The Able Church Winter Retreat

We made Camp Daniel history this weekend! We had our first 'official' event up at the new Camp Daniel. There have been two rooms and bathrooms done in one of the dorms since the summer and we have had a few groups stay with us, but this is the first event with campers and members from The Able Church! There were many hands that went into preparing it. It was an amazing weekend! We drove the group up to Camp Daniel on Friday after the Able Church service.

We played a bunch of group games. This one was "I Like..." If you liked the same thing, you had to get up and move to a different seat.

People moving to a new seat. Good times.

We also played electricity. The person at the front had to wait til they saw 'heads up' while Micah was flipping the coin. Then you had to slap hands down the line and pick up a ball at the end. The first team to do that got a point.
We also played name games and telephone. It was pretty hilarious with this group, especially when Tony and Nancy were playing.
Ruth, Elijah, Nissa
We had a bon fire on Saturday
Cardo is one of the guys who lives in the group home with Tony and Karol. He is a big talker. He said that if the packers won the superbowl, he would jump in the lake and do a polar plunge. So, Tim K. came out and cut the ice for a couple of hours.
While we waited....
We played Monkey ball! We didn't have enough money to buy a broomball kit this year, so Micah just had us play with our hands. I think it was a whole lot safer, actually. I took a few shots, but then I joined in the fun, and we slid around on the ice for a couple of hours.




After a couple of hours, Tim M., Tim K., and Marceaux made a hole in the ice. They tied a rope on him so they wouldn't lose him.
Cardo jumped in the freezing cold water! It was the big event of the afternoon!
Cardo ran back to the house in bare feet! I can't believe it! I think he was kind of in shock. Not such a big talker anymore, are ya?
Aubrey, his wife Beth, and their two boys joined our group for the weekend. Aubrey was our guest speaker for the weekend. He has been a speaker at Camp Daniel in the past. Thanks for coming guys! It was really special to have your family join us! Overall, it was an amazing, fun, wonderful weekend! It was a little fix of winter camp, and I can't wait until next year!

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Basketball

The Able Attack played against Syble Hopp Alumni on Tuesday. It was a great game! Here are a few pics from the game.
look at that! perfect. action. shot.
Nick makin' a shot

Jon
Zak got some air and I cut off his head a little because of it. I still thought it was a cool shot.

Jim passing to Cardo.
Alyssa and Sarah

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A Weekend with the Kiddos

The great thing about having friends with kids is that I can steal them for a couple of days. Elijah and Lydia spent the weekend at my house. We had a blast! The kids were good, as usual, and we had no homesickness. This was the first of many wonderful weekends to come!
eating pancakes for breakfast. my dad always used to make me fun-shaped pancakes, so I made the kid's names. ha. those faces. They were a bit distracted from Saturday morning cartoons.
makin' cookies (wow, so, the kids are standing on those chairs. I know I'm short and it isn't took hard to be taller than me, but I just had flash to when they are teenagers! Ahh! I don't even want to think about that! They can stay like this. Forever.)


eating a little cookie dough!
Oh to be a kid again! They were rolling all over the floor of the living room. I didn't fully understand it, but there sure were a lot of smiles and giggles. I suppose it's about finding joy in the simplest of things.


makin' pizza for dinner
crazy-hair boy, after a bath. I'm thinkin' he looks pretty cool, actually.

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The Able Church video

Here is a video of The Able Church that Jen and Tony put together a couple of months ago. I think you get a good picture of what we do at The Able Church on Friday nights. We teach and equip people with disabilities to reach among their own culture, like Jesse, a man that you will see on this video. God has given him the gift of preaching. He has been preaching for the last few years at The Able Church. Jesse is in a different place than the rest of us, he can reach them in a way that we never can BECAUSE of his disability. He gets them in a way that we will never be able to because he is in the same place that they are. He is one of them. It is amazing to watch.

We have worship leaders, preachers, teachers, greeters, prayer warriors, and servers at The Able Church. Each person, each life, is vital to the body of Christ. We want everyone to catch onto this vision. This is what we are fighting for.

My life was rather dull until people with disabilities were a part of my life. Well, it wasn't that dull, but I am just trying to make a point. My life is richer because people with disabilities are a part of almost everything I do. The last year and a half of ministry has been the best part of my life, so far. There are several reasons for this.

The first is that I made a commitment to serve the Lord. This is what He has called us to do. It is amazing how everything falls into place when we put this first in life. I had worries about family, finances, and many other things. Plus, I was just plain scared. I finally couldn't live like that anymore. I took that step. I am a living testimony of all that God has done, all that he has provided. I have "nothing" by the world's standards, and I am happier than I have ever been. I live by faith from month to month. God ALWAYS provides what I need.

The second reason is that I live in community. This is another thing that God intended for us. It isn't always easy, but they love me and challenge me daily. I have many dear friends that have become like family. I live in community with many people whose lives have been effected by disability. There are two families that have become a big part of my life, the Kocians and the Weidners. It is a honor to walk down the road toward Christ and to do ministry alongside you. I love you guys. I love your kids, especially your boys. Your sweet, beautiful, perfect boys. What a gift they are! They have my heart, forever. It is because of your boys, your families that I am in ministry. One day, I hope that I have a little boy just like them.
Elijah is a prayer warrior. He will be a leader.
Nate will be a worship leader, doing ministry with his dad.

The third reason is that people with disabilities are a part of my community. The body of Christ is complete, each part working together. I need them, desperately. I plan to have a group home one day, hopefully in the near future, where they will be a part of my every day life, they will be my family. We will grow and learn together, and the greatest blessing of all, we will serve together. I haven't had much to say lately, and I kind of purged it all in this post, so thanks for bearing with me.

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A Full Day

Yesterday was a fun-filled day. I went to church, took senior pics for Noel, took a couple of high school girls to a movie, and stopped by the Kocian house for a good game of 'Apples to Apples' before heading home. It was a great day. I have been editing Noel's pics today. Here are a few of my favorites.

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Baby Steps

We had a big Superbowl party at church on Sunday. We watched the game on the big screens. I got into the game for the first time EVER! I decided to cheer for the steelers. It was a good game. It was also missions Sunday at church. Tony shared about missions and practical ways that we can be missionaries. He said it's all about relationships. He challenged us to talk to at least one new person at the Superbowl party.

This was the executive area for the steeler fans. I sat here during the game. There was a new couple that sat with us. Most of you know that I am not the outgoing type, but I started talking to them. It turns out that their son started coming to The Able Church. They moved here recently from Florida. She was excited about the activities that we had to offer through The Able Church that her son could get involved with.

At that basketball game in my last post, this mom was there and introduced me to another mom who has a son with a disability. Even though I was scared, I stepped into what God was asking me to do. There might be two families who get more involved with The Able Church and Living Hope Church because I stepped out. I took a few minutes to start building a relationship with someone. If I can do it, we can all do it. It all starts with baby steps people, baby steps.

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Basketball

This is our Able Church Attack Basketball team. I went to one of their games tonight. They played against Syble Hopp. Syble Hopp is a k-12 school for people with disabilities in Green Bay. We lost, but it was a good game. I took pictures during the game. The two worst places to take pictures are inside of a gym and inside of a church. There was a lot of trial and error while I fooled with lots of settings on my camera. The lighting was so bad and they were moving so fast. By the second half of the game I had it down. Here are some of the shots that I got. Not bad, considering that it was all a learning experience for me, in photography that is.

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