Small Group ROCC

June 24th Visit to Charles'

2009-06-24T08:33:00.000-07:00

June 10th Visit to Charles

2009-06-10T22:54:00.000-07:00

Lindsay and Kate opened the windows in the living room and did a thorough dusting of everything, pulled the cushions off the couch and chair to clean out/vacuum and pulled all the furniture away from the walls to do a really good vacuum.

Lindsay brought their ionic..."thingy" which pulls impurities out of the air. After just an hour or so the living room looked and smelled much cleaner.

Chris and Russ replaced the front door - the old door (big old heavy front door) was being held in with 2 finishing nails!!!!!! The new one will be safer and do a much better job of keeping the weather outside!
Dave and Scott rebuilt the shelf underneath the kitchen sink.
Curt (and I think Dave and Scott helped him at points) replaced the floor in the little bathroom off the laundry room. New tile has to be put down and the fixtures put back in....but now no one will fall through the floor!

And Carol and Dawn worked hard scraping wallpaper in the kitchen.

Next week: Trim out new front door, fix the dangerous section of kitchen floor, keep working in the bathroom, finish scraping wallpaper in the kitchen and scrap wallpaper (border) in the living room and hallway!

June 3rd Visit to Charles

2009-06-03T22:28:00.000-07:00

Tonight we hung out with Charles for about an hour, catching up with him since we missed the week before. He's looking better and better every time we see him. I think he's excited about his health returning to him. He definitely enjoyed our company this evening.

We let him know we would come back next week to work ... we will be cleaning, prepping for painting, possibly putting a door in, and working in the back bathroom that needs the floor completely replaced. Check back next week!

small group at the trusley's

2009-05-27T18:04:00.000-07:00

happy birthday, curt!!!

2009-05-27T17:58:00.000-07:00

Cleaning Continues at Charles's House

2009-05-21T13:27:00.000-07:00

We had another productive week at Charles's house. We finished getting the kitchen cleaned and hung a couple of fans. Here are some "after" pics that I missed taking last week. Charles was thrilled about his clean kitchen and very grateful.

Adopting Charles Houk

2009-05-13T06:45:00.000-07:00

We decided as a small group to adopt someone who could use a little TLC for his spirit as well as his house. During the 30-hour famine, Kate and her group went to Charles Houk's house and did a bit of cleanup in his yard and some cleanup in the house. From that open door, Charles became open to the idea of our small group coming to help him and to hang out with him ...

Small Group's First Visit with Charles ...

2009-05-13T05:08:00.000-07:00

Wednesday, May 6, 2009

We went over to Charles Houk’s house and visited with him for the evening. He had only met a couple of people so we spent time introducing ourselves and talking with him. He really enjoyed the company. He made a statement about there not being "this many people" in his house for a very long time.

During the time we visited, the guys took a tour around the house making some notes on what projects needed to be done around the house.

The list of to-do’s looks something like this:
Kitchen cleaning, organizing, painting, etc.
Dining area floor soft on left side.
Plumbing issues – leaking going on in basement
Air conditioner not working
Doors hung
Rooms cleaned and organized.
The yard cleaned up
I may have missed a few things, but those are the main things we will be focusing on to start with. When we were leaving, Charles said to me that we could come back whenever we wanted :)) It was a joy getting to talk to him and learn some about his life. We decided to go back next week, roll up our sleeves, and get to work.

Our Second Visit to Charles' House

2009-05-13T05:07:00.000-07:00

Wednesday, May 13, 2009

As we pulled in, we met Charles outside the back door of his house, leaning on his grill, enjoying the fresh air. He said he just had his tooth pulled and was in some pain. He seemed to be able to talk just fine despite it :)) Regina, Charles’ daughter came, and was extremely helpful in being able to answer our questions about the projects we were getting ready to undertake.

Charles and Chris talking about bird feeders

The girls got to work cleaning and organizing the kitchen. It was a huge task, but we tackled it like nobody’s business. The kitchen cabinets and drawers were cleaned out, washed, and liners and shelf paper put in. Then, the items not thrown away were put back in drawers and cabinets. Overall, I think we threw away approximately 5 HUGE garbage bags of trash from the kitchen alone. Carol tackled the refrigerator and boy, did it look awesome by the time she was finished!!! I wish I could have gotten before and after pictures of that! As a side note, I think Carol got the bravery award for the evening, going most of the night with no gloves :)) I counted up the hours in the kitchen between the 4 ladies, and it equalled out to 14 hours of labor spent in the kitchen alone. We will have a little bit left to do as far as cleanup goes, but I think the majority of the cleaning and organizing is accomplished in the kitchen area.

