VBS 2015- Get ready to MOVE!

VBS is next week from June 22-25 9:00am-12:00 noon and then wrapping up with a Family Experience Friday, June 26 from 6:30-7:15.  We’re looking forward to a great time!

What I love about VBS is this week cannot be possible without the passion of our amazing church family.  Planning for this week takes an incredible team of people.  I want to thank all of our volunteers that have helped:

recruit volunteers

develop creative arts and crafts

organize all of our youth volunteers

plan all of the amazing decor for the church

volunteer to teach

volunteer to be a small group leader

help lead music

help in the large group each morning

I would like to specifically thank our  Leadership Team:  Debbie Anderson, Meridith Saunders, Heather Coleman, Cheryl Hamilton, Cathy Turner, Suzanne Judkins, and Elisha Harrison.   This group of church volunteers have worked so hard for months to insure that this VBS will be the best year yet!

St. Andrew shows again, and again what a church can be.  We support one another and work together to bring the love and light of Christ to all we encounter.

So, thank you St. Andrew!  You are all amazing!

I though the blog entry that I wrote from last year would be a great way to start VBS this week.  Let's get read to MOVE!  VBS 2015!!!

Looking for Amazing Things (6/27/14)
I just completed an AMAZING week at St. Andrew.  We had so much fun at our VBS!  We had about 500 people in the building (children, youth, and volunteers).

It was a week that was full of many things.  As the children's pastor, it is easy to view things in "how can we do this better next year" attitude.   Every day we looked on what happened each day and how we can make it better next year.  The problem with this perspective is that you don't focus on the amazing things that are happening.  You focus on what needs to be changed.

When I changed my perspective I saw:

- Children experiencing faith in a new and exciting way
- Volunteers putting their whole heart into make this week wonderful
- New families to the area getting connected to a church home
- All different generations working together (our volunteers ranges from teenagers to grandmothers)
- Over a thousand toiletry items donated to the Plus One Mission for our church.

The week of VBS is an amazing week. What will you see this week when you change your perspective and look for Amazing things happening all around you?!?

Change Happens....still

I originally wrote this blog entry when I began working at St. Andrew.  I was focusing on the many changes that were happening in the life of my family by serving at a new church.     I didn’t take a moment to stop and think that change happens.   It happens all the time.  

The end of another school year is upon us.  This year we are making not only a change in grades but a change in schools. I have one child that is entering into a new world...MIDDLE SCHOOL...(play dramatic music here).

When I worked for the Region Ten Education Center teaching second career teachers, we would show this video.  It is out of date today, but the concept is the same.  Change is always happening.

Change happens with our kids:   We watch them slowly grow up and become more independent.  This change can hurt sometimes, but it is good.

Change happens with our spouse:   We grow and change in our marriage, sometimes it is for the better and sometimes it is not.  I know I am not the same person that I was as a 23 year old.   But we are changing together....so that is good.  

Change happens with our friends:   We don’t all have the same friends throughout our life.  You might have one or two life long friends but other than that people come in and out of our life.  I am so thankful for that.  I have some wonderful people that have come into my life these past few years.  On the flip side I have had others leave this world...and that, well, stinks.

Change happens with our bodies:  Ok, so it can get wider, or more fit, we grow taller, etc.

Change happens with our faith life.  We grow and develop our faith throughout our lives.  Faith is not a stagnate thing but something that is constantly changing as we do.

My point here is that change is always happening.   ALWAYS.   I guess that most of the change in our life is so simple or moves so slowly that we are not afraid of it.   It is the change that is sudden, that is scary.   Not always bad, it just puts a jolt into our daily rhythm.

Perspective:  Pay attention to change, don’t be afraid of it.   When you need to:  embrace it.   When you need to:  stop it.   But, notice it.   Change Happens!

Introducing our FaithZone summer reading

This summer, we have another great parenting book to recommend: Playing For Keeps! We recommend that each of our parents read this book; it's a great way to make an even more significant spiritual impact in the life of your child! This book gives tangible and simple ways to connect faith in our everyday life.  This book is available on Amazon, Kindle, and in the St. Andrew Bookstore $17.99. 

We're also super excited to share that we have summer reading for our Elementary children! STAND UP is a daily devotional that corresponds with our small group lessons during June and July. We hope that STAND UP is one more way that we can partner with your family and help your kids get to know Jesus even better!  This book is available in the Elementary Hallway and the St. Andrew bookstore $14.99. 

-The FaithZone Ministry Team 

Winners and Losers

I have shared before my #boymom status is a new road I have never journeyed before.  I grew up in a family with a sister, a dad that really didn’t watch many sports, and a mom who didn’t care much for sports either. Most of my young adult years were full of music lessons, band, and theater.

The family that I have now loves sports.  All sports.  And I am learning.  I am learning the language, the attitude, the different plays, the different uniforms, and all the different rules.

 This year my oldest is on a newly formed baseball team and until Wednesday night they had not won a single game.  They have good players and good coaches, yet they had not formed a rhythm as a team.  It’s hard to go out every game and lose.  It’s hard to keep your spirits up.  It’s hard to keep trying.  I thought, well this has been a great lesson on losing. 

At the end of each game, the coaches would discuss the different mistakes (which I now know are called errors) and the plays that were well executed.  Then the coach would say, “I am proud of you boys.”

