Pastor Lori's Blog

Thinking Days

2011-09-28T15:10:00.002-05:00

I love to have thinking days. I used to feel guilty if part of a "work" day was spent dreaming up new outreaches, object lessons or plans for the future. I thought maybe I should think on my own time. That sounds kinda funny but I didn't want to be waisting the churches time. I have had a change in philosophy, though. I don't get to do it as often as I'd like but about once a month, I have at least part of a day I call my thinking day.

I have learned over the years that successful churches, pastors, and leaders are big thinkers. They dream about what most would deem impossible. They set their goals to be what others would scorn as lofty. I know that Donald Trump is not a pastor, I don't even know if he is a Christ follower, but Donald trump is a big thinker and I bet anything he has thinking days like me! He is a very successful business man. I know I'm not in "business" but I need to be a bit more earthly minded to keep myself stretched and growing in my creativity like some of the business people of the world.

Do you have thinking days? Maybe not about ministry but about family, career, relationships or a bucket list. I try to remember what the scripture in James 4: 2 says, "You do not have, because you do not ask God." I think and dream and then I ask. Try it!

Let Me Fill You In!!

2011-08-05T10:33:00.006-05:00

I am painfully behind in blogging! This summer has flown by and as I get older, the days just seem to have less hours that the previous year.

It's been a great summer here at Whitehouse First Assembly. We have been blessed to see many new families making WFA their church home and so many people growing in their relationship with the Lord. One thing that Pastor Michael started at the beginning of summer was a devotional plan that the whole church did together and then posted their thoughts on our Facebook page. It's been fun to see what God speaks to different people even though we are reading the same scriptures. Isn't it cool that we have such a personal God that He reveals Himself to each of us in the specific way that we need Him to speak to us. Love that!

We are just 9 days away from our VBS called Your Story! I am expecting God to show up in a BIG way; lots of kids, many salvations, families transformed and our community touched by the great team of people who have gotten behind our kid's department! Your Story is based on Jeremiah 29:11"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." I have this driving passion to help kids understand that if we walk in God's ways, He has this amazing plan for our lives that He has known about before we were even a thought in our parent's minds. Your Story will be communicated through lots of fun and a Toy Story theme! Who doesn't love Woody and Buzz? VBS is August 14-17, 6:30-8:30 PM, for ages 3-12. You can register online at http://www.whitehousefirst.org/ under the Children's Ministry tab.

We have some other dates and events that you need to be planning for:

During VBS, we are having a school supply drive. If you or someone you know has a need for assistance with school supplies, please e-mail me at eilersrl@gmail.com.

August 25th is our first Cookie Drop of the school year to bless our teachers and school staff. Higgins will be our first drop. the second one will be September 29 at Cain.

Wednesday, August 31 at 6 PM in the Fellowship Hall is a fundraiser dinner for the Children's Department. We will have spaghetti, salad, garlic bread and dessert! We are planning to do these dinners monthly.

Every Wednesday morning beginning September 7 from 9:30-11:30, we are having Play and Connect. It's a casual time for moms and their babies and preschoolers to come together for some mom talk and kid play! Invite your friends and neighbors! We will have a schedule of meeting places that will be on the chuurch web site soon. Our first meeting place is Whitehouse City Park.

September 9-10 is our district Kid's Convention in Austin. The total cost of the trip will be dependant on how many people go but the convention itself is only $15 for a Saturday filled with fun. Please contact me ASAP if your kids are interested.

Sunday September 11 is Grandparent's Day! Kids are encouraged to invite their grandparents for a special breakfast before our morning service. No grandparents close by? No worries...they can adopt a grandparent for the day! It will be a fun time for the kids to honor the Grands!

Saturday, September 24 at 10 AM is "See You at the Playground." This is the children's version of "See You at the Pole" where parents can bring their kids to the playground and gather for a short time of prayer for our schools, teachers, kids, administrators and staff. Our location(s) will be announced soon.

Saturday, October 1 is our very first Hike-a-Bike-a-Trike-athon! This is a Boys and Girls Missionary Challenge fundraiser to help missionaries all around the world tell other kids about Jesus. The whole church is invited to participate and get pledges to hike, bike, or trike around the Whitehouse High School track. More details coming soon.

Those are just a few of the many fall events coming your way. I hope you and your family will be able to take advantage of our plans and enjoy these times of serving together, growing together and loving more people to Jesus. Thanks for the honor of serving you and your kids!

Coasting...NO Way!

2011-05-31T11:20:00.003-05:00

Summer...in ministry, it's a time when some churches "coast" because of summer attendance numbers usually going down. But I have this urgency today that this summer is an important time for the kid's department at WFA. It's not a time to coast, it's a time to dig our feet in and work hard at reaching our community. It's a time to rethink a few things, rework, recruit, rewire the circuits, renew commitments, and rely on God to show us how. It's time to ask some tough questions about our effectiveness and then listen to what God is speaking to us. I don't want this ministry to be my plan, but God's plan. I am ultimately accountable to Him for the "job" He has called me to do and I don't want to stand before Him with excuses, ifs or buts.

I'm praying for the Lord to inspire me with the most creative ideas He has ever given me. I'm praying for favor in our community. I'm praying for people who act upon the prompting of the Holy Spirit to minister to kids. I'm praying for miraculous resources provided to do all the things He speaks to me. I'm praying for divine appointments. I'm praying for health to get it all done. And I believe that it will be such a God thing that only He will get honor and praise; not WFA, not any person or program! I use a Mark Batterson expression a lot, "I'm gonna work like it depends on me but pray like it depends on God."

I'll let someone else "coast"...as for me...let's get 'er done!

Summer Stuff

2011-05-25T16:02:00.000-05:00

Summer time! Who doesn’t love the chance to enjoy some leisure time and the fun of summer events? We all deserve some R and R and if you have kids at home, family time is also high on your agenda. But let’s not forget that we still need to gather together with our church family to be encouraged and continuing to grow in our faith. Kids need consistency in all areas of their lives and church attendance is an important element in their spiritual growth. So…we have some great plans for your kids this summer!

Wednesday nights starting June 1st we are changing up our regular schedule with some summer fun! The first Wednesday of June, July and August will be Wacky Water Nights with all kinds of water games. Send the kids in something that can get wet or an appropriate swimming suit and a towel. Don’t forget foot wear! The other Wednesday nights will include a devotion, praise and worship, crafts, Junior Bible Quiz, ministry training in such things like puppets and drama, and much more. We will be meeting in the Fellowship Hall for the summer.

Sunday mornings will start with Sunday school as always and we have a summer theme in Building 2:52 your kids are gonna LOVE! The month of June will be a NASCAR theme called RACE which stands for Running After Christ Every day. During RACE, we will divide up into four teams for some ongoing competition with the winning team rewarded at the end of June with a FREE trip to the movies to see Cars 2 with Pastor Lori and the Building 2:52 team!! In July, we will continue driving the summer with a series called “Life is a Highway” that uses the Cars movie theme song!

We have two camps we are going to in June and I know God is preparing those kids for something amazing to happen in their hearts and lives. SAVE the DATES now, we have activities for the whole family with a trip to Fire Mountain on Thursday, July 7th and August 14-17 for our Back to School Kid’s Event combining some VBS elements and our theme “Your Story.” It uses the fun characters of the Toy Story movie series but tells of the wonderful plans God has for our lives based on Jeremiah 29:11.

Party in the Park

2011-04-08T14:45:00.003-05:00

This Sunday afternoon we have an incredible opportunity. Even though we might think it would be a great day to stay home and chill after morning service we won't because we could witness lives changed for eternity and hurting people receive hope. We are having a "Party in the Park" at our Whitehouse apartment complex and will be playing with some kids, serving some free hot dogs, and chatting with people. We'll have free cotton candy, an inflatable, balloon animals, games, prizes, a crazy skit and an illustrated Gospel message. We will hand out Easter Sunday Celebration fliers, talk about our new bus ministry picking people up and bringing them to church. It's an opportunity to be the hands and feet of Jesus. We want to be a blessing to all and we have a burden for single moms. If you are a part of WFA, you won't want to miss it. Bring a lawn chair and a friendly smile. If you are a reader of this blog, please pray for us. God has given us favor with the complex and we just want to walk through any open doors the Lord may have that day. Pray for good weather, too!

The Heart of Worship

2011-03-31T13:41:00.003-05:00

I am so proud of my kids. I have noticed in Sunday morning worship that our altar times have been evolving. One by one, more of the kids are physically pressing in and going after God in preparation to hear from His Word. I have been explaining that sometimes we need to get ready to hear from the Word, like an athlete prepares to compete, we can take steps to help and prepare to receive whatever He is saying through the preaching of the Word. One of the preparation steps can be worship. Since we have moved rooms and now have a larger altar area, the kids, without my teaching or instruction, have been laying prostrate before the Lord. Do you know how it touches my heart to see kids going after God in such a humble manner? To look down and see some lying flat or in a fetal position with their faces buried in their hands and cutting themselves off from all distraction so they may hear what God wants to speak into their lives. Sometimes, I have to look away to keep my focus because if I don't I'd be a blubbering idiot at the sight of something so pure and innocent as children worshipping their Savior. This past Sunday, as we were winding down our altar time, I asked the kids if any of them wanted to share something that God had spoke to them. Several kids raised their hands and told us what God had spoke. It was awesome to hear what they said but even more incredible that they are "getting it" and are developing that listening ear that many of us are still working on. I believe to hear the voice of God it takes practice. Practice to be quiet after we petition and practice to not rush but wait until He speaks. That is growth that every pastor loves to see; adult, youth or kids. It is exercising their faith and stretching them to not only listen but then share with and encourage other kids. Have I mentioned that I love my "job"?

Let Me Give Honor Where Honor is Due

2011-03-22T13:37:00.007-05:00

Pastor Michael preached about honoring people in your life in a message based on Mark 6:1-4. In the scripture, Jesus had returned to His hometown after performing numerous miracles and He was not met with honor and thankfulness, He was dishonored by their lack of faith. I've been thinking about who in my life that I should be showing honor and gratitude towards. Of course, my family, parents, and those God has placed in authority over me. But I've been thinking about some people who have influenced me and helped mold me into the woman of God I am today. Without their effort, time, trust, empowerment and love I have to ask myself if I would be where I am today. Not that I have "arrived" but would I be in this place, at this time and on the track of evolving into more of a Christ-like person? Can I look at the people who have been in authority over me at some point in my life and honor them when we didn't always agree or we needed to part ways?

So today, I give honor to some people who greatly deserve thanks from my heart. The first pastors who allowed me to sorry all over some kids in my febble attempt to be a "children's pastor" were Pastor Ray Sorenson and Pastor Jerry Hochstetler back in Ankeny, Iowa. Pastor Ray recently went home to be with the Lord and I wish I could have expressed to him one last time how much I appreciated him. He was a unique man with a heart of gold. Pastor Jerry was instrumental in me hearing my call to full time ministry. They encouraged me to get in there and just follow the Holy Spirit's leading and love kid's to Jesus. They believed in me.

I give honor to my precious friend, Laurie Rich. She is the most amazing children's pastor I know. She did not know me from Adam but she patiently answered many questions when I was starting out. She shared ideas, she always listened, she treated me like an equal in ministry even though she had much more experience and anointing. I still think of her as a close friend who I can tell ANYTHING to and she is always one of my biggest cheerleaders.

I give honor to some of my closest friends and fellow children's pastors who have encouraged me, inspired me, taught me, prayed for me, spoke with honesty to me, gone before me and made a way, allowed me to steal their ideas or have just been a great listener. Kevin Umphress (I learned a TON of stuff from this guy), Brian Bopp (believed in me when I needed it the most), Lori Warning, Brian Dollar, Jason Noble, Jim Wideman, Dick Gruber, Kevin Geer, and Brandie Broadhead to name just a few.

I give honor to the other pastors I have served under. Pastor Raymond Weets, Pastor Mark Oberbeck, Pastor Josh Singleton, Pastor Dave Beroth, and Pastor Tommy Hall. Several different men, different preaching styles, different personalities, different leadership styles but all men of God that taught me what it means to serve the body of Christ and grow in my relationship with Jesus. I honor you all and thank you from the bottom of my heart. Your investment in my life helps me to do what I do today in Whitehouse, Texas at WFA.

I give honor to my current investor, Pastor Michael Fleming. I have been here a short four months but have seen this man growing daily in all areas of his life. He's one of those guys that is not satisfied with the status quo and I love that! I'm thankful to have the opportunity to grow some more under his leadership and to follow his example. I give honor to his wife Angie. She is an amazing woman of God with grace, wisdom beyond her young years and a sweet, humble spirit. I give honor to Pastor Danny and his wife Celeste. They work so hard and give their lives completely to ministering to our students. They also lead us into worship every Sunday. And they will make you laugh harder than you ever have before! I give honor to Big Mike and Yvette Durbin. Big Mike is a volunteer pastor here overseeing our tech department and is Pastor Danny's right hand guy. Big Mike and Yvette willingly give their time, talent and treasure to minister here and do it with all of their hearts.

Who do you need to show honor to this day? Give Jesus the first place of honor! Show your spouse and children honor. Honor your parents as the scripture teaches. And to those in authority over you...honor...even when you do not agree. God has placed them in your life and to not show them honor is to dishonor God!

The Power of Words

2011-03-01T16:34:00.003-06:00

I hope that when I die, the word encourager is spoken when describing me. I try to be that whenever I can but I do think that I need to work harder to do it more often. I am a person who's love language is words of affirmation. If you don't know what I mean by "love language" you need to read the book The Five Love Languages.

There is such power in spoken words. I can be totally bummed about something and one small encouragement from someone will bring me out of my funk. What if we all intentionally encouraged at least five people a day? I believe it would change the world because of the power of spoken words.

Think about this....what if someone said to you, "I believe in you!" Our student ministries pastor, Pastor Danny, recently preached a series to the youth entitled "I Believe in You" and he was amazed at the number of kids who said no one, not even their parents, had ever told them that. In my opinion, as a parent our kids should constantly hear "I love you", "God loves you", and "I believe in you." I wonder how much rebellion would be squelched if we could intentionally say those things to our kids?

