AWANA - Just Listen First

I'm back much sooner than I thought! I mentioned AWANA a few months ago, and after last night's club I just felt like I had to come back and reiterate how cool the program is.

The goal of AWANA is "to reach boys and girls with the gospel of Christ and train them to serve Him." We try to achieve that by teaching them Bible verses, telling them a story/lesson, songs, and then, of course, we have a time for games :) The group I work with are 'Sparks' (K-2), and they are awesome. Between teaching them verses, helping at game time, and being there during their lessons, I'm sure they have taught me just as much as we teach them. I have a blast every week. Seeing their faces light up when they say a section of verses, earn a jewel from saying multiple sections, or their team wins for the night... those are the things that make me come back. The not-as-great times when we need to slow them down for a quick chat are good too, I mean hey.. we all need a little instruction now and then. I'd rather do it kindly in that kind of an environment though, where we can explain why certain actions/word aren't good.

Needless to say, last night was an exceptionally good night. Every student on our team had their uniform, said a section, and earned a jewel. We have been struggling with some of those things lately, and it was a great encouragement to know that these kids are still working hard. Not only did our team say 30 sections (some have more than one verse!), the whole Sparks group (approximately 35 kids) said 102 sections! How cool is that?!

I really think we underestimate kids. We were each a 'kid' once.. remember how adults undermined you, saying you couldn't do certain things because " " and they'd list reasons? They're so smart.. and sometimes we just forget that, or fail to acknowledge it. I observed a conversation last night between two boys on my team. We watched a movie for the lesson. It was about three trees; each had a dream of being something when they grew up, but God had a different plan for them. One became a manger, one a boat, and one a cross. The boys started whispering back and forth, so I leaned in so I could quiet them down. I overheard a comment about 'what do you think they're making with that?' so I stopped to listen. The other said 'oh, I betcha its the boat Jesus was on when he calmed the water!' 'oh yeah! that makes sense!' was the reply. Well sure enough.. that was what one of the trees was made into. At that point, I was a little flabbergasted... they weren't just watching the movie, they were consuming the movie. They whispered each other into a realization that the last tree was made into the cross that Jesus was crucified on too. I didn't stop the whispering. We were in the back row, no one was complaining, and it was healthy conversation between the two boys who were helping each other get more out of the movie. They got the point. I sat back and thought about their innocent conversation that only I had heard. We are often so quick to shush kids when they're whispering during a quiet time, that we fail to listen. We can miss so much if we don't listen. I'm glad I didn't tell them to stop whispering, because I learned once again, that we underestimate them.. who knows what they could be talking about. Yeah, sometimes its not pertinent to whats going on, they could just be fooling around. But we'll never find out if we don't listen first.

Listen to a 'kid' today. You may be surprised at what they have to teach you :)

The "Back To's"

What a hectic world we live in :)

Once Labor Day was over, most of the tourists started to filter out of town. The seasonal people are starting to trickle back down south, and traffic is starting to lighten up a little. It gets crazy once five o'clock hits, but for the most part it's not too bad. School, sports, and regular schedules have started and town really feels a bit more mellow. And constricting. Its getting dark sooner, there's a bit of a nip in the air, and the fall winds have arrived. Not to mention the trees already think its fall. *Sigh* If only summer would stay a bit longer..

Back to school means back to AWANA for us. No, we don't have children yet, but we both love them dearly and help with many of the children's programs at church. So, Wednesday nights we go to help out with the program. AWANA stands for Approved Workmen Are Not Ashamed, and serves as a training tool where students memorize scripture, play games, and hear a Bible story every week. It is a huge outreach to the community, as one third to half of the students who come otherwise don't go to church. Its a great experience though, and its a great opportunity for us to just love on these kids.
Check it out at the official site: http://awana.org/

Also, Caleb's aunt and uncle went back to the Philippines this week after being on furlough for the summer. Because they work at a theological college, they have summers off and it works out for them to come back home. It has been great to see them throughout the summer and spend time with them.

