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Sea World Orlando

When we had left for Orlando, we had decided to not do Sea World because of the cost. However, when we got down to the Assembly, the convention center sold tickets for $50 each and they were good for two days. So Jourdyn purchased her ticket with her spending money and I bought mine. It was great that we were able to go do this. We spent Wednesday evening at Sea World and then went back on Saturday with Nicholas after the quiz competition.

Sea World is fantastic! I had never been before and was thoroughly impressed with it.

World Quiz

Ahh! The World Quiz! This is what took us to Orlando in the first place! On Saturday, Jourdyn and I awoke and prepared for her day of quizzing. Parents are not allowed in the quiz area. They can only sit in the back and spectate! The only parents allowed up by the kids were parents who volunteered to be scorekeepers. So I volunteered to scorekeep! I got a wonderful purple shirt and front row seating to see Jourdyn and our kids quiz!

The kids had two 20 question rounds. They had to answer each question to the best of their ability. Jourdyn missed six out of 40, earning the Silver Award! Katie and Nicholas, Hope's other Blue level quizzers earned Gold. We also had two Red level younger quizzers at the World quiz - Wesley, who took home a Silver and Devon who earned a Gold!

There were over 2000 kids there quizzing. After the quiz was over and while they were tabulating the scores, they had a praise band come up and teach the kids all the dances: like the "Carlton", the Sprinkler, the shopping cart, etc. They also did some praise and worship songs with all the motions! It was a great day! And Jourdyn did fantastic!

All of the kids were relieved that it was over! We are looking into Teen Quizzing for Jourdyn for the fall. We found a church right around the corner from Hope that does it and is willing to help us get it started.

Worship

Have you ever worship with 19,000 other people? I've made it close to that at Women of Faith. But not until this week had I ever experienced the diversity that corporate worship was meant to be. Worship this week, I imagine, was much like it will be in heaven - a body of believer's singing and praising God without cultural, ethnic, racial, economic or social boundaries. There were no boundaries this week in the community that gathered in Orlando.

Worship was a unique experience. Tears couldn't help but stream down my face in pure joy and amazement at what God had brought together. No matter the language being spoken during prayer or sang during beautiful songs of praise, the Holy Spirit was still there moving among us. There was a point at which a line of pastors came to the stage to prayer individually for the assembly, each in their own language. Not only their own verbal language but their own prayer language which expressed itself in physical attributes. Either the tone and enthusiasm in their voice, or the reverence of the posture, which I found to be just as powerful in the humble, quiet Frenchman with his hand folded, as it was in the boistrous, exuberant African, who couldn't help but throw his hands up to the Lord.

I was in awe. The music was fantastic and the preachers were phenomenal! The theme for the Assembly was "Making Christ-like Disciples in the nations." Every seminar, workshop and worship service came back to this common theme. We must be about making disciples, who can make disciples, who can make disciples. It is the commission that Jesus, himself, left us with!

Exhibition

One great part of the General Assembly, and there were many, was the exhibition hall. On the first day, Jourdyn and I walked out with two tote bags full of free stuff...t-shirts, backpacks, the tote bags themselves, keychains, pins, post-its, stickers, etc. All of the Nazarene colleges and seminaries were in some way represented. They gave us this passport type thing. We had to go around and find the stickers for all the schools. Once completed, which was no easy task, there were about 50 of them, we received a free prize - a fanny pack! Which I would normally NEVER use but it came in handy during our trip to Sea World and now Nadine will have hours of fun with it!

There were booths for so many things. It was quite overwhelming actually to see how much and how involved the Church of the Nazarene is in compassionate ministries, disasters ministries, missions around the world, education, as well many other things. I was moved by a sense of the reality that actions speak louder than words. At these booths and during the many seminars that I participated in, I was encouraged by not only the women ministers that were present and that I was able to speak with, but also the amount of men who were supportive and encouraging to my ministry. I was able to have rich and deep conversations with many pastors about my ministry today and where God is going to use me.

Another exciting part of this whole trip was that I was able to meet many of my professors and leadership from school, as well as three of my colleagues - Hans, Greg and Rich! We've been together for two years now and have never really spoke face-to-face or met, so it was definitely a blessing to finally meet them. I took a seminar called 3M: From Monument to Mission to Movement with Hans, unplanned, just realized we were both there in the room and then was able to worship later with his family. Greg, I recognized in the concourse and met his family. We ran into each other several times throughout because we both had a child (or in his case children) there. Rich and I connected on Friday morning via cell and purposely took a seminar together, Pastoring Men. It was a great course, I learned a lot. He and I befriended a Scotsman, named The Reverend Tommy Goodwin, Chaplain in her majesties Royal Navy. We had a great discussion discipleship, men, marrying our daughters to Scotsman and wearing kilts. I also was able to meet Rich's wife, Tawnya.

