Less Than a Month Until the Next "Night Out!"

Twenty-four days to be exact.

We already have five kids registered for our April 17th "Night Out!" Word is getting out and there has been many inquires about "Night Out!".There are people asking how to get involved and how to register.

Yesterday at church, 3 couples approached me and said "count us in for helping April" Wow! This is so exciting!!

Planning Ahead...

Evaluation forms are back with positive remarks! The parents I have talked to had wonderful things to say about the evening. We really were a blessing to these families.


There are a few things that we need to tweak, but for the most part, things will remain the same. We are planning to have more children next month, so we will untilize more of the church.

God is so good!

Last night was our first ever "Night Out!" It was awesome!!

I am at a loss of words to describe the evening. It was totally, without a doubt, a "God thing"! The whole night was busy and fun. Huge smiles were on every one's face. Everyone seemed to be having a wonderful time. It felt so good to be a blessing to those families.

We had a total of 10 children for the evening. I thought that was great for our first time. Five of the ten had special needs. The other five were either siblings or children of the volunteers. It was fantastic. All the children played other and interacted with the teen and adult volunteers. All the children with special needs had a one-on-one buddy, so where ever the child went, the buddy was right there.

The main highlight of the evening for the kids were the boxes. Amy, our wonderful activities director, brought packing boxes of various sizes. What a hit! The kids loved them. They spent much of the evening building, knocking them down and rebuilding again, and again.

In the Arts and Crafts area, lead by Jamie, the children made beautiful pictures using shaving cream and tempera paint. Shaving cream was sprayed onto a large cookie sheet. The children then squished the shaving cream around in the tray. Paint was added and they continued squishing the paint and shaving cream around with their fingers until they came up with their masterpiece. They were beautiful!

In the middle of the evening, Cloa engaged all the children with her storytelling. All the children were mesmerized. After a quit time of stories, some of the children acted out stories of their own.

I am so very thankful for all the wonderful volunteers that came out for our very first event.





The whole experience was incredible! It was such a treat to watch everyone interact with each other.

One More Day!

I know that "Night Out!"must be a good idea, because today has been so difficult. I am starting to get a cold and am running out of energy. It is like Satan is sitting on my shoulder, whispering in my ear "Quit while your ahead". I can't listen to that!! It was God that put the ideas in my heart and my head, and it is God that I must listen to for direction.

There is so much that has to be done! I am really getting nervous. We have 4 children signed up so far. I have talked to a few more families, but haven't gotten a commitment. I hope that we have enough volunteers.

My prayer is that "Night Out!" and Mark 10:14 Ministries will be a blessing... I pray that it will be a blessing to the children, the families and somehow even be a blessing to the volunteers.

Two Days and Counting!...

Sounds like a trend.

So far, we have 3 kids with special needs for "Night Out!" this coming Friday. There are still a few moms who haven't gotten back to me yet, so I am still waiting.

This afternoon will be filled with making lists and checking to make sure that we have all the necessary items to make this evening a good experience for everyone involved.

Three Days and Counting!

Oh my goodness... three days to the big event! I really never dreamed that 8 months ago when I began telling people of my the desires of my heart, that they would actually come to fruition. God is so good!

The big event? Our very first "Night Out!"

I feel like I should have started this blog months ago, but I didn't... so I will start where I am and explain as I go.

"Night Out!" is for families who have a child with disabilities or any special need. One night a month (usually the 2nd Friday) parents can bring their child with special needs (and siblings up to 12 years old) to the church for an evening of fun activities, crafts and snacks. The children with special needs will have a trained one-on-one buddy and the siblings will be in groups of 4 - 6 with a team leader. While all this is happening, the parents have the option of going out on a "date" and doing whatever they want for approximately 3 hours (as long as they stay in town), or if they wish, they may stay on campus and be treated to coffee, dessert and fellowship with other adults. All this is free of charge! All we ask is that parents fill out a registration form and sign up one week in advance to the next "Night Out!", so that we have enough workers.

Well... Friday, March 13th marks our first "Night Out!". It is more of a trial-run. I am getting very nervous. There is so much that still needs to be done. I need to just keep going and not allow Satan to destroy all of this by planting doubt in my head.

This morning I have parents to contact... I am personally inviting 5 families for our first event. We are asking them to try out the evening and then fill out an evaluation form (which my wonderful husband is making for me... he is so good at things like that). Then... if we have enough positive remarks, we will open it up to the public next month.

My plan for this blog is to keep an account of this wonderful and exciting adventure. I feel so honored and blessed at God put all of this on my heart