Monday, December 8, 2014

Good morning! I hope you all enjoyed the children's musical last night. I thought they did great and was so proud of each of them. With the happiness of the play also comes the saddness that some of the kids will be moving on to youth and last night was their last kids play. They just grow up too quickly!
This month is moving by so fast so let me get to telling you what all we still have for the month of December. This Wednesday night, December 10, the kids will have a  lesson up in the Kidz Zone.  Sunday, December 14, the kids will have a Christmas lesson and snacks during children's church.  Parents, if you would send a snack that would be great. Next Wednesday night, December 17, will be our last Wednesday night to meet for December or at least I think it will be since Christmas Eve and New Years Eve are both falling on Wednesday this year. Again, I could be wrong.  So for our presumed last Wednesday night, I think we will take a little trip to River Country Campground and see the Christmas lights. I will need a few mom's to drive that can hold several kids in their vehicles and I'll drive the van. The kids  & moms who drive children will be free. The cost is $5.00 for anyone else who chooses to go. We will leave the church at 6:00 and should be back by 7:00. Let me know if you want to drive.  There will be no children's church Sunday, December 21, so we can listen to the adult cantata.  Breakfast with Santa is Saturday, December 20, 8:30 am. I still have tickets available but the absolute last day to get them is Sunday, December 14 because I need to have a total to prepare for food purchases. Also remember WBBC will be ringing the Salvation Army bell, Monday, December 22. If you would like to volunteer for a hour shift let me know. We still have 2-5 and 7:00 available. Jump on one of these hours for your kids or your whole family. Being a bell ringer is a service opportunity you'll never forget. I'll never forget my first experience ringing the bell. I was a part time worker at the Rainbow City Kmart, probably about 18 yrs old. I always thought it looked fun so  I volunteered to work Christmas Eve which back then was extremely busy day at Kmart. Tons of people came by. I had a great time seeing people I knew! Then this lady walked up, put some money in the kettle and told me that yrs ago, she was in need, a single mom & her power was about to be turned off and the Salvation Army helped her in her time of need. The woman was very sincere and thank me for volunteering. At that moment, it meant so much more than just having fun and seeing people I knew.  It was about serving others. What better way to show the love of Jesus than to give up your time and serve others. So.. Grab an hour spot!

As we move closer to Christmas, I hope you'll remember the words of "Mrs.Taylor" and remember that we all get so busy trying to make Christmas happen, we forget it already happened, along time ago in Bethlehem. It isn't just about Christmas time but today and forever. I know we all have a lot going on.. But I hope you slow down and take in the special moments, times, sights and feelings. I hope you reflect on what a special time of year this truly is. Reflect on how awesome the Christmas story is.  Reflect on a virgin Mother delivering Baby Jesus. How awesome that night must have been for Joseph and Mary to see Baby Jesus and know He was to be the Saviour!  Have a blessed week y'all!

Monday, December 1, 2014

Happy December! I can't believe it is December. Where did this year go? Well we still have a 30 days until a new year but as far as kids stuff we have 5 days until we put on our musical!!! So here is what you need to know. Wednesday night, the kids will practice only from 6-7 on the stage in the sanctuary. Joey will preach in the fellowship hall. Dress rehearsal with out costumes on will be Friday night from 6-9. We will have pizza for supper so this is a great night not to have to feed the kids and get a few hours free time. I do need a few moms to stick around who might help with serving pizza and props behind the scenes. Those who help with props will not miss the show. You'll just run out the side doors a few times. I can't stress enough the importance of being at the dress rehearsal if at all possible. This is the run through of the show and your child might not know where to stand or what to do if they aren't there. Please have them listening to the music. Most of the kids barely sang last night. Those with lines need to get them memorized, including me!!! As far as costumes, unless you are in the band or have been told to wear something else dress as Christmas festive as you can. I have struggled finding clothing for boys that is festive so do the best you can. All kids will come into the Kidz Zone for Sunday school Dec. 7. We will practice our songs during that time and during Children's church. The musical starts at 6 pm so your child need to be dressed and upstairs in the Kidz Zone at 5. 

I rarely stress but the musical is the kind of stuff I stress over. I dreamed I broke my ankle last night and could not decorate the stage. I know is am crazy. I hope you all will use the musical to invite others to church. It is sometimes hard to invite someone straight out to preaching and it is hard for someone not in a church to sometimes accept an invite to preaching but it is so much easier to get them to come to a play, a meal or an activity like Trunk or Treat. This is your chance to ask that coworker, neighbor or that family member. Use your child!!!! Get them to ask that person to come see them in the musical. People rarely turn a child down. Just think.. Coming to a Christmas play might be the only time in the month of December that people hear about Jesus and the story of His birth. How awesome would it be if you invite someone and their life was changed because the seed was planted hearing kids sing about Jesus? So get up, email, text or do the old fashion telephone call and invite that person. Don't procrastinate! I would also like for you to be in prayer for the children this week. So many of our kids get so scared when they get on the stage. Pray for their nerves and anxieties. Praise them as they go thru this week. Make sure they know that they are serving Jesus when they participate in activities like this. They are working for the glory of His kingdom. Isn't that awesome!!!! Thank you Parents for letting your kids participate. I need to give a huge thank you to Ashley for her willingness to lead the musical. If it wasn't for her, the kids would have to hear me sing which results in a lot of laughs and jokes about me! 

I have FREE Breakfast with Santa tickets so see me Wednesday or Sunday to get them. The last day to get a ticket is Sunday, December 14. The breakfast Is Saturday, December 20, 8:30. 

The church will ring the Salvation Army bell at the Gadsden Mall, Monday, December 22 from 10am-8pm. Let me know if you would like to work a 1 hour time slot. 

Thank you for the many prayers, texts and messages during my trip and over Thanksgiving. I needed a break and had Mom on my mind. I felt the prayers and we had a wonderful Thanksgiving break. Please continue to remember all our church families who have lost loved ones, who have very sick loved ones and who are just struggling with this time of year. Please remember Brandon Patterson in your prayers. Of course, lift up Holli and Lane too. Pray for the Mayos as they travel home this week. I am sure they will be so thrilled to get here and spend time with their families. I look forward to seeing how much the kids have grown. Their time here will be precious so we need to pray that they have some travel grace and everything runs smooth and timely for them. You know after being gone from the U.S. that they don't want to sit on a plane stuck who knows where because of weather. 

I know I forgot something so if you think of it let me know. I hope you all have a great start to December!! 

Monday, November 17, 2014

Good Monday Morning! I hope your week has started off great! I heard several people say yesterday's church service was the best they had experienced in a long time  and some said the best service they ever experienced. That is awesome! I love it when you feel God's spirit moving in the church. Well while the adults were worshipping the Kidz Zone was full of kids practicing for our Christmas musical. We had a great practice and another great practice last night too. I sent CDs home with the kids last night so please pick one up this Wednesday if your child did not get theirs. Unfortunately, the cd is a split track (no musical talent or knowledge on my end so just trust me and know that a split track is confusing to me) so you'll have to figure out which tracks have the full songs or ask Ashley.. She knows the music stuff. Let me clarify this weeks practices. Wednesday night we will be upstairs in the Kidz Zone practicing from 6-7. As soon as church is over for the adults we will move to the stage until 8:00. The choir will be at  Riverbend practicing for the community Thanksgiving and we need stage time so this helps us out. So Wednesday night practice will be from 6-8. Sunday the kids will practice during Children's Church but there will be NO Sunday afternoon practice due to the Community Thanksgiving. There will be no practice Wednesday, November 26 because we will not have church. Sunday, November 30, we will practice from 4:00-6:00, on the stage, Wednesday, December 3, we will practice 5:30-7:00 on the stage( I know 5:30 pushes people if you work later so drop the kids off when you can). Regular Wednesday night preaching will be in the fellowship hall so we can have more stage time. So basically we have about 3 practices left... Not much time at all. The dress rehearsal will be Friday night, December 5, from 6:00-9:00 so parents go ahead and plan for a FREE evening with no kids!!! The kids will have a pizza supper that night and snacks. The musical will be Sunday, December 7, 6pm. Your child will need to be at church fully dressed by 5:00. Parents, if you have not been told what your child needs to wear for the play please dress them in festive Christmas attire.. The flashier, the brighter, the better. I have costumes for the kids who are in the nativity. I think that is it for the musical. Just please make every attempt to have your child at practice.

Breakfast with Santa will be Saturday, December 20 from 8:30-10:00 in the gym. I will have a limited number of tickets available starting Sunday, November 30.

Monday, December 22, from 10-8, WBBC will be ringing the bell for the Salvation Army at the Gadsden Mall. As soon as I get the musical behind us, I'll begin signing families up for 1 hour slots.

