My Lively Little Stones: May 2010

Monday, May 24, 2010

Jr. Jamboree

What a wonderful day we had Saturday! See this picture?

That is more than half of our regularly attending children between 3-9 (which is the age group this event was directed towards). YAY!! I'll call that a success!

We spent plenty of time on fun and games, fed our little soldiers, and then took them out to battle. You see, we studied about Joshua taking Moses' place as leader of Israel, and how he was able to lead the Jews to do what their forefathers had been to afraid to do; take the promised land.

Deanna, Cindy, and I made paper mache angels (or something the bore a vague resemblance to paper mache angels) to top the ark of the covenant I built (it's amazing what you can do with foam board and duct tape). Anyway, thanks to our hard work we were able to top off out prop.

I also turned a refrigerator box into the walls of Jericho, and Deanna was kind enough to stand inside and hold all four walls up while we prepared our attack.

So as the Lord instructed (well, ok, we used priestesses instead of priests... we were short on priests) we made our attack. "See, I have given Jericho into your hand, with its king and mighty men of valor. You shall march around the city, all the men of war going around the city once. Thus shall you do for six days.Seven priests shall bear seven trumpets of rams' horns before the ark. On the seventh day you shall march around the city seven times, and the priests shall blow the trumpets. And when they make a long blast with the ram's horn, when you hear the sound of the trumpet, then all the people shall shout with a great shout, and the wall of the city will fall down flat, and the people shall go up, everyone straight before him." (Joshua 6:2-5 ESV).

So around...

And around...

And several more times around they went. And then, lo and behold, when they blew there horns....

The walls fell down flat!!

And would you look at that sky! Sure, I picked the stormiest days of the year for the first 2 times we tried to have this even... but Saturday was beautiful. third times the charm, and patience really does pay off. Thank you Lord, for a beautiful and funfilled day!

P.S. Yes, I know the wallpaper on the walls fell prematurely, but I don't care... close enough.

Thursday, May 20, 2010

Just playing around

Here's a little confession: I have no idea what I am doing more than half the time! I love kids, and I want to help the grow up in a close relationship with God. But I am not sure exactly how to do that. While some have degrees in youth ministry, I do not. This is a whole new ball park to me. I am guessing and praying most of the time.

But once in a while, I see something and I get this image in my head, and I know what I have planned is going to be awesomely fun, and I feel like I know what I'm doing. Last week, that image looked something like this:

Now, after seeing what I saw, could you pass up the candy mustaches I found in the candy isle? I didn't think so.

I wish I could say that I found some awesome and clever way to tie this into the Bible lesson we had that night, but I did not. And that's ok. Some times the best way to connect with kids it to just play around and have some fun.

And little guys have no problem doing silly little things like this. They enjoyed it just as much as I did. They have asked me for another one every time they have seen me since (and I live with 3 of them).

The Big guys on the other hand, they just give you a look like this when you ask:

Well... not all of the big kids.

P.S. Stay tuned for the Jr. Jamboree Post, it should be awesome.

Precious Gems

Let me explain this blog for you. It is based on the passage above, and the way I perceive my youth group.

Few people appreciate young people the way that they should. They are like many people who seeing an unfinished diamond or other precious stone think it nothing more than your average, everyday pebble and cast it aside. They don't recognize the great treasure that is within their grasp and they let it slip away. I'm no better, only different. I have trouble, at times, seeing past the problems, habits, and less than attractive attributes of those who count themselves as set in their ways. When I look at a child I can only see the potential.

When I was 5 or so years old, my grandfathers were my favorite people. My mother's father was a rock collector, or at least a rock lover. I would bring him all the amazing finds of the day and ask to put them in his rock polisher. He would often inform me that what I had found was glass, fools gold, gravel, flint, slate, or some other worthless thing. He meant no harm by this, he simply knew his rocks, and he taught me how to better recognize the worth of a stone. I am still that same kid, I see the beauty in the glass, pyrite, and gravel of the human variety... but you know what? With children, telling them that their worth something often raises their market value. I think I have gotten pretty good at spotting the gems (not that I really ever toss any rocks out). I believe I am learning to see each child as the Lord sees them, precious.

It helps that I have been blessed with an exceptionally good and godly youth group. These guys make up my joy and prove my labor in the Lord is not for nothing. They give me so much more than I could ever give in return, and I want them to have the recognition they deserve. So youth, if you are reading this, think of this blog as a display case to help more people to be able to see you shine. I love you dearly... and even with you guys not here I'm still tearing up the way I would if I tried to tell you this in person. God help me.