The Latest

I can't believe it's been almost 3 months since I blogged.  However, I will not write a whole paragraph about what has stopped me.  I'm just going to give updates!

I would have to say that Jason and I, and our family are in the busiest season of our lives so far.  There are amazing things happening at our church, and at home 4 kids - one being an infant; well, it just keeps life interesting to say the least!

We have had lots of great things happening in our Children's Ministries at AFA.  Early in September we launched (or re-launched) Junior Bible Quiz.  I had a huge response from parents and kids that blew my socks off.  I waffled back and forth at starting it or not, knowing I did not have the time to add something.  BUT, God kept whispering to my spirit that His Word was more important than my agenda.  Last Saturday I was able to take some of those kids up to Portland to experience their first Tournament, and now they are stoked about the rest of the season!

On Sept. 25th we started Kid's Choir, and have begun practicing for our Christmas Musical in December.  I am so blessed to have leaders and an army of Choir Moms that are helping out.  It's going to be a great musical, and a fun way to teach our kids about ministry.

THE biggest change we have made in the recent days/weeks is the Grand Opening of "The Clubhouse" (formerly Small World).  The Clubhouse is our children's building where now for the first time EVER you can drop all of your kids, birth through 5th grade off on Sunday mornings in ONE place.  We have painted, re-carpeted, installed new flooring, moved counters, added counters, added decor, created new logos, put in a new security system, fired up the check in system, and a few minor things as well.  I am still recovering from the excitement of the weekend, and looking forward to settling in to our new home in the Clubhouse where Clubhouse Live!, Clubhouse Jr, and Baby Clubhouse will meet every Sunday.

I am seeing God do amazing things.  At the heart of it all, I believe God is calling all of our leadership to deepen our walk with Him, so that as we disciple our kids we do it with our lives, just not with our words.

I am looking forward to what lies ahead with great expectancy!

More of the Bible

God placed something heavy upon my heart on Sunday. It was a busier day than normal for me; I was doing an announcement in both of our morning Adult Services, had extra things to set up Sunday morning for Kid's Church, and had to do some games for the families at our afternoon church picnic. I was also going to teach Sunday School to the 5th graders too, until Jason took that off my plate. But in the midst of all that running around, God spoke something very specific to me during Worship in our 2nd service. Our kids need to be in the Word. Now, that's obvious I know, but guess what? Our kids are not reading their Bibles. They are not bringing them to church. So I quickly jotted down 5 things:

• I need to hold my Bible every time I speak to the kids in Kid's Church so they know that the Words I am saying come straight out of God's Word.
• I am going to give kids incentives for bringing their Bibles to church with them. Yes, for awhile they will bring it to get candy, but soon they will bring it because it's habit, and they want to.
• I need to get some Bibles for kids who don't have any.
• We are going to do "Sword Drills" (old school, I know) in Kid's Church to help kids learn how to find Scripture references in the Bible.
• I am going to put together a School Year Bible Reading Plan so that kids will establish a daily habit of reading. Yes, I will give prizes, but again - it will develop a good, lifelong habit.

The Word of God needs to be central in everything we do in Children's Ministry, and I'm committed to that, and encouraging kids to make it a lifelong habit - something that becomes second nature to them; something they cannot live without.

Teaching our Kids about Temptation

This weekend, Jason and I finally got around to watching Chronicles of Narnia, Voyage of the Dawn Treader. Obviously the themes in the Chronicles books and movies go way beyond entertainment; but I thought that the theme in this last movie was so obvious and compelling. Throughout the movie, there is a green mist, or fog that represents temptation for the characters to do something - seek beauty, fame, fortune...things that we all can relate to. It has caused me to think the last couple of days since I watched it - How does that apply to me, and how can I help my kids apply this?

My thought was, how often we discipline our kids for things that they have done as a result of a poor decision, or disobedience. This led to my next thought: If we took a little bit more time to teach our kids about what temptation actually looked like - would they be able to make better decisions, and turn from that kind of behavior? We all know our pal Jiminy Cricket, and have taught our kids about how we all have a conscience, but do we really teach them that they WILL be tempted, and how we can turn from that temptation? It could be anything - temptation to lie, steal, outright disobey....we often punish the behavior without going back to the root where it started - with temptation.

I know I am more motivated to talk these things out with my kids, and remind them that there is always that little window of opportunity to walk away from temptation and make the right choice.

