Progressive Dinner

An email was sent out Sunday evening detailing the events of our Christmas dinner this coming Saturday, December 1st. If you did not receive this email, please email ginny_rushing [at] yahoo [dot] com.

Joys & Concerns 11/25

Hi there -
Here are the Joys & Concerns for this week:

Michael is recovering well from his knee surgery.

Safe travels for Jason Lax's mom, Chris as she heads back to IL.

Karla's sister is unemployed & looking for a job.

Karla's friends Susan & Tim have twim boys with CP. Christian had a new shunt put in his brain this week to decrease some swelling - he's home & recovering.

Keenan's co-worker, Kaaren is terminally ill with Cancer (2-6 mos. to live). Also prayers for her husband, Ervin who also works with Keenan.

Everyone have a great week & we look forward to seeing everyone this weekend for the Annual Christmas Party.

Karla

Head Start Christmas Families

Hernandez Family

Mom/Dad - Each $50 gift card from Wal-Mart (Treasury)

We need 2 couples to sign up for each child. These are only suggestions given by the teacher, you may buy whatever you think is age appropriate. Each couple only needs to spend between $20-30. I have to deliver these gifts to the school on December 14th. I will need to have them by December 13th at the latest. Please post in the comments section which child you would like and what you will buy. For example, one couple can do clothes and shoes and another couple can buy toys and books. Head Start recommends gift cards for shoes. The items do not need to be wrapped this year. Please put the child's name on each gift. Please ask me if you have any questions. Thank you very much!!!!

-------- Karen------- ( Girl Age 10)

Webkinz
CD Player
Clothes (7 juniors)
Sweat Suit
Jeans

Rushing-toys
Haleys- clothes

-------- Galilea --------- (Girl Age 4)

Shoes (size 10 ½) (gift card)
Computer toy
Comforter (twin)
Sheets (twin)

Kuykendall- gift card for shoes and computer toy
Nasers- sheets and comforter

------- Isabel------------- (Girl Age 1)

Shirts (2T)
Jeans
Sweat Suit
Musical toys

Oldham- toys and sweat suit
Glover- jeans and t-shirts

-------Jordan --------- (Boy Age 14)

Clothes (Large-T shirt)
Jeans (34w x 32l)
Shoes (size 10 1/2)
Football

Allison's- football and gift card for shoes
Lax- clothes and jeans

------- Leonardo --------- (Boy Age 15)

Clothes (Large T shirt)
Jeans (36 x 34)
Walkman CD Player
Jacket

Comptons - jeans and the CD walkman

Leon Family

Mom/Dad - Each $50 gift card from Wal-Mart (Treasury)

---------Jevon------- (Boy age 3)

Gift card for clothes (size 3T)
Musical Books
Blocks (wooden)
Fire Truck
Puzzles

Wood- toys
Lincoln- clothes

-------Brandon--------- (Boy age 9)

Clothes (size 12 regular)
Shoes (7)
Basketball
Action figures (GI Joe, maybe add in a cool vehicle to go with it)

Wilkins - GI Joe Action Figure/Toy and basketball
Garcia- clothes and gift card for shoes

-------Marvin---------- (Boy age 16)

Clothes (Large men)
Nike Shoes (10-10 1/2)
Jacket
Basketball
Visa gift card

Taylor- basketball and clothes
Johnson-visa gift card

---------Elena------ (Girl born October 2007)

a warm winter jacket - (size 6 to 9 months)
diapers (size 1)
platex disposable bottles
Formula - Similac with Iron
Shoes - size 3 months
Winter Wear clothing - (size 9 to 12 months)
gently used stroller
crib toys that light up & play music

Rodriguez- formula and diapers
Hazelwood's- clothes and crib toys

Christmas Progressive Dinner - December 1st

Find below listed what we have so far in terms of volunteers to host/bring food. If you are not hosting, please reply in the comments which needed area you are willing to help with food. Though we are trying to keep the dinner in the Plano area, we are one house short. As of now, the Rushings will host that course, but if anyone in the Plano area would like to volunteer, please feel free! (Hosts listed in blue)

Appetizers (5:30-6:30)

1. Allison - Berger

2. Rodriguez - Wilkins

3. Rushing - Hazelwood

Soup/Salad/Bread (6:45-8:30)

1. Kuykendall - Lincoln, Taylor

2. Oldham - Wood, Garcia

3. Compton - Naser, Glover

Dessert (8:45)

1. Lax - Haley, Rodriguez, Johnson

If your name is not listed above, please RSVP in the comments listing what you would like to bring. Each soup/salad/bread house will coordinate with their food helpers as to what they will be having. Soup is a vague way of saying "something easy from a crock pot." Don't create too much work for yourself, keep it simple, and remember how much we will be eating at appetizers and dessert!

