Tough Week

Last week was so tough for some many in our church family. We had church family lose a Mother, a baby boy, Church family reflecting on anniversaries of their passed loved ones & Ben Clough would have turned 12 yesterday. I still remember his sweet face sitting in my Sunday school class! I know Ben celebrated BIG in heaven yesterday! We need to really be lifting our church up in prayer! I feel the devil just trying to work on tearing up families, making life tough for people  by taking their jobs & pulling then down. He wants us to give in & give up but...... by turning to God and focusing on  Him, He will carry us through the hurt! Just continue to pray! As the devil tries to plot & destroy, we saw yesterday that God has a plan & a purpose for our lives by seeing an amazing little boy turn his life over to God and ask Jesus into his heart! I can't wait to see the lives that Grant influences for Jesus!

As far as kids stuff just remember that Sunday is the last day to turn in your money for the Baron's game. It is $10 a person. Also, from now until Mother's Day, Wednesdays & Sundays (during children's church) the kids will have practice in the gym for the Mother's Day program on Sunday May 13. have a great week and just keep on praying!! Kristi

Future Plans

What another wonderful Sunday @WBBC yesterday! It was so great to welcome the Ayres family to our church! It was a beautiful day out yesterday & we spent our time ourdoors, after church, at terrapin creek. It was so relaxing to just sit by the water & feel the breeze. God just created the most beautiful places for us to enjoy & recharge! Kayaking was a huge success for my boys, even Jack loved it, so I am thinking that will be a great day trip for our church kids. Not too much going on in April for the church kids but I think May & the summer activites will wear us out. Here is the April plans:

This Wed. night will be regular kids @ 6. Katie Smith will be teaching on missions.

I have Sunday childrens church until Mothers' Day. We will be practicing during this time for our program!

Reminder about the Barons game. It is May 19 but I need to collect all the money by April 29 so we can order the tickets. This is for youth too or anyone in the church who would like to go. $10 covers ticket, pizza, drink in souvenir cup & pregame event. I am not a baseball fan but I know us all going together will make it a  great time! Have a great week and if you have any questions, call me! Kristi

What a weekend!

 All I can say is whew!! There was so much going on this past weekend. We started Friday night off with a Good Friday service. It was the 1st for our church and I hope it will become a tradition. It was awesome to spend time with church family on the day Jesus dies for our sins & to celebrate his sacrifice. Saturday was the egg hunt. I really only expected about 15-20 kids, knowing so many had ballgames that day, but I have to quit limiting God.....because He brought tons of kids out to the hunt. I was overwhelmed with excitement. One of my good friends said this year was going to be a learning year for me because in the past I have planned for so many less kids & with the way God is growing our church  ideas & plans need to be revamped & definitely the numbers that are prepared for will need to be increased. This is an awesome problem to have & this growth has been prayed for many years! Talk about growth.....there was no seats left in the sanctuary yesterday! The choir was awesome, the youth skit was perfect, Joey did great, the weather was fabulous & the most important thing was that we celebrated a RISEN SAVIOR. I also had a child saved in my ss class so I don't think the day could have gotten much better! I just feel God's presence so strongly at WBBC and I pray you do too! Have a great week!  Here is a list of some kid activities coming up!

The children will be performing on Mother's Day May 13. Practices will be April 25, 29, May 2 & 6th.

Churchwide event : 1st Priority is hosting a night at the Birmingham Barons Game for May 19. The ticket is $10 and it includes games, pregame event ( music or a speaker), pizza and a souvenir cup w/ drink. If you plan on going let Arlo or me know & we need the money in by April 29th to order the tickets.

Holy Week

This is such an awesome week for Christians. Yesterday was Palm Sunday, the day Jesus rode into Jerusalem knowing He was about to sacrifice His life for our sins. We celebrated in Sunday school by making tombs out of crescent rolls. They were empty inside just like the tomb was on Resurrection day so many years ago.  There is a lot of church activities going on this week, so as we enjoy eggs, the Easter Bunny & candy I hope we remember the sacrifice that was made for us. God sent His only son, Jesus to die a horrific death on the cross so that we could have everlasting life in Heaven. THERE IS NOTHING MORE IMPORTANT THAN ASKING JESUS CHRIST INTO YOUR HEART, BEING SAVED, SO YOU HAVE EVERLASTING LIFE! If you or your child has questions about this please ask me! I'll be glad to talk about it with you, as would so many others at church. There would be nothing better than to see lives changed this Holy Week! Here are the weeks activities:

 Wednesday night: Kids go upstairs to paint Easter Sun catchers

Good Friday night : 6:30 The Lord's Supper, music, The  Passion of the Christ & snacks for all ages in the sanctuary. Nursery will be provided up to 3 yrs

Easter Egg hunt: 4 Pm Snacks, over 1000 eggs & the Easter Bunny will make an appearance. Parents, bring those cameras!