Okay, so not every has the same love language as me but you name me one person who doesn't like to hear, "great job" or "I appreciate you" or "you are a blessing" at least once in a while! Often times we think about nice things people have said or done for us but we don't verbally let them know how it blessed us. It's like when we say, "I don't have to tell my spouse I love them...they just know it." Well, stop that right now! They do need to hear it so start telling people the nice thoughts you have about them!

The Bible is full of encouragement. There is no way I could even list all of the verses that just contain the word encouragement let alone the verses that are meant to lift us up. But remember this, not everyone reads the Bible. That friend who doesn't know Jesus is probably not being encouraged by the Word of God, so you need to be Jesus with skin on and say the words they need to hear. I will share this scripture, though. Proverbs 18:20-21.

I am so blessed to have people in my life that encourage me. The power of words, good, bad, life, death. I want to be a life-giver.

Growing

2011-02-24T11:58:00.003-06:00

Growing in Numbers
We outgrew our kid's church room, so this past week, we made the move to our new digs! It's very exciting to make this kind of change even though it means a bit of set up and tear down each week. I'm so blessed to have such a great team mate in Pastor Danny, our Student Ministries pastor. He is so generously sharing his youth room with us and is even helping with the transition each week to turn it into Building 2:52. It's amazing what some black sheets, banners and crawl tunnels will do for the look of a room. The kids loved it Sunday and we can accommodate so many more!

Growing Spiritually
God is really doing some amazing things throughout our church and the kids are right there, too. It's so cool to see them growing spiritually and taking the messages we have in Building 2:52 and applying them to their lives. That's when you know they are growing in Jesus; when a Bible story comes to life for them and they realize it's there to help them in their lives too, not just the person in the Bible. Plus fourteen kids have accepted Jesus as their Savior in the last three months!

Growing in Outreach
We just finished up a series on purity and are now going into a series on the Parables of Jesus. In the midst we will have two weeks to celebrate Palm Sunday and Easter. Our Easter plans for WFA are really coming together and it's going to be incredible! I'm praying for 125 kids on our campus that day. We will have something special for birth on up and the adults are welcome, too. Just kidding...we have some great plans for Big Church that people will be talking about for months to come!

Another very exciting area of outreach is our bus ministry. We are taking steps right now to bus in kids and their families on Sunday mornings. We have been bussing on Wednesday nights but we know there are many who would love a ride to church on Sunday, too.

Growing the Team
Our kid's department team is growing, too. We have something very special; people who are excited to serve kids. I know I'm biased but kid's are arguably the most unreached, unserved population in most churches and yet one of the most important areas of the church if not the most important. But not here at WFA! We are investing in our kids with our time, talents and treasure! If this community knows nothing else about our church they will know we LOVE kids and welcome them in Jesus' name!

Can I Be Very Transparent?

2011-02-15T15:49:00.002-06:00

If you have known me for more than a month, you probably know me pretty well. I tend to be the type of person, that in my effort to be honest and open, may sometimes share more than you want to know. This can be both good and bad! :) But since moving to Texas I think I have been a bit guarded....believe me when I say not on purpose. It is so incredibly painful to leave a place that you love, where you have poured your heart and soul into people and winning the lost. Ministry is such a different kind of "job" because it's so very personal and relational. Each time God has called me to a new place, there has been a grieving process in the transition. I don't fully understand why, but this last move was especially hard and so when I came to this new place I may have had a shield before me that was certainly not intentional.

The past couple of weeks, I have been so renewed with what the Lord is doing in my life and in this new place where I am serving my Jesus. The shield is down and I feel like I have set aside a huge weight. I am feeling more like myself, the real me with all the good, bad and ugly sides we all deal with. I am so encouraged and loved by my new friends and team mates. I am full of ideas that stir my every waking thought. I have to tell myself not to get ahead of God's timing when I think of all the possibilities and open doors laid before me. I feel a new purpose in my call and additional confirmation about being in Texas. I see that past hurts cannot cloud my new vision of what God needs me to do here or allow them to stand in the way of Him moving in me and through me. I have avoided blogging for a bit because I just couldn't put out in cyberspace the raw things I have felt. Healing comes in many forms; through time, through people, but most assuredly through time with Jesus and His people. Healing comes when we trust...if we just trust Him enough to obey what we know He is telling us to do, then put one foot in front of the other and keep looking straight towards Him, soon we are not dragging our feet or tripping along but we are running in His direction.

My heart must be made up of multiple chambers. I still have every child I ever ministered to tucked away in a special place and now I have a new chamber that is already filling up with some very special kids in Texas. I'm so thankful and in awe that I get to do what I do. I'm thankful for seasons in our lives, even the tough ones because we always come out stronger and with more anointing when we are careful to give Him the glory, no matter what!

Be Ready...Cuz You Never Know

2011-01-29T13:46:00.002-06:00

I had a "be ready" reminder yesterday. I had a full day of errands for church and stopped by Build-a-Bear to give them a deposit for our Mini Missions Trip. I wanted to make sure all the details were covered so we could get 40 kids through the build -a-bear process in the 2 hour time table we set. I was speaking to an employee that I hadn't talked to before and was explaining our mission in coming there. For those of you who haven't read or heard, we are taking up to 40 elementary kids to Build-a-Bear on March 11. They will create a bear, dress it with a t-shirt and make a get well card to put in the box. We then are taking them to Mother Frances Hospital in Tyler and giving them to the pediatrics ward via the Children's Miracle Network. The kids are raising their own money to pay for the trip and purchase some additional gifts for the kids.

This young lady caught me a little off guard when I looked at her and she was tearing up. She was so touched by the mission that she had to compose herself before she could speak. She told me that was the sweetest thing and how much she loved the idea. I regained my clarity and shared the purpose and lesson behind the mission. We just want to show the love of Jesus to some kids who are suffering. We want to teach our kids the joy of giving and that there are more ways of telling people about Jesus than to get them to come through your church doors.

The exchange reminded me that we all need to be ready to share our faith because you never know what seemingly ordinary conversation will open a door. This girl couldn't wait to tell the other store clerk what was happening. I wonder how many other people she will relay our conversation to and if that God idea of a missions trip will unknowingly open someone's heart to knowing Jesus?

Lord, may you find us READY. Jesus, I need these reminders in my busy life that You will speak through me in ways I don't plan or purpose but when I'm ready you will use me. I will be able to be ready when I constantly seek you and am careful to heed your voice. Thanks for revealing this to me in a way that I needed and may all we say and do bring you glory and honor. Amen

Family Devotions

2011-01-21T10:37:00.002-06:00

I was going to write a blog about something new our church is doing to encourage family devotions, but my pastor said it so well I'll let you read it for yourself! http://mdfleming.wordpress.com/

Mark Your Calendars!

2011-01-20T18:04:00.002-06:00

Here are some incredible opportunities for your kids and family:

Family Game Night
Friday, January 21 @ 6:30 Pm in the Whitehouse First Assembly Fellowship Hall. Bring the whole family, young and young at heart, your favorite board or card game and some snacks to share. I'll bring the beverages. Come for a great time of bonding with family and creating some memories!

Mini Missions Trip
We have 40 openings for kids in Building 2:52 to go on a missions trip to Build - a - Bear in Tyler and then to Mother Frances Hospital. Cost of the trip is $40 and includes Build - a - Bear, team t-shirt, lunch and other gifts to purchase.
Our mission id to make bears to take and donate to the pediatrics ward of the hospital along with coloring books, crayons and puzzles. We want to show the love and compassion of Jesus to the hurting kids of our community. Contact me for more details and an application.

Kid's Fine Arts Festival
Does your child have an artistic talent, a love for singing or a cool hobby they would like to share? Fine Arts is a great opportunity for our kids ages 6-12 yrs. old to discover and develop their God given talents and abilities. We will travel to Dallas on April 9 for the Festival. See me for applications and info. There are LOTS of categories to participate in!!

Kid's Camp
Camp? Talking about camp in January!? You BET! I can't wait for camp. Let me encourage you in this; I believe kid's camp is the single best spiritual investment you can make in your child outside of regular Building 2:52 services! We have to get the ball rolling now because camp fills up so quick. Our dates are:
5-7 yr olds - June 16-18 $115
8-12 yr olds - June 22-25 $165
Deadlines are coming up quick so see me ASAP for forms. We have quality people going with me as councilors!

We are making plans for an incredible Easter Sunday, April 24! It's going to be a day your whole family will enjoy and never forget so start praying about who you can invite to join us! More details soon!

A Book?

2010-12-28T12:15:00.002-06:00

My husband said something to me the other day that I can't seem to get out of my head. He said I should write a book. When I began to laugh, he said he was serious. I then began to offer all of the excuses I could think of...who would read it, I'm not educated enough to know how to properly write, I have so many random thoughts and topics I'm not sure how it would come together and make sense, etc. Every excuse was met with an answer debunking my reasoning!

So, I'm praying about the possibility. I guess I won't know if it's in me until I try. I have, for many years, ranted to my family all my thoughts, opinions and philosophies about children's ministry that maybe, just maybe some of those rants could be put into practical advise for those getting started in ministry. Maybe some of my frustrations over "the church" could help bring us together in a way that would make a bigger impact on the Kingdom of God.

Any thoughts or opinions?

Candlelight Communion

2010-12-23T14:03:00.002-06:00

I was blessed to experience communion in a whole new way! Pastor Michael has a tradition here at Whitehouse First Assembly that makes communion a beautiful family experience. Our service started with some acoustic worship. Pastor Michael had all of the kids come onto the platform for him to read them the Christmas story from the Bible. After candy canes were shared, pastor shared a short message and then it was time for communion. All the staff couples had a station at the altar with communion emblems and we invited families to come. We served each family individually; sharing the scripture, a word of encouragement, prayed over them and then asked the spiritual leader of each home to pray a blessing over their family. It was so powerful! There were lots of hugs and tears of thankfulness. We each served communion about 10 times. In all my years of pastoring, I have never had the opportunity to serve communion in "Big Church" and I loved being able to be a part of it! What an awesome tradition and something I will look forward to every year!

Something to Really Think About

2010-12-15T10:38:00.000-06:00

http://www.barna.org/culture-articles/462-six-megathemes-emerge-from-2010

Can I Just Brag?

2010-12-14T11:25:00.010-06:00

Since moving to Texas, I have had the opportunity to be a part of the Whitehouse Ministerial Alliance. We are a group of pastors from all different denominations that come together once a month with the common goal of winning our city to Jesus. I love how this group plans services, fellowships and ministry projects together with no other agenda but encouraging each other and loving the people of Whitehouse. We had a joint Thanksgiving service and now are finishing the final deliveries for an awesome outreach called Project Joy.

Project Joy not only involves the churches of Whitehouse, but the whole school district as well. We team together and it starts with the schools. Teachers and administrators nominate families that they know are in need. The elementary schools collect non parishable food items, the middle school and high school collect money for gifts. Each church collects a household need such as laundry detergent or tooth paste for all of the families nominated, which this year was over 250 families. Then all food items are brought to one church where it is sorted before making boxes for each family. The money is collected and then the shopping begins. We try to have $20 per child to spend and had over 300 children to buy for! This is a huge project but is so fun to be involved in and team up with so many great people who just want to be a blessing to families.

If more communities worked together like Whitehouse, can you imagine how much more could be accomplished for the Kingdom of God? It's not about this church or that church...it's about showing the love of Christ. It's about pooling resources and being Kingdom minded and taking care of your own community. Love this!

My New City

2010-12-09T16:11:00.002-06:00

I was doing some errands for church today and decided to drive through the housing development that is mostly government housing and where I have been told are many kids. As I slowly went over the speed bumps and looked over the layout, God began to stir my heart with ideas to reach out to the people who live there. Like the speed bumps in the road, many of them have had some speed bumps in their lives. We must be the hands and feet of Jesus to those who maybe some don't want to deal with but Jesus died for them just as much as He died for you and me.

I found a small play area where we could easily set up a sort of Sidewalk Sunday School and do some fun events for all the kids. If they won't come to the church, take the church to them! We can help them to overcome some of the generational cycles that keep them dependant on everything in this world and show them how to depend on Jesus...the true cycle breaker!

I love how no matter where we are or where we live, God can give us a passion for those around us if we are open to His leading. If we will have His eyes, He will show us the ways He can use us. I'm thankful to be used by God. Wherever, whenever however He chooses...let me always be obedient.

The New Journey

2010-11-30T17:26:00.004-06:00

I'm on a road of discovery right now. With a new group of kids to pastor, I must not fall into the "children's church formula" that would make life easier. What I mean is this; as a person who has been a children's pastor for more than 20 years, I have to be careful not to fall back on or rely on past successes to minister to my new congregation. I have to discover where they are in their faith journey, how mature they are in God's Word and what needs do they have socially, physically and Spiritually. That takes time, effort and being very intentional. Life would be easier if I just mapped out the coming year without really praying it through and allowing God to show me where He wants or needs these kids to go. At the MOST, I have them 7 years in children's church. Seven years to lead them to Jesus and through His Word in a way they can understand. Seven years to prepare them to go to the next level with the youth pastor. Seven years to build a Spiritual foundation that will be firm and steady enough to add worldly weight and pressure. Seven years to help them understand what we believe and why we believe it. Seven years to get them plugged into ministry and teach them to be servants. Seven years...sounds like a long time but remember that's only a couple of hours a week. I have to make them count!
So...the road to discovery has some bumps and pot holes but it's a road that must be traveled to achieve what those precious kids really need. I choose to make the road fun and not a burden. It makes it even more satisfying when you can look back and see how they got from point A to point B. What an honor it is to love kid's to Jesus.

In the Beginning....

2010-11-18T12:41:00.004-06:00

God created the team meeting. Well, not really, y'all know it was the heavens and the earth! But here in Whitehouse it is my new beginning and it started with an entire children's department meeting. What a great evening of opportunity. I was able to share my heart and just a bit of vision casting. I don't want to overwhelm people with too much too soon but they were all on board and ready to see what God has in store for our church and community. I am so blessed to be in yet another church that sees the urgency of reaching kids for Jesus and is willing to do whatever it takes to accomplish much for the Kingdom of God.

It was also very cool to have our lead pastors and student pastors in attendance; supporting, encouraging and showing unity with the new gal! If you are a staff pastor reading this and have such unity in your church, make sure you tell the team how much you appreciate it. Not every place has that and it sure makes a difference in how ministry flows and builds together.

