Home group December 19th

The countdown is on!  Ten days until Christmas!  I love Christmas!  Sure, there is all the commercialism, things that distract rather than focus us on the reason for the celebration and all the rest.  But, at the bottom of it all, is the celebration of the coming of our Saviour because he loved us enough to come, live among us and be sacrificed so we can have a relationship with Him. Makes me want to shout!! :)

We are switching gears a bit for our home group meeting for the 19th.  Alice Kraft had graciously offered to come and speak to our group about her studies, travels and experiences concerning Israel and the Jewish people.  As so often happens, life has handed Alice a few more spinning plates that she had realized she was going to have to keep going. :)  It will be easier for her to come at a later time. With that in mind, we have decided to not try to meet this week.  Everyone's schedules are packed and this way we can all rest up and be ready to go caroling Sunday evening. :)

Hope to see you all at worship Sunday morning. (Don't forget cookies for caroling.)   And with your caroling voices on Sunday evening! :)

December 12

The last few weeks have flown by!!  Thanksgiving, boxes of goodies for Operation Christmas Child as well as the children in Juarez, the Christmas brunch......so many fun times!!

We are planning to meet for home group this coming Sunday, December 12th.  Let's have soup and sandwiches for lunch.

Alice Kraft has said that she come one day soon and share her experiences and artifacts from Israel with us.  I can't wait!  She won't be available to do that on the 12th but we will plan it for sometime soon.

Hope to see everyone Sunday!!

November 14

This coming Sunday, November 14, will be our only regular home group meeting for this month.  The week following we will all get to enjoy the church wide Thanksgiving dinner.  :)

The adults will be returning to Israel to learn lessons from God's chosen people.  Interesting how sometimes we can learn from someones example and other times we can learn from their mistakes. :)

The children will be studying something about somewhere and it is going to be fun!  ( Yes, it has been crazy week at the Norris household and I don't have the details planned out yet. :))

The lunch theme for this week is ground beef.  Perhaps not the most exciting, but you just never know!!  I'm hoping to find some new recipes through stealing recipes from everyone else. :) I think I'm fixing Frito Pie.  And maybe I can talk Marissa into fixing Rice Krispie Treats. I have a bunch of marshmallows that need to be used....

See you Sunday!

November 7

Ready or not, November is here!!!  We won't be meeting for home group this coming Sunday, November 7th.  Each month the leadership team meets on the first Sunday of the month.  Home group "pauses" for that week so we don't conflict with that meeting.

We are scheduled to have only one regular home group meeting in November.  That will be the 14th.  The following week, the 21st,  will be the church wide Thanksgiving dinner. (Fun!)  The 28th is a part of Thanksgiving weekend.  Many of our group will have family visiting or will be gone for the holiday weekend so we won't try to meet that day.

You can check on days that we are scheduled to meet and the lunch theme for that day by clicking on the calendar pages to the right of the blog.

Hope to see you all and worship together Sunday!

October 31

Eeeeeekkkk!  Friday already!  Where did the week go?  I think someone may have stolen several of the days in the middle of the week.......

I have been enjoying previewing the video and studying the material the week prior to when we all study it.  It takes me a while to absorb things and repetition is helpful (necessary?) for me to really get a handle on things.  True confessions--I have done no previewing and have no idea what we are studying about this coming Sunday, the 31st.  But I know it will be good!!  It always is when we come together as the body of Christ to study his word and pray.  I think we may be visiting the Philistines as well.

Our most popular children's teacher, Mr. Coey,  will be playing with the kids this week. :)

Breakfast food is the theme for lunch this week.  That's right.  No need to eat breakfast in the morning.  We will just have it for lunch.  One less meal to have to fix!  Woo hoo!

Hope to see everyone Sunday!

October 24th

It was so enlightening last Sunday to get to see video of the Jordan River.  The adult's study centered around the Jordan.  It's amazing to go back and read the scriptures that contain the Jordan after learning more about the river, its size, what it looks like and the terrain on either side of it.  Along with visiting the Jordan, there were some of us that revisited Gezer from the week before.  That was great!

This week the adults will be traveling to Jericho. It will be interesting to see what the Lord has for us as we walk around the city walls. :)

Quite a few of our kids were missing last week so we postponed our Egypt study until this coming week.

The lunch theme for this coming week ( the 24th) is Mexican Food.  One of our favorites!!

I must say that I am seeing a trend starting to develop with our lunches.  Wonderful food is being brought each week.  A part of that food has been absolutely decedent desserts. The amount of calories consumed by the time you eat the great nutritious food plus the desserts adds up very quickly.  That really leaves me with no choice.  I simply must make the decision to eat nothing but dessert on Sunday afternoons.  A sacrifice, but you have to do what you have to do.....

Enjoy this great Fall weather!!  See you all Sunday!!!!

