When to Worry

You're allowed to worry ... but only if one of these seven things is true:

1. Your birthday cake collapses from the weight of the candles.
2. You turn on the news and they're showing emergency routes out of the city.
3. Your twin sister forgot your birthday.
4. Your car horn goes off accidentally and stays stuck as you follow a group of Hell's Angels on the freeway.
5. The bird singing outside your window is a buzzard.
6. Your income tax refund check bounces.
7. Your wife says, "Good Morning, Bill" ... and your name is George.

Other than these, you don't have anything to worry about.

-- Author Unknown

A Little Humor

I got food poisoning yesterday. I don't know when I'll use it.

-- Comedian Stephen Wright

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They've invented a new car that runs on water. The only catch is, the water has to come from the Gulf.

-- Jay Leno

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Today is Bring Your Dog to Work Day.

In China, it's known as Bring Your Lunch to Work Day.

-- Unknown

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I don't have pet peeves. I have KENNELS of IRRITATION.

-- Unknown

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And this one (true story) from Matthew and Amy Hardin:

They were in Paducah the other day, and had Lucas in the Mall. As they walked down the halls, every time a bald man walked by, Lucas would say, "Hello, Brother Wayne!"

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I just think I'm like the Skin Horse in The Velveteen Rabbit. I've just had all the fur loved off! And that makes me real!

Vacation Bible School Galactic Blast has come and gone, and wouldn't you know it? A big, green gorilla stole the show. Yes, the kids loved the antics and sassy talk of Galileo (who turned green after swimming through all the green food in the cafeteria when he turned off the artificial gravity.) Galileo helped us learn a lot about being "green," that is, taking care of the earth, and decided that being green is pretty cool -- so he's staying that way.

Shawna Thomas and Christie Hughes directed the school, but there were a host of volunteers who helped make this special week possible. My heartfelt thanks to ALL of you.

If you missed the closing celebration on July 11, we're here to tell you -- our kids have LUNGS!!! But they were using those lungs to shout "Praise God!" so it was OK. Check out the pics below!

2010 VBS Galactic Blast Pictures

Here are just a few of our Cadets!

Actually, Dottie wasn't a Cadet, she was our Mess Captain

(she ran the Astro Bistro, with lots of fun snacks!)

More VBS -- Galactic Blast

2010 Galactic Blast Directors

R: Shawna Thomas, Director of Children and Student Ministries

L: Christie Hughes, co-director and Galileo's voice

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Behind every Green Gorilla stands (or lies) a Great Woman!

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Ah! Dining in the Astro Bistro!

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Even GALACTIC PRAISE Cadets need shore leave!

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Bible Story scenes: Cave at Mt. Horeb, Jericho

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Neat Experiments take place on the starship Galactic Praise with scientists Jody and Adria Porter
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Crafts in Space! Sounds like a great new reality TV show!

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All right, Crew! 30 demerits for being out of uniform!

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Rocket Snacks from Crewman Dottie and Crewman Carolyn

Now entering ...

... the dark, but glowing, depths of Outer Space!

Follow-Up to STRENGTH FOR SERVICE

Our congregation's offering to STRENGTH FOR SERVICE to provide devotion books to soldiers came to $210. That will produce and ship 42 books to soldiers, whose lives will definitely be touched by your gifts. Thank you so much for this offering. I'm so pleased we could do this. (Updated 7-15-2010.)

STRENGTH for SERVICE Sunday

.....With July 4 coming on Sunday this year, we feel it is a great opportunity to have a STRENGTH FOR SERVICE Sunday. Strength for what kind of service, and where? Our Armed Forces.

.....STRENGTH FOR SERVICE is a devotional book designed especially for those in the Service, and for those who love them. It began back in the World War II era, first published in 1942. But Evan Hunsberger, a Boy Scout, found the copy his grandfather had carried with him through World War II. He decided to republish the volume in honor of his grandfather as his Eagle Scout project. With slight updates to the text, and with additonal material from today's religious leaders, the book has been republished after three years of hard work. This book has brought comfort and encouragement to many soldiers and their loved ones, and now we can have a part in spreading it around.

.....CW2 Billy Myers says, "I use the STRENGTH FOR SERVICE devotional book every day. Sometimes I get behind, but I catch up. I had been looking for a copy of the book for almost six months, and I finally found two copies while I was passing through Ali A Saleem on the way back to Iraq from leave. I sent one to my mother-in-law, and kept one for myself. She had been looking for a devotional that she and I could both use from opposite sides of the globe. Since then, my wife has expressed interest in taking up daily devotions as well."

.....Captain Daniel Knaup of Whitehall, Ohio says, "I really appreciate these wonderful books. My soldiers cannot get enough of them -- every deployment briefing that I give, I get an overwhelming request from soldiers for these.

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....C.A.R.E. packages from home are great, but when the last cookie crumbs and chewing gum are gone, STRENGTH FOR SERVICE will still be there as an encouragement for our soldiers. $5.00 will print and ship one book.

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.....Wouldn't you like to be a part of lifting up our soldiers? Come prepared on July 4 to present an offering for this project! The General Commission on United Methodist Men is in strong support of this ministry (the volume is published by the United Methodist Publishing House.) Don't you think this is a great way to make a difference in some soldier's life? Where else can you get that kind of return on a $5 investment?