Late Summer OverDrive Locations

·         July 16 – James & Ronda Johnson’s House
               316 Hollyhill Drive, Lexington, KY  40503

·         July 23 – Southland Park

·         July 30 – Audra Cannon
               812 Quarter Horse Ct, Lexington, KY  40503

·         August 6 – Susie Basham
                2172 Palomar Trace Drive, Lexington, KY  40513

 

We look forward to seeing you there!!

Lake Day

We will once again be having a “Lake Day” this summer on Saturday, August 2nd from 7:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.  Please sign-up in the youth room or send an email to Cody at codyshepherd@hillndale.com if you plan on going on this trip!

FUSION THIS SUNDAY NIGHT

Fusion this Sunday Night will be held at the same time but at a different location.  We will be having Fusion at Shillito Park in the wooded area across from the Tennis Courts and near the baseball field.  Look for the HillnDale van for added help in finding our location!!  Be ready for a fun, but worshipful night!!

Coming Month’s OverDrive

OverDrive –       June 18^th –          Kevin & Paige Plummer’s House (and Kalen & Kerek’s)
                                                                4301 Clemens Drive, Lexington, KY  40514

                           June 25^th -           No OverDrive

                           July 2^nd -              Karin Fiske’s House (and Katie, Julia, and John’s)
                                                                4204 Clemens Drive, Lexington, KY  40514

                           July 9^th -               Rob & Missy Kruger’s House  (and Kassidy and Kennedy’s)
                                                                4517 Copper Knoll, Lexington, KY  40514

Destination Unknown Missions Trip

What an incredible trip with 5 students and 3 adults.  We truly felt God’s guidance and blessing the whole trip!  Before you truly understand the extent of that statement, let me tell you the premise of this trip!!  The trip was called Destination Unknown, which meant that we never knew where we would be the next day until we drew both a distance and a direction out of a hat the evening before.  The distances ranged from 30-165 miles at 15 mile intervals inbetween.  The directions were included north, northwest, northeast, east, west, south, southwest and southeast.  Each day we would drive in that direction and distance and pray for God’s guidance as we sought to serve Him during that day.

 

 

On Monday, June 2nd we met at 8:00 in the morning at the church and drew our first direction and distance.  We drew 30 miles northeast which took us by Paris, Kentucky to Cane Ridge.  This is considered the birthplace of the “Christian Church and Churches of Christ”.  Once we got there we were given a tour and were told about the history of the building and location.  We spend time pulling weeds and helping clean the area.  Before we left we had worship service in the Cane Ridge Meeting House (church) which was enjoyed by all.  That evening we stayed with a wonderful family in the church (the Fletchers).

 

On Tuesday, June 3rd,  we came back 30 miles Southwest into Lexington.  We thought it was funny that out of all the places God could have taken us, he brought us back to Lexington.  After praying we decided to make snack bags complete with soda and scripture to take to the waiting rooms at UK Hospital.  As we gave them out to families in the waiting rooms we talked and prayed with them.  That night we stayed at my house, which I loved.  How often do you get to go on a missions trip and sleep in your own bed!!

 

On Wednesday, June 4th we went 165 miles northeast to Lancaster, Ohio.  We spent a brief time talking with the small groups minister at the Christian Church there and praying with him.  We then went to an assisted living home and pulled weeds, stakes, and other outside chores in between rainfalls.  We then went inside and talked with the residents while they ate.  Austin and I also took in our guitars and and tried hard to play some of the songs they requested.  About the only one we were really able to work up was “You Are My Sunshine” which was quickly picked up by neighboring tables and soon the whole room was singing.  That night the local Christian Church got us discounts at a hotel and we all enjoyed the bed and air conditioning.

 

On Thursday, June 5th, we went 90 miles north to a unincorporated town called Shenandoah, Ohio.  We drove around the small town looking to see if we could find anyone to help out and we came upon the place of an 80 year old widow named Sarah.  We spent time talking with Sarah and mowing her lawn and ended up also doing the same with her widow neighbor.  A family from the Christian Church in town let us into the church and brought us pizza and ate with us.  They also then took us out and showed us how to milk a cow, then they took us to an alpaca farm.  After all that we went to a local general store where we all got ice cream.  The church there was generous enough to let us stay in their basement.

