A call to prayer...

Charles sent Doug the following email with permission to forward and post on this blog.  

Charles writes...

Elizabeth and I found out yesterday afternoon that Isabella has Hurler Disorder.  Hurler disorder is a rare genetic syndrome classified as a storage disorder.  There is no cure and most children die due to organ failure by age 10.  

We had an appointment this morning with Isabella's geneticist and were told about a relatively new treatment called cord blood transplant.  When Hurler is identified before age 2 the stem cells from the umbilical cord of a healthy child can be transplanted and in many cases prevent Hurler from doing further damage to the brain and most organs.  Time is critical as this does not correct the damage already done.

The nearest place that performs this procedure is in Miami.  The three of us will be travelling to Miami on Monday to meet with the specialist to get the process started.

Our family needs prayer.  Please pray for Elizabeth and I to wait on the Lord for what He has planned for us in this.  Please pray for strength and trust in Jesus.  Please pray for wisdom for the doctors and compassion for the insurance company.  And of course, please pray for healing for Isabella.

Some information on Hurler also called MPS1:

http://www.mps1disease.com/patient/stories/mps_pt_overview.asp

charles

....Please lift up this precious family in your prayers.  Let us beseech our Lord for healing for Isabella and abiding comfort and peace for Charles and Elizabeth.

OK, THAT WAS QUICK!

PRAISE REPORT!

please disregard the post below- God was answering the prayer, apparently as I was typing. Just got the report that the plumber came and fixed it, already! He knows what we have need of before we even ask.... Praise God!

Pray for the plumbing!!

please pray tonight for the plumbing in our new building! It's backing up in all of the bathrooms! We don't know if it's hurricane issues, or what, but a plumber is checking it out both tonight and tomorrow at 7am. please pray that it will be resolved by service time. Are we having fun yet?!!

God is good! Don't tell me the Christian life is not exciting!....

If you're checking this....

then, you're OBVIOUSLY one of those who are 'in the know' ;) Here's a few ways that those who are 'in the know' can help make our 2nd Sunday in the new digs run smoothly:

Would you mind helping us in the area of where you park? Conventional wisdom says that if newcomers think there's no parking, sometimes they just keep driving, and miss church. You can help by following this plan:

1. On Sundays, we have permission and access to all of the parking next door, (the Jiffy Lube type place), so let's fill that lot first, with those of us who are 'in the know'.

2. After that, we also have parking in the back, let's make that our second lot to fill

3. That will leave the lot directly in front of the church for newcomers, maybe some of our older saints, etc..

Gayne F. will be out there to direct some parking tomorrow, so please don't run him over!

Here's some more info for those 'in the know':(esp. children's ministry)
The commissioning service, for our children's ministry workers: you are still welcome to bring your kids, but if you want someone to watch them for those 15 minutes, Charles Clendenny will be in Classroom C by 9:25.

Thanks for your continued prayers, and your flexibility!

KIDS PLANNING/ PREP MEETING!

A reminder- Tomorrow, beginning at 10am, we'll be planning/ preparing all the lessons that we will complete this quarter. This lines up with our goal to make the yoke easy for our classroom workers. Lot's of opportunities to contribute to the children's ministry's success. Here's some examples:

1. If you're a teacher, who wants to help choose from lesson plans/ and tweak them. We could use your brainpower.

2. If you're able to cut paper, sort cottonballs, etc.. we could use your hands.

3. Even if you have no interest in these things, if you can put Ikea stuff together, we can use your horsepower! If you can bring a few common screwdrivers, drill, etc, that's even better!

We'll go no later than 2pm, and let's make this 'open house style'. Even if you can only come for an hour or so, we'd love the help!

so, 10-2pm, come when you can, do what you can, leave when you need to! thanks!

UPDATE!!! TONIGHT'S SERVICE CANCELED!

Hello Saints, We are getting word out as best we can that tonight's service is CANCELED.
The storm, by all accounts, is getting worse in our area, so we think this is the most prudent thing to do. Please be safe, and, write down these two numbers, in case you find you need the prayers or the help of the body....