I am ashamed to say after a really tough game when the coach said, “I am proud of you boys,” I thought…no, stop saying that!!! Tell them they have to work harder, they have to communicate as a team, they have to… 

Then I knew I was wrong. 

The losing wasn’t the point.  The playing was the point.  After one particular game we received an email from the coach listing every player and why he was proud of their playing.  Then he told them to keep working and practicing all week long and to remember the next game will be a brand new opportunity to play. 

So, in the CRAZY month of May, when our to-do lists are full and our calendars are crazy, let us remember that it is not about what is on our to-do list, but about living our lives to the fullest. 

My perspective:  Keep your eyes on what is happening now.  Live into it…the moments pass by so fast and every day is a blessing.  Honestly, even the bad ones are part of who you are.

Ecclesiastes 5:18-20, MSG After looking at the way things are on this earth, here’s what I’ve decided is the best way to live: Take care of yourself, have a good time, and make the most of whatever job you have for as long as God gives you life. And that’s about it. That’s the human lot. Yes, we should make the most of what God gives, both the bounty and the capacity to enjoy it, accepting what’s given and delighting in the work. It’s God’s gift! God deals out joy in the present, the now. It’s useless to brood over how long we might live.

Why do we make prayer so hard?

I have been in many different meetings, conferences, etc. where when adults are asked to pray they all look down and say a silent prayer that they will become invisible. 

I have also been in a Sunday morning Small Group with our elementary age children and when I ask a child to pray five hands go up. We pray for birthday parties, football games, grandparents, new shoes, sleepovers…we pray for everything we can.

What happens between the age of 8 and 38?

I think we make prayer bigger than it is.  Prayer is simply a time to connect to God, who wants to be in a relationship with us.

Prayer does not have to be silent reverence with candles and music.  But, it can be.

Prayer does not have to be liturgy that comes from tradition. But, it can be.

Prayer does not have to be bowing of head and folding of hands.  But, it can be.

Prayer can be what you want it to be.  Simple or scripted.

 This year our family started a new tradition with prayer.  We began the year by pulling out a Christmas card that was sent to us and putting it on the fridge.  I counted our cards and we had about one for every week of the year.  Perfect! When we walked by the fridge we would pray for the family, a simple prayer of joy and thanksgiving for each family.  Sometimes we would pray together as a family, sometimes we would just walk by the card a say a simple prayer.  Then at the end of the week we would write a card to the family letting them know we prayed for them.  We really had not talked to the families asking if they received our cards or if they felt our prayers.  Sadly, as the year kept moving along at a faster pace each month we slowly forgot to pull out a Christmas card and put it on our fridge. 

Then, this past week I was stopped by one of the families that we prayed for.  A simple card that was sent to their family several months ago was sent at a time that they needed prayers.

This reminded me of two things:

1.     Prayer is simple and powerful.  It connects us to God and to each other.

2.     Our family needs to get back to our new tradition.  We will be pulling out two cards this week to make up for our lost time.

P.S. If you are looking for a simple way to add prayer into your life I recommend the prayer app Echo.  It is free and it reminds us to stop and pray in our very busy lives.

Caring about the One

I do a good job of taking care of my family.  I know that sentence sounds a bit conceited, but it is true.  My family is first on my list when it comes to giving care and concern.  They are fed, have clothing, are loved and cared for.  Sure, some days are better than others, but all and all they are my first concern.

I feel good about that and then I remember the story of The Lost Sheep. 

The Story of the Lost Sheep, Luke 15, MSG

15  By this time a lot of men and women of doubtful reputation were hanging around Jesus, listening intently. The Pharisees and religion scholars were not pleased, not at all pleased. They growled, “He takes in sinners and eats meals with them, treating them like old friends.” Their grumbling triggered this story.Suppose one of you had a hundred sheep and lost one. Wouldn’t you leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness and go after the lost one until you found it? When found, you can be sure you would put it across your shoulders, rejoicing, and when you got home call in your friends and neighbors, saying, ‘Celebrate with me! I’ve found my lost sheep!’ Count on it—there’s more joy in heaven over one sinner’s rescued life than over ninety-nine good people in no need of rescue.

Would I take the time to find one of my children if they were lost and hurt?  YES!  Would I take the same time for a stranger?  It is my hope that I would but I cannot honestly answer with the same YES!

 St. Andrew has been in the process of looking at this church from a new perspective, the perspective of THE ONE.  The one person who is not connected, who is lost and searching for God’s perfect love in their life.  Do we as a church welcome THE ONE?

In this process we have learn a lot about who we are as a church.  We learned that we have amazing worship, a growing and thriving Children and Youth program, and loving servants of Christ who worship and serve here. We love this church and we love the people inside the walls. We are also in a building that has over 40 entrances, multiple parking lots, 5 service times.  These facts can be overwhelming as a guest, it can also be hard to invite people with this abundance. 

You will start seeing better signage around the parking lots and hallways to help guide guest’s around this building. Starting April 12^th we will have new service times across the campus: 9:30 and 10:50 for both the contemporary (The Well) and traditional services.  The streamline of service times will give the Children’s Ministry the opportunity to have children seamlessly integrated in the same programming at the 9:30 and 10:50 hours. 

I am personally very excited about the amazing opportunities that we have as a church.  The impact that we can still make in the surrounding communities and the lives of families can be life giving.  Thank you for being a church that can change perspective and see our mission from the eyes of THE ONE.