Heaven Rejoices!

It all started around VBS time.  Joey was asking questions and was interested but the time wasn't right.  He wasn't quite ready. 

It wasn't over though.  The Holy Spirit was working. 

Fast forward to last week.  I walk into my Awana class and find 5 eager boys.  We talked about their day, prayed, and settled in to memorize some Scripture.  Immediately Joey comes to me and says, "Ms Sandy, I want to pray and ask Jesus into my life. " 

Really?  We weren't even talking about that!  It was apparent that it was something he'd been thinking about. 

I remembered some of his issues from the summer so I asked him some questions to make sure he understood what he asking.   It was clear that he did and we prayed. 

Before the excitement even had a chance to sink in, I had 2 other boys asking the same thing! 

Whoa!  Red light. 

These boys have been with me long enough to have the right answers.  They knew what to say when the questions were asked.  Unfortunately I did not.   I really didn't know what to think.  On the one hand I've been surprised that they haven't made this decision before now.  On the other, I didn't want them jumping the gun just following their friend.   Are they sincere?  Do they know the truth in their hearts?  Or just the head knowledge? 

This is where it gets a little crazy.  In walks Misty.  Perfect timing!  She helps me talk to them and asks George to talk to Cole.  Cole leaves and the door opens again.  My oldest son pops his head in to say that things are not going so well with little LJ.  So now Cole and Caleb each have someone talking to them and I slip out to see if I can help with LJ. 

I never should've left. 

Not only was I unable to help LJ, but by the time I got back I had MISSED my opportunity to pray with Caleb!  Epic failure.  Awwwwww .   Of all my boys I would've loved to pray with Caleb or MJ.     And I hate that I missed out on something so important with him. 

But....  I am super excited for these guys and look forward to helping them grow in their relationships with God.  

Heaven rejoices!  And so does a 3rd grade Awana teacher.

Awana Night Tonight!

Did you know it is fund raising week in the public schools?  Yup.  Cookie dough sales.  And I'm $42 poorer since several of my kiddos go to the same school.  Summit campers will have lots of cookies this summer! 

I had a new guy in 3rd grade tonight.  He came in just as we were getting ready to pray so I asked him if he had anything he'd like us to pray about.  He said he wanted to pray that his cousin's dad would come back. 
So I did.  And I asked God to help him to make a good decision to go back home to his family. 

When I was done, Corry said "No, he DIED." 

Oh. So what exactly was I supposed to pray about again?  I still haven't figured it out.

I had a guy that was causing a little trouble.  Nothing big.  Just picking at the other boys and making the night a bit harder.  So we had a talk about being a peace maker vs a trouble maker.  Joey immediately spoke up to talk about something called Moses The Peace Maker and something he learned about that.  Next Caleb raised his hand to add something about Moses The Peace Maker. 

So I said, "Wait.  What's Moses The Peace Maker?"  I figured it was some movie they saw. 

But no.  It was the Bible club lesson that a couple of the IBC folks go and teach to the kids at the apt where they live.  Joey went on to say how much fun they had and they even got to eat cupcakes. 

These guys are learning and I'm so thankful for the folks who invest in them. 

Caleb had a lot of work tonight in his book.  Some fill-in-the-blank work and looking up Scripture.  We looked up 2 Timothy 3:16 and talked about 4 reasons the Bible is profitable with the rest of the class. 
I looked over the work he had completed earlier and saw that one of the questions was "Who was the person that told you about Jesus?" And guess what?   It was ME!!

Joy unspeakable.  I'm so thankful to be there.

The Flesh And The Spirit

This morning I read, "we regard no one according to the flesh".  2 Cor 5:16

I immediately thought of a little boy in my son's Awana class that has been totally out of control.  Extremely hard to deal with and requiring tag team attention.  I confess that my regard toward him has been according to the flesh...how he behaves, how he affects others, and how did he get this way. 

But how does Jesus see him?  As precious.  As a soul created and longing for love.  And let me tell you, this little guy is longing for love and attention. 

