The Meaning of Life, ELR Style

Hello Again - thought I'd post the other video clip of ELR we used yesterday for our messages to the Senior and Junior High youth groups. In this scene, the adults are gathered in the living room discussing their interpretations of what our purpose is here on earth. Funny stuff...



Enjoy and see you soon.

Welcome to the Planet!

Last night we did our first Junior High "BIG BLOW OUT" event at the REC Center. We had a blast playing dodgeball and gaga ball, eating Nachos and hanging out with each other. Tonya did a fun game called "King, Sword, Dragon" with everybody too! We took about 20 minutes and talked about why we are here on this earth and the mission God has for us while we are here. We opened the night with a short video clip from "Everybody Loves Raymond" where Raymond comes to Ally's room ready to talk to her about the Birds and the Bees, but then gets flustered when he figures out she really wants to know why we are here on the earth. It set the tone really well for our talk.



The next "BIG BLOW OUT" will be October 5th and will take place from 6:00 to 7:45 PM at the Medina Rec Center...Hope to see you there!

Sean is gone...(sniff)

WOW, sorry I'm so behind on the posts here. We took our oldest sone Sean to Bellarmine University a couple of weeks ago and it was a little more difficult to cope with than I anticipated. Two weeks later Sean is doing fairly well at school. I believe he is realizing the beauty of college...no parents around, he keeps his own schedule, eats when he wants to, gets to play lacrosse at a very high level...what more could he ask for?
This past Sunday I was talking to him and he shared that he was doing his homework on Sunday morning so he could stay ahead, "Besides Dad, I don't want to be home after Thanksgiving!" Haha, I laughed at him! Our little private joke this past school year has been the the light hearted threat that he wasn't going to become a H.A.T, or "Home After Thanksgiving", a term coined by one of the Lacrosse coaches recruiting him last year for new freshmen who fail school after just one quarter and come home after Thanksgiving.

Sean started his Fall Lacrosse Schedule last week and practices 5 days a week, including Sunday morning at 8:30 AM (woo hoo - better get to sleep early Sat. night so you can perform son!). They will travel to Ridely, PA to participate in a round robin tournament and then they are done for a while except for lifting. He was pretty geeked last week when he saw the Spring schedule and saw that they were scrimmaging Duke and Maryland in the Feb...(hmmmm, sounds like a road trip is on the horizon...) He told us he signed up for FCA ( Fellowship of Christian Athletes), which he did without any coercion from Mom or Dad. We hope this works out for him...

Anyways - just thought I'd post an update here on my boy. Thanks for the humoring me.

Ron

Phil Wickham Download

Hey Parents...if you like good music, give this website a try...it's about a guy named Phil Wickham, an artist who plays guitar and good music. He has a free album you can download by just submitting your e-mail address to him. Check it out here.

That's My King...

Sorry so many posts this week...we showed this video in church 1-2 years ago and it never gets old...Praise Him!

Piqua Workcamp Pt 3 of 3

Here it is, the long awaited sequel to parts 1 and 2. I just ran into someone today at Chipotle and they told me that one of the attendees mentioned this was the best workcamp ever because of the unity built within the work crews. WOW - big words spoken randomly by an observer! I certainly had a blast at this mission trip - I pray that the momentum we began at the "Love Out Loud" workcamp lasts throughout the year. We have a few things planned for the kids this year in youth group that will help that "serving" attitude last. Thanks a ton parents! Hope you enjoy the memories!

Piqua Workcamp Pt 2 of 3

Hello Again, here is part 2 of the 3 part video we showed on Sunday morning of Workcamp Sunday. One of the surprising things about this camp was the tremendous media coverage we experienced throughout the week. Almost everyday we had local city councilmen, newspaper reporters, city workers, and TV News crews visit our sites to interview work crews and see what we were doing. Amazing! Piqua loved us like no other!

And we loved Piqua! Probably one of the highlights of the week was on Thursday morning when a local Dayton TV reporter did a live feed from Piqua High School on the work we were doing. Many of the kids had a difficult time waking up but this guy must have had 30 cups of coffee before he arrived!

