Right now I'm sitting on my couch looking at the sunrise with Millie laying down next to me still waking up a bit. The windows are wide open, it's 60 degrees in our house, and I can see the yard dotted with a few yellow leaves that have fallen from the trees. It's fall!!!! Fall is my favorite season. This week we start back to our normal routine for the school year. This means regular large group times for high school and middle school kids.
On Tuesdays we do our high school group. We usually had 8-12 kids at large group last year, and it has grown through the summer and will likely continue to grow. Last year we didn't bring new kids in due to size limitations from Covid, but so far we don't see any of those restrictions. We start picking kids up around 5:00, depending on how far we have to drive, and reach the church we temporarily use by 6:00 we then pray, eat a meal (this is some kids' best meal of the week,) and then play ping pong/pool/outdoor games or hang out and talk. In the last half hour, we do some type of Bible story or discussion, followed by prayer, and then we head out by 8:00. It goes rather quickly! We don't often have break through times with kids during our large groups. Instead, we try to connect with kids one-on-one afterwards (sometimes it's on the drive home) where we talk further about our large group discussion or many other topics.
Thursday is the middle school group, and that's slightly different. We pick the kids up from school, have snacks (not a whole meal,) activities, a Bible story, prayer, and we head home by 5:00. The middle school group is also growing, with over 10 kids at the end of the summer.
As I've said before, I'm terrible at taking pictures. I hope to take a few from our group times this week so that I can share that with you (hopefully on Friday.) I hope you're enjoying the start of fall as much as I am. If you have any prayer requests or needs, please let me know. Below are some of the prayer requests/needs relating to our group times this year.
- Volunteers to bring meals: Last year, due to covid, we had to do meals on Tuesday evenings a little differently. However, we're finally returning to our normal meal time, which means volunteers preparing and serving the meals on Tuesday evenings. This is a great way to see part of what we do at Timber Bay. This involves preparing a meal (think lasagna, garlic bread, salad, and a dessert), serving it to our kids, and cleaning up. Do you have a Bible study group, a could friends or coworkers, your family, or some other small group of people who would want to serve a meal once, twice, or four times a year? Let me know if you do and we can talk more about it.
- Buffalo Timber Bay Facility: we're still searching for a place of our own. Currently we're using two area churches for our large group times. Aside from making these times easier (not needing to haul totes of gear or kitchenware), but having a space of our own would make it easier for staff gatherings, one-on-one times with kids, and storage of our camping gear, summer gear, vehicles, and everything else. We're specifically looking for an acre or more between Buffalo and Montrose to build a space where this can all happen. It's a lofty dream, but God works miracles every day, and we're hoping a space for Buffalo Timber Bay is one of those miracles!
- Time with kids: We have a large group of kids that are coming to the age where they get their licenses, jobs, and girlfriends/boyfriends. What this means is that it can be a struggle to find time to meet with them. Pray that schedules will align and we'll be able to continue the great one-on-one times with these kids and new kids that continue to come.
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