Easter Sunday: No children's church

Where ever you go, God is with you!

Good morning beautiful Monday! Yesterday  in children's church & Sunday school  we talked about Jonah & the whale. For those of you who do not know the story, God asked Jonah to go tell the people in another town about Him, but Jonah didn't want to do what God wanted. So he decided to sneak off on a boat to hide from God. Jonah found out pretty quickly that you can't run & hide from God... if He wants you to do something He will make it happen! The point of the story during Children's church was that God is always with you, He always knows what you are doing & what you need.  So if you are down and out this morning, remember God is with you! If you are feeling God pushing you to move a certain way, maybe step up and get out of your comfort zone... remember that God will equip you for the job He has called you too.

Easter is almost here and that is so exciting to  me! This coming Sunday the kids in my Sunday school class will be cooking a dessert that will show how the tomb was empty.....PRAISE GOD!! We will meet in the gym & please have the kids there by 9:45. It will take us the full hour to cook!

This Wed. night the kids will just play since it is Spring Break week and we all need a little rest!

The following Wed. night the kids will be doing an Easter craft.

Remember the Easter egg hunt April 7 @ 4:00. I believe the Easter Bunny is making an appearance! This is a great opportunity to invite someone to church!

Please keep us in your prayers as parents & children head out to Gatlinburg Thursday. Pray for safe travels!

Have an absolute wonderful SPRING BREAK!!  Kristi

SPRING IS HERE

I was thinking about those little kids who willingly got on stage yesterday at church, not caring about what anyone thought, and just did the moves Randy showed them.  As an adult I wish I had their courage and just did whatever I felt for God instead of holding back afraid of what others might think or say. There has been so many times that I felt like I needed to ask someone if they went to church or if they needed someone to pray with them and fear of their response held me back. God is really working on me with this. I have come a long way from my shyness but still am not bold enough yet.  I wish I could be fearless like the kids! They are such great examples for us adults! Have a great week & thank the Lord only 4 more school mornings until SPRING BREAK! Here are some upcoming dates to remember:

This Wed. night the kids are having a pizza party & playing in the gym. Each child needs to bring one can item for the food pantry.

Still thinking we might do something for spring break but waiting to see about the weather.

EASTER EGG HUNT........ Saturday April 7. I will announce the time next week . We will meet at the church for snacks & then walk to the McGlaughns home for the egg hunt. If it rains we will hunt inside the church & gym. I think the Easter Bunny will make an appearance!

If anyone has any ideas on activities for the spring & summer let me know. Thanks for all the help & donations for the kids Gatlinburg trip. Keep us in your prayers as we head out March 29th.

EXHAUSTED

Someone remind me not to schedule a lock in on the same weekend the time changes. Not enough time to get over the loss of sleep and I am feeling it today. I have posted a few pics from the lock in. It was so much fun and it gives us adults a real chance to get to know the children's personalities. Boy did God bless some of them with lots to say & lots of energy!

 I wanted to let everyone know that this month will be regular Wed. nights for the kids. I am hoping that the new program will be ready to go by the middle of April. Tom has built our set and now it is just a matter of getting the time to get all of the drawings up on the boards and learning the material. Katie Smith will be teaching the kids this Wed. about missions. This coming Friday night will be flag football in the gym at 7. Please make sure you sign your child in. I want to plan some type Spring break activity but I am going to wait & see how the weather turns out.  The Easter Egg hunt is set for April 7 probably late afternoon.

REMINDER this  Sunday will be a Mexican lunch for donations only. Proceeds will benefit Smokies Spring Break trip. If you are a parent that has a child going please get with Shay Layton about what you need to bring. I hope you all have a restful, blessed week & hope to see you all Wed. night! Kristi