Children's sermon - Free the Prisoner

Well last week was my turn to do children's sermon, and as I was looking over the verse and the sermon title for that Sunday, I couldn't think of anything.  The verse was Isaiah 61:1~

The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is upon me,

    for the Lord has anointed me

    to bring good news to the poor.

He has sent me to comfort the brokenhearted

    and to proclaim that captives will be released

    and prisoners will be freed.

The title was "Setting Prisoners Free."  Sometimes when I look at the verse and/or the title of the upcoming sermon, I immediately start coming up with ideas and things to talk about.  This was not the case this time.  It's not that that verse isn't inspirational.  It totally is!  I love the message and the sentiment it conveys.  It's just relating that message to a group of kids from preschool up to 5th grade is not an easy task.  I went to my trusty Google to search other children's sermons on that verse and the topic of setting prisoners free to build some inspiration.  No luck.  Apparently not many children's sermons have been derived from this verse.  Finally I was able to find a sermon about Martin Luther King Jr. which gave me a little spark, especially since MLK Jr. day was the day after I was giving my sermon (sometimes it's just a God thing).  After that I started brainstorming different ways to convey what prison must feel like, and I thought about how we may not be prisoners in the sense that we have committed a crime and gone to jail, but in the way that we create our own prisons everyday.  I thought of how I feel when I create my own prison when I let the things of this world become more prominent that God.  Trapped.  How could I show this to the kids though?

Sunday morning, I ran up to the Sunday School supply closet (because it has EVERYTHING!) and grabbed my supplies.  I went back into the sanctuary and set them down where I would be speaking.  When it came time for children's sermon, I had my son sit in front of me, so I could use him for my demonstration.  I asked the kids about why they would be out of school the following day, and they excitedly told me about Martin Luther King day.  I asked why he was important, and they spoke about how he fought for civil rights.  I told them yes, that he like many others in this world fought for freedom for everyone, no matter what you look like.  I asked them if they knew about prison, then I asked them if they knew that you could be in prison without actually going to jail.  I had my son stand up and hold a piece of yarn that I had grabbed.  I asked the kids how we might create our own prisons, and they called out things like - lying, saying not nice words, being mean to your dog, hurting others, etc.  Everytime that they called something out, I would have my son spin around holding the yarn thus wrapping his body and arms up in the circles of yarn.  The pastors and I called out a few more things to help them out, like unforgiveness (who me?), fear (yep), and getting a bad case of the "I wants" (ouch).  AT the end I asked if he could get out, and he said "no."  We talked about how he was trapped in this "prison" and how he felt trapped.  I also tried to show that even if I tried to help him by pulling on the yarn, I couldn't set him free. Then I brought out my scissors, and I told the kids that the scissors represented Jesus.  As I easily cut through the yarn, I explained that Jesus is the only one who can set us free when we create these "prisons," and we need to turn to him for help when we are feeling trapped.  We finished up with a prayer thanking God for Jesus and all the others who fought for freedom.  

Not exactly something based on the scripture, but I felt it was a success.  Kids stayed interested and engaged, and I am pretty sure they got the point.  It also made me realize some of the prisons I have created for myself recently, and now that I am aware, I can begin to turn to Jesus to set me free.  :)

Advent Fail

The title really sums it up.  I had such great intentions this year.  Even my last blog post was about how I was trying to make more room for Jesus this year, more studies, more Christ-centered moments with my family, and it was going so well....until the week before Christmas.  I had to follow up b/c I felt guilty leaving that last post, and people reading this thinking that I had done so well.  Reality hit, as did the craziness of last minute Christmas stuff, and I had to post about that as well because from the beginning I said this was about the good and the bad.
I have to say, our Jesse tree devotional was going great, and the kids really enjoyed reading the stories starting with creation and leading to the birth of Jesus then hanging the ornament.  To be honest this was the one advent activity that lasted the longest for us.  Don't be fooled though.

