Merry Christmas,
As I look back on the year, I
am glad to have you in my life. I am blessed to know you.
Bobby is in his 23rd year
of being a youth pastor and he still loves it. Adriel wants to be a
paralegal in the Portland area where she would continue her
studies. Seth remains the part-time custodian at church and
continues to do school full-time. I enjoy my job at Fred Meyer where
I help people get their groceries.
Throughout
the year I find delightful blessings and entertaining funnies. I’ll
share my highlights of the year.
Adriel called me one
day while we were both driving home. I enjoyed chatting with her and
when I arrived home, I put her on speakerphone with Bobby and me describing the
duties of her new position at a law firm. She was becoming the
Administrative Assistant. It was fun when she arrived with laundry
in hand. Bobby didn’t expect the live version of Adriel so we had a
great dinner together because Adriel couldn’t pass up his amazing cooking and
it was there, smelling wonderful. “Ohhh, can I have some?”
Adriel
managed to hug every person at Ryland Duval’s wedding. It had been a
year since she saw the people of West Hills. I was impressed by her
desire to make sure she said, “Hi” to so many people. Adriel has
always been all about the other person. Even as a child she cared
more about friends than toys. Watching Adriel warmed my
heart. She is amazingly intentional.
I wore my bright blue Rooted tee shirt and my
bright red pants for bowling with the Junior High group. Seth asked,
“Are you going out like that?” I smiled and said, “Yes, I
am!” He was chagrined and said, “It’s your funeral.” This
made me laugh and I responded, “Perfect, this is how I want to be dressed for
my funeral.” Seth’s final word, “It will be a closed casket.”
Seth cooked pizza for dinner
one evening. When I thanked him. He smiled and said, “Oh, you
think that was for you?”
We were watching the new Star
Trek. When Spock said, “I find the best way to reduce tension is to
apply rigorous logic.” Seth had to quip, “You are not fun at
parties.”
I answered a question to
Bobby saying, “It was wonderful, perfect, fabulous.” He then
replied, “Just like me.”
Bobby borrowed a suburban and
parked it in the driveway. Then we went to
bed. Meanwhile, Seth came home from work around 9:30 PM and was
alarmed. He went inside and asked, “Dad?! Is there anyone
robbing our house?”
Bobby mentioned he missed a
couple places shaving. I was wondering why he just told me he was
“Mystical in places.” When I mentioned what I heard he just came
back with, “Well, I am.”
I was filled with contentment
and joy on a lazy Saturday morning when I said, “Happiness is a purring
cat.” Bobby replied, “Happiness is a puppy peeing in someone else’s
lap.”
We delight in working with
teens. Here are some quotes from the youth group for your enjoyment:
“I wonder what it would taste
like if you mixed diet Dr. Pepper and rock star”. The quick answer,
“Diabetes.”
“I can’t find psalm 119 mine
goes only to 150.” When I mentioned 119 was smaller than 150 Bobby
piped in with, “And that’s why you are still in school.”
Someone burped and said,
“That made my eyes burn.”
After reading 1 Samuel
8:1-7. Bobby asked, “Who was supposed to be Israel’s
King?” In rapid succession, we heard, “David?”,
“Samuel?” Bobby said, “Noooo, God!” And a youth quipped,
“Welllll, we tried.”
“I speak for the
trees. Respect the amazon or I’ll break your knees.” When
this was repeated another person said, “That’s the most true thing I have ever
heard”.
Bobby was trying to teach
humility, specifically humility while we pray. He said, “In some
ways I make you pray with humility by having you pray for other people’s
requests instead of your own.” A teen was aghast, “You tricked
me!”
Bobby asked, “What do we call
a relationship?” (he was looking for the word “Friend” but a youth had to shoot
back with), “Complicated.”
When someone tried to trick
another the person said, “I have eaten so many carrots, I see thru your
techniques.” I love how punny people can be.
During the lesson, Bobby was
trying to get the answer, “Shapes.” He asked, “If you put this heart
and a star next to it what do you have?” Someone knew this, “Lucky
charms!”
One of the fun parts of the
youth group is introducing people who haven’t read much of the Bible to God and
his word. Sometimes the things we say are shocking. “Jesus’
brothers thought he was crazy.” (Mark 3:20-21 20) Also, wait,
“Jesus had siblings?” “Yes, half-siblings – Mary didn’t stay a
virgin forever.”
A youth mentioned she ran
into a friend at Target. Bobby asked, “Were you in a car when you
ran into him?” She said, “I wish.”
When Bobby asked what could
happen if you chose bad friends a youth said, “You could end up in a gang that
destroys your whole life and career.”
I am excited when our
raspberries and cherries are ripe. They are novel and
yummy. I feel God's blessing and love when I eat yummy
food. I am reminded of the laws of the harvest, and all the hard
work that went into established plants. We are rewarded for what we
do either good or bad.
May you make amazingly good
choices that ripple like a pebble in the pond. May what you do
affect the world in fabulous ways. May you feel God’s love flow thru
you and impact all you encounter. Much love,
Cristy VanKleek cvankleek@yahoo.com or on Facebook Cristina Maria VanKleek
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