Challenge

"Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up." Deut. 6:5-7

What an enormous task. Or is it? If we are loving God with all of our hearts, souls and strength, doesn't it seem natural that it would be the most talked about thing in our homes? I think about all of the things we talk about over dinner - school, work, the funny thing JJ did today or what we are going to do after dinner. How often are we having those conversations with our kids that are provoking them to think about God and who he is in their lives? They learn a lot at church - I know this for a fact! They have started Junior Bible Quiz and are memorizing Scripture in Missionettes, so I know they are exposed. But, are they "impressed" as it says in verse 7? Are we impressing these things upon their tender hearts?

The challenge to myself today - love God with all of my heart, soul and strength, so that naturally Jesus flows out of my life and is impressed upon my kids hearts. Are you up to the challenge? Let's live out Deuteronomy 6 this week!

4%

I heard recently that of all of the Baby Boomer generation, 40% are aware of God, believe in Him, or have knowledge of Him. If our current generation, the one that I have the privilege of pastoring, keeps walking the path that they are, only 4% will know God. Startling. The same day I heard this statistic, I was reminded that this fact is directly tied to my obedience. I need (as do all of us) to be more aware that I am responsible to rise them up into the knowledge of Jesus Christ and disciple them to be passionate Christ Followers. Pastor Tim said it best Sunday - we want our kids to "love God more than anything!" More than X-Box, Hannah Montana, PS3, Internet, and on and on. We are in a difficult battle today - I imagine even more difficult than ever. Let's be obedient to God's call and rise up and meet the challenge of increasing that 4%! How?

• Pray for them
• Pray WITH them
• Hold them accountable (their time, friends, choices)
• Make church an important part of your families DNA
• Cut back on extra curricular activities that cut into church time

God is our partner in this pursuit; He will bless our obedience in this area. Let's do this!

Launch

Tomorrow morning we are launching 2 new ministry names and logos. I have (alongside a few amazing people) been working all week on a new set for KIDZBLAST, our new Sunday Morning Worship Experience for K-4th graders. Here is our new logo:

We are also launching a new name/logo for our preteen ministry:

Exciting days are ahead for the Kid's at Bethel Church! Beyond new set design, logos and programs, however is the desire to see kid's make a decision to follow Christ for the rest of their lives, grow in their knowledge of Him and excited to share the love of Jesus with their friends. Let's do this!

School Days

Hello Parents. Hopefully by now you have sent your kids (most excitedly I presume!) off to their first day of school. Ours was yesterday, and except for a couple of tears in the midst of confusion, we did fine. (And no, the tears were not mine!).

Something that I want to encourage you to do each day is to pray over your kids. I have begun to see our schools as battlefields lately. Not a physical battlefield of course, but a spiritual one. Some things to pray over your kids...

• Physical safety. It's the first thing on my mind most days. Injury on the playground, exposure to germs...you know what I'm talking about!
• Emotional safety. Kid's can be cruel and say things that hurt.
• That God will guard their hearts. There is so much that kids are exposed to today. Even my first and second grader aren't immune to that.
• For their teachers. They spend 6 hours or more each day with your kids; pray that God will shape the way they teach, and the influence they have. If they're not a Christ Follower, pray for their salvation!
• Good friends. I want the little people who have influence on my kids to be hand chosen by God.
• Their academics. Pray that they stay focused and on task, reaching their full potential as a student.

And rest assured, I will be praying for your kids too. It's going to be a great year!