Workcamp Video Part 1

Hey everybody! Thought I'd post some thoughts on our recent trip to Piqua, Ohio. We were really anxious about being in work crews with kids from our own youth group. We have had the experience of being in crews with kids from other youth groups for the previous 8 camps and thought very highly of the experiences we had so this was going to be challenging. By the end of Monday though we saw the benefit this new arrangement would be for everybody. Thought I'd post the Piqua Workcamp Video we showed on Workcamp Sunday. This is part 1 of 3 parts. We are getting ready, arrive to the school and rest up before the big week! Enjoy and watch parts 2 and 3 as I post them.

Evolution of Dance...I love this video

Thought I'd start posting some of my favorite videos I see on Youtube. This particular guy was a motivational speaker at Medina High School a couple of years ago...what moves!!!


I would try to do something like this but I might break something...hahaha

Another Fair Week in the Books!

Whew, just finished with the Medina County Fair Parking Project Sunday night! I fell into bed around 11:30 and don't remember my head hitting the pillow. woke up around 8:00 AM (latest I've slept in all summer) and began cleaning up the stuff from the fair. As I was doing that I began reflecting on our week..If I remember correctly, this was our 4th or 5th year doing the parking. This year we earned a base sum of $5,400 plus a little bonus if the attendance exceeded a certain level. I was once more overwhelmed by the generosity of the folks at Heartland as they dedicated their time by helping the youth group out by working one of the three 4.5 hour shifts. In total we had nearly 95 different people put in time at the fair this week! WOW! As always we had a group of parking crazies who put in lots of time to make the thing work (and earn money for the mission trip next year). The 10+ shift group includes Mandi, R.J., Kyle, Wilson and Samuel. Right behind them with 5-10 shifts were Malory, Nate, Elisa, Ashley, Alex W., Zach, Alex E., Briana, and Carolyn. Adults going above and beyond the call of duty were Mark Williams, Carla, Deb, Janie, Steve, Toni and Chris W., The Warden, Dean and Tonya and a handful of other adults who didn't have kids in the program, but felt the need to help! Thanks a ton Heartland!

Workcamp Thoughts...

Just got back from our workcamp mission trip in Piqua, Ohio a couple of days ago. I'm still trying to get adjusted to not going out to Ernie's and working with all the kids to paint his house...(watch the newscast here). It was an awesome experience for everyone involved. It is hard to put into words what our experience is like year after year with these trips. For me it is a total "cleansing" of my soul as I am remined why we are here on this earth. I find it is pretty easy to get distracted with the petty issues that surround us in a "world" which tries to avoid God. A mission trip like this is just what the doctor (Jesus?) orders to help us keep in mind is most important. Jesus has educated us in this by saying the we need to love the Lord with all our heart, soul, and mind and to love our neighbors as we love ourselves,(Matthew 22:37-40). It's amazing how we can flip that to "love ourselves with all our heart, soul, and mind" and not even realize it.

One of our groups was especially impacted by a gentleman named Mr. Smith. Mr. Smith was 103 years old and spent a good part of his time serving others through the Salvation Army. What an example to follow! You can catch a newscast of our crew with him to see what I mean.

As we slip into the Fair Parking Event, it will be difficult to keep my mind off of all the experiences we shared with each other throughout the week. Each time I see one our workcamp kids, I'll be instantly reminded of something we did together the last week. I supposed that's one of the benefits of being in a community of believers. How cool is that? more to come on this I'm sure...I gotta run to the fair to park cars so we can earn money for next year...

Due to Popular Demand...

Wasn't that a funny video this past Sunday in church? You gotta love Nacho Libre! It got so many comments I thought I'd post it up here for you guys...



Let me take a moment to encourage any parent reading this that if you haven't yet taken the step of baptism by immersion, please consider doing so. It's a lot easier for your kids to develop their faith when they have a positive role model to follow.

Regards, Ron

Soooo, your kid went on a mission trip this summer, eh?

