Hilarious.

Want to laugh? This will do it. It’s the top 10 babies on you tube. I guess you can say with Malcolm/Kelly & Jill/Clinton being pregnant, it makes this even funnier. We can’t wait to post videos of our babies and see if they are as funny as the top 10. Hope you get a kick out of this. My favorite is the quadruplets laughing!

Which one is your favorite???

The Life Map...

Have you ever heard of the Life Map at Sky Ranch? Well, chances are if you are reading this then YOU ARE PART OF THE LIFE MAP! You are part of the story of God, of what He is doing out here at SKY RANCH, of the lives that are impacted in this place...whether that be Van or Colorado or Oklahoma. God is doing something in YOU and through YOU and because of YOU.

The Life Map is our plan to invest in campers and teach God's Word and truth to 5 year old day campers all the way to Sky 1, Sky 2, Sky 3, Morph, Sky 4, Quest, Sigma, and then even to our summer staff! This is a unique plan to serve you and then to teach you and grow you into a leader in Morph, Quest, and Sigma, so that eventually you can serve on Summer Staff and give back and share the gospel with kids....just like your counselors did and do for you. Its a "pay it forward" type of thing...God has a work for you to do, a plan for your life, and Sky Ranch has been and hopefully will continue to be a part of it.

Read Jeremiah 29: 11 - 13.
He has a plan but we have a part to play. We cannot just sit around and do whatever we want and sin all we want and then God will make everything perfectly align. That is not what this verse says. It says we will find HIM when WE SEEK HIM WITH ALL OF OUR HEARTS! We can find God. He is there. He is real. He is waiting....all you have to do is open your eyes and look. Seek and you shall find.

Read Ephesians 2:10.
He has a work planned for you. Maybe it is reaching out to the girl noone likes at school or being a light on the football team. Maybe it is to go to ,Baylor or to go do Missions. I don't know but how great that God does. He has a plan. He has things for you to do - but first you gotta trust IN HIM and live FOR HIM!

peace out. have a great day.

There is not enough time in the day for God.

There is just....
Not enough time in the day to clean my room.
Not enough time in the day to do my homework.
Not enough time in the day to sit down and eat with the fam.
Not enough time to text everyone back.
Not enough time to keep up with the latest trend.
Not enough time to practice enough.
NOT ENOUGH TIME TO READ MY BIBLE.
NOT ENOUGH TIME FOR GOD.

Right? Thats the story we've been telling and the song we've been singing for, well, forever really. Since the beginning of time. We always want more time and we always stack or schedules so full that we just don't have enough time to do all the things we are suppose to do or want to do in a day, in a week, in a year. Its the #1 excuse for our campers not reading their bibles or going to church or being a part of a community of believers at a local youth group. Its not a good excuse, but its an excuse.

I say its not good because time will NEVER increase. You will never gain another second in the day. When college comes, life does not all of a sudden get easier. When you get a job someday, you don't all of a sudden have 2 hours a day to sit and read your bible. That is just not real life. You have to make time. Make the time in your day for what is most important for you and to you. Sometimes hanging out with friends is way more fun or reading Twilight or watching Glee...but ultimately, time with HIM will never leave you empty. Its not wasted time - its time invested in a relationship that truly is everthing.

So...take the time, make the time and spend some time (10 minutes) with God today. Take your bible to the bathroom with you and read it in the stall if you have to! God does not care where it is, He just wants you to say hello and let Him know what is going on with you. We always tell you its about a relationship with God and relationships take effort to be real. What are you doing today? What can you take off of your schedule to pencil in some Jesus time?

"Stand firm in the Lord..." Philippians 3: 4

I Whip My Hair Back and Forth!

Okay...so obviously, this new Willow Smith video is like THE BEST video ever! I love it! We love it! We really think this summer needs an entire night event dedicated to painting rooms, trees, Oak Haven, or whatever with our hair! Boys can put paint on their ears or something in order to throw paint around. No teachable moment here, just a super cool video that is awesome!

WARNING: Do not try this at home unless you want severe neck pain

A new Bee Dance...

Oh man. You have got to take 5 minutes and watch this dance. We for sure need to get a Sky Ranch re-make of this one! It was created to help save the honey bees that are apparently disappearing! I am just thankful we did not have to wear the yellow and black spandex this past summer! YIKES!

It reminds me a little bit of the dancing skills we see on Thursday nights at the JINGLE BELL ROCKIN' Dance! Maybe a little bit of Matt Upshaw meets Cameron Cook meets Dana Lowry meets Corey Gummelt dancing....and add a little Sarah Bouillioun!!!!!! Thats whats up!

I am a girl. Boys are weird.

So...sitting in the office today, I was thinking about how God created me so much differently than He created boys. Boys are not bad, thats not what I am sayin', but today I was thinking about all the boys I know to try to compare all the girls I know to prove (to myself) just how incredibly different we are.

BOYS:
I work in an office of boys: malcolm, clinton (also my husband), chris, joe david, and of course J-MO (john morgan). All brothers are boys. I grew up with a dad and a step-dad...and they are both boys. All Presidents have been boys. My principals in school were all boys. Evey cool guy is a boy. Winnie the Pooh was a boy. Justin Bieber is a boy. Most superheroes are boys. The founder of Sky Ranch is a boy. All boy bands are boys. The inventor of the lightbulb, electricty, and air conditioning = all boys. BOYS! BOYS! BOYS!