407=758-8567 Doug's cell

352-267-6366 Philip's cell

God is our refuge from the Storm!

Tonight...

Hope you can make it tonight (Thursday), as Pascal is teaching on 'reaching out', from Jesus' encounter with the woman at the well. Sandra A. and I will be watching the children. You can bring the children (baby's included) to the PREK room (I believe that's classroom c) That's kids 5 and under, and if we had one more volunteer, we might be able to watch all ages. just sayin.....(if interested, send an email ecteel@gmail.com)

7pm at the NEW BUILDING! woohoo

Our First Sunday

As more and more people arrived, I was struck by how much we looked like, well, a "real" church! There were so many people (some visitors, it's true, but many, many actual members), and we were all in the same area, so you could really appreciate that we really do have a lot of folks!


People milling on the "other side" of the fellowship hall.


This picture doesn't capture the depth well, but there was actually a LINE to get into the sanctuary.


The end of our first service...


The end of our first service


A novel concept...we can just SIT and talk after church!


No more schlepping sound boards and cables!


Here are the kids on their way to worship.


The kids have their own dedicated children's worship with Kris a strummin' and a-singin'. They sounded great.

Here's the skinny...

details for tomorrow:

9:45 doors open for coffee, fellowship

10:00 Worship service begins.

here's the location if you missed it:351 Plaza Dr. Eustis, FL 32726

click here

WE'RE IN!!!!!!!!!!!

We'll see you at 10:00 Sunday morning for our first service in our new building!

GOD IS AWESOME!!!!

Please pray again!

The inspector should be at the building at 3 today. He already stopped by (NOT at the scheduled time) and made a comment in passing to Fred about the fact that one of the classrooms does not have a threshold, so Eric will try to get that done before the guy comes back at 3. He didn't mention anything else to Fred, so here's hoping and praying that's a good sign.
Please pray that this inspector will give us our CO so that we can have church in the new building this Sunday. Also, after the first inspector leaves, another one will be coming to do the fire inspection. We do NOT legally need to pass this to have church there Sunday (we've already passed the fire inspection for the CO) but we want to pass this too so we can get our occupancy license which will help us be "on record" with the local emergency agencies.

We'll let you know as soon as we know, but until then PRAY!!!!

Last night was a first

Actually, it had several firsts.

First Agape feast in the new building:







First prayer service in the new church:





First time we've actually had the chairs all set up!





First movie shown on the "big screen" (a.k.a. the wall):

They tested out the projector with a movie we had for the little TV we brought up there to keep the kids occupied. They were all camped out in the front row watching Nim's Island.

First time we let Sonya use power tools...for the obvious reasons, :-). Actually, this drill is hers, and she knows how to use it.

CCOTL Worship Team in Training...

As we worked on the children's classrooms this afternoon, Jenay, Lexi and Isaac tried out the newly completed stage in the sanctuary...

Here's the plan for tonight...

1. Agape Feast @ 6pm.. bring a covered dish, dessert, or salad, or anything...
2. Short prayer service @6:45 (til about 7:15)
3. back to work, cleaning, other stuff!!!

Hope you can make it!!

Okay, so we didn't pass...

The inspector came for the CO this afternoon. Despite the fact that he was just there last week and we did everything he told us, today there were 2 "new" issues. First, all the carpet and tile was not laid, which he had before indicated would not be a problem, but today it was. Second, we didn't have weather stripping on the front doors.
So, a small setback.
But Bill and Pascal were up at the building completing most of the tile tonight

(all but 3 feet of the main threshold is done and will just need to be grouted tomorrow-they left that passageway so everyone working could go from area to area without messing up the tile).


And the weather stripping went on too, so we are hoping we can get them to come out again on Friday to re-inspect.

Here are some more pictures from tonight:
More tile between the men's bathroom and the kitchen.

The couch in the nursing mom's room

Elizabeth balances motherhood with carpentry.

Chairs in the sanctuary and a fully carpeted stage :-)

Got toys?

Hello All-

Things are moving quickly now, and I believe the inspectors are meeting Eric at 3pm today, so if you read this before then, pray that we'll pass inspection today!

