No Extreme

Just a reminder that there will be no Extreme December 23rd & 30th. We will resume activities on January 6th

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas!

As Christmas nears, I again have been remided to remember the "true meaning of Christmas". Society reminds me that it is the time of year to generous and cheritable to others. I've read in Luke 4 where Jesus challenges us to give to others. To be generous with what we have for those who just don't have. Jesus' self-proclaimed mission in this chapter was to preach the gospel to the poor and set people free. What stood out to me was not just that we need to be generous with our money/time, but also be generous with the spiritual gift that God gave to us. How have we taken any chance to give the liberty of Christ to those who are "oppressed" this season?

EXTREME CANCELLED

Due to the snowy conditions outside Extreme has been cancelled for Tuesday December 16th.

Posted at 3:21

Merry Christmas and Extreme will resume January 6th

Extreme - December Schedule

Extreme is back up and running. Here is the schedule for the rest of the month.

December 9th - Extreme
December 16th - Extreme
December 23rd - No Extreme
December 30th - No Extreme

NO EXTREME

Because of Thanksgiving next week Extreme will not be meeting on Tuesday November 25th. We will meet back again on December 2nd...See you then!

Meet Charlie part 3

It took a little convincing, but Charlie came with Extreme to our summer camp called "The Trip". Our theme was about getting LOST in God. On July 19th Charlie came to us and said that he wanted to give his life to God for the first time! His life truly had changed and God used us. In August Charlie continued to follow God's plan for his life and was baptized at Grace. God is continuing to change and form a boy with great abilities and gifts. Charlie has NOT arrived, his mom will re-assure you of that, but he has come a long way. Charlie is one of the changed lives of the students at Extreme.

Meet Charlie part 2

Charlie came that next Tuesday and "Stubborn" was right! "This is boring", "give me some food", "I'm not coming back" all were quotes that came from Charlie. However, after several weeks of continuing to come he began to open up and soften a little. He made friends very quickly and became more and more outgoing. Weeks and months went by and his attitude, behavior and demeanor began to change. Not just at Extreme, but also at home. It became evident pretty quickly that Charlie was a leader and people wanted to follow him.

Meet Charlie part 1

December 8th, 2007 I had the priveledge of meeting Andrea Wright at a staff Christmas party. She was a soft-spoken, sweet, friendly lady. As our conversation progressed she began asking questions about our Junior High program for her 6th grade son. I explained a little about Extreme but invited her to bring her son to check it out. She made it clear that he was a "stubborn" boy, but she would make him come.

Lip Sync

This Sunday night you are invited to H2O's "Lip Sync ". The show starts at 6:00 and runs until 8:30. It's $5 to get in or $10 for the whole family.

NEWS 11.18.08

Here is what people are talking about this week @ Extreme

Deep - For Girls begining Tuesday December 9th
Winter Retreat - Registration opening soon
H2O Lip Sync this Sunday night @ 6:30
All month our offering @ Extreme will go to buying presents for less-priveledged kids in the area

Manly Campout

We just walked through the first ever "Manly Campout" at Grace for Extreme. It was cold, but it didn't snow! A lot of football, a lot of capture-the-flag, and a lot of fun! This was a simple chance to get away from everything and just be a junior high "man"

Neck beard

"If anyone is waiting for Kyle Orton to fall apart, they should stop. He’s legit. "

Playoffs

97 wins is ALWAYS a success you can build on. But, it's go time!

Back-to-Back division titles

First time in 100 years...you'll be hearing a lot of that phrase!!!!

GEO!

'Nuff said!

Go Cubs Go

Back-to-back division titles in sight for the first time since 1907 & 1908. Magic number is 4

Fantasy Football

In joining 2 leagues this season, here are the results of the two drafts.
ESPN
RB - Portis, Lynch, J. Lewis, Jones-Drew, Turner, F. Taylor, J. Stewart, Fargas
WR - C. Johnson, Roddy White, Driver, Crayton
QB - McNabb, Bulger
TE - D. Lee
DEF - Packers
K - Josh Brown
IDP - Sean Jones, Will Witherspoon

YAHOO
RB - McFadden, Stewart, Parker, J. Jones, Fargas, R. Rice
WR - Edwards, Driver, Ward, Berrian, A. Gonzalez, Gaffney
QB - Brady
TE - Winslow
DEF - Colts
K - Longwell

Softball

Despite the losses, the frustration, and the disappointment the first ever softball season at Grace ended with this memory...it was fun. Not just fake, Reaghann smile fun, but genuine all-out fun! Thanks to all who made it week in and week out and for making it a blast. Congrats to the only team with 4 all-stars, Aaron, Duane, Tiffin, Austin

Grace Championship Series

The game is set, David Scott (4-7) vs Aaron Koehler (6-4) @ 7:15. We split the two game series 1-1 during the regular season. They beat us 5-2 back in June, then we had a walk-off thriller 5-4 just 2 weeks ago. The table is set, who's gonna eat?

