good times... the band played at the party

My sister Gail and me at cam's grad party (she's the eldest and I am the youngest of 7 Strader kids)

FAMILY GET AWAY... Our family will be taking a trip up north to Petoskey, MI for a time of renewal and rest. It is the plan to hang out by the pool, take bike rides, take a day and do some Harley riding as well as hang out, cook smores as well as enjoy God's amazing country. We will be gone the week of June 27 - July 5and are looking forward a special time away before the two older kids head off to college this fall.

UPCOMING SERVICES... Lindsay will be leading worship on the 4th. We have some awesome things planned for this service, you won't want to miss this time together with God! Communion will be moved to June 27. Guest Speaker, Brent Wood will be speaking June 27, July 4 as well as July 11.

Coming this Sunday June 27th Family Hymn Sing at 6:00pm Come on out and join us for Hymn stories and testimonies as well as a wonderful time of fellowship together singing good ole' hymns form the books!

Congrats to Coach Todd and the Clarkston Impact for winning the WIST Soccer tournament last weekend. What an amazing come back after being behind by 3 with only 8 minutes left! He had 3 assists! Logan is Goalie and Center Mid.

Todd was absent from last night's game as he received an emergency call from his mom stating that his dad had passed away after an aneurysm / brain bleed. Please pray for God's amazing peace on this family. Todd's dad is from Wisconsin and at the age of 65, knew Jesus. What a shock to this dear family.

Congrats to Tori for being chosen to be in 2010 SE Michigan Honor's Band

INTENTIONAL TIME ALONE WITH GOD

Jeremiah 33:3 "Call unto me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know." Hebrew 13:5 says " Never will I leave you, never will I forsake you." We have a God Who wants to be sought after. He wants our attention and deserves to be "chased after". Jeremiah 33:11 goes on to say Give thanks to the Lord Almighty for the Lord is good and His LOVE ENDURES FOREVER." If I take a moment to stop and ponder what an amazing Creator, Redeemer and Rock I have... I am astounded by his greatness! And yet, He longs to be chased after. He doesn't NEED it. He desires us to love Him with the same tenacious and fierce love in which He loves us. His love endures... not for just a moment, but forever. When we seek after the heart of God... He promises to reveal to us great and mighty things and insight into His very heart. When I fail and decide that I am too busy, distracted and overwhelmed to seek after God, I lose sight that His heart is breaking and He longs to spend time with me, a human being created in His very image.

My son told this story last week during his speech at his commencement. Cameron was such a crazy busy toddler giving "busy" a new meaning. He gave all the nursery workers and baby sitters a run for their money! Cam was in to everything and escaped out of bed, the front door, the back door, the fenced in yard the SS class room... everywhere. He wouldn't just slide down the slide like a normal little child, he would do it standing up with Rollerblades on. Cam had stitches in his head at least 5 times! Because of this little man, we decided pretty quickly that a fence needed to be put up in the back yard. One day, he decided he wanted to go see his friend on the other side and climbed the fence. On the other side was a very very busy main road. I pulled him down off the top of the 8 foot fence 3 times before he got a spanking. When I turned to go back inside the house, he continued to climb... and climb... and climb... after the 21st spanking, I was exhausted and actually considered letting him go over and play in the traffic! jk! On the 22nd time, he put one foot on the rung of the fence and turned around to see if I was watching. I crumbled onto the kitchen floor sobbing. I just couldn't believe that he would do this AGAIN! He then took his foot down and ran over to me. "I sorry mama, I sorry. Don't cry."

I tell you this little story to remind us both that we need to listen and obey God. Spending time with Him is crucial! Reading our Bible, spending time basking in His glory, intentional time of prayer is what I'm talking about. When we don't, we break his heart. Think about it.

On that note: I'm off! to spend some time with my Heavenly Father! How bout you?

Cameron's Commencement Speech:
1. Seek God First
2. Get out of God's Way
3. Listen to God and Obey his Voice