Sunday, July 5, 2009

Okay, so it is the same as the last memory verse, however, there is a good reason for this.

Romans 4:20-21 (NIV)
20Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, 21being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised.

Saturday, June 20, 2009

Bible Verse June 15, 2009

Running a little behind on this.

Romans 4:20-21 (NIV)
20Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, 21being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised.

Saturday, June 13, 2009

Why serve in Children's Ministry?

I just wanted to share with anyone who reads this why I think Children's Ministry is such an awesome place to serve. We just finished an awesome week of Vacation Bible School here at Westwood. For those of you that love numbers, we have numbers. We had 79 decisions made to ask Jesus to be their boss of their life! We had and average of over 1200 people at VBS each day. Over 850 elementary students registered. These amazing kids scraped couch cushions, asked neighbors and brought in piggy banks to send over $2600 to missionaries in Africa. A 2nd grader was able to collect boxes of toothpaste, toothbrushes and sugarless gum for children in Africa. Six parents made decisions to accept Christ. One parent walked through the doors on Wednesday and accepted Christ in the Library of the church.
For me it is not about numbers, it is about the stories. The individual stories of the lives changed. Friday is the day we pull all the children who filled out decision cards and bring them downstairs to talk individually with a decision partner. We answer questions and pray with them individually. Watching a wave of mostly wet (from game time) children come down those stairs is exciting. It is the story of a little boy who was on fire for God and told me he thought he could feel God with him all day so much he thought he could touch him. It is about a little boy who comes from a lost home and does not come to church but was SAVED. It is about the shy baseball player who made a stand to accept Christ. It is most exciting when you know them. Friday, I watched 3 girls from my Awana class walk down those stairs. My heart swelled until I thought it would explode. To know these girls personally and to get to hear them tell me what being a Christian means and to explain Jesus to me and then to say I want to ask him to come in my heart and start a relationship with him...folks that is priceless. Friday night I sat and wondered if some never get that opportunity to lead someone to Christ. I remember a time in my life where the idea of praying someone to Christ was frightening. By serving I have learned that I am a tool. I am just a present individual and God does all the work. I have sat with some of those girls in AWANA a many a Wednesday night...but God chose VBS as the time to prompt their hearts. I felt beyond honored to get to witness them make their design.
Matt Haines recently spoke to us children workers one night and said, they may not even remember your name one day but for now your presence is enough and it matters.
And I have served long enough to know serving isn't always full of moments that make you feel good because serving is not about you. It is about HIM. It is all about HIM. And He teaches me more through service then He does through any area of my life. When I saw those children coming down the stairs, my first thought was how as a parent am I doing to raise children who will one day may walk down those stairs and be saved. It is the moments with these kids when I am reminded of childlike faith, uncomplicated and honest.
The people that serve in this area of the church are so dedicated and fun. I could not even begin to name names of all who give themselves so freely. These volunteers come in all ages. There are mothers, fathers, singles and grandparents. It takes a world of volunteers to make children's ministry happen and God sends them all. I am so glad He called me. So why not you?

Monday, June 1, 2009

Memory Verse #11

Mark 10:14-15 NIV

14When Jesus saw this, he was indignant. He said to them, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. 15I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it."

Sunday, May 17, 2009

Memory Verse # 10

1 John 4:18
There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.

Sunday, May 3, 2009

May 3: Bible Verse

James 1:19 NIV

19My dear brothers, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry,

Thursday, April 16, 2009

Memory Verse # 8

I think this is a great verse to start this blog with...

So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed. John 8:36

When is the last time you were free? Then you need to come to work in Children's Ministry. You will be free...free to be you. As you can tell we were all free. You see it started with a vision. A way to make things fun for the kids. I don't know who had more fun on Slime Night 2009. The kids or the adults. Thanks to Stu for all your hard work!

Mr. Tim counsel time extraordinaire!



Me and Mrs. Janna - we love our AWANA girls!



Rock Star Mr. Joey! (who did not get near enough this year!)



Mrs. Jenny Children's Minister

Tony 3rd grade girls!