I got teased a bit for my acrostic about my role as the children's pastor. I used T. E. E. M. and Pastor Michael chalked up my spelling of team to my Iowa education....ha ha! In leading this new team, I want to
T - Train/Teach each member in the position they serve in. If they feel educated, they have more confidence to do their job.
E - Equip each member with the resources and materials needed to make their job easier and more effective.
E - Encourage each one. We all need a pat on the back, a "hang in there", or a well done!
M - Mentor each one who would like to go deeper in their walk, or fulfill a call to ministry. We must duplicate ourselves!

Of course, we had to eat! I love to feed people so a dinner meeting is always good. It was fun to have the servants from nursery, preschool, children's church, discipleship, Royal Ranger and M'Pact girls all around the table sharing food, fellowship and excitement to be doing the Lord's work for kids.

Great things are ahead and I know I must continue to grow in my life before I can be the leader God has called me to be. Thanks Lord for all you are doing in us, through us and despite of us!

TEXAS!

2010-11-12T15:02:00.003-06:00

Here we are in the Lone Star State! We arrived in Tyler last Friday night to our new duplex and crashed after a long day of driving from Tennessee. Saturday morning brought a great crew of peeps from Whitehouse First Assembly to unload the truck. We were even treated to a yummy soup lunch from our new pastor's wife, Angie! Many thanks for all the help but let me back up the truck a bit.

It was tough to leave such a great church family at Union City First Assembly. Our two years there are precious times of making lifelong friendships and new life lessons. We are so thankful for our time there and the doors that the Lord opened. It was not always easy with some struggles along the way but it is a time I wouldn't trade for anything. I learned a lot under Pastor Tommy's leadership and will sure miss the awesome team there. We never dreamed we would only be there two years but I count them successful for the Kingdom of God as I know we witnessed many lives forever changed.

The people of Whitehouse First have given us a terrific welcome and are very excited to see what God has in store for the kids and families of this community. Pastor Michael is gonna be awesome to work with and our youth pastors Danny and Celeste have an awesome group of students that I'm looking forward to getting to know. Look for updates on what's happening in Texas and I'm excited to be serving in yet another great church!

The Giant Haystack

2010-10-27T09:19:00.001-05:00

The Giant Haystack is back! On Sunday, October 31, from 3-5 PM…FREE hot dogs, drinks, a bag of candy for every child AND lots of prizes. This Obion County community family event is right in the backyard of Union City First Assembly of God, 1810 Pleasant Valley Ave. All kids ages 3 yrs. old- 6th grade will climb in the haystack for a 5 minute mission to find a specially marked ball to redeem for a prize. Back this year…a .25¢ cake walk for all ages and a free kid’s craft table! Everyone is encouraged to register for our family gift basket with something for the whole family! The drawing will be at 4:30 PM, or after the final group in the haystack. Invite your friends!

Entering the Giant Haystack:

3 yrs. old – 5 yrs. old (preschool) 3:15 and 4:15 if needed

Kindergarten – 2nd grade 3:30 and 4:30 if needed

3rd – 4th grade 3:45 and 4:45 if needed

5th-6th grade 4:00 and 4:45 if needed

2010-09-16T09:57:00.004-05:00

Wow, I'm painfully behind in blogging! With Facebook in all of our lives, sometimes it's easier to just make a quick comment and move on but when I write in my blog, it stirs my creative juices in other areas of my life.

Summer was awesome as far as ministry goes. After Kid's Camp, we prepared for back to school as in Union City the kids were back at it on August 2! And I thought Iowa started early! We had our second annual "Round Up Sunday" where we try to round up all the families that have been MIA over the summer months. It was a fun day with a western theme, horseback rides in the church yard, costumes, roasting hot dogs and making s'mores, lots of pictures, and success in getting reconnected with some awesome kids! Our team did a great job in the plans and execution of all the activity.

School also reignites "Lunch Dates with Pastor Lori." Every Sunday at the end of service, we draw a name out of a metal lunch box and that child will get a visit at school for us to have lunch together. We take pictures and talk and just have a little one on one time. I LOVE the opportunity to see the kids outside of the church and meet their friends. I always get to find out something I didn't know about my date before that day.

We have two vases that set on our stage every Sunday. They have a bouquet of foam stars in each that represent each child who came to an altar of repentance and accepted Jesus as their Lord and Savior this year. This last week, we added numbers 40 and 41 to the cases! Praise God that the Holy Spirit moves in the hearts of kids, too. One of the salvations was a young man who I have had the privilege of mentoring since last school year. He just started coming to church and prayed to accept Jesus. Thank you, Lord, for Your favor in our schools.

We are gearing up for the third annual "Giant Haystack" fall celebration! It's gonna be even bigger and better than before! Tons of candy, prizes, a cake walk, crafts, free hot dogs and beverages, family pictures and probably gonna give away a couple of bikes again. More details to follow but save October 31st for a great family adventure.

I'm so thankful for each person who God has brought to help us minister to these awesome kids at UC 1st. I believe in them and believe they are truly making a difference in the lives of these kids. I'm thankful for a husband who supports me in so many ways. And I'm most thankful that the Lord asked me, an ordinary person, to be His ambassador to kids.

Kid's Camp 2010

2010-07-27T13:20:00.003-05:00

This, I believe, was my 16th year of attending a Kid's Camp! That statement should speak about how passionate I am about the camp experience for our kids. I LOVE camp for myself also....not the rickety bunk beds, the 100 degree heat, the smell of sweaty children...I love communing with my tribe, swapping ideas, hanging out with my kids away from "life", meeting and networking with new people, watching the way kids socialize, learning things about my kids that I may have never known during a Sunday service, and most of all the intimate time at the altars with kids that I love and want to help be life long followers of Christ.

I am passionate that camp is one of the most valuable investments you can make in the spiritual growth of your child. They have five days with no TV, cell phones, parents (good or bad ones), or other outside distractions. They are in an environment that is made for them, all about them, honoring them, and doing all with a ton of fun. Without all of the other stuff from their lives, they can focus on God and tune into what He wants to say and do in their lives. I could go on and on about why I believe in the camp experience but I think you get it.

This year at Camp Jackson in Goodlettsville, TN, we took 10 kids who really wanted to be there and had come to camp knowing God was gonna show up for them. I have taken many different sized groups to camp from 3 kids to 62 kids but have never taken a group that was 100% ready for God to speak into their lives. I also had the most amazing male councilor go along. Mr. Brian experienced his first kid's camp and I do believe he is now addicted! He not only had a blast but did a fantastic job with our boys. None of them have a Godly man in their home and so they got to see how a Godly man acts and how he is to handle himself and how real men love and worship God. I know that was almost as valuable as the time they spent with Jesus. Brian is gonna be an incredible children's pastor.

One of our boys had his first real encounter with Jesus at the altar. Tears of repentance and cries for emotional healing came from this young man who lives in absolute dysfunction. One of our girls received her call to ministry and another was filled with the baptism in the Holy Spirit with the evidence of speaking in other tongues! Can I tell you how honored I felt to witness these two young women of God have these life changing encounters? It brings me such great joy and excitement for what is in store for them. To watch their faces as they cried out to God and then see Him answer is absolutely priceless!

Camp has it's games, crazy times, swimming, sports, concession stand, carpet ball, constant noice and of course chow time. It has it's first crushes, squabbles, constant noise and the afore mentioned sweat issues. It has it's lack of sleep, mosquito bites, dirty clothes, unclaimed underware, lost pillows and did I mention lots of noise. But camp has Jesus, the Holy Spirit, God's Word, worship, fellowship, friendship, inspiration, growing, hearing God's voice, healing, repentance, forgiveness and love. I can't wait until next year!

To see more pics, check out my Facebook page or become a fan of Building 2-52 on Facebook.

Iowa

2010-06-28T11:41:00.018-05:00

My brother Dan, sister Julie, me and brother Norman
Dylan and Jakob
Sister's boyfriend Mike, Julie, Norman and Shelley

Niece Kilee, Jakon and Dylan

My mom and Julie

Our beautiful great niece, Lillia

Two of my BEST friends, Lana and Judy with Randy

Our wonderful son, Keaton, beautiful niece Amanda and our wonderful daughter, Micaela!

Amanda and Lillia

One of Keaton's best buddies, Jacob

Randy and I had the opportunity to go back to Iowa for a few days. The main reason was for me to perform a wedding for two of my former kid's church kids, Jeremiah and Monica. The wedding went very well and it was such an honor to be a part of it.

We stayed with some of our best friends, Mark and Amy Main and their cutie girls, Isabella and Lisi. I also got to do both kid's services at our old church on Sunday morning and it was such a blast to work with Scott and Angela Albers once again! It felt like old times and is always great to reconnect with good friends and church family. Micaela came up for the weekend and Keaton was back from the campground so the whole family was together!!

Sunday afternoon, Mark and Amy hosted a BBQ for us so some friends could come a see us. Some had new babies we got to meet and all of the other kids have grown... it is hard to believe we have been gone long enough for they to have changed so much!

Monday, June 21, was our 30th wedding anniversary!! We spent the day driving to Sioux City to see my family which I hadn't seen in two years. It was a short visit but I'm so thankful to get to see everyone again. My twin nephews have grown soooo much and my niece had graduated from high school this spring. I even got to see my dear friend Pastor Laurie Rich who lives right down the street from my brother. Laurie has been a friend for about 20 years and was a mentor to me when I first felt called to be a children's pastor.

I'm so thankful to the Mains for their hospitality and to the Team at home who made it all possible to be gone.

Sports Camp Success

2010-06-28T11:24:00.007-05:00

Our Mega Sports Camp could not have gone better this year. Our final night, we had 21 kids ask Jesus into their hearts and lives! 21 kids saved and making Jesus the answer. This top picture was most of the kids that got saved. Each one a miracle, each one with a plan and a purpose that God ordained from the beginning of time, each one with the potential of changing the world for the Kingdom of God, each one precious in God's sight and and in my sight also. My "divine appointment" girls were among those who were saved! Isn't God awesome!? Thank you Lord for allowing us to be a part of something greater than ourselves.

Mega Sports Camp

2010-06-16T12:17:00.009-05:00

I'm so excited about how things are going with this year's Mega Sports Camp. Not only are we having lots of new kids and lots of fun, we have an amazing team of people who are serving kids this week with their whole hearts! I am so blessed!

One extra exciting thing is that my afore mentioned "Divine Appointment" girls are here at sports camp! They are the sweetest girls and I told their grandmother she could pack their bags and bring them to me anytime.

We have two more days of camp and I know God is going to do some awesome things in the hearts and lives of kids!

Do You Believe in Divine Appointments?

2010-05-10T13:57:00.004-05:00

I do! I try very hard to be aware of when they take place. I had one such divine appointment last week. It started out as a quick stop for some dinner after a busy Tuesday. We went to a local pizza place and it was "kids night" so it was kinda busy. I passed a table of three young girls and a lady that I thought was probably their grandmother. One of the girls stopped me and asked, "Do you work at _______?" (Insert a local school name, which I won't say for safety issues.) I answered, "No, but I'm at ____ occasionally because I have lunch with some of my church kids. Do you work at _____?" She laughed and said, "No, I'm in the 2nd grade there." I introduced myself to the girls and their companion and made some small talk and then proceeded to get my pizza.

As Randy and I sat back down at the table next to theirs, the girls kept engaging us in conversation and asking questions about some of the kids from their school that go to our church. They were in 3rd, 2nd and 1st grades and each seemed to know every child I named off. The 2nd grader came over to our table and began to share her life story. They live with their step-grandmother who was with them. The grandfather died a couple of years ago. Their father was in prison for drugs and their mother had deserted them when they were babies and did not know where she was. They go to their biological grandmother's house every other weekend in a small town near by. They had such a sad story but were three of the sweetest girls and had such joyful spirits.

I shared some up coming events at the church including our Mega Sports Camp and the grandmother seemed very interested. I gave them my card and told them to give me a call if they had any questions. The grandmother gave me their phone number and welcomed me to call them. I asked the grandmother if I could take the girls' picture so I could put it on my office bulletin board so I could remember to pray for them. She didn't hesitate in saying yes even though when you think about it it is kind of a weird request from a stranger! I wish I could put their faces here but don't think it would be a good idea...just know they are three beautiful girls that made my day.

I told them I would be at their school the next day for a lunch date and they promised to watch for me and come and say hi in the lunch room. Sure enough, during the 25 minutes I was in the lunchroom, I saw all three of them and received hugs and introductions to other friends. I was leaving and heard my new 3rd grade friend tell one of my church kids, "I'm gonna start coming to your church!"

I'm so thankful. I can see the hand of God in each part of that meeting; His favor that I can go into the schools, the night we chose to stop for pizza, the fact that I was going to their school the very next day and how they knew each of the kids I mentioned. It will be exciting to see how God will continue to work in this!

Lots of Catching Up

2010-04-21T10:17:00.004-05:00

Boy, I'm behind in posting! We had a wonderful Easter at UC First Assembly! 302 people in attendance and a beautiful day for all of our activities. Our daughter, Micaela, was able to come for four days so that was an awesome bonus.

In March, both of our kids had their birthdays. I know some may get tired of hearing about how great I think my kids are, but I can't help it! They are such a blessing to us. They are not perfect but I'm so proud of who they are and how they are serving God.

I had a birthday last week...my last year in my forties! The big 5-0 looms in front of me. It was a nice birthday.

We are preparing for all of our summer events. Promotion Sunday is coming up on May 24. It's an opportunity to celebrate the kids advancing to new areas of ministry - nursery to preschool, preschool to Building 2-52, Building 2-52 to Oasis Student Ministries. We will have a brunch between the two morning services and a short ceremony at that time and also during our 5 PM discipleship classes. It gives parents the time to ask questions, meet the teams, and get info about the new things they and their children can expect.

Mega Sports Camp is scheduled for Sunday - Thursday, June 13-17. Sunday night will be from 5-7 and Monday - Thursday from 6:30-8:30. The camp will offer the choice of basketball, soccer or cheer leading and is for kids entering kindergarten - 6th grade in the fall. There is no cost. Our evening will include a big group time of music, games and a short story followed by individual sports, snack time and a wrap up.

Kid's Camp will be July 14-17 at our AG Camp Jackson near Goodlettsville. Kids entering 3-6 grades this fall are eligible to attend. Cost for the camp is $95 plus spending money. Applications are due April 25 so please contact me asap if you have a child interested in going.