Thank you for all the prayers,  birthday wishes and kids cards yesterday.  I had a very tough week leading up to my birthday knowing it would be my first one in 42 years without my mother. I really wanted to stay home yesterday curled up in my bed feeling sorry for myself but God gets us thru the difficult times and placed wonderful family, special comments, great moments, and brownie pie with homemade fudge sauce in my day. I was sitting in practice last night, listening to kids sing, and reflected back, just for a moment, on how blessed I am. It was a good day!

I hope you have a fabulous week and reflect on how blessed you really are! Even if we have nothing and nobody, we have God!





Monday, November 3, 2014

Good morning! Well we all made it thru October! I know so many had ball games, festivals, sicknesses, just a lot of business!! The next 2 months are no exception for most of us! So let me get right into the kids stuff. Here we go, full speed ahead thru the end of the yr.

Let's start with the Christmas musical. It will be Sunday night, Dec 7, 6:00 pm. I am excited! We had great practices yesterday. This is for children 4 yrs thru 5th grade so encourage your child to be involved!  The practices will be every Sunday during CC and Sunday afternoons from 4-5:30. I have debated on using Wed nights as practice too and decided that Wednesday nights, Nov. 5 & 19 will be practices. Some kids will have speaking parts or solos and those will be sent home this week. I plan on sending each kid home with a CD of the music but we are still waiting on the CD we can copy to come in. As soon as it does, I'll make the copies. I'll also be letting you know what costume your child needs, some will need something specific while others will need some flashy, blingy Christmas shirts or sweaters.  Last night, Tina Patterson made us a treat so if anyone wants to do that for our Sunday afternoon practices,  would love a treat!!!

Wednesday, Nov. 12, will be the night we pack shoeboxes for Operation Christmas Child, so go ahead and start looking for items. I'll send home information Wednesday night.

Saturday, December 20 is the Breakfast with Santa. I had to adjust the time so we could work around Santa's schedule, so the time is 8:30-10 am. We will have a limited number of tickets again this yr so as it gets closer I will let you know about the tickets.

Of course as soon as the musical is over we will be back to regular lessons on Wednesday nights and in Sunday children's church.

Lastly, each year the children's dept rings the bell at the Gadsden Mall for the Salvation Army. It has turned in to more of a church event because many of those kids and parents who use to volunteer from the children's dept are now youth and they still want to participate. So Dec. 22 WBBC will be bell ringers from 10 am- 8 pm. We sign up in hour shifts. Once we get thru November I'll start having people sign up, so be in prayer about it.

I think that is it.  I hope y'all have a great week. Be in prayer for Carolyn Baker today. She is having surgery. Continue to pray for those who have lost loved ones.. The holiday season is very tough to get thru. Pray for our musical because our desire is that people come into our church to see a child, grandchild, etc and maybe that person needs to hear the good news and hope of Jesus. Pray for our children. Some of them are stepping out of their comfort zones to participate and we want to encourage them and lift them up. It is every important that they know that age doesn't matter when you are working the God! 1Timothy 4:12 says don't let anyone look down on you because you are young but set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith and in purity.

Tuesday, October 28, 2014

Good morning. Super busy week so I am going straight to the kids stuff. I will not be at church tomorrow night because I have to go out of town with the twins for a quiz bowl competition but Katie Smith will be leading the kids. The youth will be leaving at 6:00 so the kids will be in the gym and I know they will be having a fall treat! Make plans to have your kids there!! Starting Sunday the children ( 4 yrs thru 5th grade) will be in full Christmas musical mode. We will practice during children's church and at 4 pm. every Sunday. The Sunday afternoon practices will last until 5:30. PLEASE make every attempt to have your child at the afternoon practice. We only have the month of November to prepare The Christmas musical will be Sunday night, December 7 at 6 pm. I had to move breakfast with Santa to Saturday, December 20. I am in need of a Santa if you know someone who would like to volunteer.

Catherine McBurnett posted this morning that Josh's mom, Lewana, passed about 4:30 am. Please continue to lift their family up in prayer. Thank you for those who prayed for me last week. I felt the prayers and had a great week. I hope you have a great week and I'll be looking forward to seeing your child Sunday!

Tuesday, October 21, 2014

Good morning! It's Trunk or Treat week! I had a nightmare last night that due to the Al and Au games both being shown T or T night that nobody showed up. As soon as I woke up from that horror I started praying. 

So let me run thru a few T or T things then I'll get    to the kids. Thank you to Derrick, Dakota & Ryan for putting up our signs Sunday. Thank you to Diane for getting our donations together. We have been blessed with lots of donations and as soon as this week is over I'll get a list together so as we shop those places we can thank them for donating.  
to WBBC. Thank you to the youth who have          
volunteered to work the games and the social committee for getting some people to help in the kitchen. I will be at church Friday night by 6:00 for anyone who wants to come help decorate. We will need some help with heavy items Saturday so if there is some men free to come help move a few items and help with the stage, we will be there by  9:00. Please remember to be at church no later      than 5:00 pm Sat night if you are doing a trunk, working a game or working in the kitchen. We  need to be set up, eat and be ready to go a little before 6:00. People will arrive early. The T or T will be over at 8:00 and we will clean up quickly. We need to make sure the parking lot and church are  clean  for service the next morning. This years bake sale money is going towards the youth's Winter Extreme trip so if you can bring  any bake sale item that will be great. You can drop it off Friday night if that helps you. I am excited and I hope you are too. I look forward each year to seeing your costumes and trunks. Y'all always do  a great job! If you have questions please call me.  

Now to the kids. Serving is what we did Sunday in Sunday school and children's church. After the huge turn out at the McBurnett's Sat night, I thought about how this church serves others. I didn't get to stay long Saturday but what I saw was a church who put the needs of others first and   served them the way Christians should. Just meeting their needs. So I got to thinking about our kids and do they really get to serve much or learn
about serving. I threw the Sunday lesson out the window (not really but you know what I mean.. I would never litter). So I went into SS and said  today you are going to help me prepare for T or T.  I explained them as they worked at separating candy, moving items downstairs and assembling goody bags that doing the work they were serving the children who will come to the T or T, and they  were serving me. They always have the best hearts and were glad to help. I told them you'll get to the T or T and be able to say I helped with this or that   and feel good about helping out. As Christians we can talk all day long about Jesus but many times action is what people need to see. Those actions touch hearts and helps people see that Jesus is 
alive and lives in His people.  This Wed. night the kids will be in the Kidz Zone. Next Wed. night the youth are going to the judgement house so the kids  will be in the gym once they leave. Katie will be  leading them and they'll have some Halloween snacks. I will be gone that night. Christmas musical practice will begin Sunday Nov. 2 during Children's church. We will also meet on Sunday 
evenings at 4:00 for practice. We will be finished  at 5:30. This will be every Sunday except Nov. 23.  We only have the month of November so these extra practice times are very important. I would like a few moms each week to bring a snack and drinks to the Sunday evening practice. Let me know if their is a date you can help with.  The Christmas musical will be Sunday night,6 pm, 
December 7 and the Santa Breakfast will be at 9:00 am December 13. More info on them as we get on into November.

So as we move forward into this week I ask for prayer for the McBurnett's & Lewana, prayers for Candace's mom as she continues to improve,
 Sherry Runyan's mom, prayers for a special family  trying to adopt, and for prayers for those that come to the Trunk or Treat. I pray we will serve them with love, compassion, and friendliness, that visitors will feel welcome in our mist, conversation will be generated that leads to invites back to church, hungry stomachs will be filled and children and adults will leave our premises knowing that Christians love to love each other. Serving is what this week is about. I hope you have a fabulous week!!

Wednesday, October 15, 2014

Trunk or Treat Memories

The babies are snoozing & I have been multitasking, ordering flowers for my step grandfather who passed while trying to price hot dogs & pop corn for the trunk or treat. So I guess i am feeling sentimental or nostalgic but I got to thinking about trunk or treats of the past and just thought I would share with you. I was thinking maybe at the end you could comment on memories you have or maybe not.. This might be your first time at WBBC's trunk or treat. Let me take you back to my first one.

I am sure I am going to flub some dates but the first trunk or treat. It would have been about 17 yrs ago. Jami and I had been married for about a year and a half and we were not wholeheartedly looking for a church. Joey was leading the 3 youth at WBBC. Okay.. Maybe 4 youth, Mr. Carr's granddaughter, Al Ashley's (past music minister) 2 daughters and I think 1 more teenage girl. My parents were at WBBC and we had visited.  June White decided that omething needed to be done for the community and there needed to be a little fall gathering. There was a few trunks, hot dogs and chili & a fire where the 4 teens hung out over where the gym is. There couldn't have been a handful of people there. What I remember most was how welcoming June was. I distinctly remember her telling us to come on in, make ourselves at home and get some chili. I don't remember if they had a trunk or treat the next year or 2. By that time I was pregnant the next year and very sick, had a miscarriage in Dec & then was pregnant & delivered the boys the following Sept. Both were in the hospital that Oct.  So fast forward just a few years and the trunk or treat had grown as the church had grown. When Gene Mince came to the church the trunk or treat became more of a festival. He is a a great carpenter and he built games for us so the kids would have more to do then just go around to the trunks and get candy.  We still use many of those games today and several schools have used them for their fall fests too. For several years we had a chili cook off. One year my mother won. Our family got a huge kick out of that and several folks were sure the judges had been paid off. Lol  we started the bake sale many years back as a fundraiser for the children's dept. I can see Valencia Carr walking thru the fellowship hall door now carrying her apple cake she made every year, Mr Carr following her      carrying the chili. I can see my grandmother and Neal (step grand father who just passed) getting out      of their car and making their way to the bake sale. They didn't come to the church much but they always came to trunk or treat when they were able. Mawmaw always bought a cake to put up for the holidays. Neal just loved the fellowship.

