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.
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
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.
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.
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?
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?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