Movin' On Up

2010-03-30T14:44:00.009-05:00

It's that time of year when we begin to make preparations for the preschoolers to graduate to Building 2-52, the 5th graders to promote to Oasis Student Ministries and the high school seniors from the Oasis gang to graduate to the College and Career class.

I wanted to do something more intentional to prepare the 5th graders for the huge jump to youth group. It's an even tougher transition for parents to witness as they see their babies entering the realm of a teenager. So to ease the nerves of all involved, we have two "bridge" events for our 5th graders. For our first event last Saturday, we invited them to a cookout and fishing day at our house with our amazing youth pastors, Brian and Corey Moffitt and our intern, Garrett Quinn, along to build relationships and have some fun. Only four of our kids could make it but we hope to get the rest of the crew together again in May, right before our promotion ceremony, so they really feel prepared to join Oasis.

It's a tough transition for me personally because I get so attached to these kids. But I'm very excited for them as they have new opportunities to grow in their relationship with Jesus and discover even more ways to be used by God. Many of these kids will join Fine Arts and find their talents and callings that God has gifted them with.

Mini Mission's Trip

2010-03-22T11:38:00.008-05:00

Union City First Assembly of God is a very mission's minded church. We believe in extravagant giving towards winning the lost on home soil and abroad. We also believe that we are called to "Know Christ and Show Christ" especially to our community. With that said, our Oasis Student Ministries have two mission's trips planned for this summer. They are going to Jamaica to work with AG missionaries Gary and Peggy Pyatt and are going to North Carolina to work on a Habitat for Humanity site.

I began to pray about ways our Building 2-52 kids could do more for missions. All of our Sunday morning offerings go towards BGMC (Boys and Girls Missionary Challenge) which funnels money to AG missions all around the world but I wanted something they could do "hands on" that would spark the joy of giving to someone who is hurting and to show they have a mission's field right in front of them. The Lord inspired me with a "Mini Missions Trip."

I called the local hospital and talked with their public relations person. I asked about the possibility of bringing a group of kids to the hospital and present them with some items that they could use for the sick and newborn children they care for. She was beyond thrilled at the prospect and we set a date. I asked what would bless them the most. She said the go through tons of coloring books and crayons. I asked about infant needs and suggested baby blankets for families who may not have a lot of means to provide something new. So after our conversation, I compiled a list of items to work towards.

The kids worked hard to bring extra offerings towards the project and when some of the adults got wind of what we were doing, they jumped on board with some extra items. One lady in our church purchased 20 hard back books called "Sleep Sound in Jesus" for newborn families. She also purchased blankets and sleepers. One other gal told her workmates about our project and they bought coloring books, crayons, CD's of fun kids music and some baby blankets. These are people who don't even attend our church but loved the idea and wanted to help. So cool!

A couple of our Kid's Council girls went shopping with me and we finished the list. We packed it all in pretty gift bags and were ready to show some love to some hurting kids and needy families!

We loaded up the school bus and we met Kara from the hospital in the main lobby and made our presentation. She was so excited to see all of us and couldn't believe we brought over 30 kids and adults along for the event. She told the kids how much it was going to mean to the other kids who would receive their gifts. I think it was an awesome experience for them to see and hear how their hard work was going to show the love of Christ to some other kids just like them. Many of our kids come from needy families themselves and are frequently on the receiving end of our generous church so it was good for them to experience the other side and have the joy of giving. Acts 20:35 remembers Jesus' words, "it is more blessed to give than to receive."

We will be looking for more opportunities to be "the hands and feet of Jesus" in our community and for ways that kids can reach other kids for Jesus. I'm so proud of my kids but mostly I praise God for His idea and allowing us to be a blessing to others and for the generousity of so many people.

Meet the Team

2010-03-16T14:53:00.002-05:00

Full Name: Teresa Kay Breeden

Ministry Area or Position: Bus Pastor, discipleship teacher, nursery team, nursing home visitation, Wednesday night worship team (when does this woman sleep?)

Family Members: Husband Mark, daughters Madison, Elizabeth, and LillyFavorite Food: Chinese, especially Chong's in Paducah, and Maryland style crab cakes

Favorite Bible story or verse: "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." Phil. 4:13

Favorite TV show or Movie: TV show - "Little House on the Prairie" reruns and "John and Kate Plus Eight" until the resent divorce :( Movie - "It's a Wonderful Life", "Gone With the Wind" and tear jerker "My Sister's Keeper"

Favorite Music: Contemporary Christian esp. Steven Curtis Chapman, Nichole Nordeman and Mark's originals are some of my favs.

Something special the Lord has done in my life: God has blessed me with a wonderful family. My only dream growing up was to have a family with children of my own. My husband and children are awesome and I am so thankful for them.

What's my talent?: I'm good at accounting and I love my job. That's another blessing to count! I believe my best area of ministry is just helps in general and working with kids is my fav.

Conference

2010-03-15T15:45:00.006-05:00

Phil Vischer...the creator of Veggie Tales!

The Donut Man - Rob Evans

Mary Rice Hopkins

I recently went to a conference called Clarity that was in St. Louis. What a great week of being inspired by other children's pastor and leaders, finding new resources and hearing some awesome messages. I had the opportunity to speak with Phil Vischer....Mr. Veggie Tales himself....who has a new video series called "What's in the Bible?", to chat with an Eilers' fam fav, The Donut Man and see another children's ministry hero, Mary Rice Hopkins. Plus oh so much more. I sure appreciate being a part of a church that understands the need for pastors to attend conferences that focus on your ministry area. There is just something about being with people from "your tribe" that energizes and inspires you to keep going and to do better than you ever have before.

Basketball Games

2010-03-15T15:12:00.008-05:00

I love to attend my kids' events. It's just so fun to see them in an environment other than church. It reveals a side of them I sometimes don't get to see. I enjoy being able to connect with their families, too, and just share life together.

Soooo Behind in News!

2010-03-15T14:53:00.009-05:00

Wow, I am gonna try to catch up with everything that has happened the last three weeks! Our Family Game Night was AWESOME! Had about 30 people come and we were there until 10 PM! It's such a great opportunity to just hang out and spend some time with your family and chat with friends that you may not get to connect with as often as you'd like to.

Family Game Night

2010-02-24T12:40:00.003-06:00

Break out the "Sorry" game or those "Uno" cards and come for a great family night in the Activities Building of First Assembly of God! We meeting at 6 PM until around 8 PM. Bring some finger foods to share and all your friends. This is for all ages. Kids must have an adult with them. 1810 Pleasant Valley Ave. Union City, TN. Call 731-446-4014 for more details. See y'all there! BTW...Pizza Hut has a great deal right now if you want to bring pizza.

Meet the Team

2010-02-16T14:40:00.002-06:00

Full Name: Colton Thomas Rinker

Ministry Area or Position: Sound and Video Tech/Puppets

Family Members: Dad - Michael, Mom - Rhonda, Brother - Connor

Favorite Food: Poppy Seed Chicken

Favorite Bible Story or Verse: David and Goliath

Favorite TV Show or Movie: Burn Notice

Favorite Music: Christian Rock

Name something special the Lord has done in your life: He has blessed me a lot!

What's Your Talent?: Shooting

Enabling Our Kids to Win Their Friends

2010-02-04T09:54:00.002-06:00

The main goal of Building 2-52 in 2010 is to help the kids win their friends to Jesus. Yes, we will continue to teach the truths of the scriptures, encourage memory verses, have great worship and all the other components that make up our Sunday morning services but we don't want to keep all those things to ourselves. We want to encourage and enable kids to win their friends by either sharing Jesus with them or inviting them to church to hear about Christ. So, in order to help them, I have ordered a great tool. I found this booklet on Children's Pastor Tony Kummer's web site Ministry-to-Children, which by the way is an awesome resource! The booklet, Who Will Be King, helps kids to communicate the Gospel with great visuals and is very easy to understand. I'll give these to any of my kids who want them. We tell the kids, "Bring your friends" and they are willing but don't always know how to go about doing it. I've made invitations for events and given them to the kids to pass out. Not just a flier but something that looks more like an invitation to a birthday party. I'd love to hear how you enable your church kids to witness and be inviters!

Meet the Team

2010-02-02T11:19:00.002-06:00

Full Name: Hailey Marie Crowell

Ministry Area or Position: Building 2-52 Team Member

Family Members: Mom - Wanda and Dad - David

Favortie Food: Anything Italian, Mexican or Chinese

Favorite Bible Verse or Story: Jeremiah 29:11, Philippians 4:13, and Matthew 5:13-14

Favorite TV Show or Movie: Anything on Discovery Health, My Sister's Keeper and Stand By Me

Favorite Music: Christian

Something the Lord has done in your life: Called me into ministry, delivered me from things in my life

What's Your Talent?: Playing the drums and preaching

Meet the Team

2010-01-25T13:22:00.004-06:00

Full Name: Brian Allen Johnson

Ministry Area or Position: Building 2-52 Team member and Head of Technology

Family Members: Wife Amy and daughter Brianna

Favorite Food: Anything sweet

Favorite Bible Verse or story: Romans 8:28

Favorite TV show or movie: Titan Football games

Favorite Music: Jeremy Camp, Mercy Me, Casting Crowns

Something special the Lord has done in your life: Kept me alcohol and drug free my whole life

What's Your Talent?: Friendly to others and creativity. (Pastor Lori says, "Brian is our big lovable goof ball!")

Daddy Date Night

2010-01-21T13:41:00.000-06:00

Announcing Daddy Date Night, Friday February 5 @ 6 PM. Dad's opportunity to bring his daughter(s) ages 3 yrs. - 18 yrs. old for a dress up evening of dinner, games and date pictures! Take some time to show our girls how they should expect to be treated by Godly men. Tickets are $12 per couple. Union City First Assembly of God. Extra dads available for those who need to borrow one! Don't forget to order the corsage!

Meet the Team

2010-01-21T10:46:00.003-06:00

Full Name: Melissa Gaye Lane (Missy)

Ministry Area: Building 2-52 leader

Family Members: Husband Tony, Daughters Alyssa Nicole, Hannah Brooke, and Emmaline Shay Morgan

Favorite Food: Spaghetti

Favorite Bible Verse or Story: 2 Chronicles 7:14

Favorite TV Show or Movie: Grease and Golden Girls

Favorite Music: Christian, K-Love

Something Special the Lord has done in your life: Healed me from a bad car wreck and healed some breast lumps

What's Your Talent? Singing (and Pastor Lori adds anointed in prayer)

The Prayer of Jabez Part 4

2010-01-20T09:57:00.002-06:00

This weekend raps up our series on the Prayer of Jabez. We will focus on "that you would keep me from evil, that I may not cause pain." We will also include the last powerful sentence of the prayer...So God granted him what he requested. Sometimes we forget that part. God is faithful and His Word is true.

Some of the kids have already started quoting the whole 1 Chronicles 4:10 passage. Yes...we are giving them a big incentive but it's so cool to hear a 1st grader quote that whole verse and see their face as they speak it for themselves. They are making it their prayer, not just Jabez's. That's the most important victory.

We are including the story of Joseph. Who better to be an example of how he didn't give in to temptation and cause more pain when many of us would have justified a poor response to being treated as Joseph was?

Meet the Team

2010-01-16T12:35:00.003-06:00

Got this idea from another children's pastor friend of mine and thought it would be cool to do with our team at Union City First Assembly of God!

Full Name: Amy Dawn Johnson

Ministry Area or position: Big Event Coordinator and Building 2:52 leader

Family Members: Husband Brian and daughter Brianna

Favorite Food: Mexican

Favorite Bible verse or story: Ephesians 6:10-18

Favorite TV Show or movie: Anything on Food Network or HGTV

Favorite Music: Kutless, Casting Crowns

Something special the Lord has done in your life: Healed the function of my heart

What's Your Talent?: talking and planning events

Pray of Jabez Continues

2010-01-13T10:56:00.002-06:00

This Sunday in Building 2-52...Part 3 in the Prayer of Jabez series, "that your hand would be with me" and the amazing story of Daniel. Daniel was indeed a man who like Jabez had been blessed by God and his territory mightily increased. He is a perfect example of how God's hand was with him. Love to preach from Daniel!

I challenged the kids to learn the Prayer of Jabez in 1 Chronicles 4:10. This past Sunday, I rocked my team's world by telling the kids not only would they receive 3000 points towards the Redemption Center store if they could say the whole passage BUT if they challenged a Building 2-52 team member to say it and they couldn't that the kid would receive an additional 3000 points! Hey, if a 1st grader can learn it, why can't the leadership? I'm just sayin'!

Great Event!

2010-01-11T17:42:00.003-06:00

Mom's Scrapbooking and Kid's Mega Fun Day Event! Saturday, January 16 at 9 AM - 12 PM. Mom's how about 3 kid-free hours of scrapbooking? Your kids ages 2 mths thru 11 yrs. old will enjoy their own crafts, games, stories and snacks. Bring all your supplies and those holiday pics. Coffee, goodies and DOOR PRIZES for the ladies! All at Union City First Assembly 1810 Pleasant Valley Ave.

Am I Leaky?

2010-01-04T15:50:00.003-06:00

If I'm not leaky...I sure want to be! Let me clarify before someone thinks I need new personal garments. I am a children's pastor. I have many people who serve with me in the five areas of ministry that I am responsible for at Union City First Assembly of God: a nursery team, a preschool team, a discipleship team, a Building 2-52 team and a bus ministry team. Each one should know my heart and vision for the kid's of our church and city. I should leak vision. When team members see me in the hall at church or even at Wal-Mart, they should automatically think, "Pastor Lori wants to build kids to know Christ and show Christ." If they have the opportunity to invite someone to church they should be able to express to that person our goal in serving kids. I have determined in my heart that in 2010 I will take more time and care to share the vision. I will not apologize for passionately talking to people about "my kids" when I think I'm taking too much of their time. I will write it, speak it, pray it, until I don't think I can say it again. The only way the vision will be a driving force is if it's put out there continually. When God stirs my heart there should be a ripple effect. I want to be leaky!

Christmas 2009

2009-12-14T11:04:00.007-06:00

Can I just say I have the most amazing group of kids? They did an awesome job at our Christmas program! I was so proud of them and it was so great to have a full house with people standing at the back of the sanctuary. Thanks to all of the Building 2:52 team, our preschool department and our music pastor and crew. It took a whole village but we made it without anyone falling, crying, vomiting or fighting! Merry Christmas.