On Christmas Eve when I took this picture of our completed Jesse Tree, we had done the last 4-5 all at once.  I thought, well at least we did it.  We limped across the finish line, but we finished it up.  Our family advent calendar, was for the most part done, just lacking in a few days, but one of them was our RACK (Random Act of Christmas Kindness), which bothered me.  Oh well, 3 out of 4 aren't bad, and we did get our cookies delivered the local fire station on Christmas Day.  Don't even get me started on my Advent Study I was to be reading.  Ugh, fail,
I was thinking the other day about what went wrong, where the distraction came in, and I realized that maybe it was too much.  Maybe simple is better.  We try and fill our holidays with so much magic and perfection that it can't possibly reach our own expectations.  I think about the first Christmas.  Mary and Joseph rode into Bethlehem on a donkey...a donkey!  Ladies can you even imagine?  Even sitting in my car which has shocks and comfy seats was no fun at that point in pregnancy.  Then they get to stay in a stable (translation - barn).  Once again, 9 months pregnant, just rode in on a donkey, and she gets to not only sleep, but also GIVE BIRTH in a barn on some hay (if she is lucky) with all kinds of animals around her.  It's a far cry from the deluxe suites and birthing rooms we have here.  Then Joseph is not only her lamaze coach, but also her OB and her nurse.  I would have been in so much trouble as my husband would have been passed out on the floor with some animal licking his face I am sure.  Pretty sure there wasn't any sterilized tools in the stable or ice chips for her to crunch on.  Once Jesus is born, he is wrapped in cloth and laid in a manger.  A manger where animals typical eat out of.  Just the thought makes this germaphob shudder.  She didn't even have any wipes to wipe it down with first (gasp)!  It's truly amazing that both Mary and Jesus (and possibly Joseph) even survived the whole experience!  Yet that is how our Savior entered the world, and that is all the magic and perfection that Christmas really needs.  We can try and fill it with activities, visits to Santa, making cookies and treats, gift buying, parties and such, but really all we need is the baby in the manger.
I am going to try (repeat try) to remember this next as I plan our Advent season.  Keep it simple. Yes we will still have fun, but not put so much stress upon myself to create this "perfect" Christmas for my family.  I can't because someone already did many.many years ago.  You cannot create what already exists.

I bought ANOTHER Advent Devotional

The season of Advent is upon us.  Undoubtedly this is my favorite time of year.  The celebrations, the traditions, the movies, the food, all of it just makes me happy...most of the time.  I say that only because now that I am a grown up and a mom, there is a certain amount of stress and anxiety that comes with all of that too.  This is on my short list for what I am doing this month:

