FUTURE WILDCAT!!

The cats lead the way in the recruiting process for Brayden to play football in 18 years. We'll keep you posted. Our plans are for him to support his grandparents - both Murrays and Justs - once he is picked in the first round following his years at KSU. Rah, Rah, Rah!!!

1 DAY OLD AND COUNTING!!

JUST happen to have a few more pictures for you. Little Brayden is doing great - eating well, testing the diapers, using his lungs, sleeping, and especially loves being held by grandpa and grandma. Todd and Melissa drove out this afternoon and got to see the little man. I have some picture of them with him as well. Kyle can't wait to see him - probably next weekend with M.L.

Thanks for your calls and notes of congratulations. We appreciate them and you. See you on Sunday. P.R.

IT'S A BOY!!!!!!!!

We (Rick and Mary Lou) would like to announce the birth of our first grandchild Brayden Matthew Just who was born August 23 at 9:30 pm at Stormont Vail Hospital in Topeka. Brayden weighed in at 8lbs 7 oz. and was 21 3/4 inches long (not a typo). Eric and Andrea Just are the extremely proud parents. All went well after a rather long day.

Thanks to all who have been praying these past few months. God has indeed answered our prayers and we now look forward to seeing what He has in store for little Brayden in the future. Stay tuned as I'm sure there will be more pictures.

As Andrea exclaimed following Brayden's birth - "Praise the Lord".

I am now officially a Grandpa!! - P.R.

"BACK TO THE BASICS"

Had the privilege of going to the Otterbein UMC in Russell, KS this past weekend to preach/teach a series based on the theme "Back to the Basics". We gathered on Friday evening for a light meal together followed by some worship and the first session. I was able to use a power point presentation for both the music and the preaching and it worked great. It was very helpful. On Saturday, we got together at 9 a.m. for the 2nd session, took a break around 10:15, and then concluded with the 3rd session at around noon. Of course, we ate together to wrap things up ( a meal was catered in).

Thanks so much for the excellent hospitality offered by the folks at the church. Special thanks to Dr. Starkey who coordinated our time together. I appreciated the openness of those who were in attendence to what was being taught. The Spirit was sweet and it was a blessed time. (After I left, the church had a youth event and a concert on Sunday so it was a good weekend for them).

Now I turn my sights to the upcoming renewal services which will be held the end of September in Towanda and the Walk to Emmaus in Garden City in October. Good stuff.....

STILL ALIVE!

Yeah, I know. I've not updated this blog for a while. A little under the gun right now. This past weekend saw ML and I heading to Larned for Dana's wedding. I had the privilege of officiating and all went great. Got to see some of our friends from back that way as well. A good time.

I've been involved in a bunch of meeetings lately - gearing up for the school year, getting ready for a youth campout this weekend, preparing for a new God Squad year, and meeeting with fellow ministers in the area and others in the community as it pertains to opportunities that have been presented to us.

I head for Russell on Friday for a preaching/teaching weekend at the Otterbein UMC. I will lead worship Friday night and Saturday and preach and teach focusing on the theme of "Back to the Basics". So I am busy trying to get ready for that. It's beginning to come together.

Well, some of you have been concerned that I have not mentioned the grandbaby lately. Just so you know, I plan on being a grandpa by the end of the month. (Paying attention, Andrea?) The timer is ticking - tick,tick, tick, tock.................................

Have a great week!

ANOTHER FAIR HAS COME AND GONE - WHEW!

Ah yes, another year at the fair has come to a close. Because our fair depends soley upon volunteers of the community it takes a lot of hard work and sweat to see that everything goes off with a hitch. Oh, there's always a few hiccups but it was another great year at the county fair.

Congratulations to the 4-H kids and all their hard work in the various exhibits. As you can see, Kyle and Macey are showing their pigs to the judge while Tristen poses with his steer for a picture. The top picture is Craig and Macey leading off the parade with the privilege of carrying the stars and stripes. That was quite and honor. And the horses cooperated too - that was a plus.

Thanks to all who helped with the food booth and the church booth - there are too many to mention without missing someone but you know who you are. It was a lot of work but well worth it. Now we turn our attention to the beginning of school. It's ridiculous that it starts so soon but that's just my opinion. In the meantime, pass the cherry pie, top it off with ice cream, and away we go.

ANOTHER ONE GOES UNDER!

As the sun went down so did John Gerstberger - under the water that is. Congratulations to John who was baptized in front of his family and friends in his yard at the home place. John professed his faith in Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour Saturday evening, the 28th of July. John shared his faith story and we, his friends, family, and the Thursday noon men's group, were privileged to share in his joining the family of God in baptism.

Thanks, John, for allowing me to participate in your special evening. It truly was a blessing.

P.R.

IDENTITY CRISIS!

