01/03/2008
Happy New Year! :)
No big announcements, but we do wish you all well for 2008.
May God's peace and
blessings be with you in this new year!
In Christ's Love,
Randy & Gordie :)
10/09/2007
Howdy to all -- and an
especially loud "HOWDY" to our new friends from Trinity Jr. High in Ft. Smith,
AR. We spent a wonderful 3 days with some of the greatest teens and
teachers this side of the Mississippi...and were treated to some of the best
Southern hospitality imaginable. (You 7th, 8th and 9th graders are blessed
with some fantastic teachers...and you teachers have got some really cool kids!)
We hope the rest of your
school year is great and filled with blessings! Thank for making our first trip
to Arkansas so much fun -- and to show our appreciation, we'd like to say (just
this once and ONLY for you guys):
“Woooooooooo, Pig!
Sooie! Razorbacks!”
God Bless!
Randy & Gordie :)
04/02/2007
Hello Friends!
Hope Holy Week finds you well! If "April showers bring May
flowers" (as the saying goes) we are going to have tons of blooms in
May.
We had the joy of
spending this last weekend with some of the most awesome teens and chaperones at
the CRC's Confirmation Make-up retreat -- and it rained the whole time!
Not just a lazy spring shower but
soak-your-bones-put-the-animals-in-the-ark rains that only let up a couple of
times. Retreatants and chaperones were greeted first thing Saturday
morning to flooded parking lots and soaked clothes...all before they even
checked in. But you know what? The entire weekend was awesome!
It occurred to me as
everyone was gathering to meet each other for the first time that morning that
the rain was our "great equalizer" and an icebreaker unto
itself. Everyone was brought to the same level by the fact that each and
every one of us was completely drenched...and there was nothing we could do
about it! It was like any apprehensions or nervousness for spending the
weekend with a room full of strangers was washed away and all you could do was
laugh...and that's not a bad thing at all. Funny thing is, it was
almost like the rains let up just so we could walk our Stations of the Cross on
Saturday...and the only time the sun made an appearance was as we were
lining up for our Palm Sunday Mass. Pretty darn cool if you ask me.
To all you guys and gals
who spent the weekend soaked with us, we hope your upcoming Confirmations are
blessed and that you had as much fun as we did. We'll be praying for you
all! Thanks, too, to all you chaperones who gave your time to help make
sure everyone was safe. We couldn't have a weekend like we did without
you! We hope you have a great Holy Week and a Happy Easter!
Your Friends in Christ,
-Randy & Gordie
11/13/2006
Howdy everybody!
Feel that little chill in air? Cool mornings, early sunsets, geese flying
in to roost at night...all signs that Autumn is here and that we'll be chilly (chili?
yumm!) for a little while. Of course, when the weather turns like this
we instinctively start thinking of the Holidays. Apparently the retailers
do, too -- I heard Christmas carols in the store the other day!
And, unfortunately,
along with the carols comes no small amount of stress. Without getting
into a long discourse on the commercialization of the holidays (Holy Days), etc.
-- I'll just pose just a simple question. Something we can all take time to
think about. But first -- the setup:
A young man on retreat
with us this weekend asked, "Why did we let divorce become so
accepted?" Hmmmm...that one made everyone quiet for a minute.
Why, indeed? I haven't stopped thinking about that simple, pointed
question.
We might ask; "Why
do we let anything holy become corrupted, distorted or
watered-down?" Why do we allow the Holidays to become so stressful,
worrisome and money-centered? Who knows? The fact is, in many cases, we
have. So, while we're making our lists and checking them twice, let's try
our best to remember the call of Advent: "Prepare ye the way of the
Lord!"
AND -- speaking
of that young man earlier....we want to give a shout out to our new friends at Mary
Queen parish. Hey guys! We had a wonderful time with you
this weekend. Thank you for sharing your retreat with us! Such a blessed
group of teens PLUS an awesome Core Team! We hope to see ya'll again
sometime.
In the meantime, have a
blessed Holiday season -- keep the faith, pray hard and keep Christ at the
center of it all!
-Randy & Gordie
08/07/2006
Wow!! Here it is
already...another school year is upon us! Yeehaw! :-)
Remember when we were
little kids? All the fun and excitement of shopping for school clothes and
supplies...going to the school to meet our teachers before the first
day...having that "special" outfit set out the night before or that
awesome Trapper Keeper we begged Mom for? And as we got older that
first day was still a little exciting, but may have been tinged with just a
little bit (or a lot) of anxiety...as we started to worry more about
appearances, popularity and loads of homework. Ahhh...if only we could
have those simpler days back.
Perhaps we can -- with a
little prayer. Well, maybe it won't be as simple as it was when were
little kids, BUT if we start our day with even a few minutes of
prayer-time it will work wonders. Place today in God's hands, be open to
what He has to teach us throughout the day and TRUST that He loves us...no
matter what kind of outfit we wear or which Trapper Keeper we've got in
our backpack.
Our prayers are with you
all -- students, teachers, youth ministers -- that this new year gets off to a
great start and is filled with the Holy Spirit!
God Bless!
Randy & Gordie
03/07/2006
Lenten Blessings to you
all! As we approach the celebration of the glory of the Risen Christ, let us
take time in the coming Holy Week to reflect on the reason for our joy. Beyond
the candy and eggs, chocolate bunnies and baskets lies a beautiful truth:
Christ, through his passion and death at Calvary, opened the doors to eternal
life for us all! What a gift we have! Let us not take this Gift for granted.
Holy Week provides a
wonderful opportunity for us to re-live (in spirit and prayer) the dramatic
events that took place before that glorious first Easter: Jesus' triumphant
entry into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, the Last Supper, and Agony in the
Garden through the arrest, trial and crucifixion of our Lord.
Like Cleopas and his
friend, let us open our hearts to the presence of Christ around us in our
family, our friends, our neighbors...and ourselves.
Our God has conquered
death! Hallelujah! :)
Peace!
Randy & Gordie
12/02/2005
Howdy all! Happy
Holidays from Randy & Gordie! :)
We hope your
Thanksgiving was wonderful and that your Christmas will be blessed and holy.
