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😀

Vbs day 1

I woke up with my mom on my mind! We buried her this time last year. I didn't wake up sad. I woke up thinking of God's amazing power. Last year Joey preached his own Mother's funeral and he was only able to do that because of God's amazing power. I know He gave Joey the strength, words and courage to do what he needed him to do. So here I am a year later, sitting in awe again of God's power. I asked for VBS prayers, you prayed and God heard.  God showed His power last night! Last years VBS first night numbers were 75 kids, verses last night 102 kids. Now don't tell me God doesn't have power. He has the power and ability to bring children to where they need to be!

Now I know our volunteers are worn out this morning but I want to give you some hope to cling to as you get even more tired as you go thru the week and a reason for why we put so much energy, time and money into VBS. I don't remember what age group I was teaching last night but I was tossing the GLOW beach ball and asking the child who caught it to tell me something about Jesus, anything they know, things they pray for.. Just anything about Jesus. I called on a child I didn't know. He said,"He didn't know anything to say about Jesus because his parents never take him to church." Praise God he is at church this week! This is our 1 chance to plant the seed of Jesus. This one child is the reason for VBS! Pray for this child! Pray for his family! Pray that this week is the week that changes children and families, that this is the week they come to know Jesus!!

Thank you to those of you who are volunteering! You are making VBS possible! Get some rest, if you can and continue to pray! I'll see you tonight!

It's been a few months since I have blogged but I had some thoughts and figured I would share. There is a lot going on at church so I want to cover all of that first. Friday, July 3 is Blast in the Bend. Bring you family, friends and neighbors for a night of fellowship. We will eat hot dogs & have homemade ice cream. Bring your lawn chairs and enough drinks for your crew. Mrs. Sue is in need of homemade ice cream & large bags of chips. Over the past few yrs, the guys have gotten even better with the fireworks show. I am sure this year will be even better.  I'll have a table set up to register volunteers and children for GLOW VBS.  If you are new to WBBC, this is a great chance to just hang out and get to know others. We want to know you!

For this weeks Wacky Wednesday, we will be loading the van and leaving the church at 5:45. We are going to Southside McDonalds. We will have a ice cream treat and pay for random people's food. We will arrive back at church by 7:15. Let's all wear our tie dye shirts.

GLOW VBS is July 13-17. We will feed kids supper at 5:30. VBS will start at 6:00. I say this every year but VBS is the best week at church. There is nothing like a bunch of excited kids in God's house. If you are debating on volunteering, just take a leap and do it. Everyone isn't suited for everything, so if you know you don't like to craft, you don't have to sign up for crafts. ( I have never signed up for crafts). You might like to cook, volunteer in the kitchen. You might not be free all week. That's ok too. If God is calling you to volunteer, then there is a place, a spot and a need for you. Don't miss out on a blessing. Get with Allison or me and let us know if you wish to help.

As we move into July that means school is unfortunately around the corner, so to end summer, the kids will have a lock in Friday night, July 31 from 7pm to 7 am Saturday morning. Now parents, don't get excited thinking you have a date night, I'll need you at church to help! Lol I'll give you more
info as it gets closer but go ahead and practice sleeping on the air mattress to break your back in.
Hehe

Lastly, as summer ends and school begins our now 5th graders, become middle schoolers and they will leave the children's dept and move up to youth. The youth will be having a shrimp boil at church on July 11 and Scott has invited the kids and their families who will soon be moving up to his group. This will be a great chance for the kids and parents to get to know Scott and our wonderful youth! I take the kids who will be moving up out to eat each year, as kinda like my last time with them so I'll be taking  them out on Wednesday, August 5. I'll have more info on that as it gets closer but for now save the dates!

Now that I have all of that out of the way, let's just talk. I was able to stay in preaching yesterday because Jerri and Mandy lead children's church. That was such a blessing. Immediately, after that I was blessed by a conversation I had with a parent. Our church was able to bless a family earlier in the
week. The youth blessed some of our seniors yesterday afternoon by delivering fruit baskets and spending a little time with them. I know of a church member who paid for a young families lunch yesterday. I am sure that was a blessing to that family. Hunter blessed someone this week by mowing their yard. Misty blessed me yesterday by just bringing in treat box prizes. So it got me to thinking about blessings. One of the definitions of a blessing is something promoting or contributing to happiness. Many of us spend so much time worrying about our own happiness but what about the happiness of others? I am not saying go out and buy every family you see dinner but what if we listened just a little more to what God tells us to do. I think we would be blessing others more. A blessing doesn't always require money. It could be just spending time with someone who needs to talk, helping someone who needs yard work and can't afford it,  complimenting someone or offering a prayer. I don't know about you but I need to be blessing others more and a little less worrying about if I am getting blessed! I am going to work a little harder on bringing happiness to others. I challenge you to do the same.