*Make sure that the angel gifts get bought, labeled, and delivered to each child's class (my son forgot to turn his in and didn't realize it until I pointed out that they were still in his backpack - luckily it wasn't the deadline yet).
*Buy gifts for family, friends, teachers, activity leaders, church staff, the DOG (yes I know - he is a family member in our eyes), and whoever else I suddenly remember last minute...depends of if I can turn off my shopping gene.
*Decorate our new house, and since it's a new house, of course we need a new tree, new decorations, etc. b/c the old ones just didn't look right, or we needed decorations for a banister, which we didn't have in the old house (I know, I know, my eyes are rolling at myself as I type this).  Also try to keep puppy from eating all decorations, including the elf.
*Celebrate my husband's birthday (has nothing to do with Advent other than it falls in the season).  It's a big one though, so we need to do it right.  You only turn 35 once!
*Volunteer at our local Family Services organization to help with gift distribution.
*Baking.....lots and lots of baking.
*Do daily (yes daily) activities which I planned out myself for our family Advent activity calendar.  Some are easy and helpful (put stamps on Christmas Cards) and some I am wondering if I just like to punish myself (painting ornaments - this will inevitably end up with someone mad that their ornament didn't turn out, they didn't find the color they wanted, spilled water cups with diluted paint running all over the table).  To add to that, we also have the chocolate Advent calendars, and the Lego Advent Calendar.
*Prep and co-direct our children's Christmas musical at church.  This has been in the works since August.  This last month is the putting it all together, getting the props, costumes, gifts for helpers, final rehearsals and finally the final show with a gift drive for the teens and elderly in the community.  This pretty much dominates my weekends in December.  Luckily I have a partner in crime that shares my stress...I mean joy! ;)
*Parties - oh the parties.  They really are fun, but at some point I am just glad when they are all done.  We have Sunday School parties, Children's Programs parties, Bible Study group parties, school parties, and work parties.  Like I said they are all fun, but being an introvert by nature, I am exhausted by the end of the month, and I just want to crawl into my bed and watch Dancing with the Stars/Greys Anatomy/Parenthood/Blacklist episodes all day.
*Almost forgot the elf!  Now we don't have the traditional elf on the shelf.  Our elf Charlie even looks different.  He just comes to share in the joy of Christmas with us, so my kids are able to touch, hold, and even play with the elf.  When he comes, they immediately start showing him all the holiday decor that is up, and this year my daughter even had him sleep with her the first night he arrived.  Now with that comes sporadic movement.  He moved 2-3 times today just due to the kids wondering if he would move while they were gone.  But he doesn't always have to move at night either.  I am not sure if it makes it better or not.  The true challenge this year, as I stated above, is keeping our puppy who likes to chew everything to bits away from Charlie.  There have been some close encounters, and he even had him in his mouth one time (I thought my daughter was going to lose her mind), but so far so good.

On top of this, we have all the family get togethers.  Now this is my favorite part.  Seeing all my family, eating delicious food, and just enjoying each others company.  We go to see family in Fredericksburg, TX the weekend before Christmas, then Christmas Eve we go to Denison to see more family.  Christmas Day we stay home and any family that wants to come over can do so and celebrate, but I am pretty much not getting out of my pajamas until after noon that day.

All this being said I was wondering if I was a glutton for punishment or just plain crazy when I saw an Advent devotional while browsing through Mardel's this evening.  I was actually looking for the devotional that our Sunday School class is doing, but they didn't have it.  I decided that I would just buy the other one on my Nook.  Since my husband had taken the kids to martial arts class, I decided I would browse around a little bit.  I kept coming back to the same devotional, Waiting Here for You.  I don't know if it was the song that kept coming to my head, or what, but I knew I wasn't leaving the store without purchasing it.  While in the store I kept telling myself that maybe I was over doing it.  I have the Advent devotional from Sunday School, we are doing the Jesse Tree as a family, and I also have the bible verses each day with our family activity.

When I got in the car, it hit me.  How silly I was to think that one more Advent study might be too much.  The season is about preparing ourselves for the coming Christ.  When I look at my schedule, how can I NOT make room to draw nearer to Him, to prepare my mind, heart, and soul for Him?  If anything else I NEED another Advent study.  All the other events of this month can take over and skew my priorities.  Not that any of them are bad, but they pull my thoughts and my time away from the true importance of this season.  A long, long time ago, I am pretty sure that Mary wasn't worried about lugging their tree on the back of that donkey, and the Wise Men themselves only brought only one special gift each for Jesus.  For Jesus, the Savior, Prince of Peace, son of God the Father.  And that was enough.  So while I am feeling the need to go out and buy one more present or decorate one more area of our house, instead I will try and fill my time with His word and preparing myself for the celebration His birth.

Happy Advent. :)

Serving Each Other

I have been hearing about serving our families here lately.  I know my first reaction was, I serve my family everyday as a stay at home mom.  I cook, clean, do laundry and dishes, help with homework, transport children, etc.  Just thinking about it make me tired.  What else could I do?!?  I need someone to serve me!  Then after a few days and some reflection, that idea is still sticking in my mind.  I had to get a different perspective.

