Noah's Ark Trip

As many of you know I am the children's ministry leader @ WBBC. I teach Sunday school & children's church. When working with children one of the most popular Bible stories is Noah's Ark. I think over time it has developed as maybe a cutesy theme where the 2 of each animal is focused on and made to look cartoonish in church nurseries all over the country. You'll see it in baby bedding. I am not criticizing either of those things but I have been thinking a little deeper on it since I am leaving for a trip with several church families to see the Ark Encounter and the Creation Museum.

From a teaching standpoint it's hard to describe to children the massive size of the ark. It's hard to explain 300 cubits while in a room. It's hard for kids to visualize what you mean. So I am excited for my kids to see the size of the ark and be able to put words to an actual vision.

But it's still more than seeing it.

Now remember I am not a Bible scholar, not schooled in theology, as a matter of fact my college education is wildlife bio and I never completed my degree.  I just couldn't get thru genetics! I am  just a mom serving where and how I believe God has lead me. As you read this know that I didn't research the ark or Noah these are just my thoughts, correct or not. This is how I see it in Kristi's head.

So I was thinking about how bad the world must have been during Noah's time for God to say people were so wicked that he wanted to end the human race. Noah was a righteous man who was obedient to God. Can you imagine being the only man in your society, your camp, your neighborhood  that had a desire to love God?  I imagine that would have been tough for Noah. It would be tough for me. It is so easy to cave to the ways of the world even with a strong Christian family around you but having nobody around you striving for what God wants.. that's bad!   Can you imagine the ridicule Noah received when he started building the ark? His neighbors, friends and family had to think he had lost his mind. I can imagine they made fun of him and called him names. My neighbors would think I was crazy if I started building a huge boat behind my house. Then let's talk about perseverance. It's not like Noah could call up Joey Jones Construction  and ask them to come build an ark or drive down to Buck's boats and pick out his favorite pontoon boat. He had to build it himself with primitive tools. Can you imagine the amount of time this took? The days that he got up tired, with people ridiculing him and he still kept going out there day after day, year after year and working on that ark. He persevered because God gave him a job to do and he was obedient to God. Noah's family had to think he was all kinds of crazy. I can hear him now telling his wife, sons & daughter in laws to hurry up and load the boat that the rains were coming. What about their faces when the animals started to load? Not all the animals but just 2 of each.  Then God shuts the door. Noah had to feel some relief, some vindication. Then towards the end he demonstrated even more faith as he sent the birds out several times believing that eventually God would provide dry land for him and his family.

So out of this Bible story I see a righteous man, a man who was obedient to God when nobody else was,  a man who placed God first in his life before family, before friends, before his own image. I see Noah's faith in God, his belief that whatever God said was going to happen, was going to happen. Noah had faith that if he preserved thru whatever God was asking of him, that God was going to save him and his family.

Then in the Bible you will see that Noah was naked in his drunkenness. That shows me that even though Noah had a great faith, love and obedience to God, he wasn't perfect. He was a man.

We aren't perfect but we can be obedient to God's call, we can preserver when times are tough or challenges come, and tough times will come.  We can know that God does what he says he will do.

Say a prayer for my group as we travel.  Pray for safety. Pray that our minds and hearts are open to all that a God wants us to see and learn. Pray for the families going that we continue to bond and make our friendships even deeper. Pray for the children and that the loved Bible story of Noah and the Ark becomes real to their hearts.  Have a great Spring Break!

Yes I know this isn't the actual ark! lol I was asked that!

Are You Investing In Your Child's Spiritual Life?

I know it's been forever since I blogged. Those of you who know me, know that I don't sleep a lot. I think at night, many times I am in prayer for a while.  I was praying late Saturday night and God gave me some thoughts.  I was thinking about how people invest in their own spiritual lives, by praying, reading the Bible, by doing extra Bible studies, going to Christian events,  and reading Christian books but do we invest in our children's spiritual lives? Are you reading the Bible with your child, do you do a Bible study with your child, are you discussing with your child what they learned at church (almost every Sunday your child has a paper with the lesson and Bible verse we studied in Sunday school, most the time the kids do not take them home and they end up thrown away), are you praying with them, taking them to Christian events and worshiping with them. As adults we invest in our own spiritual life but isn't our child's spiritual life just as important if not more since they might not have asked Jesus into their heart yet? You might say, well I have them in church Wednesday nights and Sundays. You have yourself in church Wednesday and Sunday too but do you only pray on those days because your Pastor is there with you? No.. you pray daily.  Do you listen to worship songs only Wednesdays and Sundays? Most of you probably listen to some sort of worship music during the week. Do you only look at scripture on Wednesday and Sunday? Probably not. My point is if you are investing in your own spiritual life, why would we not put that same emphasis or concern or even drive into investing into our child's spiritual life. Take notice.. I am not saying anyone is or isn't and this sure isn't to criticize or critique anyone it's just to make us all think, all of us no matter our kids ages. It made me think. Do I invest in my children's spiritual lives? Not as much as I need to.  Think on it!

