Will You Be My Friend?

October 11 is Friend Day at church. Junior Hill will be the guest evangelist. All adult classes are being encouraged to invite an unchurched friend. We have been given a card on which to make our commitment. At first the children's classes were not going to participate in making a commitment to invite someone. Then it was realized what a great potential that could be. Children will invite children and thus have the potential of a whole family being reached.

I had been given foam handprints for the children to make invitations. I let each child choose the color they wanted & then had them write their name on the back of the hand. That was so the friend would remember who had invited them. On the front I wrote something very similar:
"Will you come to church with me for friend day?
October 11
Indian Springs Baptist"
Then I allowed the child to decorate the hands. Some of them colored a decoration on them. I put out some little pom poms as I call them. The girls and 1 boy decorated the fingers with those. We then glued craft sticks to the back.

We didn't get this part done this past Sunday but I may attempt it this coming Sunday. I was going to give each child another handprint. They would write on the front the name of the child they had invited. Then we would stick the peel & stick magnetic strips to the back. That way they could stick the handprint on their refrigerator and pray for the friend they were inviting.

They so enjoyed making the invitation. After one little boy's mother had gone on & on about his craft & how beautiful it was (or whatever little boys' mothers say), he said," but Mama, this isn't for me. This is to give to the friend I'm inviting for friend day. I need to find someone to invite."

Will you be my friend for friend day? You can even attend my K Sunday School class & see how active my children are!

1000 gifts #1

A few years ago, I was introduced to the idea of writing down daily gifts I received. These are gifts which cost no money & can just be considered bright spots to one's day. I started out with a few basics & have continued - not consistently but continued nonetheless. As I've been collecting these gifts, my mind has started looking forward to which gifts I'm going to receive each day.


I will share some periodically. Here are my first 10:

1. Jesus
2. salvation
3. grace
4. Women's Ministree planning sessions
5. ability to listen to WMIT online
6. 2 more ladies (mom & daughter) for retreat
7. copy machine to make copies of W-2s
8. excitement of new fathers
9. answering parents' questions on the summer camping program
10. being able to purchase a bacon pizza to encourage a sister
    

New Mexico #4

After sightseeing Friday, the group drove back to Albuquerque. There they returned the rental vans and stayed in a motel for the night. Their flight left at 6 am Saturday morning.

John loved his time in NM and is ready to go back. He says there is so much potential for this ministry to grow. He prays every night for the orphaned Native American children and also for the current and future ministry of Jack & Jill.

Friday

Friday is a day full of meetings! Meetings can be good...meetings can be bad. Meetings can be interesting & exciting...meetings can be boring. Meetings can pass quickly...meetings can go slowly while you sit taking inventory of every ache & pain.

We had a staff meeting today at noon. It included lunch. They take quite a chunk out of the day. Fridays have been a day in which I wrap up the week. I'm going to have to wrap up the week on Mondays now I guess. Our meeting lasted until about 2-2:30. That left only 2 1/2 hours to finish office work. I was a little past 5 leaving the office.

Then we are hosting a Dave Ramsey class. So we are taking that class. It is very interesting but having sat in a staff meeting for 2 hours - coming to sit in a Dave Ramsey class for another 2 hours can be very hard. Now don't get me wrong. Dave has good points to say & he keeps your attention throughout his lectures. It's just as I get older, I'm noticing the metal, folding chairs are not so comfortable to sit in for that length of time x2.

Bible Club Week 2

We have just returned from our second Bible Club for the 2009-2010 school year. We arrived a little later than what I had hoped for but still were there in plenty of time to get the room set up, make sure the figures were in order & pray for the girls. We set up for 15 girls.

Today as they came in, they were eager to see if I remembered their names from last week. Of course I didn't remember most of them. There are a few who have come almost every week for the past 3 years that I do remember their names. After all 16 girls were seated (John put out another chair), I asked them their names & favorite color. The colors ranged from lime green to black. I thought with girls we'd have lots & lots of pinks & purples but there were only one of each of those. I think blue was the most popular - of course that ranged anywhere from robin egg blue to dark blue.