Sinking ship or old faithful tug boat?

What are the warning signs of a sinking ship? Unwanted/unneeded weight, untimely faltering and sputtering of the engine, unwanted holes in the middle of the boat, and taking on water.
What are the signs of a tug boat? A Tug-boat is slow, loud, smokey and ugly. It will never win any beauty contests, boat races, or "boat with the most silent motor" awards. It appears unsafe, but the Tugger always gets to its destination, no matter what. Not always on time, but it gets there when it gets there. Slow and steady.
Final analysis: We made some mental mistakes (again) continually stranded guys on base, hit the ball at defenders all day and failed to move people over. A sure sign of a sinking ship? The reality is this, we won the game. Was it pretty, was it the definition of solid softball, was it easy? No, no style points, no "great game" awards, just a victory. Despite the struggles, at the end of the night the tug boat is docked. Sure we had chances to blow the roof off of the game, but we didn't. We struggled, but we won. To me that is NOT a sinking ship, that is a rickety old boat that just simply hung tough and found a way to win when they had to = DOCKED BOAT. Could this tug boat make a few more waves before the season ends? I think so

The Trip

Over 4 days on the road/sand with 26 middle schoolers, 8 coaches and 4 guides = "Dangerous, Dangerous...." If I don't touch sand until next year's Trip, I'm okay with that.

Wed at camp consisted of running, and yelling, and running. To the students it was fun, to the coaches it was a means to break them down and make them tired and sleepy...Plan failed. Thursday - Headed out to the water. Everyone got a canoe partner and paddled "all day". Which turned out to be about 2 hours. How quickly we were reminded that middle schoolers can be whiners! We stayed that night on the beach, and so began the battle against the sand. We ran and ran and ran again in hopes of wearing them down so they would sleep...plan started to work.

Friday - Much of the same with one mishap that made heroes out of Cameron, Ryan and Derrick.

Saturday - Had lunch outside in the pounding heat. The complaints were thicker than the humidity. We then went spelunking in a cave. That was a crazy experience that everyone at least tried. The cave was actually cold inside, so you can imagine the new complaints that were flying about how cold it was! We came back to camp to run and run and break them down...plan worked a little more!

Sunday - We got up, packed and started the journey home. All was good and quiet until they discovered "Amp, Monster, Sobe"...the energy quickly came back and it was a long ride home.

Overall 1 student was saved and 24 of the 26 students publicly claimed to have made some decision during the week about getting LOST in GOD.

Benny the Bull

I was simply enjoying the entertainment of the professional athlete and showman known around the world as Benny the Bull. There were nearly 200 kids swarming for his attention and affection. Of all those people, he turns to me, me! I guess in his endless pursuit of being a world class entertainer he saw me as a prime "photo opportunity". He sent out an invitation for me to play a little one-on-one. I obliged, simply to help him fulfill his duties, desires, hopes, dreams and large paycheck. Obviously, the fan favorite, he quickly gained fan support in order to make an example of the tall, stringy fellow. My eyes saw this; a cocky little son-of-a-gun who needed a little dose of humble pie. He blew by me with ease, but in basketball, to get past Aaron Koehler, is not to have beaten Aaron Koehler. As so learned by Benny on that fateful night. His rise to the rim was swift, graceful, and gentle. However, the abrupt result of my right hand stopping all progress and motion, redirecting his dunk into the backboard and back into my hands, was NOT what he had intended. My enjoyment of seeing the Legendary Benny tumble to the ground in embarrassment was not shared by many.

Fully clad in his big, red, fuzzy suit, the spotlight was his, until that moment. And he wanted it back, badly. Hence, him coming back for more, slapping the ground and waving his hands, as if to say, "bring it on, oh great haired one". I did as the entertainer asked. I brought it right between his legs and to the rim for a monster one handed, Amare Stoudamire dunk. Coincidentally enough, the very dunk he wanted me to witness. I never heard another word from Benny that night.