Greetings
Happy Friday to all! We continue to plug away. Our District Rep's were here Tuesday. We had a nice visit with them and felt encouraged by their time spent with us. I haven't gotten back to painting. This was a busy week. We had our monthly Ladies Luncheon Wednesday. We had a good turn out, 26 ladies came plus about 9 children. We are not offering childcare this year as no one took advantage of it last year. In setting up we are trying to accomodate the children who come. What a blessing to watch the ladies visit with one another over a home cooked lunch! This month was soup bowls. (Bread bowls) It was a hit! And the best part...I have a speaker for every month so I can sit back and breathe a little. Be the hostess and let others share what God has put on their heart. Amen!
Kids Club started on Thursday. This is our outreach to elementary age kids. We have a few 4 year olds that come as well. We had 17 kids, pretty good for the first day! Pray for those leading Kids Club. Pray that this would be a fun time to learn God's Word.
Continue to pray for Youth group as well. The group is growing slowly. Pray that we will be able to keep it fun and different so the kids don't get bored and will invite their friends! This week we had pizza instead of a game and watched a video. We do that about every five weeks. We have some other ideas on how to make it fun and different but if you have any suggestions, just leave me a comment!
Well, I need to keep this short. I am trying to get everything done today that I usually put off until Saturday so that tomorrow I can work on my Christmas projects. I figure I better not put that off too much longer or I'll be stressing over getting them done in time. But that would be nothing new, it's the story of my life!
Take care everyone. Have a great week.
Love in Christ,
Jen
Friday, October 12, 2007
Friday, October 5, 2007
First Snow of the Season!
Wow, can you believe it? Today, October 5th, it snowed. Not a lot, but enough to make a mess. And typical of what you would see in Washington...it melted within an hour of when it stopped snowing! And typical of Nevada, our forecasted highs for Sunday...mid 70's! Close to 80 by the end of the week. And two days ago it was 80. Gotta love living in the high desert of Nevada.
The last couple of weeks have been good, busy...but definitely good. My mom came for a visit, that was nice. We did a lot of nothing! One of the days she was her we went to Scotty's Castle in Death Valley. If you ever get the chance to go there, do it. We're planning a trip back with the kids. Maybe in November. Should you ever come to visit us, we'll take you there. It's funny how we are three to four hours away from everything in Nevada, but Death Valley, in California, is only 2 hours away. Go figure!
This past week I've been trying to get my kitchen finished. Once I get that done, we can start on the main bathroom. Then the dining room, and the master bath, and everything else. I'll be glad when we get all the work done. It'll probably take 10 years but that's OK. A little at a time!
Continue to pray for our ministry here. Our ladies Bible studies started a couple of weeks ago. Pray that the ladies would really dig into God's Word and discover what He is speaking to them. Also pray for our other women's ministry opportunities. We have a luncheon once a month, pray that the ladies who come would be blessed by the speakers, pray for the speakers that God would use them to reach others, and pray that new ladies would come. Also pray for Mornings for Moms. This is a ministry for moms with young children, sort of like MOPS, not as developed. Pray for me as I share Words of Encouragement with the moms and help the two moms leading this ministry. Pray for them, that they would keep Christ at the center of this outreach, and pray for the moms that come, that they would be encouraged in the most important job they will ever have, raising their children to follow God. Pray also that the work would get completed on our Annex building. It has been a year since the roof work began, and the inside hasn't begun yet. Pray for men to come and finish this project so we can move on to other necessary projects.
Praise the Lord for the generous donors who have given enough to get the projector and screen. It's ordered and should be here soon!
God continues to bless us in our ministry here and provides for all we need. The kids are doing well in school. We are preparing for a cold winter, getting as much firewood as we can. If this early snow is any indication, we should have a fun winter. Time to scout out a good sledding hill for the youth group!
Thank you all for praying us. Feel free to contact us anytime.
Serving Him Together,
Butch, Jennifer and Grady, Spencer and Becca
The last couple of weeks have been good, busy...but definitely good. My mom came for a visit, that was nice. We did a lot of nothing! One of the days she was her we went to Scotty's Castle in Death Valley. If you ever get the chance to go there, do it. We're planning a trip back with the kids. Maybe in November. Should you ever come to visit us, we'll take you there. It's funny how we are three to four hours away from everything in Nevada, but Death Valley, in California, is only 2 hours away. Go figure!
