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Summer Camp Details – Lake View

LAKE VIEW CAMP REGISTRATION OPEN

We know camps fill up fast, so if you’re making summer plans –Don’t forget about summer camp! Registration is open – save your spot now! Lake View Camp offers day camps, overnight camps, service opportunities, and grandparent/grandchild camps. More information and registration is available at www.lakeviewconference.com.  Fun, faith, friends – it’s all waiting for you at camp this summer!

CAMP SUMMER JOB?

Lake View is hiring! See more here. Open to college students or young adults (at least one year out of college).  If you are interested in spending your summer serving God at camp, let them know!

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Pandemic Recovery Group

REGISTER

Come explore calm, joy, resilience and connection in these troubled times. A small group focused on understanding ourselves, each other, and the times in which we live so that  we can discover hope.

This group will meet on Sunday evenings beginning April 11, at 6:00PM. This Six-week support group will discuss fear, grief, loss, connection, and flourishing.

Facilitators will be Pastor Kent and Gary Sager.

REGISTER

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Join the VBS Crew

TREASURED VBS 2021 – Are you called to share God’s love with His priceless treasures? Do you have a passion for planning and organizing? Or, creating lasting memories of summer’s best week ever?! Join the Cedar Hills Treasured VBS 2021 planning team! Contact Melissa Oberembt using the form below.

    COVID-19, News

    Linn County COVID-19 Vaccine Information

    We received the following information from health officials in Linn County and wanted to share it as a resource for all of you.

    Faith Leaders,

    We ask for your assistance in sharing information about COVID-19 vaccine with our community. Please see the attached flyer regarding COVID-19 Vaccination for persons 65 and older. It is also available electronically at https://www.linncounty-ia.gov/DocumentCenter/View/15642/LCPH-COVID-Vaccine-65-Flyer. Please share this flyer with your faith community contacts and congregation through email, print or electronic bulletins, or other methods you use to communicate with your congregation. The links and information below can also be shared widely with the flyer.  Please forward to others as you feel appropriate.

    Linn County COVID-19 Information:

    LinnCounty.org/COVID19

    For questions about COVID-19 vaccine in Linn County:

     Linn County COVID-19 Status Update Notification:

    Sign up to receive email notifications of COVID-19 Status Updates to keep up-to-date of vaccine rollout updates and other important information regarding COVID-19 response. For assistance with signing up for updates, view this video. In addition to the Linn County COVID-19 website, updates will also be shared on Facebook and Twitter. For questions on COVID-19 vaccine in Linn County, call 319-892-6097. Stay tuned to local news outlets for updated information.

    For more COVID-19 information specific to Linn County, visit LinnCounty.org/COVID19.

    Funeral

    Steve Carolan Funeral Details

    Please continue to pray for the family of Rick and Leah Carolan as they grieve the passing of Rick’s dad, Steve.  The visitation is Sunday, March 7, 2-5pm at Murdoch Funeral Home in Marion. The funeral service is Monday, March 8 at 10am at Cedar Hills Community Church. The service will also be live on our Facebook page.  WATCH ONLINE

    Obituary for Stephen “Steve” C. Carolan

    Stephen “Steve” C. Carolan, 81, of Toddville, Iowa, passed away on Tuesday, March 2, 2021, at his home in Toddville surrounded by his family. Family will greet friends from 2 – 5 p.m. on Sunday, March 7, 2021, at Murdoch Funeral Home & Cremation Service in Marion, Iowa. A Funeral Service will be held at 10 a.m. on Monday, March 8, 2021, at Cedar Hills Community Church in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, conducted by Reverend Tim Ferry. The service will be livestreamed at https://m.facebook.com/CedarHillsCommunityChurch/. Private family burial will take place at Dunkard Cemetery in Midway. All guests are respectfully requested to wear a face mask and practice social distancing.

    Steve was born on November 15, 1939, in Decorah, Iowa, the son of Richard and Bridget (Nolan) Carolan. On August 8, 1959, at Immaculate Conception Church in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, he was united in marriage to Marilyn Teed. Steve was employed at Collins Radio/Rockwell in the plating shop and later doing deliveries in the 80’s until retiring in 1996. He was a little league coach when his children were young and also enjoyed hunting, fishing, playing cards, watching sports, going to the races, and going to the casino. Steve loved socializing and enjoyed time having coffee at Panera and Happy Chef. Of all the things he spent his time doing, spending time with his grandchildren was his biggest joy. Steve’s cherished moments always included a child on his lap.

    Steve is survived and lovingly remembered by his wife, Marilyn Carolan; eight children, Joseph Carolan of Center Point, Iowa, Craig (Tammy) Carolan of Ely, Iowa, Phil (Sherry) Carolan of Center Point, Anne (Tim) Cook of Hiawatha, Iowa, Amy (Stacy) Miller of Cedar Rapids, Rick (Leah) Carolan of Cedar Rapids, Sean (Brenda) Carolan of Robins, Iowa, and Ben (Jill) Carolan of Robins; 22 grandchildren; and 9 great-grandchildren.

    He was preceded in death by his parents; daughter-in-law, Tammy Carolan; brothers and sister, Paul, Katherine, Emmett, Jerry, and Eugene; and granddaughter, Britney.

