1️⃣ This Week’s Highlights
- Be sure to join us for the Thanksgiving Potluck — Thursday, November 20 at noon in Fireside. Sign up to bring a dish: grkroc.org/thanksgiving2025
2️⃣ Program Updates
- Fall 2 programs — Week 3
- Winter 1 registration is open now
- Fitness Events:
- Kroc Center’s Hustle Explosion (this Friday; $5 for members and non-members)
- Turkey Burn-Off (November 29; members free; $5 for non-members who reserve in advance)
3️⃣ Facility Notices 🛠️
Facility Updates/Closures
- Fireside setup for Hustle Explosion begins Friday at 1:30 p.m.; event runs 5–8 p.m.
Rentals
- Monday: Wild Ones River City — Fireside C, 5:30–8:30 p.m.
- Friday: GRAB — Fireside C, 11:30 a.m.–1:15 p.m.
- Friday: AAAWM — WPAC, 8:45 a.m.–12:15 p.m.
- Saturday: Birthday Party — Music Room, 11:30 a.m.–3:00 p.m.
4️⃣ Staff Announcements 🎉
Green Dot Moments & Staff Shoutouts
- Shoutout to everyone who supported the Territorial Staff Songsters this weekend—you helped our guests feel at home.
- Shoutout to the team who handled the parking lot incident quickly and safely.
- Green Dot to Carly—excellent care for a new member navigating family and heart-health challenges.
- Shoutout to Mike and Eddie for jumping in to get the Reed’s quarters in great shape.
- Shoutout to Albert for stepping up to cover an extra evening.
- Shoutout to Eddie for returning from vacation and tackling the mountain of work waiting for him.
- Shoutout to Lily and Adrianna for training new staff with patience and care.
- Shoutout to Joselyn and Ellen for thoughtfully resolving a member situation.
- Shoutout to Pam and Sammie for sorting out those headache-inducing refunds.
Birthdays This Week
- Matthew H — 11/19
- Leonardo M — 11/20
Welcome New Staff
- Gracie B — Dance Instructor
Open Positions at the Kroc Center
• Lifeguard
• Fitness Attendant
• Child Watch Attendant
• Dance Instructor
• Swim Instructor
Apply here: grkroccenter.org/learn-more/careers
5️⃣ Reminders & Resources 📌
- Holiday operations and staffing:
- Kroc closed Thursday, November 27; Friday, November 28 is an admin holiday.
- No roster programs November 27–30 (impacted classes move to make-up week).
- Ensure department coverage before taking time off.
- Early closures: 1 p.m. on 12/26 and 12/31.
- Thanksgiving Potluck — Thursday, November 20. Sign up: grkroc.org/thanksgiving2025
- Staff Christmas Party — Saturday, December 6, 5–8 p.m. at Craig’s Cruisers. Event link: https://partiful.com/e/kVmADk9pLALJsJHcd3MC
- Lifeguard Certification Class — Friday–Sunday in Admin Conference and Pool (space impacts as scheduled).
🙌 Missional Moment
A Salient Salvation Army Story: “The Boots of William Booth”
Near the end of General William Booth’s life, his eyesight failing and his strength diminished, an aide once urged him to rest from the grueling work he insisted on doing daily. Booth’s schedule still included hours of writing letters, reviewing ministry reports, and praying over the names of officers and soldiers around the world.
One winter morning, the aide came to help Booth dress. As he knelt to lace the General’s worn boots—boots that had walked through London’s slums, across mission halls, and into countless lives—he suddenly began to weep.
Startled, Booth asked him why.
The aide replied, “Sir… I’m tying the boots of a man who has spent his whole life tying the boots of others.”
Booth placed a frail hand on his shoulder and said quietly, “If I have done anything for Christ, it is because I first learned to stoop.”
Connection to Your Theme: Serving One Another
Greatness in God’s Kingdom
William Booth embodied Jesus’ redefinition of greatness: not authority or visibility, but humble service.
Just as Jesus came “not to be served, but to serve,” Booth understood that the power of the Gospel is revealed not in titles or prominence, but in kneeling—again and again—for the sake of others.
Like Booth’s unseen stooping, offer an act of service this week with no credit, no announcement, and no reward. Let it be for God alone.
✝️ Note from the Pastor
Blessing of Provisions
This week’s scripture, Matthew 6:25–34, centers us in Jesus’ teaching on God’s daily care. Speaking to a community wrestling with scarcity and fear, Jesus points to birds of the air and flowers of the field—creation God faithfully sustains—and asks, “Are you not much more valuable than they?” It is a call to awaken to the provisions of Jehovah Jireh, who provided for Abraham in Genesis 22 and continues to provide for His people today.
Worry blinds us to what God has already placed in our hands. Scripture reminds us that every blessing flows from a Father who knows our needs before we speak them. Our struggle is often a struggle of faith: “You of little faith.” When we chase comfort instead of trusting God’s timing and provision, we look more like the world than the people of God.
Hear Jesus’ invitation anew: “Seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” Walk into this week with a still heart, trusting that God provides what is best, when it is best, and in the way that is best. Lay down worry, receive the blessings already around you, and rest in Jehovah Jireh. May His peace steady your steps today and always.
— Captain Jack Huffman
🙏 Prayer Requests
- Please be in prayer for Ronda and her family as they mourn the loss of her mother and mother-in-law.