This past week I've been trying to get my kitchen finished. Once I get that done, we can start on the main bathroom. Then the dining room, and the master bath, and everything else. I'll be glad when we get all the work done. It'll probably take 10 years but that's OK. A little at a time!
Continue to pray for our ministry here. Our ladies Bible studies started a couple of weeks ago. Pray that the ladies would really dig into God's Word and discover what He is speaking to them. Also pray for our other women's ministry opportunities. We have a luncheon once a month, pray that the ladies who come would be blessed by the speakers, pray for the speakers that God would use them to reach others, and pray that new ladies would come. Also pray for Mornings for Moms. This is a ministry for moms with young children, sort of like MOPS, not as developed. Pray for me as I share Words of Encouragement with the moms and help the two moms leading this ministry. Pray for them, that they would keep Christ at the center of this outreach, and pray for the moms that come, that they would be encouraged in the most important job they will ever have, raising their children to follow God. Pray also that the work would get completed on our Annex building. It has been a year since the roof work began, and the inside hasn't begun yet. Pray for men to come and finish this project so we can move on to other necessary projects.
Praise the Lord for the generous donors who have given enough to get the projector and screen. It's ordered and should be here soon!
God continues to bless us in our ministry here and provides for all we need. The kids are doing well in school. We are preparing for a cold winter, getting as much firewood as we can. If this early snow is any indication, we should have a fun winter. Time to scout out a good sledding hill for the youth group!
Thank you all for praying us. Feel free to contact us anytime.
Serving Him Together,
Butch, Jennifer and Grady, Spencer and Becca
Thursday, September 20, 2007
Another Busy Week
It's hard to believe another week is gone. The middle of September already, wow. Our weather has turned, Fall is definately in the air. It's been cooling off quite a bit at night for a few weeks now, down into the low 40's, but until this week it was still getting up into the 80's during the day. Monday it was like the warm switch got turned off. Low 40's at night and mid 70's during the day. That would be just fine except for the wind, it makes it feel quite a bit cooler. The fall wind has a bit of a chill in it, not like the hot summer wind. It won't be long before I am having to build a fire every day just to keep the house somewhat warm!
The project for the week was the bathrooms in the church. Butch spray textured them for me last week so I asked one of the young gals to come over and help me paint on Monday. She painted one and I painted the other. I'm thankful for the help, it saved so much time. I painted the ceilings Wednesday and today (Thursday) finished up with the touch-ups. It sure looks a lot better than white!
My mom is coming tomorrow from Washington. Yay!! We are meeting her in Fallon so she doesn't have to drive all the way by herself through the lonely desert. We actually have to go in anyway and get Grady's new glasses so it works out.
The rest of the money for our projector system came in this week. Praise the Lord for the gracious donors who have helped us to purchase this for the church. The next step will be to move from PowerPoint to Media Shout or a similar program.
Homecoming is next week so I'll try to get some good pictures of the festivities to post. The band is playing the Star-Spangled Banner at half time. I think it's pretty ambitious of the new music teacher to do that for the first song, but it's a pretty mixed group, from kids who had never before played to kids who had played for 4 years before moving here. It's exciting to have a music teacher who is willing to just jump in and give things a try.
The next project around here is to finish my kitchen before our District Rep comes on the 9th of October! Then it's on to the main bathroom. The church nursery hopefully will be painted next month as well.
Well, time to get ready for youth group. My turn to teach. I've been letting the kids request the songs so they'll actually sing. That seems to be going well, except when they pick the same songs over and over again. Tonight they don't get to pick any we've done in the last two weeks. We'll see what the response is.
Continue to pray for our ministry here. Especially youth group, pray for more kids to come and for creative ways to reach out to the kids in the community.
Serving Him,
Jennifer
The project for the week was the bathrooms in the church. Butch spray textured them for me last week so I asked one of the young gals to come over and help me paint on Monday. She painted one and I painted the other. I'm thankful for the help, it saved so much time. I painted the ceilings Wednesday and today (Thursday) finished up with the touch-ups. It sure looks a lot better than white!
My mom is coming tomorrow from Washington. Yay!! We are meeting her in Fallon so she doesn't have to drive all the way by herself through the lonely desert. We actually have to go in anyway and get Grady's new glasses so it works out.
The rest of the money for our projector system came in this week. Praise the Lord for the gracious donors who have helped us to purchase this for the church. The next step will be to move from PowerPoint to Media Shout or a similar program.
Homecoming is next week so I'll try to get some good pictures of the festivities to post. The band is playing the Star-Spangled Banner at half time. I think it's pretty ambitious of the new music teacher to do that for the first song, but it's a pretty mixed group, from kids who had never before played to kids who had played for 4 years before moving here. It's exciting to have a music teacher who is willing to just jump in and give things a try.
The next project around here is to finish my kitchen before our District Rep comes on the 9th of October! Then it's on to the main bathroom. The church nursery hopefully will be painted next month as well.
Well, time to get ready for youth group. My turn to teach. I've been letting the kids request the songs so they'll actually sing. That seems to be going well, except when they pick the same songs over and over again. Tonight they don't get to pick any we've done in the last two weeks. We'll see what the response is.
Continue to pray for our ministry here. Especially youth group, pray for more kids to come and for creative ways to reach out to the kids in the community.
Serving Him,
Jennifer
Friday, September 14, 2007
Happy Friday
Greetings
I just wanted to say Happy Friday! Another week gone, hard to believe it's the middle of September. This week hasn't been quite as crazy as last week. I feel like I can actually stop and rest a few!
We had our first Ladies Luncheon for this ministry year on Wednesday. It was very nice and I think the ladies who came really enjoyed themselves. I am so thankful for the help I have in planning these and setting up for them. If I had to do it all myself I think my stress level would increase tremendously! Our theme for this year is Character, with each letter representing a different "pearl" of character that God wants for us in our lives. It should be a good year.
Ladies Bible studies begin next week. I am looking forward to getting back to a regular routine. I have a hard time in the summer staying diligent in my studies so it will be good to be back meeting with a group.
On the personal side of things, our family is doing well. The kids are doing great in school. Our family has grown again, this past week a kitten showed up. We tried not to become attached and did try to find an owner, but out here most people figure lost cats and dogs have most likely become Coyote Bait! Butch wanted to name her CB for short. So far she's not too excited about our dog Sandy, but in time I'm sure they will become friends. Sandy wants to play with her and doesn't seem to understand why she keeps getting swiped in the nose!
I finally scrapped the Back to School page of the kids. Spencer actually is not the one with the goofy look this time, so take note of what he looks like when he wants to get me to stop taking pictures.
Have a great weekend!
Friday, September 7, 2007
September Newsletter
September 2007
Greetings Family and Friends,
Thank you for your ongoing prayers and support. It was great to see many of you in June when we were able to spend a week in Washington. We apologize to those of you we did not get to see, there just wasn’t enough time in one week to get with everyone. On our way home to Nevada, we spent a couple of days resting in Oregon. We were anxious to get home, yet knew we needed a day of “nothingness” to rest before returning home.
Upon arriving home, we began youth group. We currently have 4 other adults besides us that have volunteered to work with the youth. It has been going well, and we are praying for growth with the beginning of a new school year.
The end of July brought a Community Block Party, hosted by our church. We were able to reach about 100 people through this event and hope that it will become an annual event that grows each year. We also held VBS at the end of July. The kids excitement built each day as the week progressed. We had a total of 62 kids for the week and 22 volunteers. God is Awesome!
Grady, Spencer and Becca began school August 21. We are praising God for bringing a band teacher and a trades teacher to our Jr./Sr. High. Grady is in 9th grade and is taking woodshop this year, as well as ceramics (he didn’t want to do weight training!) and band. It’s hard to believe that he’s in high school. Spencer is in 8th grade and is taking band this year and is looking forward to next year when he can take the “fun” classes. Becca is in 5th grade and is continuing Girl Scouts. Her favorite class is music and she is looking forward to next year and being able to take band as well.
Prayer requests:
· Praise the Lord for safe travel this summer as we went to Staff Conference in Californian then to Washington
· Praise the Lord for the new teachers who have come to our schools this year, pray that they would have a desire to stay and that they would be a postitive influence on the students here
· Pray that our congregation would have a desire to grow in their relationship with the Lord and that they would get involved in serving Him
· Pray for wisdom and guidance for us as we encourage our congregation to serve. Specific areas needing prayer are Women’s and Men’s Ministries. Pray for a strong leadership team for both and for God’s direction. Also for our Sunday School program, Children’s and Youth Ministries
· Pray for Grady, Spencer, and Becca to do well in school and to make solid, lasting friendships
· Pray for Butch and Jennifer to find time to spend together in the midst of serving our Lord
· Praise the Lord that He continues to provide the extra finances we need to cover Becca’s Orthodontics and family Dental and Vision expenses
We are still raising money for a new projection system for the church, if you would like to give to this fund contact us and we'll tell you how. We are also collecting books to update our church lending library. As always we would love to hear from you.