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    Escape the Tomb! Easter Program

    Escape the Tomb!

    Calling all actors and wanna-be-actors!  Now’s your chance!  We need actors of all ages for an Easter program.  The program will be presented Easter Sunday, during the 9:45am and 11:00am services as a children’s worship option during those two services.

    Practices will be Wednesday evenings and/or Sundays after 2nd service.  No memorization is required. If you an interested click here to sign-up to get more information.

    Missions Team, News

    CRU Testimony Event – Friday 7pm

    One of the ministries we support is CRU and Katie Smith down at the U of I. They have a great virtual even this Friday at 7pm “Together For Iowa”.
    This will be half an hour of getting to hear from several students at Iowa and Iowa State about how God is working in their lives, which is encouraging to hear! They will share some ways about how we can work together to impact the lives of more students in Iowa.
    RSVP here to receive the link: https://bit.ly/3pTD8SP
    We are excited to hear how Cedar Hills’ partnership with CRU continues to impact the lives of students and people across Iowa with the gospel!
    Cedar Chips, March 2021

    I Want Restoration

    I Want Restoration!

    Since last March, most of my thoughts have been on the idea of having school in a “normal” or “original” setting. When I was asked to write on Restoration this month….it was like a breath of fresh air to voice my inner thoughts out loud. I WANT RESTORATION! I want things back to the way they were before COVID-19 and the Derecho.

    I started looking back at what was lost (in my mind) in 2020. The last day of our school year was the middle of March. We lost three and half months of tuition. We did not get to say good-bye to our students. Our classrooms needed major repair to even think of starting school. We are limited to no more than 10 students in a classroom.   They must be six feet apart. No “learning to share” at play time. Toys, tables, chairs must be sanitized after a child plays or touches it. No parents in the building. No guest readers. So much extra time and stress on teachers to fulfill the COVID-19 requirements. I could go on and on.

    So the idea of an “original setting,” but maybe better, gives me pause to realize that restoration is happening at Noah’s Ark. There are so many blessings to give thanks for this year.

    New staff and smaller classrooms have encouraged closer friendships. Students feel more confident. Teachers have truly gotten to know their students. Parents may not agree, but by not allowing parents into the building at drop-off, we have greatly decreased our students who have separation anxiety by re-directing them immediately. Students and teachers have been healthier this year than in the past. (Knock on wood, right?)

    All in all, I can see a total restoration (both back to its original and improved beyond measure) occurring for Noah’s Ark right now. Every day is a blessing to love on our students, show them God’s love, and grow together. If you have ever taught, you know you will ALWAYS receive more when teaching than what you give.

    Kris Crowther
    Director of Noah’s Ark Preschool

     

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      Cedar Chips, March 2021

      “If You Give a Moose a Muffin”

      “If You Give a Moose a Muffin”

      “If you give a moose a muffin…” that is how Cathy would describe my restoration project this past week. We have an old cedar chest I inherited from one of my grandparents. However, in recent years it has received some abuse. The lid now has a big crack right down the middle. Repairing the chest has been on my “to do” list for a while. Last Saturday I went over to a friend’s house so we could fix the cracked lid. My friend has an adequate shop and more wood-working knowledge. Once the project to repair the cracked lid began, we quickly decided not just to repair the crack, but to refinish the whole lid. This meant scraping and sanding off the existing finish. Restoration is like that, things often look worse before they get better. Restoration is a painful process. This little project required GRIT (you know, sandpaper 80, 120, 220…). I believe the process of spiritual restoration God plans for our lives is quite similar. The Master Carpenter is using trial and tribulation in our lives, like sandpaper, to slowly remove the “old self” and restore us to the person He created us to be. Dying to our old self and our old way of living can be hard work. It can be painful. Therefore, it is only accomplished by the restoring power of God’s Spirit!

      “He saved us—not by works of righteousness that we had done, but according to his mercy—through the washing of regeneration and renewal by the Holy Spirit.” (Titus 3:5)

      “…to take off your former way of life, the old self that is corrupted by deceitful desires, to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, the one created according to God’s likeness in righteousness and purity of the truth.” (Ephesians 4:22-24)

      The phrase “if you give a moose a muffin…” is from a children’s book. In this book, the protagonist gives a moose a muffin, but then it wants jam. This process leads us on a grand adventure as the moose wants more and more. I think this is a little like our relationship with God. His love for us is all-consuming. So, when we first give our lives to God, we do not often understand the grand journey we have begun. One in which God will ask us to surrender more and more of ourselves to Him. In this way, God is not abusive toward us immediately forcing His will on us. Instead, just like my restoration started small, but grew to encompass the whole lid, God’s restoration of us begins small, but grows to transform our whole self as we further understand the amazing blessing of His restoration in our lives! The more we surrender to His plans of restoration, as painful as they may be at first, the more we experience the fruit of the Spirit in our lives (love, joy, peace, patience,…).

      “Becoming like Christ is a long, slow process of growth. Spiritual maturity is neither instant nor automatic; it is a gradual, progressive development that will take the rest of your life.” ~ Rick Warren

      Steve Poole
      Director of Youth & Young Adults

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