Meet Me at the Manger

2009-12-10T09:34:00.004-06:00

This Sunday, December 13, at 5 PM is our kid's Christmas musical, Meet Me at the Manger. I know the kids will do an awesome job of presenting the true meaning of Christmas. We have our big dress rehearsal this Saturday morning followed by a birthday party for Jesus with what I know has to be His first choice of menus...pizza and ice cream!

Invite your family, friends and neighbors! All kids attending the service, whether they were in the program or not, will receive a special Christmas treat box of goodies.

Union City First Assembly of God is at 1810 Pleasant Valley Ave. Meet you there!

Building Houses...Gingerbread Style

2009-11-30T15:32:00.006-06:00

We had a blast building gingerbread houses again this year. Sticky, but FUN!

Family Build a Gingerbread House

2009-11-24T11:37:00.003-06:00

There's still time to sign up for this Saturday's Build a Gingerbread House and Pot Luck Lunch event. We are meeting in our Activities Building at 10 AM til 1 PM. This is for ALL ages and a great opportunity to start a new family tradition. Invite some friends and be sure to give me a call to reserve your spot and order a kit. The kits will be $12 and the price includes all "building materials" plus drinks for lunch and all tableware. Call me at 731-446-4014 to sign up.

Fall Outreach

2009-11-24T10:18:00.003-06:00

Last Saturday, we at Union City First Assembly hosted our annual Fall Outreach for Obion County. I posted some prep pictures last week and wanted to follow up with the results. We had hundreds of people come through and "shop" for clothing, shoes and household items. They began lining up outside our activities building shortly after 7 AM for our 8:00 opening. We gave a new blanket to about 85 families and about 160 bags of groceries for Thanksgiving dinners. It was an incredible day. I'm so thankful to be a part of such a loving and compassionate church who always give above and beyond of their time and resources.

How Pumpkin Pies Are Made

2009-11-18T10:42:00.004-06:00

A friend sent me this through e-mail and I thought it was too funny not to share. Ok....so maybe I've been hanging out with kids too long and my sense of humor has been compromised. Tell me you didn't smile!

Annual Fall Outreach

2009-11-16T13:57:00.007-06:00

Sunday afternoon, we were busy at the church preparing for our annual fall outreach. We collect gently used clothes for all ages from our congregation and food items for Thanksgiving dinner. We then set up our activities building in giant garage sale fashion and invite the community to come for a FREE shopping trip. We open the doors next Saturday morning at 8 AM and will have people ready to greet, be shopper assistants, check out helpers, prayer teams and grocery givers. Each family can take as many items as they can use. The building is full of great clothes (some with price tags still on), shoes, household items, accessories and much more. When they check out, they receive a bag of groceries and an opportunity to have someone pray for their needs. It is so much fun to see people have these basic needs met and to see the church come together and love all who come through the doors. Can't wait to see how God moves this weekend and the divine appointments we will have. These are some pictures of our preparations.

2009 Giant Haystack

2009-11-03T14:48:00.010-06:00

Building the Haystack

Family Pictures

Cake Walk

Craft table

Digging for treasure!

We had our second Giant Haystack on Saturday, October 31. It was a spectacular day! The sun was shinning after what seemed like weeks of rain, we had tons of people, AWESOME volunteers, and just plain fun. We hide the numbered balls in the haystack for the kids to find and turn in for a prize like we did last year. We gave out bags of candy for each person and had a drawing for a "Family Movie Night" gift basket. We once again had free hot dogs, coffee, and hot cocoa. But this year, we added a kid's craft table, a bean bag toss, a toddler duck pond game, tattoos, family pictures (to be printed and mailed out with a letter), a drawing for two bikes and the most popular addition...the Quarter Cake Walk! We raised $133 for BGMC with that crazy cake walk! People stood in line to walk. That will be back next year for sure. The kids really liked the craft table, too.

Thanks to all who made it so fun and such a great success. May God bless all and especially our "hay guy" who delivers and picks up the hay and refuses to charge us for it!

Character Connex

2009-10-29T11:02:00.008-05:00

Part of the set up

The crowd...about 300

Crazy Game

Skit Time
It's an illusion!

Rhonda and Garrett

We did our first Character Connex school assembly on the character trait of "Responsibility" on Tuesday and it went great. I had Randy, Garrett and Rhonda helping and they did a wonderful job. I found a couple of things to tweak but all in all it went so well for the first one out. Somebody has to be the guinea pig!

I talked to another school this morning and it looks like they will be booking an assembly in a few weeks. Pretty exciting! They also asked if I could do an after school program! Praise God for favor.

Thankful For Open Doors

2009-10-22T13:28:00.003-05:00

I'm sitting at my desk at church and reflecting on my lunch date at school today. I had to stop and write a few words about what it means to me to be able to do those "dates." First, I am blessed to have a pastor who encourages me to be out and about in the community and not sitting behind my desk 8 hrs. a day. There is work to be done in the church building but we are in the business of reaching people! Thanks, Pastor Tommy!

Second, I do not take lightly the fact that God has opened the door for me to build this relationship with our community and the schools of Union City and Obion County. It is not every city and state that welcome pastors through the doors of their schools. It is a privilege that I am allowed because God has given me favor.

Third, when I go and sit with "my kids" while they enjoy those yummy school lunches, I get to spend a half an hour with them one on one and talk about things we don't usually have the opportunity to talk about at church. It's all about them, no interruptions, no competing for my attention. Every time I go, the classroom teacher says, "He/she has been so excited all morning that you were coming today." It means so much to them and takes so little effort from me. We always have our picture taken together. It will end up in our kid's bulletin and a copy will go home with the child. Another copy makes the bulletin board in my office.

And fourth, I get to see so many other kids. Kids from church, kids from the Boys and Girls Club, kids from the neighborhoods were we do visitation, kids who were invited to one of our events...all kinds of kids. God showed me today that those small moments of contact, that brief hug shared in the hall will add up to something that truly impacts their life. It's hard to imagine that those little things make a difference but the Lord really encouraged me through that vision.

I started mentoring two fourth grade boys this week. That is another door God opened wide for me. "D" and "J" are two boys who need someone in their life who will encourage them and give them some undivided attention. They are sweet young men who seemed pretty excited to have a mentor of their very own. It will be interesting to see where God leads in these new relationships. Neither are from Christian homes as far as I know so I'm praying that we can build a trusting bond that overflows to their families. I may be the only Godly influence they have. Lord, let me be a light to them.

Dinner at Pastor Lori's Kitchen

2009-10-21T13:04:00.006-05:00

Our September mission's incentive for our Boys and Girls Missionary Challenge (BGMC) offering was the person with the most $$ in their Buddy Barrel would win dinner out with me and a Building 2:52 team member of their choice to ANY restaurant in Union City! Could be anywhere from McDonald's to Applebee's, Taco Bell to Joe's Steak House. Soooooo...Elizabeth wins with her baby sister Lilly just pennies behind her. "Elizabeth, where would you like to go to dinner?" "I want Miss Hailey to come and I want to have dinner at Pastor Lori's kitchen." Seriously, she wanted hot dogs and steak fries at our house! Well, whatever my babies want, my babies get! After those delish Oscar Meyer dogs, we watched some Toys Story 2, and the girls had their chosen desserts....chocolate ice cream for Elizabeth and sherbet for Lilly. BTW, when I brought up the matter of Elizabeth only beating her sister by pennies, she agreed wholeheartedly that Lilly should be invited along! Love those silly girls! Good times and blessing some missionaries, too.

Happenings

2009-10-20T09:52:00.010-05:00

Sunday was a fun day in Building 2-52. We are in a series about the great battles of the Bible and this week our sermon was on Joshua and the Battle of Jericho. We talked about what a miracle it was when God brought down the walls with the obedient shouts and blasting of the rams horns of the Israelites. Our main sermon point was that God is still the God of miracles today!

We had some visitors from the Army National Guard unit here in Union City. They brought a Hummer for the kids to investigate and some even got to ride around the parking lot in it. Both soldiers stayed for our service and joined in the fun. The kids seemed to enjoy the change of pace and it didn't stop us from having a great altar time as we prayed for the miracles we all need in our lives.

Sunday was also Pastor Appreciation Day. I had the kids write noted of thanks and appreciation to Pastor Tommy and Deana on some pink, heart shaped post it notes and we stuck them on his office door. The kids loved being in on the secret mission! Our church members are so kind and supportive. I feel so blessed to be a part of the staff here. Thanks to all who made it a special day for us.

CMA RE:gional

2009-10-13T09:46:00.006-05:00

Last week, I went to St. Louis for the National Children's Ministry Agency's RE:gional Conference. It was a round table discussion format on seven different topics. We had the opportunity to sit in a small group and brainstorm ideas, share challenges, and hear how other children's leaders tackle each area of ministry. I wasn't sure I'd like the format but it was great! Our general session speaker was Kevin Geer who is the Children's Ministries Director of the Northwest Ministry Network of the Assemblies of God. He was awesome! He spoke on leadership skills, vision casting and the keys of effective ministry. He had a way of communicating that just made everything make total sense! I had the opportunity to network with some other CM peeps and hang with some old friends.

Our hotel was a stone's throw from the STL Arch. Very cool....I had never seen it. We had lunch in the rooftop restaurant that rotates around so you get an awesome view of the arch and Busch Stadium. The architecture of downtown STL is beautiful. I enjoyed two favs while in Missouri...Starbucks and Panera! Oh, I was a happy girl!

Building 2:52 Stuff

2009-10-13T09:21:00.007-05:00

For those who know me, preaching from a ladder is a great display of love for my kids!

Sometimes, you just have to play a crazy game!

We are doing a series in Building 2:52 called "Victory" focusing on some of the greatest military battles in the Bible. Just thought I'd share a few pics from recent services.

Family and Friend Day 2009

2009-09-28T12:51:00.007-05:00

We had our annual Family and Friend Day yesterday. We encourage our whole church to invite everyone to some for an awesome salvation message and stay for lunch. We had a giant cookout and feed the whole crowd. It was so exciting to see our big school bus pull into the parking lot FULL! All but three of our bus kids brought their parents!!! That was an awesome sight. We had one adult get saved and five kids in Building 2-52 get saved. Many had a special time at the altar where they received a touch from God. Several rededicated their lives. Pastor Tommy preached with special music in between his points that really relayed the Gospel and Christ's love for us.

In Building 2-52 our sermon was "Transformers" and I preached from Romans 12:2 about how we need to transform the way we think about God. Some mistakenly think that they are not good enough for God to love, some think that they can live and act whoever they want and they will still gain Heaven and some believe that there is no way God could have a plan for them. We had a great time at the altar letting Jesus speak to our hearts and making Him the Lord of our lives.

See You at the Playground

2009-09-28T12:41:00.005-05:00

Saturday, September 26 was the annual "See You at the Playground" gathering. It is the kid's version of "See You at the Pole" for people of all faiths to gather for a short time of prayer to lift up our schools, students, teachers, administration. We also prayed for our country and government. It was a small gathering, which is a little disappointing, but we had a great time of prayer. We met Shirley and her great grandson Levi. Levi's mom had called the church earlier this week wanting more info about SYATPG and she was sending Levi with her grandmother as she would be out of town. She had called the school for info and was told they weren't organizing it but could give them the number of someone who was and that's how she found us! Cool!

How Beautiful Are the Feet

2009-09-21T16:09:00.003-05:00

Yesterday, I preached from Romans 10. We are gearing up for our annual Family and Friend Day here at Union City First Assembly of God. This coming Sunday, September 27, we are inviting everyone we know to come to church and then stay for a free grilled hamburger lunch. The kids have the additional Greatest Grade Challenge. The grade with the most kids here gets to come back the next Saturday to a free pizza and game night. So....I preached a message about inviting our friends. We had a little fun with a mystery feet power point put together by our techie guy Brian. Then to send them on their way out the door to practice having beautiful feet, we wrote Good News on the bottoms of the feet. "How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news." Romans 10:15

Iowa "Dream" and a BIG Announcement

2009-09-19T15:52:00.002-05:00

Our son Keaton just finished a HUGE undertaking. He organized and led the very first ever Kid's Convention in Iowa. "Dream" was a big success with about 350 people attending the Friday night into Saturday afternoon adventure. The pictures I've seen are amazing and I'm hoping to get to see some video soon. I'd love to see something like this happen in Tennessee! Maybe someday. I'm uber proud of my boy!

During "Dream" they made a big announcement that involves Tennessee! August 2010 Iowa will be bringing a team of 4th, 5th and 6th graders to Union City to help do some ministry events! This will be the first Iowa Ministry Network Kid's Missions trip. They will be here for one whole week. We are working on schedules, budgets, travel plans and all the details to make this a trip that will bring many other kids to Jesus and serve our community in a Kingdom building manner. Our Union City kids will get to be involved in all of the activities but more importantly be serving and using their abilities to minister also. Kids leading kids to Jesus...that is soooo cool! The leadership in place for the trip is awesome...great people who will be a blast to work with! I know God is going to do some amazing things through these kids. Keaton said you could hear the buzz throughout the room when he announced the trip. I have a feeling those 25 spots are gonna fill up fast!

CM Beyond

2009-09-19T15:34:00.002-05:00

I love networking with other children's pastors and leaders. The scripture says, "As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another." Proverbs 27:17 My good buddy Pastor Kevin Umphress started a monthly Internet conferencing for any CM peeps. Pastor Kevin is the children's pastor at Berean Assembly of God in Des Moines, IA. Generally the first Tuesday of each month at 9 PM Central, you can log on the site and join a live chat via your computer (with or without video) or call in as a conference call.

Last Tuesday, we talked about spiritual landmarks for our kids. Iowa just has their very first "Dream" Kid's Convention with about 350 people attending. Pastor Kevin led us in a discussion about using that sort of momentum in our kids' ministry to build spiritual landmarks. Not as to lift up the event itself as life changing but as what God did in our lives while we were there. It's kinda like that Kid's Camp experience....even I get wrapped up in the good time we had and not focus on what God business took place. I remember when our daughter Micaela would come home from church camp and she would tell us every funny story from five days of camp before she would finally get to what she experienced at the altar with Jesus. We need to help our kids record and celebrate the landmark such as write it in their Bibles so they can look back on it and remember what God did for them.

