All members of the Terrace are currently involved in this rotation of the Mentoring Stacks. We are discussing when our campus group will meet when we pick back up in the fall. If you're interested in joining our group please let us know so we can work to find a night that best works for everyone.

We are also working on the plan for ministry with the youth around the Plaza District for this year. We are thrilled to have kept in contact with the kids from Taft Middle School and are also developing other contacts within the community to find areas where we can serve. The need is great and we would be happy for you to partner with us! Send an email to Chris or pull any of us aside on Sunday morning if you'd like more information.

For the greater glory of God,

Jamie

Kids of The Club

There are so many great kids around inner OKC that are in trouble. They are in trouble for a lot of different reasons. There home life may be a wreck, their friends might be really bad influences on them, they are probably daily exposed to drugs and gang influence, and a lot of other things too that I really have no idea about.

These kids, urban youth, need love. They need love and encouragement. Something they may not have had for a long time.

Jamie G, Arthur, Steve, Holly and I have all been involved with an awesome opportunity to meet, interact, and invest in some urban youths lives this semester. We teamed up with a program called "The Club" hosted at NWBC on Wednesday nights.

Basically it is a mentoring program and afterschool event for the kids, but our role is to go hang out and do some structured games, basketball, and arts and crafts with the kids for 45 minutes every Wednesday.

I just want to say that these kids rock. Toi, Dia, Cortez, Victor, and James are a few of the consistent kids we have been getting to know week in and week out. They are talented middle schoolers at Taft that have so many gifts. We don't know their whole story yet, but they probably have had pretty tough lives. But we talk about suceeding in life, keeping good grades, their dreams in life, and their day to day interactions at school. Simply being consistent in their lives and dreaming with them has impacted them greatly, and us to.

Each week our small group "the Terrace" meets after the club at the Corbin house to do small group and pray for eachother as well as the kids and relationships evolving there.

I want to encourage anyone who has ever wanted to show the love of Christ to anyone to jump into the lives of these okc kids. They need it. They really need you. We would love to have you be a part of our group too.

P.S. December 17th we are going to watch some of the kids from our group do a band recital at Taft auditorium. Should be a christmas event not to be missed. More importantly we hope to meet their parents and further those relationships as well.

God bless and email me anytime if you want to come hang out anytime.

Christopher-corbin@ouhsc.edu

Once upon a time...

It began in the State of Kansas in 1933. Bill Braum was in grade school when he began his career by helping his father, Henry H. Braum, with the family business, a small butter and milk processing plant in Emporia, Kansas. Seven years later ice cream processing was added to the operation. 76 years after that a school teacher, a hygenist, three dentists and a Ugandan walked into an Oklahoma City Braums to eat ice cream in the most unusual of ways.


The evening started with a lovely Italian meal at Steve Mueller's apartment. Home-made lasagna, French bread and a green salad beckoned the hungry friends to the table and, consequently, away from living room where there was starting to be a few too many impressions of The Godfather.

They ate.

Thus completing the third meal of the day, the dentists, so as to avoid hypocracy, whipped out travel sized toothbrushes from their pockets and proceded to brush. Toothpaste, however, lacks the abilty to satisfy a sweet tooth craving, so the diners decided to go out for ice cream.

Upon arrival at Braum's one of the friends exclaimed, "Hey, that's Morris in the drive thru!" And so another dentist was caught about to load up on ice cream. (He claimed it was all for the wife, who was expecting, but he fooled no one). The friends stormed the car and invited the fourth dentist and his wife to join them inside.



Once inside, the group ordered two half-gallon tubs which they intended to invert, unwrap, then eat. This was not an easy task and involved a lot of confused discussion (mostly in regard to how to remove the tub). Many utinsils were needed, which of course required a little bit of charm to attain from the Braum's employees. The Ugandan had to show the school teacher how this was typically done. The only thing more disturbing than the sight of this was the over-abundance of framed ice cream sundae posters trying to pass for art on the wall (see photo below).

Eventually, the ice cream was accessed and everyone partook of the delicious treat. The friends talked and laughed and generally enjoyed each other's company.

The End.

