The Narnia Code - A Review

As a huge fan of the Chronicles of Narnia series

by C.S. Lewis, I was excited to watch the DVD "The Narnia Code." In this documentary, Michael Ward shares his theory on a third layer of the Narnia series underneath the layers of fairytale and biblical parallels that includes medieval cosmology and spiritual symbolism. The part that I enjoyed the most was the bit of biography of C.S. Lewis included at the beginning. It was fascinating to hear the story of his friendship with J.R.R. Tolkien and his conversion from atheism to Christianity.

You can find out more about The Narnia Code DVD and the book that it is based on here:

http://narniacode.com/

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received one or more of the products or services mentioned above for free in the hope that I would mention it on my blog. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commision's 16 CFR, Part 255" "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising."

Along the Way

As I begin this new adventure in children's ministry, I am so excited to lead the 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade girls in KidzPlayce at The Gathering. These Thursday posts are part of my journey along the way.

When we met for our KidzPlayce team meeting a few Sundays ago, I was reminded of something very important as I shared about what God has been doing in my small group girls.

Celebrating the wins is essential to what we do.

Here are a few reasons why I believe this:

• Sharing about the things that are working gives others ideas on what might work for them in their groups as well.
• Sharing about the kids who are getting it gives encouragement to others who are wondering if their kids are too.
• Sharing about the wonderful things that God is doing in the kids helps everyone remember why we do what we do each week.

Take the time to celebrate the wins, from the small to the big as each is an incredible step for these kids in building a relationship with a God who loves them.

What are you doing to celebrate the wins with your team? What are some of the wins you are celebrating today?

What I'm Reading

Today I am starting a new series on Wednesdays that will give me an opportunity to share what I am reading. This may vary from week to week as I tend to read multiple books at a time.

Right now I am reading:

7 Practices of Effective Ministry by Andy Stanley

Crazy Love by Francis Chan

Collaborate: Family + Church by Michael Chanley

I have read both Crazy Love and Collaborate before, but am re-reading them both. I am reading Crazy Love with my Saturday morning sisters and am really enjoying the conversations that are happening. Collaborate is one of those books that you get something new from everytime you read it. With it being a collection of 35 authors, it is like a conference in a book. Love it! I am a huge fan of Andy Stanley as I listen to his leadership podcasts on a regular basis. 7 Practices of Effective Ministry is different in the fact that the beginning of the book is a fictional story of a pastor and a man who is giving him some really great advice. I am really enjoying this book too.

What are you reading right now?

Tuesday Tunes

I love what Kids on the Move is doing and just had to share one of their worship songs.

The fantastic thing is that Church on the Move offers all of their original music and videos for children's ministry for free on their website here:

Kids on the Move - Resources

How cool is that?



Missions Monday

It's time for Missions Monday.

Every Monday I will introduce you to some great charities that you and your family can get involved in. When I say get involved, I mean you can donate your money, time, and/or pray for these organizations who are doing amazing things to help people.

Today I would like to introduce you to

Convoy of Hope.

Convoy of Hope delivers much-needed food, supplies and hope to the impoverished and suffering. They feed more than 49,000 children in El Salvador, Haiti, Kenya, Nicaragua and the Philippines. They also provide good nutrition, clean and safe drinking water, instruction on agricultural techniques, healthy living environments and education.

You can go to Convoy of Hope's YouTube Channel for updates on the work they are doing in Haiti.

You can go to their website here:
Convoy of Hope - Webpage.
Connect with them via Facebook here:
Convoy of Hope - Facebook
and on Twitter here:
Convoy of Hope - Twitter.

Thinking of Mary

"Do you ever wonder how we will know when He is more than a child? Will it be something He says? A look in His eye?" -Mary ("The Nativity Story")

As Christmas approaches, I have been thinking alot about Mary.

As expectant mothers, we all had our own share of anxieties, concerns, and doubts. Now add the fact that Mary was the mother of the Savior of the world. How is that for some added pressure?

Was she nervous about the delivery? Did she realize that Joseph would be the one to deliver Him? How overwhelming was it when the shepherds and wise men came unexpectedly? That was just the beginning.

Once everyone else went to sleep that night, did she stay up wondering how in world was she going to raise the Messiah? Did she think about years down the road?