I then told the second chapter to "Missionary to Slocum Alley". This day starts out kind of slow - at least for the girls. Charlie is sitting in a prayer meeting watching as a missionary shared slides from all around the world. (The girls did know what slides were). I had several pictures to put up from those slides from a temple to an Indian god to Fijian fire-walkers. The girls started to lose interest in this part - well the first-time girls. But then when the missionary was finished & Charlie went fishing & ran into the mean boy named Red Sanders, the girls all were sitting on the edge of their seats again. I finished the story & it seemed like there was a little bit of a let down that I had stopped - which is good.

John led them in a few songs: Wide, Wide as the Ocean, Stop & Let me Tell You, Go & Make Disciples, The B-I-B-L-E, Do You Know that You've Been Born Again & then Yes, I Know that I've Been Born Again & finished off with Jesus Loves Me - requested by a clubber. I then went up to the board for a review game.

This game also came from a book by Ed Dunlop. I had several canning jars on the board. And also many more leaves with ants on them. After answering a question correctly, the girls came up to the board & chose a canning jar. On the back of the jar was a number. That was the number of ants the jar would hold - from 8-20. The girls didn't find out that number just yet. Then they could chose up to 5 leaves. Each leaf had from 1-6 ants on them. When the girls thought they had chosen a good #, they would stop. I would count up the # of ants they had collected & then show them the # on the back of the jar. If they had chosen under the # on the jar, they got the # of ants they had collected. If they chose the exact # on the jar, not only did they get that # but they also got a 25 point bonus. BUT if they chose over the # on the jar, they lost all their ants - just from that turn. The girls loved the game. They decided that choosing between 10-14 was a good # & would keep choosing until they had close to that #. They explained that there were only 2 jars that would be below 10 but more above that #. I think they had a pretty good idea. Each team had 3 turns. On the 3 turn, I kind of varied from the rules & told them they would get double - both ants & bonus points. They liked that.

By that time club was over & we dismissed the girls. There were still a few banana pops left so we made sure each girl got at least one. I think we only have 1 banana pop left. I may just throw that away unless I have any requests for banana. The girls were NOT pleased with that flavor. I'll be glad when the winter selection comes out to get rid of banana.

Before dismissing the girls, I told them I was glad they all had come & hoped they would be back next week. One little girl who was sitting on the front row assured me she would be here every week as long as I was telling Sunday School Charlie stories - she loves them. And also could I please bring the ice cream cone game again next week. I think I will take a different one just so they don't get tired of one game all the time.

As we were leaving, one of the ladies who works there & whose last name happens to be Newland - & yes is related to my father - stopped us to let us know that Oct. 8 is a fall break. They will just be open from 8-5 (or maybe 9-5). We could come earlier if we wanted to that day. But in times past I have learned it is hard to keep their concentration during those kind of days. Also there aren't as many there so I think we will take that day off. Hopefully the girls will last for 2 weeks between hearing chapters 3&4.

New Mexico #3

On Friday the team was able to go sightseeing. They went on into AZ to look around. The 2 pictures I'm sharing were taken in AZ.

This is where it is believed the first Navajo nation settled. It is now known as the White House (of the Navajo nation).

This second picture is of a cave John liked. Can you see the face?

New Mexico #2

Sunday morning the ladies were able to help in the children's Sunday School area. The children really enjoyed the ladies being there. One of the men snuck away from the service to capture some shots.

Then on Wednesday afternoon the whole team went to the school to host a Bible club. John was able to spend about 15-20 minutes with the 3-6 grade boys. The above picture is of the group of them. Below you'll see them involved in an activity...possibly an action song.

New Mexico #1

The mornings started bright & early with breakfasts fixed by John. This picture was actually taken on Sunday morning. They knew they would be getting in late the night before so had asked Jill to purchase some cereals for them. John's actual first cooked meal was Sunday supper.




One of the work projects being done was tiling of a floor. A Native American family had donated a family home to be used for missionary housing. There are currently 2 families staying in the home.




Another project was fixing up this home. Due to health reasons, an adult son was having to move out of his parents' home. This was an ancestral home located near the family.




To thank the team for the wonderful job done on the home, this family had the whole group over one evening for a traditional meal of Navajo fry bread. I believe all the team members loved the evening...the meal & the fellowship.

New Mexico Bound

This group of 11 left from Indian Springs Baptist Church headed toward Ft. Wingate, NM. They had accepted the Lord's call to help a couple with their work with the Native Americans near Gallup. The church bus pulled out of the parking lot Saturday morning (Sept. 5) headed toward Charlotte.