One of the items on the collective 'to-do list' is to secure toys for the Pre K, through grade 2, for use at the beginning and end of class time. Here's how you can help:

1. If you've worked with these age groups, are there toys that are always a hit with these little guys? something in particular we should seek? we have plenty of ideas, but would love some more input.
   
2. Do you have any toys you'd like to donate, or even loan for a week or so (In the 4yo to 9yo age group ONLY, please) as we settle in to our new digs? obviously, we'd only want things that kids love, and in good condition.

If either of the two items sound like you, would you just drop an email to Lisa Teel, at ecteel@gmail.com before tomorrow noon? this way we can assess what we need to purchase.

Thanks so much!

woohoo!
Doug

A few pictures from tonight

The sound board is in, and the audio was being run as I left.


Here's the current layout for the 3-5th grade class


The stage is getting carpet, and the audio is being done.


The parking lot is now restriped with 4 Handicapped spots in front of the building and parallel parking down the side wall. There's also parking in back of the building, just in case you didn't know that. AND there's an entrance back there too.


Fred gets the hardest worker award. He has singlehandedly primed the whole building, painted most of it, and here he is taking some chemical to EACH and EVERY floor tile to get them cleaned up. He's amazing! And he's smiling!


Look, the podium is here :-).

let's try again tomorrow!

Just got word from Eric, that the inspectors postponed until tomorrow after 1:30, so keep praying, please! thanks!

Please PRAY!

The parking lot was redone this morning, and the inspector comes at 3 TODAY!

Please pray, especially at 3 if you can, that the inspection would go well and that we would PASS.

Oh, and Lisa T is feeling yucky, so pray for her too ;-).

Update

Eric says that all the action items on his list that were OUR responsibility to get done for the CO are done. BUT, the parking lot still needs to be restriped (our landlord's responsibility) before we can call for the CO AND again, we never know what the inspector may say.
That DOES NOT mean there is not still work to be done!
We still have lots of touch up paint...mostly for really steady hands. There are still tiles to be fixed, audio wiring to be done, and some carpet to be laid. For less "skilled" jobs, there is still some IKEA stuff to assemble, grout to wash off tiles, lots of general cleaning (unless we want a dusty and dirty first service) and moving stuff (like furniture around in the classrooms or moving out supplies we are done with) .
We are planning to hold out AGAPE feast this Thursday at 6PM at the new building with a brief prayer service and more work time afterward. And we are hopeful that THIS SUNDAY will be our first service in the new building, but please check here often to be updated in case things change.

Just call us...

Calvary Chapel of IKEA! God definitely had His hand on the timing of IKEA's opening and our building. Their furniture is cheap but good quality, and we've more than taken advantage of that. Here are some pictures from the latest IKEA run.


Lisa, with notebook in hand, checks in with Doug.


Checking out our table options for the 3rd-5th grade classroom.


It doesn't take the wisdom of Solomon to know that placing 28 round table legs in a flat bed cart is a recipe for disaster...or at least frequent stops to put them back on said cart. But by the time we picked up the table legs, that cart was our only option. Let's just say all of IKEA knew where we were every time they would clatter to the ground.


Checking out at the second happiest place on earth.


This is what 7 tables, 28 legs, 25 stools, one shelf, and two shelf brackets look like. Oh, and 4 toilet bowl brushes :-).

Children's Ministry Training

At the Children's Ministry Training, even the adults have to sign in :-)


Pretend you are all toddlers...Going over sign-in procedures.


I know this LOOKS like the fellowship hall, but at 10:05 AM on Sundays, it's really the children's worship venue.


Lisa & Lisa go over what time in the classroom will look like.


"Okay Pastor Doug...you're making my brain hurt."
Quinn and Doug go over some more details.


Spend too many late nights contemplating children's ministry logistics and you too could look like this :-).

Food is ALWAYS good...

The first of many meals to come in our new building :-).

More Pictures

More assembly...

painting....

And carpet laying, oh my!

Even the KIDS got in on the action!