The trunk or treat has always been an opportunity to invite others to the church and it has worked as an opening for others to come back to the church.  I remember seeing The Garmon family at the trunk or treat and it opened the doors for them to visit the church and now we have watched their children grow up at WBBC. I remember seeing Tyla Hood's kids walk into the parking lot for the first time. I guess I should say carry because Tessa was a baby! I remember Shay Layton's first trunk or treat. I don't even know if she has visited the church yet but I do know we were talking about her visiting & she was talking to Joey about building her a house and her she rolls in with her bug and decorated the trunk. I was so excited. I remember one of the Bacchus's first times. Big David had built a mummy and made it into a game to have by his car. I remember crazy adult costumes. Mary Pruitt stands out     because I remember her being static cling and making her hair stand up. Mary is a beautiful lady both
 inside and out but she was gorgeous with her hair standing up. I remember great trunks, one with real  gold fish! I remember my Dad year after year saying, " you want me to cook how many hot dogs?" Eventually saying, "I guess I need to bring the larger grill. " I remember my mom calling me saying so and so is donating this. I have seen men who would barely walk thru the church doors volunteer to drive the hayride, and men work all day long just to get a screen made to show a ball game on. I have seen youth drag the games up and down the stairs each year and people bring in donations of drinks, candy or mums that was huge blessings. I remember going food shopping for trunk or treat with Amy Martin and Kendra just going into someone's field and cutting down cornstalks. Yes I said someone's field.. She new we needed some so she got us some! Lol I have seen church members who have passed  & some who are still with us be so glad to see their children and grandchildren come to the trunk or treat. Faces light up when they see their grand kids in costumes. After a long day and long night, I have seen Jami haul kids to go roll yards. I have spent many Friday nights at church with mom, Debbie and other women decorating for Saturday. I watched my twins go from full costumes, to a Halloween shirt & camo to just regular clothing as they have aged  at trunk  or treat. When they   were little they would tear holes in their costumes by playing so hard that night and I would have to go buy a new costume or make something up for Halloween.  I have so many memories, good thoughts, surprises, excitement to see others type of moments that I can't include them all. I know God has blessed me at with many happy times so just thought I would put my thoughts on paper as we prepare for another trunk or treat. I would love to see some old pics of people dressed up or even a comment. You might have had family show up or an old friend you were happy to see. There might have been a family show up that you invited and from that invite you have seen God work in their life.

As we move thru next week, I'll be emotional thinking about my mom not being with us. I know it is just a trunk or treat to many but  for many years to us it was a family affair,  I guess like a holiday. Pray  for great weather and pray that this year we reach families who do not have Jesus in their lives. Pray that when people step onto the pavement at WBBC that they feel the love that we have for them. I look forward to seeing your costumes and trunks. Your friendliness and welcoming hearts at trunk or treat is what makes it a success. People look at y'all and they see the love of Jesus and I thank you for that!

Monday, October 13, 2014

Good morning. I hope you are having a great Monday. Church was packed yesterday with lots of visitors and I heard from several people that Shane Barksdale delivered a wonderful testimony. I wanted to give a big Thank you to Clif and Vickey Redden for volunteering to teach a few songs to our little ones. Some of you might wonder about the Hokey Pokey song and how that relates to God. Vickie had taught the children that God created everything including the parts of their body. What a great way to make a fun, traditional kid song relate to God. I love it!

Sorry I had to cancel the pumpkin patch trip. It was already so wet & I thought we were going to get more rain Saturday, but it cleared up. Jack was so upset. For the rest of Oct. we will have regular Wed. nights in the Kidz Zone. We will start Christmas play practice during children's church Sunday, November 2. I will be getting your child a Cd before then to start learning the songs.  The Christmas musical will be Sunday night, Dec. 7 at 6:00 pm.  ( I know that is early in the month but I have learned over the years that if we don't get it done early then we compete with everyone's Christmas family parties) Breakfast with Santa will be Saturday, Dec. 13. I think we only have about 10 weeks until Christmas so it will be here before we know it.

Trunk or Treat is very close. Please go ahead and bring in 2L drinks and bags of chips. Leave them in the fellowship hall. I am so thankful for our football parents who got the youth games changed on t or t day to earlier game times!!!!  The youth are planning on working all the games so we need y'all parents to do a trunk, help in the kitchen or help clean up after t or t is over. We will be decorating and trying to set up what we can Friday night, Oct 24. If you can help do that it would be appreciated. I will be at church by 6.  I am excited and looking forward to t or t. I hope you are working on your costume and trunk ideas!! Gonna be a great night for our church to welcome visitors in!

I have to say our church is just the best. During the welcome yesterday I had a church member slip me money as we were shaking  hands and said buy something for the t or t. Wasn't that sweet? So thankful for giving hearts!

Please continue to pray for Josh McBurnetts mom and Candace Harwood's mom. Hopefully, they will have a positive report for us. Continue to lift up Sherry Runyan's mom too. I hope you all have a fabulous week. Get out and invite someone to t or t.

Monday, October 6, 2014

Good morning! Wasn't this past weekend fabulous? God blessed us with some wonderful fall weather! This is my favorite time of the year. I think the great weather encouraged others to get out and get to church yesterday. We had a packed house which was great! I had a great turn out in Sunday school and Teresa had many more kids in Children's church than I did the past week. I am thankful for Teresa's servant heart. She allowed me to get out of the classroom and get a little preaching in. Anyway, it was a great Sunday to be in church!

Trunk or treat will be here soon. Remember it is October 25 from 6-8. Those working or doing a trunk need to need to be at church by 5:00. We need you to do a trunk. Dress up! Youth, I'll have the list back in the gym Wednesday night for those of you who did not get to sign up for a game. There is lots of games open and we need those filled!!!! Thank you to Diane Robinette for getting donations. Thanks to her we will have lots of great door prizes!! I plan on emailing the local radio stations and the papers today to run our T or T info, we'll also have an ad on the digital signs in Southside and RBC, but word of mouth is the best advertisement soooooo start telling people about it now. They'll be a Facebook event so share it too.

Ok let's get to the kid stuff. This Wednesday night the children will not be upstairs in the Kidz Zone. They will be in the gym. Katie will be teaching and Ashley will be teaching the little ones. Thank you to those who were able to come out for Family Movie Night. We had a great time! Jack has not stopped talking about the huge rabbit & wants to set a trap in our yard to catch one. He was also so excited that he got Rolos and Dr. Pepper. He said that was delicious! This Saturday is the pumpkin patch trip. I plan on meeting at the church at 9:30 and we can follow each other or if you know where it is you can meet us there. It is called Green Pumpkin Patch and it is on Green Rd. which is off Slasham Rd. in Southside. I have never been to this one so who knows what we will find. Cost is $10 for kids, $5.00 adults and babies under 2 are free. This does not include the cost of the pumpkin if  you chose to get one. They also have concessions. Let me know if you think you are going because   right now the weather is showing some rain for Saturday so I'll text you Sat. morning if we need to cancel trip due to rain. I hope we have a great, cool Sunny morning! Y'all start praying for that.

Vickie and Clif Redden have been working on music with the 4 & 5 yr olds for several weeks. They will sing a few songs for us this Sunday. Well you never know with little ones, they might stand there and never open their mouths and Vickie will sing! Haha Thank you to Vickie and Clif for serving our little ones!!

I wanted to talk about my lesson in SS yesterday I taught on kindness. We learned the story of Ruth and how she showed kindness and in return it was shown to her. Naomi was married to her husband who died, her 2 sons died so that left her and her 2 daughter in laws. One went back home to her family but Ruth stayed with Naomi. They were poor and Ruth worked in the field and took care of her mother in law. Ruth had lost her husband, was poor and lived in a foreign land but she still   showed kindness to others. Boaz was a wealthy land owner. He saw Ruth working in the field one  day. He had heard of the kindness she showed others. He asked his workers to leave extra grain for Ruth and invited her to lunch one day she took part of her lunch back to Naomi and lots of grain. Boaz was showing kindness to Ruth. He ended up marrying her.  So when I talked to my kids in SS we discussed kindness, those who are kind and those who aren't kind. We need to think about our actions at all times and show kindness to others. They all knew kids who were not kind and to be honest those kids nobody wanted to play with but the ones who are kind  seemed to have many friends. God showed kindness to us by sending  Jesus to die for our sins . We should be extended kindness to others. Are you? Something to think on, especially since our children learn from us and see how we treat others.

