My Christian Life

My daughter’s school held a play tonight called Go Fish! and she played the part of a mako shark. I must say for a shark she was quite beautiful in her costume. It ended up being a last minute type thing that we had to put together because the costume the school provided did not fit. I am so proud of her performance. She had a few solo speaking parts as well as a solo singing part in the first few minutes of the play. I have provided a few pictures from the play below.

Another point of interest in tonight’s play is the fact that the PTA ran the event for the second time that I have been to one of these. I assume they always plan the plays/events, but to be honest I really have no idea what they do other than act as a voice for the parents as I have never been involved with it. The surprising thing though is that before the play started, the PTA president for our school led us in the pledge of allegiance and then had a chaplain lead us in public optional prayer. Why was this so shocking to me? Maybe it is the fact that I have heard so many instances where teachers would even say the word God in a public school in front of students and they would be scolded for it. Are these same constraints not there for the PTA or even for after school programs such as this? I found it quite refreshing and love that God still has some place in our school systems.

What are your thoughts and experiences with this type of situation? I live in an area that is still heavily religious for the most part compared to some of the rest of the country.

Ponder those questions while you check out the pics I promised below…

Just recently, my son and daughter finished a season of basketball and cheerleading through an unbelievable sports program called Upward and was being put together by a local church. Upward’s mission statement is “To introduce children to Jesus Christ by creating opportunities to serve through sports.”. The program is for children in K5 through 6th grade for both boys and girls.

My son played in the basketball program and my daughter was a cheerleader and they really enjoyed themselves and was a great opportunity for them to learn more about Christ and also to learn about teamwork and self-esteem. In this program, winning is achieved in a different way than most sports programs promote. Score is not kept and the children gain iron-on stars through both practices and the games they put on their sleeves. The stars given out in practice are for learning a weekly Bible verse and reciting it together. The game stars are handed out after each game and have different colors that represent “best offense”, “most improved”, “most spirited” and things like that. Every child receives a star. Also, each week during practice, the kids gather around their coaches and have a devotional and prayer time.

All in all I think it was a great program and I know the children enjoyed it as well. I’m not against the normal sports programs that are available in our area as both of my children have participated in Soccer and Tee-ball. However, having the chance for them to play sports and learn about Jesus is just a blessing for us.

If you would like more information about Upward, visit their site by clicking here.

Below are several pictures from this past season…

With my blog now being only a few days old, I felt that I should introduce my family to all of you. I love my family dearly and cherish every day I have with them. God has truly blessed me with a wonderful family who loves each other so much. We all attend church regularly at East End Christian Church and love each and every person there.

Well, as you all know my name is Brett and I have been married to a very beautiful woman named Starla for 10 years now. We have a daughter Karson (8), who loves soccer and cheerleading, and a son Ethan (6), who loves playing on computers and playing basketball. Ginger is the fifth addition to our family and she is still a puppy (Terrier and Pug mix).

Below are photo galleries for each member of our family. If you are on the gallery page and wish to go back to the album page, please click back arrow on your browser or click the title of the blog post again.

Brett

1 Photos

Starla

1 Photos

Karson

4 Photos

Ethan

1 Photos

Ginger

2 Photos

Group Shots

4 Photos