I am happy for you. Something happens to students once they get a taste of serving people who need help. They tend to want to do it again and again and again. Even if they don't belong to your youth group or church, they tend to want to "belong" to it because of the serving aspect the group does. What is the purpose of a mission trip? Here are a few...

-When we serve others we grow in our personal relationship to Jesus.
-Jesus asked us to reach out to those in need...to be his hands and feet to a world that desperately needs him.
-Mission trips cause youth groups to get excited about ministry...this translates into spiritual, relational, and numerical growth.

Sometimes I hear comments like "why can't we serve people here in Medina?" To that I say, "We can and we should, how can I help you do that?" One of the benefits of taking kids away from Medina is that it gets them out of their "comfort zone." Teenagers are creatures of habit whose identity is embedded in the people and things around them. When you take them away from that for the purpose of serving God, amazing things can happen.

Beware though, some strange things may happen to your kids when they return. They may "grow up" a little and become more independent. Don't worry, that's a good thing. We are raising our kids so they can out be productive Christ followers in their communities as adults. I sometimes hear comments that the kids "didn't call home enough" while they were gone. I say GREAT!!!! They are learning to survive and function without their parents...isn't this the ultimate goal any parent has?

A mission trip is an event that never stops teaching lessons throughout life. I hope your kids take advantage of this opportunity as often as they can.


Ron

Tuesday Night at Camp...

Hello Parents!

I'm proud to report that your kids are doing quite well at our Mission trip this week. We are doing many different things. Some kids are working at a community center with kids who have physical and mental challenges. Some of us are helping clean up public parks because they are unable to do everything they need to do. Some of the kids are stocking food shelves and helping out at a vacation bible school (considering that our kids have experience doing exceptional vbs's you won't be surprised to hear they are doing quite well). Caleb is sitting right next to me and wants me to tell everybody that "he never realized he was capable of helping people this much." He is quite proud of himself. Caleb, Brent, Cole and myself found a nice little room to call our own (complete with AC) and we are enjoying haning out and "acting like boys." Sammie has led devotions the last two nights and is encouraging our group to share how we are "showing our love through our actions." Brent is out of money. Emily lost hers before we got here (drat). Jeanne Morse gave us money for ice cream and last night we all walked to Graeter's and had some gourmet ice cream...Thanks Ms. Morse!!!! We are getting lots and lots of mail as the wall is plastered with messages form the folks at Heartland - Keep them coming!

We have two more days left and then a day at King's Island. Please keep us in your prayers.

Ronald

Leaving This Morning...

Hey Everybody, thought I'd shoot off a quick blog to say thanks for all of your support to my family this week. Whew, it's been a busy one in the Blue household. Sunday/Monday was orientation and registration at Bellarmine (Louisville), Tuesday was a Junior High Drive In Movie Night (30+ kids) in the back yard, Wednesday was the 20 something group (called L.O.L. 18+), Thursday and Friday and Saturday we were prepping for Sean's Graduation Party and the Mission Trip to Cinncinnati...somewhere in there I had a mid term exam at seminary. I can't wait to leave this morning so I can RELAX!!! Keep in touch with the blog me this week. If I have access to the internet we'll post stuff about our trip!

If you want to e-mail me or any of the other campers, use this link. We are at Cinncinnati Week of Hope, June 29-July 4.

Time for a Mission Trip

Hello Heartland Parents! Right next weekend our Junior High youth group (11 students and 3 adults) will be travelling to Cincinnati, Ohio to spend a week living in a church as we serve the greater Cincinnati area. This is the 7th year we have taken students on these trips and I have never came away from one of them disappointed with the kids efforts. They often say "That was the best week of my summer!" I am very excited to take both of our groups of kids to camp this summer.

The theme for this year's camp is “Love Out Loud.” As we serve others, we’ll Love Out
Loud—not just think about it, not just talk about it, but do it. 1 John 3:18—our verse for the week—reflects this: “Dear children, let’s not merely say that we love each other; let us show the truth by our actions.” (New Living Translation)

As we Love Out Loud for others, we’ll experience the transforming love of Jesus in powerful ways, too. We’ll learn more about Jesus, who showed us how to Love Out Loud. And, of course, the loudest anyone has ever loved was when Jesus died on the cross for us.

