Adoring Him.... all season long.

 

I love Christmas music.

I usually wait until after Thanksgiving to turn on the Christmas radio station, but the kids have been begging, so I put it on earlier than usual.

It was great.... for the first few days.

I'm convinced they just rotate the same 20 songs every year.... and most of them give more honor to Rudolph than my Savior. I've tried to be really been strategic this year to re-focus our family on the love of Christ and Christmas music is a perfect avenue.

Here is our New Life Family Ministries Grooveshark Christmas Playlist.... for those who are tired of hearing about hippopotamuses and would rather hear about Emmanuel.

Some of my personal favs this holiday:

"Adorn" and "We Sing, Immanuel, Thy Praise" by Allie Rogers

 "O Come Let Us Adore Him" by Shane & Shane

"My Soul Magnifies the Lord" by Chris Tomlin

"He is the Reason" by Fred Hammond

any given Sunday...

I received these pictures this week from one of our amazing teachers in our Preschool/Kindergarten class. It's just a wonderful reminder of some of the incredible things that are going on around our church on any given Sunday morning. Teachers preparing rooms that will facilitate children learning about the love of God, numerous kids excitedly running down the hall trying to get to class faster and parents checking their kids in with confidence that their children will be poured by adults and teens that are invested in their kid's lives way beyond that next 2 hours.

It's fascinating.

It's vital.

It's making a difference.

So although these pictures are just a small snapshot of what goes on every Sunday, they remind us that God is allowing each of us to be a part of raising up a generation that loves Him deeply. What is a bigger calling than that?

(thanks Michelle R. for the pictures... and for loving our kids like Christ loves them!)

The Frenzy 2013

Family Ministries is so pleased that Fall Frenzy 2013 was another successful event!!

Over 200 people from our church, our daycare and our neighborhood came together this Sunday for a fall fest that put us in a fun frenzy :)

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Everyone came in their best costumes

We had a pumpkin patch

 

and pumpkin painting

a photo booth....view your pictures HERE!

 A velcro wall

 

Bounce House

with obstacles :)

a hay ride

 

yummy fall food

 balloon animals!!

which always had the longest line!!

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face painting, temporary tatoos and hair dye!!

 and other events....jenga building blocks, candy guessing jars, candy in a haystack, bowling, spider web, and many other gems :)

 and of course....every kid got to go home with a BIG bag of candy!!!!

 Look back at previous Fall Frenzy events HERE!!

We might not be in South Africa, but we can still change the world.

I LOVE talking to our kids about missions. It's so much fun to see their eyes opening to a world beyond our front door, and how they can consistently shine the light of Jesus wherever they go. Here are some resources to engage your kids in the world God has created that is so desperate for Him.

Also, please keep our South Africa team in your prayers this upcoming week as they travel into the adventure God has planned for them to reach kids that need to know the love of Christ.

Mission songs for kids that I'm loving right now:

Mission APPS for kids that I'm loving right now...

View The Story APP
 Check out THE STORY, told for kids to understand.


Jesus Film APP

 You can get The Jesus Film in any language, no matter where you are.
They also have The Story of Jesus for children.

JP Unreached APP
This APP gives you a specific group of unreached people to pray for.



Resources to help give a mission-mindset that I'm loving right now....

Growing Up Wild
by Wild Brother Productions


Children's Atlas of God's World
by Craig Froman
 

The Mission-Minded Family
by Ann Dunagan
 

back-2-school... KNOW YOUR RIGHTS!

Just a couple of resources for those families who have kids heading to the public schools next week. You might have been convinced that prayer & Bibles have been taken out of the public schools, but that is just not true. YOU HAVE RIGHTS TO BRING JESUS WITH YOU WHEREVER YOU GO! Here is a synopsis of the rights each student has and links to help you out if you run into some opposition.

 

STUDENT RIGHTS:

1.  Students may witness to and pray for their classmates during any student interaction time.
2. Students may read their Bible during school at times when any non-instructional reading is allowed.
3. Students have a right to organize a Bible club in their school. The club should have the same privileges as any other club held at school. The only difference is the teacher sponsoring the club cannot control the meeting. The club may contain any religious activities such as prayer, Bible reading and worship.
4. Students may do speeches, write papers, or do English themes based on Christian topics.
5. Students may use pencils or notebooks that display their faith.
6. Students may wear apparel that promotes their Christian faith.
7. Students may pass out flyers or Christian tracts during non-instructional times.
8. A student may pray before they eat.
9. Christian students may excuse themselves from activities they find objectionable.
10. Graduation speakers can mention their faith and/or read the Bible in their speech.
11. Baccalaureate services may be held in public schools if they are held by private groups.

 

Here is the link to "Guidance on Constitutionally Protected Prayer in Public Elementary and Secondary Schools" by the US Department of Education.

 

Here is the link for a short legal analysis prepared by ACLJ attorneys on prayer in schools.

 

Here is the link to the AFA where your student can order free Bibles to give away at school.