GIRLS:
I am a girl. Tamara is a girl (sky 1 & 2). Over half of our counselors are girls. Girls are pretty. Girls smell good. All wives are girls. All moms are girls. Mother Theresa was like the nicest person to ever live and, duh, she was a girl. Lady Gaga is a girl. Anya is a girl. Stephanie Meyer is a girl. The only people who can birth a child are girls. American girl dolls = all girls. Four of the top five songs on i-Tunes right now are girls...and the fourth is about a girl. The inventor of chocolate chip cookies, jeggings, and white out are all girls. GIRLS ARE AWESOME!

We think differently.
We act differently.
We talk differently.
We think different things are funny (girls...you get this, right?)
We are opposite beings.

It leads me to think and ask God: "WHAT WERE YOU THINKING?!!"

Sitting in the office...this was my thought process today. I remember being in junior high and thinking boys were weird. I remember being in high school and thinking boys are weird. College...same thing. Full time summer camp director...same thing. And by weird, I really just mean different than me, even though I am not the most "normal" human around. I think growing up, I always assumed that eventually a lightbulb would go off in my head and I would realize that "THIS IS WHY BOYS THINK THIS WAY," or "I TOTALLY GET WHY GOD DID IT LIKE THIS!" And I have realized over my life, that because we are so different, I will never fully comprehend the way a guy thinks, but I now appreciate it. I actually LOVE that we are so different.

I have seen that on our summer camp team, we would not be able to accomplish all that we do if we did not have both genders. I mean, I AM NOT going to write a rap song - but John will. And being married - I have seen that if Clinton and I both thought, acted, and were created the same way - we would not have as much fun or work as well together. And to be honest, being created different - both boys and girls - we honor God the most because of our uniqueness! Our God is so stinkin' creative that he knew we needed both female and male, that He took time creating us that way, that He has had a plan from the very beginning to make us work together to understand one another.

I love Psalm 139. It talks about how He created us uniquely, fearfully, wonderfully. Again...he took His time on each of us - you are who you are for a specific reason. We always talk about our personalities being uniquely created, which is Truth. But, our gender is uniquely created as well...I am a girl because God created me that way, wants me that way, and has a purpose and a plan for my life that are specific to me being a female. "For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made." (Ps. 139: 13 -14).

So...lets get exSKYted that we are so different - weird as each of us might think the other is. Lets honor God by doing what He told us to do! "I PRAISE YOU BECAUSE I AM FEARFULLY AND WONDERFULLY MADE!" That means we are supposed to tell God how awesome He is for creating us the way we are...so...Thanks God - I love being a girl! (even though I don't love pink =))

peace out for now.
Jill "J$" Pfalser

To Tell A Story...

So...we have this guy that some of you may know whose name is LANE DAVIS. Lane is incredible...which might be a bit of an understatement. Lane is part of Sky Ranch and grew up here as a camper, as a summer staffer, did the internship after graduating college, and worked here full time for awhile. He then went to Dallas and worked in the business world for a bit while discovering his passion for photography and telling other people's stories. So, God took him on this journey around the world. He was called to go and document other people's stories, To tell about what God is doing in other cultures, and to share them with the world....

HERE IS WHAT TO TELL A STORY IS: (http://www.totellastory.org)

Each new chapter in our lives has a pathway. A road that leads us to a new place. A series of breadcrumbs that has been left behind to help us remember the way, to give us something to tell, something to savor, something to remember. A story. There is no one without one. We each carry our own stories buried in the vulnerable fleshy part of our hearts. We hold it close to us as it maneuvers through our bloodlines and swims through our veins. It shapes who we are. Our stories. Our lives. Through cultural differences and language barriers there will forever be one commonality… a story that lies deep within each of us. All different. All personal. All unique. All begging to be heard, recognized, and seen. That’s where circumstance meets the Gospel. Where desperation meets Grace. Where perspiration meets Comfort. Where abandonment meets Acceptance. Where people meet Jesus.

For the next 9 months, I will be traveling throughout Africa and Asia in over 14 countries. I will be spending time with some of the poorest of the poor. Learning and observing their stories. Tragic, beautiful, atrocious, ludicrous, unbelievable, miraculous, pure, unfiltered stories of our brothers and sisters in this world. Some who know my Jesus and many who do not. But this is a time for them to be heard. It’s their time to be recognized, to be seen. This is where my story meets theirs. My job is to help tell those stories. My passion is to help give voice to the people who have none. To show the world the love of Christ and to paint a true picture of His sacrificial love and compassionate mercy. All through a camera lens.

This site will be a place where I will attempt to chronicle my experiences along the way (when internet access allows). Follow along in the journey. But please don’t just watch from the sidelines. Consider how you can join me in telling these stories, from wherever you are. But ultimately, consider how you can tell His story to the nations. This is all about Him, and nothing about us. Let’s bring glory to our Father together, from all corners of the globe. Let us blissfully rejoice in His love while never forgetting His story of sacrifice and redemption. For that is what life is all about, mimicking His story with our own.

http://www.totellastory.org