Prayer Request

Hi Everyone!
I am posting this for The Ordinary Princess (a.k.a. Joy) because she would really like you prayers on the subject. She is considering joining The Continentals for one of their tours next spring. They are a singing group that travels all over the world and performs as a ministry. She is looking at going on a five week tour that goes to Jamaica and the Dominican Republic. Even though it seems early, she really needs to make a decision now, since this is viewed as a ministry and she would need to start raising money soon. So if all of you would please pray that the Lord would make His will perfectly clear to her, and that she would know what it is she should do beyond a shadow of a doubt, it would be greatly appreciated. Also, she said to feel free to leave comments on this post and let here know what you are thinking.

Last H2O of '06

Hey All!
I can’t believe that it is already time to count another year gone for H2O’s! The fact that we won’t be meeting again until next year is really, really weird!! I think that most of us would agree that ’06 was a pretty good year, but at the same time I am excited to see what ’07(!) holds.
Well I think that Ice Diamond is going to post about volleyball, so I will start with dodge-ball.

Dodge-ball is yet another new addition to our meetings, but was a lot of fun. It was really easy because we were in the gym this time, so we didn’t have to chase balls all over the place. We had a couple of different ways that we played, with pretty basic rules. The first few games we split into two teams and went at it. That was fun, if a little chaotic, and everyone had a great time.

The second round of games each team choose a secret "Goliath" and the goal of the other team was get that person out because then the whole team was out. In the case of piture above, poor Suzannah was our Goliath, and also left out there all by herself at the end. I guess that we as her bodygaurds didn't do to good of a job.

We also added the rule that every time someone on your team caught a ball thrown by the opposition, one of your teammates that had been out got to come back in.

(Is it my turn yet?)
This made for a longer, more interesting game. The last round of all, we played girls against guys. Because there where twice as many guys as gals, all of the fellows had to play with their right hand behind their back the whole game. (Left hand for James :)




That was pretty exciting, and also pretty well matched. It came down to Shield Maiden against Mr Competitive. This 1 on 1 lasted for a little while, and then Shield Maiden caught a ball thrown by Mr Competitive and that was the end fo the game. Over all it was a blast, and I think we will be playing it again.

After dodge-ball we had dinner. It was sort of pot-luck style this time, everyone bringing something different to share. Other than that, nothing really whack-o happened. It is after all hard to be really crazy when you are eating.
Strider shared about his trip to the gulf cost after Katrina this time. It was incredible to see how much "trash and distruction" :) was still there. I guess it hadn’t hit home with me how wide spread the devastation was, but when you see it pictures it really looks like a war zone. They stayed at a church in one of the Sunday school rooms while they were there, and spent their time re-wiring some houses that the church there knew about. One of the ladies they helped had not been to church since her husbands death several years earlier, but after they worked on her house and invited her to come she did. Strider asks that we would pray for her to come into a relationship with the Lord.Prayer and worship time was shorter than we wanted it to be, but it was still really good. We also spent some time sharing what was on some of our hearts, and some of the things the Lord has been showing us lately. The overall tone was that we need to remember that people are watching us all the time. We are a constant witness, people look at us and see a difference. We as Christians need to make sure that what they see is something better than what they have. Also that we need to have a measure of grace and gentleness when talking with a non-believer. Not that we should accept any sin as right, or condone immoral behavior, but that we should hate the sin and love the person. This is often a hard balance to find. To stand for what you believe, and yet to show that Lord's love to everyone. This is an area that needs a lot of prayer for each individual situation, that the Lord would help each of us as the need arises. There where, of course, many other prayer requests so I thought I would list them here so that we can all continue to lift them to the Lord. The Purresslly's grandpa as he is having memory problems, and that he would see the need to slow down a little and let the family help with some things. The Purvis' grandma as she is now home from the hospital, but not doing very well. They ask that everyone would pray for her to be at peace. Mrs. Whitaker, she has a very bad infection that the doctors can't pin point and is having trouble eating anything. A friend of the Smiths named Ken Noblett who is in the hospital with pneumonia, as well as a broken back and an internal infection that they can't seem to locate. James, he has decided that the Lord is calling him to become a Navy SEAL, and also for his family as they come to grips with this realization. Paule and Mary Papez, Mary will be undergoing a major surgery right after Thanksgiving. She does not have much chance of making it through, but can't live without having it. Neither of them are Christians. Please pray for both of them. Suzan Cramer, Joy boss. She lost both her son and her husband last year and is very bitter towards a lot of people. Pray that she would see the forgiveness and peace that the Lord offers. Also for Joy, that she would be able to have the right words at the right time. Josh Burks, he fell off of a scaffold and broke one of his heels and badly bruised the other. He has to be off of his feet completely for at least two weeks.
Amanda and Ducan's grandparents, their grandma has cancer that is beyond cures, but kind of lives in denial of the fact. Also for their grandpa as he is having a tough time with all of this, especially the fact that he can't control it in any way.
Mr. Storer, he is trying to make a decision on a slight job change that would give him scheduled work hours, but is not sure what the Lord's will is yet.
The people that Strider and his dad and friends worked with in the Gulf Coast.
The Cameron family, Mrs. Cameron's brother died very suddenly Saturday. The funeral was Tuesday. Prayers for the whole family during this time.
All of our group that is away from home, especially over the holiday season.
These are all that I can remember, but if there are any more let me know and I will get them on here, or you can leave them as a comment. Please keep these people in mind and pray for them. Never underestimate the power of prayer!
Well I think that is all for now. If any of you have something to add, let us know!
God Bless,
Niyad