The guys worked on the electrical. The kitchen lighting was a top priority. Also, there was plumbing in the bathroom that needed attending to. Come to find out, the toilet was actually leaking into the wall; hence, I think why the floor is soft in the dining area. They were able to get that fixed, at least temporarily. If I’ve missed other things the guys did, sorry. I was busy working in the kitchen with the ladies :)) Charles spent the evening in his chair sleeping after his earlier extraction. It seemed that we never even disturbed him during the whole process. We worked from approximately 6:30 to 10:00 p.m.

Kitchen before cleanup.

Dining area

Kate looking a little unsure about where to start ...

Cleaning, scrubbing, washing, organizing, throwing away ...

Inside a cabinet after the items were removed. Sorry to say I didn't get an after picture of what this looked like once it was clean with new shelf paper down ... I will snap one next week when we go back ...

The drawers were overflowing with "stuff." This is what one of them looked like when we got finished.

Kitchen after cleanup ...

I'm thinking I need to be better at this "before and after" picture taking. The pictures just do NOT do justice to what was accomplished ... I will try and do better next time :))

May 2009 Calendar

2009-05-12T08:57:00.000-07:00

February Small Group Postponed

2009-02-09T16:30:00.001-08:00

We obviously are postponing for the month of Feb due to Grace Groups. However, please keep Sunday, February 22nd open for the afternoon/evening (more details to come)... we have a birthday to celebrate!!!

The Roberts Weekend

2009-02-09T16:28:00.000-08:00

Here's the link to our weekend of activity at the Roberts. Enjoy!

Picking a date...

2009-01-15T06:28:00.000-08:00

Okay everyone - here are the options for having a get together with some new friends:

January:
Monday the 19th, Thursday the 22nd, Friday the 23rd, Tuesday the 27th, Saturday the 31st.

February:
Sunday the 1st, Monday the 2nd, Thursday the 5th ,Friday the 6th.

For Kate and Chris, we are both available any days except Friday 1/23 and Tuesday 1/27.
Leave a comment or email me and let us know what works!
Thanks guys,
Kate

Benssy, Christy, & Isaiah ...

2009-01-05T09:16:00.001-08:00

We had a chance to visit with them before they headed up to New Jersey, and enjoyed our time together!! Benssy is stationed in New Jersey until he goes to Ship School in Jacksonville, which will be in about a month and a half. Ship school will be about 2 months, and then back to New Jersey. They will be there for 2 years ... Please keep them in your prayers!

Fireproof Your Marriage

2009-01-02T07:20:00.001-08:00

Hi all,

Just wanted to let you know about an upcoming event at Sevier Heights in case you are interested. It's called Fireproof Your Marriage coming in July. Kirk Cameron and his wife Chelsea Noble will be leading the event. Click on the link for more details.

Happy New Year to everyone!

Joy

January 2009 Calendar

2008-12-29T13:40:00.001-08:00

Click on Calendar to Enlarge:

The Roberts Have Chosen a Date ...

2008-12-28T11:30:00.001-08:00

Hi Everyone,

The Roberts have chosen the weekend of January 9th for their get-away. I am in the process of trying to get children dispersed for Saturday/Saturday night. Check your email for details. Just wanted to let you know so you can mark the date on your calendars!

Joy

mele kalikimaka from the harris' family

2008-12-25T04:24:00.000-08:00

Small Group Notes - Exodus 5

2008-12-17T10:24:00.000-08:00

Verses 1-5: God’s plans for his people must take precedent over the world’s plans.
Verses 6-14: The world will seek to prevent the people of God from giving our full allegiance to Him.
Verses 15-21: Opposition from the world tests the resolve of God’s people to remain faithful to Him.

I think you can lead a fruitful discussion centered on one question per section. I recommend some version of the following:

Verses 1-5: Share an example of something in your life you believe that God may be calling/leading you to do.
Verses 6-14: What enticements of the world are particularly attractive to you? How do you fight against them?
Verses 15-21: How has your resolve to honor God been tested by the world recently?

Please pray for each other in these areas.

Two final questions: How does the knowledge that God’s preeminent concern for you in this world is to make you holy like his Son shape the way that you think about difficult circumstances? How are we to understand this call to holiness in light of the Gospel- the finished work of Jesus on the cross?