Please remember to keep Josh McBurnetts mother in your prayers. The family too. Candace Harwood's mom will have her 2nd brain surgery Thursday. Remember her in your prayers. Sherry Runyan's mom is still sick too. Let's continue to pray for Trunk or Treat and that God will bring those to us who do not know him or who have strayed for Him. I pray that doors will be opened for us to strike up conversations with our visitors and that our kindness to them will make them feel welcome and wanted.  I pray you have a great week!

Monday, September 29, 2014

(Singing this in the tune from veggie tales, oh where is my hairbrush?) oh where are my children, oh where are my children, oh where,ooh where, ooh where.. are my children? Did everyone decide to get together and skip church yesterday and just not tell me? 9 total children in children's church!!!! Are y'all trying to kill me? Ok y'all get the point! I missed my kids but I do know where most of you were and I know many of you have lots of family issues going on  right now. Next time, just put me in a suitcase and take me off with you. I'll bring my own food money!

We had a trunk or treat meeting yesterday so let me cover that before I talk about kids stuff. Same trunk or treat as in the past yrs, Saturday, October 25, 6-8. Church people doing trunks or games, or helping with and aspect of trunk or treat need to be at church NO LATER then 5:00. We have to get cars in place and eat before people start arriving. People will arrive early!We need people to decorate their trunks and pass out candy. If you have never decorated your trunk,  Google trunk or treat ideas and you will find some great ideas. The youth will be working the games and helping inside the kitchen. I will have a game list for youth to sign up Wednesday night. Amy Martin will be handling the bake sale with proceeds going towards Winter Extreme. Make plans to bring a cake to donate. Questions? Hit Amy up and she'll be glad to help you. This year we will not serve chili. I know some of you are bummed.. Jami was really bummed but we had so many people come thru to eat and we just can't make enough to feed so many people. We had 20 crock pots last year and ran out. Plus, it becomes expensive when you have some people bringing chili, donating a dessert for the bake sale, decorating their cars, buying candy for their car, and buying themselves and kids a costume. We will still serve hot dogs, which have been thankfully donated, and chips in the fellowship hall. Last year we had no room in the fellowship hall but I think moving the chili tables will free up a little space and I was thinking we could put some tables outside. The gym will have the small inflatables for the younger kids, I am going to have a inflatable for the elem age kids, The train will run on the same side as normal. Ashley Fortenberry will be doing face painting and Allison Williams and Lauren  McVeigh  will handle the popcorn. Glenda Southerland will work the registration table. Diane  Robinette has volunteered to try and get donations for giveaways. Darrell will get the cornstalks.  So let me say what we need.. Of course, we need people to do their trunks. People to make a bake sale      item. We need people to come decorate Friday night. We will need someone to go pick up the goldfish Saturday.  I'll need someone to go to Working Man Rentals and pick up the lights. Some items we could use  that maybe people would like to donate would be hay, mums and pumpkins. You can even bring your own mums from home Friday night, then take back home Sat. night. We will need people to clean up after trunk or treat is over. For the next two Sundays I am  going to ask the church to bring in 2L drinks and bags of chips. They can be put in the fellowship hall. I know people are going to say doesn't the church have a budget to cover buying all of this stuff. We do. It is small and by the time I have rented inflatables and pay for candy and prizes it is gone. Not to mention we have to rent  lights and normally pay for hay. Yesterday I had a suggestion for  a new way to gain contact info. The suggestion was that we make a photo booth, and  get the person's email address to send the picture too. We have props from vbs to use for a photo booth but I need someone to take the pics,  handle emailing the pics and setting up the booth. This would probably need to be done in the  gym  due needing lights. Any one? I forgot to mention we will have live music again by In Like Ben.

Sorry y'all I know I was all over the place with all that stuff but I also wanted to say a few other things about trunk or treat. This is not a kid function, this is a church function and it will take everyone to be involved to make it a success. Start praying now that those who visit our church that night that they will find love & acceptance from us. We want to be welcoming at our trunks, at our games and as we serve food. Someone might eat 5 hot dogs or a child might visit your car 10 times but we need to still show them love and kindness. We are representing Jesus. We also want to think about our costume selection. In my opinion Halloween is what you make out of it but I know there are others that don't feel that way, so just keep that in mind.  We don't want to see someone dressed up like Chucky because you will scare little kids and this big adult to death!!! With all that said and me sounding like  negative Nancy, I don 't think any of this is an issue with our church. I have seen you all serve with love and kindness for many years. I personally, have had no issues with costume  choices. You also decorate the best trunks! If you have any questions or issues about trunk or treat   please do not  hesitate to contact me.

Now on to the kid stuff. Friday night is Family Movie Night. We will watch 'It's the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown" and  "Wallace and Gromit: the Curse of the Were Rabbit". Both movies are rated G. We will have pizza and concessions starting at 6. Movies begin at 6:30. Bring a chair or blanket. Please let me know if you think you will be coming so I know how many pizzas to purchase. This is a great chance to invite another family or bring some extra kids with you. A free night out including supper and snacks. You can't beat that!!!

Saturday, October  11, we will go to the Green Pumpkin Patch in Southside. I plan on being at church at 9:30 if anyone needs to follow me or you can meet us at the patch at 10.  It is off Slasham Rd. which is right off Green Valley Rd.  They have a maze, zip lines, nature trail and the pumpkin patch. Adults are $5, children are $10 and babies under 2 are free. Pumpkin you chose is extra charge.

October 12 the little kids, 4-6 yrs, who have been singing with Vickie on Sundays, will perform a few songs. Go ahead and tell the family to come see your star sing at church!!

Keep Josh McBurnett's mom in your prayers tomorrow as she has surgery. Keep Sherry Runyan's mom & Candace Harwood's mom in your prayers. Keep Kelsie and Blake in your prayers as they get married Saturday and Wayne and Karon Fortenberry's daughter, Katie, as I believe she gets married  this month too. Someone was saved at church yesterday. Praise God for that!!  I know I have rambled and probably forgot a lot. I hope you have a great week & I better have my kids back Next Sunday!!!

Monday, September 22, 2014

Good morning. It has been a while since I blogged and I don't know if I am back to every week or just at random times. I did want to take a minute and update you on Children's activities. Let me start with Sundays. Diane Robinette has now been teaching the 4 yr olds- 1st graders for several weeks. She has done a fabulous job adding some new touches to the classroom. The little kids seem to have adjusted well to having a new teacher and I am excited at how that class is moving along. I have to tell y'all a funny story about the first Sunday Diane taught on Baby Moses. Most of y'all know that I keep a little baby during the day. Jami was sitting in his recliner & Jack looked over at Jami, very seriously, and asked him," was he going to hurt the baby?" Jami of course looked confused and shocked and said, " No. Why would I hurt the baby?" Jack proceeds to tell us about the King (Pharaoh) wanting the babies dead and Moses floating in the river in a basket. Jami looked at him and said, " Son, I am not a King and if I was I don't think I would be the kind of King that would hurt babies." That was it. Jack had no other questions but Jami and I was very excited that he came home from church telling us a Bible story.  I believe both SS classes have had good attendance which is great after lower attendance over summer. I love a full class! As most of you know we have Children's church every week and that is normally for all kids 4 yrs -5th grade, which is a wide age range to teach. Vicky and Clifton came forward and wanted to teach the younger kids some Bible songs so for the past 3 weeks the 4, 5 & some 6 yr olds have gone with them and started learning songs. They plan on singing for the church October 12. For those parents with kids in that group go ahead and tell the grandparents, the aunts and uncles & the rest of the family. You know they will want to see their favorite little one sing! Children's church for the older kids is going great too. We started a new program at the beginning of September and we are also working on memorizing the books of the Bible.

Wednesday nights in the Kidz Zone is going great too. We have changed some things up this year and so far I am pleased. We have 2 different classes depending on the child's age, both have the same    lesson but the younger class lesson is on a preschool level. After both groups have the lesson we then   split up for Bible drills or Bible buddies depending on the age group.   I am looking forward to seeing the children grow in their Bible skills.

I know it seems like a long time  until Christmas but the children's dept. is planning for it now. Our Christmas musical is called " Unplugged Christmas" and Ashley will begin practice during Children's  church in October. We will also do Sunday evening practices like last yr. I'll give you the start date for those practices and a time as we get closer. The children will perform the musical Sunday night, December 7. Put that on your calendars.