9-30-06

Okay, this H2O was the last of the outside '06 ones. We started off with our normal game of Volleyball. We only had two teams and rotated players in and out. The game came down to overtime and ended with a funny play. On this play, the ball was served over and hit back and forth a few times. Then it came soaring over the net on a really high hit. As the ball came over, Samuel called for it and the whole field was silent as they watched it come down. Then, just as Samuel was about to hit it, Sam B stuck his fist out and smashed it. As the ball went flying out of play, everyone was in silent shock. Then everyone burst out laughing at Samuel's surprised look. With that play, the game ended and we went on to divide up into teams for Whiffleball, still laughing.

The captains for the night were James, Sam B, Zach, and Amos. The first two captains to face off in Whiffleball were Zach and Amos. The game ended 4/1 with Zach's team winning.

Then James' and Sam B's teams went at it. It this game James' team won. So James' and Zach's teams played a championship game. The game ended with Zach's team on top. Boy, was Zach excited!

After Whiffleball was over, we played H2O's official outside game. Frisbee!

The teams were the same as before with Sam B and Amos starting off the tournament. When the game reached its fifteen minute time limit it was at a tie. So the captain's flipped the frisbee for possession and then played sudden death. The game drug on for several minutes with each team playing its best to win. In the end Sam B's team came out with the victory and so Zach and James took the field to see who would play him. It was a close game with each team leading at different times, but when the fifteen minutes was up, James' team held the lead. This set the stage for the championship game with James and Sam B opposing each other. After a five minute break (for James' team since they had to play back to back), the game started. As the game proceeded a funny thing happened. Samuel and Galen (neither of whom were playing) chose opposite teams and made a bet on who would win. Galen was for Sam B's team and Samuel was for James' team. Their bet was whoever's team won he got to drill the other one three times with the Whiffleball. (Mrs. H2O was not aware of this development, or she would have put a stop to the betting end of things, she was diligently making dinner for all of us! We may starve next time due to this confession.) So, with this bet they started to yelled and scream and jump up and down and cheer and generally make as much noise as possible. This not only got the two team's worked up but also the rest of the spectators. The game meantime was really close. First one team would be leading, then the other would take the lead. When the fifteen minutes were up, it was at a tie. This meant playing sudden death. Instead of flipping the frisbee for possession, however, Chip had the teams line up at opposite endzones with thier backs to the field. Then he took the frisbee to the middle of the field, threw it as high in the air as he could, and yelled go. After that it was whoever could get to the frisbee first, their team got it and the game immediately started. In the race for the frisbee Josiah got it for James' team and within seconds threw it to Aaron in the endzone to win the game. This win for James' team had everyone super excited... except Galen. He got drilled three times with a Whiffleball. Still, everyone had fun and by then it was dinner time.

Everyone washed and ate dinner and then, with hot chocolate and jackets, (it was getting cold) went down to the fire for praise and worship with prayer time. Morgan and Owen shared about their trip to Slovakia. Then we had prayer time and ended with singing. But, after singing was over, everyone stuck around for a while. Some of them threw the light-up frisbee around while everyone else stood and talked. Then, one by one people started to leave. Finally, even the die-hards all had to go.

