Week In Review

Saturday!  Another week of activity for us.  

Emma had a couple volleyball games, I think the JV team is 8-3 now.  She also joined the Math Club this week!  I never would have guessed that.  So she's in school volleyball, the drama club, and now math club. She went with a friend last night to the ending retreat service at her friends church. She's keeping busy!  She has AVA volleyball clinic today.  

This is from the annual See You at the Pole event. See You at the Pole (SYATP) is an annual gathering of Christian students of all ages at a flagpole in front of their local school for prayer, scripture-reading and hymn-singing, during the early morning before school starts.  Emma's in the gazebo so can't really see her.

Katelyn's had gymnastics practice 4 nights this week as always.  She has a gymnastics performance this afternoon.  Plus she's spending the night at a friends house tonight.

Nicholas keeps on with the flow!  He has AVA volleyball clinic today too.

Angie & I have the Cooking For Life event tonight.  It's usually a pretty good time, and a great cause as a cancer benefit.

Week/End Whirl

Another busy week and weekend in the KenneyKrewe house.  Emma had some volleyball games, Katelyn had gymnastics practices, and all of us had Group once or twice during the week.  Emma went to volleyball try outs and Katelyn was in a parade with gymnastics on Saturday. Katelyn also had a National Gymnastics Day routine at her gym on Saturday.

Angie & I (and Emma) stressed out all weekend trying to decide where Emma was going to play club volleyball.  She was lucky and had offers from 2 clubs.  In the end, we stayed in the same club.  We've had a great experience in this club over the past couple years, have met some great families, plus God has a place in the club through some of the families, coaches and the director.

Angie & I had parent/teacher conferences on Friday.  Nothing but great words for all 3 kids from all their teachers!  Makes a Dad proud.  Tougher school, but so far all 3 are still carrying As across the board.

Angie was sick earlier in the week, and then she passed it on to me somewhere in the middle.  Several of us are still dealing with runny noses, some cough, and a little ickiness.

I started emptying the pool this weekend.  We're thinking this may have been the last year it stays up.  It's held up great, but definitely showing it's age in some of the metal braces and around the bottom edge.  Plus, we weren't able to enjoy it as much this year with Angie working in the summer now.  The constant shade it gets doesn't help it to stay warm either!

We The People

It's Constitution Day...

The U.S. Constitution has withstood the test of time for more than two centuries as our nation’s charter of government and the guarantor of our liberties.  Signed in Philadelphia on September 17, 1787, this founding document reflects our core values and enshrines the truths set forth in the Declaration of Independence, that we are all endowed with certain unalienable rights.

This link is to a great article on the beginning, the signing, and the ratification of the US Constitution  http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/charters/constitution_history.html

Chippokes Plantation State Park

From last weekend

Volleyball

Emma was Ms. Happy, Happy, Happy last night..

She got to dress out for the Varsity team, and she played setter the entire 3rd game!  

The JV team lost last night, but the Varsity won.  

She has Peninsula Junior's tryouts today and tomorrow.

Weekend

Sunday evening in the Kenney household...homework, laundry, bill paying, and of course FOOTBALL!

Emma's JV volleyball team won their game Friday night...now 2-0.  They have 3 games this week, with 2 being away.  Both Emma & Katelyn had friends spend the night on Friday and then they spent the day with us on Saturday.  After Katelyn and her friend got home from gymnastics Saturday morning we all got ready and went to lunch at the Pizza Shop.  We then took the ferry across the river and went to a state park.  Had lots of fun driving around the camp sites, walking on some trails, walked down to the river to throw some rocks, played on some tractors, and fed some roosters!  We ended the day with supper at Pop's (local diner).  All in all it was a great day!

Summit Volleyball

Emma's volleyball season started last night, and the JV team came out with a big WIN!  Happy for her and her teammates.  Hope they continue to play well throughout the season and improve together as a team.

Going Deeper (Pt. 2)

In the 1st part of this discussion I talked about not forgetting the simple things and not being lazy in my walk.

Here's my 2nd part...don't discard the Church.

Sometimes we get so caught up in our lives, our "busyness", our laziness we skip church.  Or maybe we are on such a quest for more knowledge thru bible studies, home groups, book studies, etc., that we forget the importance of Church.  These things are great, but they shouldn't come at the expense of our time in church.  Without the commitment to our church how "deep" are we really being? Ephesians 5: 25-27 is one verse that tells us how important Jesus thinks the Church is. We need to experience our local church, learn from our Pastor, let the praise and worship touch are hearts, and be with other believers. "For where two or three gather in my name, there I am with them" (Matthew 18:20)

Sometimes when I'm in not "feeling it" on a Sunday morning, I still feel refreshed and alive after going to Sunday service.  Use this energy to encourage yourself to expand your knowledge throughout the week.

Going Deeper (Pt. 1)

Something I've found myself saying over the years as a Christian is "I wish the Pastor would expand on this" or "I wish we had more of this" or "if we would only go "deeper" into the message".  Now I do believe that as we grow as believers we should grow in our knowledge.  Hebrews 5:12 says this:  "I have a lot more to say about this, but it is hard to get it across to you since you’ve picked up this bad habit of not listening. By this time you ought to be teachers yourselves, yet here I find you need someone to sit down with you and go over the basics on God again, starting from square one—baby’s milk, when you should have been on solid food long ago! Milk is for beginners, inexperienced in God’s ways; solid food is for the mature, who have some practice in telling right from wrong."

So, we need to grow, but do we need to rely on someone else to "go deeper"?  Why do I ask questions and have thoughts about the Pastor's responsibilities like I do?  I think it's because I get lazy.  I get lazy in my own walk with Jesus and I start to rely on the Pastor or the church to "feed" me.

Here's the 1st way I use to get myself out of my laziness.

1st - Going deep doesn't mean ignoring the "simple" things.  Maybe you've heard this particular "theme" sermon before.  Maybe you've seen/read this verse a hundred times. We are saved by the "simple" faith & belief that it takes to have forgiveness, but it takes this same faith to sustain our Christian walk. We should grown in our knowledge through church attendance, through reading & studying the Bible, through associating ourselves with other Christian believers, and through prayer.  However, we should not lose the wonder and excitement about the salvation story we already know. We shouldn't move past the gospel we know, but we should revisit it.  It's amazing how when we clear our mind and forget what we think we know and read a verse again, hear a message again, or talk with others on the same subject again how we may pick up new revelations about it, gain new perceptions from others about it, or learn a new life application based on the stage of our life.

Don't go past the "simple" things!

September!

September is here!  Wow, summer has gone by fast.  We've enjoyed the past couple days.  Emma had volleyball pictures on Friday and my Mom came in to town for the weekend.  She was able to see the grammar school and go inside the upper school with a tour from Emma.

We went to Yorktown Pub for lunch yesterday, stopped at the Farmer's Market (as they were closing up shop) and got some bread things, and then ended the day with a cook-out and games over at a friend's house.  Somewhere in there Katelyn & Nicholas were able to bake some cupcakes with Gramy C too.

Two more days to enjoy of the long weekend...looks like rain may be with us though.  :(  Hope everyone else is having a great weekend!