Season of Change

Friends,

If you've followed me on this blog you will no doubt noticed that you haven't heard from me in a very long time. Sometimes life reaches a frenzied pace and unfortunately when that happens in my life, my blog lies dormant for a season. Today I am hoping that many friends through Facebook and Twitter will simply get caught up on where The Peters are at in life.

In April of 2011, Jason and I both joined the staff at Albany First Assembly. Jason was to serve as the Associate Pastor of Worship and I, the Children's Pastor. Over the next two years God did some amazing things in and through both Jason and I. Thankful for the opportunity to serve together, we dove in and worked hard.

Sometimes in life and ministry (which truly are one in the same for Jason and I) we experience tough times and circumstances we simply do not understand. In mid July of this year circumstances were such that Jason and I both were not able to continue in our positions at Albany First. It's one of those hard times when it was not our choice, but God spoke clearly to our hearts to "Be Still."

Being still for us, after much prayer, meant that we would stay put in Albany. Three of our four kids are in school, and it just did not seem either practical or wise to move our kids a month before a new school year began. I began to remember something God had spoken to my heart back in early Spring of this year...to hold the kids at Albany First loosely in my hands, while holding my own four tightly. Seems like a no brainer, doesn't it? Well you would think so, but I was working hard for the church and not quite as hard at home. (Yes, ouch...a tough one to admit). I have long felt that God did not wire me for stay-at-home-momdom, and was quite content kissing their heads on my way out the door to change the world one child at a time. But then July came. My ability to pastor kids was clearly in question and I began grappling to find my purpose in life.

As began to think and pray, and after a handful of job applications and interviews, God began to show me that my purpose in this season is to put ALL of my effort into raising our four kids to be world changers. That looks different every day. Sometimes it means really deep conversations with Madelyn our 12 year old or prayer with Elyse, our 10 year old. Sometimes it simply means a nutritious lunch for JJ after a morning at Kindergarten, and yesterday it meant taking care of my sick two year old, Norah. A lot of times it's just laughing at jokes, walks to the park, trips to the pumpkin patch or going out for ice cream. Sometimes  it's answering hard questions, opening my bible to show them what God has to say on things, and lately, wiping away tears and calming fears about the future. What it is everyday though, is exactly what God wants for me for this season.

Jason and I are both learning that our identity does not lie in a position at a church. It's in being a child of God and follower of Christ. It means looking for opportunities to serve and share...befriending a neighbor or working hard at whatever we are doing. After 12 1/2 years of full time ministry, we are excited about what God is teaching us in this season. We are attending a great church and soaking in the authenticity of it, sitting in services together for the first time ever, and God is healing our hearts.

For now we do not know what is next. God provided a job for Jason at State Farm Insurance, and I'm going to stay at home with our kids for as long as God makes that possible. We are praying that we do not miss the next step, and we remain wide open to whatever God will do in and through us and our kids. Hard seasons come, and change is tough, but our God is good and is leading us through every day, every step.


With thanks,

Aimee

10 Reasons to Send Your Kids to Kid's Camp

Did you ever get to go to a camp when you were a child/teenager?  I did, and it's some of the best memories of my childhood.  God did some amazing things in my life through camp, and that's why I'm such a believer in it!  This year, as children's ministry staff, we are coordinating our very own Kid's Camp for our Albany First Kid's.  Here are 10 reasons why I think you need to send your kids to camp!

1.  It's a smaller camp (2 churches), so your kids will not get lost in the shuffle.

2.  Our camp will be packed full of actives that do not involve: television, video games, cell phones or computers.

3.  Our theme is "Going for the Gold" and will challenge your child's faith.

4.  The food will be awesome!

5.  We have great crafts & hands on activities planned.

6.  Your kids will make relationships with other kids that will last much longer than their week at camp.

7.  Our nightly chapel services will give your children the opportunity to respond to God in a way that just might change their lives forever.

8.  You can get more done in four days without your child(ren) at home. (You were thinking it, I was just the one to say it!)

9.  We will have a fun team competition that will motivate your kids to relate more, learn more, and give more.

10.  I WANT TO SPEND FOUR DAYS WITH YOUR KIDS!

I know that things are tough financially for a lot of people these days, so if finances are stopping you from registering your kids, please let me know so we can talk about it.  I don't want any of our kids to miss out on on this life changing week!

