Just some Random Thoughts...

Did you know:

• that last week my church, FLAMINGO ROAD CHURCH, baptized 333 people.
  
• 2 out of those 333 were two girls from FRC Kids Doral. Congratulations Mia & Casey!!!! [2 & 3 grade]
• The team at FRC Kids Doral set a goal of 5 kid baptisms for 2009 [I'm not always good at setting goals. Not always sure what is good or not]. We have had 5 kids get baptized so far!!! It's been reached so we will passionately lead & serve for 5 more. ;)
• Last week I realized how much I enjoy Disney better than Busch Gardens & all their parks. And not because of the rides, mostly because of the leadership. [& it is a little more magical]
  
• FRC Doral Life Development will have a Orientation on July 23 [& 26]. Excited to see new faces, structure, and eternal change for our campus
• Every Wednesday is Pixar Day at FRC at noon. Join us in the main auditorium, bring lunch in a creative lunch box, and meet some new leaders and life changers
• You can join our BLOGGERS BOOK STUDY, if you haven't already. Click the link to see what you've missed and join me here tomorrow to read our next chapter.
• FRC will be hosting the Leadership Summit on August 6 & 7. Get more information here and REALLY sign up!
  
• I challenged myself & FRC Kids Doral team to pass out 10 invite cards this week so people can join us at one of our services at FRC [Doral]

Yea, these are my random thoughts. I hope they spark some encouragement; spark you to participate in something you haven't yet. Do you have any random thoughts you'd like to share? Come on, give it a try here.

Have You Joined Us Yet??...

First, Heredes and I are back from FRC Pensacola and a short vacation.  It was nice to get a away for a bit, but the rain was not that fun.  But at least we have a lot of nourished and green grass.

Second, the Blogger's Book Study has started.  The book is Courageous Leadership by Bill Hybels. It's not to late to jump in and join us.  Here are the awesome bloggers who have shared their chapters so far:

Heredes: Ch. 1 & 2

Barby: Ch. 3

Mo: Ch. 4

Heather: Ch. 5

My friend Meegee will be sharing on Ch. 6.  So far there has been a lot of great leadership nuggets.  Remember, there are about 5 more books after this one and when done, we will start our Fall group of books.  If you want to make book suggestions and/or participate in leading a few chapters, go ahead and jump over to Heredes' blog and let him know.  

For the full schedule, click here. 

Bloggers Book Study!! Yes, I am back...

Do you have hours on end to read all those books on your wish list? I didn't think so!! I never do. That is why I am so excited to be a part of this innovative new venture - the Bloggers Book Study. Actually, perhaps we should call it a books study!

This is our online collaborative effort to collectively review six books in the next nine weeks. Twelve bloggers, six books, one daily post. See the schedule of posts and blogs here and participate with your thoughts, comments and questions.

I guarantee this is going to be enriching. Please join me on this summer journey!

The first book is Courageous Leadership, by Bill Hybels. First blogger up TODAY is my husband, Heredes Ribeiro, recapping and discussing chapters 1&2 here. Tomorrow join our second blogger, Ms. Barby Ward HERE, recapping and reviewing chapter 3.

What do you think? Are you in? So let's head over to our first stop, right here!

Some fun thoughts...

My close friend [prima=cousin] Kristy married this past Friday to her sweet man, Evan Garcia.  The Garcia's wedding was beautiful.  I was blessed to be a part of her court.  They are a special couple that love the Lord and they are highly favored and blessed.  Prima you made me cry!!!  Congrats!

With that said, I was looking at some old pictures and videos [since the next day after the wedding I got the 24 hour stomach flu- ugh] and I just had to share these pics and video of two of the most cutest boys I know: Jonathan and Joshy.  I have taken care of these rugrats since they were newborns. I love them and their family dearly.  They were part of the wedding too. One video is of them playing around and the other is Jonathan promoting my husband's blog: heredes.com. Listen to the ending, it sounds like some monster growling in the background. [It's hilarious]

The Napkin Conference...

Checking out this conference for Children's leaders, pastors, etc.
The Napkin Conference.

My 2009 Art...

I usually never, ever do this but here are some of my paintings from this past semester. I took Still Life and Portrait atelier classes. [for the second time] The media is Pastels: hard and soft. I need to work on pastel technique/creating the right texture especially for the skin, allowing to leave my strokes in and not smudge and smoothing out my edges. [and there is always the proportion issue]. So, yup. Hope Heather is happy. ;)

Finally a graduate...

If you know me, you know that finishing up my bachelor degree has been a looooonnnnngggg journey. April 27th, 2009 marked the day of that accomplishment.

This semester was a very hectic one, with: internship, 2 drawing classes, kids ministry @ frc, taking care of a home and husband... Phew... But God big time gave me strength and perseverance to finish everything and on time. I was blessed with a great cooperating teacher and supervisor.

Well, just to wrap it up. Though I really didn't want to walk, I did. First, because I made Heredes walk back in 2007. Second, it was too much of a big accomplishment to not walk.

Most memorable moments of that day were: Adding Ribeiro, in pencil, to my card so I could here the presenter say: Marcella Meza Ribeiro. Seeing my family up in the stands, especially my daddy. Phew! I almost cried- don't know why. Maybe it's bc he has a great smile ;). Exiting to U2 and Coldplay. Having a great lunch @ Texas de Brazil with my family. And coming home to a clean house- compliments of my husband & his creativity. So thank you to my family for setting an example of finishing what you start. And to a very special couple that paid my way this last semester. $2,000.00 as a Gift Revolution gift. Glad to repay you back with a degree.

My next mission: find a job!