Please join me in praying for our kids as they prepare for one of the best weeks of their summer.

Thanks, Ron

PS - Don't forget to help us out by attending our Spaghetti Dinner/Dessert Auction on Sunday, July 13th at the cafeteria right after the main service.

Investing in my family...

WooHoo! Just got back from North Myrtle Beach for a week. Jen, the kids and I had a great time hanging out at the beach, grilling out, swimming in the pool and exploring all the sights that Myrtle Beach has to offer. When I think back to my younger days growing up in my family I will always remember the excitement of family vacations. Camping trips, visiting distant relatives, going to amusement parks or staying at hotels have created memories that will forever contribute to the legacy my family created in my mind.

We will always value vacations in our family. They bring our family together by removing us from the daily grind, they allow us to rest, they give us time to focus our attention on each other, they create memories that are "family oriented." As our kids grow older, maintaining the "family unit" has become a bigger challenge than I anticipated. We feel it's important to do whatever it takes to stay connected with each other and vacations are the way to do that. Through the years we have made it a priority to go on family vacations, considering it an "investment in family."

Dad's Day!

Thought I'd take a moment and dedicate a post to all the Dads out there on this awesome day - Father's Day! My dad, (Phil) has always been a great role model for me as I venture (sometimes wobble) through fatherhood. I don't get to talk to him near enough these days (being a dad is a busy job) but I'll always think of my dad as a guy who was a hard worker, ethical man, sensitive husband and "logical thinker." One of the things I always respect about my dad is how he thinks through any problem and come up with a great solution - I know, it sounds weird, but it's a guy thing, okay? Dad is a great listener, has a great sense of humor, and has always been a very honest and ethical person.

Some of my favorite memories include when he used to set our alarm clocks ahead three hours so we could get a head start on vacation! Later on in our life Dad and Mom started vacationing in Hilton Head which was a tradition we continued as our kids grew up. Other classics includes those April Fool's Day pranks, throwing the baseball in the back yard ("remember to plant your foot son"), telephone calls to inquire about a problem, his expertise in growing grapes and making wine, and most recently, his purchase of a go-cart to use for the entire family (4 brothers and their wives, 9 grandchildren).

Thanks Dad. Happy Father's Day!

Medina Lacrosse Team Assists Schultes with Yardwork

Props to the Medina lacrosse team as they took a Sat. morning last weekend and helped out the Schulte family with yardwork. Bob Schulte has been battling leukemia for the last 2 years and was in need of a little help with taming the growing shrubs and weeds. They layed out mulch, cut grass, trimmed bushes, edged flower gardens and had a great time doing it. Big thanks to Mark Dorman, Ken Walters, and Jennifer Blue for organizing the event. Also a big thanks to the tema who were in attendance with over 25 guys!!! Way to go men! I have included a short three and a half minute video showing the event. In the begining of the clip the Medina Boys Seniors are shown on Senior Night at the last home lacrosse game...the Schulte home footage is right after that. A little bit of trivia involved here...this year's head coach, Ken Walters, grew up in the Schulte home as a young boy - rumor has it that he was digging up old Army men he buried in the flower garden years ago.

College Connection this summer

Just had our first college connection event this past Friday evening. We planned a cookout and disc golf outing at Roscoe Ewing Park. Six students showed up for some good burgers grilled by Pete and some good discussion and a chance to reconnect with some of my favorite people in the world. Cattt, Britt, Ryan, Tim, Justin and Jeff hung out until 9:30-ish. We are planning another event at Justin's house later this month (date and time tbd) so stay tuned to this site or the church website. Though we never made it to the disc golf course we did have some casual conversation on faith issues. Those in attendance seemed like they wanted to make it a regular activity. Saweeeeetttt! Hey, we need to give a shout out to Pete Drury as prepares for his triathlon in the next couple of weeks! Good luck Pete!

Heartland Seniors Graduate!