Other than that, we haven't been up to much except work and spending what little extra time we have with each other, family and friends. We do get to participate in a Bible study with other young adults around our age every week, but now that its dark and its too cold to meet at the beach, the group will be meeting at our house. I love having people over. We have just under 3,000 sq ft of house, so we definitely have room for quite a few people. It also makes the house not feel as empty ;) But we love getting together with the group, are excited that it is growing, and glad we can host them for the colder months. The number has been consistently around twenty people.. so it'll be a squeeze for our living room,.. good thing we like each other ;)

Intentional Connections

God's grace continues to amaze me. It's hit me more in the past few weeks than it has in a while, but it has been a very eye opening experience. I'm realizing it more in the little things I've been doing; little things for Caleb, others, the tedious little jobs at the office, etc. Most of all though, I've been realizing it in the realm of ministry involvement.

The Tween ministry kicks off three weeks from tonight with a lock-in filled with crazy games, fun, food, and a chance for us staff to really get to know some of the students. Caleb and I planned the event, and when I talked to the director on Wednesday, she was just as excited as we were about the events getting underway. I can't wait to start! Youth group has also been going well. I forgot what it was like to be in middle/high school until I started to get to know some of our students better. Middle/high school is a crazy time, and as many times as students say adults don't understand them, I'm willing to admit that sometimes I don't even understand their issues. Praise God though, I've been able to answer some hard and deep questions only because I was trusting I would be given the words that the student(s) needed to hear, and I was. Getting to know some of the students and their parents has been fantastic, and it makes me thankful for the youth pastor I had growing up. He made a huge impact on me, whether it was a quick conversation, a question answered, or some tough love when I was out of line; he was honest, and didn't sugarcoat things. I intend to do the same with our students, because life is brutally honest, and nowhere near sugarcoated. These students teach me something everytime I get to lead small group, have a conversation, or am even around them, and I love that. It's so easy to just sit back and help instead of be intentional in your actions around these students. They're only a few simple years from being them same age as I am, but I've learned so much since high school, and being intentional is a way that I hope to relate even better to them. They are amazing, and I hope that each of them feel that way based on how our staff not only treats them, but ministers to them in words. Being able to share in their struggles, concerns, and even them giving us an insight into their worlds and minds is an awesome thing. I love the opportunities to be able to connect with these students.

The AWANA program is another ministry that I'm involved in, and I work with K-2nd grade. These children are more wonderful than I can explain. I've been learning so much from them, and learn more every single week. Seeing their face light up when they pass a section because of saying a Bible verse correctly is one of the coolest things. I'm so lucky for this opportunity to share in their learning, and be able to be there and see them smile, cry, have fun, and sometimes even be frustrated. Every emotion has a purpose, and it's a learning process on how to handle all the different emotions we encounter with these students. At the beginning of the club year we had a few very young students in our group, and verse time was challenging almost to a point of frustration. But, we kept plugging away at each section with these students, and week by week, a little more comfortable each time, they opened up, started talking more, and now even come to club prepared with a section to recite! One of the things I strive to do in my actions is show them that we are ecstatic that they are there. Whether it be a smile, a conversation, or a simple question, I try to let each of them know they matter and we are interested in their lives. I try to be as intentional as I can, even when its frustrating. These students come from all kinds of families, so I think we need to be as intentional as we can in everything we do during the short hour and half we have them each week. That, my friends, is more challenging that I ever would have thought. But I love working with them. Its brightens my day to see them in public, and even more so when they tug at the shirt of who they're with and tell them I'm their friend from club, or I help them at club. Some even run right over to give a hug. That makes it so worth it; to know that I've made such an impact that a student will willingly go out of their way to say hi. We can make a difference in these students' lives.

It has almost been too easy for me to be intentional in relationships with students, and challenging when I think about being intentional in other relationships. The ones that come to mind are mainly with my husband and family. How can I be intentional in my relationships with them to show them God's love and that they matter? We all know ways we can do that, but doing those actions or speaking those words are so much more challenging. We are around these people more, we know their stories, they may have hurt us, etc. And yet we are called to love them like Jesus loves us. We are called to show them the unconditional love of Christ. Easy? Of course not. But learning and growing is part of the amazing process that brings us not only closer to those involved in the relationships, but also Christ. He'll help us, we just have to take those steps. So, in my relationships at home, and around other family, friends, etc., the urge to be intentional will be there, I just have to act on it. Will you act on it too? I hope so.