Water Baptism for Children

Our annual New Life Water Baptism Service and Church picnic is coming up Sunday, August 18th at Stoney Creek Metro Park. With the baptism around the corner, I have been having numerous conversations with families about the age in which their child should become water baptized. Chris and I have been discussing this with Isaac this past year as well, and I was so blessed by what Pastor Mike shared in his message today. If you missed it, please listen to it here... he starts talking about water baptism at the 23:20 point, and specifically talks about the age our children should be baptized at the 37:00 point.

We also had a Water Baptism class in Small Town last week and have print-outs available. Please see Keri Sheerer or Jeni Cupp for a copy to discuss with your children.

CONNECT: SCS Fireworks

Last Wednesday was our annual SCS Fireworks CONNECT. The kids were more than excited to pass out free glow sticks to the kids in the community. We could barely keep our eyes on them because they were so excited to run around and generously give to others. What a wonderful night to hang out together, giving out a little love.

some of my favs this week... enjoy!

I'm always looking for things that encourage and challenge me during the phase of life I am in and through the opportunities God has afforded me. I just read through a few blog posts lately that I thought were really good and I wanted to pass along. 

 

The 1st one is entitled "Capturing the Heart of your Teen Daughter" by Victoria Mininger at Fearless Heart Ministries. I read it to get some tips on interacting with the girls in the youth group, but ended up realizing they are things I can use with my daughter right now. I just re-read Day 3 and it changed our entire day. It's a 15-day series, but well worth your time if you have a daughter.

Day 1: The Heart of the Matter

Day 2: Time: Quality vs Quantity

Day 3: Attitude Adjustment/Refocusing Our Hearts

Day 4: Dreaming- Between Now and Growing Up

Day 5: Tackling Fear and Letting Go

Day 6: Pointing Her Heart

Day 7: Modesty Becomes Her

Day 8: When Looks Matter

Day 9: Her Greatest Strength

Day 10: When She Runs

Day 11: A Father's Heart

Day 12: When He's Absent

Day 13: A Daughter's Perspective

Day 14: Her Value and Worth

Day 15: Looking Forward

The 2nd resource is from Missional Women called "8 Helpful Tools for Raising Missional Kids" by Laura Krokos. This particular article has many resources in focusing your kids to look outward and reach the world around them, including a neat music series for young children called Songs for Saplings, Kids Around the World Prayer Cards and Stand For Kids resources.

...and if you have a few minutes, check out the quick little article "Happily Ever After" article by Nicole Howe as well.... such a good perspective of marriage.

 and lastly, an article that challenged me hard-core this morning titled "Pursuing That Which Takes Time" by Ruth Simmons. It's a good reminder for those of us who are just trying to make it through the day with our sanity in check.

my daily prayer cards.

I am a firm believer in praying scripture.

I can't think of any words that I can come up with that would be more powerful than the Word of the Lord that has already been given to us. I have been really focused on praying scripture over my kids lately and decided to make prayer scripture cards to go through each morning during my prayer time. Some are scriptures that would be great to pray over all children, and then some are specific to things my kids are going through right now.

Pray scriptures relevant to your children.

Pray scriptures that cause your faith to rise.

Pray scriptures that speak life into their future.

Pray scriptures that display the heart of God.

I kept mine pretty rustic, but skies the limit on how fun you can make these. You can keep them by your bedside, by your Bible or even hang them on the wall for the family to see each day. The important part is to use the power of prayer to speak life into your kids!

You might also have the kids come up with their own prayer cards. How fun would it be for them to come up with scriptures that they want to pray over themselves!

 

Airtime Trampoline Park

Our 4th and 5th grader discipleship and leadership team had our end of the year celebration at Airtime. What a bouncy, fun experience! Each of these kids are amazing and grew in leadership this year!!

Around the World in 60 Days

I am seriously so excited about the Focus on the Family Thriving Family's FREE Around the World in 60 Days Calendar. This is such an excellent calendar that provides daily activities that will get your kids to learn and pray for other countries in such a creative way! 

From their website: 
Have you ever wondered what life is like in other countries? This summer, Thriving Family invites you to join us on a trip around the world! Over the next 60 days, you'll have the opportunity to explore 27 different countries on six continents. For each day of the trip, we've packed a short biblical lesson and an activity that will give your family a glimpse into another culture. We've provided a map for you to use during your travels. Post the map to your refrigerator and track your progress with a magnet or put it up on a living room wall and circle each country you stop at. 

If you get the free Thriving Family magazine, then the map and calendar is in the centerfold. If you don't get the magazine, you can get it on-line. When you click on this link, it will take you to the website where you can print out a map, passport and itinerary. The calendar starts on June 2nd so download it soon!! First stop....is Oceania the region of the pacific ocean that includes Australia and several island nations. See you there :)

Breakfast

I know we had our family ministries breakfast a while back but I wanted to share some pictures from the event. 

The room was decorated in our "grow" theme :)

Resource Tables

PRIZES!!

Balloon Animals :)

face and hand painting 

Raffle

Food :)

Minute to Win it Family Competitions

And the winners are....

What an awesome event we had. We were not only able to have food, fellowship, and games, but us directors were also able to share our heart and vision for the kids at New Life Christian Church. We all want to be able to grow in every aspect of our lives to become more and more like Jesus daily! 

Thanks to all came out!!