Pastor Frank's message yesterday put an exclamation point on all of these thoughts - check it out at www.albanyfirstassembly.org

This Sunday in Kid's Church

We've been learning about Joshua in Kid's Church for the past several weeks, and this Sunday we'll be tackling the story of Jericho. As I have been reading through the story in Joshua 6, I was reminded that too often we settle with just telling the kids the story. I'm sure most of our kids can regurgitate the story of Jericho. I'm also sure that the story was meant for so much more than "Joshua fought the battle of Jericho, Jericho, Jericho....Joshua fought the battle of Jericho, and the walls came tumbling down..." There is so much more to this story!

This week in Kid's Church, I'll be telling the kids about Jericho, but then going a bit deeper so that they can learn and understand WHY God told us this story in His Word. A couple of those truths are...*"I can trust God's instructions!" and "Even when it doesn't make sense, I can trust God completely."

I pray that Sunday our Kid's walk away with a new perspective on this commonly taught story. We will probably make a lot of noise in the process!

*I use an awesome curriculum, High Voltage - www.highvoltage-kids.com

For the Mamas

Sometimes when life is busy, you have to be really intentional about slowing it down. The last 3 months are so have probably been some of the most stressful I have experienced. I'm not one to use the word "stress" flippantly, because I am able to handle quite a bit in life without getting "stressed out." One thing I have discovered lately though, is working full time with an infant opens me up to empathize with a whole new crop of people; namely, working moms. Of course I have been a full time working mom for a couple of years, but throwing a newborn into the mix is a whole new ball of wax!

I am very passionate about my "job." I put the work job in quotation marks because I still can hardly believe I get paid to do what I have aspired to do all my life; and that is be in full time ministry! However, lately, I can easily skip over the little things in life because I can easily measure success by if the kids are fed, bathed, clothed...if my to-do list at church is checked off, if the bill are paid, and if I can do all of this having slept at least 5 hours.

Last night I made the decision to not put Norah in the nursery. After a busy day of ministry, I decided to hold her during Worship. After Worship I took her out to feed her, then instead of checking her into the Nursery, intentionally held her in the foyer while Pastor Frank wrapped up his sermon. While I sat on the couch out there, I talked to Norah and got some big smiles. She gave me a couple of little coos, as if she was engaging me in conversation. That little bit of alone time with her was something I stopped and consciously chose to do, and am so glad I did: It refreshed my mama's heart.

I know that most of you Mom's, if you work, have much different jobs than I do. Or maybe you stay at home with your kids. Either way, you are busy. Remember to let yourself stop and catch your breath, and enjoy the things around you. Even if the thing you stop to enjoy is the very thing that keeps you super busy!

New

I'm at a new church, with new kids, new ministries, and new parents. I have been thinking about what direction I want this blog to go in...for now, I'm just going to use it to talk about what is going on at Albany First, and of course throw in an experience from my family here and there. So, you ask, how is that different? It's not. Not at all actually. This is just my commitment to be a better blogger, or at least to actually blog. What a concept, huh?

If you are an Albany First parent, or just attend here and like to follow what's going on, I'll be talking a lot about what I feel God is telling me about where we are going to take our kids over the next months and years. I am so excited for what he is going to do in and through our kids!

And to my lovely family (grandma, aunts, cousins, etc) who follow just because you love me...I'll try to keep it interesting!

Season of change

The last couple of months have been a whirlwind. I don't think I really appreciated two months ago the magnitude of the journey we were about to embark on. Online I found a list of life's most stressful events, and you score yourself to find what your stress level is. Not surprisingly, the addition of Norah Grace, two moves, and new jobs for myself and Jason puts us in the Moderate to High Stress Level category.

But...this is life. All of these things that have taken place have been fantastic things. But fantastic things don't always come easy. Take, for instance, the birth of a baby. Such an amazing gift, but wow, sure doesn't come easy for us ladies. Then there is moving. Eek. Packing, moving, unpacking...having a newborn made that process doubly hard. But now we have a great house that our whole family fits nicely into, and the kids love. Lastly, new jobs. Again like giving birth, the end result is amazing, but you have to step across a threshold of insecurities. For me, those insecurities lie in the fact that I can be a little introverted. Meeting and getting to know new staff and a church full of new faces can be tough. But just a few short weeks later, I feel incredibly welcome, and very much a part of this new staff and church family.

I'm not sure why exactly God chose this timing to move us like He did. It sure would've been easier a few months ago, or maybe a few months from now. It doesn't make a lot of sense to me, but then again, that's what I love about God. He takes the situations that we deem impossible, and not only makes them possible, but makes them seem like just another normal day in the life of the Peter's.

On a side note...thank you for those of you who prayed for Norah the last 3 weeks. She had some trouble gaining weight in the beginning, but has overcome that and is starting to look nice and chubby.