We had our annual graduation ceremony yesterday in the main service. It's always great to see all those kids on stage sharing what their plans are for the future. I really like putting the videos together for these services because it gives me a chance to reflect on our history with the kid. Some of the kids we recognize haven't been involved in the youth ministry, some make youth ministry their main focus. My heart aches a little for those kids who choose not to make the ministry a priority in their lives. They don't relaize how rich and rewarding their life could be when they pursue God with a group of people their own age.

Props to the Medina High School staff for their commencement ceremony yesterday at the J.A.R. (University of Akron). There were over 570 students who walked the stage, 6-7 speakers, music and 2 fire alarms and they finished the program in 90 minutes! Impressive!

I thought I'd include the tribute video we showed in the main service for your viewing pleasure! Congrats Seniors!

My Sean is Graduating!!! AAAGGGHHHHH

Okay - For those who may think this entry is a bit selfish I have one thing to say to you...YOU ARE ABSOLUTELY CORRECT! In the 16 years I've been involved in youth ministry I have heard many reactions by parents concerning their kid's departure for college. Everything from joy to sorrow with many combinations thereof are the typical responses I hear from Mom's and Dads each year. With this in mind I was nervous and curious to see how I would react to Sean's departure (which, by the way, is August 21st at 6:00 AM in the morning, sniff sniff).

My awareness that his presence in our house was coming to a close was made clear in December of 2006, his junior year at about 11:30 PM on a school night. First, let me set this up for you. For those who don't know, Sean is a putzer, (pronounced "putt-zer" in our family) meaning he can make the 5 minute task of getting ready for bed (wash face, brush teeth, floss, pajamas, etc.) last for 45 minutes. In my ongoing mission of making sure he gets enough sleep I would constantly hound Sean to "hurry up and get to bed, what's taking you so long?" It was very typical for him to hover in the darkened doorway of our bedroom (long after everyone had already gone to bed) asking the whereabouts of his favorite socks, shirt, or shoes for the next day. On this particular night I heard him "putzing" around in the hallway outside our bedroom and then open the door to our room and ask a question...I felt mt usual response rise in my throat when I suddenly heard a "voice" share with me that "he won't be in your doorway much longer..." This reality became so clear to me that I immediately got up to help him find what he was looking for and get him to bed. Ever since that night I have had an almost constant desire to take advantage of every opportunity to "be present" with him. Don't get me wrong now, this isn't supposed to be a warm fuzzy fairy tale (I have had opportunities to share many more words of wisdom since then and will have more I'm sure), but I was certainly blessed at that moment to gain insight into what a gift my son has been to me and Jen and what a great brother he has been to Nate and Sarah.

Can we be honest for a minute? The kid is more handsome than me (is it okay for a Dad to use the word "gorgeous" when describing one of his sons?) a better student than I was (which admittedly I didn't set very high standards back then), has better social connections, and demonstrates more positive influence in his circle of friends than I ever did. Did I mention he was Captain of the lacrosse team for 2 years, a Region 2 First Team Selection for 2 years, and All State honorable mention lacrosse player, recruited to play Division 1 lacrosse? (sorry to brag, but hey, it's my blog, okay?)

Now some of you may be saying to yourself "Ron, what about Sarah and Nate?" Their day is coming and don't worry, they get the same love from Dad right now, (at the pace Nate is on, he will be a better lacrosse playerand a better student than Sean, just ask Sean). I never hesitate to tell others that Sarah is the smartest one in the family and is pretty skilled at saxaphone, viola, and soccer as well. But like I said, their day is coming.

So as of today (the day before he walks across the graduation stage), we have about 80 days until he leaves our house for the next chapter in his life and I am taking advantage of every opportunity to be "with him."

If this entry hasn't bored you to death already I decided to include a video/picture history of Sean for your viewing pleasure. This actually was an excerpt from a DVD I made for Jennie for Christmas which had all of our kids in it. Enjoy!