As far as upcoming events we have a few to mention. Friday,  October 3, will be family movie night in the gym. We are having a double feature, "It's the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown" and "Wallace and Gromit: The Curse of the Were-rabbit." Both are animated, G rated movies. FREE concessions will be available at 6:00, movies will start at 6:30. Feel free to bring a chair or blanket. This is a great opportunity to invite grand kids, neighbors and friends to join us. On Saturday, October 11, the kids dept will go to the Green Farm Pumpkin Patch. We will meet at the church at 9:30 & follow each other to the Pumpkin Patch which is in Southside. The cost is $10 for kids and $7 for adults. This includes a hayride, nature trail, fun maze & zip line. The pumpkin you chose is extra. I think this will be a fairly quick trip so I am looking at lunch for us but haven't decided on a location yet. The last event for October is the Trunk or Treat. It will be October 25, from 6-8. This is a church wide event and there will be a meeting Sunday right after preaching to see how people can help. For those of you new to WBBC and the Trunk or Treat, we gather our cars with trunks decorated and pass out candy to kids, we have games, a real train, face painting, inflatables, hayrides, live music, bake sale and free hot dogs. Our youth normally work the games. I know I need someone to do the hayride, someone to call and try to get a few donations, someone to work the popcorn machine, and free cornstalks would  be great if someone has access to some. I believe Amy Martin is going to handle the bake sale as a  fundraiser for the youth.  We had so many people show up to eat last year that we have decided it would be simpler to only serve hot dogs and chips and not do chili this time. I will go ahead and say that we have a small budget for all we do for T or T, so if anyone would like to donate hot dogs, buns, chips, 2 L drinks, candy, mums, pumpkins, corn stalks and hayplease get with me. Each car supplies their own candy for their trunk but we need tons of candy for the games. Start thinking of costume ideas for yourself and your family. Please remember we need to wear church appropriate costumes.  Whew.. I think that is it.

Please continue to lift the Harwood's, McBurnett's & Runyan families up in prayer. Each of these families have mothers/grandmother's who are very ill. Please continue to pray for my family. Mother was so helpful to me in the early years of the trunk or treat. She gathered donations for many years, would give me her mums to use, order cakes from Cothrans for the bake sale, made chili, and always dressed up & decorated her car. We spent many yrs together planning & decorating for trunk or treat. Driving to SAMs to get hot dogs, decorating on Thursday & Friday nights before T or T on  Saturdays, getting Dad the stuff to grill the hot dogs and cleaning up after it was over. I think she even won the chili cook off one year. Those in her family got a good laugh out of that. She loved the T or t and I can still picture her dressed up last year. Just remember us in your prayers. God hasn't failed me yet so I know He'll give me the strength to get done what needs to be done. Pray for the women tomorrow night as they have an If: Prayer Event. I wanted to also give a BIG shout out to the  youth and adults who delivered furniture to a needy family yesterday and to those who donated items. Way to be the hands and feet of Jesus!!! It is awesome to see teens and adults helping those in need! Please remember that we also have a continuous food mission project for RMS. When you buy groceries pick up a convience item like Poptarts, snack cakes, crackers, fruit snacks and small containers of spaghetti & ravioli so we can help feed students who do not have food after school hours. I hope you all have a great week and I hope to see your child in the Kidz Zone Wednesday night!

Monday, August 25, 2014

Good Monday morning! I finally I am feeling like my old self again. After mom passed it has been so hard to get back in the swing of things at home & at church, but I am finally feeling like I am not just going thru the motions. I am looking forward to fall and all that it holds. Move up day is this Sunday & that is exciting. I get a few new kids in my Sunday school class & some move on to youth. This will also be Mrs. Leslie's last Sunday to teach. She is going to enjoy some Bible time with ladies her own age. After years of being dedicated to teaching children about Jesus, Leslie deserves to immerse herself with ladies who love The Lord and get to learn and grow with them. Please lift her up in your prayers because I know she will miss teaching. Our new programs came in last week for Sundays children church and for Wednesday nights. I am excited and pleased with both of them and look forward to rolling them out the first week of September. Ashley has found us a Christmas musical and more info will be coming on that soon.  I had said that I wanted to split Sundays CC up some so it isn't all ages together every Sunday and Vicky Redden has came forward and she will be teaching Bible songs to the 4 & 5 years old starting Sept 7. I am not for sure how many Sundays this will be for but she wants to teach them music and then they can perform those songs for the church. I think
This is great because our little ones love to sing and dance where as the older ones usually do not. I look forward to hearing the Bible song... Music that will stay with them for their life! Teresa Coley & Paula Hopper will be doing Bible drills with the 4th & 5th graders on Wednesday nights towards the end of class. This will begin September 10. The younger kids will work on just getting more familiar with their Bibles. Bible drills are new for us so I am excited about that and that we have ladies who see the need for Bible drills and are willing to serve and meet a need! I also wanted to remind y'all that we are still collecting food for the RMS food mission project. Just drop your items off anytime in the red bucket. This is a continuous mission project for us. Thank you to all who brought school supplies. There is so many kids who do without & we need to keep serving them when we can. Thank you for how you serve!

I have to tell you about yesterday's Children's church lesson and I am going to try an attach the link where you can try it at home. I drew 2 stick men on the board. One man was Humble  Dude & the other was named Proud Dude. As I added each feature, the eyes, the mouth, the ears, the hands and the feet. I was able to point out how each feature could be use to show a prideful attitude or a humble attitude. Let me use the mouth for example. Proud Dude speaks words that hurts others. Humble Dude uses words that encourages others. Proud Dude likes to stomp his feet when things don't go his way. Humble Dude doesn't because he puts others needs before his own. Proud Dude uses his eyes to look for others weaknesses and then calls them out. Humble Dude uses his eyes to find the positive in others and points that out.  The children saw at they end that we do not want to be Proud Dude. We discussed the verses Philippians 2:3-5 which says, "Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also the interests of others. Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus." So I challenged them to think about it. Are they Proud Dude or Humble Dude? Which one are you? Is your attitude like that of Jesus Christ? Do others come first or are you an all me, me, me type
 of person.

Pray for our church, Joey as he leads, pray for our new programs and new people coming into serve with the children. I hope you have a great week and I hope to see you Wednesday night . The website for the full lesson on pride & humility is www.ministry-to-children.com, then search for Pride vs. Humility: A Bible lesson for children

Monday, August 18, 2014

Good morning! It has been a while since I blogged and over the next few weeks I hope to get back to my weekly updates. I wanted to go ahead and update you a little on the fall plans in the Kidz Zone and some Disney info.

New material for Wednesday night kids & Sunday Children's church has been ordered. I  am anxiously awaiting its arrival. We will begin the new material Wednesday, September 1.  I have had several people want to volunteer with the older children on Bible drills & singing with the younger children. I am excited about theses ideas. I would love to see someone who loves crafts volunteer to do one on a Sunday here and there. Ashley Fortenberry is working on our Christmas music. I hate to even think that far ahead but honestly, it is right around the corner... Or at least practice will be!

Reminder that anyone interested in the Spring Break Disney trip needs to meet right after church Sunday in the fellowship hall. This is not just for the little kids, youth are included too. Plans are to leave out very early Saturday March 28, check in that night to the Art of Imagination Resort, have Sunday, March 29- Thursday April 2 in the parks then check out Friday, April 3.  $200.00 deposit per family will be due by Sept. 21. Many of you have already paid deposits so I will text each person who has with their deposit paid amount. The balance of the trip will be due 37 days before we depart. You will be able to customize your package depending on what your family needs. Some families might need the dining plan, the premier dining plan or no dining plan & we will discuss all of that Sunday. Remember, this is a church trip and we will have a daily devotion & that will be timed out to the slowest part of the day to make it easier for us to gather together. I know we will have a great time vacationing together! We did this 5 yrs ago & I have wonderful memories & the kids really loved hanging out with other kids instead of just riding with mom & dad! If you have Disney questions please ask me this week in case I need to ask the travel agent.

Continue to lift the Patterson's up in prayer. Harli has been sick & I know Tina is still needing prayers over the loss of her mom. The Runyan family needs our prayers too as Sherry's mom is not doing well and they expect her to pass any day.  Wendy is still having a tough time so remember her. Mom's birthday is today so of course we are thinking of her. I am trying to focus on being happy because I know that is what she would want. I am handling today well! Keep Dad, Joey, Debbie, the boys & the rest of our family  in your prayers. I know they might be having tough moments.  Thank you!! I hope y'all have a great day!!!