The mother in me has always been drawn to her and what life must have been like for her. How wonderful and yet difficult at the same time.

During this time of year, I am joyously celebrating the birth of Jesus and also the life of His mother. What an incredible story of faith and love for God!

Missions Monday

It's time for Missions Monday.

Every Monday I will introduce you to some great charities that you and your family can get involved in. When I say get involved, I mean you can donate your money, time, and/or pray for these organizations who are doing amazing things to help people.

After reading an incredible post from Chad Swanzy (A Charge to All Youth Pastors), I knew I had to introduce you to YoungLives.

Here is just a bit about it from their website:

Teen moms face many challenges because they are truly living in two worlds. They have the desire to be a teenager, yet have all the responsibilities required of motherhood. They feel alone, and often are abandoned by the significant people in their lives once their child is born.

The world sees a teen mom and her child. We see a girl who needs Jesus. YoungLives is about loving teen moms in the midst of the circumstances they're in - no matter what they are. Because we've experienced mercy, compassion and grace through a relationship with Christ, we desire to love teen moms in the condition they come to us.

 Here are a few ways that you can get involved:

Mentor

Being a mentor means loving a teen mom right where she's at in her life... becoming a trusted friend who models Christ's unconditional love and shows her what life is like when you are walking with Christ. Teen moms need women to help them have hope and look forward to a future for themselves and their children.

Donor

Young Life relies on support from faithful donors to provide for the needs of teen moms. Your financial partnership ensures the ministry's growth and allows us to continue the work of investing in the lives of teen moms.

Childcare

Quality childcare is provided at YoungLives club and other events so that teen moms are able to develop relationships and have some time away. This is an opportunity to invest in the growth and development of YoungLives children.

You can find out more about YoungLives here:

http://www.younglife.org/YoungLives

For Generations To Come from chad swanzy on Vimeo.

Along the Way



As I begin this new adventure in children's ministry, I am so excited to lead the 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade girls in KidzPlayce at The Gathering. These Thursday posts are part of my journey along the way.

The KidzPlayce kids were fantastic this past weekend. They put on a program called "Glory to God in the Highest" and blew everyone away. These kids are such a blessing to all of us!

Here are a couple of pics from the program:

Celebrating Christmas with What's in the Bible?

In the Beginning DVD Winners

The winners of the DVDs are Brett and Cindy, AnyThinking, Christy Williams, and Angela!

Please email me at kiddes92@aol.com with your mailing address to receive your copy of What's in the Bible? "In the Beginning."

Don't forget to check out What's in the Bible? 

for all of the 12 Questions of Christmas videos!

Thanks so much to everyone for entering and have a very Merry Christmas!

Tuesday Tunes

Love TobyMac!



Missions Monday

It's time for Missions Monday.

Every Monday I will introduce you to some great charities that you and your family can get involved in. When I say get involved, I mean you can donate your money, time, and/or pray for these organizations who are doing amazing things to help people.

Today I would like to introduce you to Pray for Hope.

From the website:

Our mission is to educate, empower, and mobilize millions to pray on behalf of the poor and suffering.

In order to accomplish our mission, we are committed to:

•Producing Christ-centered, Biblically-based resources that inspire and mobilize people to pray for the poor and suffering.


•Providing opportunities that integrate acts of compassion with prayer for the needy.


•Building a network that includes various prayer movements, compassion ministries, mission organizations, campus and youth ministries, denominations, local churches, businesses, and individuals united in prayer for those in poverty.

You can find out more at their website here:

http://www.prayforhope.com/.

You can also connect with them

via Facebook here:

http://www.facebook.com/pray4hope

and Twitter here:

http://twitter.com/pray_for_hope.

Pray for Hope 12.12 from Pray for Hope on Vimeo.

Rust - A Review



Rust is a movie all about faith. Faith in God. Faith in people. Losing faith and regaining it as well.

Corbin Bernsen plays a former pastor that goes home to find a family has been killed in a fire and his friend has been charged with setting the fire. Then begins the journey as he searches for the truth - both in the mystery and inside himself.

The scene at the beginning of the movie where James is praying to Jesus wanting so badly to hear from Him had me in tears. How many of us feel that same way sometimes? Crying out to hear from Him.

I really enjoyed this movie and recommend watching it. I would say that it wouldn't be a movie for younger children, but older teens would definitely get the message it shares about faith.

