Focus Weekend 2008

The youth of our church just finished their annual "Focus" weekend. This is a time of intense discipleship and Bible study. Congratulations go out to Craig Yates and Kris Raven for their hard work in organizing the event. We were one of the host homes, and held the record for the most youth in one house. We had 17 middle school girls in our home for two nights! I have to admit that for a time on Saturday I "escaped" to Austin, but Leslie was there to keep things under control. Jamie Lowry was very brave to lead all those girls in Bible study, and she did a great job!

On Sunday morning, Gary Henderson, who hosted some of the high school girls, shared a wonderful testimony of how the students went over to the new church property and worked hard to clear what he called "old world growth" - cedar trees, etc. This "growth" was impeding progress on building the church parking lot. Anyway, I think what he said went a long way in encouraging our church members about our students, who are the future of our church and community.

Juenke Family Christmas Picture

Here's a picture of the Juenke family at the Hunt House, where we celebrated Christmas. It was wonderful to have everybody together again. Pita gave a short speech telling us how thankful he was to have made it through this year! In a previous post, I mentioned that he's in complete remission. We're all thankful for that!

Man of La Mancha

Here's the cast photo from the Wimberley Players production of Man of La Mancha. Last night my family joined some friends from the cast for dinner. We had a great time and shared some nice memories.

Successful Hunting Trip

Here are pictures from the recent hunting trip. Leslie and Justin both got does. Looks like we'll be having venison for awhile! Thanks to our friend Robert for allowing us to hunt at his ranch. Justin's going to try to get one more hunt in this weekend.

On Vacation

After a very busy Christmas season, we're on vacation this week in Hunt, Texas. Well, mostly in Hunt. Presently Faith and I are at my parent's house in San Antonio. Leslie and Justin are hunting in the San Saba area. Leslie killed her first deer yesterday evening. Justin's giving it a try this morning. I'm sure I'll hear from them a little later. Anyway, here are a couple of pictures. One is of Leslie and me before a bike ride in Hunt. I'm on the bike that Leslie bought me for Christmas. I bought Leslie one for her last birthday.

There's quite a story associated with how I came to acquire this bike. To locate it, my loving family took me on a wild hunt on Christmas Eve. Leslie gave me someone's garage door opener, and told me three neighborhoods that the bike could possibly be in. The bike was in the garage of a senior adult that we know well enough that he/she would allow Leslie to hide the bike in their garage. Well, if you only knew how many senior adults I know in these neighborhoods, you'd see how daunting of a task this was. She said that if I didn't find it in five tries, that she would reveal its location. So, to make a long story short, the bike was in the 5th garage we came to. But you should have seen me pointing this garage door opener at all these garages. It was pretty humorous. Once, Justin even said "drumroll, please." I thought that was a hint. But he was just bluffing. It wasn't that particular garage.

The other picture is me in front of the Dam Store in Ingram, which is between Kerrville and Hunt. This convenience store is across the street from the Ingram Dam, which is on the Guadalupe River. Leslie and I had a similar picture made several years ago in front of the same Dam Store. Anyway, if you ever get to visit that Dam Store, it's a good one.

Christmas Day 2007

It's Christmas Day. Whew! It's been a very busy season, as usual. Last night we had two Christmas Eve services at our church. Thanks to all who came, and thanks especially to those on the program who had to be at both services. Last Thursday night, there was the Las Posadas Christmas program at St. Stephens where my daughter goes to school. Here's a picture of my daughter Faith with her friends Caitlyn and Callie. Oh, and that's me with the lamb ears on. Yes, while the children played a variety of roles, like shepherds, angels, and wisemen, I was a little lamb. A guy has to be pretty confident in his manhood to wear such an outfit!

When I say it has been a busy season, I think about the second and third weeks of December. After a couple of back to back dress rehearsals our sanctuary choir, orchestra, and drama troupe gave two great performances of a musical called "There is Peace in the World Tonight." Here's how the rest of the week went down: Monday evening I went to the middle school band concert. Tuesday night was the high school band concert. Wednesday night we had a party for all those in the church Christmas musical. It was at our house. Thursday night I had a dress rehearsal for the Starlight Symphony Orchestra, in which I play percussion and timpani. Friday I went with several from our church to "Mainstreet Bethlehem" in Burnett, Texas. Got home pretty late. Saturday evening the SSO had a concert in Blanco. Sunday afternoon, they had a concert in Wimberley. Sunday evening, our church went caroling. We had a "breather" week; and then it was back to work with planning the Christmas Eve services. As I've always said, the Christmas season is one of the busiest times of year for musicians!

Anyway, our family is going on vacation now, and looking forward to some time to ourselves, where the calendar is not controlling our lives. There's a lot of joy in this season of the year. My family hopes all of you are experiencing this same joy as we all reflect on the real meaning of Christmas - The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth (John 1:14 NIV).

Twelve Drummers Drumming

Well, not really. But there are definitely three of us. That's Sharon Miller and Tom Haddon with me at the Starlight Symphony Concert, which was held at the Wimberley Community Center. Thanks to my wife Leslie for taking the picture. If anyone wants to know about future concerts of the Starlight Symphony Orchestra, click here.