Monday, July 28, 2014

Good morning! I can't believe this is the last full week of summer break before the kids start back to school. Where did the summer go? Time just passes so quickly! This Wednesday night the kids are having a swim party at Wayne & Karon Fortenberry's. We will meet at church at 5:45 & walk over there. They are the home right across from the front doors of the church. Please do not wear any bathing suits that have been in the river. Remember modesty girls. One pieces and tankini's are best but if you need to wear you bikini wear a t shirt or tank top. Yes moms I know we have little kids in our group  & no they aren't teenagers but this starts preparing them for the future. Bring a towel and parents you might like to bring a lawn chair. We will be back at church by 7:15. Starting Sunday we will be back to regular children's church. Wednesday, August 6, the children will meet in the gym for a back to school kick off.  We will have a devotion pertaining to a new school year, snacks and fun. Wednesday, August 13, The kids moving up to youth will go out to eat with me and Teresa Coley will teach. I'll have more details as that date gets closer. Move up day is the first Sunday in September. I am working on a night for the Mom's in the children dept. to get together so you can meet those who teach your children and get to know each other better. I will have a date for that soon. We love your children and desire to build relationships not with just the children but with your family.  We haven't had a family movie night at church in forever so I am looking on into September for that. I know I also had a lock in on the calendar for August but I just can't do it right now. We will have one but it will probably be on into winter like we use to do. I have a few other things to mention for us to pray on and think on. We need a teacher in place for Mrs. Leslie's class, 4 yrs thru 1st grade for the first Sunday in Sept. I know God has the perfect person planned for us. I would also like to start splitting the ages up during children's church on Sundays this fall. 4 yrs thru 5th grade is a wide range to teach and I think the children would benefit from a smaller group. Vicki Redden has agreed to teach music to the 4 & 5 yrs old on some Sundays. I ask you pray about how you might can help with this group.  You might be a crafter and would love to come do a craft once a month with this age group. You night like to work on Bible verse races with the older ones and me go with the younger group. Just pray and think on your talents and then let's talk. We will not be split every Sunday just sometimes for something specific. Save the date of October 25 for trunk or treat. I'll be nailing down Disney rates at the end of August so keep that in mind. Please remember we are still collecting school supplies so as you start buying yours this week please pick up an a few items for those who will be in need. We are also still collecting food for the RMS project.  You can drop these any of these items in the red bucket in the Kidz Zone. Thank you for all that has already been donated!

I wanted to thank all of you newbies (haha) that stepped right in to VBS last week and the lunch yesterday!! Y'all were broke in good! Thank you for the hard work! I have so enjoyed getting to know each of you better and I look forward to working together more.

Tina's Patterson's mom went home to be with her Lord yesterday.  Meg Williams' grandmother also met her Lord and Saviour last night. Please continue to pray for these families. While I know the saddness I also rejoice in the happiness! Pray for our children and youth as they embark on a new school year. They need our prayers!!!! Pray for the faculty and staff  of your child's school as they enter a new school year too. I want Godly teachers and friends in my children's paths and I am certain you do too. We need to cover them in prayers! I hope you have a blessed week! See you Wednesday!

Tuesday, July 22, 2014

VBS Day 1

Day 1 of Willie's Redneck Rodeo VBS is in the books! The first day of VBS comes with lots of stresses and concerns. You never know how many children will show up so you never know how many to plan for. As usual, Allison & the crew adjusted and handled the children. God blessed us with a huge attendance. Now before I start sprouting off numbers let me say numbers aren't important but on the flip side they are. I know.. Confused Kristi! We want kids at VBS & if there is 10 kids, then we will love on ten kids, teach them  about Jesus the same way. The point is teaching about Jesus!! Now on the flip side of that I want to teach as many kids as possible so I want to see the room packed out! Boy did God pack the room out! So many people came for supper we didn't have room for all of them to sit & eat!! Let me give last yrs general numbers. Each night we were about 100 which was roughly 60 kids & 40 adults. So I think you can imagine that we were blown away to see 75 kids come through the doors and 65 youth and adult volunteers totaling 140 people!!!!! The kitchen crew was slinging hot dogs like it was nobodies business!!! They even had to break  down and fry some in a skillet to get them out to folks!  It was crazy goodness!!

Now ,  I didn't get to see the music, games, skits or crafts because I taught last night. I get to experience the fun tonight! I wanted briefly tell you about my lesson. I taught the parable the Sower and the seed. I feel like each year God gives me the lesson I need. Many times, I'll say," if we can just plant the seed," or if we can get them thru the doors and plant the seed, God will handle the rest." Of course, I told the kids the seed is like a pretend seed and we stick it in their brains & hearts, as they learn more about Jesus the seed grows. It is all about the seed! You can't grow a garden without planting seeds and you can't grow God's kingdom without planting seeds. At the end of the church year, a questionnaire comes to June asking church questions. It asks about attendance, numbers of those who joined the church, numbers of how many saved, VBS questions..  All kinds of "number" questions. I know the ultimate goal is to have children and adults saved but you have to start from somewhere and that is the seed. For those first timers with us at VBS, I think you'll see our VBS is a little different from many other churches. We don't push getting saved. We teach, we love, we feed, we work on building relationships, getting to know the kids & the adults who bring the kids. We plant the seed! If it leads to salvation then Hallelujah  but if it doesn't this week we know the seed was planted & God is working on that person. I hope this makes sense. 

Continue to pray for the VBS workers and Allison. Pray for the children who come thru our doors. Pray for the children's parents too. Pray the seed has been planted and now that it will grow. 

VBS workers, I know you are tired this morning & it was only day 1. I pray for a God to give you added strength this week, a little extra something in each step. I pray God gives you extra patience because we all know it gets a little hectic & frustrating sometimes. I pray God gives you extra love to lavish on the children and the words needed to strike up conversations with the parents. As we go thru this week and see amazing things God is doing at VBS  the 
devil will work extra hard to take us down. Don't let him! Stand firm against negativity, be in prayer!  It is going to be a blessed week!!! I am excited to see the week unfold and see the work God is doing! 

Monday, July 7, 2014

Good evening! I hope you are having a blessed week. I wanted to encourage you to spread the word about our upcoming VBS July 21-25, 5:30-6:00 is supper & 6:00-8:45 is VBS. It is named Willie's Redneck Rodeo & the children will learn 5 of the best known parables from the Bible plus play games, make crafts, learn songs & dances. Supper and a snack is served each night which is one of my favorite things about our VBS. I feel if children come into our church, we have no way of knowing what their home life is like, so at the very least we can show them love, care & provide them with full stomachs. Allison Williams is our VBS director & she does an amazing job getting it all together. Please keep her in your prayers. Even though VBS is soooo much fun, it is very stressful & tiring for the person putting it all together. This year we are having preregistration for children and any youth or adult volunteers. It will make it easier to plan for crafts, meals & tshirts orders so please let us know if you know of a child that is coming to VBS or if you would like to volunteer. Of course, any child that doesn't register early is welcome and encouraged to come on to VBS!!!! The early sign ups is just to help Allison & me out! I wanted to go ahead and let everyone know that on Sunday, July 27, immediately following preaching, the children's dept. will be hosting a lunch as an end to VBS week. Mark the date on your calendar & I'll have more info next week.

This Wednesday night will be Wacky Wednesday Missions and Katie Smith will be leading the children up in the Kidz Zone. The following Wednesday, July 16, the kids will be on the road spreading the word about VBS.  I know we will need parents to volunteer to drive July 16. Thank you to all the parents who braved the tye dye craziness with me last week!

Continue to pray for VBS and for the children and adults who will come thru the WBBC doors , for those we are missing at church, and for Joey as he follows God's plan for our church family. I hope you have a blessed week!

Thursday, June 26, 2014

Good morning! I had a great time at The Factory last night. It is always great watching the kids have fun, seeing parents get to talk and bond & have visitors join us! I had next Wednesday night open as far as my activity & devotion so I think I have decided on tye dying t shirts. The kids did this about 2 summers ago and we had a huge time being creative. I already have several devotions in my mind that  could be used in relation to banding up shirts & changing the color. Isn't sin kind of like those rubber bands. It ties us up, binds us, holds us down and the the color is the sin just saturating us. Anyway... Lots of thoughts running thru my head for a devotion. Bleach could be used as Jesus washing us white as snow! So what I'll do is go buy packs of T-shirts & since it is the July 4th week I am thinking we could do red, white & blue tye dye & let the kids wear them to church Friday night. How about everyone who knows their child will be at church Wednesday night send me a message or text with your child's shirt size. Mom's... With so many kids I know I'll need some help & we will need to be outside due to the mess. We will also need lots of plastic bags, like Walmart bags. 

VBS will be here before we know it and this year we will be having preregistration at the 4th of July Celebration. Please go ahead & sign your child up & any others that you know will be participating this year. Our theme is Willie's Redneck Rodeo which is different than any other church in our area! There will be a meeting July 6 immediately following preaching for those interested in helping. We have always been blessed with tons of adults & youth workers so please be in prayer about how you can help! The time is normally 5:30-5:55 supper( and I mean a full meal.. Our kitchen workers seriously work & no child leaves hungry)  & then 6-8:30 is VBS. Be in prayer for Allison as she continues to prepare. 