It was a great time of brain-storming and encouraging each other. I love that Pastor Kevin makes sure we have time at the end of our hour to take prayer needs and lift each other up to the throne. I encourage any children's leaders to join us. October and November's discussions will be led by two other children's pastors who have many successful years in ministry to help us grow. check out the web site at http://cmbeyond.blogspot.com . Leave a question or comment and I'm sure Pastor Kevin will help you out!

Boys and Girls Club

2009-09-16T12:50:00.000-05:00

Now that school is back in full swing, I started my weekly volunteering at the Boys and Girls Club here in Union City. Every time I am there I am impressed with how they operate. I don't know exactly how many kids they have from day to day but they are everywhere! The place doesn't have much room but they do have a big gym (they are in an old school building) and several classrooms. They maintain order with firmness but affection, get homework done and tutor those who need it, have some game time, feed them a snack and have other planned activities. The staff there is amazing. I'm so thankful I can help even though it's just a couple of hours a week. Many of our bus kids go there every day from 3-6:30 so I get to have some contact with them outside of Sunday or home visits.

I will mainly be helping with homework and just hanging out and building relationships. I get tons of hugs and thank yous but I feel like I should be thanking them. They help me see their lives in the true sense and be more sensitive to their needs. I sure admire the gal who runs the club. Tracy is a single mom of three who is finishing her college degree, working full time at the club and does it all with love in her voice and a smile on her face. The kids obviously adore her.

In December, the club will get to move to a larger facility! I'm excited for them. The club is such a vital service in our community and I want them to be able to do what they do a little easier. Wish I had a boatload of money to give them! If you are looking for a way to serve community kids, see if your city has a Boys and Girls Club!

Doing Life With My Kids

2009-09-14T12:56:00.000-05:00

Crazy game in Building 2*52

Devon's first football game!

1st grade cheerleaders...how cute is that!

Lunch with Riley

I love to be able to spend time with "my kids" outside of church. I know that the kids remember some of the sermons and lessons I teach but they ALWAYS remember someone who took time to do life with them! They are just that important...to me and to Jesus!

Lunch with PL and a Blessing

2009-08-28T08:57:00.000-05:00

I tried to post this several days ago but had some sort of technical issues and had to rewrite it!

I had my first "Lunch with Pastor Lori" for this school year. I met with a 4th grader, Jayden, and had a great time chatting and meeting some of her friends. I LOVE going to schools! Kids are so funny...sometimes you discover a whole different side of them when away from the walls of the church. Jayden is a sweet girl, tender hearted and loves Jesus. She blessed me so much when she said, "I couldn't hardly wait for you to get here!" Of course, you get the others kids curiosity stirred up when you arrive. They ask if I'm the mom, the grandma, why I'm there, if I'm staying all day, etc. When they find out I'm a pastor, they usually look at me as though they have never seen a pastor outside a church building before. That's sad if true!

I'm doing a lunch a week and to take away the pressure of deciding who I should meet with, we have a new element in Building 2-52. At the end of second service, I draw a name from our new lunch box and whomever is drawn had a date with me. I got a metal Looney Tunes lunch box (thanks to my friend Debbie!) and anyone who wants a date has their name added to the mix. I then call parents so they can in turn call the school and give the okay and let them know what day I'm coming.

I was incredibly blessed to meet the pastors of the Hispanic Assembly of God church here in Union City! Pastor Villa and his wife were sharing their passion and vision for Asambleas de Dios Juan 3:16 with me and I was in awe of their determination and sacrifice. They moved here 8 years ago from New York to plant this church. They face many hurdles, mainly with language barriers. The children of their congregation are bilingual but not many adults are so the Villas end up doing most of the work and teaching of the church. They tell the children they are raising them up to be the church! I'll be praying for them and hope the Lord allows me an opportunity to help in some way. Sure wish I knew how to speak Spanish!

Building the Team

2009-08-24T07:17:00.000-05:00

I have been working and praying to fill some team positions. I'm so excited to have Brian and Amy Johnson and Jaime and Amanda Winstead join the Building 2-52 gang! Brian will be leading the technology department, Amy is my big event coordinator and they both will be in children's church. Jaime and Amanda take on the nursery coordinator position. I also recruited some additional people for the nursery schedule. Woot woot!

Now, I praying for a bus pastor. I am in charge of our bus ministry and it's been an area that I have had to learn as I go. So far....not too much success but I know a bus pastor is the only way this area will grow. I simply do not have as much time as it requires. So I'm praying for the person or persons that will commit to reaching out to some kids that have a pretty tough life. Someone who will be willing to invest some time to visit homes and really know these families. We are working on a 65 passenger school bus. We are painting it and getting it all "kid friendly." Of course a school bus requires a CDL and some folks willing to take the test. I'm working on mine.

Building a team takes more time than I'd like. It would be nice to just make a list and assign the positions! It's helping me grow the fruit of patience. :)

Be Careful What You Preach

2009-08-18T06:14:00.000-05:00

It seems as though God is stretching me right now. I feel a little like that old toy Stretch Armstrong, remember that one? Several weeks ago, the Lord changed the direction in Building 2-52 from Superheroes of the Bible to Fruits of the Spirit. Okay...I'm cool with that. I want to be going exactly where the Holy Spirit is leading...not doing my own thing. Well, let me tell you, I am relearning some of the very things I'm preaching.

"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self control." Galatians 5:22-23

Love - we ALL should constantly be challenged to love like Jesus. Some people are just not very lovable but.......you know. :)

Joy - I had to choose whether I was going to be joyful a couple of weeks ago when Randy was put into the hospital. Would I let the devil steal my joy? No way, forget it, not gonna happen. As I preached to the kids, the true meaning of J-O-Y is putting Jesus first, Others next and Yourself last. I'll keep my joy by keeping Jesus FIRST.

And now to peace - Wow, I have been tested in greater ways with this one. I really don't want to go into a lot of details but last Thursday was a tough day for us. We had a pretty big disappointment and then to top the whole day off, Micaela had a car accident. She is fine...car not so much. But Satan would have me in such turmoil and confusion and then even attack one of my kids that it proves what a liar and thief he is. Have I completely gotten the peace victory? Honestly no, but I'm working on it and rereading the scriptures from my Sunday sermon.

So this week I'm preaching on patience. Hum...

I will NOT deviate from where the Lord is leading me so bring it on Stupid Head. (does the devil read my blog?) 1 John 4:4 says "Greater is He that is in me than he that is in the world!" 1 Cor. 15:57 says "But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ."

This is an awesome verse Keaton gave me as an encouragement this week....Matthew 19:29 "And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or fields for my sake will receive a hundred times as much and will inherit eternal life."

The scripture from Luke 12 that teaches, "to whom much is given, much is required" has come to mind often in the past few weeks. I'm trusting in you Jesus!

Obion County Fair

2009-08-15T06:33:00.000-05:00

Giving a cup of water in Jesus' name....Mark 9:41

Julie and me...do I look goofy?

We had a great time this week passing out free bottled water, church fliers, and balloon animals. Thanks to all of our awesome volunteers...especially my friend Julie who was there every night!

Obion County Fair

2009-08-12T06:51:00.000-05:00

Our church has a booth at the Obion County Fair. We are doing something simple for the second year in a row. We are giving a cup of cold water in Jesus' name. Free bottled water, a packet of church info with some candy in it, a friendly face and just an opportunity to be Jesus with skin on. Last night, I added some balloon animals and passed out some of my business cards. It's fun to watch the kid's faces when you tell them they can have a free balloon. Not much is free at the fair except boring business stuff that most kids could care less about. We will be at the fair three more nights. I'm praying for divine appointments and favor in our community. I want to be ready for that one person who may be at the fair that is hurting and open to a new friend. Lord, give me your eyes and ears tonight. Speak to me in the busyness of the evening so that I might show your love in a greater way.

My Man is Home!

2009-08-07T13:26:00.000-05:00

Finally, Randy was sprung from the hospital!! His blood level was thin enough after seven days of being bed-ridden. He arrived at the hospital and was put to bed last Friday at 10 AM and we left his room at exactly 10 AM this morning. I'm so thankful he's home. He has to be off of work for two more weeks and as the doctor said, "You may putter." So I guess that means light duties and using caution.

He still has three blood clots but we are believing the Lord will dissolve those quickly. Thanks to all who have been praying and those who came to visit. We sure appreciate everyone's support.

Horses and the Hospital

2009-08-03T20:07:00.000-05:00

We've had a hectic few days around here! Friday, Randy was put in the hospital with a blood clot in his leg...well, we found out today it's actually three blood clots. He will be in the hospital a few more days until they can get his blood thinned out a bit more. They have not determined how he got the blood clots but I hope they do before he leaves the hospital. He is being a good patient but I know he is getting tired on being in bed. He cannot be up at all! You can only watch so much TV, read and such before you go nuts. He can't even really play solitaire because he isn't allowed to sit up much. His leg has to be elevated at all times.

Randy had started his new job just four days before this all happened! He will have to be off of work for two weeks after he goes home and will have to ease back after that. So far, his new employer is being very good about all of this. We know that God is in control and He is going to work it all out for His glory. Everything from Randy's physical healing to the financial end of it. We don't have any health insurance and so this is an awesome opportunity for our miracle working, supernatural God to show the world how He takes care of us.

In the midst of this, I had a big day planned at church. Round Up Sunday was planned as a dual purposed event. Celebrating back to school and getting families back into the regular church attendance habit after the summer slump. You might be thinking, "Back to school?" Yes...our schools are back in session as of last Friday and today. Crazy, I know. So anyway....all went well even with making hospital visits and decorations for the big day. We even had two horses for some fun rides in the church yard between the two morning services. The kids had a blast and it was so fun to watch them enjoying the horses. The horses were so gentle and didn't even mind all of those kids getting off and on them. Great day even if we didn't have as many kids back as I would have liked. The kids all looked adorable in the western wear. We had some prizes for the best outfits and some crazy pictures of everyone in a "Wanted" poster.

Thanks to all who have been praying for us! We sure appreciate all of your love and concern. We'll keep you posted.

Chachachachanges

2009-07-30T20:58:00.000-05:00

Last Sunday, we announced our new youth pastors at Union City First Assembly of God! Brian and Corey Moffitt are a great addition to the team. They will continue their full time teaching jobs and will lead our youth in all those youth-y type things they do. Seriously, the Moffitts are sold out to Jesus, with hearts full of passion for missions and they will take our kids to the next level in their walk with the Lord. I know first hand how challenging it can be to be bi vocational but they are up to the challenge!

It was hard to see Pastor Justin, Hope and Gavin move to Mississippi. I miss them very much. Changes are a very real and big part of ministry. You deal with them and move on. Not forgetting people but living with the promise that God is in control and an understanding that change is a good thing. It's an opportunity for all of us to grow in Jesus.

Another change in our lives...Randy is employed! He started this week at a car dealership here in Union City as a car salesman. It's something new for him and some long hours but we are so thankful he has a job and the Lord will take care of the rest. As with any new job, there is a lot to learn, especially if you've never worked in sales. But my husband is great with people and everybody falls in love with him so I'm sure he'll do awesome.

What a Great Week!

2009-07-27T05:30:00.000-05:00

Maybe I should say, "What a great summer!", but let's just focus on the past week. I had the opportunity to go to Iowa for a couple of days. When I arrived at my friends, the Mains, we had a very happy reunion with many friends and some of my Iowa kids. Wow, they grow a lot in 10 months! Good food, lots of laughs, pictures, hugs, stories, new babies, new babies on the way...you can't get much better than that. I'm so thankful for Amy! She has been a faithful, supportive friend from the moment we met. I spent Tuesday and Thursday nights there.

Wednesday, I drove to the Iowa Assemblies of God campground, Sunstream Retreat Center. The weather was picture perfect! It was an awesome day of reunions with old friends, kids I've met at other camps and JBQ, and the best part...spending the day with Keaton. Can I just say how proud I am of our son? He has been working like a mad man for months preparing for all of the camps for youth and kids. If I had one person I had a hundred tell me what a great job Keaton has done for the Iowa Ministry Network. It was so fun to see him in action. Check out his "crazy hair day" pics! That's dedication! I got to hear him preach a chapel and it was annointed! The boy can flat out preach!

Keaton gave me a tour of all the updates and additions to the camp. WOW! It is amazing. They've added three zip lines, zorb balls (the official ground zorb hill is in development and will be ready next summer), go carts, remodeled the sanctuary, game rooms, snack shop, gym, many of the sleeping rooms, the cafeteria and gave the whole grounds a deep cleaning. It took months of clearing trees and heavy construction but it was sure worth the end product. One very nice addition in my opinion was the Starbucks coffee! Now that's doing things with excellence! :)

I was honored to be able to do a chapel service for the kids. It was a personal blessing...somewhat of a gift from God. Last year, when I was at camp, someone had said some very hurtful things to me and I left on the last day on a bad note and a hurting heart. I knew in my heart that I would be leaving Iowa and I was so sad that my last Iowa camp had ended on a sour note. Yes, the person apologized later but it was still sad to have 15 years of Iowa camp end that way. This week, was a full circle event. I am so thankful to the Lord. The chapel service went awesome as God spoke a message to the kids about their uniqueness and purpose in Christ. We spent some time listening for the voice of God. The kids responded so well and I hope they all remember our Big Idea, "I am a flake!" You had to be there. :)

As awesome as it was, I'm glad to be home in Tennessee! Thanks to all who made it a wonderful few days. Got the Character Connex kit and I'm excited to get going on scheduling school assemblies!

This Week....

2009-07-20T05:49:00.000-05:00

I have a busy, exciting week ahead. It's Monday meeting day...you know how I enjoy that. It's just great to have the team together and share victories the Lord has given us. This meeting will be a little sad for me. Pastor Justin and Hope won't be there. Yesterday was their last day as they are moving to Mississippi. Pastor Justin and I have a unique bond and it was a tearful goodbye last night.

Tomorrow, I'm heading to Iowa! It's gonna be a very quick trip but I'm really looking forward to it. I'll arrive Tuesday late afternoon at the Main house where Amy has arranged a little get together of old friends and a pot luck dinner! Amy is ALWAYS doing something special for me even though I live 10 hours from her. Her birthday is Friday. Maybe I should bake a chocolate cake before I leave town.

