love notes.

This past 2 weeks our church was a part of Champions For Life Kids' Camp, a camp for foster kids in our area. One of the focus' of the week is a "love note" station, where kids and adults can come and write notes of love and encouragement to one another. It may seem like a simple thing, but some of these kids have never received mail for themselves, and a lot of them keep them for years.

Seeing the love note station while I was up there really challenged my heart about the amount of time and effort I put into making my own kids feel loved and special. Sure, I try to meet their every need and I am constantly grabbing them for kisses and hugs... but there is something different about a handwritten note... something you can keep.... something that took an extra effort.

I found these super cute lunch notes at Michaels today for $.20 (I love a good clearance section!) I quickly scooped them up. You don't have to have pre-made notes, even writing on a napkin will do. Just think of ways you can constantly remind your kids of the love you have for them. I know of kids that even have a journal with their parents that they pass back and forth and write to each other... just simple ways to love constantly. I even have notes saved in my memory box from my parents growing up... and they mean so much because it's in their handwriting! Hide them under their pillow. Sneak one by their seat in the car. Put one in their backpack, their Bible, or even send one in the mail!
You can download some fun free printable lunch notes HERE.

right now: 20 days. 5 hours. 26 minutes.

I haven't met anyone who doesn't love the summer Olympics.

What a great opportunity to have some fun with your family using the Olympic theme!

Here are some ideas I've come across that I would love to use with my own family. These are easy things to do as you are sitting down to watch the Olympic games.

{Please post other ideas in the comment section if you run across anything else you would like to try.}

Olympic Biographies.

Have your kids choose the sport that they are most interested and read as a family the story of one of the Olympians competing in that sport. It's interesting the conversations that are started by looking at another person's life and the choices they've made to get where they are today. You can find some biographies here, here and here. Use some follow-up questions for further discussion:

• Why was this athlete so successful in their endevors and how were they able to make it all the way to the Olympics?
• Did they have any struggles that they had to overcome?
• What character trait do they possess that made it possible for them to become a champion?

Banner Bonanza.

Purchase a poster-board or piece of heavy-duty fabric and create a "Family Olympic Banner" that reflects the most valuable characteristics of your family.  Talk about the Olympic flag and the unity it represents. Discuss ways that you can unite as a family and things you can do to connect more with one another.

"The five rings represent the five continents. They are interlaced to show the universality
of Olympism and the meeting of the athletes of the world during the Olympic Games.
On the Olympic flag, the rings appear on a white background. Combined in this way,
the six colors of the flag (blue, yellow, black, green, red and white) represent all nations."

Bible Search.
Have each member of the family find a verse in the Bible that would relate to the Olympics... running a race, training, perseverance, etc. Come together and discuss how these verses relate to us as followers of Christ.

Out of Darkness, into the Light

We had another successful CONNECT event. Our church gathered together Friday night after our prayer service and headed to our neighborhood St. Clair Shores Fireworks. We did an outreach while we were there that I am sure we will be doing yearly! 

Our kids passed out free glow sticks to the strangers and neighbors around us at the Fireworks (what kid does not want a glow stick at the fireworks?!!!)  On the glow stick, we had the scripture Micah 7:9 God will bring me out of darkness into the Light and I will see his goodness and also included our church's website. Everyone was very happy and grateful to receive their free glow sticks :)

We had bought extra glow sticks for our kids to also enjoy but they had so much fun passing them out that most of them gave the extra ones away too!! We were SO PROUD of our kids and their hearts to serve and bless others!

faith like a child.

Our family has been having some health problems this week, so this morning one of our kids was getting pretty worried and upset that one of us wasn't getting any better. This spurred on a wonderful conversation about FAITH and TRUST in God. It's so much easier to explain to a child to have trust.... they understand trust because, for most kids, they have many people in their lives that they trust already. It's challenging to me, as an adult, to trust the way kids do.... I can sometimes be scarred by my experiences and critical of things I don't understand. A lot of times when I have doubts, I re-read biographies of men/women of faith that I have grown to love and respect. I was so excited when I found the "Little Lights" series, which takes the biographies of the heroes of the faith and puts it in ways that little ears can understand.
Check them out here.