A-MAZE-ing Adventures

Sunday afternoon was a perfect fall day.... to get totally lost in a corn maze!  A slew of youth and St. Mark folk stayed after worship on Sunday to eat a bag lunch, then head to Liberty Mills Farm in Orange for an afternoon of winding our way through an enormous corn maze.  

Per the pre-maze agreement, every person pledged their promise to not leave me, lost, directionless, and therefore hopeless, in the corn maze.  No one really believed me about how directionless I am... until the ride over to the maze when I managed to turn around THREE times because we'd gotten lost, even with the aid of a GPS.  

(Is it any wonder?  When I asked "which way?" this is the response I got:)

Anyway.  The weather was gorgeous, the trees were beautiful, and everyone had a fantastic time in the maze.  We split up into 5 different groups and completed the medium-challenge maze in varying degrees of speed.  Some groups dashed quickly through, making it out in a record 17 minutes. Other groups took upwards of 90 minutes, but stopped and found every quiz question hidden inside the maze's wall, ultimately solving the riddle and earning a small treat.  

B's technique:  walk backward through the maze

I totally know where we are!!!

Lost.

Where are Lewis & Clark when we need them?!

Triumphant at the finish!

Racing over for the hayride

The number of reeeaaallly corny jokes we managed during the adventure was impressive.  None of the kids seemed to appreciate how punny we advisors were being, which meant we just kept telling them.

We had to be careful what we said, for there were many ears in the maze.

At times, we felt as though we were being stalked.

Indeed, it felt rather eerie....

There was a kernel of truth to what we were feeling.

During the hayride, there was a bit of mischief happening with some hay-throwing.  "Hay!!  Hay, Hay!  That is enough.  I've had it.  That's the last straw," I announced.

The hayride was great fun, along with playing corn pone and games of checkers on a giant-sized board, using gourds as pieces.  Everyone enjoyed the afternoon, but the very best part for me was watching how other people watched our group.  Sometimes, when I'm out and about with my young family, I'll get sweet smiles from strangers who overhear conversations with a four year old, or watch how nicely they are behaving (at the moment).  This time, I enjoyed those same sweet smiles from strangers as they watched our youth group, the kids so completely enjoying themselves, being fun and playful, sweet and kind to one another.  It was a deeply gratifying moment for me, making me feel so proud of our youth who represent our church so well, filling me with gratitude as their leader. 

With this group? Of course it was an a-maze-ing adventure!!!

 

Cookies!

In this constantly changing, technology-driven universe in which we live, I am delighted to know that the quintessential care package from home will never lose its appeal - cookies on a computer browser have nothing on cookies in a care package!  On Sunday, youth and advisors met after worship for an afternoon of cookie baking and card making for our recent high school grads.  Before getting down to the business of creating care packages, we were first well-cared for by Corinne, who lovingly and generously made a feast of a lunch for us, and by Ann, who assisted Corinne in setting up and serving the meal. What a treat it was, from the beautifully decorated tables to the scrumptious food that was served, including decadent cupcakes to top it all off.

Satiated and content, the kids worked hard at making gorgeous, personalized cards for every one of the seven seniors to whom we sent care packages.  The cards were colorful, thoughtful, and well-made.  Meanwhile, we had three Cookie Bosses in the kitchen who churned out over 10 dozen (!!) cookies of 5 different varieties.  We were excited with the end results of our efforts, and so pleased with the time we shared with each other in creating the contents of the care packages.  Our time together ended with the "unofficially official" game of youth group, Apples to Apples, where I continued my losing streak, never managing to win a SINGLE hand during ANY game.  :o)

Some photos from the day:

Gorgeously decorated table, awaiting us

Corinne serves up a feast!

Hard at work, making cards

Cookie Bosses

what a great helper!!

the gang!

Impressive results

Ready to be shipped!

All of the packages went out Monday afternoon... which means that, with any luck, those cookies are now being devoured and shared with friends!