You can find out more about the movie

on the website here: Rust

and on Facebook here: Rust - Facebook

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received one or more of the products or services mentioned above for free in the hope that I would mention it on my blog. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commision's 16 CFR, Part 255" "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising."

Celebrating Christmas with What's in the Bible?



There are some really great resources available to help teach our kids more about the Bible. My favorite right now is the What's in the Bible? series from Phil Vischer. I love how it combines humor and creativity with biblical truth to give children a love for God's Word as they learn more about Him.

Today I am celebrating Christmas with What's in the Bible? bringing you a fantastic video and a DVD giveaway to boot!

What's in the Bible? is the new 13-DVD series from VeggieTales creator Phil Vischer

designed to walk kids and families through the Bible, from Genesis to Revelation.

DVDs 1-4 (Genesis - Ruth) are available now.

Check out What's in the Bible? to learn more.

The What's in the Bible? team and I

would love to bless 4 people with the

first DVD in the series "In the Beginning."

Leave a comment here on my blog to enter to win.

The What's in the Bible? team and I

wish you a very Merry Christmas!

This is video 6 of 12 in the What's in the Bible? 12 Questions of Christmas Blog Tour.

Check out What's in the Bible? each day to find the location of the next video in the series.

Why does Santa wear a furry, red hat?

Tuesday Tunes

Today I just had to share this incredible performance from Yancy. I am a huge fan of hers and absolutely love her heart for kids and worship.

You can learn more about her and get some great music here: YancyNotNancy.



Missions Monday

It's time for Missions Monday.

Every Monday I will introduce you to some great charities that you and your family can get involved in. When I say get involved, I mean you can donate your money, time, and/or pray for these organizations who are doing amazing things to help people.

Today I would like to introduce you to

One Cup Project. 

The One Cup Project has partnered with World Vision to help others in a really unique way. For every $11 bag of coffee you buy, $11 goes to fund social and economic change in Zambia through World Vision.

From the One Cup website,

"The One Cup Project was born when Silver Cup’s owner and founder, Christian Kar, read the book “The Hole in Our Gospel” by World Vision President Rich Stearns. In his book, Rich lays out a host a major problems that beset the third world, AND how utterly solvable they are, if given enough resources and time. We want our story to be about using our resources to help those who don’t have a voice, or really a chance, unless someone reaches out a hand."

You can find out more on their website here:

One Cup Project.

You can connect with them also on Facebook here:

One Cup Project - Facebook

and on Twitter here:

One Cup Project - Twitter.

Fridays with My Guys

So here's my confession today:

I don't enjoy cooking at all. Not that I don't know how or don't cook well, but I just don't like doing it.

The thing is that we love to have family dinners. There is something almost magical about all of sitting around the table together. We are completely focused on each other. We talk about our days, tell funny stories, and really enjoy spending that time together.

So I cook. And we sit down to dinner. The rest of the world slips away in those moments. And it's just us.

Together. 

Along the Way

As I begin this new adventure in children's ministry, I am so excited to lead the 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade girls in KidzPlayce at The Gathering. These Thursday posts are part of my journey along the way.

The next two weeks there will be no services in KidzPlayce as we are having family services. This Sunday is our Chest of Joash service which I am really looking forward to. My girls have been bringing in their offerings each week faithfully and are so excited to be bringing it to our blended service this week. They know that their offerings will help rebuild a church in Haiti and to provide Christmas for two orphans. Along with bringing weekly offerings, they have also been praying for both of these. 

I can't wait for them to have this experience with their families. To worship together, give their offerings together, pray together, and to hear the message together. I think it is so important on so many levels for the girls as well as their families.



What's in the Bible? Wednesday

There are some really great resources available to help teach our kids more about the Bible. My favorite right now is the What's in the Bible series from Phil Vischer. I love how it combines humor and creativity with biblical truth to give children a love for God's Word as they learn more about Him.

Recently What's in the Bible released a curriculum to go along with the video series. You have an opportunity to preview a video and small group activity from DVD 1 Week 1 here:

 http://curriculum.whatsinthebible.com/curriculum-sample/

 
The Digital Curriculum can be purchased at:

What's in the Bible? - Curriculum

and

The Physical Curriculum can be purchased at:

KIDMO - What's in the Bible?