Addresses and groups will be sent later in an email, as I don't want to put people's addresses on the website.

UMCOR Missions

*These were briefly presented in class on Sunday 11-18-07. I have included a short informational statement describing each mission. I encourage you to visit the UMCOR website to further investigate the various missions that we can contribute our money towards. There will be further discussion on selecting a class mission.

Health
HIV/AIDS

United Methodist Global AIDS Fund

The fund supports education, prevention, care, and treatment programs for people living with HIV/AIDS in the US and abroad.

AIDS Orphan Trust

This program supports community efforts to care for orphans by assisting them with their daily needs, school fees, and moral and spiritual support.

AIDS Awareness and Children Impacted by HIV/AIDS in Africa

This program supports HIV/AIDS educational programs to promote prevention, community care programs for orphaned children, health coordinator training, and literature distribution.

The Mutti AIDS Fund

Proceeds from this fund have supported HIV/AIDS ministries in the US to assist education and outreach programs. They also support HIV/AIDS programs that provide direct support to people impacted by the disease.

Health
Malaria

Community-Based Malaria Program
The Community-Based Malaria Program provides communities with comprehensive plans to combat malaria that are tailored to their specific needs. This initiative includes community training on basic measures to prevent sickness, free medications and consultations to those who are ill or who are especially vulnerable to malaria and providing insecticide treated nets to pregnant women and families with young children.

Nothing But Nets
Nothing But Nets is a United Methodist-endorsed project that supplies mosquito nets and training on how to use them. This project is operated through the United Nations Foundation which uses its network established through the Measles Project to distribute nets and training. For $10, a net and training on how to use it will be donated through the United Nations' network.

Health
Hospitals

The following hospitals are part of this program that brings health and healing to communities throughout Africa and Asia. See website.

These are just a few of the missions that we could look at contributing our money towards. In an effort to make this as short a post as possible, please go the the UMCOR website to see about the programs in the areas of Health, Hunger, Immigration and Refugees and Emergency Response.

http://new.gbgm-umc.org/umcor/work/

Prayerfully consider our class mission:)

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving. Just 11 days til the Holiday Party and Ornament Exchange.

We had a busy week this week. First and foremost please share a big congratulations to Suzanne. At the church conference Sunday night she was approved to be a candidate for ordained ministry sponsored by Custer Road. This is the first step in a long journey to ordained ministry but every methodist minister starts by being sponsored by a local church and we're glad to have Suzanne's come from Custer Road.

The church conference was very good. Ron and Tim laid out a spiritual vision and direction for our church we will be hearing a lot more about. I will try to go over some of that on of the future Sundays.

Sunday morning we had John Baldwin come speak to us about what it means to be an Acts II church. We learned a lot of the history behind this and some great insights from John on how we are currently serving as such and how we can continue to grow in that area. If you would like to thank John feel free to send him an email at jbaldwin@crumc.org.

On the missions front Sarah and Karla presented a couple of ideas for a class mission we can sponsor and take ownership of. We will discuss this more over the coming weeks. We also have our Head Start families coming up so please keep that in mind as we have 3 weeks to go for that.

I hope everyone has a Happy Thanksgiving. I thought it would be fun to look back at just a few of the things we have done this year to be thankful for as a class.
- New babies arrived and arriving soon
- 6 new members
- Friday Night Friends volunteer project
- Sponsoring a journey sunday school class for the summer
- Thanksgiving baskets
- Nursing home visits
- Fun times together at Super Bowl party, barbecue and dinners for six
Much, much more... Proof that not only is our class growing in size but also in its ministries and fellowship.

Have a wonderful holiday and safe travels for all those traveling.

JL

Red Bird Mission

Hi All,
This is a follow-up to Jason's email re: a possible new class mission. This is also something I have 1st hand experience in. I went to Red Bird 2 years in a row with our college Wesley Foundation mission trip.

Red Bird Mission, founded in 1921, a non-profit agency located in the Appalachian mountains of Southeastern Kentucky, empowers individuals and advocated justice by providing educational, health, and community outreach ministries to area low-income residents.

