The Great Bus-capades!!

The ski trip is finally over and I'm home! To say it was an eventful trip, would not be enough to describe what all happened. Everything up to the drive home was pretty normal, good conversations with kids, picking on the kids, everything fun we could do, we did. I had a great time. But then it was time to leave, and since I was the bus driver, I was not looking forward to the drive. I was tired and just wanted to be home. Then a girl tells me she left something - side note - how come no matter how many times you tell kids to check to make sure they have their stuff, they never do it? I have a new appreciation for parents of teenagers after this weekend. I could tell you some ridiculous stories of teenagers just being idiots! Anyway...since this was a girl, I didn't have the heart to say no, so we pulled off since the hotel was on our way home anyway. As we were getting ready to get back onto the interstate, I felt my steering wheel get a little tight. I wasn't sure if the power steering was bad or what, so I stopped to get out and check it. Everything looked ok, so we continued on down the road. As we're going down the interstate I see I-94 but it says toward Chicago, so I didn't think we should get on there. Once I passed it, Joel told me that's where I needed to go, because it split and I would end up heading east. Since the bus was just not feeling right to me, I decided to take it down another exit for some reason where there was a gas station. As I was pulling off the exit ramp, my steering was getting harder to do. Then a buzzer went off saying "no air pressure" - I have air brakes, so that meant "you have no breaks right now". With a bus full of 22 kids, I was praying hard. The light was coming up and I remember praying "God, put your hand in front of this bus and stop this before the intersection." If I could take a picture of where the bus landed, you would believe God heard me. I was 1 foot behind the white line...safe.

At this point, my body is kind of freaking out. I have never driven a bus on a long trip like this before, and the first time I do it, it breaks down. Ok God, what's the lesson? I did everything I knew how to do on that bus and there was no way it was going to work. When I opened the hood and knew it was the air compressor, I remember praying a funny prayer. Is it weird to pray over an air compressor? Not last night it wasn't! But it didn't work. I always hear stories of how God does some crazy awesome things in situations like this. So when the air compressor just wouldn't work, I almost started to laugh thinking "What are you going to do now God?"

A nice lady and her family finally stop to help us and give me the number to a wrecker so I can get it towed. When we finally get that set up with the wrecker, I called the police. There was nothing in sight of the bus that was safe to walk to with the kids, so I needed the cops there to help us stay safe and legal. As I feel like we're getting somewhere with a plan, God begins to work. A man starts walking towards the bus, I get out to greet him jokingly ask, "are you the bus mechanic I was praying God would send me?" Obviously, he wasn't, but he kept asking me questions about who we were, really not much about the bus. He then said something that about got some tears out of this guy. He said, "I go to church right over there. They're having church right now, but there is a youth room that we could put them up in. We also have a bus, I can see if they'll come pick your kids up so they can get out of here safely" Wow.

In the meantime, I had called our bus mechanic from Anderson. He and his wife had already started the 4 hour drive to pick us up on a different bus. The sad part is, we would get home around 3 in the morning. I felt so bad about all of this, but obviously it was all out of my control.

The kids were great in the church. That church's youth was still around, so they were playing games and stuff with them. The church bought everyone pizza and they were just having a great time together. I, on the other hand, was stuck out in the cold with the wrecker waiting on them to send a bigger truck. We made some conversation and I got to know his story a little bit. But I was looking forward to getting home so much more even now.

I got to the church and was greeted by everyone! Everyone was so great to us. After a little while of us being in there, the youth pastor came and asked if we wanted to try and meet the bus that was coming up there which would safe a couple hours. (YES!) So to try to wrap this up, we met our bus and got home around 1 in the morning.

Think God doesn't know what he's doing?
-a girl forgets her stuff, causing me to pull off the interstate (this is when my steering felt funny)
-I miss our exit
-I skip the following exit (not really sure why - now I know why)
-Our bus happens to stop before the white line
-there just HAPPENS to be a church through the trees next to us that we couldn't see
-there just HAPPENS to be church that night
-the guy who helped us (I left this out of the story), should not have been on that road, but he got a call from his son that night and ended up passing us twice (once on the way home, then on the way back)
-His church just happened to have a bus...and the bus driver was at church that night
-They bought us food
-Our bus mechanic and his wife were going to drive 8 hours total just to pick us up

Everything happened exactly how God wanted it to. You can see how all these events just happened to unfold like they did. But it was no coincidence. When the kids left with that church and I was alone before getting on the truck with the wrecker, I had a very real moment/encounter with God. I had a few tears (I was fighting it!), but I saw Him working right in front of my eyes. It was just moment after moment after moment.