I was speaking with someone this past week and somehow we got on the subject of how people define themselves. In the midst of the discussion we both agreed that almost everyone sees themselves as a success or a failure based upon what they do or the things they have as opposed to who they really are. But that is dangerous ground to tread upon if that is the case.

Does it mean that if you don't have a college degree or work in upper management you are a nobody? Does it mean that if you shop at Walmart instead of Dillards you have not yet arrived? Does it mean that one's self-worth is merely based upon what one has or does for a living?

What about those who work hard day in and day out, who are loyal to their employer, who arrive to work on time, who do what they say they'll do, who are honest? Is that person not a person of value? What about morals and ethics and character? Are these not better benchmarks when it comes to defining a person then what they own or what they do for a living? And haven't you seen those who seem to have very little with regards to money and material things more happy than those who seem to "have it all"?

As Christians, our identity is in Christ - who he is and what he has done through his life, death, and resurrection. It's not about status or how we compare to others. It's about what it means to follow Jesus Christ - to love God and to love others. When we deny ourselves (put Christ first) we find that we don't have to measure up to the standards the world throws at us. Ultimately, they are meaningless. It's about responding to Christ in faith and doing our best for him and being satisfied with knowing that we are children of the living God.

I'm so glad that God looks at our hearts instead of our resumes, accomplishments, or assets (or liabilities). For it is when we give our hearts to him that we attain fulfillment and meaning in our lives. That way, at the end of the day, no matter how good or bad the day was, we can say with certainty, "I am a child of God. I know who I am and whose I am."

I know one thing, that sure takes the pressure off of me. What about you?

IMMERSED IN GOD'S LOVE!

What a great evening we had together last Friday for our annual splash bash. Great food, great fun, and great fellowship. But the greatest "happening" of the evening was the opportunity to baptize Christ Antonelli into God's grace and love and family. As you know, sometimes the best plans are those that are "unplanned". I didn't realize Chris was going to be at the pool and when I saw him there the light bulb flashed. He recently spoke to me about being baptized and joining the church but the dates did not jive until Friday evening. I called Chris to the side of the pool and he grinned and said, " I bet I know what you're going to ask me". Sure enough, it was about him being baptized in the presence of the the church family. As you can see, the rest is history or should I say "His story".

Congratulations to Chris!! And thanks to all who witnessed this great evening and received and accepted Chris into the family of God. Doesn't get any better than this does it?

"THIS TIME...."

Okay, here's the deal as it pertains to the last question on the previous blog - I was in Georgia a few months ago and Grace Imathiu, a wonderful woman from Africa who now resides in Wisconsin was sharing from Gensesis 29:31 ff. I've pondered her thoughts and this text ever since.
You may recall the story of Jacob and Leah. Jacob worked for Leah's father for 7 years for the hand of his daughter. BUT, it was not Leah he loved, it was Rachel. After some trickery by Laban, (her father) Leah became Jacob's wife with the agreement that Jacob would work another 7 years for the hand of Rachel. Meanwhile God saw that Leah was not loved by Jacob so he opened her womb and she became pregnant. Not once, but four times, all four times giving birth to sons (a blessing in that culture). The first son was named Reuben signifying the fact that "the Lord has seen my misery". The second son was named Simeon, meaning "one who hears" and signified that the Lord had heard her cry that she was not loved by Jacob. The 3rd son was named Levi which sounded like the word "attached" signifying Leah's desire for Jacob to become attached to her, to love her. Lastly, she gave birth to Judah, derived from a word signifying "praise" saying this time I will praise the Lord.
Aren't we a lot like Leah? Don't we yearn for fairness and justice, to be loved? Surely we can relate to Leah. After all, all she wanted was to be loved by her husband Jacob. But it was not until the 4th child was born, Judah, that her focus changed. Instead of being consumed by Jacob and her desire for him to love her, a transformation took place as she responded, "THIS TIME I WILL PRAISE THE LORD" (v.35) After all her struggles, her pain, her feelings of being unloved, she shifted her eyes to the Lord and praise came forth.
Could it be possible that we need to refocus? Any Leah's out there?

"I DO"

Congrats to Amber and Mike Jewell who were married on Saturday evening, 7-07-07 at 7:00 p.m. in Burlington, Kansas. I was privileged to officiate the wedding. The top picture is Amber dancing with her dad Daniel, M.L.'s brother. Everything went great and we had a wonderful time getting together with quite a few of M.L.'s family.

Speaking of family, our family was able to be together for the first time since Christmas. That was great. As you can see, Andrea is carrying our little grandbaby (did I tell you I was going to be a grandpa?). She and Eric drove down from Topeka while Todd and Melissa came over from McPherson. Todd also sang in the wedding while M.L. played piano and Kyle videotaped the service. We all kept busy. Eric did mention to me that the sermon I preached at this wedding was a lot shorter than the one I shared at he and Andrea's. Who's keeping track, anyway?