Wednesday morning I'm up early and off to the Iowa Assemblies of God campground ~ Sunstream Retreat Center where week two of kid's camp is happening! I am beyond excited to see my boy! Keaton has been there all summer ministering and working super hard. The campground has undergone a major renovation so I'm looking forward to checking it out. To top it all off, I get to preach the morning chapel on Wednesday! It will be so cool to see all of my old camp buddies, too. Pastor Laurie Rich, who is one of my best friends, will be there along with other great friends, Pastor Kevin and Trudy Umphress, Pastor Brian Bopp aka BBopp, Pastor Heath and Ali Adamson and many more.

Thursday it's back to Des Moines to pick up our Character Connex kit! This investment will help me to get into our schools and do character building assemblies and build even deeper relationships with our community. I'm so thankful our church was supportive of the purchase and for the favor I have gained in the schools. I'll get to see another one of my bestest friends on Thursday! Judy is a pal from my days at Parkview Middle School. We are sisters of the heart. She is one of those people I can say anything to and know she doesn't judge and can keep a confidence. Those people are rare in the life of a person let alone a pastor.

I am the most blessed person to have so many incredible friends. I'm really hoping to see some other folks like the Albers tribe and the Lively clan. It's such a quick trip I will have to be a good steward of my time to fit it all in.

Friday morning it's back on the road. I'll be traveling alone as Randy is holding down the fort and making preparations to start his new job next Monday. We have a big all church work day next Saturday so I want to be back to lend a hand in that. We will be starting the process of painting the school bus! Woot woot. Can't wait to see the finished product and start picking up even more kids for church.

I MIss My Intern

2009-07-15T21:51:00.000-05:00

Jeremiah went back to Iowa on Monday morning. His time here went way too fast. We had lots more we wanted to work on. I know he came here to learn a few things from me but he was probably more of a blessing to me than I to him.

First of all, it brought me to tears Sunday morning as he led worship with his fiance, Monica. Not because they were off key....far from it....they sounded wonderful. The tears were thankful ones. I have known those two since they were about 7 yrs. old and to see them grown up, and serving Jesus plus using their talents for the Kingdom just was more than I could contain. It made me so proud. To think I may have had just a tiny part in their journey as Christ followers humbles me right back down to my knees.

Jeremiah was a great physical help the whole time he was here. He willingly did anything asked of him. Of course, that blessed me but to see the long hours, and mental fatigue through his eyes helped me remember that the call of ministry is not for the lazy or cave-in type. Lazy ministers tick me off. Mediocrity makes me want to vomit. Be sold out or get out! People entering ministry need to know right up front that it is more than a 40 hour a week job. It's a fire in your bones that cannot be contained. There is no shut-off valve to stop the thoughts and ideas. There is no putting aside the care and concern for your church family. It is a part of your DNA...pastors are just wired different. I don't see it as a bad thing at all, but it's hard to make people understand.

Jeremiah stirred my creative juices when we would discuss service orders, characters we could develop, new music, and object lessons. We talked ministry night and day...day and night. Poor Randy was probably sick of hearing about it but I felt an urgency to tell Jeremiah as much as I could. He asked good questions and seemed to really listen and file it away in his mind. Even everyday church business and happenings were teaching moments. I just know when I started out 20 some years ago there weren't too many people around I could go to for advise, resources and help. I want to encourage and help equip the next generation of children's pastors in whatever way I can.

Thank you Jeremiah for coming and helping us. Thank you for bringing some new thoughts and ideas. Thank you for allowing me to pour something out and being a good listener. Thanks for fishing with Randy and laughing at his wonky sense of humor. I miss you already! You are gonna be an incredible children's pastor....you are already impacting the Kingdom in a BIG way.

Tennessee Kid's Camp

2009-07-15T06:15:00.000-05:00

I am soooo behind in blogging! I got back last Friday from my first TN kid's camp at Camp Jackson. I feel like I have been gone from home for half the summer. Between Turkey, Sports Camp and Kid's Camp, poor Randy has nearly forgotten what I look like. Anyway, we took 8 kids for a fun filled week.

The weather was beautiful; sunny and warm. It was interesting to experience all the differences from Iowa to Tennessee camp. It was hard not to compare after spending 14 or 15 years at Sunstream Retreat Center. Camp Jackson is set back in a woodsy area and is pretty hilly. It has dorm buildings and cabins with the main difference being the cabins don't have their own bathrooms; you have to go to a bathhouse. From the area of the main buildings, you have to cross a ravine area with a bridge to get to the boys area and another bridge to get to the girls area. The main buildings include the cafeteria, a "shirt shack" that sells all kinds of stuff, and a gym/santuary that also houses a concession stand. There is also an open pavillion area and an open area with carpet ball. The pool is located between the boys and girls dorm areas. They have a rock climbing wall that was pretty cool. You hike down into the ravine next to the boys bridge and the wall is built up against the bridge. Of course there are several different fields for sports and a basketball court.

There were 325 kids attending our week which was #2 out of 3. The food was very good for camp food. The evangelist was AWESOME! Vance Martin and his family did a wonderful job and the kids loved them. We had some great altar times and four of our kids were filled with the Holy Spirit. I love that camp has no distractions of TV, computers, etc, and the kids can just focus on the Lord.

I was able to meet some other children's pastors that I hadn't met before. It's always great to connect with others who do what I do and understand why. Tennessee, like Iowa, has some great children's pastors and leaders. It was a good experience for Jeremiah to see another camp, too. He did a great job with our boys...and they were a challenge. :)

I'm excited to visit Iowa camp next week. They have made a bunch of changes under new leadership. I'm going to Iowa for some church business and have to honor to preach a morning chapel for their Kid's Camp. It will be awesome to see our son, Keaton, and many of my cp friends. It's a quick trip but I'm thankful I get to go.

Random Stuff of Our Week

2009-07-03T07:01:00.000-05:00

My intern, Jeremiah, and I had the opportunity to go to the Boys and Girls Club this week and read books to the kids. They are having a read-a-thon. It was fun to see several of "my kids" who attend there and they were very excited to see us. Jeremiah works in a kindergarten classroom back in Iowa so he is an excellent story reader. I'm supposed to be volunteering once a week there but the director has failed to get me the info and schedule. You would think they would be jumping at the chance for a volunteer but it seems they really aren't in as big a need as I thought.

We are preparing for CAMP next week. Anyone who knows me knows camp is my thing! There is just something about 5 concentrated days of worship, crazy games, challenging services, point totals, contests, new friends, altar time, no sleep, mediocre food and no outside distractions that just gets me going! Kids can leave behind the crud of the world and the things of life and just be kids who seek after Jesus. Camp is one of THE best spiritual investments you'll ever do for your kids. Churches that don't want to mess with sending their kids to camp are MISSING it! We have eight kids going plus me, Jeremiah and Hailey. Please pray for us next week. I know some powerful things are going to happen....my spirit is so stirred. And bonus...I get to meet some more of my Tennessee tribe-mates!

Jeremiah and I rearranged my office this week. I love it! Garrett added a little "muscle" to the mix....as much muscle as Garrett has. Hee hee. I'll have to take a picture. If nothing else it was great to clean and get rid of all the sports camp stuff that was piled up.

We made some home visits this week. The kids are always so excited to see us when we come even if it's only for a few minutes. Jeremiah is getting a taste of what some of our kids live in and with. We have several from Sports Camp we need to go see. We got the follow up postcards out thanks to my friend Darla! She typed up all our contacts for me. I'm still praising God for such an awesome week.

Jeremiah did a great job preaching last Sunday and is speaking again this Sunday. He has been a huge blessing to me and I'll be very sorry to see him go back to Iowa. I know he is getting a workout but I hope it has been a worthwhile journey for him as he prepares to be a children's pastor. It has been fun to brainstorm and bounce ideas around. It's been nice having him around the house, too. I miss our kids and love to have extra people stay with us. He's been a wonderful housemate....neat and tidy! :) It's also been a blessing to have some live worship while he is here. I love it for our altar time...makes a big difference in the flow of things. I've tried to convince him to just move here but I guess he better stick to God's plan and not mine!

The Last Night of MEGA Sports Camp

2009-06-26T22:41:00.000-05:00

What a great week! The last night brings mixed feelings....we had sooo much fun I hate that it's over but I'm so tuckered I can hardly blink without dozing. Tonight we had 8 more first time salvations which brings the week to 24 kids coming to accept Christ. It excites me, humbles me, and drives me. Excites me to see the beginning of their new life, humbles me to think that God allowed me to have a small part in all of it and drives me to stay focused on the vision God has given me for the children of Union City.

My intern, Jeremiah, and I were kinda debriefing the week and deciding what if anything I should change for next year. We thought of a couple of small details but overall it went so well. I think two of the keys were that everyone jumped in and was enthusiastically ready to serve kids and empowering and trusting people to take ownership in the tasks assigned them.

Water games were a big hit and I think a smart way to end the week. Ironically it was the mildest day of the whole week. :) Still warm enough to make getting wet a treat. Of course, I was a target but I took it like a trooper...it's just water after all. The youth kids got me with three big buckets of water while they were running full steam ahead towards me. Good times.

Sunday night after church, we are having a big pizza party to honor all of our volunteers!

Night #4 MEGA Sports Camp

2009-06-26T06:24:00.000-05:00

So I'm reading through the lesson for night four of MEGA Sports camp and am thinking it's kinda wimpy. We may have one night with a child and you want to have a powerful message and not waste an opportunity. The theme for the night is sacrifice and I decided that I was going to change everything even down to the huddle time with is a segment where the teachers do a small group story and reinforce the message. The team just went with it and were totally on board. No one panicked that I made a last minute switcher-roo! We even tweaked the schedule. Result....following the leading of the Holy Spirit brings 16 kids to salvation. Can I hear a big AMEN! We had 13 new kids and another beautiful night. I still have not heard one single complaint about the weather being too hot. I'm so proud of our team! We are having a celebration pizza party Sunday night after discipleship to show appreciation and hear some testimonies of how God moved in the hearts and lives of our kids AND even the team. We will do Sports Camp again next summer - FOR SURE!

MEGA Sports Camp Day #3

2009-06-25T08:58:00.000-05:00

It keeps getting better and better! 17 new kids last night! So awesome to see so many new faces and watch the kids having such a great time. Of course with it being the first year, I knew there would be areas to tweak if we do it again but not too many. The "normal" time frame to do a camp is during the day and for three hours so our evening event is different as it is only 2 hours. We definitely could use a little more time but I think the 6:30-8:30 time slot is really better for the kids than trying to make it later.

We have had perfect weather and no injuries other than a slightly jammed finger. Our camp nurse administered the right amount of ice and TLC and all was well! I think 2010 will be having a Sports Camp for sure! I'll add more pics later...blogger is taking too much time to load and I have tons to do!

Mega Sports Camp Day #2

2009-06-23T22:20:00.000-05:00

Night 2 of Mega Sports Camp brought us 16 new kids!! Can I get a woot woot for Jesus? We are having way too much fun and the kids have just been awesome. Dealt with one slightly sassy mouth but other than that we've had angels. I cannot tell you how incredible all the workers have been! So many have gotten behind the vision we have to reach kids in Union City. I'm overwhelmed with gratitude, inspired to do better, and so excited to see what God has in store for all of us at First Assembly of God. I'm going to bed....I'm tuckered!

Mega Sports Camp

2009-06-23T06:28:00.000-05:00

Night one of Mega Sports Camp was great! How great you may ask? How about a team of people who are so excited to serve Jesus and Union City kids that we had more volunteers than kids attending? 30 kids, 38 workers and a few visitors! How about new families that have never been to the church? How about a smooooth day one with no glitches except a pesky, gi-normous horse fly that dive bombed the kids right at altar time. Stinking devil! Anyway...I'm so happy with how everything went and can't wait for tonight. It was HOT and I did not hear one single complaint from the team! I am so blessed!

My intern, Jeremiah, was such a HUGE help! He is doing a great job and ready to jump in and do whatever it takes. He's preaching in Building 2-52 this weekend and I'm excited to hear what the Lord has laid upon his heart.

Too many pics to post here but enjoy a couple!

Turkey Thoughts

2009-06-15T20:52:00.000-05:00

So I was expecting an ah-ha moment when I was in Turkey. It never came. I thought when I got there that God would clue me in on why He wanted me to travel over 10,000 miles to do that thing I do. It may remain a mystery this side of Heaven. I totally know I was supposed to go and I cherish the opportunity and experience and trust that my obedience brought about the goal He had in mind.

The missionary kids that I got to spend my week with were the sweetest, most appreciative kids. I had a small tribe so our time together was very personal. There were kids who serve in Moldova, Armenia, and Russia. We worshipped, played games, did crafts, prayed, and heard from God. I could tell that they are slow to trust new people and I think I understand why but they were starting to open up to me when, of course, our time was almost over.

Turkey is beautiful to look upon but hard to feel a part of. The country is 99% Muslim and I could feel the oppression when I arrived. It gave me an expanded appreciation for the freedom of religion we have in the USA! I felt guarded all week. We were careful as to not announce we were pastors or missionaries as we are frowned upon. I'm not used to watching how I speak for fear of my safety.

The resort where the retreat was located was so nice and the view from my room was something from a Hollywood movie. It was pretty warm and it is common for places to not air condition the hallways, restaurants, lobbies as we do in the states. Our rooms had swamp coolers that only ran when we were in our rooms and had the key inserted into the slot that gave us power. Randy would have died from the heat!

I didn't get to see much because of my schedule and leaving as soon as the retreat was over but I wasn't on vacation...I was there to minister. I did get to go to Kusadasi for a few hours and that was very interesting seeing all the people and little market shops. I heard so many different languages during that week!!

I had a wonderful experience and am so thankful I got to go. So many people helped with raising the money and I cannot begin to thank you all enough. I heard from the missionaries that their kids were really blessed by our time together and that was the most important part. I was honored to work with a young couple who love kids, too, and are learning children's ministry. I hope I was an encouragement to them in their call.

Gettin' Ready

2009-06-05T16:28:00.000-05:00

Well, I'd love to say that my bags are all packed but I'm still working on all the details of going to Turkey. I'm leaving tomorrow. I have so many different emotions right now. Mostly, though, I'm just excited to see what God has planned.

I'm going to try to blog at least once from Turkey....mainly just so I can say that I did! :) I don't think I'll be able to use my phone but thank God for blogs and e-mail.