I could've reacted different and gotten upset or whatever I was feeling. But in those moments when you're scared cuz you have no options and you don't even know what to do, you can find peace when God says, "Be still and know that I AM GOD". Powerful...last night was powerful, I hope the kids see that. Definitely a memory maker. Sorry this was so long, it was just an incredible time last night.

Now I have to figure out a message. I'm speaking to 5th graders at Libby's school today!

Winter - how I hate thee

This is Gabe here. Is anyone else sick of winter? I thought after last week's snow storm we would be done with it. But instead, Anderson was under a level 2 emergency this week because of more snow. Most of my family knows, or people close to me, that in the winter I get a little "depressed". Not like I need counseling depressed, just feeling the winter blues. Well, it hit me this week. I was starting to hate it and get irritated by it all. I know during the winter, I have to keep myself extremely busy to avoid these feelings, but I still had them!! I don't get it! I even started planning ahead...like really far ahead. Working on camps for the summer, figuring out every aftershock we have until the end of the school year. Just trying to find things to stay productive and keep busy so I don't think about the cold and the snow. The one part I love about winter though is that I exercise a lot more. I feel like that is my drug, it keeps my spirits up and I feel better about life when I do that. But yesterday, I couldn't fight the feelings. So I sat at home waiting for my small group kids to get to my house and I kept looking at my Bible sitting here on the desk. I thought to myself "what have you learned today?". I know many times when I get with kids, I ask them what they are learning. Most of the time it's a cliche answer "God loves me". Ok, I learned that when I was 3. So how do you KNOW God loves you? How do you feel it? So instead of asking kids this question, I started asking myself that question. How do you know God better today than you did yesterday? Then I began to read and instead of just reading it to read it, what stands out to you? What part of the verses really speaks to you? Here's what I got...
In Matthew 13:34, "Jesus spoke all these things to the crowd in parables; he did not say anything to them without using a parable"
I love the book of Matthew, I always have. But I never thought about this verse before. It stood out to me yesterday. Why parables? Because it helps us understand. Think about it. When Jesus says He loves you, how do you feel? Does it even sink in? Now when he relates to 100 sheep and 1 goes away, how he looks for that 1 sheep because he cares so much for each sheep. Does that hit you different? Well, it does to me. When I speak to people, I use stories, lots of them. Why? Because then we get it! Then it makes sense!
For instance, I talked sunday to the youth about how valuable we are to God and taking off the mask that we put on to become someone we're not to feel valuable. I could've sat up there for hours just saying "You are valuable" but do they ever get it? Probably not. So I used a story relating to art. A real Van Gogh painting that he painted could cost around $80 million, but I could go to Barnes and Noble and get a poster of one for about $8. What's the difference? The real painting was the one Van Gogh put his time into, he was in front of that canvas creating the art, his thoughts, his brush, his everything goes into that painting. It was a reflection of him. People want the real, genuine painting and it is worth a lot! That's how we are to God. He created each of us and spent His time, His life, His value into us. We are the image of God. So why do we put on masks that cost $8 when behind that mask we are worth $80 million? God puts so much value into us, and when we recognize that value, we'll never want to have our mask on!
That may not be a parable, but it sure makes me feel more valued and loved than just thinking "God loves me". It's broken down for us to understand it. I think that's why Jesus did it, because our minds can't fully comprehend the depths of His love. Challenging, yet encouraging. I hope this encourages someone today - that your life is worth living, that God puts so much value into you.