Ron

Memorial Day 2008

Hey All - I hope everyone has big plans for the Memorial Day weekend! Traditionally we hook up with my family for a Blue Family Reunion on Memorial Day Weekend. Our family is joined by my three brother's families (Dave, Dan, and Brian) as well as a few cousins, aunts, grandmas, etc. for a weekend of games, visiting, camping out (too many people of the house so we sleep in the pop-up camper outside), big campfire and my parents famous barbecue chicken (the recipe for the sauce comes from the old Ohio State Fair recipe from the 50's. It is delicicous). We do goofy games, ride a go-cart, eat too much and visit with everybody. A good time had by all! I hope everyone enjoys their weekend, really nice weather ahead from what I hear!

Let me take a few lines of space to ask everyone reading this to not forget to stop and honor all of the brave men and women in our military who died in defense of our nations freedom! I have a special place in my heart for those folks after having spent almost 9 years in the military. As a college student I was a member of a Military Police National Guard Unit in Toledo Ohio. After graduation from U.T. Jen and I went active duty Army where I attended flight school to be come a helicopter pilot. I flew UH-1H "Hueys" for 4 years and came out of the Army as a Captain (right after Sean was born). Thanks and God Bless!

Why The Youth Group Takes May Off

If you have ever noticed that the Heartland youth group seems to be dormant in the month of May then you are very observant. Keep reading and I'll share our thinking behind this. This past May 1st I celebrated my 7 year anniversary as Heartland's youth pastor. I was involved with the youth ministry as a volunteer for 2-3 years before that (back when the church started in '97). In those 9-10 years we have experimented with doing different activites throughout the month of May and have found that it tends to be a very busy month for various reasons. The second weekend of May is always Mother's Day and we typically don't ever want to compete with a "family oriented" holiday because we want kids to spend time with their Moms. The other holiday in May is Memorial Day. I have found that many families travel or have family visiting for the weekend and like Mother's Day we don't want to compete with a family type holiday. We found this out one year when we were meeting at A.I. Root for our Sunday programs and we decided to have our own youth cook-out. We planned to cook burgers, dogs and have a picnic feast for the kids. We got all the supplies, secured a grill, planned games and got ready for a crowd. We were typically drawing 40-60 kids a night so we were expecting at least that many if not more! When 6:00 PM rolled around we had 2-3 kids show up...at 6:30 we had 6-7 kids there plus many of our adult youth workers, (who incidentally cleared their calendar for the pic nic that night). For a couple of years after that we alos noticed that attendance dropped off as the nice weather invaded Northeast Ohio. Add to the equation that Seniors are ready to split and their families are getting prepped for graduation activities and you have a very busy month!!! This "senior thing" has really hit home for me this year as my own son Sean is getting ready to graduate and is also finishing up his senior season in lacrosse. Sooooo, based on these experiences we decided to roll with the culture and focus our efforts on a series that goes from the middle of April to the first weekend of May. Last year we did our famous "Best Sex Ever" series for the Senior High and a series for the Junior High called "Exposed." Both series focused on dating relationships, purity, and how to live in a culture that is saturated with sex. This year we wrote our own series called "Keep It Clean" which I addressed in my first blog entry. We save the last night of the year for an extra fun event - this year we did a video scavenger hunt (check out Wil singing to the video camer) and pig out on pizza. At the end of this event we say goodbye, enjoy May and we'll see you in the summer for some awesome outdoor events.

An added benefit to taking off May is that it allows me to give our hardworking youth workers a little time off to rest and recuperate with their families (hey - spending 30 Sunday nights with someone else's kids is exhausting - just ask my wife!).

In any event, I though I'd give you a little history of how we have done things in the Heartland youth ministry over the years. It's probably different at other churches or in other towns, but for our church at this in its life this seems to work the best for us. When the building goes up we will have to rethink how we can best do ministry to fit into the culture and ministry needs of our kids.

Enjoy your May! We'll see you around Sunday mornings.

Where did Ron's hair go?

