Celebration Tears

Okay, today was the day for my tears in Celebration. Jenny asked for volunteers to pray for the offering and when I heard the name she called, I froze. First, I couldn't believe he had volunteered. Second, I wondered- What will he say? This child has been in an inpatient program where he was taken off all meds and they have started from scratch. He has been away from home for several weeks and has only been able to have limited contact with his family. When he started praying... he prayed and prayed and prayed. I couldn't understand everything he said, but that didn't matter- I knew God heard him and understood it all. It was one of the most precious moments I've experienced in Celebration.

Random Ramblings

We have already begun our new year in Journey and Celebration and a new year kicked off tonight in Awana's. I have some random ramblings.


I really like our "new" format for Celebration, this allows us to gear the message more appropriately for the different ages and really connect with the kids on their level. I always look forward to each Sunday and seeing the way God works in the lives of the kids, it is truly a blessing. I'm also blessed to see our friends interact with kids and really build relationships with them, relationships that truly last. The impact on the kids you all are making cannot be measured. Also, to our 11:00 6th graders, in addition to the above statements, I want to add; you "guys" are AWESOME!!! A quick side note, Mrs. Kristi, you're still the same, full of energy an


Awana's started back tonight, wow, thank you leaders, listeners and secretaries. It is cool to see you guys dive right in, especially all of you that are new to Awana's. I must admit I was blown away with how quick you all were able to have your kids into HT and learning God's word. Game guys, it was loud and the kids were laughing, awesome. Council Time, Mr. Tim and a gavel, I really wish I knew the story to that.


The biggest highlight tonight that I am aware of; Joey meeting with a child that is ready to be baptized!!!!!



Coolest statement I heard from one of our kids tonight, a Mom told her son that he had Mr. Jeff as his leader, the boy was visibly excited and said something to the effect, "I got Mr. Jeff again, he's the best", may not be an exact quote, because the boy took off running to Mr. Jeff right when his Mom told him who his leader was going to be.


Lastly, Mrs. Kristi, - cheese grits!

Promotion Sunday

Okay. We needed a new post and Jenny is very, very, busy. Promotion Sunday is THIS Sunday. New little first graders (my sweet boy) and I am sure lots of new faces will be bouncing down the halls and singing in Celebration. We have lots of new volunteers to Journey and some returning faces. The children will no longer be fruits of the spirit but colors. Don't forget to wear your team color on Sunday. Dress your children in their Journey color and wear comfortable shoes! I can't wait to see what God has in store for this new year. Thanks for serving and post your stories so others can see what God is doing at Westwood.

Crosspoint Thank You

What a great week we just finished up at Crosspoint. The kids and adults played hard, laughed hard and more importantly, we prayed for each other, we prayed for others, we prayed to, sang praises to and worshipped our God. We did this throughout the day and night. I may write more about Crosspoint week itself, but, today I want to say thanks.

Thank you parents for entrusting us with your kids for the week. I cannot tell you how many times I have said it this week, but, we have a great bunch of kids. It was really rewarding to see the kids of Westwood interact with other kids, to see "our" kids show God's love to others, to see "our" kids put others before themselves, to hear them pray for others, to see them actively participate in worship, taking notes in worship and actually going back to those notes and looking up the verses that were mentioned in the service and just to see them laugh and have fun. Parents, again thank you for giving us these blessings.

Thank you adult campers (yes, Michael, technically you are an adult), wow, I do have photos of how you acted. Seriously, you all are the greatest. You all were encouraging and comforting to the kids when the day got long and the kids were tired or just when things did not go exactly to plan. You all had a hug, a smile and sometimes you just had your ears to listen to the kids. You prayed for and with the kids. You were coaches, umpires, you were in OMC with shaving cream and toothpaste, you shined the light of God's love to the kids. You did all of this and much more, WITHOUT COFFEE!!! In all, this was an awesome week with a great time had by all.

What Celebration Captains Do in Real Life...