Have a week full of blessing others! I hope to see your family this week!

FOR THOSE GOING ON GATLINBURG TRIP

Ok I am making a few changes today for the Gburg trip. As yall know our weather is kind of crazy and with us going to Gburg in March you just never know what we might get. So I had us set up with Ripley's aquarium tickets that included mini golf. There is no way to know if the weather will corporate. The original ticket including mini golf was $43.00 for an adult. I am going to cut us back and do just an aquarium ticket which is $23 for the adult and if we have good weather I can buy golf tickets when we get there.  I also have us going to the Nascar Speed Park for the day on Sunday.  The difference at the moment in me buying in advance is $2.00 than us buying at the door. I am going to keep a watch for price changes but as of now I am going to say we watch the weather the week before and then decide if we can do Nascar. I do not want to mail off money and it be 30 degrees and lose money or have to try and get it refunded. I am coming up with a back up plan incase we do have weather that does not permit outdoor activities. So what does this mean for you money wise? Here is what you need to know and what you need to do. Everyone paid their deposit for Dixie Stampede. I do have a deadline to pay the balance so each adult needs to have their balance of $23.00 in no later than March 15. I know everyone plans on going to the aquarium so that will $23.00 and it needs to be paid no later than March 25. Now the other activities are up to each adult. If you chose to do them, you'll need to pay for them by March 23 also. Nascar Speed Park, $20 (only pay if you plan on riding), Gatlinburg Roller coaster, $10. I should be able to let everyone know before we leave if mini golf will be added on. 

I am going to work on looking at other shows and activities for a weather backup plan. 

I have us 2 vans reserved. (NOT USING THE CHURCH VAN) I know some have said they might drive so they have their own vehicle. Please let me know if you think you are riding a van or driving. I know the Smiths will be on a van since Chris is a driver & Jami will drive the other van. I figured our money today and I feel like if we can sell the remainder of the coupon books and the tickets to put a pie in Joey's face, we should be good, unless I have made a mistake. I am use to June just telling me this is your balance and she has been sick so I had to go from previous records. PLEASE try to get coupon money in asap. Any left over books we need to try and get them brought back to church so we can see if someone else might have luck selling them. 

I do know this message is probably confusing but I am trying to keep us from having to meet just to relay this kind of stuff. If you have questions please ask me. Y'all start praying God shows us some favor on good weather. Have a great week! Kristi

Good evening. I have a crazy busy week coming up so I wanted to go ahead and get the blog info out to y'all tonight. I wanted to tell you about children's church today. You know those conversation hearts that come out at valentines and they say things like "text me", "bff" or "cutie", well I asked the kids if God was to send us conversation hearts, what would they say. They gave some really good answers and I wanted to share them. Envision God sending you a box of conversation heart candy and as you pull a heart out of the box it reads, "you're special". Another one reads, "you're loved".  You continue to pull heart candy out and word after word is meant for you as a message from God. "You're beautiful, you're handsome, you're mine, you're smart, you're kind, you are wanted, I hear you, let's talk, I am with you, you are not alone, you have a purpose and you are a child of the one true king." Just envisioning that gives me goosebumps. How uplifting it would be for not just children but for us adults to see or hear those words everyday. How awesome would it be if us parents spoke those words to our children. I pray as our children go thru the week of "love" that they remember some of these sayings and remember that no matter how this world judges them or characterizes them that God  loves them and thinks they are pretty special.

Wednesday night the children will meet in the gym from 6-7 for a a Valentine's party. We are going to have a Christian science lesson about the hardening and softening of our hearts, play some games, and eat snacks. I am bringing the cupcakes and drinks, I have 2 people bringing chips and some bags of candy but we would love some other snacks so parents feel free to indulge us :)) This would be a great night to let your child invite a friend.

I want to remind everyone that Saturday night is our Parents Night Out. It is a fundraiser for the Gatlinburg trip. If you need childcare for Valentines night please keep us in mind and share the info with other parents. We will also be having a fundraiser night at Deorios on February 23. I'll be sending more info out on that soon.