Areas of Ministry
EducationK-12 Christian School, Residential Dormitories, Early Childhood Development

Red Bird Mission School serves 265 students in grades K-12 and centers on developing the full potential of its students in a Christian atmosphere. The school is operated independently by the Mission and is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools and the University Senate of the United Methodist Church. Red Bird Mission School provides quality education to students of the Red Bird area regardless of their ability to pay.

Health & WellnessMedical Clinic, Dental Clinic, Pharmacy, Lab, X-Ray, Public Health
Medical Clinic

A licensed primary care center and rural health clinic serves area patients five days a week with a staff of resident health care providers. Patients benefit from a modern outpatient medical clinic with laboratory, x-ray, and a contract pharmacy service on the premises.

The Dental Clinic offers a variety of dental services. The clinic provides complete services for approximately 3,000 patient visits each year.

Community OutreachCommunity Aid Ministries, Elderly Ministries, Family Ministries

Economic OpportunitiesCommunity Store, Craft Marketing

The Craft Marketing Program provides economic opportunity for craftspersons within an sixty-mile radius of the Mission. The Craft Program purchases the crafts directly from the artisan and then markets them locally and throughout the United States.

The Community Store is able to sell good, used clothing and household items at low prices to residents thanks to generous donations from individuals, churches, and organizations. In addition to meeting the clothing needs for people in the area, the store aides the local economy by providing eleven full-time jobs for community residents. In cooperation with the Community Outreach ministries, furniture, clothing, and household times are made available for people in crisis due to fire, floods, and personal situations.

Community Housing ImprovementWork Camp, Home Repair, Mission Facilities

This is a year-round work opportunity for volunteers in mission and service-minded groups. Work Camp strives to provide home repair for low-income community residents and maintenance for Mission buildings and grounds.

Ways to Give
Our ministries are funded through a combination of donations and internally generated revenue. Because of individuals and churches giving to us faithfully each year, we are able to continue ministry in Southeastern Kentucky.

You can go to their website to see a complete list of needs under Donations (it's much too long to post)....and of course to learn more about what Red Bird Mission is all about !

http://www.rbmission.org

Thanks,
Karla

Officer Nominations for 2008

It's that time of year - officer nominations for 2008. I will keep nominations open through class on the 2nd due to Thanksgiving travels and we will have people vote the next week and announce the new officers on the 16th.

First and foremost thanks to all of the officers this year for their time and hard work. I think we did some great things this year thanks to all of their hard work and being open to the suggestions of the class and past leadership who are all very interested in making us a better class for Custer Road and His goals for us. An extra special thanks to Dan and Jarod (and their spouses) and of course Ashlea. I've had kind of a crazy year and they really helped make sure we formed a great vision of what we wanted to do and worked to get that accomplished.

Also this year I'd like to add two new things to the voting if everyone is in agreement. The first is a class historian. Ginny took this role and much more on unofficially the second half of this year and it really made a big difference in helping unify our class and make sure we are staying in touch with all our members. Secondly a new class description and a mission statement. We need to define our position in the church based on our current goals and class members not those from 5 years ago.

If you can email your nominations to me directly with Nominations in the subject line I would appreciate it. jason.lincoln@gmail.com.

Here's the positions. I tried to put a quick description of responsibilities since we have a number of new members.

1. President - Leads class weekly and helps form direction for class. Works with church adult education staff to make sure we are on same page as the church. ('07 - Lincoln, '06 - Wayne)

2. Vice President/Curriculum - Responsible for spritual direction of class by selecting curriculum and coordinating teachers. ('07 - Dan, '06 Rushing)

3. Treasurer - Collects weekly offering and manages class account and responsibilites including gifts back to church, missions gifts and funds for special class needs. ('07 - Jarod, '06 - Chris)

4. Missions - Responsible for coordinating approximately 6 mission activities per year, some in person and some through gifts and donations. Works with past mission officers for extenal mission project. ('07 - Martha, '06 - Karla)

5. Social - To bring class closer outside of the classroom. Coordinates 6 activities per year, ideally in opposite months from missions activities ranging from couples only to family events. ('07 - Brett/Ginny, '06 - Dan)

6. Membership - Works with visitors and new members to make sure they feel welcomed. Maintains class membership and information. Reaches out to members who we haven't seen in a while. Random note: Janessa had a great idea for this that we might want to try to do next year and invite visitors go to lunch with a member or a couple of members to help them feel part of the group. ('07 - Erin, '06 - Janessa or Ginny ???)