I think that's about it for now, and sorry it took so long to get this post out,
Shield Maiden

August 19, 2006

Hey All!
Well I guess we are moving up in the world! I think that having this blog is going to be a lot of fun, and be a great way for those who are away to keep up with what goes on. We would love to have all of you post and comment here so that we get everyone's perspective, so to speak. So, if you have something you want on the blog, just e-mail it to us and we will get it on. If you just want to leave a comment, that is great to. The comments have to be approved, so they won't show up right away, but don't let that stop you! We really want this to be a group thing and not just us!

Okay, we are starting with the August nineteenth get-together. I guess you could say this was one of those bitter-sweet H2O's. It was the last one that anyone headed of to collage this fall would be able to make it to. We had a great time, but in the back of everyone's mind was the fact that the group would be a little smaller next time we met.

We started with volleyball (as usual) and added everyone in as they arrived. I can't remember now who won what, but I do know that we had a great time and that no one was seriously injured, which was a good way to start off the evening. Because we have some photographers who are willing to risk life and limb, we got some pretty good pictures.

We always have at least a few interesting plays in our games right? I am not sure how Sam was able to hold this position and still hit the ball over the net, but he did! It seems like every time we meet we get a little better at keeping the volleys going and working together to get the ball over the net. Lots of fun!

The "fist ball" has become more and more popular at H2O's. Beware! We are never quite sure where it will end up! It was roasting hot outside at this H2O and fight the sun from this side of the net is always hard.

I thought this was a good action picture so I stuck it in here. I don't remember what happened in the play, but I am sure it was great.

Zach has gotten pretty good at serving a really high ball that gets lost in the sun and is hard to find to return. We try not to hold it against him, but sometimes I fear that there are evil thoughts in the opposing teams head. (LOL)

After a couple of volleyball games we split into four teams and had a whiffleball tournament. Even though it was a new thing for some we had a blast, and everyone voted to add it to the list of must do games for H2O. There are, after all, only a few basics that you need to know.

1) Swing the bat towards the ball. This is not a hard concept, and I think every got it down pretty well. The great thing about playing at H2O's is that we don't have any strike outs, which makes it more fun I think, and it also takes a lot of pressure off the pitching staff.

2) Hit the ball with the bat. Not too hard. Again I don't think that there where many who did not get this part. As a mater of fact, it was really neat to see how different people could move the ball around according to where the players were on the field.

3) Run the bases. This is where it got really fun. Natalie had the "play of the game" when she dove over the secondbase man to reach base safely. It was a great play, but unfortunately no one got it on camera. (She offered to redo it so that we could get a picture, but for safety's sake we chose not to) I think there was at least one home run, and plenty of other action to fill in the rest of the game.

4) Okay, maybe this game is not as easy as I thought it was. Poor Si, I think he missed something somewhere. Maybe it is because he is home learned. Those kids have a tendancy to be socially deprived you know. :)

Of course no H2O would be complete without ultimate frisbee. We had four teams and played a tournament. We hadn't done it that way before, but with how large our group is now we kind of have to. It's nice this way because more people get to be involed in the play more with smaller teams. The last game was great. It was the two winning teams against each other, and with some of us not playing, we were able to cheer on the others and take pictures. As much as I love playing frisbee, getting to sit back and watch a game is fun too. (I was going to put some pictures in right here, but I really want to get this done before we meet again, so I guess they will have to wait.)

After frisbee we ate dinner, (sub sandwhiches) and then went down to the fire. Prayer and worship time was really neat. Stu shared about his time at Camp Barnabas which was incredible. We tied a sheet up between two trees, and he projected some of his pictures on it while he talked. It worked really well, and everyone was able to see at once. Some of the stories he told were so cool, and the people that he met were amazing. (He is at school right now, and not allowed to read blogs while there, but maybe over Christmas break he could post some of his experiences here) After Stu was done sharing we had prayer and after that worship. The prayer time was good and worship was fantastic. The Holy Spirit was very present in both things and I think that everyone went away blessed by the time we shared together.

Well I think that is about all for this post. Again, please let us know if there is something that you would like to have posted, we really want everyone involved! Hopefully we will be able to keep everything pretty up-to-date once we get the ball rolling. Please also remember to pray for those of the group who are at school and away from home.

God Bless!

Rachel