Uncle Hunter Prays at the Democratic National Convention

I'm so proud of my Uncle Hunter! He was asked to do the closing benediction after Obama's acceptance speech last night. Did you see him? Watch HERE

Miss Sister 2008

Fox News recently reported about a Beauty Pageant for Nuns that will be taking place online in September...and I think it's pretty hilarious.
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ROME — An Italian priest and theologian said Sunday he is organizing an online beauty pageant for nuns to give them more visibility within the Catholic Church and to fight the stereotype that they are all old and dour.

The "Miss Sister 2008" contest will start in September on a blog run by the Rev. Antonio Rungi and will give nuns from around the world a chance to showcase their work and their image.

"Nuns are a bit excluded, they are a bit marginalized in ecclesiastical life," Rungi told The Associated Press after Italian media carried reports of the idea. "This will be an occasion to make their contribution more visible."

Rungi, a theologian and schoolteacher from the Naples area, said that visitors to his site will have a month to "vote for the nun they consider a model."

Nuns will fill out a profile including information about their life and vocation as well as a photograph. It will be up to them to choose whether to pose with the traditional veil or with their heads uncovered.

"We are not going to parade nuns in bathing suits," Rungi said by telephone from his town of Mondragone. "But being ugly is not a requirement for becoming a nun. External beauty is gift from God, and we mustn't hide it."

Rungi said the idea was first suggested to him by nuns with whom he regularly prays and works. He hopes there will be dozens of submissions once the Web site is started.

Read the whole article HERE.

Urban Jesus

I love this new series that my friends at Park Community Church are doing!

Corinth was a major metropolitan area, as is Chicago. And for the record, we are in the actual city, not a suburb! Anyway, the Corinthian church was a lot like our church and a lot of the challenges and issues they were facing are our challenges and issues. So, this whole series is basically going to compare/contrast the Corinthian church and our church.

The first two chapters of Corinthians talk about Jesus and we'll be using that as a platform to also teach our vision and the direction our church is going as a whole.

When brainstorming names last week we came up with the title for this section: Urban Jesus.

Read more about it on Tim Schraeder's blog!

The SpringHill Music Festival

The SpringHill Music Festival is just weeks away!
Bring your family, friends, or entire youth group for the weekend and extend the summer fun!

September 13-14
Evart, MI
$45 if you register online, $50 at the gate

Visit springhillcamps.com/musicfestival for more information.

The Closing Ceremonies - with Ryan's Commentary

If you were sitting on the couch with me while Ryan and I were watching the closing ceremonies, you would have heard Ryan's commentary throughout the production. This is how it went:

• One thing China's got is a lot of people.
• Are those bike helmets?
• Looks like a bloomin' onion.
• What's with the bike helmets?
• This is insane.
• How long does this last?
• Those are bikes! The bikes of the future, hunny!
• I'd like to see one of those guys bite it.

Hope for Chris

Today was a big day! Chris is all moved into his dorm and has officially entered the world of Hope College. Ryan and I were at Hope all day today partaking in the festivities and welcoming all the new students to campus. Chris is keeping the tradition alive, living in the same dorm as both of his older brothers lived in. Before long, people all over campus will be yelling "COXY!" everywhere he goes. Ryan and I took Chris to a Thrift Store and found him this SA-WEET old-school Huffy Bicycle. For a mere $27 Chris will be seen riding all around campus on this little beauty.

Ryan tried it out in the store before we bought it.

Nice work Chris! We are so excited for you to be at Hope! Live it up! These 4 years will be some of the best of your life!

Canada, eh?

This is my Uncle Matt and my cousins Phil and Lauren on top of some mountain somewhere in Canada. They are awesome and this picture only partially captures their awesomeness.

The Best Subway Ever!

I am currently sitting at the best Subway I've ever been to in my entire life! I am travelling down to Seymour, IN to do some work at SpringHill and I stopped for dinner in Columbus. If you're ever here, you should check out this Subway!

The following things make this the best Subway I've ever been to:

• Its HUGE!
• It's very clean - even the bathrooms.
  
• The Air Conditioning is set just right.
• People in southern Indiana have accents...and the girl who made my sandwich called me ma'am and smiled a lot.
  
• It has a drive-thru window.
• My turkey sandwich is really good.
  
• I am blogging, thanks to the FREE WI-FI! Nice!
• There are comfy lounge chairs in addition to the regular tables and chairs.
• There are flat-screen TVs in every corner.
• You're not going to believe this one...IT HAS A FIREPLACE!!

Have you ever been to a better Subway?

PEACE

"May the Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face shine upon you; and be gracious to you, and give you His peace."

Numbers 6:24-26

When I was at Hope College, each Sunday night at The Gathering Ben Patterson would close each service by lifting his bible in one hand outstretching his other hand toward the crowd and reciting this blessing. Every time I read it, or hear it I remember sitting in a crowded pew in the chapel at Hope with 1,500 other students, and feeling like God's face was shining upon me, he was blessing and keeping me, and I felt peace.

Sheila Beeson and Michelle Wegner Q&A

Are you coming to Innovate08? Have you ever wondered how to balance family life and church life? I just found out that Michelle Wegner (wife of Rob Wegner) and my very own mother, Sheila Beeson (wife of Mark Beeson) will be hosting one of the Casual Q&A sessions on Friday afternoon of the conference! My mom speaking at Innovate! I love it!

What's a casual Q&A, you ask?

Casual Q&A’s are very specific topics where attendees have the freedom to ask questions and dialogue with Granger staff. They are not as structured as teaching breakouts but designed to be informal Q&A sessions with the questions being determined by the attendees themselves.

Got questions on: boundaries between your private life vs. the church life and how to support your spouse through the challenges of day-to-day ministry? Pastor's Wives: Sheila Beeson, wife of Granger’s Senior Pastor and Michelle Wegner, wife of Granger's Pastor of Life Mission will be hosting this Casual Q&A session.

Michelle is so awesome. She has been a mentor and a leader to me for over 15 years. When I was about to enter 6th grade Rob came on staff at Granger as the "Youth Pastor" and Michelle was by his side the whole time.

Speaking of awesome, do you have any idea how awesome my mom is? WOAH! She is really incredible and I believe that Dad is who he is and can do the ministry he does because he has mom serving beside him. This picture is my mom and dad, back in the day. When I was 5 and my brother and sister were 2 and 3, Dad got this crazy idea to move our family to this cornfield called "Granger, IN" and my mom packed us up, trusting God, and moved our family to plant a church.

God is awesome. My mom loves God. Michelle loves God. You should go to their session.

...in the 1974 news

There are many things to like in this 1974 BBC news segment about a gentleman jumping on eggs
HT: BoingBoing

Isaac and James - A Conversation: Part 2

If I lived in Florida, I'd go to Summit Church...

...this is my boss

This video was used as a sermon illustration for Mike's "Dream it, Risk it, Live it" message at Daybreak church. They've been doing a "Bucket List" series and if they had some sermons archived I'd link to Mike's sermon from a few weeks ago.

Hey Kylie...You guys should get archived sermons on your website!

"Stay"cation

Ryan and I joined thousands of RVing/Camping types for a day on the beach in Grand Haven, MI. The staycation is really quite a good idea with gas prices the way they are these days. Everyone in Michigan has the luxery of enjoying the beautiful beaches - which totally reminded us of a trip we took once to the Florda Keys! Lots of similarities people, lots of similarities!

I am a bit of a people watcher - and I noticed something interesting on Saturday. Remember those neon-colored 80's sunglasses? Well, apparently they're cool again. I saw a number of young "cool" types wearing them. I love it. Those glasses were awesome! I'll probably run out to a gas station this week and pick up a pair. Who's with me?

Joel and Sarah

Ryan and I are sad to announce that our good friends and neighbors Joel and Sarah are packing up and moving north this weekend. It's been so great to have them right next door for the last year. Ryan has consumed mass quantities of Sarah's cooking - which I will probably never be able to adequately repay her for.

We had a nice dinner together this weekend to celebrate their completion of the Bar Exam and that they are ready for the next leg of their journey into lawyerhood. Luckily ours is a friendship that will last beyond the miles we need to travel to see each other. We miss you already guys!

misspelled tattoos

I was introduced to a new blog recently and have really enjoyed a lot of the posts. This was one of my favorite... one example of 10 great misspelled tattoos!

HT: ysmarko

I heart SpringHill Camps

Last week was an awesome week. I have the extroardinary privilege of working as the liason between the company I work for and SpringHill Camps. A lot of my friends have been counselors or campers at SpringHill, but I never really personally knew about SpringHill until this year. One day a week I get to hang out at SpringHill Michigan and once a month I get to spend a couple of days at SpringHill Indiana.

All I can say is that God is doing AMAZING things in kids lives because of the ministry of SpringHill Camps. I ran into my friend Sammy a couple of times - she was a camper this week!

This is my new friend Nikki drinking a rootbeer float. She is on staff in Indiana and is up here in Michigan this week for the meetings I am here for. Some of the staffers gave us the chance to fly down the Copper Country zip line. Look how gorgeous Northern Michigan is!

Authority Issues

Featuring James and Isaac - from Summit Church

Great Friends

I love these ladies. Last weekend I got to spend the afternoon eating burritos, laughing and hearing their stories. First of all, I love my little sister Angela. She is hilarious and awesome. Secondly, I love Brooke. Because of Brooke, I seriously need a "Magic Bullet" in my life. She could sell a "Magic Bullet" to anyone! I also love my friend Ruby.

Ruby has been in town for a few weeks this summer to visit friends and raise support because she has committed to Back 2 Back ministries in Mexico to teach for another year. I am so proud of Ruby. If you want to learn more about what she is doing you can read her blog. If you want to give her some money to help fund the coming year, click HERE and tell them it's for Ruby Moyer
I would be lying if I told you this picture happened naturally. It took us many tries because we were laughing so much...as you can see below.