Thank you for your prayers and support. If you are not currently supporting us financially and would like to, contact us and we'll tell you how. We appreciate the encouragement you give to us. Without you we could not do what we do!
Serving Him Together,
Butch, Jennifer, Grady, Spencer and Becca Hallenbeck
Greetings Family and Friends,
Thank you for your ongoing prayers and support. It was great to see many of you in June when we were able to spend a week in Washington. We apologize to those of you we did not get to see, there just wasn’t enough time in one week to get with everyone. On our way home to Nevada, we spent a couple of days resting in Oregon. We were anxious to get home, yet knew we needed a day of “nothingness” to rest before returning home.
Upon arriving home, we began youth group. We currently have 4 other adults besides us that have volunteered to work with the youth. It has been going well, and we are praying for growth with the beginning of a new school year.
The end of July brought a Community Block Party, hosted by our church. We were able to reach about 100 people through this event and hope that it will become an annual event that grows each year. We also held VBS at the end of July. The kids excitement built each day as the week progressed. We had a total of 62 kids for the week and 22 volunteers. God is Awesome!
Grady, Spencer and Becca began school August 21. We are praising God for bringing a band teacher and a trades teacher to our Jr./Sr. High. Grady is in 9th grade and is taking woodshop this year, as well as ceramics (he didn’t want to do weight training!) and band. It’s hard to believe that he’s in high school. Spencer is in 8th grade and is taking band this year and is looking forward to next year when he can take the “fun” classes. Becca is in 5th grade and is continuing Girl Scouts. Her favorite class is music and she is looking forward to next year and being able to take band as well.
Prayer requests:
· Praise the Lord for safe travel this summer as we went to Staff Conference in Californian then to Washington
· Praise the Lord for the new teachers who have come to our schools this year, pray that they would have a desire to stay and that they would be a postitive influence on the students here
· Pray that our congregation would have a desire to grow in their relationship with the Lord and that they would get involved in serving Him
· Pray for wisdom and guidance for us as we encourage our congregation to serve. Specific areas needing prayer are Women’s and Men’s Ministries. Pray for a strong leadership team for both and for God’s direction. Also for our Sunday School program, Children’s and Youth Ministries
· Pray for Grady, Spencer, and Becca to do well in school and to make solid, lasting friendships
· Pray for Butch and Jennifer to find time to spend together in the midst of serving our Lord
· Praise the Lord that He continues to provide the extra finances we need to cover Becca’s Orthodontics and family Dental and Vision expenses
We are still raising money for a new projection system for the church, if you would like to give to this fund contact us and we'll tell you how. We are also collecting books to update our church lending library. As always we would love to hear from you.
Thank you for your prayers and support. If you are not currently supporting us financially and would like to, contact us and we'll tell you how. We appreciate the encouragement you give to us. Without you we could not do what we do!
Serving Him Together,
Butch, Jennifer, Grady, Spencer and Becca Hallenbeck
Digital vs. Traditional
I have decided that I absolutely love digital scrapbooking. Don't get me wrong though. I love the look you get traditionally, with raised embellishments and that 3D look. Inking and distressing. You know, all the fun stuff! BUT...with digital, I don't have to drag out all my supplies, I don't have a mess to clean up, and in my tiny house, I don't have to find a place to work! I don't have to print pictures, or go to town and get them printed. The couch is the perfect spot. And really, I get the best of both worlds. Especially if I use the digital version of the stuff that comes in my kit from the club every month. I can do my page on my lap top, order a print online, and then add embellishments when it comes. Wah-lah!!! The best of both worlds! So here's a couple of pages I did last night. Just thought I'd share.
Monday, September 3, 2007
Becca gets Baptized
August 12 marked the day. Becca decided she was ready to tell all the world that she has faith in Christ. She clammed up a bit when it came time to share her story, but she did it! It was an honor for Butch to be able to baptize his daughter. Of course, I cried! This is a big milestone in her life. We ask that you pray for her, to stand firm in her faith when whe is faced with trials. Pray that she would be a light at school.
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