A Little of This, A Little of That

Its has been month's since I have blogged but this was too long for a Facebook post. I had said over and over that I went to a kidmin summit a few weeks ago. It was a pure blessing because normally children's ministry conferences are in bigger cities that require several days being away from home and have a hefty price tag. This one was local, one Saturday and cost a whooping $20.  While at the summit one of the speakers spoke on starting kids learning about Jesus as soon as they are born. While being rocked whisper in their ear Jesus loves you, or Jesus made you special. Start reading them Bible stories early. Sure they have no clue what you are saying but they grow up each year learning a little more. I can use math(ugh.. I hate math) as a example. Kids learn numbers first, then to add, subtract and each step builds on the step before. Jesus should be that way for children. Start them out by speaking words of love about Jesus, then move to songs about Jesus, stories, have them in the  nursery at church then move the up as their age progresses. Why am I thinking about this? Today one of my sweet babies was fighting his sleep. Jack was home doing breathing treatments & Cooper was playing. I start singing Jesus loves Me to the baby. Within a moment Jack and Cooper are singing along. Cooper is only 1 1/2 yrs old but he knew many words to that song. He knew them because his momma sings it to him. Parents, Grandparents, family members, we can't wait until these kids are in high school, or college and decide it's time we speak the name Jesus to them. Would you wait until 12th grade to each them math? Start teaching them about Jesus today!

I had posted on Facebook last week that for spring break the kids would go to Chattanooga and spend the night at the aquarium. We will leave the church on Friday, April 1 ( not too early in the morning but I'll know time as it gets closer) once in Chatt we will go ride the railway incline, have lunch downtown Chatt, ( park and you can walk to eat wherever you chose) go to an IMAX movie and then check in to the aquarium at 6:00 pm Eastern. They do not allow anyone under 6 to participate. I did have a few questions about could those younger than 6 go in with the group and leave once it is time to sleep. Unfortunately, once we are locked inside they will not let us leave. I have suggested to those with younger kids that they are welcome to follow us to Chatt, ride the incline, see the IMAX with us and then work the aquarium in separately. For those spending the night, they will feed us pizza and a snack that night, then a light breakfast that morning. We will leave the aquarium by 8:30 Eastern time so you should have most of your Saturday left once home. We will be sleeping on the floor under the aquarium so you'll need a sleeping bag or cover and a pillow. There are no showers but they do have a bathroom close to where we sleep so you can brush teeth & wash your face. The total cost is $70 adults and $65 kids. That includes everything but lunch and any snack you might want to purchase at the IMAX. Starbucks is close by and we had several parents who visited there last time while we were waiting on IMAX. I am sending in our deposit this week. I do have to pay in several weeks before we leave so here is our payment schedule: Sunday Feb 21 adults $35, kids 30 and the Wednesday March 9 adults $35 & kids $35. If you pay by check make it to the church and then I'll write a church check to pay.  If those dates don't  work for your pay period let me know. I'll be glad to work around anyone I need to. If yall think we need to do a fundraiser let me know.  If you have not signed up for the Chatt trip I need to know by this Friday on the aquarium. I am looking forward to Sleeping in the Deep! 

Just a few other things. Valentine's is on Sunday this year so during Children's Church we will have a hot chocolate bar and talk about how God showed his huge love for us by sending His son Jesus to die for our sins.  

This year the Easter egg hunt will be on Saturday March 19. We will start our in the gym with an exotic animal show from 6th Day Creatures. It will take a little over an hour for the show then we will hunt eggs. 6th Day Creatures brought a lot of fun and unique animals last time they visited us. Some of the kids got to be hands on with the snakes, frogs and squirrels. This is a great opportunity to invite others to church. It's laid back & tons of free fun for the kids. As we get closer I'll send out reminders and I know I'll need help stuffing eggs for the egg hunt. Winter Jam for the youth is the same day and I think they leave at 12:00. I know some of you will probably go as chaperones and I feel sure we will be finished in time for you to do that. 