By the way, other congratulations go out to Amanda (Fruechting) and Shawna (Hett) - daughters of good friends of ours from back home who were also married this past weekend. Must be something in the water.


Okay, for you locals here in the west ( or anyone, for that matter). Here's your homework question for the week. What did the names of Leah's (Jacob's wife) sons mean and what is the relevance of their names to her and to us today? Leave your comments. Have a great week.

IN CASE YOU'RE WONDERING

Okay, for those of you who are waiting for new material - here we go.

Just got back from vacation a few days ago. It was good. Saw a lot of family and friends as we toured the big state of Kansas. Check this itinerary:

6/17 - Got together with my folks and my two brothers and family for Fathers day at Newton. Stayed at Aulne for night.

6/18 - Went to Topeka to see Eric and Andrea and little grandchild -to-be. Pigged out at the Hu Hut? for supper (like a Mongolian Barbeque). Stayed in their new house. It's great and we had a super time.

6/19 - Drove to Winfield to stay with the Rankins. Saw all the kids but Luke (who was flying to England). Caught up on old times. Drank way too much coffee, latte, cappacino, etc.

6/20 - Drove to Aulne area and ate supper with Eldon and Rhonda Hett - friends since we were all pups. Embellished our elk hunting stories. The girls talked about Shawna's upcoming wedding and other asundry things. Drove later that night to McPherson and stayed at Todd and Melissa's house (they were gone to New Mexico).

6/21 - Strangely enough we went to Salina in the morning (I had a dentist appointment?). Had to do some shopping and other stuff throughout the day. Drove to Marion in the afternoon to the Fruechtings. Also more wedding talk (Amanda). Again - friends from the good old days. Lots of fun. Stayed there for night.

6/22 - Went and saw M.L.'s dad at the nursing home. Her mom was there too. Took her and Greg (M.L.'s brother) out for lunch. Nice and relaxing time. Drove back to Aulne to my brother's place where I went out to the field (harvest time) and M.L. and Lynn goofed off and went to Hillsboro to spend our hard earned money. I rode around with Rod for several hours, helped them move some equipment, then headed back to Aulne where M.L. and I drove back to McPherson and stayed at Todd's again.

6/23 - Took it easy in Mcpherson - mowed Todd's lawn while M.L. planted some flowers for Melissa. Goofed off. That evening we got together with some other great friends - Bruce and Sandy. Went to their house for a little while and then did the Methodist thing - we went and ate. Mexican food, no less. Spent a couple hours at the restaraunt. Got caught up with each others lives. Went back and stayed at Todd's.

6/24 - Todd and Melissa got home in the night. In the morning we went to church with them in McPherson, threw a pizza in the oven at noon, and took a nap in the afternoon. The went back to Salina where I helped Todd return a van to Abilene that they used for their mission trip. Said our good byes, grabbed a hamburger, and then went and picked up Kyle and Erin Gerstberger who were being dropped off in Salina from their trip to D.C. Left Salina at 9:00 and got home around 1:00 a.m.

Sadly M.L. went back to work on Monday while I took the rest of the week catching up at home with miscellaneous things as well as doing a little reading, praying, visioning etc..

The next blog I'll fill you in on some of those thoughts. In the meantime, I'm thankful for friends and family, many whom we were able to see this past week or so.

TAKING A BREAK!

Just finished VBS today (the 15th) and am redirecting my thoughts towards Sunday. Like the kid's song says, it's been a "Wild Wild Ride".

M.L. and I will be leaving after church Sunday (when the preacher 's finished) for a little R&R - going to see some family and friends across the state. No major agenda or tight schedule - a good thing.

Pray for our family - we will be somewhere in Kansas, Kyle will be in Washington D.C., Eric will be in San Francisco for work, and Todd and Melissa will be in New Mexico on a mission trip. Andrea and little grandson-to-be will be taking it easy at home ( we get to see them on Monday).

Looking forward to a little time off - I'll be back on the 1st of July. Blessings .......................

P.R.

SADDLE UP YOUR HORSES!

Well, here we are again. VBS is upon us as the kids get together for a great adventure at Avalanche Ranch. As you can see, there is a little bit of a western theme going on here (seems to fit doesn't it?). All of the kids are wanted by God and are learning a lot about how much he loves them and cares for them and desires their love for him as well. It's been great so far - 99 kids today, hoping to break 100 tomorrow. So here we go. Sunday you'll see and hear more about it.

CRAZY BUT FUN WEEKEND!