 

Our last full day, Friday, June 6th, we drove 165 miles south to Portsmouth, Ohio (on the Ohio River).  We had a difficult time finding things to do as all the churches and ministries stopped at were either closed up for the day or not needing help.  We finally went and bought ice cream sandwiches and took them to the local fire station.  The men were happy to receive the snacks on the very hot day and ended up giving us a tour of the fire station.  We spent a short time praying with them.  We also spent time with a man outside the police station.  After this, we decided to find a campground to stay at.  After going to two different locations and being turned away, we decided out best bet was to go to the Shawnee State Park and find a campground there.  On our way out to the Park we stopped at BJ’s Burgers to eat and started talking to man.  After hearing his testimony he began telling us about the cabins up in the State Park.  As he got up to leave he put $140 on the table and left.  We still do not know the man’s name.  We traveled out to the State Park to get a cabin and were told they were full.  As I turned to leave, the man said to wait a second as he checked again.  After doing some time checking he told me that they had one cabin that they could let us use.  After an unsolicited reduction on the price of the cabin I was told the final price for the night was $144.  Wow, isn’t it awesome how God provides?!!

 

On Saturday, June 7th, we drove back home after stopping at a “Gary Blake favorite” restaurant in Maysville, Kentucky.  We were glad to be back home but enjoyed the faith building experience God had led us on for the week.  It was great to see God’s universal church in action and to realize just how big and powerful it is and can be.  It was also great to watch God take care of us over and over as well as use us in some mighty ways.  We thank all who supported us in prayer and finances and for all those who were a blessing to us along the trip as well!!

6/11/08 OverDrive

I am so excited about this summer’s events!!  We’ve already had a wonderful missions trip!  One of the things we want to do this summer is to connect you more closely with other Christian students.  That’s the purpose of the summer program called OverDrive.  It’s meant as a “hang-out” time where you can get to know other Christian students in a relaxed and God-filled environment.  The locations for OverDrive are held away from the church building and will change from week to week.  Visit this blog weekly to find out where this will be located. This Wednesday we are kicking off OverDrive (formerly called Afterglow) at Southland Park (behind Southland Pool) from 6-8 p.m.  Bring any fun games or activities you may have or just bring yourself!!  We will have some snacks and drinks as well.  We look forward to seeing you there!!!

Spiritual Diets

I hate diets.  Well, let me rephrase that.  I enjoy what the diets do and how I feel once I get done with one, but I do not enjoy the process to get there.

In our spiritual lives we many times need diets.  We all have our normal routines in life.  We all have those things that we know are not helping us out and are polluting our spiritual lives, clogging up spiritual arteries that allow our heart to be used to its full potential.  As God brings them to our attention we need to diet.  We need to create a plan and make some big decisions for positive change to take place.

The Bible says that Satan searches around like a lion on the prowl for his next victim.  Not only that, he’s looking for the biggest weaknesses in your life to bring you down.   We have to make the tough decision to weed those things out of our lives.  The odd thing about our spiritual lives is it does not come through hard work, but through submission and sacrifice: submission to the words of Christ, following His ways, asking His strength and direction in our lives daily and sacrificing our desires for His.

I have found that just as it is going to help me in my physical diet to have someone do the diet with and to following a preplanned workout regimen, it also helps me if I have those in my spiritual walk as well.  It’s important to find other who strive for the same spiritual growth as you by going to church.  It is also extremely helpful to find one or two others specifically who can keep you accountable in your walk.  Also, we need to follow our preplanned workout regimen by reading the Word of God.  He has promised us that if we seek Him, we will find Him and He will reveal thing to us.

So I encourage you all to take these spiritual diet steps.  Take heart and know that though it is not always fun at first and possibly even very difficult, it is definitely worth it.  You will ultimately feel better, but even more importantly you will be closer to your Creator and your God.