Be in prayer for Randy & Joan, Candace Harwood as she recovers from surgery and of course VBS. We have many folks traveling this week so keep them in your prayers. I hope you have a blessed week and I look forward to seeing you and your family at WBBC Sunday!

Tuesday, June 17, 2014

Good morning! There have been some rumors that we had a food fight upstairs last Wednesday night. Let me clear that up. I have been known to have a food fight at church 1 time only in the parking lot and to take a pie to the face in the sanctuary and the gym but… we did not have a food fight upstairs in our new area! I did plastic the floors because we had yuck food games. There was no throwing of food except bologna! Lol I have to steal Paula Hopper’s theme for that night “Doesn’t matter how messy life gets..God is bigger than any mess we make”. We had a great time and I was excited to have some parents visit with us that normally don’t get to. I was also pleasantly surprised at the willingness of parents to eat Cheetos from dirty feet. Anyway, we had a great messy night!
Thank you to all who came out to Joey’s to fish. It was hot and I think the fish were few but we had a great time together.
Tomorrow night the children will leave the church at 5:45 to go to Moragne Park. We will be passing out popsicles to other children and letting ours play. My hope is to strike up conversations with other parents as we pass out popsicles at the park. We will arrive back at WBBC at 7:15. I plan on taking the van but I will need other parents to help transport and watch the children. Please let me know ASAP if you can drive.
Next Wednesday, June 25 will be the children’s outing to The Factory! The children and adults who plan on jumping need to bring in $7.00 in an envelope with their name on it and YOU MUST go online to www.TheFactoryGadsden.com and fill out a waiver. They will not let anyone jump without the waiver. You will receive a confirmation email back from them after you complete the process. I would like to get the money collected by this Sunday that way I have it all together when we go in plus I need to confirm the number of children and adults jumping. We will meet at The Factory at 5:45 and jump from 6-7. Due to the high number of injuries and the need of a waiver I have to ask that you be present for your child to attend this event.
The church will be celebrating July 4th with hot dogs, ice cream & fireworks for the whole community. We had a blast (seriously) last year. I am not for sure on the time but I heard 7pm. I am sure someone will be letting us know what we need to bring. Allison and I had mentioned preregistration for VBS because it is difficult to estimate how many children we need to prepare for as far as food, t-shirts & crafts, so this year we will have a table for VBS preregistration at the July 4th Celebration. If you are there please take a moment and sign up any children you know may be coming to VBS. VBS is July 21-25.
Please be in prayer about serving in the church nursery during Sunday school & preaching. Brandie and I wanted to do a 6-8 week rotation and we only have about 5 people signed up so far so if you feel God calling you to pray and love on the babies please let one of us know. Thank you to those who have responded!
Men’s church softball starts tonight with games at 7:15 & 8:15. I can’t even remember how many years this has been going on but I always look forward to it. Come out tonight & support the men.
I wanted to welcome Sean & Pam Stimpson to the WBBC family. They joined in membership Sunday. Please continue to remember Ryan, the Edwards grandson in your prayers and Donna Harmon and her family. Her mother in law is on the verge of passing. As our church grows it becomes increasingly harder to keep up with who is and who isn’t at church. I am going to suggest that this week we think hard about those we haven’t seen at church and reach out to them. They might just need a word of encouragement or a prayer. I am praying that you all have a wonderful week!

Tuesday, June 10, 2014

Good morning! I hope you all are enjoying summer. I am refreshed from our vacation and I am looking forward to an exciting summer at WBBC. I wanted to give a BIG THANK YOU to the moms who served on Wednesday’s & Sunday while I was on vacation. It is a blessing to know that these women are faithful, dedicated and follow thru when they agree to do something!
I also wanted to thank Brandie Johnson for working so hard making the nursery & toddler rooms so beautiful. They are so clean and inviting! We are in need of servants who would be willing to go on a 6-8 week rotation to volunteer most weeks for the baby room. Some weeks we might need a volunteer for the toddler room. This would be during Sunday school and preaching. Pray on this and if you feel lead to serve please let me or Brandie know.
The children’s/toddler’s dept. is planning to fish and cook out at Joey’s Saturday from 4pm - dark. I am going to ask that you text me(256-393-1063) by Thursday night to let me know if your family plans on attending so I’ll know how much food to prepare. The forecast is showing rain for Saturday so I’ll decide Friday morning on if we need to reschedule. I don’t want to buy food and then have to freeze it or store all the stuff. If we do get to fish you need to bring your own fishing poles, bait, chairs, bug repellant & enough drinks for your family. We will supply the hot dogs, hamburgers & chips. I want to stress this is a super deep pond. It was cut to go straight down so there is very little shore. I stay nervous with Jack around it since he cannot swim so that night he will be reluctantly wearing a life jacket. *****PLEASE PAY CLOSE ATTENTION TO YOUR CHILDREN FISHING***** feel free to bring your bikes & any outdoor games your family likes to play. This is going to be a laid back, fun evening. Just a time to hang out & get to know each other better. This would be a great event to invite another family too.
Now let’s get to tomorrow night! Tomorrow night is “Yuck Night” in the Kidz Zone from 6-7. We will have devotion and then play some yuck, gross games. **have your child wear old clothes, they might get a little stained** & bring a towel lol. Next Wednesday night is “Mission Wednesday” and again depending on the weather, I plan on the kids going to Moragne Park and passing out popsicles to other children. If you can, please donate a box of pops by Sunday. Just the kind you freeze that is in the plastic sleeves that have to be cut open. Also, remember we are still collecting food for the RMS Mission project so anytime you are able pick up an item and drop it off in the red bucket in the Kidz Zone. This will continue to be an ongoing project for us!
Please remember Dick & Charlene Edwards grandson Ryan in your prayers. He is still having some health issues. Pray for VBS. Allison is trying to decide on a theme & I know whatever she chooses will be God directed & perfect for our church. Let’s began to pray for the children who will come thru the church doors, some the 1st time thru any church doors, that the seed gets planted and that they leave our church with memories of love, kindness, generosity, full bellies, fun activities, friendships and most importantly, knowing about Jesus and that He loves them. I hope you have a blessed week and I hope to see your child tomorrow night!

Monday, May 19, 2014

Good morning! Today is the last Monday of the school year! That is so exciting to me! Thank you to Ashley Fortenberry & Chris & Katie Smith for leading the children yesterday. This will be very brief with a few reminders. 

The children will meet Wednesday night for our last "Big City Studio" session. This will also be the last night to bring in donations for the RMS food project. Make sure you pick up a copy of our summer schedule or you can look at the last blog post. The children's dept & their families will be fishing at Joey's Saturday, June 14 so save the 
date!!We will start at 4 and go until dark. Please 
bring chairs, your own bait and drinks. We'll provide hot dogs, hamburgers & chips. Oh, you should probably bring bug spray too!

Reminder that another $100 Disney deposit will be due in July.  Reservations  will be made in 
August. 

Be in prayer today for Hunter & Heather as they go to court with their foster children. Continue to pray for Tina Patterson's mom & Tina herself. Thank you for the prayers for Jami & Arlo yesterday. They did great & the whole band,"In Like Ben", is playing another youth rally this Wednesday night. They"ll be at Mercy Hill. Continue to pray for them as they follow God 's call. Pray for the youth, Jamey & the other chaperones as they are preparing for youth camp. I look forward to seeing all my kids Wednesday night!! I hope you have a week full of blessings and moments where you really feel God leading your life! 

Wednesday, May 14, 2014

Tentative Kidz Zone Schedule

During the summer the Kidz Zone takes things at a slower pace. Instead of an hour lesson the kids hear a devotion, have a prayer time & then we let loose. You might see us playing wacky, crazy games; you might find us in a pool or at a local park handing out treats to children. The Wacky Wednesday events are a great opportunity for your child to invite another child to church. I know, I know… you see all this fun and think but where is Jesus! Jesus isn’t left out! He is right there, in the middle of the children! We take Him wherever we go!
Wednesday, May 21 Big City Studio
Wednesday, May 28 Ice cream party
Wednesday, June 4 Pizza & a movie
Wednesday, June 11 Wacky Wednesday Water Games
Saturday, June 14 Fishing & a cook out at Joey’s. 4 pm until dark. This is for all parents & their children in the children’s dept. & the toddlers too. Bring a cooler of water or sodas & your own bait. We’ll provide the hot dogs, hamburgers & chips.
Wednesday, June 18 Wacky Wednesday Missions
Wednesday, June 25 Wacky Wednesday Possible “Factory” outing if they ever answer the phone.
Wednesday, July 2 Wacky Wednesday Blank in case we need to shift an activity around
Wednesday, July 9 Wacky Wednesday OMC (Organized Mass Chaos)
Wednesday, July 16 Wacky Wednesday Missions (going to Morange Park, giving out free popsicles and inviting children to VBS)
Monday – Friday July 21-25 VBS
Sunday, July 26 Cookout after church celebrating VBS
Wednesday, July 30 Swim party
Friday, August 1 LOCK IN!  Date not set in stone yet!!
Wednesday, August 6 Back to school party ;((
Wednesday, August 13 Supper with 5th graders moving up to youth ;((