Enough

We had a harrowing Target experience the other night.  On our way in the store I told the girls if they could be good, they would get a little treat on the way out.  Well, they did a great job behaving and when it came time to check out, they reminded me of my promise. However, they waited until my items were being scanned by the gracious Target employee before running towards the candy.  As they go running, I try to scoop JJ up in my arms and shield him from the whereabouts of his sisters because he loves candy.  I don't mean he is a casual fan of candy.  I mean he LOVES candy, in any shape or form he can get it.  It was very near his bedtime, and I, thinking I'm being a responsible mother denied him.  As the girls go sprinting for the candy, I was able to distract him, until....until Madelyn twisted her ankle in her rush and started screaming at the top of her lungs.  This of course demanded JJ's immediate attention.   As he broke free from me, he realized the object of the girls pursuit....CANDY.  This is all happening while I'm paying (I wasn't about to make the people behind me wait!).  Jason is dealing with Madelyn as I finish up, as I go over and get the Lifesaver gummies out of JJ's hand and grab him kicking and screaming, candyless away from the scene.  I stealthfully one handedly, pay for the girls candy choices and hand them to a limping, still tearful Madelyn.  All the while holding JJ's head far away from my own so that I don't get a fat lip in this amazingly loud, flailing tantrum.   As Jason and I are giving each other the "we will never bring this child in a store, ever, ever again" look, I couldn't help hearing a gentle whisper from God....  

I was thinking and processing the situation as I strapped a still screaming baby boy into his carseat, wondering how many times I have had a reaction like this when I didn't get something that I wanted from God.  See, I knew that the candy tasted good, and of course so did JJ.  He was also aware that his sisters got candy and I know was wondering what was up with that.  But what I understood that he did not, was that it was about to be bedtime, and really, should a 19 month old be eating that junk anyway?? It wasn't good for him, and even though I knew it, he didn't understand. Sometimes I WANT things.  God has reminded me though, lately in fact, that some times enough is....well, enough.  What we want may not be best; it may hurt us in the end rather than benefit us.  JJ won't understand this for awhile, but even though I hate to see my baby boy cry over something that he desperately wanted, I knew best.  I was probably 18 before I fully wrapped my brain around that concept, but what I know now is that God knows best.  He loves us enough to protect us, and sometimes that means protecting us from ourselves, and the desire for things that aren't good for us.

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Camp 2

Friday afternoon I arrived back home after a great week at camp.  We took 21 kids from Bethel, and packed what seemed like a million activities into 5 days.  The theme for the week was Trek West - this year is a major anniversary year of the Oregon Trail.  We played a week long game which at times was really fun, and at times really frustrating, but the kids loved it.  (Nevermind that 2 of the Bethel girls cabins came in last...)  We canoed, fished, learned archery, shot BB guns at the rifle range, made butter, rope, ice cream, t-shirts, whirligigs (google it), went tubbing on a ski boat and went swimming everyday.  Talk about a packed week!  

Even with all of those fun activities, I think the highlight of most of our kids week was the chapel services.  I haven't been in very many services where kids sang so purely at the top of their lungs "Here I am to worship, here I am to bow down, here I am to say that you're my God...."  It was enough to cause all the adults in the room to be reduced to a puddle of tears.  We saw 3 kids from our church filled with the Holy Spirit, 1 called to be a missionary, and 1 called to be a pastor.  Even though I got to pray with every single one of those kids, the highlight for me was when one of our boys from Bethel came up to me and said with tears running down his face "Pastor Aimee, can you pray for me to get closer to God?"  I love it when kids get what it means to be a Christ Follower.  

I didn't get much sleep, and I spent the bulk of the week with 5 pre-teen girls and 1 nine year old that made up my cabin.  I thought I knew everything I needed to know about Hannah Montana and Camp Rock, but apparently, I did not.  In short, it was an amazing week, one that I will not soon forget.  Now, I will be praying that what transpired at camp will keep growing into a deeper love of Christ in these kids.  And that that passion will spread to all of the kids who could not go.   

Camp

Tomorrow I head to Kid's Camp.  I'm leaving my iPhone and MacBook behind, and will be armed with only my Bible, journal and a suitcase full of play clothes (and a few minor necessities)!  I'm looking forward to this week.  I remember how much I looked forward to camp when I was younger.

Tonight I blog mainly to ask those of you who read it to pray for the kids who are heading up on Monday.  That God will work in their lives, and do things that some people think don't happen in the lives of children.  That they will become more passionate Christ Followers, that they will be filled with the Holy Spirit, and when we return, their love for Jesus will spread to all of the other kids who couldn't go.

I'll let you know how it goes!