Six Flags Great America

On Saturday, July 26th we took our Sr. High group to Great America. This year we had the
largest group we have ever taken - 26 people (leaders and kids). We also must have gone on the busiest day of the year because I don't think I have ever seen so many people in one place in my life.

After waiting in line for almost an hour just to park (and talking to each other from car to car while we waited), we ate lunch at our cars and

ventured into the park where we found more lines to stand in as we waited to get on different rides. The lines were so long that I think we only rode 6-7 rides all day. We were there for 6 hours.

Even though the lines were long we still had a great day. One thing about long lines is you have plenty of time to talk to each other - and our group never is at a loss for words - kind of like their youth pastor. For a few people this was their first time on the big roller coasters and so of course we used peer pressure to help them overcome their fears. After rides like Batman, Raging Bull (one of the best rides there in my opinion), the Eagle, the Demon, and the Viper you either get over your fear or you get sick to your stomach. Thankfully we didn't have the latter.

Unfortunately we didn't get to ride what I think is the greatest ride at Great America - the Giant Drop. The wait was 1 and half hours. So we opted out, especially since only about 6-7 were going to ride it.

After the day at the park we stopped at McD's on the way home for dinner and then drove home while receiving prank calls from some crazy girls (I won't mention any names). Overall, a long and tiring day of waiting in lines, but a fun day of being together. Next year - we will pick a rainy day. :) Here are some pics of the day.

Our group

Eating lunch in the car

Batman: Those are some our group's feet in the front

Coming down the roaring rapids

More roaring rapids

They survived; although much more wet than when they started.

Ben was also a little wet and not too thrilled about it

What a nice looking group of young people

The O's: 2 of our fearless leaders

The Raging Bull

The Viper: Some of our group is on this one, but I don't know where

And the winner is...

So, we finally have decided on what our Youth Tshirts will look like. Here is the winning shirt:

The front says "Rooted in Christ; Growing in Him". The back is the verse Colossians 2:6-7 and under that it says Central Bible Church Youth.

Now we just have to get them ordered. So if you are interested in having one of these Tshirts and haven't signed up for one, find me at church or leave a comment here with your size (S, M, L, XL). The shirts will cost you $5.

Thanks again to Elisa for a great job designing this shirt. We might see this design again in future posts about the youth room renovations.

Your Favorites

All right, so I have recently added some music to this blog for you to enjoy while you read about what is going on. I have included about 30 songs so far; I can include up to 100 - not that I will, but I could. These 30 (besides Toby Mac and Switchfoot - those are two I know the youth like) are songs I enjoy. I realize that not everyone likes the same music as me - surprise, surprise.

So if you come to this blog and have a favorite Christian song or two that you would like me to include in the playlist, leave me a comment, and if they have it available I will add it. Then when you come here you can go to the bottom of the page and click on the song you like.

By the way, this is a free playlist. If any of you are interested in making one and adding it to your blog or facebook or something, just follow the link off the bottom of the playlist and get started. It is pretty cool.

Enjoy!

SHEETROCK!!

The renovations continue and now the sheetrock is up. Its up, its taped, and its floated. The process continues... Here are some pics:

Stay tuned for more updates.

Youth Tshirts

A few weeks ago, Elisa approached me about having a CBC youth Tshirt. I told her that I would consider it if she made it. So she wasted no time. She took a youth brochure home and the very next day at VBS came up to me with her ideas.

The theme for the youth ministry is "Building a Framework on the Foundation of Christ". One of the verses in the brochure is Colossians 2:6-7: "So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in Him, ROOTED and BUILT UP in Him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness." (NIV).

So Elisa came up with the thought for the shirt to be "Rooted in Christ; Growing in Him" for the youth. I must say that I loved it. She wanted to use a tree with some cool roots for the image, but also a tree that was full of life representing that fruit was being produced. So she set out to draw that tree herself and did a great job.

After a couple of weeks of her working on the designs and fonts on a really cool website, and going back and forth with her on ideas, we narrowed it down to two designs and colors and took a vote last night at Bible study.

Here is design 1:

Front: Tree graphic with the verse

Back: Well, I won't insult your reading ability by typing it out

Here is design 2:

Front: Tree graphic with the motto

Back: Verse and "Central Bible Church Youth"

And these are the 2 colors to choose from. After a poll of quite a few people it seems that design 2 is leading the voting and that the grayish color is also leading. We still haven't polled everyone, so we'll have to wait and see.

Thanks Elisa for a great idea and a great job with all the work. And she has gotten it here in about 2 weeks. We'll let you know what the final decision is.