One last thing.. The Kidz Zone Team would like invite everyone with a child in the nursery or children's dept to an Italian dinner. It's completely free! No gimmicks, no sale pitches, no trying to talk you into volunteering and no asking you to bring anything. Lol It's for your whole family including the siblings in youth. All you need to do is show up with your family and hungry stomachs. It is going to be Saturday night, 6:00 pm in the gym.  I do ask you RSVP by Wednesday  night, Feb 24 so I can make sure enough food is prepared. 

I think that's it! If you need prayer send me a message! I am glad to pray for any need you may have! 

Fall Happenings

Been a while since I blogged but there is lots going on so I think this will be easier than a bunch of random fb messages. Let me go straight to Truck or Treat and then if you don't have children you might chose to skip on the rest. Trunk or Treat is Saturday, October 24 from 6:00-8:00. If you plan on decorating your trunk or working a game, concession/food, etc. you need to be at church set up by 5:00. Even though t or t does not start until 6, people will arrive early. T r T is a whole church event and we want and need everyone involved. If things go as they have in the past WBBC will have several hundred visitors to welcome and serve. It's called trunk or treat because people decorate their trunks and give out candy as the children come by. We need lots of trunks to line our parking lot so think about doing one. Pinterest has some great ideas. Plan on candy for several hundred kids. Buy cheap candy. Dress up in a costume. Please remember this is a CHURCH event and we do not want to dress inappropriately or scary. I would not want a child scared because of one of us and we do not want anyone to leave saying something negative about WBBC. And yes I have had someone send in a note about inappropriate costumes at t or t.   Now I do think you can be a witch or ghost and make them cute or funny. Use good judgement. We line the sidewalk beside the church with games for kids to play. Youth normally work those games. I try to make sure there is at least 2 youth per game so if one needs to get food or go to the restroom, there is another youth there to run the game.  This night is about community and us serving them, so we also have a free hot dog supper, free popcorn & drinks. This year the food will be served outside like we did for July 4th. There will be inflatables in the gym & a kiddie train in the parking lot on that side of the church. We will also have our hayride. In Like Ben with Jeff Atkins will be our live music.  Amy Martin will be handling a bake sale. Proceeds benefit the youth's Winter Extreme trip.

So what do we need? Someone graciously offered to pay for the hot dogs and buns & a precious lady slipped me some cash to buy candy. Made me think of years gone by. Sweet and beautiful Carol
Raines served WBBC for yrs.  As she aged and couldn't get out as much, she would catch me in the
hall, quietly slip me a $20 and tell me to go buy candy. Precious woman!  We need chips, 2L drinks,
candy, mums, pumpkins, & corn stalks. If you can please bring any of those items in starting Wednesday.

Now you ask," how can I help?" VOLUNTEER!! Volunteer to do a trunk, volunteer to help serve food, volunteer to set up and clean up. I'll be at church Friday night, October 23 to decorate outside and Saturday morning we will need to move the tables & chairs outside. The food area will need to
be set up & the stage will need to be built for the band. We will need everyone to help clean up after t or t is over. We have to clear the parking lot of trash & get all tables, chairs, games back in church. It will be a very busy night but I think you will find joy in serving our community. If you have questions because sometimes I am not clear or you want to help, message or text me at 256-393-1063.

Here is a list of those I have helping right now.

Trunks:Brandie Johnson
Rick & Sue Johnson
Paula Hopper & Teresa Coley
Amy Clark
Debbie Smith
Mandy Lindsey
Amanda Davenport & we welcome your family to WBBC! Grateful you jumped in & volunteered!

Gym with inflatables:
Tommy & Shay Layton, Dakota Garmon

Popcorn: Allison Williams, Lauren McVeigh

Hayride: Chris Jones
I still have 8 games that I need to fill with youth.

Sign in table: Glenda Southerland

Now to the Kidz Zone News
Thank you to Mrs. Vicki for working with our 4 & 5 yr olds on music. Vicki has a heart for serving our little ones. By now everyone should have the note I sent home last week about the Family Fun Days and how the Kidz Zone has been focusing on families for the past few weeks. I look forward to seeing your  families pumpkin creation  and displaying them at Trunk or Treat. Remember each month will be a new theme as we try to carve out family time. Continue to pray for our families.  The devil would  like nothing more than to  tear your family apart and to see your family out of church and not growing in Christ.  Reminder that this Friday night we will be showing It's The Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown, in the gym @6:30. We will have a pizza supper, pumpkin games &
activities & we will make s'mores. (Bring a stick to roast marshmallows)
Bring a chair or blankets for the movie. Invite friends. This is a laid back family event & we want your family to join us!

