot of time running around but I had a chance to talk with a few people.  It was great to catch up with Erin, Anika, Dan and Josiah.  It was also great to see some alumni back including Leah and Erin.

Well, I’m going to our Thansgiving feast so I can slowly slip into a turkey coma.  See you all next week.  ~Robert

Tonight’s the big Thanksgiving Eve rally at church.  I’m not sure how many we’ll have this year.  I didn’t do a lot of advertising although we got a nice interview in the Lancaster New Era.  We’ll have fun no matter what.  The Table dance team will be performing, Katie Kilgore will be singing with the youth worship band and of course I’ll be picking up lots of food.  If I survive all of that I get a couple of days off.  Good deal.  Hopefully I’ll see you all tonight.  ~Robert

So I survived the weekend.  There was lots going on.  I ended up at Chuck E Cheese’s for a couple of hours.  That place is amazingly loud and amazingly crowded.  Not a place I’d want to be all of the time.  You have to admit though, that despite being loud and crowded it’s still amazing.  They really have come up with a successful formula to get families through the door.  People are willing to fight the crowds and the noise to get what Chuckie has.  Hmm…I wonder how all of this relates to youth group.  We have noise and we have crowds.  Are we providing what people want to come for?  Better yet, are we providing what people NEED to come for.  I’ll have to ponder this longer.  ~Robert

So last night was very cool.  People had some interesting hats on and there were boardgames happening in random locations.  We played some full-court basketball which really wore me out.  There were 92 people last night so it was a good crowd.  I think things went well overall.  It was good to see some old faces come back now that band and soccer are over.  This week the pool table gets refinished so it should be useable pretty soon.  Looking forward to some time off this weekend see you all nest week.  ~R

Hey guy’s, welcome to the new website.  Jeremy Denlinger put a lot of work into it.  We’ll be adding lots of cool stuff over the next couple of weeks so check back often.

This week is baordgame/hat night at youth group so I hope you can all make it.  It’s also my wife’s birthday tomorrow so you may catch me frantically shopping at the mall some time over the next 24 hours.  Make sure you leave me a comment.  Thanks. Seeya