Yes I take care of my family as a mom, as do most moms and dads out there, but I am really serving them?  When I think about serving others, such as in mission projects, it is something that I take the time out of my day for.  I get enjoyment out of helping or serving someone.  It makes a difference in their lives.

Not to downplay all the chores and responsibilities of taking care of a household and a family (b/c it is hard work people!), but I know this:
#1.  I am not always doing it with a joyful heart.  Many days I dread doing dishes or laundry, and I can't tell you how many times, I would rather be at home relaxing (yeah right!) than taking my kiddos to various activities, especially on those cold rainy days.  Not to chase rabbits. but really shouldn't everyone just cancel all activities on cold rainy days?  Those should be mandatory sit in front of the fireplace and drink hot chocolate days. I digress.
#2.  Do I take time out of my day to focus on these activities with a serving heart?  Not really.  I just get them done in between other chores and things to do.  It's one more check box on my to-do list.
#3.  Is it making a difference?  Well yes, let's be real, it makes a difference if my children have clean clothes to wear to school or that dinner is made so we aren't hungry, but is it making a difference in my families walk with Christ?

This was when I started brainstorming.  How can I serve my family beyond what I already do?  How can I turn small moments into Christ-filled ones that feed their heart?

One thing I thought of were little agape gifts.  I learned this term from the Emmaus community.  Agape describes God's unearned and undeserved love for us.  Sounds like grace to me. :)These little gifts can express that love to our children, spouses, and other family members.  If you go to Pinterest and look up agape gifts, you can find many examples of these tiny expressions on love that cost little to nothing that always have a verse or meaning attached.

Another way I thought of being able to serve my family is maybe doing something for them that is expected of them to do.  Maybe cleaning my children's rooms for them (believe me that is an act of love) or ironing my husband's work clothes (yes, I do not iron my husband's clothes - I believe that the dryer was invented, so I wouldn't have to iron).  Doing these things for them unexpectedly and then leaving a note letting them now that I love them. :)  Now I wouldn't get into a regular routine of this b/c then it can lose its meaning.  Especially with the cleaning the rooms!

A third way is to spend one on one time with each of your family members.  Giving them that time alone with you.  This is important for both kiddos and spouses!  Now here is the tricky part.  Do something they want to do, but it cannot involve tv, video games, or movies.  Something that is interactive and sparks conversation.  What?!?  You mean actual words coming out of my mouth, instead of being typed on my phone?!?  I know this is hard for some of us (myself included), but I would think that verbal communication with eye contact and interaction, are at the heart of serving someone with quality time.  Imagine going to visit someone at a nursing home or hospital and making them sit a watch tv or watch you text on your phone to others.  You would never imagine doing that!  Consider serving your family with quality time to be the same way. :)

Encourage your kiddos (and spouse) to join in.  Help younger kiddos think of ways to serve others in your home and community.  You setting the example of serving others starting in your own home is a great way to encourage your children to serve and share God's love, but also look beyond themselves.
Feel free to comment with any ideas you have for serving others in (or out) of your home!

Child-like Faith

In our Sunday School class, we have been discussing Simon Peter, and in our conversation this week, the topic of having faith like a child kept coming up.  I got a prime example of that this Sunday, along with a moment of humility.

This Sunday, our church celebrated a new mission that we have started called, Forever Families.  This ministry celebrates and supports the care of orphans through sponsorship, fostering, adopting, and any other way to care for those children who have no one else.  We had many local programs come to let us know of their organizations, as well as, international programs.  I gathered information on all the programs to look through later with my husband.  We already sponsor a little boy in Uganda, but I felt the pull to see if there was something more we could do.  My husband was home with our daughter because she woke up with fever that morning, so it was just my 10 year old son and me.  I had a ministry coordinators meeting right after church, and my son was happy so stay b/c he got to partake in the lunch that was offered.  I handed him the packet on one of the programs there, The Zoe mission.  He has been looking for something to give his money in his "Give Jar" to, and I thought he might look through and pick the $10 rabbits or something small like that.  