In a few weeks the Kidz Zone will began practicing for our Christmas program. It will be hear before we know it so stay tuned to our Facebook page, Whorton Bend Baptist Kidz Zone, so you know about parts and practices.

Finally, we know there is a need at our local high school for personal hygiene/toiletry items for students. If you can pick up any of those type items drop them in the red bucket in the Kidz Zone.

As you go thru the week lift our families up in prayer. We have so many who could use the extra prayers right now. Have a blessed week

Good morning. This time next week most of our children will have survived one day of school or for those of us with Kindergardeners at least met their teacher and saw their classroom. This school year I have 2 Freshman and a Kindergardener. I try to look forward to each step of my kids lives so I am excited about the twins starting high school. I look forward to hearing about their classes, teachers and what friends are in each class. My boys are older so they'll be driving soon too. That opens up possibilities like part time jobs. I will not turn around good and it will be time for college. Some of you will be dealing with college next week, your young men and women moving away from home or driving over to Harvard on the Hill or maybe they chose to work a job. All of theses changes all require a foundation. Jack needs to know a few things to be successful in Kindergarden, the twins need the foundations they have learned from class to class, year after year to do well in their high school classes, they need to have some driving foundation to go take and hopefully, pass the driving test. If your child is going to college then everything they have learned thru 12th grade is their foundation to continue their education. Their Christian life is no different. They need a foundation of Jesus! Where do they get this foundation? Education comes from different places and involves the teacher instruction during the day and the parents help with homework at night. The Christian foundation includes Sunday school teachers but also homework. I want to stress the importance of Sunday school. This is where your child learns the Bible stories such God's commandments, miracles, Jesus's life, His teachings, His death and resurrection. Then the homework is where you follow up at home. You read those stories to your child, let them see you read your Bible, take life events and show your child how our faith fits in. Let your child see you pray and you pray with them. A foundation will not be strong if you are leaving your child's Christian education up to just the occasional Sunday children's church and Wednesday night. They need more. They need to know that every step in their lives Jesus is with them. So as a parent where do you start to strengthen that foundation. I suggest prayer. Pray to God and ask him to show you what your child needs and to
show you where you can improve your walk with Jesus. If you are half attending church, make a
commitment that you'll start Sunday school as a family. There is a class for every age group at
WBBC and if you aren't sure what type class would work best for you it is ok to try a class and then
try another one. Once church is out, ask your child what they learned, then talk about it. If they can't
remember then ask me. If you only attend Sunday services, come on Wednesdays. Years ago I didn't like to go to church on Wednesday nights. Who had time for it. I worked in Birmingham, had to go to bed early to get up early, had babies and I had things I needed to get done at home for the next day.  It took a few Wednesday night services for me to see I needed Jesus to get me thru the week. Give Wednesday nights a chance. There is something for all ages on Wednesday night. I feel like one of the most important things I can do with my kids and for my kids is to pray. I have said this year after year. Since the twins have been small, when we get in the car to go to school, we pray. Normally, the morning has been tough, nobody wants to get up, they don't want to eat, one child is taking too long in the bathroom and the other doesn't have enough time, someone can't find their homework..Yada, yada, yada. You know the craziness I speak of. So for us, when we get in the car, we take a minute
and pray. We are all calm and the kids are in a better frame of mind and attitude when they get out of
the car. Now this year will be different since I'll not be driving the twins so I guess we will take a
minute to pray before they walk out of the door. Lastly, I personally think life lessons helps build your child's foundation. I feel like I am very open with my kids and if something is wrong I don't shelter them from it. I rather them see me crying over missing my mother and explain yes I am sad but this is how God has gotten me thru these times than for them too think everything is always great.  I know this is a lot of stuff but many of you have kids embarking on new adventures, many of you know without a doubt you raised your kids up with a strong foundation of knowing Jesus and how He applies to our daily lives but some of you might be thinking that foundation needs some more
concrete. Do all you can to make sure your child has the foundation they need for this life. Off my soap box! I'll be in prayer for you and your child.