They caught a plane which took them to Dallas/Ft. Worth. There they connected to Albuquerque. They touched down in Albuquerque about 9p.m. MT/11p.m. ET. After renting 2 vans, they drove the approximately 1 1/2 - 2 hours to Ft. Wingate without their luggage. It had been lost in the shuffle.




They were staying in the Wingate Baptist Church. Their main purpose was to encourage Jack & Jill and also to see how the church could help them in the future.

Bible Club

This afternoon found us on our way back to Girls Inc. for Bible Club. I looked upon today with both a little fear & lots of excitement. Fear of not knowing behavior of the girls. Excitement about sharing with them the love of Jesus. My biggest concern during Bible Club is what stories am I going to do this year? I have decided to do the Sunday School Charlie. Usually I will do a Bible story followed by a missionary story or a fictional story that has great morals. But since Sunday School Charlie has both fiction with great morals & also a Bible story or lesson, I decided that would take care of the problem.

We ran to Wal-mart before club to get the treats. We have discovered the girls love the Tootsie Roll pops. We bought 2 bags - that should get us through 2 weeks. And then went on to Girls Inc. We arrived in plenty of time to get set up without feeling rushed & then have just a few minutes to review the story & pray before the girls came in. I opened the suckers during this time & discovered the new color for the fall is banana...not my favorite.

The 12 girls came in, sat down & seemed excited to be there. Some I remembered from last year. Some were new. I went over the class rules first (keep feet on floor, keep hands to self, be a good listener & a reminder that God hears & answers prayer). Then introduced us. I have usually introduced us as Mrs. Kathy & Mr. John. Today I decided they could call us Aunt Kathy & Uncle John. This took care of the little girl who LOVES to call me Mommy. She enjoys calling me 'Aunt'...she just can't remember my name. I then let the girls tell me their names, where they went to school, grade they were in & their teacher's name. I noticed after letting them tell me so much they were much more willing to sit quietly.

Sunday School Charlie's "Missionary to Slocum Alley" chapter 1 was next. The girls sat still with eyes wide & glued to the "magic board" (my flannel graph board). They were a little disappointed when the day was finished but were willing to wait until next week. We prayed & then John led them in a few songs - Stop & let me tell you, Go & Make Disciples, I'm a Missionary's Helper & then closed with Father Abraham.

We played a review game. I have copied some ice cream cones - some of them have 1 scoop of ice cream & some have 2. They all have point values on them. After answering a question correctly, the children come to the front & draw a cone from the pretty gift bag. They get the # of points on that cone. If it's a double scoop & they tell me "double", they then get 2x the # of points on the cone. There are also some meltdown cards which if they get that card they lose all the points from that turn. (This idea came from a book of review games by Ed Dunlop). The girls loved the game & were a little disappointed when it was time to end. We sang "Jesus Loves Me" while John added the points from each team.

After finding out which team had the most points, the girls were dismissed. John gave them their lollipop on their way out the door.

I quietly thanked the Lord for how well club had gone as we packed up our things & left. I'm thanking the Lord for the opportunity He has given us to share His love with the girls. I pray they see that love modeled in my life.

A new month

It's hard to believe that today is the first day of September. Schools have started. Ballgames & practices are in full swing. And fall is just around the corner. I love fall - the colors of the leaves, the smell of wood smoke, the chill in the air and sometimes sitting around a bonfire with friends.

September 17 is the start of our Bible club. We pray as the year goes that our enthusiasm stays right up there with the girls excitement to learn about Jesus. Sometimes Thursdays become a dreaded day...another commitment, what am I going to do today, etc. I'm praying I will look forward to each Thursday as I do the start up of Bible club.

John leaves Saturday for the mission trip to NM. I plan on spending Labor Day with my sister & family. I'm looking forward to seeing my nieces & nephew...also my sister.

Tonight is Bible Study for us. We have spent a week looking in depth at 1 John 1. It's so exciting to hear what others are learning through this same study & how God is blessing them through it.

Tomorrow I go to the dentist & then get my hair cut. I'm excited about the latter - the hair cut. Not too thrilled about the dentist visit...will enjoy talking with Peggy, the hygienist, though.