Monday, May 12, 2014

Well somehow my whole page was lost after I typed it so here is the condensed version since I am typing again. Yesterday was great at WBBC! You could really feel God’s presence. I rarely experience the whole service but over the years some of my favorites have been when the people shared.  I think we are blessed to be a in a church that isn’t so rigid and structured that the congregation has the opportunity to say what’s on their hearts.
This Wednesday night the in the “Kidz Zone” we will began wrapping up our lessons from the Big City Studio. School is winding down & June is right around the corner which means “Wacky Wednesdays” are almost here. “Wacky Wednesdays” are more laid back. Instead of a full blown hour lesson we lead short devotions, prayer time and get out of the classroom. I’ll have a schedule of events ready to send home Wednesday night with your child & they’ll be a copy on the bulletin board right outside the Kidz Zone.  Be looking for mission projects, swimming parties, water games. VBS, a lock in (at some point I am going to be too old to do the lock in. Kids are going to hear my knees and back pop & creek if I keep doing these much longer) & just general wackiness. There will be NO FOOD FIGHT. Do not even ask!!!! I’ll never dig tomato seeds out of my ears again! UGH!
I want to remind the parents and children that we are still raising money & food donations for the RMS food mission project.  We need to wrap it up by next Wednesday night so the money can be given to Jenny before school is over. The kids were challenged to bring in $100 & they would get an ice cream party or if the rounded up $200 we would have and ice cream, pizza and movie party.  I have a sneaking suspicion that we will be having both of those parties!
I want to give a BIG THANK YOU to those who volunteered to be a bell ringer (kettle shaker since we can’t ring a bell at the Gadsden Mall) for the Salvation Army.  For our day of service we raised $395.19. This is a tradition I love and our church has been so faithful over the years to really step up and participate. Amy, Shay, Allison... any idea how long we have been doing this?
In closing, I want to ask for prayer for several situations. Pray for the church and that we make God directed decisions. Pray that Joey continues to lead us following God’s plan & guidance.  Pray for the RMS food project.  We want those children to have full stomachs but at the same time feel the love of Jesus through the kind actions of others. This is our chance to be the hands and feet of Jesus and really make a difference for some children in our own back yards.  Pray for Jami & Arlo as they play at White Springs Sunday. I have joked about the drums but I am thankful Jami is playing for Jesus. Pray for our new church members, pray for John & pray for the young lady who so bravely told some of her story, spoke of her troubles and being thankful for her praying mother.  I hope you all have a great week & I hope to see you Wednesday.

Wednesday, May 7, 2014

Happy Mother's Day

Mother's Day is this coming Sunday so I wanted to start out this post by recognizing the Mother's who regularly serve in the children's dept. Let me start with saying all of these women love The Lord and have a heart to see children learn about Jesus. Mrs. Leslie McGlaughn teaches Sunday school to our 4 yr olds - 1st graders. She is so creative and has tons of patience. Leslie has been ministering to children for years and you can see the love she has for all children. Ashley Fortenberry has been serving the children for about 4 yrs. Ashley has helped with many projects, fund raisers & trips. Her love for music and performing has been a huge asset seeing that I have no musical talents! This past fall she took on being one of the teachers to our Wed. night 4 & 5 yr old class.  Katie Smith & Teresa Coley have been serving the children for 3 yrs. Both Katie & Teresa are part of the Wed. night team who help with our program Big City Studio for the children in elementary school. Katie is  "Vanna " and turns the letters for our game & 
participates in our skits. She has a heart for teaching the children 
about missions and helps to plan out mission projects for the children. Teresa jumped right in to the children's group and has been so valuable.  She is comfortable teaching & leading the group but she is also right in there serving snacks, making popcorn, participating in the weekly skit. I feel like she also helps me stay on track or keeps me focused. If I lose my train of thought she might jump in and say this or that about the lesson. Courtney Jones has been with the children's dept. for a little over a year and a half. She 
is part of the team who teaches the 4 & 5 year old class on Wed.
nights.  She is supper organized and very detailed which is a huge 
help when it comes to planning outings. Paula Hopper has been helping us on Wed. nights too. Paula has only been with us since 
maybe the fall but she jumps right in & does whatever is needed. I have been able to call on her lately to lead Sunday school & children's church. Donna Smith is also part of the team that teaches the 4 & 5 yr. olds on Wed. We Welcomed Donna into our group this past fall. She loved being with the little ones & they loved her. Due to knee problems she has been out but I hope she is able to get back to helping soon. I tried to mention something about each of theses 
ladies but I don't think words can convey what they really mean to 
me. Each one has their own special qualities and characteristics. Each one has families to care for, jobs to go to & volunteer activities. They make ministering to children so easy. I can go in and do what I do ( they know that sometimes I make last minute decisions, can be unorganized, come up with crazy ideas like the food fight, lose my train of thought) and they jump in and fill in the voids. They are willing to lead, share, sing, act, play games but most importantly they all love Jesus and they are willing 
to help share that love with children. I wanted to recognize these terrific women who are making a difference in the lives of our children. I also want to mention that we are blessed at WBBC to 
have terrific moms who can't volunteer every Wed. or Sunday but they volunteer for VBS, special events, decorating, sewing, sending in donations and cooking. You moms are the best and I am so thankful for each of you! 

Since it is Mother's Day week the children will perform a special 
song this Sunday. We will practice tonight & during Sunday school May 11. 

I had said yesterday I would not post until I had some Disney info. It is still to early to give exact prices or plans yet due to pricing & promos are not available for next yr yet. Going off this years pricing a room will run $ 173 a night at Pop Century & we will need 6 nights & tickets are for those ages 3-9 are $330 & $350 for 10 & up.  Those are park hopper tickets w an extra event added like a water park or mini golf. Courtney spoke with her travel agent 
who was able to give a little better room rate but higher ticker prices.  I think once the promos start coming out we can get a better deal with hopefully a meal plan included. I just can't say for sure yet. I do know we will need a minimum either way we go of a $200 deposit so by the end of July we need to get that in. Again, if the plans come out & it doesn't work for your family you will be refunded all you have paid. Once deposits are paid & you cancel the deposit will not be refunded. Dates for the trip are to travel Sat. March 28, check in that night. Stay in the parks Sunday - Thursday & check out Friday. Remember that is Easter weekend so we would be traveling home on Good Friday. I also want to encourage you to 
plan a fundraiser. Last time the cost was soooo reduced because we raised enough money to let the children go free. Remember this is a church trip. There will be daily group devotions. We do not have to do every event or park together but I think what made the last trip so great was because the kids wanted to hang together. I will never forget being in the Animal Kingdom, us getting word that they didn't think Mrs. Carr was going to live, stopping right where we were & as a group praying for her. Didn't matter where we were, who was around, we were a church group first & prayers were 
going up! If you are interested in going & haven't paid your deposit let me know.

I thank God for a Godly mother and mother in law. I am thankful for the Godly mother's in our church. I pray you have a blessed week and get to  spend some time with your mother or having wonderful  memories about her.  

Tuesday, April 29, 2014

Good morning. Waking up thankful for God's protection from the storms. I personally know of 2 families who lost everything but praise God because they were not harmed. I am going to try and be super quick today and quickly mention what the kids have going on.

For the next 2 Wed. nights we will have a quick lesson & then practice our Mother's Day song. We will also practice this coming Sunday during Children's church. The children will perform it during the service on Sunday, May 11. Reminder to send kids upstairs for our meetings & please come pick up your child so I know they are with an adult.  Last Wed. night Katie discussed with the kids about us raising money for the Rainbow Middle School Food project. Remember, they have students who were going with little or no food on the weekends and now they are sending food home with the students. They are going to feed those students all summer which will take money. We challenged the children to raise $100 by the end of May & them we would have an ice cream party, I then upped it to $200 & we would have ice cream, pizza & a movie. So if you feel led please send in some money with your child for this project. This would be a great opportunity to discuss with them to importance of cheerfully giving. This would also be a great chance to discuss tithing and explain that they could take a portion of their allowance or gifted money & use it for God's work. Feel free to still bring in boxed items like Poptarts, cereal bars, individual snack items, spaghetti, ravioli & juice boxes. We have a huge red tub upstairs that needs to be filled so we can help out with food needs for the month of May. Thank you in advance for your generosity!

Please still be in prayer that there is a few parents who would like to step forward and teach another children's church class on Sunday mornings. I believe our 4 & 5 year old children could benefit from a smaller class geared towards their age group.

Thank you to all who participated in the painting class Sunday. We had a great time painting crosses!

Go ahead and put VBS on your calendar for July 21-25!!!!

I pray that you have a safe afternoon since we are suppose to receive more storms. I hope to see your family at church tomorrow night!