Please remember to keep Kyle Patterson in your prayers tomorrow as he has surgery. Remember his parents, Chris and Amber too,  because as parents we all know the worry and concern for our babies. Keep Cooper Jones in your prayers as he continues to slowly improve.  Be on the look out on the Whorton Bend Kidz Zone page as I continue to introduce y'all to our fabulous teacher in the children's dept. Remember  Mrs. Vicki has been working with our 4 and 5 yr olds and they will sing 2 songs Sunday. I am encouraging Jack this week not to say or do anything CRAZY!! I hope you all have a blessed week!

Happy Groundhog Day! Unfortunately, it looks like we have 6 more weeks of winter. Lol Only God truly knows what tomorrow holds so I am hoping spring comes quicker than 6 weeks! I wanted to share a conversation I had with the twins recently. They will be moving into 9 th grade this coming August and we were talking about college. Lots of questions about how college works, different degree programs, explaining money (such as you will live off  Ramen noodles so learn to eat them now) and yes it is possible to work while you are in college. I have one child who is dead set on being a lawyer and one not forsure what his path may be.  I appruptly stopped our conversation and told the boys we need to take a different path with this. We really need to be looking at your future from a different standpoint. Instead of saying I want to be a lawyer or I want my child to go to school here or there and be this or that, we should be saying we need to pray that you follow God's plan for your life. We need to pray that God shuts doors that will lead you to the wrong choices. That you are in tune with God to feel Him direct you in the path you need to go. No matter what career path you take, if God has directed it then you will be blessed. Even though the boys care nothing about talking about girls with me, I told them the same thing is true about their future wives. We need to be in prayer now that God directs them to the right woman one day and pray as they date that if this isn't the right person for them that God will close that door. It is so exciting watching your children grow up and experience life. I know we have lots of seniors making huge life choices right now. I pray they have asked God what does He want them to do and they follow His path. Alright, I am done with my parenting stuff now to the kids!

We have about 20 kids going on the Gburg trip and about 15 parents. I have sent texts and posted on fb that I needed to know who wanted to go by last Friday so unfortunately the trip is now closed. Reservations have been made. Fliers are going home this week at both local elementary schools about our Parents Night Out. We need this to be a huge success to help pay for the trip. Please share the info with your friends on fb.

This Wednesday night in the Kidz Zone we will continue with our lessons on how God blessed Joseph. The children will have a Valentine's party, in the gym, Wednesday night , February 11. We will have a Valentine's "science" lesson, games and lots of snacks. I want to encourage you to keep your children involved, not just on Wednesday nights, but Sunday's too. Sunday school is where we learn the deeper lessons about Jesus. If you are not in Sunday school, there is a class for you at WBBC. If your not for sure where to go, ask me!

I hope you all have a blessed week. I missed my kiddos Sunday so I look forward to seeing everyone Wednesday night!

Gatlinburg Spring Break Trip

This will be the details for the Gatlinburg Spring Break trip. A few basics up front. Every child needs one parent to go. The child must be 5 yrs old thru 5th grade. You might question the start age but it is too hard to keep up with a toddler in a house with 20 or more older kids running around, doors being opened, flights of stairs, crazy amounts of noise and having high balconies. Even though it is someone else's child.. it is too much stress for me. I would be in worry mode the entire trip. We will have a devotion each day. You will need to bring patience with you. Things might not go as planned so be prepared to go with the flow. You might end up sleeping on an air mattress. Ok basics out of the way. Details:

Depart from WBBC Saturday morning 7am, March 28. I am going to call about renting 2 vans but depending on how many adults and kids go, we will need some adults to drive and carpool. We will eat fast food for lunch. Adults and children will need lunch money. Exception will be if we make raise tons of money then kids will be paid for and adults will pay for themselves. Arrive in gburg, go to cabins. Devotion, down time, kids can play. We will go to Dixie Stampede that night. Adults cost is $43.00. This will include our supper. Afterwards we will head back to cabins. 