Well as we sat through our hour long meeting, I noticed he was reading the entire book, cover to cover.  When the meeting was over, he told me he would like to donate his "Give" money to this organization.  What he followed up with is what caught me off guard.  He told me that he wanted to take the book to his class tomorrow and challenge the other kiddos to give as well, and to see what they could collect by Friday.  He told me he would ask his teacher if he could talk to the class if they had some extra time.  Let me just say that my first instinct was to hold back my tears.  This kid gets it, and I couldn't love him more!!  I wanted to wrap him up in my arms and tell him just how awesome he truly is.  My second instinct was hesitation.  We go to public school, so I wasn't sure how he would be received or if he would even be allowed to talk about it.  I wanted to tell him maybe we should search for other ways for him to raise money, but I checked myself, took a breath, and told him I thought it was a great idea.  I did warn him that he may not be able to speak about it at school, and we would also need to figure out a way to collect the money, and he replied that he knew that, but he wanted to try anyways.

Oh how a 10 year old boy can humble me.  How could I stand in his way?  He knows that it may not be received, but he wants to try anyways.  He believes in helping others, and he really doesn't understand why anyone else wouldn't want to.  Why should I have hesitation?  I believe that as grown-ups that the "social norms" tell us it is not polite to talk about our faith, our passions for helping others even when it's not the popular thing to do, going against the grain of society, that we shut down when we are given that chance.  We are afraid of breaking the rules, offending someone, or just being looked at as weird.

I pray to have that fearless childlike faith that my son displayed for me yesterday.  I want to feel the pull of the Holy Spirit and follow it boldly despite knowing that I may face some obstacles and possibly be rejected.  How do we lose that along that way?  How do we get it back?  That is something I will have to reflect on this week.

I don't know what the outcome has been today.  I emailed his teacher last night just giving her a heads up, as well as, giving her the link to the mission, so she could see what it is.  I haven't heard back yet, so I am pretty much sitting on pins and needles until he gets home.  I know, I know. I am still learning to "Let Go and Let God."  One thing I do know is that he will not let this be a set back, if it doesn't work out.  Based on how pumped up he was last night and this morning, he will find a way to raise money for this organization.  Another thing I know is that I am blessed to be able to watch and learn from my child on how to have faith and let nothing get in the way.

Jesus and Halloween

Well this week has been a little crazy with the usual activities, plus doctor visits, starting of puppy training, field trips, finding clothes for the kids to match the daily theme for Red Ribbon week, and getting ready for Halloween.  This year I have actually done well with preparing early, so there is no last minute rush to get costumes, candy, or decor.  We are set.  So with that feeling of accomplishment, I wanted to add another element to our Halloween...Jesus.

I know that a lot of people are wondering how the two correlate.  Our Almighty Savior and King and a holiday which started as a pagan celebration where children dress up, sometimes as demons and evil spirits.  Yes, but I prefer to think of it as a holiday where my evangelically-challenged self can do some spreading of the Gospel. :)

What I have done is easy, and I am planning on having my kiddos help me out with the process (a little at-home mission project)!  I simply put a picture of a jack-o-lantern on a document then included the verse "Let your light shine before people, so they can see the good things you do and praise your Father who is in heaven. – Matthew 5:16"  I added a little "Happy Halloween" at the bottom, printed them, and we will cut them out and tape them to the candy and other goodies we have to hand out on Halloween.  

Being in a new neighborhood, I have no idea how many kiddos to expect, but knowing that candy and goodies are a hit on Halloween, and with our taped messages, we will be able to spread the love of Jesus to lots of kiddos!  Easy and simple way to bring God into the conversation of Halloween, and involve the kids in spreading the God's word.

I know it's not earth-shattering or reaching millions, but it's something, and who knows how it will touch those kiddos and their families, and how many others they may reach in future. :)  

If you would like to print of some of the labels to put on your Halloween treats, I have created a link to the PDF.

Halloween blessing


Happy and Safe Halloween!!