I debated writing this blog because I was scared I might offend people, but then I realized, it's the offended that need to read this.
This week I had to go to a bus school to learn bus safety and all that fun stuff. I'm doing it for the church, don't worry, I'm not quitting to be a bus driver! But as I sat in a class of 70 people, I looked around at everyone eating their donuts and drinking their big gulp coffee and it hit me how fat america is. You see it on the TV, you hear about it all the time, but does anyone do anything about it? Libby and I have gotten into watching the Biggest Loser and it has been inspiring for us. There's not nearly as much junk food in our house, we both are going and working out together. I don't just do weights anymore, I'm trying to get my body fat actually down. While this is good for the 2 of us, i can't help but think about the countless others who just don't care. I see people around me that are overweight and they blame it on genetics. If you think about it, it is genetic. Mom and Dad are lazy and overeat, so I guess that's what I do too. So genetics are things passed down to your kids. What kind of example do your kids have in front of you? This hit me this week. I have a horrible sweet tooth. If I could eat only desserts and be ok, I would!! I love dessert and snacky junk food. But I also love the thought of being healthy enough to run around with my kids, to keep up with them. Not just that, but for my future grandkids. I know that is a LOOOONG way off, but when will I decide to get into shape for that? For some, it's too late. Being healthy starts now, no matter where you are in your life, you have to make the decision to get on the right path. I know 30 minutes a day is tough to think about, but I think it's tougher to think about your kids or grandkids growing up not knowing you.
There's a lot I'm thinking about and I'm sure not everything is very clear in here. My biggest point is just to challenge people to think about their bodies. You only have 1 body, whether or not you like it, it's yours to take care of. How are you treating it? If you can't afford a gym membership, get an at home thing - I recommend the P90x video series. I promise that if you stick with that, it will work and you will lose weight. I talked to my trainer about it and it's been the trend lately to do, and for good reason! It's an awesome workout program and will hopefully help motivate you and get you on the right path for healthy living. I'm sure not many people even read our blog, but I'd love to be a part of helping America not be so fat! So quit reading this, get off your butt and go move around :-)

It's not about me....

I'm sure I need to preface this for those of you that read into things too much :-) Everything I write in here is in no way intended to lift me up at all, merely to show God's plan is bigger than my own. Also, I love my wife so so much, more than I thought I could love another human, so don't misread anything :-)

The reason I say that about Libby is because she is gone this weekend, and I was looking forward to a weekend of Gabe time. (that's what I thought you might read into) I never not want Libby here, but sometimes I really need alone time. It's the way I'm wired and it's healthy for me to be alone! But I learned something tonight, as it's 10:3o and I should be working on my message instead of writing on my blog. I learned that what we plan for our lives, may not always be in line with what God has planned for our lives. Here's why, since Libby is gone all weekend, I had things scheduled for ME, for what I wanted to do. I knew saturday would be great because I could talk my message out at home instead of hoping no one would be at the office so I could do it. Which there is always someone there, oh well, it's not Gabe's office :-) But my plans got "wrecked".

Friday night, I wanted to have fun and do my own thing. So I rode with a cop friend of mine to watch him bust the bad guys. That's always fun for me. I'd enjoy being a cop I think! But then my saturday completely changed from what I expected. I hung out with some middle school boys which I didn't think would last as long as it did, but it was good and I enjoyed it! But when I got home and started to talk out my message, my accountability partner called me up and asked if we could get together earlier than we planned. We were going to watch Team Impact, which are these Christian bodybuilder guys that break stuff and preach, pretty cool. But I went out with him to his in-laws house, then to the show, then he wanted to hang out and talk after. I love hanging out with this guy and talking with him, but I couldn't get my mind off of the stuff I still had to get done tonight. But as the night went on, we kept talking about ministry things and what I do and he started to challenge me. He was talking about getting rest, and actually resting spiritually. I feel like I go go go all the time that I never take the time alone for myself to really rest in God. I get so caught up in what I need to do that I don't realize I'm hurting myself more than I am trying to make things right.

Not sure if that made sense. But this whole day did not go how I had it planned out to go. As I sit here and when I came home to unwind a little before I got to work, I got to thinking about things. The ministry is not my ministry, it's God's ministry and He is using me. As I sit and worry all day as I'm with these kids and with this guy that needs to talk with me, I am actually doing God's work. I get so caught up in ME and what I want or need to do, that I don't even stop to think that God has me taken care of. Sure, I need to work on my message, but don't you think it's more important for me to be in the lives of all the people I was with today? Don't you think God sees that and used me for that reason? Instead of thinking about your message, don't you realize that it's God's message to these people, it's not your words, but His?

