Thanksgiving is just a month away and, as usual for this time of year, our thoughts tend to turn to the things we are thankful for. For the next few weeks, I’m going to look at the things I’m thankful for . . . and share these with you!

First of all, I’m most thankful for Grace! God’s grace is the most amazing gift we could ever be blessed with . . . it is so utterly undeserved and so lavishly given . . . which makes it truly amazing! When I think of God’s there is nothing else for me to feel than complete thankfulness. So . . . how do I show this thankfulness because thankfulness which isn’t shown or expressed is not thankfulness at all. Consider the following  . . .

• I show my thankfulness for God’s grace by loving others . . . I John 4 – “⁷My dear friends, we must love each other. Love comes from God, and when we love each other, it shows that we have been given new life. We are now God’s children, and we know him. ⁸God is love, and anyone who doesn’t love others has never known him. ⁹God showed his love for us when he sent his only Son into the world to give us life. ¹⁰Real love isn’t our love for God, but his love for us. God sent his Son to be the sacrifice by which our sins are forgiven. ¹¹Dear friends, since God loved us this much, we must love each other.” (CEV) 
• I show my thankfulness for God’s grace by sharing the news of God’s grace . . . I John 4 - “¹³God has given us his Spirit. That is how we know that we are one with him, just as he is one with us. ¹⁴God sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. We saw his Son and are now telling others about him. ¹⁵God stays one with everyone who openly says that Jesus is the Son of God. That’s how we stay one with God ¹⁶and are sure that God loves us.” (CEV)
• I show my thankfulness for God’s grace by extending God’s grace to others by forgiving them . . . I John 4 - “God is love. If we keep on loving others, we will stay one in our hearts with God, and he will stay one with us. ¹⁷If we truly love others and live as Christ did in this world, we won’t be worried about the day of judgment. ¹⁸A real love for others will chase those worries away. ¹⁹We love because God loved us first. ²⁰But if we say we love God and don’t love each other, we are liars. We cannot see God. So how can we love God, if we don’t love the people we can see? ²¹The commandment that God has given us is: “Love God and love each other!” (CEV) and Ephesians 4 “³²Instead, be kind and merciful, and forgive others, just as God forgave you because of Christ.” (CEV)

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This is a great activity and recipe for young children and makes a great snack time treat. It is all-natural applesauce with no preservatives. A healthy snack.

Peel and slice apples and toss in a food processor or appliance to blend and chop them. We used 2 large Granny Smith apples and 4-6 red apples. The students brought apples in to share with the class.

Add 1/2 cup of water

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In May of 2010, a valuable new resource was made available to the children’s ministry community called, “What Matters Now in Children’s Ministry?”  Designed to spark conversations and get people thinking, the free book did just that.  The original team has gotten back together and recently released the second installment in the series entitled:

What Matters Now In Children’s Ministry – Early Childhood Edition

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A friend posted this on their Facebook the other day . . .

It got me to thinking. Trust is an essential part of children’s ministry . . .

• parents need to be able to trust us
• children need to be able to trust us
• our volunteers need to be able to trust us
• we need to be able to trust our volunteers

One of the workshops I attended at the KidMin Conference was Working with Parents: What They Do and Don’t Need from Us with Gina McClain. One of the things she shared has me thinking a lot about family time. She suggested that rather than giving parents something else to do during family time, we should be encouraging and helping them enhance what they are already doing with their families.

Here are some suggestions:

• Tuck In Time –  Most parents with younger children are tucking them in at night as part of a bedtime routine. This is an opportunity to suggest a book to read at bedtime along with questions to go with that book. A worship song could also be added to the routine. It is also a time to encourage parents to pray with and for their children.
• Dinner Time – Gina shared that statistically children who have family dinner three times a week do better educationally than those who don’t. She asked if then wouldn’t that be true spiritually as well. We could give parents suggestions on topics for discussions during this time by giving them a box with question/scripture cards that would prompt conversation.
• Drive Time – Most parents spend a significant time in the car with their children driving to school, the store, practices, games, and recitals. This is an opportunity to provide conversation starters as well. Maybe in the form of a card that could hang on the rear view mirror or on the dashboard.
• Movie Time – Rather than schedule a movie night at the church, we could provide everything needed to have movie nights for families in their homes. We could suggest a movie to watch along with discussion questions for parents.

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It’s been almost two months since the last time I posted an article in our series on what your volunteers want you to know but might not be telling you.  Last time, we finished up in the category of “Passion.”  So far we’ve covered,

PASSION

1. Your Volunteers Are Passionate About What They Do!
2. Your Volunteers Want You To Use Their Passion!
3. Share Your Vision With Your Volunteers
4. Give Your Volunteers Autonomy
5. Volunteers Need The Opportunity for Advancement

Today, we begin a whole new category of things your volunteers want you to know but might not be willing to tell you.  Today, we start talking about SERVICE.

Your volunteers sincerely desire to help you help God’s kids. In order to do that though, they need some things from you, and many volunteers may be unwilling to come right out and ask for these things.  This week, will want to look at:

TRUST IN YOUR VOLUNTEERS!!!

It is imperative that you find a way to trust the people you have working for you.  Your volunteers are there to help you out.  If you don’t trust them, you’ll never be willing to turn parts of your ministry over to them. And, if you can’t turn parts of your ministry over to other people, it will never grow beyond what you are capable of accomplishing all by yourself.  In other words, if you can’t trust you volunteers, you are dooming your ministry to be a one-man show.

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Preschoolers love play-dough. Here is an easy recipe to make homemade play-dough for them to enjoy and creatively mold ideas from the Bible lessons taught in class.

Play-dough allows preschoolers to exercise their fingers for pre-writing skills and fine motor activities. It is great for creativity and allowing preschoolers to make and see objects from lessons and stories.

* Warning: Be careful of allergies and sensitivities. Some young children have difficulty and are sensitive to flour.

• 2 cups flour
• 1 cup salt
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 2 tablespoons cream of tartar
• 1 1/2 cups boiling water
• Optional: add a few drops of food coloring and/or scent

Allow the children to help mix the ingredients with the exception of the boiling water. Once the water is poured in and stirred around a bit then it will have cooled off enough for them to mix the entire amount.

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It has become a bit of a tradition here on Kidmin1124 that we create pages for you to track all the latest tweets from major children’s ministry conferences. We missed D6 a couple of weeks ago, but we’re please to announce that we have created pages for two conferences both going on right now (or starting soon).  Make sure to check out the pages for:

Kidmin Conference 2011

and

Catalyst 2011

Our own Wendy Douglas is at the Kidmin Conference and Barbara Graves is attending the Catalyst Conference.  If you’re at either, make sure to look them up – you won’t regret it!

In case you misplace this post, you can always click on the links at the top of Kidmin1124. Happy tweet watching!

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