7. Pastoral - Joys and Concerns. Coordinate flowers and class meals for those with loss, hospitalization, newborns and other major life events. ('07 Karlan, '06 - Sarah?)

8. Historian - Maintains team website and communications so members who have missed for some time can still feel in the loop. Coordinates pictures and room decoration. ('07 Ginny)

i. Class Description & Mission - write up one you like and I'll try to take the best couple or best few ideas and give us a few options to decide on.

Ok. That is all I have for one day. Thanks again. Send your emails to jason.lincoln@gmail.com. And make sure to thank all this years officers when you see them. It's been a great year.

JL

Weekly news I'm sure everyone is going to read...

Happy Wednesday!

Thanks to Paul and Martha for leading our lesson last Sunday on similar lines to guys speaking their wives love language. Ladies, I hope you enjoyed the lesson because the next in the series is all about us guys and I believe the Rushings get the honor of teaching that. Paul and Martha also coordinated Dinners for Six for them, us and the Hazelwoods. If you haven't scheduled that with your group yet, try to before the holidays get in full swing. I'd also like some feedback on how it went for everyone. We were toying with the idea of rotating the groups and doing that a couple times a year.

This Sunday we will have a quick intermission from the study as John Baldwin from the church ministerial staff joining our class. John is one of the most tenured members of the church staff with over 20 years at Custer Road working with the youth and is attending seminary at Perkins. He is going to talk to us a little more about what it means to be an Act II church and the staffs vision for C.R. and how and where we might make the best contributions to that goal. I hope we will have a big class for our guest.

We also talked about taking a class outing to go to Act II worship service as a class and maybe go out to lunch afterwards for those interested. I was thinking the week of December 15th. Are people still interested in doing this.

I believe Sara, Martha and Karla will be reviewing some of their ideas they came up with for a class mission project we can adopt and make our own on Sunday so don't miss it. We will try to get the ideas up on the site for those who can't make it Sunday.

The Wilkins and Lax's are on the list for snacks this Sunday. I seem to remember some switcheroos Sunday so if it involves this week just remember who you switched with.

Also, the church charge conference is on Sunday night if you are interested.

Finally, the Christmas party is in 2 1/2 weeks. I believe the small groups won the online poll. I'll try to get some more details for Sunday as I know many people will be out for Thanksgiving.

Have a great week,

Jason

Prayers

Michael was admitted to Plano Presbyterian on Monday for an infection in his leg. The doctors at first thought it was a Staph Infection,but we found out yesterday that is was a rare fungus called Nocardia. It is kind of similar to Staph, only in that it is stubborn and hard to treat. They are switching his antibiotic and he will be on the newone, through an IV, for a day or two. Then they will send him home with an oral form. He is feeling fine and not in any pain at all. The only reason he is in the hospital is because the IV will help get rid of it faster. Please keep him in your prayers and hopefully he will back home on Friday!

Michelle and Michael Taylor

Commenting Tip

If you don't want to log in or remember a password, you can comment as "anonymous" and just type your name at the bottom of your comment.

:o)

Funeral

My grandmother who was battling with cancer passed away this morning. She had very rapidly gone down hill this past week and we knew that she probably wouldn't make it through the weekend. Jon and I will not be in class this week so we can spend some time with family before the funeral. It will be on Tuesday, in Nashville, TN.

Please keep my family in your prayers. My mom who has spent everyday with her for the past two years is having a hard time coping with the loss. Although she is thankful that her mom isn't in pain anymore, she's having a difficult time getting the images she witnessed over the past few days out of her mind.

-Debbie and Jon

Breakfast Schedule

The plan is to try to bring in breakfast munchies every other week in class with two couples assigned food duty each time. The schedule is listed below. Please reply in the comments when you would like to bring food and you will be added to the schedule.

October 21: Kuykendall and Rodriguez

November 4: Rushing and Oldham

November 18: Wilkins and Lax

December 2: Lincoln and Allison

December 16: Glover and __________

Pictures for You!

I made it ! I was able to walk 40 of the 60 miles (Friday/Sunday), but not Sat. due to illness. My parents flew in to surprise me from NC ! What a wonderful journey! I have made some new friends & am blessed to have been able to walk with them. Thanks again for all your support, love & prayers leading up to & during this 3-Day event.

Love, Karla

Pictures from Karla Allison

Reminder - Daylight Saving Time ends 11/4

Just a quick reminder that Daylight Saving Time ends this weekend - don't forget to turn your clocks back one hour.

See everyone this Sunday.

--Dan