First Turkey!

So I (Caroline) feel like I have made a big step toward being a good cook! I attempted my first turkey. We had a small group of students coming over from church and I offered to cook a Thanksgiving style meal, which had to include a turkey! So after some advice from my mother-in-law this is what I came out with. Judge for yourself and don't feel bad if your mouth waters ;)

BCM Christmas Banquet 2009

This year, the BCM did something different for their banquet; all the money we paid for tickets went toward missions. It's amazing to think that they money we paid put someone on a plane for east Asia and they are there right now sharing God's love with people who have never heard the name of Jesus. Please be in prayer for the students who are in East Asia and North Africa this break. They are learning the true meaning of Christmas this year!

My classroom and some of my students

I started teaching this year at George Elementary School in Springdale, AR. I teach general music to Kindergarten through fifth grade. It is a great job and I love everything I get to do. I have an honor choir and a small drumline that performs at character assemblies. My kids keep me laughing and smiling even on days that are hard. Here are some pics of my classroom and some of my students.

Family Reunion

Back at the beginning of October Cole and I traveled to El Dorado, AR for a family reunion on for my Mom's side of the family. We really enjoyed spending time with extended family that we don't get to see that often. We ate lots of good food and shared lots of laughs.

Make a Smilebox slideshow

UBC Fall Retreat

This year for retreat, the college ministry at our church decided to go to Castle Bluff, a retreat center that is about an hour and a half east of Fayetteville. We divided students into teams for a competition that lasted the entire retreat and on Saturday after lunch, used the facility's zip line and climbing and repelling walls for a little recreation. The retreat commenced with us stopping on the way back for catfish at the Kings River store just outside Kingston, AR.

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Halloween

At UBC where we go to church, the college ministry started a Halloween tradition about four years ago which became a really big hit. We have a costume contest called the Runway where people come and strut their stuff in their costume down a real runway. It's so much fun and the costumes get better and more creative each year. The first place winner this year was a chinese dragon. Cole went as sleeping beauty for the first half of the night and as a snowglobe the second half of the night. The snowglobe suit was built out of plastic trash bags and he attached a small air pump on the inside to keep it inflated. He then made himself look like a snowman so when he got inside his "globe" he looked like a snowman inside of it. I went a little more simple and made a snow white costume and yes I did have 7 dwarfs to go with me.

Fall Pictures

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Recently, we had a student from the BCM take pictures of us on Old Main lawn. She's a budding photographer and we figured we would give her some practice! Enjoy the pictures!

Bikes Blues and BBQ

Last night, Cole and I took one of my best friends, Ravonne to Bikes, Blues, and BBQ. We mostly ate really good food (talking about the taste here, and not the health), listened to the bands, and looked at the bikes. The food made a great photo op.

80's skate night!

So last week after a round of the flu and a very hard day at school for me, I went along with Cole and the college students at our church to the Springdale skating rink. We had an 80's skate party where all the students had to dress in 80's style clothing to go skating. We had a blast skating to great hits like "Living on a Prayer."

Update for the past month and a half

So, there have been a lot of changes for the Penicks in the last month. First of all, sorry I haven't posted. Problems with both computers and internet has limited my ability to post. Anyways, Cole and I have moved apartments from a one bedroom to and two bedroom. I'm not sure how we fit all of that stuff in that small apartment...by God's grace I guess! Also, if you haven't heard, I did get the job in Springdale that I interviewed for in July. It is such a blessing to be in the school you want to be in!!!! We have started another school year meeting new freshman at the U of A and hope for another fantastic year of ministering to college students for the glory of our heavenly father. We are so excited to see what God does this year and how he continues to transform us for his will. More posts soon!

Prayer Request

For all of you who read here, please be praying for us. On Thursday, I (Caroline) have an interview for a music teacher job in Springdale. It says in the bible that where two or three come together in His name, that God comes and dwells there with those lifting up his name. Please pray around 10:30 Thursday morning for the interview to go well. We have been waiting for a year on a full time teaching job and we are hoping this will be the end to the search. Please pray for protection, that the enemy will not have a foothold on me or anyone else involved in this process. Greater is he that is in us than he that is in the world and we are going to continue to stand on this promise regardless of what happens! Our God is a sovreign God who does everything in his timing. We would covet your prayers over the next couple of days. God Bless!

Happy 1st Anniversary!

Cole and I celebrated our first anniversary on June 28th. We kind of took a different approach to celebrating due to our crammed schedule (welcome to college ministry). Cole made me breakfast in bed on the Friday before our anniversary and announced he had cancelled all my meetings for the day (i.e. breakfast with a friend, lunch with another, and dinner w/ a couple from our church). We got in the car for the surprise trip and ended up in Sequoyah state park outside of Talequah, OK. The plan was to camp, but after a rather warm picnic in 100 degree temps, we decided maybe we should re-plan our trip. We found a hotel after a long search (apparently Talequah is the garden spot of Oklahoma) and had a great dinner at a place called Sam and Ella's chicken palace (say the name really fast to get the joke). We went to the hotel and sat in air conditioning and enjoyed being together. Sometimes its the simple things that mean the most. The next morning we packed up and went to the Illnois river with a group of students and got a little sunburned. On Sunday, we came home from church and went to go see "Up"; fantastic flick by the way! Then, we went home, made steak with all the fixins, and ate cake and ice cream to finish up the night. It was a great start to many more anniversaries. I'm so proud of the man I married, and how God uses both of us in the others life to be remade into the image of Christ daily.











Trying to figure out where we are headed

Still thinking.........And Cole giving me no hints.

Sequoyah State Park
At Sam and Ella'sOn our way to float the river. Happy Anniversary!

Thailand Pictures

Thailand pics

Hey, everyone. Sorry it has taken me so long to post. We pretty much hit the ground running once we got back stateside, so needless to say I haven't had a lot of time to update this blog. Cole and I are pretty much caught up on sleep and our stomachs have adjusted back to American food...took a couple of days and a bottle of pepto bismol to get us there. Anyways, here are some of our pictures from our trip. God continues to teach us a lot even after we are home. Please continue to pray for our team: Austin (Cole's brother), Tyler, Emily, Kayla, and Kasey. We got an update from Austin this morning. They are more than halfway done with this trip and have just finished putting on an English camp. They had many good conversations with students this weekend. Pray that this would go beyond questions about God to how to have a relationship with Him. Pray that they fell the weight of their sin and their need of a Savior to redeem them. I'm currently loading the rest of the pictures onto a picasa web album. I'll put the address up as soon as I am done. Love to all of you! By the way the picture next to this is me and Cole in the back of a tuk-tuk...it's a motorcycle cart thing that they use for transportation in the city. It was really fun!