Summer Update

Wow, I can't believe it's already the second week of July!  As always, here in the world of Children's Ministry at AFA we are staying super busy.

Above you see a picture of me right after the girls made me into a Human Ice Cream Sundae following an intense offering contest during Mega Sports and Ministry Camp.  I am so proud of our kids - they gave a total of $823 to Boys and Girls Missionary Challenge during that week.  Way to go girls eking out a win over the boys!

In addition to our offering contest, tons of amazing ministry happened during the week.  Over 60 volunteers united to bring high quality sports and ministry instruction to our community.  At our camp we offered basketball, soccer, volleyball, football, cheerleading and ministry.

The most important part of the week was the spiritual growth!  Over 50 kids made the decision to trust Jesus with their whole hearts!  All of the kids walked away with the tools to go "Beyond the Gold" in sports and in life, and many learned a HUGE scripture that will stick with them for years to come.

In addition to Mega Sports Camp, we have already had a great time in Discovery Club building derby cars and rockets.  We all gathered on June 24th at our First Annual Family Grand Prix.  In a couple of weeks we'll send our rockets soaring! I've also been busy celebrating our 5th graders, then a few days ago, we several vans full of kids to the Oregon Zoo.  It's been a wild ride!

One thing I don't want anyone to miss out on is our Kid's Camp that is coming up August 1-4.  I don't want anyone to miss out because of funds, so please email, call or Facebook me if that is holding you back.  It's going to be an awesome week that your kiddo will not want to miss!

That about sums up our summer so far - I am so excited about what God is doing, and even more excited to experience the rest of the summer with your kids!

Meals for Missions

We have set a HUMONGOUS goal for our kids this year to meet for BGMC (Boys and Girls Missionary Challenge).  One of the ways that we have broken it down into bite sized pieces for them is to simply say: 1 Quarter = 1 Meal.  You see, we are partnering with Convoy of Hope to feed hungry kids all over the world, and in several different countries, a child can eat a nutritious meal for just .25.  Chances are, if you run into a child that attends Albany First and comes to Clubhouse Live! or Discovery Club, and you were to start this sentence: One quarter equals.... They would respond enthusiastically with: ONE MEAL!

Our latest challenge for our kids is to purchase 5,000 meals by our last night of Mega Sports Camp on June 29th.  (5,000 meals is equal to $1,250).   By putting it in "meal" terms rather than dollar amounts, it makes it more manageable and the kids have grasped the impact that they are making all over the world.

We have given them all sorts of ideas including asking for extra chores at home, cleaning out their room and having a yard sale, a soda can drive & lemonade stand.  The idea is for them to come up with a creative way to make the money and then give it away!

Here's part of their motivation: although I am very certain that purchasing meals for hungry kids is motivation enough :), IF our kids purchase those 5,000 meals, either the girls or boys (depending on who gives the most) will have the opportunity to make ME into a human ice cream Sunday as we wrap up Mega Sports Camp on the 29th.

If you feel compelled to give and help out our Albany First Kids, let me know!

Family Grand Prix

As a Children's Pastor and Mom of four awesome kids, family is a HUGE priority to me.  Not just mine, but yours too!  As we look at all of the things we do at Albany First, one of my main concerns is that we allow adequate opportunity for you and your family to spend time TOGETHER at various events here.

One of those events is coming up very soon:  our First Annual Family Grand Prix!  Last night we started building cars in Discovery Club.  It was so much fun.  I saw everything from a good 'ole fashioned sports car, a Hummer, a pencil, and even a Tootsie Roll.  I can't wait to see the finished products on June 24th.

There are several ways you and your kids can get involved.

• Your kids can enter in the "individual" category
• Your family can enter a car in the "family" category
• Your small group can enter a "small group" car
• Your ministry leader can enter in the "ministry/pastors" category and you can help them!
• You can enter your awesome looking car in the "best in show" category

Don't have kids?  That's okay!  You can still enter a car in one of the above categories, or you can just come out to cheer everyone on, and connect with others.

