Since there is no school for Labor Day we threw together a last-minute trip to Burger King and then to Laser Zone. We had a pretty good turnout, and a lot of fun. I was mostly excited that several of our younger kids got to come. I think we ended up with a trade-off between money lost in games (mine at least) and free bowling (partially because the clerk was kind enough to give one of our girls a free game, partially because the clerk accidentally put the free game on twice, and the rest because the folks on the lane next to us didn't finish their game and left with several frames unfinished.) Also, most of the kids enjoyed some laser tag while I battled my arch nemesis (my 2-year old daughter) in the arena known as the arcade room. All in all it was a good time and I'm glad the teens had the chance to be together.

Wow! God’s Girls 2011 turned out to be such an amazing day. There were about 170 in attendance including the almost 50 women from Southwest that were there to help! It takes a remarkable group of women to pull something like this off and boy do we have one.

The day centered on James 3:11 “Does a fountain send forth at the same place sweet water and bitter?” and focused on different issues young women face when dealing with the tongue. The singing, led by Jacie Hutcherson, was beautifully uplifting and the keynote talks given by Tami Roberts of the Bear Valley Bible Institute were informative and inspiring.

At the beginning of the day each young lady put their name on a “mailbox” and they were encouraged to send each other notes throughout the day. We started out the day with 4,000 note cards for them to write on and ended up with only 20 left!

Each class was geared toward a different aspect of the tongue ranging from gossip to dealing with your daughters tongue (for the chaperones). These classes were taught by Sharon Estes, Kellie Hudson, Jana Byrd and Darla Hendricks. Also during class time the girls split one session between a service project and the prayer walk. Briana Lane organized the service project in which the girls decorated bags for the Ada Youth Shelter and the Family Crisis Center. These bags were filled with toiletries that the girls donated and will be delivered this week. Abigail Shofner planned and decorated the prayer walk. This was a time of deep reflection and prayer for the girls and for many of them was the favorite event of the day. Every hour of the day women were assigned to pray for each girl specifically and any prayer requests they turned in. Add in two delicious meals by Renee Nail and Pam Butler and this was a formula for success.

I am confident that the Southwest Church of Christ in Ada will continue to touch many lives through this ministry each and every year. What a blessing to be part of such a fantastic congregation that loves God and strives to do truly great things in His name!