If you are new to Heartland and don't know the story behind my hairless head then this blog's for you. In 2006 we were doing our second annual dessert auction to help raise money for the kids to go to workcamp. We had done a great job and were at the very end of the auction when I was getting ready to thank everyone for their help. As I began to speak Chuck Stiver (our incredible auctioneer) interupted me and said we had one more item to auction off. I looked over to the dessert table and was a little confused when I didn't see any more items to auction off. Chuck continued and said that some people in the audience had "conspired" to raise money to shave my head! I was a little hesitant but when a small roar of approval erupted from the audience I found it very difficult to "just say no" (I think that's called peer pressure). Chuck started the bidding and before I knew it the price was over $300!!! The bidding ended at around $350 and I soon found myself making plans to go to the Clardy's for the students to shave my head. And now you know the rest of the story...

Chronicles of Narnia:Prince Caspian

Hey parents...a movie in the Chronicles of Narnia series is coming out this week (May 16th). It's called "Chronicles of Narnia:Prince Caspian." I am ashamed to say that I have not read the Chronicles series and therefore am not an expert on the matter...I tried to read the series to my kids when they were a lot younger but I apparently wasn't a very engaging speaker...(sigh). If you would like some information about the movie go the Plugged In Online Website to read about Prince Caspian. They will include information on the positive elements, spiritual content, sexual content, violent content, crude or profane language, drug and alcohol content and other negative elements which may exist in the movie. Basically they provide a list of things you may want to know about the movie before you let your kids go see it. One of the reasons I like the site is because they objectively list the various elements without making a judgement call on whether your kid should go...in other words they make you make the decision. The review won't come out until after the movie, typically within the first day or so of release. I hope you enjoy the site.

Happy Mother's Day!!!

Thought I'd take a moment and wish all the Moms a Happy Mother's Day! It just so happens that I was born on Mother's Day in 1963 (what an awesome present, eh?). It'll be a fun day at the Blue household. Typically we like to go to Hinckley Park and hang out but this year we have different plans. No youth in the evening makes for a "free" night for our family! Thought I'd enclose a picture of my mother just so eveyone knows I have one. For the record, she really likes me! (This was 1980...she and I were in the community drama team's rendition of "Music Man." She was one of the singer ladies and I was the Sheriff. Oh what a memorable performance!

Behind the Scenes of the "Keep It Clean" Series...

On April 27th we finished a 4 week series called Keep It Clean. This series was a collabrative effort from the volunteer staff of the Heartland Youth Program. We began planning this series right after Christmas and eventually came up with a list of items we felt were necessary to address with the kids. The three basic themes we wanted to address included 1.) Honest Talk About Dating Relationships, 2.) Cyberspace Integrity, and 3.) Guy Stuff/Gurl Stuff.

Honest Talk About Dating Relationships - In this series we wanted to explore the heathly ways guys and girls should interact with each other as they begin the "dating" process...oh yeah - don't use the word "dating" with teenagers. "Dating" is what you and I did as teenagers, today they don't use that word (Try..."seeing each other"..."talking"..."hanging out with"...etc.). The main teaching points on this night were 1. Know your standards, 2. Make your standards known 3. Choose wisely, 4. Avoid sexual situations, and 5. Make Christ your most important relationship. The "popular saying" the kids took away with them was under the first and second teaching point about standards. They include Keep the Lights On, Keep Your Clothes On, Stay Upright, and Don't Be Alone. Pretty basic ideas but if you apply them it would be very difficult to get into "trouble" with the opposite sex." For the Senior High group we added a Rob Bell video called "Flame" where he talks about three types of love..."-riyah", "-ahava" and "-dode." These ancient Hebrew words describe a component of love which when all combined result in a powerful and fulfilling love which comes closer to the type of "love" God intended for us to experience with our spouses. We received a lot of positive feedback from the kids and adults who attended this event.

Cyberspace Integrity - In this message we focused on the many ways we can get into trouble on the internet (to include cell phone usage, texting, surfing, and chatting). Bryan Simmons took over the Jr High program and shared some of his expertise on internet safety. We were all impressed with his knowledge of the topic. If you have a question about internet safety, talk to Bryan! With the Senior High we got into the same topics but also addressed the topic of pornography. I believe most of our kids understand that pornography is bad thing, but they didn't understand why. We hit this head on. One of the highlights of the evening was a video testimony from a guy named Donny Pauling who was a former film producer in the pornography industry for 9 years. Donny shared why he got out and what he is doing now. It was certainly eye opening for the kids to hear him share via video. For the record, Donny is now a student at a seminary finishing up a degree. You can see this testimony by going to Youtube and typing in Donny Pauling.