October 17th

Last Sunday the adults took a  journey all the way to Gezer during the Bible study.  They all made it back in time to get home by mid-afternoon.  Amazing, huh?  This coming week they get to return to Israel and visit the beautiful Jordon river.  "For the Lord your God dried up the Jordan before you until you had crossed over.  The Lord your God did to the Jordan what he had done to the Red Sea... so that all the peoples of the earth might know that the hand of the Lord is powerful and so that you might always fear the Lord your God." Joshua 4:23-24

We had a great group of kids this last week.  We studied about China and the difficulties Christians have there.  We also had fun singing and playing instruments and will continue that this week as well. Our study will focus on Egypt and the church there.

Our theme for lunch this coming week, the 17th, is "Casseroles and Salads".

Each week at home group we learn so many things.  One thing we learned this last week was:

If you want peach cobbler, you better get it the first time you fill your plate!!!!:)

October 10

Cool!!  I just realized that this date will be 10/10 of '10.  How fun!

The lunch theme this week will be Soup and Sandwiches, since it is Fall and all.  I tried to think of something that would relate to 10 but...epic fail. :)

In the sidebar on the right of the blog you will see calendar pages.  You can click there to see the days we are scheduled to meet for home group and the lunch theme for the week.

This week the adults will be taking a journey of sorts to Israel.  Gezer, to be more precise.  The study this week will reveal the connection between Gezer's strategic location and God's plan for Israel.   The study of this land brings a better understanding of  the land that God set apart for his chosen people and the lessons we can glean from that as we live our lives in the here and now.  Here is an excerpt from the study guide:

"The life of faith is not a vague, otherwordly experience.  Rather, it is being faithful to God right now, in the place and time in which he has put us.  This truth is emphasized by God's choice of Canaan, a crossroads of the ancient world, as the Promised Land in which the Israelites were to live.  Our mission as Christians today is the same one God gave to the Israelites when they possessed the Promised Land, and the same one Jesus gave to his disciples.  We are to love the Lord our God with all our heart, with all our soul, and with all our might, and to love our neighbors as ourselves so that through us the world may know that our God is the one true God."

Amen and amen.

Hope to see everyone Sunday!!                                              

A Friendly Reminder-October 3rd

God's creation is so amazing, isn't it?  I am soaking up the gorgeous Fall weather we are being blessed with.  Just incredible.

We really enjoyed having everyone here for our first home group meeting after the Summer break.  Pastor John had pictures from his trip to Canada that he shared as well as his adventures there and some of the ministry challenges that the people there face.  Thank you, Pastor John!  We will be keeping those people and the area in our prayers.

We won't be having home group this coming Sunday, October 3rd.  The Leadership Team of the church meets the first Sunday of each month.  Since those of our group who are a part of that team can't be in two places at once ( I would really like to figure out how to do that:)), we don't meet on the first Sunday of each month.  And yes, believe it or not, October is here already!  Let's remember to keep our Leadership Team in prayer as they meet.

We will meet again on October 10th.

Have a wonderful rest of your week!!

Home Group Time!!!!

The first day of Fall!!! Yay!! I love Fall....but I also love Winter.....and Spring.... and Summer.....:)

Please accept my apologies for being so late with this blog post. My Clay was home and I was enjoying every available minute that I had to spend with him. Thus, my procrastination in posting.

Home Group!! Yes, it is time to get in the groove of home group again. This Sunday, the 26th, will be our first home group meeting. The adults will be looking at several different options from which they will decide on the study topic for the next few months. The children will begin looking at other countries. We will study the people in the countries and explore the reasons that can make it so difficult and dangerous to be a Christian in some of these countries. We'll add in some music and lots of fun. :)

We would love to have any and all who would like to join us! We all come to our house (the Norris') after church on Sunday morning and have a potluck meal. We enjoy eating and visiting and then have a time of study and prayer. Each week I (Melody) usually come up with a "theme" for our potluck. This is just a crutch for me as it helps me decide what to cook.:) Anything you would like to bring is fine and certainly does not have to fit the "theme"!

The theme for this week will be Italian. I'll pick up a lasagna and fix a veggie tray.

Please don't hesitate to give us a call--281-5741-- or send us an

email , melodyrnorris@gmail.com, if you have questions, suggestions or just to say hi. :)

Hope to see you all at worship Sunday morning!

Love,

Melody

May 16

The sun is shining, schools are finishing up for the year, weeds are about to overgrow my house......spring is here for sure!!!! I was wondering there for a while. :)

We will be having home group this coming Sunday, May 16. This will be our last meeting until next fall. The East Mountain Celebration is the next Sunday and Memorial Day weekend finishes up this month. With that in mind, we will "pause" our meetings after the 16th for the summer.

Jennie suggested we have Mexican Food since everyone always seems to enjoy it. I'm fixing Taco Soup.

Hope to see you all Sunday!!!!

May 9

Mother's Day!! This coming Sunday we will all be celebrating our mothers and so we will not meet for home group. I hope everyone has a wonderful day!

April 25

Our home group meeting times have been a bit sporadic as of late. We are on for this coming week the 25th. Lord willin' and if the creek don't rise, we should be meeting after worship service for lunch, fellowship and study.