All that to say - God will take care of His plan. I can't control His plan, but I can help carry it out. Sometimes we think it's all about me and what I think should be done, but God comes in and "wrecks" our plan to fit what He sees needs to be done. Too many of us have the "me" mentality, but it's really about pursuing God's plan for our lives and changing to a different mentality. So as I'm sitting here writing this, I'm encouraged because I know that I had a fulfilled and purposeful day doing God's plan and not my own. So now I'm going to go talk out my message and spend some time resting before I go to bed. I love saturday nights, 5 hours of sleep if I'm lucky :-)

Merry Christmas from the Reeds!

We have had a wonderful Christmas season together! My break from school has been so relaxing and refreshing for me. I have been able to catch up on some much needed sleep, read books, watch old Friends episodes, see friends and family, bake and cook new meals, and spend some uninterrupted, quality time with Gabe. It was been wonderful. You might think I don't want to go back to school, but I am actually excited to see all of my students! I went into my classroom the other day to grab something, and I was happy to be in there! I am able to say that I LOVE my job, but a break from the hard, time consuming work is great for me. It makes me appreciate it more.

Enjoy the picture update of our Christmas gatherings! It lets you in on our little world this Christmas season!

Instead of buying each other gifts this Christmas, Gabe and I decided to spend a day together instead. We don't really NEED anything right now, and we both love spending time together.....just the two of us! We decided to spend the day in Indianapolis last week at the Children's Museum and downtown. We LOVED the museum! I guess that tells you we are really two big kids! :)

Gabe is making a boat to float along in the river.......it didn't make it very far though.

I won in the big tic-tac-toe game!

They had an exhibit on superheroes and comic books which featured the real Batmobile!

We went to the huge Borders on Meridian Street and looked at all the books, games, and music.

Gabe took me to eat at the Old Spaghetti Factory downtown Indy! I had never been there, and wow, it is a great restaurant. We got to sit in a traincar to eat our dinner! It was a wonderful Christmas date with my hubby. I love him!

On Christmas Eve, we celebrated my Grandpa Brown's birthday! Almost all of my Brown family was together and it was an evening of SO much fun! Gabe had never been with my family on Christmas Eve, and he loved it all! He said he loves having cousins......me too!

My cousin Chris and Grandpa.....I love this picture. Chris, who is probably one of the funniest people I know, just finished kissing Grandpa on the head and they were laughing about it!

Another set of cousins, Tom, Eric, and Alyssa with Grandpa. I am thankful for these beautiful people. They all have such sweet hearts.....even if Tom and Eric would roll their eyes if they knew I said that.

My brother, sister, and I with Grandpa! (I have to apologize....I didn't get a picture of my two cousins Amanda and Carrie....I didn't have my camera out fast enough!)

My grandparents are some of the most giving people I know. They go out of their way to help other people and build relationships with almost anyone they meet. We all look up to them and are thankful for all they do for our family. I love you Grandpa and Grandma!

Four out of five Brown kids with their parents!

Sister picture......Kate's short hair is SO cute!

Gabe got to read the Christmas story, The Night Before Christmas this year to our family. It has been a tradition that one of the cousins read this story every year. Since Gabe is the newest cousin, it was his year to read. I think his Santa hat was a little small.....

My dad always leads our entire family in some Christmas carols. This year he had my brother in law help him lead, and then they had Katie up there too! We sang the whole 12 Days of Christmas song with motions and everything! The Brown gang sure knows how to have fun and to really celebrate Christ's birth!

All of the Reed family came to Anderson to celebrate Christmas together! We got a great shot of us all. I really love this picture of us all.....we are so happy to be ALL together!!

What a cutie.....Ezzie!

Keziah looked like a little Santa princess in her red and white outfit. I couldn't get her to look at the camera though.

Ezra goes crazy over Uncle Gabe! He LOVES to wrestle with Gabe!

And we love to take the silly pictures together! It doesn't take much for this kid to become silly! I love him and the rest of my "new" family! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from the Reeds! We are both resting up today because we are taking a bunch of middle school and high school kids bowling tonight until 1 a.m. to kick off the New Year! I hope Gabe and I can make it!

