IMPACT

Happy Friday to all! Today we had inservice as teachers. The school I have been teaching at the past 2 years (and the one I went to k-12) Lancaster Christian, has big changes ahead. There are a LOT of Christian schools in the Lancaster area. With the economy and things in the past couple years, the numbers have gone down drastically in many of the local Christian schools. With the tireless efforts of fundraising and trying to bring in new families, it has not changed much. So, beginning next year, Lancaster Christian School and Living Word Academy are going to MERGE. FINALLY an exciting step in the CHRISTIAN COMMUNITY. For years of competition against each other, we are realizing that MORE CAN BE DONE WHEN WE WORK TOGETHER! The new school will be called Lancaster County Christian School (and we will be the Lions-the only pic I could get on here-ha). We are taking bits and pieces from each school and creating a whole new school. Its really exciting. So today was our first real inservice as LCCS faculty. Lots of details to fall into place, but trusting in God's faithfulness. Two schools who have had years of impact-joining to make a BIGGER IMPACT.

Also, today is my father-in-law's birthday. He is one of those people who you just have to stop and listen to when he speaks. He is very thoughtful with his words, intentional wth his family and business, and generous to so many people. He is an extremely hard worker, a faithful husband and father and is purposefully living out his testimony to IMPACT the next generation. He also is one of the funniest people ever to play games with. We love you!

Bulletin Boards

I thought I wouldn't have to do bulletin boards anymore after leaving the teaching profession. However, my company likes us to promote our programs through 3D bulletin boards. I actually like this little task and it is a fun project to think of ideas and then collect the things to make it look appealing and fun. We have some top execs coming to our community next week, because Buckhead has been causing some waves, good waves. (Last year at this time our community was like 40% occupied and today we are 90%. So we have some huge growth) So I thought I would do a bulletin board overhaul and I am really trying to make our programs look great and the community look inviting. If you can believe it, this job is very very very sales focused. I also have a volunteer now who just got her BS and wants to get her masters in gerontology. She is a HUGE help and it lets me spend more time doing things like this.

So the boards I am making:
1. An Evening under the Stars - the Atlanta Astronomy Club will come and set up telescopes outside for residents to view at the end of the month.
2. Blarney Breakfast - we are partnering with the Alzheimer's Association and hosting a St. Patrick's Day breakfast to raise money for them. If you guys don't know anything about alzheimers you should really research it. The numbers are staggering - I think it is like every 90 seconds someone gets diagnosed. And because of the boomers, it will rapidly increase in the coming decades. It is crazy to hear and understand what they think some causes could be and it is also so devasting to see the disease progress in people. SO I am really happy we are raising money for this.
3. A Where We've Been board for the residents to put pins in the different countries. This is one of greatest things about my job. I get to sit and talk and learn so much from such wise people. I love to hear of all the places they have been and the stories they tell and actually seeing it on a map will be incredible.


Have any ideas for me? Pass them on. Love you all!

Favorite Picture

This is my favorite picture from the trip to Orlando.  This is Jess and me and Magic Kingdom...a self-portrait as you can tell.  I just love that place...it really is magical and took me back to my childhood :).  I am planning on putting more pics up on the Duncan blog, so you can check it out there for more.  

A Week in Review with Junior High

Sorry for my loooooooooooong break from posting. Here's a re-cap of the last week. These first two pictures are from last Wednesday night's junior high time. The theme was "Glow Party", so everyone came in either white or bright colors. As you can see, then, the black light made everything...well...glow. It was fun:)

Sixty-some junior-highers packed in a bus (along with leaders) and headed to Motley, MN this weekend (Friday to Sunday). Camp Shamineau was our destination. Some of the highlights of the weekend were broomball, sledding, making homemade donuts at the bonfire, watching "Up!" on the bigscreen, and hearing these youngin's talk about their desire for purity (that was the theme of the weekend). But certainly the most eventful part of the weekend for me started about 12:30 AM Saturday when Tressa (a girl in my cabin) started getting sick...out of both ends. From then until about 4:15AM (when her dad arrived), I was in and out of the bathroom with her, mopping up the floor where her messes didn't quite make it in the bag or bowl, bagging up 2 pairs of pants that were soiled, unclogging toilets (at least attempting to...3 out of the 5 were "out of order" by the end of it all), and conversing with her parents about their plan of action to pick her up. Ha ha. I still laugh when I think of how silly it must have looked, but by the light of my cellphone (so as not to wake up the other 5 girls in my cabin), I held up article of clothing after article of clothing to confirm whether it was hers or not. When her dad came and saw all the bags of stuff I'd thrown together, he must have been a little overwhelmed. The poor girl. I was praying for her as she and her dad made the long 3 hour ride back home. Two hours later, I was in the shower getting ready for the day praying for God's supernatural power to take over...and He was so faithful in answering that prayer. How did Jesus so selflessly serve day after day, hour after hour? He's my hero.

For you for me - Randy J

Today was a good day - just worked. It snowed here today, which is weird because I had my windows down yesterday in the car. Brad and I went to Willy's. I burrito place sorta like Chipotle. College kids get $4 burritos. I forgot about those perks. So we'll milk those for all they're worth. Why can't we have 20 something and poor discounts?



Then watched some AI. I have to say I am looking for a belter and I can't find it. I still can't stand Kara - and I don't like that country high school guy and I don't see what they see in him. I looked at past winners' auditions and I want someone who is that good to be on the show again this year. Maybe it will come, I need to be more patient.

The mountains

We're back. Sorry its taken me a day or two to post anything. This weekend was so great. It was fun to get away with other couple friends (no dog) and just enjoy the snow, relaxation, conversation, games, etc. Jimmys family kept Wyatt for us which was such a special treat. It felt like dropping your kids off and having a few days of freedom. Ha. Anyway, below are just some random pictures from the weekend. The one with the Jeep and Snow....that was the driveway when we got there. It hadnt been plowed, so the guys shoveled it. Jimmy kept saying that was his favorite part of the weekend. The three girls in the picture were 3 of the girls I lived with a year ago. Brooke, Anna and Amber. Hope your weeks are going well! Love you all!

Home again, home again, jiggety jig...

...did anyone else's mom used to say that??

Anyway, Elijah and I made it safely back to Indy this afternoon. Our trip was just ok, I would say, since everyone in my family (except Elijah and me) got the stomach bug at some point in the trip. Elijah and I escaped it since we had already had it last week. It was kind of a downer (mwr, mwr, as Jacki said the other day) since that limited the amount of time we were able to have all together :(. However, we did have some definite highlights. My dad and mom surprised me and Jess with a hopper pass to the Disney parks so we were able to go to Magic Kingdom, MGM (which is now Hollywood Studios), and Epcot all day Thursday while my parents watched the kids. That was really fun! We also took Cam and Elijah to Animal Kingdom and they had a great time on Friday...which is when the sickness hit my mom and worked its way through Cam, my dad, and Jess. I don't have the energy to put up pictures tonight but will share some tomorrow!