I was struck with the realization this morning that we have been entrusted with the message of reconciliation for this kid (and others).  

"All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. " 2 Cor 5:18-19

Entrusting to us (me, my family, you, the church) the mystery of the love of God that desires that none be lost but that all come to repentance.  And then......

"If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation.  The old has passed away; behold the new has come."  v.17

God has placed him....and so many others....in our lives and given us the work to be faithful ambassadors for Christ with God making his appeal through us.

I am praying for this little guy this morning.  Praying that the Christians in his life will be faithful and patient and look beyond the flesh that is screaming for love.  Praying that God will meet his physical and spiritual needs.  Praying that the voice of Christ will quiet the other noises and that through a miracle that I won't understand the seed we scatter will fall on good soil. 

Awana Last Night

The last one of the year. 

1/2 the Awana year over already!  And I don't feel like I've accomplished a whole lot with my classes.  Gotta get busy next year!

Last night we did something different.  The Pre-K through 6 grade bunch did a craft making hot chocolate.  I loved this idea, but I couldn't imagine how we could make it work with measuring all those powdery ingredients.  We would still be there cleaning up the mess!  But Misty's great idea of buying the packets and let them pour them in was just the thing.  Sometimes I forget you can buy that kinda thing in the store. 

Have you seen the What God Wants For Christmas kit?  I got to borrow this to tell the Christmas story in a different way.  I need to get one of these for my own kiddos.

I'm missing Big Boy.  It's been a few weeks since he's been there and last night his sister said he was sick. 
I'm hoping he'll make it for movie night on the 28th.   And btw, where was MJ and Desiree? 

Caleb gave me a sweet present.  A picture of himself with Santa.  I love that boy.  He has such a pleasant and funny personality.  I have a cork board in my bathroom with pix of some of my Awana kids and now I have a new one to add. 

At the beginning of December I asked my class if they had their Christmas tree set up.  Matter-of-factly Caleb told me that he doesn't get to decorate Christmas trees b/c they don't have one. 

Why did this bother me so much?  I know that Christmas trees are not the biggest deal in the world.  But to think that he and Hayden did not have one made me so sad for them.  And my first response is to want to fix it.  Like how much could a little Christmas tree cost anyway?  But at the same time I knew that wasn't the answer. 

Last week in class the first thing Caleb told me was that he already had a present under his Christmas tree. 
Wha???  Christmas tree?  He went on to say that they are getting to borrow one this year and they got to decorate it! 

How I rejoiced in the sweetness of God!  Because seriously...what does it matter?  But for some reason it mattered to me and God knew it.  And I am overcome with thankfulness.  Not just for one boy's Christmas tree...but for the tenderness of the Lord.  For His great mercies.  And for the small part He lets me play in loving these kids. 

Awana!

Where did all these new kiddos come from??  I don't know...but I hope they come back!

We started off with some great music and a couple of new songs.  And even though our super sexy worship leader had a raspy throat, I don't think he could've sounded better!

Some of my own little cutsies had a front row seat. 

Mr. Cool.

Take a look at these super smart 2nd graders.  LB took out the seasoned Awana kids who had books and I stayed with all the newbies.  Love love LOVE this stage where everyone is all at the same place.  That means I had a whole entire class period to tell these guys about Jesus and heaven and how to get there and why they should care.  We talked about how God loved them even before they were born and how He loves them forever and always.  Freedom!  And I feel so privileged to think that maybe...just maybe..God is using me ME! to tell them this for the first time.  So blessed. 

Recognize these guys?   My little prayer partners who pray for grades and grandmas and talk about what Big Boy spent all his money on this week.   They get so excited about telling me what happened to them every week.  It's cute.  Tonight's focus was what it means to fall short of the glory of God. 

Dinner was beef hot dogs, chips, pickles, and bananas...and there's always enough no matter how many mouths there are.  That always amazes me. 