Sunday morning March 29

We will get up and cook breakfast and when I say cook, I mean frozen pancakes, waffles, bacon, poptarts... things like that. We will go to the Nascar speedpark. This is an all day pass and has been extremely popular the past trips. Kids can ride unlimited on go karts and rides. The adults  price is $20 for the unlimited ticket. You do not need to include this in what you pay if you do not plan on riding. Like for me, I will not ride, ill just wonder around and watch kids so I will not pay, but I know Jami will ride so he'll pay for this. I should also warn you that the speedpark has a concession stand an any purchases there are on you. lol In  the past we have gone to a park after Nascar for lunch. I normally buy lots of lunch meat, pb, jelly and we eat sandwiches. It could be I leave Nascar a little early and run and pick up hamburgers for everyone, still eating at the park, just doing burgers and chips. We will have a devotion there. We will go back to Gburg for mini golf, mirror maze and the rollar coaster. The mini golf and mirror maze are included with the aquarium price. The roller coster will be $10 and if you don't plan on riding you would not pay for that either. We will go back to the cabins for a pizza supper. Ill order a bulk of pizzas for everyone.  

Monday morning March 30

Breakfast, pack up. Devotion. We will then go to the aquarium. The ticket price for this is $43.00. Every adult will need to pay this. We will stop for fast food lunch heading home. 

We have a lot of money to raise to cover the children's tickets. It is going to run about $90 per child and it is always my plan that the children never pay so..... we have to get busy raising funds. Anything extra raised will go towards the van rental, gas and food. We do have a children's budget at church but it takes every dime of that for the activities and events thru the year. We can dip into that but that means less things we get to do the rest of the yr. for some reason we raise enough to cover it all then I'll apply it towards parents tickets who have help fundraise. I know this is short notice but I need to know who is going by January 30. Now i am not crazy, I know things come up and people need to cancel but I have to have a very close idea so I can call these places and make reservations. 

I hope you'll consider the trip. We have had so much fun in the past. This is a great way for adults to get to know each other better and a great chance for the children to bond. Some of my favorite memories with my twins have been made at these trips. This will be Jack's first church trip so I am excited for him. If you have questions please ask me. One last thing. I'll prob need a man to volunteer to drive a van and I know we will need some air mattrresses  The adults would not pay their money until March 22. The only exception might be the $43 for Dixie Stampede. When I make reservations Ill find that out.  

Please promote and use the childcare services for Vday night. This money will go towards our trip. 

Good morning. It has been a while since I have blogged but I wanted to let you know what will be happening soon and talk about things I have witnessed in the past. 

Lets start with the soup lunch fundraiser. Thank you to everyone who cooked, set up, served, cleaned up and especially those who donated. We were blessed with $477.00. I have not received an email back on the cabins but both are showing booked for the times I requested so it has to be for me! I'll start planning out the trip this week and begin seeing who wants to go for sure. Please don't think this will be like a luxurious vacation. You could end up on an air mattress because I will put as many people in a cabin as I can to avoid us renting one. It will be fast paced and you will probably have to help cook and do dishes. We cook breakfast and supper at the cabins. It will take all us adults working to make the trip a success. It is about the children so their needs and wants will come first. There will be no time to go shopping at the outlets! lol If you choose to go you will have a good time, the kids will have a good time and adults and children will get to know each other much, much better. This will be the 4th or 5th trip we have done to Gatlinburg as a children's group and I have so many great memories! The very first trip we did, Amy Martin's car got hit, while it was parked in front of the cabin,  and while all the kids looked on. The man just continued to drive on, even with someone trying to stop him. The police came and it was a habitual offender who was intoxicated. It was our first night there and it was CRAZY!! I didn't think the kids would ever stop talking about it. Anyway, I look forward to this group making some memories of our own!

So now that we know we are going, we need to come up with some definite plans to raise money. Even though the cabins are free, I like to offer to pay the cleaning fees. We will need to rent vans, gas, food and I like to make sure all ticket prices are paid for kids. So the next fundraiser coming up is the Parents Night Out for Saturday night, February 14, from 6-9pm. We thought this might offer couples a chance to get out for Vday without the kids. This would also be great for a single parent who just needs a little alone time.  How awesome would it be for that single parent, who more than likely is on a limited budget, to be gifted 3 free hours. Offer to pay this for someone as an act of kindness. This will be for newborns thru 5th grade. The price is $10 for one child and a max of $25 for 3 or more children. We will show them a movie, feed them pizza, and make a Vday craft. I am asking very few parents to work this with hopes that some of you with kids will use the service! How can you help? Sign your children up today!  Tell everyone you know who has children!! We will have limited space and I ask you send me a message with how many kids no later than Feb 11. 

I'll check the church calendar and if it is open for February 22 or March 1, we will do a spaghetti lunch after church.  I'll let you know by the end of the week. 