And after all the fun we prayed for this baby boy named STELLAN. Check out our picture!

Thursday, April 2, 2009

Memory Verse #7


Philippians 2: 3-5 Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus.

Sunday, March 15, 2009

March 15 Verse - Post it Here

Last time we missed alot of you! Jump back in or jump in for the first time. Here is mine:

Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. 2Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. 3For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. 4When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.
Colossians 3:1-4

Wednesday, March 11, 2009

AWANA Win from Mrs. Cherry

This happened in Awana last week. God is so good!!! How awesome that one of the our kids was able to pray with her friend and that Mrs. Cherry was there to follow up.


Tim's lesson tonight was a gospel presentation. He made the point that the Holy Spirit is who helps you understand spiritual things and that you can hear a story or a message over and over and not really "get it" until the Holy Spirit makes it click.
Then Tim went into the fact that some people may have heard the message before and not really "gotten it" and some people have already asked Jesus into their hearts and can use this presentation as a way to share with someone else and maybe lead them to Christ.
He presented the gospel using chain and talked about how many people see the good things they do in their lives as links in their chain. However, even if we only did one bad thing, the chain is only as strong as the weakest link. He used a paper link in a metal chain and tried to lift something heavy and of course it didn't move. That is why we need Jesus. Jesus takes all the weak links and makes it all new and strong. He gives us a new life when we ask for a relationship with Him. (That is a real quick summary).
Anyway, Amy, a second grader, came to me with her friend Brianne. She wanted to tell me that she had talked to Brianne after Mr. Tim's lesson and that she had prayed with her and Brianne asked Jesus into her heart. As a grown up, I felt like follow up was needed, however, after talking with the girls, Brianne really understood. Brianne said she had asked Jesus to take away the bad things in her life and to forgive her and help her have a new life (like Mr. Tim talked about with the chain). She said that she had asked Jesus to come into her heart and that she became a Christian. Amy was just beaming! She was so excited because she had been able to pray with her friend, just like Mr. Tim had said they could do.
God is so good.

Monday, March 2, 2009

Snowed In At WWBC

Isn't it pretty? Thanks to Stu for all the photos.
Little cold but so much fun.
Mrs. Jenny getting revenge after being nailed with a snowball!
Mark Bentley got me good! Don't worry, I got him back!
How did the new computer check in go on it's first Sunday Michelle? It went GREAT. Lines were really small! Serving in the Children's Ministry is the funniest place to be on Sunday mornings. Come join the fun!

March 1, Memory Verse

1 Peter 3:15
But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect,

Wednesday, February 25, 2009

STU

Big thanks to Stu and John Jones for the AWANA Grand Prix tonight. I have not seen the kids that excited since VBS! (I know nice plug for VBS) The parent turn out was amazing. It was so great to see the kids excited about something they had worked on with their parents. I want to thank STU for thinking outside the box. To all the men that donated their time and tools this past Saturday, thank you. I saw so much good stuff going on tonight. We had an AWANA secretary, Mrs. Jan, passing out extra cars she had made to kids that did not have one. I had a parent who recieved one of those extra cars come up to me to say thank ya'll for loving my child and getting her a car. Good stuff.

Sunday, February 15, 2009

Feb. 15th, Memory Verse

I will get us started. Come join me.

Mark 10:13-16

People were bringing little children to Jesus to have him touch them, but the disciples rebuked them. When Jesus saw this, he was indignant. He said to them “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. I tell you the truth; anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.” And he took the children in his arms, put his hands on them, and blessed them.

Sunday, February 1, 2009

Feb. 1 Memory Verses

What's your next verse?

Shout out to Rob for keeping me accountable. I did not get my verse down word for word this time, and of course Mr. Rob asked me about it today. :) Let me be an encouragement to those of you who may miss one here and there. We are all human, we all have better stretches than others. that's one reason this board is good accountability! I don't want to be embarrassed again. :)

I'll post my new verse later.
jen

Saturday, January 31, 2009

What's Your Faith Story?