Guy Stuff/Girl Stuff - This was the biggest night of the series. For this night we decided to combine the Junior and Senior High youth groups (which is usually a mortal sin) and divide them into guys and girls (which makes up for combining them together). For lack of a better name we decided to call our theme "How to be a Manly Man"...but it was a thinly veiled diversion for the real theme which was "How to Get the Girl Without Losing God." We had lots of fun stuff to do like an hour of dodgeball, burgers and dogs on the grill, giveaways, and a average message by Ron which covered three points...(it was average because it's the end of the year and students are just tired of hearing me speak!). The points were 1.) Treat the girls the way the Bible says we should, 2.) Girls are not a substituion for God, and 3.) Be a leader in the relationship. Thie girls had a taco bar, and got to listen to a video message by Chad Eastham...a hunk of a good looking guy...and his main theme was that girls can control how a guy thinks of them by the way they dress - they can dress like a treasure or a target. It was dead on target and well received. The big activity of the night was their fashion show, which was sponsored by Marshall's in Medina. Janie Holley did a great job asking various stores around Medina if they would allow our girls to come into the store, check out some clothes and model them for the show. Marshall's was more than willing and it turned out fantastic. Attendance for the night was high (45 guys, 66 girls and 18 adults) and a good time was had by all! Lots of people put their energies into this series and you could tell by the results...many many many kids...a great message...and high energy! Good job Heartland Youth Staff...Thanks a ton!

Ron

Whoopee - Summer's Almost Here!

Welcome to my Ron's blog! This blog thing is going to be an experiment. I've been racking my brain to think of ways I can communicate with parents in the church and I think this may be a way to do that. Of course the really important part of this is you (the parent) getting here to read the comments and hopefully getting value out of it. We'll give it a few months to see if it works or not...okay?

We just finished the 07/08 school year youth program this past Sunday night with a video scavenger hunt for each group. What a blast! We had two separate groups (Junior High and Senior High) and within each group we divided them into smaller "car groups" or 6-8 kids each. Each car group went with an adult driver and had to videotape 10 items on a list. After they videotaped the events they came back to the starting point (Jr High was at the REC Center, Sr High was at the Clardys) for food and to watch the video masterpieces! WOW, was this fun! These kids have incredible imaginations and did some really funny stuff...awesome!

Of course this event wouldn't have been possible if it weren't for the help of the adults helping out. Tonya, Jen, Rebecca, Tina, Bryan, Bill, Steve, Brian, Jen, Wendi, Kathy and Nate all made the event possible by contributing 2-3 hours of their time on a Sunday night. Good job everybody!

I am busy working on a schedule for summer activities, complete with dates and events. In the past we have typically scheduled many events for kids to participate in throughout the summer. The actual participation has been up and down due to a variety of factors (summer vacation, sports camps, summer jobs) and I have often wondered if we were overdoing it with the events. This summer I plan on encouraging kids to participate in some of our bigger activities taking place. The first event taking place is the Mega Sports Camp at A.I. Root Middle School from June 22nd to the 26th. It basically is a sports themed vacation bible school where kids can participate in a number of sports activities. Jen Rymer will need lots of help from teenagers so feel free to plug in there. The next activity will be the Junior High mission trip to Cincinnati, Ohio from June 30th to July 4th. Two weeks after that the Senior High are are traveling to Piqua, Ohio from July 20th to 26th for their 8th annual workcamp. As soon as we get back we'll be getting ready for our 4th year of Medina County Fair Parking from July 28th to August 3rd. This last event is one that acts as a fundraiser for the following summer's mission trip. Many kids are able to work enough shifts to pay for most, if not all of their trip!

Check back soon...I plan on making a few comments on our "Keep It Clean" series we finished two weeks ago...

Later

Ron