Our awesome Youth Fine Arts Team will be selling concessions to help raise money for their upcoming trip to Nationals in August.

So...don't miss our First Annual Family Grand Prix on Sunday, June 24th at 5:00pm in the Family Center!

Dealing With Bad Habits

Our kids are getting older, and we have come to the point where we see some bad habits emerging.  About two years ago when my oldest two girls were seven and eight,  I started to realize that I still did a lot for them that other kids were doing for themselves.  Just daily things that they were more than capable of doing for themselves.

Just a few months ago, I noticed a pattern though.  One of them was constantly coming down dressed for school in wrinkled clothes.  After some investigating, I realized that when I gave over the job to them of folding and putting away their laundry, over time they had gotten less and less careful and had begun shoving armfuls of clothes, unfolded into their drawers.  Hence the wrinkles.  I had to go back, reteach them how to put away clothes, helping them to break a bad habit.

One of my kids has been struggling with the habit of nail biting.  She's been doing it for a long time, and the extent of our intervention to this point is, "Hey, ________, stop biting your nails!"  She smiles, nods her head as if to say "got it, Mom" and stops for a few minutes.  We realized though, that her nails were painfully short, and the habit was pretty out of hand.

My awesome sister-in-law who is living with us for a time came up with a solution.  We talked about the yucky stuff you paint on your nails or other methods I have heard about.  In the end though, we knew that this particular kiddo would not respond well to that method.  So, Candice took another angle.  (It helped that the solution did not come from Mom or Dad).  Candice told her that if she grew her nails to her finger tips, she would take her for a girls day and get manicures.  Seriously, that's all it took.  That was about 8 or 9 days ago, and every day our daughter shows us noticeable growth, and it so impressed that Mom was right, and her nails actually have grown quickly.

It won't be long before she's kicked this habit and will proudly show off her new, manicured nails.  All it took was:

1) Recognizing the bad habit
2) Coming up with a solution to breaking the habit that was unique to her personality
3) Providing incentive to break the habit

It's not rocket science, but if we as parents deal with the small, seemingly "harmless" habits now, they won't struggle with them later as adults.  Do you have a good method of dealing with your kids habits?  Leave me a comment and let others learn from you as well!

Obedience

This month in Clubhouse Live! (our weekend service for elementary schoolers) we have been talking about Obedience.  In fact, our Main Points a couple of weeks ago were simply "I Obey God Because I Trust Him," and "I Obey God Because I Love Him."  We made these concepts really easy for your kids to grasp.  There are times when I think it is conveyed to kids unintentionally that "We Obey God Because He is God."  True, maybe?  And while this is probably true to some degree, sometimes we have to break it down a little for our kids.

For instance, on Mother's Day, "I Obey God Because I Trust Him," was our main point.  We talked about how we obey our Mother's because we love them, so why should it be any different with God?  I am hoping that our AFA kids are growing from these teachings, but I always aim to grow myself as I teach kids.

Two weeks ago we attended our annual Network Summit in Salem.  I was really looking forward to the lineup of speakers, and I learned a lot.  While it's easy to just take notes like crazy and have almost none of it sink in, there were a few nuggets that I gleaned from a couple of sessions.  One had to do with obedience.

One of the speakers was Larry Osborne, Pastor of North Coast Church.  He taught a session on discipleship, and I can honestly say, it was nothing like I thought it would be.  Here is his first point:

"Never forget that the ultimate mark of a disciple is  obedience to what we know."

 He said also that "obedience is simple" and that we need to "keep walking the path in front of you doing what you know (is right)."  As I thought through these statements, I realized how simplistic they are, but how sometimes I over complicate things and end result: I fail at the obedience thing.

Think about it:  each day I wake up and ask God before my feet hit the floor, "God, help me to walk the path in front of me and do what I know is right."  I have been living this out the last couple of weeks to the best of my ability.  It has enabled me to obey in some small ways that I really hadn't viewed as disobedience until I really looked that them in their right context.

God has a way every once in awhile of paralleling my Sunday Kids' teachings with what he is teaching me personally.  It's allowed me to walk a biblical path with my kids, knowing that on two very different levels, God is teaching us the same things.