Well, we survived the 1st annual God Squad campout at Camp Lakeside and what a great time it was. We took 24 kids, 7 high schoolers, and 4 adults to Lakeside for the weekend and played together, worshipped and sang together, had Bible studies together, goofed off and ate together. We gathered around the campfire at night, got up early in the mornings, climbed hills, swam, launched water balloons, and just had an all around good time. The top picture is the group prior to leaving for home on Sunday. the 2nd picture was taken during the "fill the pitcher with food" game which was actually a little gross, but of course, the kids loved it.

A special thanks to Aimee for organizing the weekend. She did a great job. Also thank to the high schoolers who helped out as counselors - Megan, Megan, Meghan (crazy), Breck, Phillip, Trenton, and Matthew, and to Ann S. and Arthur (from Baxter Springs), the other two adults.

The weather was super, the food was wonderful, the kids were great, and God showed up, just as we expected. So thanks to all of you for sponsering the kids, sending the kids, providing transportation for the kids, praying for the kids, etc.etc. Next year??? My guess is a big resounding "yes"!

A CAMPING WE WILL GO!

Well, here we go. We are taking 26 kids from God Squad (many pictured above) to camp Lakeside tomorrow afternoon. Aimee has put together a great weekend with chapel time, games, recreation, food, food, food, campfire and other fun stuff. Keep us in your prayers. Thanks!

BACK IN THE SADDLE AGAIN!

I'm back from Annual Conference and am settling in for another year of ministry here in the big city of Leoti (according to the appointment set by the Bishop last Friday). While I was gone Asher Crowley (see picture) passed away at the young age of 102. He was a cowboy extraordinaire. The memorial service will be on Tuesday at 2:00 where we will remember and celebrate his life.

Can you imagine all the changes he saw during his lifetime? Unbelievable!! And to top it off, he was married to his wife for 79 years. She still survives. What a great example to all those who think they can't make it for a year without throwing in the towel. He and Myrtle truly understood their vows they made 79 years ago.

The next few weeks are crazy but I'll try and keep up with this here blog thing. Keep your eyes on Jesus.

Heading East

Tomorrow morning I will be heading for Hutchinson for the Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church. Actually, I will be attending a financial seminar for pastors in the afternoon followed by a Board of Ordained Ministry meeting in the evening. The conference starts on Wednesday until Friday evening. Wednesday evening I am in charge of a banquet for Kansans for United Methodist Renewal of which I am the president. Our speaker is the President of the Mission Society based out of Norcrosse, Georgia.
This year we will be celebrating in worship and attending to the business of the church for the coming year. We also will be voting on delegates to the General Conference which will be held next year in Fort Worth, Texas. Please pray for the right people to be sent to represent us. It will be a busy few days.
After the conference on Friday evening, M.L. and I hope to catch up with Todd and Melissa in McPherson and plan to stay the night and then go to the state track meet in Wichita. Kyle and his 4 x 800 relay team qualified at regionals so we are going to cheer him and the team on to victory. Or maybe more realistically, a good personal best as a team. Should be fun.
M.L. then is planning to get together with her sisters for the weekend in Marion while I look for a ride back to Leoti from Wichita. So as you can see, a busy time lies ahead. Hopefully everything works out okay so I'll see you on Sunday. Have a great week!!

LENDING A HAND!

Thanks to Kenny Farr, Marqueta Keeton, Marcia Mehl, Shad Mehl, Kelley Burch, and Gina Whalen for all their hard work last Thursday at Greensburg. What a day! What a mess!

The above picture found us (Kenny, Marqueta, and me) cleaning out a garage and a freezer with a bunch of meat in it. The others were smart and went out back to clean up. Ask Kenny about it. Also ask him if he'd like a cat for Christmas. The picture below is of all of us sitting on a tree that blew over at the Methodist church. It was so sad to see the church in ruins, not to mention the whole town.

Picture don't do justice to the destruction caused by the tornado. It looked like a bomb went off. But in the midst of it all, many people were volunteering their time to assist in the clean-up. We were blessed to offer a little support and were glad we were able to help. We plan to return.

GREEN LIGHT FOR GREENSBURG!

We are taking a team to Greensburg this Thursday morning. We will leave the church parking lot on the east side at 6:30 am. If you are going, please bring a shovel, rake, gloves, boots, etc - all things needed as it pertains to cleanup. A couple of us are taking chain saws. Marqueta is going to take some lunch along but you might want to bring some snacks, water, etc. Make sure you have some I.D. with you and you might want to be aware of when you last had a tetanus shot. Once we get to Greensburg we will be given directions regarding where we are to go and what we are to do. We will spend the day helping out so be prepared to work hard. We will probably need 2 vehicles, maybe three - we'll see. I'll let you know. If you have not let me know that you want to go, please do so ASAP. If you have questions, give me a call or leave on the comments on this blog.

See you Thursday.