Okay so I have a lot of planning to do so I need to get off of here and get a move on. I do want to encourage you to have your child in the Kidz Zone on Wednesday nights. This month we are studying Joseph and how even though his brothers hated him, sold him, God was always with him and blessed him.  We will be having the kids Valentine party February 11 in the gym. I"ll let you know as it gets closer as to what you can send. 

Before I go I wanted to mention our youth group.. this is me coming as a  youth parent not a church employee. Over the years I have witnessed many things at WBBC. I have seen preachers go, music ministers go, almost no congregation (seriously all fit on one pew), deaths, growth, remodels, just many changes. Six months ago I watched not just our youth but the parents, myself included, be torn up, confused, and shocked by our youth minister situation. I personally felt like I had been kicked in the gut and the wind knocked out of me. I cried more about that situation than I have ever about any other church issues. I am not going to rehash any details, this is not ment to disgrace him or his family or even bring attention to what happened. I say all of this because what I saw Sunday was a youth group who showed resilience. I saw a group who had faith in Jesus. I saw kids that had been through a hard time (personally in my own home many unhappy conversations), they leaned on the church and trusted that Jesus had a better plan in store for them. What we saw Sunday was God's faithfulness. We trusted God, He placed a call on Scott's heart and Scott responded to the call and the kids continued to trust in Jesus.  I know God is still working and who knows what tomorrow holds for the youth, the kids or our church. What I do know is that we have a testimony. We can say, we had a tough time, the devil tried to tear us apart, we trusted God and we were able to see much better days come. I am thankful for the testimony and I am thankful my kids my kids learned a real life lesson. I can't wait to see God continue to work thru all the ministries, all the groups and each individual at WBBC. Have a great Tuesday!

Happy New Year!  The beginning of a new year is always exciting to me. It gives me a chance to reflect on what great works God did in the church and gives me renewed excitement as to what God might do.  This Sunday we will be back to children's church with Clif and Vickie Redden teaching music to the 4 and 5 year olds and the kids 6 yrs and up will be with me. We missed a few Wednesday nights with the holidays, so this week we will be back to regular Wednesday night lessons in the Kidz Zone. 

I wanted to go ahead and lay my plans out for the Spring Break trip to Gatlinburg. As i stated in the message  sent out, I will not know for sure about Gatlinburg until the end of January. We will go ahead with the soup lunch fundraiser on January 18 and if we do not get to go to gburg then we will use that money towards something else for the kids Spring Break week. The trip will be Sat, Sun and Mon, March 28, 29 & 30. Each child going needs to be 5 years old or going into kindergarden this year. and each child will need at least one parent to go, unless another parent chooses to watch after someone elses child. I plan on renting at least 2 vans but that will depend on the number of people we have going and the amount of money we raise. I am not taking the church van.  I am looking at us going to the Ripley's Aquarium, minigolf, The Nascar Speedpark and the rollercoaster. Except for the roller coster, we have done these activites in the past and the children seemed to enjoy them. In the past we have also done a hayride at Cades Cove but with the time of year the weather can be hit or miss and i would hate to pay for a hayride outside at 9am and it be freezing in the mountains so i think we'll skip it this time.  When we get to gburg I normally go buy groceries for the cabins so that we eat breakfast in each day, we will grill out one night for supper and have pizza the other night. We normally do a picnic for lunch and then fast food for the other lunches. Parents will have to help cook breakfast in each cabin, but we will come together to eat suppers. My goal is that the trip be absolutely free for the children and all food covered for everyone. In the past we have been successful at fundraising so the goal was met but we are getting a late start this time. We also need to remember this will be a church trip so we will have a devotion each day.  There should also be a little bit of free time if you would like to walk around Gburg.  Some of you might suggest we visit Ober as a group. Been there & organized that for last yrs Winter Extreme and Ober was very difficult to deal with for a large group. Disney was easier to deal with! 

So go ahead and start thinking on if this trip sounds like something you and your child would be interested in. As soon as I know I have the cabins reserved , Ill finalize the details. Make plans to help with the soup lunch January 18. 

I want to encourage you to start the new year off in Sunday school. If you have been slacking on SS due to the holidays, now is the time to get back to class.  Sunday school is were relationships are formed and for children this is where the basic Bible stories are taught.  I hope to have a full class Sunday!!

With the New Year brings opportunity for great growth. As many of us are trying to decrease our physical size we need to increase our spiritual size. I pray that we as individuals grow closer to God.  I am looking forward to seeing Him work in each of our lives and the lives of your children! Kristi

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!

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!! 

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!

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.

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!