Today in Celebration, as a lead-in to our lesson about Paul being a tent-maker and how God has a plan for us to glorify God in whatever occupation He leads us too, I had the bright, spur-of-the-moment idea to ask the Celebration captains what they did for a living and then had the kids guess what the captains who were not in the room did.

They were excited to learn that Mr. Tim is a mailman, they cheered for Mrs. Cherry that she was a mom, they didn't really understand that Mr. Steve sold software to schools. It was all going so well. They thought Mr. Stuart worked at the church but then someone else guessed he was a missionary. How sweet. A fourth grade girl was going to guess that Mr. Joey was a rock star, but someone cleared up that he is an engineer. Someone thought Mr. Kevin was a librarian (seriously???) and then when I named another female captain one of our sweet 4th grade boys said, "Underwear model?"

I held it together until I caught Steve's eye and it was over. So totally inappropriate, but very, very funny. Seriously, did any other ministry laugh as hard as we did Sunday morning? Who knows what they are going to say?????

From Brian (11:00 Gentleness Shepherd)

One of the greatest celebrations of Mr. Dereks life can be knowing that he won; he defeated Satan. I saw the importance of that in the words written by a fourth grader on his art room door that said "Congrats on going to Heaven". As bad as we miss loved ones here, it's tiny compared to an eternity of peace and joy we will spend with those very same loved ones when we reach the place our Father has prepared for us. God gave us the ability to love, and gave us an example of that love in his son Jesus Christ, but with Love comes sadness. I imagine God cried the day Jesus was crucified for our sins, but look what a gift was given to heaven. I was not given the opportunity to know Derek very well, but from the impact he left behind here on earth, I have a feeling he is well. To Jill and the children; though sadness clouds our lives at times, it cannot take away our ability to Love. I pray that when the clouds part and the sun comes back out in your life, you will see the victory for God's kingdom Derek was. God Bless you and I will continue to pray for your healing. We see it as a lose for us, but through the eyes of a fourth grader it was a win. Praise God for Derek’s victory; he defeated the greatest enemy in his life, Satan.

P.S. - Derek, Congrats on going to Heaven!

Some More Fun from VBS

66 First time decisions for Christ. WOW!
750 registered elementary kids
1274 total registered kids, preschoolers, volunteers
$2700 raised for missions - Jade and Shelah Acker

Here are some random stories and comments:

- As we were dismissing on the final day of Power Lab, a crew leader came to me and said, "if you ever doubt the power of what you do, look at my 8 year old son. He is sobbing because VBS is over. He is crying more than when we left Disney World."

- On Wednesday, thunderstorms were rolling into the area. The lightning made one of our second graders a little nervous. She stopped and said, "Jesus gives us the power to be brave." (The Bible point for that day). Another friend was walking by and said "Aha!" (that won't mean a thing to you if you weren't at VBS :) )

Comments from volunteers:
- "We have been struggling with our son and the importance of making good choices for friends. He came home from VBS literally each day "on fire" for God. Towards the end of the week he mentioned several of the kids he met and formed friendships with were going to camp and how he really wanted to go"
- "I was a crew leader this week at VBS. What a great time both the adults and the kids had! It was awesome and I loved being a part of it. This was my first time and it was GREAT! Thanks for letting me get involved. We are new to Westwood and this brought me even closer."
- "Just wanted to say "WOW". What an awesome week. I know that we had a lot more kids attend VBS than we had planned for, but you would never had known it since everyone had so many cool crafts and even in Chadders we sent home some neat stuff. The directors and staff made it possible for everyone to feel special and have something to remind them of what an awesome week it was.
Even the 5th graders were able to get their slime that they missed on Wednesday. I had a van full of kids everyday going and coming and I did not hear one negative comment about VBS. Everyone said they had a great time and was looking forward to the next day. It was neat listening to them talk and sing about God's power."

Leave a comment and tell us your VBS stories!