I wanted to also go over tomorrow night. The kids moving to middle school are about to promote up
from the children's dept to the youth. Tomorrow night I'll be taking those kids to eat at Zaxby's. We
will leave the church at 5:45 and be back by 7:00/7:15. They will not need any money. Teresa Coley will be leading the other children upstairs in the Kidz Zone from 6-7. Now that school is starting back we will be back to regular Wednesday night lessons in the Kidz Zone.

Take a moment today and pray for teachers and staff as most went back to school today. Please remember Mary Pruett's husband Larry and Mrs. Sansom in your prayers. Pray for the students going back to school and for the families sending children off to college.  Matthew 7:24-27Anyone who listens to my teaching and follows it is wise, like a person who builds a house on a solid rock. Though the rain comes in torrents and the floodwaters rise and the winds beat against the house, it won't collapse because it is built on bedrock. But anyone who hears my teaching and doesn't obey it is foolish, like a person who builds a house on sand. When the rains come and the winds beat against that  house, it will collapse with a mighty crash. Be in prayer about your child's foundation. Have a great week!

VBS Day 4

We had another great night at VBS. God has blessed us with a great week. I believe we had 95 kids attend last night. We had 118 kids visit WBBC at least one time this week. By the time we finish serving food tonight our fabulous kitchen ladies will have served close to 900 plates of food to children, some parents and youth and adult workers. No telling how many snacks were served. We can definitely say people left WBBC with full stomachs. It's a blessing to be able to say that. It was also a blessing to have several ladies who wouldn't normally get a chance to help with VBS just show up and jump right in. June White, Mary Pruitt & Kaye Gann have already put their time in working VBS's years ago but came on out anyway and helped. Kaye said she just wanted to get to know some of the church ladies she doesn't normally get to socialize with during church. Love theses 3 ladies!

Last night I taught on Saul persecuting Christians and him turning his heart over to God, becoming Paul and then traveling the world to share the message of Jesus. I was able to talk about The Mayos being missionaries and how we can go out to our school, dance, cheer, gym classes and sporting events and be a witness for Jesus like Paul and the Mayos. We also talked about being the light and how we should want people to see Jesus in us. So I ask you, are people seeing Jesus in you? Do your actions show Jesus lives in you? Do the words you speak to someone or about someone show Jesus lives in you? How do you treat people? Will they look at you and see our Father? Just something to think about.

For the final night of GLOW VBS, we are doing something a little different this yr. Tonight is "family night". We have welcomed in the children and their families to watch a glow show, see their children perform VBS songs and have a meal with us. Continue to pray as we go into tonight. We have had lots of visiting children which has meant visiting moms or dads dropping their children off. Tonight is our chance to get the parents in to WBBC for more than a few minutes, show them some friendliness and socialize as we serve them a meal. I am excited about this. Pray that as God has made the week go so smoothly that tonight is no exception. Pray for those of us actually cooking the meal today. Pray for the children that is anyone is feeling Jesus knock on their hearts that they will have the courage to let someone know. Pray for the parents coming into WBBC tonight, that if they do not know Jesus, the seed gets planted tonight! Thank you for all the previous prayers and how you have supported VBS 2015. God has been with us!

VBS Day 2 & 3

It's been a great week so far at GLOW VBS! Day 2 we had 101 children and 99 children for Day 3. Everything is running smoothly so we give all the glory to God for the children and the smoothness! I know our volunteers are probably extremely tired and weary but the finish line is in sight! Draw your strength from God knowing you are making a difference in many children's lives.

I taught day 2 about Jesus walking on water and Him calling Peter out of the boat to the water. Peter was focused on Jesus, his mind was zoned in on him.  He was trusting Jesus and Peter stepped out of the boat and walked on water. But soon Peter lost focus on Jesus thinking about the waves and he began to sink. Made me think about us. If we aren't focused on Jesus but focused on everything zooming around us in this world we too sink. Peter cried out for Jesus and He reached out and got Peter. We cry out for Jesus too and He reaches out for us. We need to try so hard to stay focused on Jesus and we can do that by reading our Bible, praying and attending worship with others.

Day 3 was taught by Mrs. Wendy and I know she delivered a great message. Day 3 also brought us Turbo's shaved ice so I want to thank Tommy & Shay Layton for those great treats. Tonight is Deorios pizza! Yum!

If any child does not have a shirt please get with me tonight. Tomorrow night is family night, so the VBS group is looking forward to seeing the children perform and meeting their families. We will be serving spaghetti, salad, garlic bread and dessert in the gym once the show is over. The children will also perform Sunday during the worship hour. Have a great day and I'll see you tonight😀