It was amazing how many people were there and how friendly everyone was. I've never experienced anything like it. It was as if I knew any given person there for years, it was as if they were family!

These photos were taken over the whole trip. On Thursday, Jourdyn spent most of her day in the NazKidz Convention where she learned how to Speed Stack. She had a lot of fun! Make sure you check out the balloon creations! I've never seen anything like them. That is a whole ministry for kids called Big Blast!

By the end of it all, we had three totes full of all the free stuff and had to put them in Tammy's car for her to bring home, so we didn't have to pay to check baggage!

We're Back!

Jourdyn and I returned home today at 11:30 am, well at least we were back in Detroit by then. It was a great week. Rob and I sat down and looked at all the pictures and figured the best way to share them all would be to organize them by event or place. So I am going to start with our hotel. This post will talk about our hotel.

We stayed at the International Plaza Resort & Spa in Orlando. While we were in Orlando for four days, we stayed five nights at the hotel. It was beautiful! It's a 28 acre resort and it's really close to Sea World, so Jourdyn loved that. Thank God for Expedia and for giving us the perfect timing to get this hotel for a cheaper price than many of our friends paid who stayed at Holiday Inn's and Red Roof's.

The hotel has three or four pool's, of which we used none. We got up early and came back late. And on the day we were going to swim there was a tragic accident in the pool outside our room. It took away the thrill of swimming. A maintenance employee drowned in the pool overnight. He was 21 years old. Another employee found him at 6 am. It was a very somber start to the day as we left for the morning conferences. Please pray for this man's family and friends and for the employee's at the hotel, especially the one who found him.

We didn't visit any of the restraurants on the property, but did make use of their candy/ice cream shop a couple of evenings! The rooms were gorgeous and decorated with aqua, green and dark wood. It was just a wonderful place to stay. Several days we walked to the convention center because it was only a quarter of a mile away. I would recommend it to anyone, however buy on expedia not through the hotel! :)

jourdyn is getting ready to quiz wesley quizzed red level already and got a silver. devon also quizzed already and received a gold.

worship with about 15000 people from all over the world

worship service sdmi

this is the convention center. it is actually 4 seperate buildings. jourdyn and i will be spending our day here today in seminars and workshops.

we are getting ready to watch shamu rocks. you can see the killer whales in this video warming up to the right.

jourdyn n i got our pics taken in one of those booths at sea world.

we found really cheap tickets to sea world. so right now we are visiting the clydesdales. this is bud.

jourdyn n me heading out to see what we can find!

FIrst Day

Well, our first day has gone well. This morning we spent time with about 100 women and men in a WOmen's MInistries consortium. Now we are browsing the exhibit hall and getting lots of free stuff!! I was reminding this morning that even in a world of change, I have someone who is unchangeable - JESUS CHRIST!!!!

Thats all for now. THese will be short. INternet restricted to 10 minutes.

we have arrived at the international plaza resort & spa! its midnight and we have to be up early so its off to bed.

The day has come....

not only for Jourdyn and I to head out. But also for Rowan to finally be big enough to fight back! We've been telling Nadine for three years now when she gets pushy and bossy, "Don't keep messin' with your brother, there's going to come a day that he is bigger than you and will kick your butt." Yesterday was that day. Except he didn't kick her butt, he bit her face!

Luckily, he didn't break the skin but he dug in pretty deep. He got ahold of her cheek really good. There was a full dental impression. Thankfully her face didn't bruise as badly as we thought it would. She was trying to take something from him and drag him to the other room and apparently he didn't want to go. So we had some time outs and "I'm sorry's" with big hugs on both ends.

Jourdyn and I are flying out of Detroit tonight at 8 pm. We will arrive in Orlando at 10:35 pm. We head home early Sunday morning. I have a Women's Ministries Consortium first thing tomorrow morning and then the rest of the day to hang out at the hotel pool! I will definitely keep you updated during the Assembly.