Spiritual Gifts + Candy = Best Children's Sermon ever!!

Yesterday was my week for children's sermon and the topic was Committed, Serve and Go.  (We are currently in the middle of our stewardship campaign.)  The verses the pastor was speaking about listed the spiritual gifts.  Now sometimes when I hear the verse and/or the title of a sermon, ideas and inspiration just hit.  This week, not so much, so I turned to my trusty friend Google.  After searching through ideas and others sermons for about 45 minutes, I drew some inspiration from this sermon about Spiritual Gifts and cake.  Now I knew I wasn't going to be able to make the cakes (Ain't nobody got time for that!), so I took the easy way out and went to get some candy which tied in with Halloween coming up.

The night before I put each type of candy in a ziplock bag with a spiritual gift labeled on it. (Starburst - Administration, Whoppers - Faith, Dum Dums - Tongues, Smarties - Evangelism, Hershey Kisses - Compassion).  Then put them in one big bag to carry them up to the front with me.  This may or may not have been a Frozen bag that I had to borrow from my daughter.

The next morning I greeted the kiddos and asked them what holiday was coming up, and the response was a very excited "Halloween!"  Then I asked what do they get on Halloween, and I got an even more excited "CANDY!"  I then told them that I had brought some candy with me today b/c I told them that candy was like spiritual gifts.  Now we have two services at our church, and at the second service I asked the kids if they knew how candy and spiritual gifts could be alike, and a very wise elementary schooler sitting beside be answered, "Because they are both meant to be given away,"  From the mouths of babes!!  I told her thanks for doing the sermon, and we could all go home now!  Don't ever discount those little ones. :)

I went on the tell them that just like the candy I had in my bags, there are many different spiritual gifts (20 recognized by the United Methodist Church), but while each gift is unique , they are all gifts from God, just as all the candy with the different shapes, flavors and sizes are still collectively candy.

I pulled out my Administration bag first with the Starburst in it, and I told the kids that like the night before I had snuck a couple pieces of Starburst while I was working on my sermon.  I let them know that I like Starbust, but I was very disappointed when I opened my packed of candy only to find two LEMON.  Ugh (because we all know that cherry and orange are the best).  I explained to the kids that while I like some flavors of Starbursts, I do not enjoy all the flavors, just like I enjoy some parts of administration, but not all the parts.  I passed that bag on to one of the kiddos to hold and told them that is not one of my gifts.  I did a similar speech with Faith, Tongues, and Evangelism).

Then I got to my Compassion bag of Hershey Kisses.  I told the kids that I felt like compassion was one of my gifts because when I heard of a someone who was in need of something that my mind won't stop thinking about it until I do something to help.  I went on to tell the kids that chocolate was my favorite candy, so I would just keep it to myself after all.  The kids were emphatic that I share it of course!  I asked them what could happen if I kept all the chocolate and ate it myself, and one kiddo replied that I would get a belly ache.  I told him yes I would!!  I then added that if we keep our spiritual gifts to ourselves that we may not get a belly ache but it definitely doesn't feel good.  If I hear of a friend who is hurting or in need of something, and I do nothing, it definitely bothers me!  I am not fulfilling God's wish for my when he gave me this gift.  We talked about how gifts like candy are meant to be shared.  I asked the kids to remember this each time they saw a piece of candy this month.  Then after prayer and much suspense each child got to take a piece of candy of their choice back with them.

Researching this sermon definitely got me thinking.  We took a Disciple class a couple years ago, and at the end it had a spiritual gifts section where we were supposed to analyze and discuss each others gifts.  Well, our class is a bit of a rabbit chasing class, so we never really got to do that in its true form.  I discovered a spiritual gifts assessment online when I was looking up material last week, and I intend to take it today, so see what it says, so I can maybe look at new ways of serving and fulfilling God's plan.  If you are interested in taking the assessment yourself, click on the link below.

UMC Spiritual Gifts Assessment