All flesh is like grass

For you have been born again, not of seed which is perishable but imperishable, that is, through the living and abiding word of God. For “All flesh is like grass, and all its glory like the flower of grass. The grass withers, and the flower falls off, but the word of the LORD abides forever.” And this is the word which was preached to you. Therefore, putting aside all malice and all guile and hypocrisy and envy and all slander, like newborn babes, long for the pure milk of the word, that by it you may grow in respect to salvation, if you have tasted the kindness of the Lord. - 1 Peter 1:23-2:3

Three different people gave me bouquets of flowers for my birthday. I loved them. All were some arrangement of purple and yellow, which happen to be two of my favorite colors.*

Being an overly-practical person, I used to think the giving and receiving of floral bouquets was kind of a waste of money. To some extent, I still think this, but that’s not really what I want to write about. Suffice to say that I’m not as opposed to giving flowers to people as I once was. Yet there still remains some level of silliness to the whole thing because no matter how beautiful the flowers are, they always wilt and die (rather quickly, if under my supervision). When this happens I always feel a twinge of sadness and it’s easy to forget how much joy their gleaming beauty brought me when I first got them.

Well, as I listened to a pastor preach over this passage of 1 Peter yesterday one thing that kept popping into my head was my dying flowers that had so sweetly been given to me for my birthday. They are now about two weeks old (in vase years) and very much in the process of losing their former glory.

It struck me that, even in their rapidly decaying state, there is still beauty to be found. They can serve as a visual reminder of how precious a truth it is that the word of the Lord, the very word which was both written for and preached to us so that we will grow in respect to salvation, is living and imperishable. They can remind me, just as Peter does, to think of the Lord’s kindness towards me and to long for the pure milk of his abiding word, which both spoke my life into existence and declares to me my freedom from sin. What could be more beautiful?

*Any affection for said colors is enhanced by, but not limited to, their affiliation with my favorite basketball team. Go Lakers!

Then there was She......Guitar BATTLE!!!

As Jayme Henry and Jamie Growe (J squared-as we affectionaley call them) glared at eachother from the beginning of worship time, we bystanders didn't really understand why they were so intense. We started with the classic song "All in All" and then Jamie Growe just started shifting her capo and hittin' some crazy notes so hardcore that it literally brought blood to her finger tips (see pic). That quite frankly left Jamie H. twiddling her thumbs. As Jayme H. winded down the first song she teased Jamie. G into thiniking the song was over the real games began....

As Jamie G. strummed that last note carrying us out of the song, Jamye H. got a second wind and went onto the mysterious 3rd verse of "all in all" (yah most don't know it). As she ripped through it Jamie G. sat stunned as Jayme H. joyously and passionately finished out the chorus after said mystery verse 3. Hitting the last chord Jayme H. was basically was gloating in her guitar dual victory.

Strangely Jamie G. just got up and smashed her guitar on the chair ( you know the kitchen one that is broken) and said "terrace is over." So, I'm hoping there will be dualing guitars this week, but just not quite as intense. J squared are just so intense. Hopefully they can just get along this week. Come and find out.....

The Wonderful World of James...

It has been two weeks too long since there has been a post, and I apologize for that. I know there are so many avid readers of this blog and they are just so ancy to check it every day. So to those fans, I am sorry.

We have been in James for two weeks not and it has been a really great study of challenges for believers in our walk, accountability, and what it means to have a strong faith in the Lord. As usual come and enjoy time toghether. The Terrace has been great with worship (even dualing guitars last time) , fellowship and good study. Bring yourselves, bring a friend, and just come to be encouraged and escape the grind of the week.

We look forward to seeing you at the Terrace this week at 7:30pm. email if you need directions christopher-corbin@ouhsc.edu

Cuppies and Joe Sebatical

HEY GANG,

The Amos study has come to a close.  We finished us out last week with an overview of what all God showed us through Amos.  We really did enjoy looking at Amos and talking about God's desires for his people.

Also, we really enjoyed seeing everyone that showed for the Super bowl party.  It was a blast and we really enjoyed watching Reagan and Kenny cheer against eachother's team.  Not to mention the sweet 3-d commercials.

 This Wednesday  night we are just going to hang out for a while and enjoy relaxing at cuppies and joe.  We were hoping everyone would come and we will have  a great time catching up on the week.  7:30 meet at cuppies and joe on NW 23rd and Shartel 'ish.  You can google it too.  But, good coffee, laid back atmosphere, and sweet stuff too if you want it.