Flying Out

Tomorrow is the day that Jourdyn and I head down to Florida for her World Quiz Competition (which is on Saturday!) It's going to be a neat week I think for her and I. We had original intentions of letting her go to one park of her choice. She chose Sea World, however that's not possible. The whole trip wouldn't be possible without fundraisers and family who stepped up to support her. Those things paid for the trip with the exclusion of food and entertainment of any sorts. Jourdyn and I have decided to make the best of it though hanging out at the pool and exploring Orlando by foot.

Rob works tonight and then will be home with Nadine and Rowan for the rest of the week. He's planning on going to his mom's alot and taking them to the park a couple of times. This will be one of the longest times that he's home with just the two of them.

I will keep you updated with mobile uploads. Our hotel has internet access but I'm not sure that I'll be able to upload onto my laptop. It's on it's last leg. So of course, when we return on Sunday I'll have lots of pictures for you.

Happy Father's Day

Fathers Day Comments

O-B-E-D-I-E-N-C-E

Obedience is the very best way to show that you believe.

WOW! That's an oldie but goodie song! You know, when I began this journey about three years ago, I really wasn't sure where God was taking me. I just knew that he had a plan and I needed to follow. The same is true when I started working on my Master's and my licensure. He opened doors and was making the way for me to be where He wanted me to be, doing what He wanted me to do.

I've applied for so many jobs in the past 6 months are so, in any field and I think every field. Just looking for anything. And when there was no response, it was so easy for me to say "well, that just shows me that that is not where God wants me! If He wanted me there He would open the door and I would be there!" That's really great faith and I know it to be true.

But here's the question that I have found myself with. I'm not finding Associate positions, and if I do find them they are for Children's pastor or worship pastor. So following my logic thus far....God knows what He's doing. He has a plan. I have to obey and follow. And if the positions aren't there, it's not what He wants me to be doing???? Not so much. At least I don't know!

He set me on a course that would prepare me to be an elder, not just an elder but a lead pastor, a pastor of my own congregation. I didn't know this at the time because I didn't have anyone to really explain the process to me. But my heart at the time knew this is exactly where he wanted me and I still know that today. I'm gripped with a fear. A fear that God didn't get something right. That He's got this one all wrong. That I couldn't possibly do that.

This fear isn't new. I've had it for a long time. So for the past two years, I've said "Well, I could be a lead pastor, my education would afford it, but really I just want to be an associate pastor somewhere." This is fear speaking. Fear of stepping out of my comfort zone. Fear of rejection. Fear of my past interfering with my future in so many ways. Just fear.

Well, it's coming down to the wire, and I'm wrestling with all of this, all the while knowing that God doesn't make mistakes. He is faithful. He knows what He's doing. So I'm praying that God will give me the courage to do whatever it is that He asks, even if I don't know the outcome. I'm praying that I'll remember that He is in control and He alone can work out all the details.

And I'm left at that old song...O-B-E-D-I-E-N-C-E, Obedience is the very best way to show that you believe...Obedience is the very best way to show that I believe. So I'll be obedient to whatever it is He's doing inside of me, inspite of the fear that hides within.

i was called off work tonight so rob and i decided to take the kids to see night at the museum: battle at the smithsonian. as soon as the scene flipped from new york to washington rowan was thrilled saying, "we were there" "we've seen that". nadine was a little scared of the giant squid and some of the egyptian guys but overall she loved it. they all loved the movie. we finished the night with ice cream at the depot.

Happy 40th Birthday Derek!

As I said before, we spent the weekend in VA with Derek & Jackie. On Saturday, Derek turned 40 years old. It was a good weekend mostly because it was just spent visiting with Derek and Jackie, the girls and all their family that traveled down for his party.

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Washington, DC

The McQueary's spent a long weekend with friends in Virginia. (I'll post about all that next) On our way home we finally stopped in Washington, DC. I say finally because we have been driving back and forth to Virginia for 10 years and have never stopped off to the Capitol.

So we spent yesterday in our nation's capitol. Seeing that we only spent a day, we headed for the National Mall. Most things in Washington are right off the Mall or at least in walking distance. There are many things that we didn't get to see. It was an abbreviated visited to the city, but fun! We saw the Lincoln and Washington Memorial/Monuments, the reflecting pool, the World War II Memorial, the Vietnam Vets Memorial and the Korea War Vets Memorial. We also visited part of the Smithsonian - the Natural History Museum and the Air & Space Museum. Washington would definitely take at least a week to see it all.