Par-tay

2008-12-16T09:53:00.000-08:00

i'm so excited about our christmas dinner. i edited the menu a bit. feel free to bring anything else you like, but it seems to me that we have a good meal for tomorrow.
Ham - Joy

Green bean casserole - Dawn

Sweet potato casserole - Dawn

Deviled eggs - Dawn

Rolls - Russ

Dessert - Lindsay

Mashed potatoes - Lindsay
Macaroni & Cheese - Lindsay --- i had to add this, you can't have a holiday meal without mac & cheese its unethical :)

Corn - Lindsay

Drinks - Curt

hokulani

Wednesday Evening Followup

2008-12-11T08:06:00.000-08:00

Hello everyone,

We covered lots of things last night! Thanks everyone for bringing the goodies for the two families we are helping out :))

We will not be meeting for SG on December 24th and 31st. We will resume meeting in January (on Wednesdays for the time being until Kevin and Lindsay start with helping with students in the fall), which brings us to our host schedule for the month:

January 7th - Chris and Kate

January 14th - Kevin and Lindsay

January 21st - Dawn

January 278th - Joy and David

Again, if there needs to be a switch for some reason, we are flexible with arrangements for the schedule.

Christmas Party at Kevin and Lindsay's on Wednesday the 17th (no children). Good news is Chris got an interview on the 18th at Seton Hall! Bad news is they will not be joining us for Christmas dinner :((

Here is what's on the menu for dinner:

Ham - Joy

Green bean casserole - Dawn

Sweeet potatoe casserole - Dawn

Deviled eggs - Dawn

Rolls - Russ

Dessert - Lindsay

Mashed potatoes - open item

Corn or corn casserole - open item

Drinks - Curt

Chris is checking into on the Patch project to see if that is something we will be able to take on.

We will post sermon notes on the blog for everyone to read and have a springboard for discussion.

And last but not least, a few pics to enjoy of Poo-Cookie Heaven:

Christmas Party

2008-12-08T19:38:00.000-08:00

fyi...we would like the christmas party to be adults only. please make childcare arrangements for this night. as far as food goes...does anyone have any ideas? i, personally, would like it to be a traditional holiday meal. i'm thinking maybe a ham. i say 'traditional holiday' because we could always have turkey. we can talk it over this week.

see ya'll wednesday! lindsay

Small Group Gets on the Blogging Scene!

2008-12-04T12:06:00.000-08:00

Welcome to our Small Group Blog! This site is meant to keep everyone in our small group up to date on prayer requests, calendar happenings, etc. This will be for whoever in our group wants to jump on and add pictures or give updates with the latest news.

Thank you Dawn for making such a great suggestion!

Prayer Requests

2008-12-03T21:00:00.000-08:00

Here are things to pray for this week:
1. Chris has exams through the end of the week.
2. Russ is looking into what he wants to do for a job/career.
3. Curt is sick.
4. Crystal's pregnancy and health.

Things to Remember to bring next week:
1. Stocking stuffers for our couple (one guy and one girl)
2. Something to fill a "get-away" basket for our special family.

Recapping Wednesday Evening

2008-12-03T14:25:00.000-08:00

1. We've decided to have a schedule/calendar (now it's on the blog!) We need to decide how/when we're going to start sign-ups (coordinate with Kevin's work schedule).
2. We're going to meet on Tuesdays or Thursdays. (Currently there are groups that meet on Sundays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays - we said we wanted to do a night when a group wasn't offered. We need to ask Curt if he's okay with us meeting on Thursdays
3. We're going to aim to be done around 9:00, work towards that but be very flexible about not cutting off how the Spirit is leading
4. We're going to be intentional about doing outreach together (maybe through Patch) - we want that to be a part of who we are and it's stretching for us.
5. We didn't really decide about format (did we?) - we should revisit that next week, maybe??

Remember gifts for next week!

Girls - one for a woman who has had a lot of health problems and is blind and one for a very tired mother who is getting a weekend away (like girlie/smelly things, decorating and chocolate).

Guys - one for a man who is out of work and is does construction and one for a tired dad who is getting a weekend away (and likes motorcycles)

A couple of snow flakes for Chris

2008-12-03T13:53:00.000-08:00

December 2008 Calendar

2008-12-03T12:49:00.000-08:00

Click onto the calendar to enlarge.

Pics of Isaiah and Christy

2008-12-02T13:24:00.000-08:00

For those who did not get to see Christy while she was here, here is a link to the Newvines blog to catch a few pics of her and Isaiah. We were so excited to have them with us! By the way, David saw Benssy and Christy in Target over Thanksgiving. I think they will be coming for Christmas as well, so be watching for them!