Please share how you came to know Christ and the difference He has made in your life. Click on "comments" below to share your story. Short or long - it doesn't matter!

Sunday, January 25, 2009

Wow - Thank God for You!!!

Today was a CRAZY day... for me anyway! I was sure we would be low on kids because many of our grown ups were plagued with illness, but apparently it was an adult-only disease. We had PLENTY of children, and while I had a few crazy moments of running around trying to get everything squared away (I was good until Travis Bentley said "I'll teach, but you have to go make sure I'm covered for serving communion... what do I know about communion? :) ) over all it was a a great morning. I don't think the kids felt any craziness and only a few of you had to put up with mine.

Anyway, all of that to say this... we will occasionally have times like that. People are sick, kids are sick, things happen. That is life. I am SO thankful that crazy, under-staffed mornings are not the norm. I have many children's ministry friends who experience this type of morning every single Sunday.

I am very thankful for each of you who are so dependable and so dedicated to serving His kids. I am grateful for your leadership team who handles so many details that I don't have to think about. God reminded me again today how blessed I am to have them! Wow - there's a lot of you to keep up with. :) So, give your director an extra hug this week and know that I praise God for each and every one of you!!! Thank you for doing what we do.

Saturday, January 24, 2009

Why We Do What We Do - Awesome Story

From Denise Prince...

I just wanted to take a moment to share what happened in Awana Wednesday night. I just have to share what God was doing in my life prior to the event. I have been doing a study on The Psalms of Ascent by Beth Moore. I have made an effort to listen to praise music going to work and from work, instead of listening to the news in the morning. Wednesday morning, The song that just stood out to me was "Give me Jesus". In every situation and moment of our lives "Give me Jesus." I know how Jesus has drastically changed my life, and I want that for everyone. It was so impressed on my heart to lead someone to Jesus that day. I thought and wondered what opportunity God would give me. Well, it came at the end of the day. One of my dear students, who is new, came up to me to pass off the last section of the Start Zone. Praise the Lord for the last question. It was something like this: What does it mean to trust in Jesus? She proceeded to tell me to believe. At that time, I began to share the plan of salvation with her. She stated she had never come to a place in her life where she had placed her faith alone in Jesus and what He did for her on the cross. By this time there were several girls standing around. I didn't want her to feel pressured by the other girls, so we stepped next door. I asked her if she would like to invite Jesus into her life and place her faith alone in Him and what He did for her on the cross. She looked up at me and said "Oh Yes I would". What a blessing that God allows us to be a part of His Work. She sat there and invited Christ into her heart. I thought wow, God you always show up in such big ways, and thanks for using another young lady in the class to bring her to Awana so that she could hear Your word and come to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. Praise the Lord.

Monday, January 19, 2009

More info about switching to computerized check-in...

Steve asked some great questions in the comments in the post below. I wanted to answer it here so that no one missed it.

1. "is there going to be enough computers for everyone to check in at?"
We are kicking off with with four computers located in the same area where the nametags are now. We will have one additional computer down by the Celebration room. I feel this will be a good start, especially when you take into consideration that many families will check their preschoolers and elementary kids in at a preschool station. According to our records, only 100 families have only elementary kids, so divide that between 3 hours and 5 computers, unless they all get there at the same time, I think we will be good. As soon as we see it is not enough or we are outgrowing it we will expand.

2. "How are visitors going to check in?"
Visitors will go to the children's information desk just like they do now. That desk team will be trained to print them a special one time label. This will be separate from where everyone else checks in. The good news is that our desk team will be able to focus solely on new visitors and registrations for events. Right now alot of their time is taken up by making temporary tags for our members who have lost their tags!

3. "Also it would be helpful to have some of the children's ministry team to offer to man a particular computer"
The part that I'm most excited about in this whole process is that along with introducing the computers, we are introducing a whole new Children's Guest Services team. We have already recruited people who will serve as greeters (saying hi and escorting families to classes) and computer station attendants (who will help parents when they get confused about what to click). I'm thrilled that we have recruited a whole new batch of volunteers who are mostly new to our world!

