They're here!! The new 6th Graders have joined us!

Just when you thought the Teen group had gotten as crazy and whacked out as it was gonna get, it happend.....the 6th Graders moved in!!!

And we're glad they did!! And if you have not had the pleasure of meeting them, then check 'em out right here!

Above are Harley, Imo, Keifer, and Johnette...
...along with Brandon and Cole (and Harley again) who are shown here barely able to contain their excitement. We had a big wing ding for 'em at the Brand's house (huge thank you!) and it was a blast to get to know them better and welcome them in with swimming, games, and food!

Welcome to the SACN Teen family you guys!!

Virtue En Vogue!!!

On August 19th several of our girls capped off a great series called "His Girl" where we discussed the pressures of society on young women today to look and dress a certain way and where that fits into God's plan for us. It was a great time that helped us get things in His perspective, and at the same time the moms were meeting next door in The Spot room to talk about it from a mother's point of view! Thanks to all of you who participated, and also to Lynette and Emily Pardue for their leadership in the individual sessions!! And August 19th was a special time of celebration with several other Austin churches, with the special music being brought by Lindsey Kane, who also emcee'd a fashion show. In a word...."Wow!!" That girl can sing, AND, she's hilarious and a great speaker!!! As a matter of fact, she was soooooo good, we decided to invite her to our very own church and she's accepted!! Lindsey will be coming and sharing her gift in music and comedy on November 15, 2008!! This is going to be something that girls AND guys alike are going to love, so start inviting your friends now!! Stay tuned for more details.

Lifehouse Skit - Now on YouTube!!!

You guys worked too long and hard on the "Lifehouse" skit not to have it preserved forever on the internet!! Plus, with all of the negative stuff you can find online now, it's nice to have a breath of fresh air like this!! Check it out if you've forgotten what it looked like that Teen Sunday, May 4th, 2008:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qjPxVHpR9UQ

Special thanks to the Jimenezes for taping it for us!!!

Collateral Damage

Do you know this person?

Well, you may THINK you know her. Oh sure, you may say, "That's Karen, the blushing bride of our music leader, Jim. She's the sweet one with the Southern Belle accent."

Well, it's time you knew the truth. During a recent gathering of families and friends, an innocent game of trivia was started. Oh sure, we were keeping score, but there were no prizes and therefore no real incentive to win.....or CHEAT. But yet, dear readers, that's EXACTLY what she did!!! Despite filing protests with the Board of Trivial Pursuits, Karen was declared the winner that night, and to this day I have not been able to look at her the same, and a war has raged between us ever since. Sadly, she has taken it to a new level. At our recent "Back to School" party (note innocent children swimming in the background) she attempted to assault me while I was not looking by launching a large, wet pool sponge in my general direction. Fortunately, she throws like a girl, and said sponge splattered against the head of my lovely bride, Deana. This is a picture of Karen in the seconds immediately following the attack. "Collateral damage" is a term used in wartime to describe uninteded destruction in the general area surrounding but not including the intended target. And my poor wife was a victim of it. Gen. William Tecumsah Sherman said one time in a speech that "War is hell....", but not on this day, my friends....not on this day. It was downright hilarious. Justice prevails.

Teen Camp 2008!!!

Teen camp is always the highlight of the summer and this year was no exception!!! With sponsors Deana, Ismael, and Emily, we took off for five incredible days at Lakeview Camp!!
Here's Allison just before her "mysterious" headache set in.....

....and maybe it wasn't the best idea to put Emily in charge of morning devotions....
.....and it probably wasn't wise to allow Ismael to actually speak to the Teens.....
....we took every opportunity to pose....
....(see what I mean?).....

....praise!!.....
.....pose some more...

......advertise....
.....pray.....
....practice some counting....

......worship in small groups....
.....praise some more!....
.....again with the counting?....

...carrying one another's burdens....
......posing a little more..
...praising a LOT more...

.....a little more posing for good measure...
....moderate partying...
....posing with some pouting for good measure....

....and finally ending with one last pose.

It was an awesome week, and hopefully the blessings and challenges that God presented us that week will continue to stay with us into the coming school year!! Thanks to Deana, Emily, and Ismael for getting us all there and, more importantly, bringing us all back!!

Have you met Amber?

Remember those cards and notes we sent to our new Worship Leader's family before they moved here from North Carolina? Especially to his 13-year-old daughter, Amber? Well she's HERE now and she's already just one o' the gang! Meet Amber! She's soon to be 14, and is home schooled. If you wanna take her out to dinner, her faves are Chinese, pizza, and subs like Jersey Mikes (don't think there are any of those in South Austin!). If you want to melt her heart with a song, try singing "No Air" and "Luv Song" to her. Her favorite bands are the Jonas Brothers, Superchic, and Barlow Girl. If you were in Sunday School last Sunday you heard her talking about the time she almost died when she was at Camp Living Water (ironic, but I digress) and the inner tube she was on went down a waterfall, flipped over, and she was pinned underwater! Thankfully a guy saw her go under and pulled her to safety!! Crazy scary! Her favorite movies are "Pirates of the Carribean" and "Finding Nemo". Her favorite thing to do is dance. "I've been dancing for like 8 years and do ballet, pointe jazz, modern, and some tap. I'm a singer and i've been singing my whole life. I'm teaching myself (or TRYING to teach myself) guitar, and that's about it!"

We're glad to have ya, Amber! [Editor's note: Be careful....she's feisty and has a 'tude!]

The Mother of All Quizzes!!!

Okay, first of all, you KNOW what Quizzing is, right? Let me look it up for ya real quick....here it is..."Quizzing - verb; death by intense Scripture memorization." That's right. It's pretty much a team of kids who have single-handedly memorized Galatians, Ephesians, Phillipians, Colossians, and Philemon. You take THAT team and line them up against ANOTHER team of equally brilliant Scripture memorizers and the last one standing wins the bloody mess!! It's an amazing spectacle of knowledge, tactics, and chair jumping and if you've never seen it, you gotta!! But what's happening now is not your momma's quiz...nope, this is colossal...this is the World Quiz!! That's right, the only thing bigger is the COSMOS Quiz and you can't get there from here unless you travel at light speed for 14 years and most teenagers aren't allowed to stay gone that long. So for now, this is as big as it gets!! And our very own Katrina (pictured here on the right, with co-team members Hillary and Stephanie) are duking it out on a global scale even as we speak!! And do you know what's the coolest ever? You can WATCH Katrina live on streaming video tonight (Thursday) at 9:30 p.m. at this address: http://www.q2008.org/stats and click on the "Video" link, and play the video for room Wiley 111. It's awesome!

Pray for Katrina as represents us and as she travels back from the quiz in Idaho!! We're so proud of you, Katrina!! Woot woot!!

If you want to see a picture of some of our other youth group members on the South Texas District website, check this out: http://www.southtexasquiz.org/