Feb. 23rd Prayer & Praise

This week’s Prayer & Praise was all about listening; how to become a better listener in any given situation. We started off with a quick partner exercise where each person spoke for 30 seconds about whatever they wanted. We then shared what we like that tells us the other person is listening and then what we DON’T like that tells us the person is NOT listening. Becky then shared the five barriers of active listening: 1) active listening is hard work 2) over stimulation 3) need to act fast 4) lack of training 5) we listen at 400-500 words per minute and talk at 135-175 words per minute, so our brain has a lot of free time, aka we get distracted. We THEN discussed the four types of listeners 1) the non-listener 2) marginal listener 3) evaluative listener and 4) the active listener. We closed with a group activity involving the four types of listeners.



Word of the week: jorum n. large bowl containing drink; its contents

Aaron wanted to get a jump on his business career, so the logical thing to do is to make a business card, right? Of course!! So upon the arrival of his business cards he realized that he didn’t have a logical way to hand them out, and thus the plan formulates… He thought, “I will sell bowls!! But not just any kind of bowls, jorums!!!” After selling his first million jorums, he bought a plane ticket to Germany and opened his own jorum manufacturing and selling company, thus fulfilling the “International” and “Administration” parts of his “International Business Administration” degree. To this day he retains the “Most Business Cards Handed Out By Any Businessperson in the World” title.

Feb. 2nd Prayer & Praise

Clint Colwell from Redeemer came and spoke to us about John 18 this past Tuesday at Prayer & Praise. He told us that John creates a good picture for us of what is happening. John gives us imagery of a wedding. He does this to link Jesus (the groom) and the church (the bride). The groom is making a room for his fiancé on his father’s house like God is preparing a place for us in heaven. When the room is done the groom returns to wed his bride-to-be. But the bride must be ready every day for the groom because she doesn’t know when the groom will finish the room. We, as people of the church, must be ready every day for the return of Christ.




Word of the week: wappenshaw n. muster of men with their weapons formerly held in certain areas of Scotland

As Wes was watching Bwaveheawt (Braveheart; I wanted to stick with the ‘w’ sound for a bit), he was getting more and more anxious and felt like he had a higher calling. He grabbed his green battle apron and assembled a wappenshaw to sail to Scotland with the sole purpose of running amuck and catching the green battle apron in action. Can I get an ow OW?!?!

What Love means to a 4-8 year old...

Slow down for three minutes to read this. It is so worth it. Touching words from the mouth of children.

A group of professional people posed this question to a group of 4 to 8 year-olds, 'What does love mean?'

The answers they got were broader and deeper than anyone could have imagined See what you think:

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'When my grandmother got arthritis, she couldn't bend
over and paint her toenails anymore.


So my grandfather does it for her all the time,
even when his hands got arthritis too. That's love..'

Rebecca- age 8
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'When someone loves you, the way they say your name is different.
You just know that your name is safe in their mouth.'

Billy - age 4
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'Love is when a girl puts on perfume and a boy puts on
shaving cologne and they go out and smell each other.'

Karl - age 5
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'Love is when you go out to eat and give somebody most of your French fries without making them give you any of theirs.'

Chrissy - age 6
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'Love is what makes you smile when you're tired..'

Terri - age 4
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'Love is when my mommy makes coffee for my daddy and she takes
a sip before giving it to him, to make sure the taste is OK.'

Danny - age 7
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'Love is when you kiss all the time. Then when you get tired of kissing,
you still want to be together and you talk more.
My Mommy and Daddy are like that.. They look gross when they kiss'

Emily - age 8
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'Love is what's in the room with you at Christmas if you stop opening presents and listen.'

Bobby - age 7 (Wow!)
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'If you want to learn to love better, you should start with a friend who you hate,'

Nikka - age 6 (we need a few million more Nikka's on this planet)
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'Love is when you tell a guy you like his shirt, then he wears it everyday..'

Noelle - age 7
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'Love is like a little old woman and a little old man who are still
friends even after they know each other so well.'

Tommy - age 6
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'During my piano recital, I was on a stage and I was scared. I looked at all the people watching me and saw my daddy waving and smiling.

He was the only one doing that. I wasn't scared anymore.'

Cindy - age 8
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'My mommy loves me more than anybody You don't see anyone
else kissing me to sleep at night..'

Clare - age 6
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'Love is when Mommy gives Daddy the best piece of chicken..'

Elaine-age 5
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'Love is when Mommy sees Daddy smelly and sweaty and still
says he is handsomer than Robert Redford..'

Chris - age 7
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'Love is when your puppy licks your face even after you left him alone all day..'

Mary Ann - age 4
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'I know my older sister loves me because she gives me all
her old clothes and has to go out and buy new ones.'

Lauren - age 4
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'When you love somebody, your eyelashes go up and
down and little stars come out of you.' (what an image!)

Karen - age 7
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'Love is when Mommy sees Daddy on the toilet and she doesn't think it's gross.'

Mark - age 6
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'You really shouldn't say 'I love you' unless you mean it. But if
you mean it, you should say it a lot. People forget.'

Jessica - age 8
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And the final one

The winner was a four year old child whose next door
neighbor was an elderly gentleman who had recently lost his wife.

Upon seeing the man cry, the little boy went into the old
gentleman's yard, climbed onto his lap, and just sat there.

When his Mother asked what he had said to the neighbor, the little boy said,

'Nothing, I just helped him cry'