Pray Like Jesus

Our church is embarking on a summer series called "Pray Like Jesus," and we are anticipating some wonderful fruit to come from this time together learning to pray in the same way that Jesus instructed His disciples. Parents at MSBC, here is some information you will need to know as we dive into this time together:

• Have each of your children bring a single subject notebook or drawing tablet along with crayons/colored pencils each week. (It would be fun if you made it “dedicated” for the summer series. I’ve attached the logo for the series, in case you’d like to also incorporate that in some way.) Each week the kids will be given an “assignment” to do during the message portion of the service which will be incorporated into the following week’s service. Be sure to come for all the details!
• Each month, our Sunday school has committed to $40 in support for the girls at Strong Tower Orphanage. We will still be collecting that offering during the summer. If you have anything to contribute, place that offering in an envelope marked “Sunday School STO” and it will get to the right place!
• We will be having communion on July 7th. Sometime this week, I encourage you to have a conversation with your child about what communion is all about. This blog post will help you with some ideas on how to have that conversation: http://shootsnrootsministry.blogspot.com/2013/01/kids-and-communion.html

Above all else, my prayer is that through this series you will find wonderful opportunities to talk with your children about prayer, to actually have great encounters of prayer with your family, and to continue to train your children in the way they should go.

Living the Thanksgiving

It's Thanksgiving week! The time of year we are especially mindful of all the many reasons we have to be thankful. I was challenged in church this morning to consider what I'm thankful for that doesn't fall into the "stuff" category...think "spiritual blessings". Those should be my first and foremost reasons for giving thanks, but they don't tend to be my default thanksgiving mode. I want to change that...I want to Jesus to be my portion, my all in all, the main reason for my thanks.

I've recently been struck by Paul's words in Colossians 4:2, "Continue earnestly in prayer, being vigilant in it with thanksgiving." Did you catch that word "vigilant"? Vigilant means watchful, alert, awake. My prayers should be alert with thanksgiving, watchful for where my thanks can be turned to God...neat picture isn't it? 

A couple of years ago, I read Ann Voskamp's book 1,000 Gifts, and it changed the way I look at giving thanks. As a result of her book, I started my own "1,000 Gifts" thanksgiving journal...carrying it with me and jotting down "gifts" that I noticed from God throughout my day. I started living the thanksgiving, and it was GOOD! My eyes were less focused on ME and more focused on HIM...I decreased, and He increased. I am purposing to get back into that routine again, because it was truly transformational for me.

So why do I tell you all this? As parents, care givers, anyone with an influence in the lives of young people, seek opportunities to help them turn their eyes to the Lord and off of themselves. We are in a culture saturated with slogans, media, and music that encourages and practically celebrates narcissism...look at me! We need to continually train ourselves to look at the Lord.

One way we're doing that is through our Sunday school classes. Each month, we will be helping support the orphan girls who will be housed in Strong Tower Orphanage in Caracol, Haiti. It's a privilege and joy to partner to build this orphanage and now to have the opportunity to provide basic living necessities for the girls who will call it their home. A great way to weekly turn our kids' attention to others and to remind them that the world is bigger than what they see in the mirror!