May 2006 News

May is done and summer has arrived!  Our boys are excited about the last day of school this Friday.  They are looking forward to the school trip to the local water park and the closing service and 8th grade graduation celebration.  It seems they aren’t the only ones whose year is drawing to a close.  Last week we attended the Vicar assignment service and met the Seminary student who was assigned to serve as Vicar at Peace beginning in August.  It’s hard to believe we will be returning to Milwaukee for Kevin’s last year of classes soon.  But before that there are many sermons to be given, Vacation Bible School to be planned and more.  No doubt it will be a busy and rewarding summer for the current Vicar!  🙂

We set a Draper record for geocaches found over Memorial weekend – SEVEN!  It was a lot of fun to tromp through the woods in search of hidden Tupperware.  Our Travel Bugs continue on their grand adventures with Benjamin’s in the lead for most miles logged – 2,313 – since April 9th.  It is in New Brunswick, Canada – Northeast of Maine.  Wow!

Without a doubt the highlight of May was our Mississippi visitors – Sallie’s parents, Pete & Nina!  We’re still basking in the afterglow of our time together.  Who cares if it rained the entire time and felt a bit like a Mississippi winter.  We still had a wonderful visit!!  Make sure you check out the “Luggage Lost” video posted below which they shot while they were here.

Stanley’s band performed their spring concert this month, so we’ll close out our news with some snippets of their performance.  Please read our other posts from this month for more fun! 

Keep a song in your heart!

Watch Stanley demonstrate his French Horn (.wmv – 2.5 MB)

Watch the Peace Band play Do-Re-Mi (.wmv – 9.5 MB)

Story Time – Fox in Socks

When’s the last time you heard a bedtime story?  Tonight Benjamin will read one to you.  We hope you enjoy it!

 Ben reads Fox in Socks by Dr. Seuss – (4 Mb – 14 mins – MP3)

Ben is six-years-old and finishing kindergarten this week.

God Lives in Us and We Live in God

Based On: 1 John 4:13-21

God Lives in Us and We Live in God

Was there ever a relationship that you were unsure of? Perhaps you just offended a friend and you didn’t know if you were still friends or if that person even wanted to see you again? Now just imagine the relationship Adam and Eve had with God before they sinned.  It was the closest relationship possible – God lived in them and they lived in God.  God blessed them with everything they needed and more, and God was pleased with everything they did.  Pleased, that is, until they ate the fruit God told them not to eat.  They realized they had ruined their perfect relationship with God, and they were afraid.  They had no hope of restoring this relationship on their own.  Yet, in love God sent his son, Jesus Christ, to restore this relationship.  Now as a believer in Jesus Christ we have this close personal relationship with God.  God lives in us, and we live in God.  We know this is true by God’s display of love and we can see this from our own display of love.

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Luggage Lost

Our Mississippi visitors couldn’t head home without taking a turn in front of the Draper’s green screen. Check out the big screen debut of Pete and Nina, joined by some lost luggage!

Watch Luggage Lost (.wmv – 6 MB)

Happy Mother’s Day!

What better gift could I have asked for than to spend Mother’s Day with my Mom!  🙂

Connected to the Vine

Based On: John 15:1-8

Connected to the Vine

On Easter four weeks ago the front of our sanctuary was decorated with dozens of flowers.  What happened to those flowers?  Some of the flowers were cut from living plants and placed in an arrangement to bring beauty to our sanctuary.  Those flowers were separated from the rest of the plant and only lasted a short time before they withered and died.  Other plants were in pots with soil.  Some of you took them home, took care of them and watered them and perhaps they are still alive.  Those flowers were still connected to the rest of the plant – connected to the roots that provided the nourishment they needed to live. 

As Christians we are just like those flowers.  We need to be connected to the rest of the plant to survive.  And we are – we are connected to the vine.  We are connected to the vine as a branch and we are connected to the vine to bear fruit.

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A Happy, Happy Birthday!

My birthday present arrived Tuesday night air mail all the way from Mississippi!  We’ve enjoyed a wonderful visit with my Mom and Dad.  Sharing a few pictures of the fun:

Piano Recital

Benjamin and Stanley have completed a year of piano instruction from Mrs. Jennifer Werre.  On May 2nd they both participated in a piano recital.  We hope you enjoy their music.

• America – Ben’s solo
• The Blue Windmill – Stan’s solo
• The Handbell Choir – Stanley & Charlotte Huebner’s duet
• The Entire Recital (12 MB)

Enjoy a few pictures of the big night:

Question of the Month – #10 – May 2006

As the school year draws to a close . . . What teacher had a big impact on your life and how?

A Long Way From Home

Flip Flop Travel Bug has left the country!  That’s right, Ben’s “bug” is 777.1 miles from home in Manitoba, Canada!  Geocaching is soooo cool!!!

Here’s the picture that was posted on Flip Flop’s site to mark the occasion: