Thank you all for a truly amazing race! The winner is the BLUE TEAM! The green team took second, and the red team was third. The race came down to the final challenge, where each team dressed up their leaders in ridiculous outfits, complete with face paint and well placed toilet paper rolls, and paraded them in front of the church. Matt, who was driving for the blue team today, won the congregational applause-vote, propelling the blue team to victory. Kristan and the red team took second place in the final challenge, but it still wasn't enough to beat out Mike and the green team for second place.
Watch over the next few days for our final posts; we'll be putting up the videos that we had technology trouble with, and pics of the final challenge (well worth seeing!).
Thanks again for all of your support. Special thanks to Candi Banghart, who worked behind the scenes to arrange our travel, organize our budget, and make this event happen! Also thanks to Orchard View Congregational Church of Muskegon, Michigan; Mike and Sheri Miller, Jennifer Gregar, Pastor Andy of Community Evangelical Church in Niles, MI; Nina and Brandon Cooper and family, Ashley Towey, Craig Wood, Andy Veith, and everyone at Lighthouse. Also, thank you to the Wiliams family and the Schettler family for letting us borrow Matt and Kristan. And Matt and Kristan, THANK YOU SOOOOO MUCH for joining us and making this event possible. It is 11:43, the race just ended, and I am exhausted, so if I missed anyone, please, understand and know that I am so thankful to everyone that made this event happen. And, most of all, thank you to you, God, for allowing us to run this race so that we can better understand this faith race that we are living every day.
~Pastor Mike
Sunday, August 9, 2009
And The Winner Is...
GRACIAS
dear everyone who is anyone who helped out with thi race in every way. thanks schettlers and williams and millers for your mom and dads. thanks candi B. for setting up and planning a lot of this trip. thanks mama and papa miller and sister and brother miller for setting up the huge scavenger hunt, and also jennifer for the notre dame and wings ect. especially mike, and janet for being pacient with all the planning all of this.. everyone who's read our blogs and kept up with us. everyone whos prayed and been praying for months for the success of this trip. THANKSSSSSS:)
LOVE: brittany bry and karisa
Saturday, August 8, 2009
Headed home to Iowa babaaay!
So right now i am currently in the van with Mikey on our way back to Coralville once again! They just couldnt get enough of us! haha jk. Now i know what you all are thinking, you probably have been balling out your eyeballs becuase you miss us so much, but please dont be sad because soon enough we will all be home. The race is almost over, sadly, but i know we are all reay to get home. We did have our tension in this race but heck what race doesn't??
OH alsoo, so a little secret will come out now...
While when we were in the sthooper niice hotel in Chicago, Bry Brittney Megan and I shared a room, and me and brit were getting ice after we went swimming, so we were in our swim suits and these boys started to chase us and it was really scary.
Later ha bry and brit and I went to play a little knock knock run on our floor and bryballs had a little dribble, if you know what i mean, because we were so scared when the person opened their door and we had to hide between the vending machine. And so uh later we went to our floor and i waited by the door while they went. the next thing i know Kristen comes out because she heard meggballs freaking out and i was like, OH SNAP! please please dont let them come yet. And no surprise they turn around the corner sprinting to our room UNTIL they saw Kristen standing right there! ahahah mwahhaahaahaa.
So i guess that is it for now. I didnt plan on writing so much random pointless stories but I was getting bored riding in this red van.
P.S. If all of our videos and pics up by the end of the race just tune in on well approx. august 11 at 4ish
Love yours truly,
Karisa!
Train's in Chicago
Today is Saturday we spent the day in Chicago we left our cars at the hotel and took public trasportation. The coolest trasportation was the trains I have never been on a train like that before. On the trains we tricked Mikayla, she was sleeping and we pretended to get off, it was so funny. we went to a place called Pacific garden mission, it was a place were homeless people went to stay, we got a tour and ate dinner it was so good. We are almost done with the race, and we are going to beat the RED, and BLUE.
Brittany Franklin
Saturday Morning Devo
“Finish Line”
Do you ever think about the finish line? Not the end of our Amazing Race this week, but the end of the big race, the end of life. Some people think this is a morbid or sad topic, and it is to some degree sad. But I wonder what you think about when you consider your own death.
An epitaph is a short paragraph, only three or four lines, that tell the story of a person’s life. Sometimes the epitaph is printed on the person’s tombstone, it’s usually also in the newspaper.
If you had to sum up your life in only a few lines, what would you want it to say? What do you want your epitaph to be? Think about it for a few minutes, then write it here:
Now take a few minutes with just you and God, and think about these questions:
1. Does the epitaph that you wrote really reflect a person who lives out the purpose God has for their life?
2. Is your life heading in a direction that will make this epitaph true about you?
-Think about what you do with your time, how you spent your summer, how you are planning on spending your school year; does it all point toward this epitaph?
3. Do you need to make some changes in your priorities so that your life can be described by this epitaph? What changes?
4. Is there anything you want to tell God right now about this subject? Talk to Him about your goals. Tell Him how you feel about death. Ask Him to show you today if there is anything in your life that needs to be adjusted so that you can live out the purpose He has for you.
"Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious
thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the
way everlasting."
(Psalm 139:23-24)
Friday, August 7, 2009
chi town baby!
We are currently residing ourselves in the heart of downtown chicago. We had a huge discussion on the topic compassion, and mike challenged each of our teams to try it out so our team decided to spend the night at the rescue mission for homeless teens and adults..
nah, im just kidding but it sounded pretty sweet huh?
today we drove into chicago with green team leading riding with mike. because matt has never drivenout of the state of iowa this came as quite a shocker to him. i looked back and the expression on his face was priceless.. there's no other way to describe it but "terrified" now all was good until we were in traffic and an ambulance came and we all got seperated and matt and kristin missed our turn.. now if youve ever driven in dt chicago you know all too well that you can't just pull a u-turn in the middle of an intersection.. ahhah so abot 30 minutes later we were finally all together and we ate at a pizza place and went to the top of a viewing building where we looked out upon the beautiful chicago..
and the cool part was we had a bible study right there 95 stories in the air and we talked about what we need to stay focused on and what our distractions can be, also we had time alone to reflect and determine what we were goin to change.. now havin some good 'ol time with jesus while 95 stories in the air looking out at the sunrise on chicago can be pretty amazing and you can really see God in that.
today we were supposed to post funny videos unfortunately of course our camera doesnt upload it so once again we dont have anything..
we're gonna try again tomorrow people:) thanks for reading.
posted by:bryanna
Friday Morning Devo
“Popsicles”
There’s something innocent and beautiful about a little kid with a red popsicle on a hot summer day. They slurp and suck and lick the treat as it melts all down their chin and fingers. They are a sticky mess but they look up at you with a big cheesy grin and you can’t help but smile back.
Popsicles are a great treat in hot weather. They are made mostly of water, so they actually help to hydrate you and keep you going on a scorching day. They taste good, and they cool you down. They are refreshing.
Sometimes as we run our race we need refreshment and sustenance, something to cool us off and keep us going. Fortunately God knows this. He does not leave His followers to suffer. God opens the freezer, unwraps a treat, and hands it to us with an endearing smile.
Just like popsicles come in an assortment of flavors and colors, God’s refreshment comes in a variety of ways. Sometimes God uses people around us to refresh us. It is amazing what a word from a fellow Christian can do to lift us up when we need it! That is why we need fellowship, it is refreshing to know that we are not running this race all alone.
Sometimes God uses His Word to recharge us. The Bible is so full of life and encouragement. God reminds us of verses we have memorized right when we need to hear them. God gives us knew insight about verses we’ve read a hundred times before. God shows us new things in His Word just as things are getting stale and old. He revitalizes our energy and keeps us moving in our faith race.
God uses other ways to restore our energy, too. Sometimes His Holy Spirit just fills our hearts when we were not expecting it. Sometimes God treats us to beauty in His creation that rejuvenates our souls. Sometimes He waits until we ask Him.
Sometimes we have to put down an unhealthy treat the world has sold to us so we can free up our hands to receive the enlivening popsicle God offers us for free.
What refreshes you? Ask God to charge you for today’s race!
Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.
Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.
(Psalm 51:10, 12)
Thursday, August 6, 2009
Beach maddness!!
So we finally had a time to upload some pictures of the beach. Please leave some comments bout our finely hand crafted sand sculptures. Now, don't get too confused now...professionals did not make these, it was just us,the green team, who crafted them..i know they look like the real thing. We actually won 100 bonus points for them being so intricate and skillful.
THIS WOULD BE MATT'S WHALE
THIS WOULD BE BRITTANY AND BRYANNA'S SEA TURTLE
THIS WOULD BE MY TURBO BOAT
once again...these are not the real thing.
by yours truly....Karisa Mosicus
UPDATED***
Lunch with Mike's family
JUST MAKING NICE WITH THE OTHER TEAM MEMBER...THIS IS ALL FUN AND GAMES
We had a wing of a day!
Today we went to an awsome wing place called Wing Exc. The wings were so good. Almost everyone took the deadly wing callenge, Karisa and Bryanna on the green team eat a total of 2 wings each. These deadly wings had a habanaro pepper sauce on them. Luckly we one the challenge because our team at more wings than anyone. As they ate the wings they had tears pooring down there face. I was to scared to try this deadly challenge because I am a big sissy wimp.
By Brittany Franklin
finally!
we got to kristins camera finaly andd so heres some random picsfrom this week. we wil explain under or above each:) again, please dont steal or copywrigt our pictures.. atleast ask for permission..
Thursday Morning Devo
“Tired?”
29 He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak.
30 Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall;
31 but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.
~Isaiah 40:28-31
Do you ever just get tired? Life keeps going and going and going and sometimes it seems like you just can’t keep up. Your friends are having drama, your parents are freaking out about stuff, your homework is piling up, even your best friend seems stressed out. You find yourself sleepy or bored, and you just need a break.
Or maybe you're tired of trying to live for God. You try to be good but people at school just want to live for themselves and even your Christian friends keep messing around with sin. You wonder why you have to follow God’s Word all of the time and you dream about forgetting about your faith for a while and going a little wild.
We all get tired because the faith race is a long one and we are, after all, only human. The question is, what do we do with our tiredness? This verse in Isaiah says that everyone gets tired, but that God never gets tired. He never gets stressed. He never wants to quit on us. He always loves us, He is the “everlasting God”. God wants to share His strength with you. When you get tired, will you put your hope in Him, or in something else?
Circle the fifth line of verse 28, “He will not grow tired and weary”. Concentrate on those words for a few minutes, think about why that is an important truth.
Now tell God what things tire you out and distract you from the race. Tell Him what gets you down and what makes it tough for you to keep running. Ask Him to give you strength so that you can live for Him today.
“Humble yourselves, therefore, under God's mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.”~I Peter 5:6-7
Wednesday, August 5, 2009
Unfortunate events...
Well first today we had to switch drivers. Our FIRST unfortunate event was we were forced to switch drivers, so long Kristen, helloooo Matthew. We went to a all black and one Caucasian church, Mikes big sissy. Us being the brave green took on the hardest challenge of all, dusting! But seriously, it required great skill for it was not normal dusting. We had to climb a sixHUNDRED foot ladder, just kidding! We had to climb some 3 feeters. 
After eating at thee famous G&L(not clothing) but rather the famous hot dog shop, we were given our first clue! Our quest of Muskegon had begun!!! We started out strong, a little too strong for my liking, for about .648 seconds we were in the lead.(Don't be too proud mom)Unfortunately we can't read or figure out riddles. First was at the famous SilversideS(hence the S which took us about 2304983 tries to get us to the next clue)
and this is where it all began...
Long story short our clues got jacked up but fortunately we somehow figured to run 5 miles to the nearest lighthouse, which magically happened to be standing there our clue! (silver fox) By the time we got to the ice cream place we thought we were all tied up! But Unfortunately we did not get to go cow tippin' which threw us off. Down the street was the local cemetery where RIP grandma miller lies. Who woulda known October 3RD 2000, was sooo specific,("RD"). And Unfortunately we gained last place. Then the real madness began. After asking about 235 people for directions we found Hackley house. We drove on confusing streets for basically our whole time. It was great for site seeing might i add. From then on unfortunately we were dead set on last. But still unfortunately we got lost everywhere we went. And unfortunately we were late for our dinner. Then come to our surprise we find out that unfortunately we had skipped one or maybe two clues, how? i have noo idea. But surprisingly we were able to finish somewhat. wahoo
Thee best part of today***
We decided to spend the rest of the day at the local beach where we got our clues messed up. But it was ohso much fun!
Pictures will be up soon bc UNFORTUNATELY our camera injector thing is not functioning correctly.
Blog written by...Karisa Kayballs Beast
Wednesday Morning Devo
“Gunshot”
Have you ever been to a track meet? I’ve never been much into running. My older sister says I run like a duck (Personally I think it’s more like a platypus).
I remember watching the movie “Cool Runnings” when I was a pudgy little kid. The movie is about these track stars that are really fast, and they become a bobsledding team for Jamaica in the Olympics. I remember watching the fastest two guys on the team as they ran a race in the beginning of the movie. While they ran they didn’t hold their hands in fists, like most people do; instead, they had their fingers stretched out flat, and they pumped their arms as they ran like they were karate-chopping the wind. Since they were fast, and they held their hands flat, I decided that if I would run with my hands like that I would be fast too!
The next week at football practice I was ready. The coach sent us on a lap around a big fence, and I put my plan into action. I chopped through the air and ran as hard as I could. Like usual, I ended up being one of the last guys around the fence. I still didn't give up. Through the whole practice, anytime I had to run, I ran with my hands flat out, pumping my arms really hard. At the end of practice my dad took me aside and asked what I was doing. I told him I was running like the guys on the movie, and that my flat hands made me faster because there was less wind resistance. Somehow dad kept from laughing in front of me, and told me to never do that again. It turned out that I looked ridiculous and the parents watching us practice were laughing at me the whole time!
I know, I know… how embarrassing!
Needless to say, I never did take up track as a sport. But I did get to see a few track meets, and I decided that if I were ever to be involved in track, there is only one job I would want. I would want to be the guy that shoots the gun!
At the beginning of every track race a guy shoots a gun. It’s not loaded with real bullets, but it makes a pretty sweet BANG when the guy shoots it. At the sound of the gun, all of the runners take off. The gun is the thing that sets the runners in motion, if there were no gunshot, the runners would never leave their starting blocks. I think that in real life there are things that do the job of that gunshot.
You are on the starting blocks right now. We’ve already talked about life as a race, how we have to run hard and fast so that we can live out the purpose of our lives. You’ve been challenged to live for God. God has brought you to this point. He knew you would be reading this this morning. So what’s it gonna take to get you started? What will it take to move you off of the blocks and into the race? What is your gunshot? Are you ready to get moving?
Talk to God about these things for a few minutes.
3 RAPPERS ABOARD A PIRATE SHIP?!
I ASK BEFORE READING THIS YOU PREPARE YOURSELF TO BE AMAZED, ALSO IF YOU START READING IT YOU MUST READ TO THE VERY LAST WORD ON THE POST. THANKS:)
we just took a pirate ship that we invaded and while on the pirate ship we had a while to reflect and use our musical abilities. we ask that you please dont send this in to any major recording producers for we don't want to make the big bucks and be greedy. and to be quite honest we want to be frugle.. :) so here goes nothin! just so you know brittany aka dribbla is the back up dancer/singer. karisa aka da beast is the main dancer/ beat boxer. and i yes i bryanna kay aka THE rhyme spitta is.. yes i am thee rhyme spitta. .....
THIS IS A PUBLIC ANNOUNCEMET, OUR COMPUTER HAS HAD MANY MALFUNCTIONS DURING THIS WEEK THE PAST 2 NIGHTS WE HAVE BEEN LOADING JUST THIS ONE VIDEO AND IT STILL RESISTS SO, FOR THE TIME BEING YOUR JUST GOING TO HAVE TO PICTURE IT IN YOUR BRAIN.. IT TAKES PLACE IN A FAMILY RESTROOM ABOARD A PIRATE SHIP.. HAHA. OH, AND IF FOR SOME TERRIBLE REASON WE WERE'T ABLE TO GET IT UP, PLEASE ASK MIKE TO SHOW IT IN CHURCH SOME UPCOMING SUNDAY.. IT IS VERY WELL WORTH YOUR TIME AND MINE. THANKS
LYRICS
We are team green
and we rock this scene
the amazin race
is such fast pace
this is for our blog
we take pics with ice hog
drive drive drive
and maybe take a dive?
give us a clue
bring it on blue!
yielded by red
and we still got ahead! ohhhhh
after 6384658 u-turns
you'd think we'd learns
coralville, rockford milwaukee, what's next?
i don't know, ill send you a text:)
the other teams think that their all that
we'll see when we're up to bat
chorus:
heyyyyy we're the green team yo
we will def. put on a show
yo yo yaahhhhh dawg
we never speed
there is no need
we're in first place
in this dang race
the roadblocks can't slow us down
we'll see ya in the next town
we don't need no bathroom break
we'll just go in the lake
we are so tough
you say that's not enough?
we got brains too
let me tell ya that's better than you blue
we dont let red get to our head yaaa!
CHORUS (shown above)
megan and britt got the poops
just can't make it.. OOPS!
you say this rap is crap?
i think you should learn to read a map
thanks for lookin at our post
other teams, your toast
CHORUS (shown above)
lyrics written by brit bry karisa and kristin
we would like to give a special thanks to our friends and family whom have supported us throughout our careers and finally our day has come to shine.
peace
blog written by: bryannnnnna:)
Tuesday, August 4, 2009
We're baaack ;)
So we have been in Illinois for about 4 hours now driving around like crazy. We did have a dribbler on the way lol.
As you may know red team yielded us BUT...we got back in the race and hurried our tails off to beat them in the first leg of the race, even after we took about 1342 wrong turns. When were about to finish our last part of the main task we happened to run into a guy magically with his name "Chris" tatooed on his arm!
We completed every bonus point woo hoo! Now we are on to Milwaukee, Wisconsin! Tune in later to see our new released rap video, yo!
by...Karisa aka Kayballs
***
Our Main Challenges-
Bonuses*
waiting..
so, last night was awesomee! as you all know on amazing race there is such thing as a yield.. so, becuase the green team is the biggest threat we got yielded.. we were tricky last night and pulled a fast one on the other teams.. there were' two trning lanes and we were in the lead so we put our turning signal on and got over to the left.. thinking they were winning matt and mike whipped past us on the left to turn left in front of us.. it was all part of our plan. once they turned we went straight knowing all to well they turned on the wrong street! so, we were first to the hotel. right now, we're headed to rockford , IL and we have some random things we have to find and take pics with.. unfortunately my camera wouldn't upload so we didn't get our pic of us to coralville or passing the other vans:) bwahahhaha!
picture of us finding out we we're yielded..
and we're off!
so last night we left the church around 7 and our computer wouldn't turn on. so what do we do? follow the other teams of course! eventually we finally got our computer up and running and all was good. our first pit stop was in coralville. and of course green team was the first to arrive! with seconds to spare.. the green team is karisa, brittany, and bryanna. Kristin was our driver for the first jaunt. in coralville were goin to swim and eat pizza.!
leave us some comments!
Monday, August 3, 2009
Tuesday Morning Devo
Each morning our students will spend some one on one time with God. I've written a devotional for them that follows along with our Amazing Race theme. I'll post each day's devos so you can follow along.
Tuesday Morning Devo
“Hurdles”
Last night we compared life to a race. God calls us to run hard away from ourselves, our sins that try to tangle us up, and our natural selfishness. He is calling us toward Him, and we know that we can trust Him. But sometimes things get in our way.
The Bible tells us to “take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.” (Ephesians 6:16). This means that as we run our race we are going to run into obstacles, but that God has given us a shield for those things.
What are the obstacles that get in the way of your race? For some people it is their history. They’ve messed up along the way, they’ve hurt people, or maybe they have been hurt by people, and they are angry or bitter. They think that they are disqualified from the race because of their past. For other people their hurdle is temptation. They want the things of this world, so they get tripped up in their sin and they don’t live for God.
There are all kinds of hurdles in life, but God promises us that we can jump over every one if we will only trust Him. The Bible says, “I can do everything through him who gives me strength.” (Philippians 4:13).
Take a few minutes and think about the hurdles that are getting in the way of your race.
Ask God to give you strength to live your purpose today. Don’t worry about tomorrow, or the rest of the week, just ask God to help you make it through the day as best as you can. Ask Him to help you run fast and hard for this stretch of the race. You will never get today back, you can only live it once, there will never again be an August 4th, 2009; ask God to give you the courage to live today completely for His will!
