The sewer

I've been in the car a lot in the last four weeks, and more often than not, the radio has been on. Because I don't generally listen to the radio, I've suddenly noticed just how much garbage is floating around in the airwaves. We aren't dealing with just a few pieces of debris here and there, it's a full-on city sewer, and we're swimming in it. Voluntarily. We might avoid the worst of it, switching stations when a song loaded with F-bombs comes on, but the problem is so much more pervasive than that.

Case in point: I recently heard "The Lazy Song" by Bruno Mars for the first time. It's catchy song, and it's funny the first time you hear it, in that "stick it to society" kind of way that every young generation seems to love. But it's sinful to the core. Think about it: Ignoring the song's immediately objectionable elements, can you imagine Jesus singing about lying in bed all day? Can you picture Paul lounging in a snuggie watching MTV? I could go on and on with a hundred other songs, but you understand the point as well as I do. You have to be careful when you listen to this stuff, or you'll get sucked in.

And here's the problem: We think we are careful. We know how to handle it. We're confident we can sort the good from the bad. We're comfortable knowing it doesn't really affect us. And that's exactly what Satan wants us to think. There's no way we can put the things of the world into our heads and expect something good to come out. How can we feed the flesh and expect the spirit to grow?

Perhaps we'd do better if we just turned it off. On second thought, scratch the perhaps.

To make a long post short, this is what I love the most about Ganderbrook. It's a quiet refuge from the incessant drumbeat of the world's mixed-up priorities. And there, we can finally begin to hear the voice of God.

~Steven

Beware of Sun Cancer

I am sorry we have not updated in so long. It has been a crazy week. Last weekend was especially wild! We visited with five churches in the New England area, Cape Cod, Quechee, Nashua, Edgewood, and Kittery. It was loads of fun, but a lot of driving. Friday, we started by heading to Cape Cod. We were blessed with minimal traffic, which is a miracle since we were going near Boston during rush hour. We arrived a few minutes early and set up. Gregg managed to explode a 2 liter of Coke on himself and the parking lot. It was hilarious! The fun arrived in the form of Pam, Ludy, Geoffrey, Lindsay, Kaylee and Shannon. We talked about camp and got to know each other. I laughed so much the entire time. They were so creative and funny. We are very excited to see each of them at camp. The only down point might have been when I ate far too many cookies. Beware of chocolate frosting Oreos.

Next stop was Quechee, Vermont. It was a little difficult to find the church building, but we made it. We had a lot younger gathering at this visit, but it was just as much fun. Gregg taught us about sun cancer at this stop. Apparently it is just as dangerous as skin cancer so make sure you wear sun screen at camp. We played a game called Transformer(a Laura game). This game takes some skill and quick thinking, but the Vermont kids were definitely up for it. The objective of the game is to form different objects with your body. All the teams did an excellent job, but Nathan and Gregg ended up taking home the grand prize. Their impression of a fork in an electrical socket was hysterical.

I'll give Laura, Steven and Gregg the opportunity to tell you about our other visits. It was a wonderful weekend and I cannot wait to see all these kids at camp! Thank you to all the churches that hosted us!
Heather

The memorization challenge

One of the small things I love about Ganderbrook is the director's weekly scripture memorization challenge. I believe that the memorization and recitation of scripture is just as important as reading it, but somehow we've forgotten about it. When most of our houses have more Bibles than we can count and we have instant access to the Word on our computers and phones, why bother memorizing? After all, it's a lot of tedious work!

But memorization is precisely what we need. How else can the author of Psalm 119 rejoice, "I have hidden your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you" (verse 11)?

So here's the challenge: Pick a passage of scripture and memorize it before you come to Ganderbrook. It can be short. It can be long. It can be a passage you are familiar with, or it can be something you haven't read in months or years. It can be in the Old Testament. It can be in the New Testament. It can be a letter, or a parable, or a story, or a teaching. Whatever - the important part is that you commit to memorizing the Word of God. I dare you.

I'm working on Matthew chapter 7. My goal is to be able to quote the entire sermon on the mount by the end of June. Hold me to it, and I'll hold you to yours.

~Steven

One man, Two smiles.

