On give-away days, I typically get up first thing and draw and post the name of the winner; however, on this Resurrection Sunday I got up and went to the 7am church service with my hubby then came home and worked on dinner. My family - hubby, daughter, son, daughter-in-law and grandsons all came for dinner! We've had our dinner, my grandsons have finished their egg hunt outside and found the "inside surprises" I made them (two crocheted Perry the Platypus toys) so I had the drawing for the winner of the Cuisinart Baby Bottle Warmer. I'm happy to say Pastor Jeremiah is the winner! (You'll find the review at this link.) Thank you Pastor Jeremiah for reading About the Children's Department (please message me your address by April 7, 2013 so I can have it sent to you) and thank you Cuisinart for sending one for review and for making another available for me to give away!
Today is Resurrection Sunday - the day we celebrate the resurrection of Jesus! I thought I'd share Glad's performance of the classic, Christ the Lord is Risen Today - enjoy and remember . . . because He is risen today, you can raise your joys and triumphs high and sing because death no longer has a sting or victory! Jesus did fight the fight and the battle is won because Jesus lives again! Alleluia!
Tomorrow is Resurrection Sunday, so I thought I'd share with you one of my favorite songs which talks about how Jesus, my Perfect, Sinless Savior died and made an end to all my sin. Before the Throne of God is an old song, but it is beautiful! I especially love how the Go Fish Guys sang this, so I'm sharing their video with you. Look at the lyrics and enjoy this song!
We've been looking at Dr. Seuss quotes for the past month and today is the last one. It has been fun to look at some of the many Dr. Seuss quotes and then to think about them in the light of God's Word. So . . . the final Dr. Seuss Quote for today is,"You're on your own. You know what you know. And you are the one who'll decide where to go . . . "Well . . . we do know what we know and we can decide where we will go, but we are not on our own and if we are wise, we will ask God to show us the way we should go! Consider Psalm 25:4,5,"Make your ways known to me, LORD; teach me your paths. Lead me in your truth—teach it to me— because you are the God who saves me. I put my hope in you all day long."
As I said yesterday, there is no shortage of positions to fill in the children's ministry, so let's go ahead today and take a moment to consider the needs of your nursery. Young children are often apprehensive over the thought of being separated from their parents . . . this can make the nursery a frightening place. Add to this the tendency of nurseries to utilize teens, elementary children and a once a month schedule for their volunteers and the nursery becomes a place filled with children and adults a child doesn't know. It can be difficult for a parent - particularly a first-time parent - to leave their child in the nursery when they see elementary children and teens as the care-givers and their child screams hysterically over being left in the nursery. We want our nurseries to be a place where parents feel confident and babies/toddlers feel comfortable . . . so consider the following -
The Dr. Seuss Quote for today is,"I'm sorry to say so but, sadly it's true - that bang-ups and hang-ups can happen to you!"This is true. Bang-ups and hang-ups can and will happen to us.
Our world is broken by sin and because of this, hurt, pain and disappointment are part of life. We do not, however; have to be defeated by our bang-ups and hang-ups! Consider Joshua 1:9,"I’ve commanded you to be brave and strong, haven’t I? Don’t be alarmed or terrified, because the LORD your God is with you wherever you go." We do not have to be alarmed or terrified because the LORD our God is with us wherever we go!!!!
I'm a huge fan of focusing your church for the entire month of May on the many opportunities to serve in the children's ministry! All of April I will be talking about planning a month to recruit and then provide a number of recruiting plans complete with themes and ideas for making a recruiting video. I hope you choose one of these to use - or develop your own for a month of recruiting! By recruiting in the month of May for your children's ministry you are able to reap the following benefits -
I'm happy to announce Werner is the winner of The Action Bible! (You'll see the review at this link.) Thank you Werner for reading About the Children's Department (please message me your address by April 1, 2012 so I can have it sent to you) and thank you David C. Cook for sending one for me to review and for making another available for me to give away!