Our lunch theme will be Italian. We planned that a few weeks ago but ended up cancelling our meeting that week so we will try it again. I am planning to fix Lasagna, salad and garlic bread.

I will take the kids for their study time. They seem to really like science related Bible lessons so we will have to see if we can find something to explode.... or at least smoke....or something fun like that to study. :)

I have found a way to change the settings on the comment section so that it should be easier to comment. If you would like to comment to let everyone know what food you plan to bring, give it a try. If it still is not very user friendly, let me know and I'll keep working on it.

I hope everyone has a wonderful week!!

Melody

April 18

Greetings, everyone!

The Norris family will be enjoying watching Jennie's performance in the musical, "The Magic Mrs. Piggle Wiggle" this coming Sunday, the 18th. Since that is the case and there will be no one home to host home group we have cancelled for this week.

They have already performed the musical 5 times and Sunday will be their 7th show. They should be able to do it in their sleep by then-----no, wait, they are getting so tired it may have been TODAY that they performed in their sleep! :) This is an incredible group of kids and NM Young Actors is a wonderful organization. What a blessing for Jennie to get to be a part.

We will see everyone Sunday at worship!

Changes for April 11

April Fool! We aren't really having home group this coming Sunday, April 11. Oh, wait. April Fool's was the 1st. Well, truth be told, we didn't realize that the Leadership Team has a meeting scheduled for this Sunday. That will be a conflict for so many of our home group that we won't try to meet this week.

I hope everyone is enjoying this sunshine. I sure am!!

See everyone Sunday!!

April 11

After a wonderful weekend celebrating the resurrection of our Lord we are back to our regular home group schedule. This week we will continue studying relationships and will have Italian food for lunch. I (Melody)will be fixing Lasagna, salad and garlic bread.

The kids had such a fun time with Miss Susan Palm Sunday and made cool cross crafts. Melody will take the kids this week.

Here's hoping we don't all blow into Texas!!!

Have a wonderful week. See you Sunday!

March 28th

This post was written by Marissa Norris.

Happy Wednesday, everybody!

I sure am tired of this snow, aren't you?

This week's food theme is going to be your favorite chicken and side dish.

My mom (Melody) is going to fix sweet and spicy chicken and creamed corn.

Susan Brown is going to be teaching the kids group this week. She has a Easter activity for the kids.

Marissa

March 21

This Post was written by Marissa Norris.

Happy Tuesday!!

The lunch theme for next Sunday will be soup and sandwiches.

My Mom (Melody) will be teaching the kids study at home group.

I hope you all have a great day!

Marissa

March 14

It's a snowy morning at our house once again! It looks like powdered sugar has been sprinkled on top of everything. Beautiful!

We will be meeting for home group this coming week, March 14. Our lunch theme will be Barbeque, we will be studying relationships and Regi will be leading our kids during study time this week.

I hope you all have a super week!

See you Sunday!

March 7th

Sunshine!! Isn't it wonderful!! Who knows how long it will last but I sure am enjoying it while it is here!

We will not have home group this coming week, March 7th. We usually don't meet on the first weekend of the month to allow for the leadership team meeting. The leadership team is not meeting this coming Sunday but the Women's Mentoring group is meeting right after our worship service.

We will pick up again on the 14th. Regi will be taking the children that day and our lunch theme will be Barbeque.

I hope you are all able to get out and enjoy this beautiful weather!

February 28

It's snowing again! Thank you, Lord, for the snow. As I get so anxious for warmer, sunnier weather, help me remember how thankful I will be for a summer that is not so dry!!

Home group is on the schedule for this coming week, the 28th. We will continue studying relationships and how we can work to improve our relationships with others.

I'm not sure what the theme for lunch next week is. I'm fixing ham and baked beans. I guess maybe it's just truly pot luck!!

Regi has volunteered to take the kids for next week. Thanks, Regi!

Everyone be safe on these yucky roads!

See you Sunday!

February 21

We had a great time on Sunday and our road was in good shape for everyone to get here safely. Woo hoo!!!!

We are planning home group again for this coming week, February 21st. Our lunch theme will be Italian Food.

The adults are going to rotate working with the children each week. Brian Coey has volunteered to take the kids for this coming week---and the kids all cheered!!!!

See everyone Sunday!

February 14 Home Group Kick Off!!

We will get "back in the groove" with home group this coming Sunday, February 14. We will be starting a study on Relationships as well as continuing our lunch and fellowship each week.

Our theme for lunch this week will be Mexican Food. That seems to be one of everyone's favorites. If you haven't been able to attend our home group in the past and are planning on coming, please note that the themes for our lunches are just suggestions. It helps us all come up with ideas of what dish we might want to bring. You are always welcome to bring whatever sounds appealing, or is easy, or bring nothing at all!!

Youth will need to check with your leaders for details on your meetings.

Our children are always such a joy to work with. We don't have specific plans nailed down yet for what the children are going to be focusing on. If you feel led to work with the children, please let us know!!!