And of course the drive home is full of lively chatter as my older kids tell about the kids in their classes and what happened in games. 

Thank you God for Awana nights!

IBC Block Party

Oh just look at the fun!!  Certainly the best thing of my week seeing as how I had to miss Awana and all.

My kids had a blast!  All except Meg who had to miss b/c she was sick.  :-(

My family playing music in the gazebo.  Jes is in the back on the drums.  He loves playing drums but was worried  he'd be there the whole time and not get to do any of the games.   It got too dark to play around 7pm and he was set free to enjoy the rest of the party.  And since he's a kid that likes all things party related, he had a super fun time.

LB face painting.  This was supposed to be Meg's job but when she got sick LB had to take her place.  Even though it was her first time, you'd never know.   Spiders, rainbows, crosses, all sorts of cute faces walking around.  She was busy all night with a continuous line of kiddos. 

My girl Desiree.  Pretty pretty!  She reminds me of my own little Bird a few years down the road.

Precious!  Love my IBC friends!  Hotdogs, chips, and lemonade.  Delish!

Funny picture?  My kids asked where they were supposed to keep their treat bags when they jumped on the bounce around.  I told them to set them flat on the ground and put their shoes on top of it.  I didn't think about it again until I went to check on them and this is what I saw.  So I had to take a picture to show their daddy how they followed directions so well.  

My guys Hayden and MJ.  Lookin good fellas! 

T'was a great night!

Another Great Night At Awana

And I forgot to take any pix.  I haven't taken pix of them in a long time, huh?  That's ok you know what they look like. 

Besides it was super busy with the Spears being gone AND it was pretty much a full house.  

We started the night with a couple more songs than usual w/Damian shaking the egg.  Then Honey was going to pick someone else and he said "Raise your hand if your name starts with M".  A couple of hands went up.  "Keep your hand raised if your 2nd letter is J". 

And MJ huffed and put his hand down!  M.....J.....he didn't get it.  But then he was thrilled when he finally caught on.  He shook the egg.  Upside down. 

In my 2nd grade class we talked about Vincent's verse..."Even a child is known by his actions, by whether his conduct is pure and right."   And how are you known when someone says your name? 

Emily passed off her start zone.  (She's so quiet and sweet.) 
And Hayden practiced all of Psalm 23 while doing jumping jacks. 
Vincent decided to run his mouth when it wasn't his turn but a sideways look sent him to the floor for push ups.  It's my usual consequence for talking.  But it was cute that he did it without me telling him! 

Third Grade ...6 boys and....A GIRL!!  Yup, you read it right.  Shakira graced the room that has only seen boys for about a year now.   So we had a talk to remind the boys of how to act when we have a girl.  The girl always goes first.  And she is always the line leader.  Or she would be, if we could ever form a decent line.  I hafta say they were super good to her.  And I think she liked it.  She passed off John 3:16 and I really hope she comes back! 

We prayed for sick grandpas and better grades.  It's the first time that I can remember that we didn't pray for someone's dog or hamster.   In both classes we prayed about bullies for the first time.  I don't know if that's the new buzz word in elementary school or if that's really an issue. 

Dinner was corn dogs and carrots and Ms. Joy told me not to give them raisins anymore b/c they were spilling them all over the floor.  Oh well.  I'm out anyway. 

It was another good night. 

AWANA Last Night!

It was a terrific night last night.  This year I have Vincent in my 2nd grade class.  He didn't have a way to iron/sew on his patches to his vest last week so I took it home with me.  LB sewed them on for him and he was SOOOO thankful.   He was just gushing his thanks to her at dinner.  It was sweet. 

I've noticed a lot of growth in him this year.  Both he and Cole seemed to have matured quite a bit over the summer.   And when I had the opportunity to tell them how to be saved, he looked into my eyes with full attention.  I don't think I would've gotten that last year. 

Desiree is precious!!  She is just genuinely happy to be there.  When I asked her what I could pray for, she said to pray that she'll get to come back next week!  I got to meet her mom at dinner and I asked her if she needed help with her patches b/c they don't have an iron.  She told me that it might be hard to get the vest away from Desiree b/c she loves it so much!  