The Dr. Seuss Quote for today is, "Step with care and great tact. And remember life's a great balancing act!" Life has it's "stages" and "moments" and we need to walk though it with a mind for "balance". Consider Ecclesiastes 3:1-8,11,"There’s a season for everything and a time for every matter under the heavens: a time for giving birthand a time for dying,a time for planting and a time for uprooting what was planted, a time for killing and a time for healing,a time for tearing downand a time for building up, a time for crying and a time for laughing, a time for mourningand a time for dancing,a time for throwing stonesand a time for gathering stones, a time for embracingand a time for avoiding embraces,a time for searchingand a time for losing,a time for keepingand a time for throwing away, a time for tearingand a time for repairing,a time for keeping silentand a time for speaking, a time for loving and a time for hating,a time for war and a time for peace. God has made everything fitting in its time."
April is just a few days away . . . since February and March have been so cold and blustery . . . at least if you live in Michigan . . . I, for one, am looking forward to April and warmer, bright, cheerful and exciting days!
So with warmer and more cheerful days in view, it is only natural to focus on things which are bright, cheerful and exciting! What could be more bright, cheerful and exciting than recruiting and reading God's Word? I'm sure it isn't difficult at all for you to agree with me on this in regards to reading God's Word. A couple days ago I posted a review - and give-away - for The Action Bible and throughout April I will be posting more Bible reviews . . . and give-aways!
The Dr. Seuss Quote for today is, "From there to here, and here to there, funny things are everywhere!" This is mostly true! There are funny things most everywhere . . . some are easier to see than others, but there are funny things most everywhere!
If you could have a publisher write a curriculum which included everything you wanted to see in a curriculum? What would it look like? What components would you want them to include? Would you want . . .
The Dr Seuss Quote for today is, "Will you succeed? Yes you will indeed! Ninety-eight and three-quarters percent guaranteed!" Well . . . there are things in life which if we focus ad are persistent, we are likely to succeed, but certainly, most things in life there are not guarantees. However; when it comes to knowing and walking with God . . . well, if we follow God's Word, we are 100% guaranteed to succeed because God wants us to know and walk with Him! Consider Jeremiah 29:11-14a, "I know the plans I have in mind for you, declares the LORD; they are plans for peace, not disaster, to give you a future filled with hope. When you call me and come and pray to me, I will listen to you. When you search for me, yes, search for me with all your heart, you will find me. I will be present for you, declares the LORD."God wants us to find Him! This is some of the best news we could ever have! God tells us how we can be better than ninety-eight and three-quarters percent guaranteed to succeed when it comes to finding Him . . . we need to call on Him, talk with Him, search for Him with all of our heart and then we will find Him because God says He will listen to us and be present for us! This is a promise and guarantee I can cling to! You'll find the full post at this link.
For years and years if your church used David C. Cook Bible in Life curriculum, the Elementary take-home papers had a portion of the Action Bible in it each week. Kids loved these take-home papers . . . it was like getting a portion of a comic book each week and the great part was it was all about the Bible!
The month of May I will be focused on Sunday School curriculum reviews. This year I want to include information from people who are using each curriculum - why they chose what they chose, what they like about it, any feed-back they have from families and volunteers and how they might like to see it "tweaked". I will post my reviews and side-by-side comparison chart, but I think it will also be helpful for people who are evaluating curriculum to be able to read what people are saying who are actually using each curriculum.
The Dr. Seuss Quote for today is, "Today I shall behave, as if this is the day I will be remembered!" I really like this one! It is a challenge to all of us. So, how do we do this? Consider Matthew 7:12, "Therefore, you should treat people in the same way that you want people to treat you" If we treated others the way we want them to treat us, chances are we would treat others nicely. Of course it is possible you might treat others nicely and then they do not respond in kind, but we are only responsible for how we treat others . . . not how they treat us in return.
On give-away days, I typically get up first thing and draw and post the name of the winner; however, on this Resurrection Sunday I got up and went to the 7am church service with my hubby then came home and worked on dinner. My family - hubby, daughter, son, daughter-in-law and grandsons all came for dinner! 
