Archive for March, 2011
Basement Reno: the beginning
So I promised you a little update on our basement renovations, so here it is. And I mean short.
You will see from the pics below De-Ann and I spent some time mapping out the way we want the basement to eventually look like. De-Ann creatively thought of using painters tape to “tape out” the way she wants the basement to look. There will be 2 storage rooms (one under the stairs and the other near the front of the house), a spare bedroom / office for De-Ann, a 3 piece bathroom and a large family room in the back of the house where I will finally be able to set up my media room.
Pics in order: Storage room by front of house, 3 piece bathroom (toilet, vanity & shower), spare bedroom / office view from hallway, spare bedroom / office view from the family, family room (notice the attractive kitty litter), fireplace placing in the family room, and storage room under the stairs.
So according to our contractor they will be starting the framing of the walls this Monday, March 21. Yeah!
The hugging bandit
As many of you know Faith has now been in a new daycare now for 3 weeks and is starting to get into the swing of things. It is quite interesting picking her up each night, everyone knows her. As we walk down the main hallway to get her coat and things everyone is saying “bye Faith” or “she is so cute” or “I just love her!” I am starting to realize more and more my daughter is a people person and loves to be around people. Hmmm, who does that sound like? haha.
Faith is known at her daycare as the “little girl who gives out hugs.” I have heard on many different ocassions that Faith has given hugs to other children that were sad, upset or crying. She also goes around the room and gives hugs to all the children in the room when I come to pick her up…even if the children don’t want the hug! It is quite commical.
The other day while picking up Faith one of the mothers told me “your daughter is adorable,” to which I said “thank you” and then she went on to tell me how every time she comes to pick up her son Faith gives her a hug. My daughter, the hugging bandit. haha.
One other thing, when we were in Sears on Monday night Faith took a shinning to the salesman and kept asking him for a hug. I remember as he was explaining each of the appliances to us, Faith was happily sitting in his arms. Too much!
I thought I would attach a few pics of Faith as she dressed up for “Fairy Tale Day.” She is so cute as she poses for the camera.
Pizza with the Pastors!
I affectionately call it “Pizza with the Pastors.” It has a nice ring to it, don’t you think?! haha. The idea is simple, invite all the newcomers that have been attending our church for the past 3 months to a year to a pizza lunch. While at the lunch they get to know all our ministry leaders, including both pastors and lay leaders. Each leader shares a very short presentation (2 minutes tops) on their area of ministry, and our Sr Pastor shares the vision, mission and plan of the church. At the end of their time with us they get a good glimpse into what the church does and why it does what it does.
Our first one was this past Sunday, February 27. For our first one the response was amazing. And it was so great getting to meet newcomers up close and personal. Sitting down with them and chatting about their families, life and ministry. Finding out where they are from originally (over half are from other countries–such a great representation of the way the church should be). Also discovering what their needs are and maybe how we can meet them. My favourite question is “what brought you to City Centre?” The answers are amazing and tells me a lot about the individuals sharing.
The way I measure if this event was a success was not so much from the numbers, or how many people we got to meet but the response afterwards. We had almost everyone fill out comment cards that I got a chance to read and share with the rest of the staff. The response was overwhelming! We had over 10 people want to know more about our Newcomers Class which leads to baptism and membership. We had a handful want to know about our Youth and Children’s ministry, we even had one family want to know about our worship ministry and how they can get involved. The greatest response was for our adult ministries–small group, adult learning institute and baptism and membership. So excited about all the interest in our ministries at the church.
Now the fun part…following up! For the next few days, the rest of the team and I will be making calls and emails to those who gave us comment cards with request to know more. I look forward to getting to know each person in from our first Pizza with the Pastors.