We hit the beach up yesterday, with Corrie Prestridge, David Bell and Rachel Woodmen. It was filled with many activities of trying to find change for the parking meter, running on the beach and in the water, throwing the frisbee around, and Laura taking some pretty awesome pictures with the professional assistance of Rachel. But the most painful thing that could happen yesterday was David laid out, so I helped and applied some sun screen and only put two blobs of sun screen on his upper stomach and than a line across his stomach. For we didn't want to spread it out and laid out in the sun for a good hour. Well he didn't look to pink when we left. As the day went on, into Corrie's graduation,he got a little more pinky. Once we left got outside David was definitly bright RED!!! NOw as curious as we all were, we asked him to left up his shirt. AS he raised his shirt up BAM!!! A pale white smiley face was on his stomach. I mean it is really really noticable. His chest is in pain, yet he is the One man with Two smiles.

God Bless,
Gregg

Bryan...

So as some of you may know, I have decided to give up coffee for the summer. This is a HUGE step for me. I am an addict in the gets headaches/starts foaming at the mouth without my coffee kind of way. It has been a tough two weeks and so as a fun way to distract me in Boston on Tuesday my friends gave me a chance at free coffee. They thought it would be hysterical if I left my phone number for our waiter at Fire and Ice. The first deal was I just had to leave my number, but as we left the deal changed to he has to call me...big bummer. My heart sank. No one would ever call a girl who left a message like "I think you're cute. Call me" on a napkin. Well, not unless they are extraordinarily desperate. So my coffee dreams went out the window. However, miraculously as we are walking down the streets of Boston towards Harvard my phone goes off. I didn't hear it, but Laura walking behind me gets really excited and tells me my phone is ringing. The phone number is restricted...my heart leaps! Coffee is so close. I answered. He hangs up:( However, my comrades were extremely encouraging. "Oh! He must have been at work and he got caught on the phone! He'll call back!" However, he did not call...he texted. The text informed me that this was my waiter Bryan and he would love to meet up for dinner sometime. I looked at Laura. This was so weird I was not going to text back or go through with it. But Laura persisted, "Heather, this could be the man of your dreams!". So I texted him back. Eventually we arranged to meet up at the Starbucks for coffee at 2pm. I was completely freaking out at this point. This was a total stranger. My mother would be aghast. I felt terrible that I would go on a date with someone just for free coffee. I kept telling Laura I was like Bentley from the Bachelorette, but she insisted I was still a good person and reminded me of my true aim...coffee. So I went to Starbucks and waited on a lonely bench stool while my friends sat outside and Garrett went down the street to take a Bible quiz... -Heather


OK STOP RIGHT THERE!!!! Here is the other side of the story. We walk out of Fire and Ice after Heather left her number for our "oh so attractive and not the least bit awkward" waiter. Garrett looks at me and says, "Laura, give me Heather's number?" I give it to him, kind of guessing that he has a plan, but not completely sure why he wants it. He then says, "I am gonna prank her." If you knew Garrett, you would know that this is COMPLETELY out of his character for him, so it makes this all the more funny. So Garrett calls her, lets her say hi, and then hangs up. He realizes that texting her would probably be a better idea. He texts her and asks her to meet her for dinner. He then texts her and says to meet him at Starbucks after she said she just wanted coffee. This whole time, Garrett is creepily hanging out in the back. Heather is oblivious to the whole thing, while David, Gregg, Garrett, and I are soaking it up. I would never encourage Heather to do this if I knew she was in good hands. I wouldn't tell her to go meet some random guy for a cup of coffee. So we start walking towards Starbucks, and Garrett stops to take a random Bible quiz on the side of the street. Heather goes inside Starbucks and waits for our new friend, "Bryan." She waits for a while because we were trying to wait on Garrett to finish his Bible quiz. Garrett finally comes, walks inside Starbucks, and admits that he is actually "Bryan." It was Garrett the whole time. She didn't get it at first, but then she realized! It was super duper funny! Sorry Heather for putting you through all of that, but it will be a story that I will never forget!

GET EXCITED!!!!!!

ONLY THREE WEEKS AWAY!!!!! AHHHHHH!!!!!! Watch this video and get pumped!

Heather and her filter

We all know the wonderful lady Heather Walker and how much of a sweet heart she is. Well, something I have discovered recently is that she says what's on her mind and thinks about what she says after. So you have the chance of hearing some really, really nice things from her. On the other hand, I have heard her without the filter. She insults people without knowing it. But she says it in a harmless loving way. She will have the smile on her face and the happy tone in her voice. Now don't get me wrong none of this is deceiving. She just doesn't notice when she says it. That's why neither I nor anyone else will ever get mad at her. Just everyday I get to hear her without that filter and it's always something new. Heather Walker has no filter, but she has a personality that can brighten anyone's day.


God Bless,
Gregg Downing