 

Look at these hard workers!  MJ finished his whole start zone and then helped Caleb to finish his.  Know what that means?  Next week they'll all have their shirts and books!!  Way to go boys!

Speaking of shirts.  How handsome is BigBoy in his new T&T duds?  I'm super proud of this guy. 

At the end of their start zones it says to tell what it means to trust Christ.  I felt like they could probably do this pretty well since we talked about it so much last year.   When I had Caleb tell me, we hit a bit of a snag.

He said you have a "pretty good chance" of going to heaven if you trust the work of Christ.   While it's cute, it's wrong.  So I had the great opportunity of clearing that up for him.  I'm glad they asked that question.  And we'll certainly talk about it more (as a class) next week.

Dinner was chicken nuggets, chips, and carrots.   Vincent came up to me at dinner and said his face was itching.  Well, I blew him off and told him I thought he'd be fine and it was almost time to go home anyway. 

Getting no help from me, he went to Lane who was far more sensitive to him.   She took him and washed his face all over.  Later she told me she thought his face was breaking out with something. (???)  

I hate that I was so insensitive and blew him off like that.  I certainly missed a blessing to serve him.  I'm really glad Lane was there and handled it better than I did.  

 

Awana Night 2

Last week was CRAZY.  And I've been a little concerned wondering how the year was going to go and just what happened to my sweet boys to make them lose their minds.  But this week??  WOW what a change!  My sweeties are back.  They were quiet, well behaved, and ready to work.  I was so blessed and told them over and over again.

This week we prayed for Cole's hamster's broken leg and Squirtle the turtle who dried up and died. 

Everyone was working through their start zones and passing off Verses left and right. 

Look who's back!!  He didn't come last week and I was really hoping he hadn't moved again.  I tell ya, this kid is special. 

And girls!  Hey, maybe that's why my boys were so good.(?) 

And my 2nd grade class was precious.  My new girl, Desiree, is so excited about church and coming to Awana.   She's like a sponge soaking up all she's learning. 

Tonight we had an extra treat.  My man led worship for everyone before we got started.   Of course I love to hear him play and sing. 

It's going to be a great year! 

1st Night Of Awana

Here's my new class of 3rd graders.  7 boys that grew up SOOOO much during the summer!  Really I can't believe the difference in them in only a few months.  And as you can see it was a bit wild and crazy.  But I think that's mostly b/c it was the first night.  I don't think it will take us long at all to find our new groove.  Everybody's working out of new books, earning totally different awards, and learning new stuff. 

And wow!  there is such a different dynamic.  My head was spinning a bit by the end of the night.  And it was easy to see that what used to work for my 2nd graders will not fly for these (same) 3rd graders.  But that's ok.  It's good for me to grow and adjust and I'm looking forward to being stretched. 

I had one newbie that fit right in and said the best part of his whole day was meeting 2 new friends that were in class.  Huh, that was my best part of the day too. 

Nick was back.  :-D  But not BigBoy or Shadiamond.  :-( 

The thought occurred to me of how blessed I am to be privileged to watch God work this year.  I'm so thankful to be a part of it.

Dinner!  And have I mentioned before that there's always enough?  Even though you never know how many will come?  Ms. Joy told me tonight that they were NOT expecting that many.  But there was still more than plenty. 

One of my new faves.  (Is it ok if I say that?)  Hayden is in my little 2nd grade class this year.  His brother is in my 3rd grade one.  There are 4 cutsie 2nd graders including 2 princess girls.  GIRLS?  In MY class??  Love it. 

There were so many kids tonight.  Lots of new kids in every class it seemed.  New workers even! 

My oldest son has 4 little bitties in his PreK class and loved it.  Meg is working with the youth.  Lane is in games with E.  LB is all over the place helping out wherever she's needed. 

I think it'll be a great year!