There were a couple of things that I discovered:
1) The reflecting pool isn't always pretty and isn't a pool at all. It has a dirt bottom. And ducks hang out in it. I was thinking a pool, one that you could see the bottom because the water was crystal clear, always blue. But not so much.
2) The names on the Vietnam Memorial are vast and many, but not as big as I thought they would be. Seeing it on TV somehow gave the illusion that they were larger letters than they actually are. And there really are Vietnam Vets there to answer questions and share stories.

I'm sure there are more things. But those are the two things that really were different than I expected. We took lots of pictures so be prepared to watch for a while.

Make a Smilebox slideshow

wwii memorial washington dc

District Assembly

There were several neat things about the District Assembly Ordination service last night.
1) It was the 50th Northwestern Ohio District Assembly of the Church of the Nazarene.
2) I received my first district minister's license from our District Superitendent, Geoff Kunselman, and,
3) our new lead pastor, Brandon Williams was one of the ordinands.

Our General Superitendent, Paul Cunningham gave the message on passages from Philippians 3 and 4. It was a great sermon. He challenged us to truly believe with great faith that with God everything is possible. When in our ministries all odds seem stacked against us to remember that with God everything is possible. He also spoke about having a great attitude, like that found in Phil. 3. Attitude being a choice, joyfulness being a choice in spite of our circumstances, we have a choice to be glad in the Lord.

Several people took pictures of the ceremony for me, but I don't have any. They are supposed to be sending me some and when they do I will post them. But I did get video of Brandon's ordination. His wife, Bethany was there kneeling beside him because the Church of the Nazarene considers pastor's spouses to be partners in ministry, for support and encouragement. Behind them you will see all the area ordained ministers who were able to attend. They gather around new ordinands to support and pray with them

The other cool thing is that all three of us, who received our district ministers license were women!!! The three ordinands were men. So it was a nice evening of balance! After the ceremonies were completed, they had a reception with cake and punch.

It was a great evening. And of course, I would be lying if I didn't say that I cried!

This evening Rob, Jourdyn and I headed down to St. Marys for our district ordination service. I was not ordained this evening that will come after four years as an assigned pastor, however I was granted my first ministers license. With this license I am technically a pastor, just not assigned yet. i'll post more later.

Where does time go...

It seems like it wasn't that long ago that I was holding my first nephew, Shane Brodie, who we've called Brodie forever and now goes by Shane, in my arms. However, time has passed and that young baby boy has become a man and has graduated from high school.

This Sunday, Rob and I hosted Bro's graduation party here at the house for the family. Some of our favorite family members came out to celebrate with him and those out of state were here in spirit. I hope that Brodie saw the amount the amount of love for him that filled our home. We spent the afternoon, playing cornhole, listening to music, shooting each other with squirt guns, talking and laughing. Oh, can't forget the food and sweets! Time was spent together strengthening our relationships. It was a blast and I didn't take one picture. Weird! I know.

So my words of advice for Brodie: Remember that where you go from here is a series of choices and with God all things are possible! There are no boundaries to His love for you. He has a plan and a purpose for your life - choose daily to follow it. This is just the beginning! Remember that God alone is who can make you forever strong!

There is a good reason they call these ceremonies "commencement exercises." Graduation is not the end; it's the beginning. ~Orrin Hatch

Not much to Report

There hasn't been much going on around here. We are just trying to calming step into summer. So here's a quick update on everyone:

Rob's been working. He had a week and a half furlough but is back to work. He's waiting for next week when we get to head down to Derek's for his 40th birthday. We are also taking the kids to DC for a day or two on our way home.

Jourdyn is anxiously awaiting our trip to VA and our trip to World Quizzing in Orlando. Her grade card hasn't arrived yet but I know there was great improvement from the last. She's reading a new series by Melanie Carlson. It's the "True Colors" series. She loves it!

Nadine is a little stinker! She had all four of her cavities filled. Tuesday we went for the final two and discovered that she had already broke one of the other fillings out. So he fixed it and by yesterday it was busted out again. Now she has to go back, be numbed, drilled and filled again. Yeah for her! We went yesterday to register her for kindergarten. She is very excited about that!

Rowan has been just hanging out. He was sick yesterday. Just a random bout of vomiting, he's all better now!

And me? I've been doing school work. This class is over next week and then I have a two month break! Very cool!

We have been thinking about getting Cedar Point season passes for this year. The kids would love it and it would give us something to do with them all the time. They include Soak City this year and parking. So it's a great deal! I don't know, we'll see!