Taking Aim; Drying Out

This Saturday I'm taking the youth group at church to an archery range in Flushing (for my readers outside the NYC area, when you live in Queens, Flushing is a neighborhood, not an action), We will be taking lessons and renting equipment and shooting at somje targets. During the warmer weather, it's good to take the youth on a few outings from time to time to provide some additional excitement on the part of the kids and to give them an opportunity to invite friends. Don't worry about me and my group of junior high kids brandishing weapons, it's entirely supervised.

We also need to do a little drying out after what felt like a typhoon last night. We has a few hot and humid days lately, so we were about due for a nasty thunderstorm, but yesterday's rain was strangely powerful. I had nothing in the fridge for dinner and had to venture out into the elements. Ugh! Word to the wise, jeans in the rain act more like a sponge. I must have weighed 20 pounds more when I got back home and in from the rain.

At least in another part of Queens, a 91 minute delay, at Mets pulled out a win in a rain-shortened game. Hey, first place in a tight division is tough to maintain. Hey, it's a better place to be than the other baseball team in town. This season, I wouldn't say the Bronx Bombers are in a "tight" race. But I'll postpone my gloating until the end of the season.

Trading Places

Well, plans are locked in for my upcoming trip to Mississippi.

Some of you will be hearing from me soon regarding the specifics of my plans, though, I'll disclose that I'm heading back to the birthplace of the Blues on July 14th and will be hitting various churches and homes throughout the state until I head back to NYC on July 21.

Watch your e-mail.

Meanwhile, back in Queens, Ascension Church will be having its second Vacation Bible School program, "SonForce Kids." We're even going to have the help of two churches, one from Ohio and the other from Mississippi.

Mississippi comes to New York; New York Goes to Mississippi, interesting.

Sorry, short entry this week. More to come.

Ya Gotta See the Baby!

Like I said last week after Dorothy was born, pictures of my neice have been taken like crazy. I, however, only have one electronic version at my disposal at the moment. This picture was taken last Wednesday just hours after she was born. I know the title of this blog entry may remind you of the catch phrase from a Seinfeld episode, but perhaps it will cause you to remember what it was about.

My parents are staying with me for a while to see the baby and help my sister a little bit. There's no room at my sister's house, so the lot fell on me to house my parents while they're in town. The other person in the picture, by the way, is me.

On other matters, Ascension Church had a booth at the Austin Street Fair in Forest Hills this past weekend. Several neighborhood folks stopped by and hopefully strong interest was developed in our Vacation Bible School program coming up in July, and in our Youth Group and other church ministries. Our booth was well located in the middle of the fair across from the Cheese of the World (pictured here). We have not always been as well placed at these fairs, but this time, Praise God, we had a great spot and good weather.

More updates next week.

Uncle Jack

I know the purpose of this blog is to keep my readers updated about the things that are going on with Ascension Church in Queens, but this week I need to deviate from that objective and make an announcement.

Although I've been an uncle for a few years with my sister Jane's two sons Tyler and Zachary, ov whom I'm very proud, I now have a niece from my sister Charlene. Dorothy Hope Zuljevic was born yesterday morning at 8:02 am weighing in at 6 lbs. 15 oz and 20 inches. When Jane had Tyler, I went up to Connecticut a few days later to see him. Zachary was born when I lived in Mississippi and I was fortunate enough to get up to see him a few weeks after he was born. The cool thing about Dorothy is that I got to see her the day she was born. In fact, she was less than 12 hours old when I visited her yesterday. I didn't have my digital camera on me, but pictures were taken. Don't be surprised if I make an unscheduled post here to show a few snapshots of my new niece. I'm thrilled.

Next week I will return to regular posts about the church, but for now, let me gloat a little.