4. "What will we do not if but when a child chews up their stick on name tag?"
We have done nutritional analysis and determined that the stick on tags have a higher amount of minerals and vitamins that are beneficial for elementary students than the old clip on tags had. We will in fact encourage hungry kids to eat their tags.

You do know I'm kidding, right? :) :) :)

Steve - thanks for helping us continue to make everything more clear. The more we as a team know ahead of time, the better we can prep and encourage parents. Anyone else... thoughts, questions, concerns?

Sunday, January 18, 2009

The Safest and Happiest Place...

We want the Kid Zone to be the safest and happiest place that parents take their kids all week. What does that look like to you?

Please click on the comments below and leave your thoughts.

Thursday, January 15, 2009

Time for verse #2!

Can you believe it is already January 15?! It is time to post our second verses. Even if you didn't do it the first time, please jump on in!

Here is mine:
"He who speaks on his own does so to gain honor for himself, but he who works for the honor of the One who sent him is a man of truth; there is nothing false about him." John 7:18

I don't want to speak on my own! I want everything I do and everything I say to be for His honor!

What's your verse?

Sunday, January 11, 2009

First Steps for Kids

We had a great night with 9 kiddos and their parents hanging out with us for First Steps. It is so great to see their excitement about baptism. I had the privilege of talking with one friend tonight about baptism and setting appointments with two others. God is so good.

A big thank you to Rick, Terri (and usually John), and Suzy for being so faithful to this ministry. This is a crucial part of our commitment to making sure kids really understand the decision they make.

Friday, January 2, 2009

Choosing a Verse

I know many of you are still contemplating which verse you want to memorize or you've picked one but you're being shy to put your name out there. :)

First, let me say if you are already memorizing for Top Gun, your small group, or another Bible Study, that counts! :) Just sign up with the verse you are learning for that group.

Second, anyone can do this! You can pick the verse "Jesus wept" if you want to... let's just work together on getting God's Word into our hearts and minds. It is not too late to comment on the post below to join in.

Third, here are some resources if you need some help finding verses you want to learn:
- Consider learning the same verse as the Journey kids or something your kids are working on in Awana.
- This site has a lot of familiar verses listed: www.scripturememory.org
- If there is a topic you are really struggling with or need to be grounded in truth about, go to biblegateway.com and type in a search for that word (i.e., anger, grace, forgiveness, lonely, fear) and allow God to show you a verse that speaks to you.

I really want "lots of many" (as Kaylie would say) of our team members to get on board with this. It will be an awesome way to grow together.

Thursday, January 1, 2009

Connect With God - Make it Personal: A New Year Challenge

First, let me confess that I totally stole this from Beth Moore's blog. But, I think it is an incredible idea and fits well with the vision God has given Les for Westwood for 2009.

This year you will hear the phrase "Connect with God - Make it Personal" around WWBC. God has laid it on Les's heart that Westwood will focus this year on each of us developing a deeper, personal relationship with Christ.

So, this is something I personally am going to do to deepen my walk with Christ and I want as many of you as will to partner with me. Here is what I want you to do:

1. Commit to learn 2 Scriptures a month. Just 2! I strongly encourage you to memorize them, but at least commit to seriously meditate (read frequently, think about, pray about, reflect on) on them.

2. Get a small notebook or a spiral bound set of notecards to begin recording your verses in. Keep this with you at all times so that you can constantly study/meditate on your Scripture.

3. Choose a Scripture to learn. I will not tell you what to learn, but will share with you what I am learning. It is much more personal when we allow God to show us what we need to meditate on. You are always welcome to use mine or someone else's that you see posted... whatever God leads you to do!

4. At the bottom of the post, click on the word "comments". Add your name and the verse that you are going to learn this first time around. This does two things: 1) it is an encouragement to our entire team and 2) it keeps us accountable. I will ask you to post each month on the 1st and 15th what your new verse is.

If you have any questions, feel free to email me. I am looking forward to all that God is going to do through us learning His Word this year! Now, go comment below and sign up!