Christmastime is here....

I cannot believe it. With only a couple days until I am on my Christmas break, we have had two days (Wednesday and Thursday) cancelled due to ice on the road! I had all of these wonderful activities to do with my fifth graders. The weathermen are calling for a big ice storm in central Indiana tonight, so we will see if I go to school tomorrow. And we were supposed to make gingerbread houses too....

We have not updated lately, and that has been my fault! It has taken me so long to get the pictures off my camera and on to our computer. This is a quick look at some 'holiday happenings' at our home. We both LOVE this time of year and have had so much fun being married for the first time during the holidays!

Joe, Natalie, Ezra and Keziah came home from Africa on Thanksgiving! It was so awesome to spend time with them. Keziah is so beautiful!

Ezra loves his time with Grandpa!

Gabe and I are in the car going to cut down our first Christmas tree together! We were so excited to start our own traditions!


We found our beauty of a tree! A 5'2" Douglas pine....we searched for awhile for just the right one!

Happy and in love....








They had a cute sleigh out front of the tree farm and the lady inside insisted we take a picture together, being our first Christmas together and all. I love this one.


I forgot to take pictures while we decorated the tree, but here is the finished project! We made homemade pizza (thanks Elise for the dough recipe!) and rearranged our whole living room to show off the tree. It smelled so great.



My sweet friend, Marcia, and I planned a holiday party for all of our friends from the Bridge last weekend! We had everyone come over to our house to have dinner together! My aunt and uncle gave us their kitchen table this fall and I finally was able to put in the four leaves to make it seat twelve people! I didn't get lots of pictures from the night, but here are a few before our friends ate their wonderful dinner!



We want to make this holiday party a tradition for our friends. There were about 15 of us this year.....I wonder how many more we could have next year!

Phil and Kylee.....beautiful friends inside and out. We love them!
Chris and Rachel......they are going to be parents soon and adopt four children into their home!

David and Marisha......just as sweet as their amazing homemade Alabama ice tea! :)

I feel better now that I have updated the blog world....or maybe just a couple friends on the Christmas happenings in our life. There is much to come and much to celebrate. Joy to the world!

Embracing Truth

So I've been on a kick with some worship music lately. One of my favorite things to do in my car alone is to turn on Shane and Shane and just sing it out! Don't laugh, you do the same when you're alone! But there is a song that gets me every time. It talks about how the devil is whispering in our ear that we are cursed and the penalty for our sin is death. How true. It's so weird to know that the devil is right! But the ending is cool because they say how he's forgotten one thing...one very important thing, "JESUS SAVES"

This got me thinking and I've been thinking about this for a few days now. Normally I write while things are burning in my heart and I just need to get it out. But instead, I've been spending time seeking in my own heart what I believe, what I feel like God is trying to teach me. What I have come to realize is that we miss it. I have friends of mine that like to get into theological debates all the time and convince each other their way is the right way. There is nothing wrong with discussing theology, I believe it stretches your understanding and it's a good thing. But when we get into the liturgical stuff of today's church, there is a huge disconnect between God and the church that He came to save. We are his bridegroom and we let that slip past us too many times.

What am I getting at? I don't care how you take communion, how you pray, how you worship, how you are wired spiritually. I care about you understanding the relationship we have with Jesus Christ. He says, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." Period. That's it. It's about a relationship with Him. We won't always get it perfect, we'll make mistakes along the way. But do we ever look at the relationship He offers us? We get too wrapped up in the details of things and trying to always be right. Instead, we just need to be, to exist, to be in love, in relationship with our Heavenly Father.

If we pause for just a minute and really look at the love of God in our lives...what will that do to you? It wrecks me today. I'm in my office right now listening to a song called "How He loves us" and I can feel that burn in my eyes because it messes me up. I know how much I love my wife and to know I want nothing more than to be near her, to be close to her and to never see her hurt. When I even imagine it, it hurts me. To know that God loves me so much more than that. I pray I never lose sight of what He has done for me. We are in a relationship - do you treat it that way? Or do you treat it like a business, doing what you know needs done so you can call yourself a Christian for the day?

When you encounter the love of God - you should never be the same. Embrace Him, Embrace the Truth. Embrace it and know His love for you.