Spiders, Adventures, and Ministry

So, I'm sitting here eating soggy Ramen noodles and reading everyone else's new blog posts. I'm not sure how I managed to make my noodles soggy, but I will say that I didn't finish them because of that. Unappetizing. I bet you're hungry now ;) Ha, anyway, so today has been interesting. Why? Well, my husband woke me up with a phone call asking what a brown recluse spider looks like, I got to talk to my dad to wish him a happy birthday, I worked in the church office for a bit, and I got to see a friend who just got back from a crazy around-the-world adventure. Ready for explanations..? Hope so.

That phone call from my husband.. well, for one, I was asleep, and when my phone started blaring it scared me enough that I about jumped out of bed. He asked what the recluses look like, and my typical response to his question was to ask why. He then told me that him and his boss found a spider at the shop, captured it, and left if locked in the shop... in a Gatorade bottle. Ha. So, I hopped online to look up brown recluses. (I don't mind spiders, as long as they're not on me, so thats why he called to ask. I'm also an advocate that if a spider isn't hurting you, leave it alone. They are great bug patrol, as they eat many bugs that we don't want around.) What I found was this: in Michigan, we aren't likely to encounter a brown recluse because they are mainly found in desert areas, and much further south in the U.S. Five sure characteristics of a brown recluse are: six eyes (instead of eight like most other spiders) in pairs of two (that means two rows with four columns), no spines on their LONG legs (hair - yes - but no spines), uniformly colored legs, a body no more than 3/8" in length, and a solid colored abdomen. If you find a spider that you think is a brown recluse, check these five characteristics, because it is most likely not a recluse, and they are hard to identify due to the fact that there are many different types. Also, on many recluses, they have violin shaped markings. So, at the end of this explanation, we come to the conclusion that the spider they found was not a recluse, because it had red on its legs =] Mystery solved, but here's the link to a great website with good information about spiders if you ever have any questions:
spiderzrule.com

Wellll, as I said earlier, its my Dad's birthday! =] I won't tell you how old he is, but I will tell you that he is an amazing man. So amazing, that I held true to the saying about how the man a girl marries has big shoes to fill because he has to take up the role of taking care of her. Not many girls can say that these days, and I am proud to be one of the girls that can say that! Happy Birthday Dad, I love you! <3

Today I got to see a good friend of mine, and an amazing woman. She has an awesome testimony and is chasing after God with everything she is. She and a friend from college recently went on an adventure across the country chasing God. They wanted to serve people, love people, get closer to God, and experience His will in taking care of them like never before. I was only able to listen to her stories and talk to her for about an hour, but in that one hour she told amazing stories about God's grace, provision, and ability. She is on fire like never before - and that is so cool to see. They traveled for just over a month, saw nineteen states, and were able to take part in some really cool experiences. She had the opportunity to witness to someone on the streets in San Francisco for multiple hours, and TOOK IT! There were many sharing opportunities seized, and much growth as a result of that. Praise God for these experiences!  They took many pictures and some videos, and are working on making a movie from them as soon as possible. Please pray for these two women as they just returned from their trip, and will be adjusting to a normal life yet again. Also, pray that their experiences from their trip will not stop impacting them even though their trip is over.

It's Wednesday! That means its AWANA night! In about two hours I will be helping get stuff ready for check in, and then be listening to Bible verses, stories, singing the Sparks song, and playing some crazy games with K-2nd graders =] and I will love every second of it! I thoroughly enjoy helping in our Wednesday nights ministries. Seeing the lives of children impacted is one of the greatest and most rewarding things. Please pray for these students! Our unit is fruit of the Spirit right now, and they seem to be liking it - I just hope they're learning also. Two hours.. and counting down.. ;)

Anyway, I guess its time to toss the rest of my soggy noodles..  Have a good night!