Thanks for praying. Thanks for giving. Thanks for your encouragement. Thanks to my church and husband who happily support me leaving for six days. (Randy may be a little too happy!)

Much love to all!

Turkey Bound

2009-05-30T06:31:00.000-05:00

I cannot believe one week from today I will be flying to Turkey! It has come up so fast. I now have enough support raised to cover all my fixed expenses plus a little pad for those expenses that are hard to plan for. If I'm careful, I should have enough for the whole trip. THANK YOU to all who given towards this opportunity to minister. You have made an investment that, I pray, has eternal rewards. You are sending me where you cannot, at this time, go yourself. I promise to do everything in my power to represent you well and carefully listen to what the Lord would have me to preach.

Please continue to pray for traveling safety, good health and that the Holy Spirit will really move in our services. I will preach seven services with the kids. There is a young missionary couple who are coming to help me. I'm excited to meet them. Val in an MK and has lived in Latvia, Russia and Belgium so I know she will be a huge help in the cultural differences I'll experience. I'm so thankful that the Lord has opened this opportunity to me.

I'll leave from Memphis on Saturday evening and fly all night to Amsterdam. Then onto Istanbul and finally to Kusadisi, Ephesus, Turkey (airport is at Izmir). I'll get to the resort about 8 PM their time which is noon our time. My total air time one way is between 13 and 14 hours. I'll be returning Friday from Izmir to Istanbul to JFK (three hr. layover) and then into Memphis about 10 PM. It takes about 2 - 2 1/2 hrs. to get to Memphis from Union City. My flight schedule is actually pretty good. No sleeping in airports!

I'll take lots of pictures and if I have internet access will blog from Turkey. Blessing to all!

Living in the Land of Grace

2009-05-25T08:40:00.000-05:00

Grace...we all need it...we should all give it. BUT. I had a conversation with Pastor Mark our music pastor, and Pastor Tommy the other day that has been replaying in my head. We were commenting on an ongoing frustration in all areas of ministry. Lack of commitment and excellence. Most people who commit to volunteering at church do an awesome job. We have a team of people that ROCK! But every church has volunteers who have the best of intentions and still struggle to follow through. For years, we in the church have been living in the land of grace. "Well, if I'm a few minutes late, it's church folks and they'll forgive me." "I didn't have time to study my Sunday School lesson, so I'll wing it....everyone is busy so they'll understand." "There are two other nursery workers scheduled so they probably won't care if I don't show up."

In our quest to be grace givers, we have allowed people to serve Christ in a haphazard, second best way. I realize people who volunteer at church also work other jobs and have busy lives. But we need to decide if we can afford to let this trend continue or if we have to have those hard conversations with those who serve in ministry. I don't like those conversations...I tend to lean towards mercy, but since that discussion with my fellow pastors, I have had to ask myself if I'm willing to sacrifice my comfort or sacrifice the effectiveness of the way we reach the lost. I truly believe Jesus is coming soon so therefor, I am willing to sacrifice my comfort and help those who need it to see how they can step up and do their ministry in a more effective way. Obviously, I have to do it in a Christ-like manner but it needs to be done. In anything and everything that we do, we should be doing it as unto the Lord himself. Sometimes we have only ONE opportunity to share Jesus with someone...I want to do my best. As a leader, I need to be able to set the pace, raise the bar and speak the truth. It may seem harsh but if we keep this pattern of good enough, we will never see a pattern of excellence. I need to be able to communicate to the people in my circle of influence that every Sunday is our Super Bowl!

I'd love to hear some feedback. How have you dealt with this?

Funny Thing About "Haystacks"

2009-05-19T22:14:00.000-05:00

First of all....I surpassed 500 blog entries and didn't even realize it. Go me. Hee hee.

Second, and to me this is hilarious, in the last several months I have had tons of hits on my blog from all over the world. Obscure, exotic, far away lands...plus every corner of the good ole USA have perused Pastor Lori's Blog because they have Google searched "Giant Haystack." Last October, our church hosted a Halloween alternative with a huge haystack filled with numbered balls that the kids could redeem for prizes. Of course, I blogged about it. Apparently there was a famous wrestler named Giant Haystacks who passed away in 1998. In the search for info on the famous Mr. Haystacks, people have stumbled upon the blog. My Site Meter has given me a glimpse of the wrestling world....those crazy people are all over the place! Anyway...it makes me laugh. Maybe someone will look at my blog and learn something about Jesus! Love that.

Teaching Kids About the Holy Spirit and The Call

2009-05-18T21:01:00.000-05:00

Yesterday in Building 2-52, I preached from Acts 1:8. It was obviously the first time that most of the kids had heard about the Holy Spirit and the power it gives us in our lives. We had an amazing altar time in both services. To my knowledge, none of the kids were filled with the Holy Spirit as with the evidence of speaking in other tongues but I am not discouraged. Why, you may ask? Because every single kid in both services were at the altar worshipping God, going after more of Him and just enjoying His presence. It is always a beautiful sight to watch a child lost in prayer. It tears me up each time I see one of my kids on their knees with their little faces in their hands seeking more of Jesus.

It will not be the last time I preach on this powerful gift. I have just begun and I know, with God's help, I will be able to help them more fully understand why it is so important. I have a better understanding of what they need to learn. The first thing is that kids are intimidated to pray out loud. You cannot be filled without being able to worship God with an audible voice. I know most adults don't even feel comfortable enough to pray out loud but these kids will be able to do it and lead the way for all generations!

One GREAT source for explaining the Holy Spirit to children is a book that I'd like to recommend. It's called Kid Power by Tim Enloe and you can order it on his web site at http://enloeministries.org. You can get a good price by ordering 10 or more. I'm ordering some this week to have on hand. I think it's something that would really help to empower parents to teach this at home. It would be so awesome to hear about families praying together at home to receive their Heavenly prayer language.

Side note...had an amazing conversation with one of my 3rd grade boys after service. The first time I met this young man, the Lord spoke to me that He had a call on this boy's life. I have been waiting for Jonas to tell me himself. I don't ever want to plant ideas into kid's heads so I hadn't said anything to him. The Lord prompted me to ask him if he knew yet what God's plan was for his life. His eyes were so big and he very politely said, 'Yes, mam." I asked him if he'd like to tell me about it and he said, "God has called me to be a preacher." I then told him that God had told me the same thing. You should have seen his eyes get even bigger! So exciting to see kids being called at such a young age! That's the second boy in about a month who have shared their call with me. The Lord has showed me two other kids He has called and set apart for service and I'm already praying for them, that they would obey, guard their hearts and never doubt what God has asked them to do.

What's Up?

2009-05-12T20:41:00.000-05:00

I have been a bad blogger as of late. So sorry. Thought I'd give some random thoughts, observances and rants to give you a glimpse of my life lately.

God is so amazing. I know...duh. But really, He is so faithful and forever grace-giving and I seriously am so thankful for where I am in my faith. I have not "arrived" but love that I can honestly say I have grown more in my relationship with Jesus in the past couple of years than ever before....and striving to grow DAILY. The last nearly 8 months of being in Union City, God has "expanded my territory" by allowing me to minister, not only kids, but several adults as well.

I started a "Kid's Council." It is a leadership/ministry training time for any 3rd-5th grader who would like to learn some ministry skills. We meet from 5-6 every Thursday. The kids involved understand that this is a serious responsibility and they always hear the scripture from Luke 12:48, "to whom much is given, much is required." We start our time with prayer. I am teaching the kids to pray out loud for each other. It may sound silly but I know many adults who cannot pray out loud in front of people so I want the kids from a young age to be able to speak out and minister to others. We then have a devotion from the Word of God. The kids are required to read their Bibles at home, too. We then move into training. We are currently working on leading worship and puppets. Every week, they go home with homework! It may be music and motions to learn or puppet practice but they have something to learn. It's going great right now. One of my 4th grade girls has a call to ministry on her life. I don't know if she fully realizes her call yet but she is gonna be a firebrand for Jesus!

I baptized 7 kids a couple of Sunday's ago. Wow, nothing like the feeling of helping a child step through another phase of their journey with Christ. Austin, one of the boys I baptized, came to his mom a few weeks ago and told her that God had spoke to him and told him he was gonna be a preacher! This 9 year old is so on fire for God. He didn't have his own Bible so Pastor Tommy told me to get him one from the church. He carries that Bible around like it's the most awesome thing he has ever owned. He testified during his baptism about his call. I think he may have inspired a tear or two among the adults. I know there were lots of cheers. I'm so proud of all my kids! To see them at the altar in Building 2-52 with their little faces in their hands, bowed down on their knees, going after God with all they have, gives me a feeling I cannot adequately put into words. I praise God that I am allowed to witness such things each week.

It has rained a lot here recently. I am officially OVER IT! Come on sunshine. Everyone's lawns are so wet and the grass is growing like crazy but it's hard to mow with all that water.

Randy is still unemployed. Man, we must have really ticked off the devil cuz he is sure trying to discourage us! We know God is at work, He's providing and of course, He is faithful. We will stand firm, remain obedient to His call and expect the miracle to come.

I leave for Turkey in just a few weeks. I am no where near what I need in funds but the Lord is never early nor is he ever late. This Sunday, my Building 2-52 team has organized an ice cream social fundraiser for me! How awesome is that? They are the best team ever! Some of the younger kids are asking if I'm going forever. It's hard to see the concern on their faces but I have assured them they are stuck with me!

Our friends, Curt and Mandy Cecil, had baby number four! Congrats on the arrival of Thaddeus Larkin Cecil! He's a beautiful little bugger!

Micaela is officially graduated, moved and working. Praise God. I'm so proud of my girl!

So....what's up with you?

Ice Cream Dates

2009-05-07T15:45:00.000-05:00

Had a little BGMC challenge and these goofy girls won the contest! Micky D's, ice cream and laughter...doesn't get much better than that!

Where Have All the Comments Gone?

2009-05-05T16:03:00.000-05:00

Is it due to Facebook? Have I become too boring? I miss comments. Sadness.

Where Have I Been?

2009-05-04T20:38:00.000-05:00

So sorry to be MIA in the blog world but life has been nothing short of craziness the past few weeks and to top it all off, my computer hard drive crashed and burned! I lost EVERYTHING! That's what I get for trusting a computer that is only 1 1/2 years old. I will now and forever back everything up on a jump! It is so sad how many pictures I lost.

We are so proud of Micaela! We witnessed her graduating from Evangel University on Friday! It has been a long journey for her but she always had top grades and finished strong. The day before graduation, she was offered a job at...are you ready for this?...Evangel! She is now gainfully employed full time in the conference services office where she has done a work study for the past three years. God's timing was amazing. She can do graphics as a freelance and stay at the school she loves so much. She moved into her first apartment with her best friend and life is good for my girl.

I have been sick for the past 10 days but finally feeling almost normal. I'm just a little tired still. I had sinus infection. Blah!!!! It started out as a cold and blossomed into, well, I'll spare you the details.

I have lots of pics to load in the next few days. Graduation, water baptism of some of my kids, Pastor Tommy's 50th birthday party, ice cream dates with BGMC contest winners from church...

God is really stirring my heart. He continues to stretch me and it's exciting, overwhelming, humbling, inspiring, and keeping me on my knees. God has given me a vision for where we are headed in the children's ministry of Union City First Assembly of God. I can't wait to see how He is going to accomplish it all because it is beyond me. I will continue to work as though it depends and me and pray as it, of course, depends on God! I do know one thing...I may have to clone myself! :)

Only one month until I go to Turkey! Eeeek. I have my passport and have had about 1/3 of my support come in through so many wonderful friends. I have a long way to go for the rest and not much time but God is never too early nor too late. I flux between uber excited and gonna-throw-up nervous about traveling so far by myself. It will entail many firsts in my life.

Go Gavin

2009-04-16T21:24:00.000-05:00

This baby blesses my heart!! This is Gavin, our youth pastor's son. His momma put him up on the drum throne with the sticks and he was going to town! He's a sweet, happy little guy and gets tons of attention at church. Love that boy!

Easter 2009

2009-04-14T20:41:00.001-05:00

It was a great day for Jesus at Union City First Assembly of God! We had a nice crowd of people with several visitors and a couple of people receiving Jesus into their hearts for the first time. We had 83 in the children's department! Our candy dash and giant bounce house were a big hit. All our plans and timing of events went off without a hitch, praise God! Pastor Justin did a fantastic job of preparing the hospitality teams. It was so great to have the whole church working together for the purpose of winning the lost.

I haven't gotten to listen to Pastor Tommy's message yet but I was told by many that it was super good....very anointed and inspiring. His sermon was titled "Resurrection Reunion." Can't wait to hear it. So can you if you go to our web site and link to iTunes and listen to the podcast. http://www.unioncityfirstag.com.

It was hard to watch the faces of my kids when they heard of the horrible things done to our beloved Savior. I didn't get too graphic as to upset them but even the things I did share obviously impacted their young hearts. I told them Easter is the saddest story ever told yet the happiest, too. From the arrest, trial, beatings, humiliations, and crucifiction to the resurrection in Glory. We serve a risen King!

I'll Always Remember This Day

2009-04-10T07:25:00.000-05:00

April 10...a day that I will never forget. In fact, it was a Friday that marked this day 18 years ago. I can't believe it's been 18 years since my baby brother, Chad, was murdered. He would be 36 now.

Many of you know the story. He was a senior in high school, out with some buddies, minding his own business. He was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time. A couple of guys, out looking for trouble, pulled into the parking lot where Chad and his friends stood talking. The driver kept trying to engage the boys in an argument. When they got closer to the car, the driver pulled out a gun and shot Chad in the chest. He bleed to death in just a few minutes. The guy was caught the next day, charged with 1st degree murder and is serving a life sentence which he received on his 21st birthday.

God taught me so many things through this horrible tragedy in our family: forgiveness, trusting God no matter what, importance of knowing if your family members know Christ, the way God will take an awful situation and turn it to bring Him glory, and much more.

Chad was an amazing kid. I miss him a lot. I was 12 when he was born and was a big part of his early childhood. So today, I'm choosing to remember all his funny ways, his quick smile and loving nature. Today, I'm going to be thankful for the 18 years we had with him, and how he impacted so many lives in such a short time. I'm going to praise God for the peace that passes all understanding. I'm going to pray that his murderer will come to know Jesus.

2009-04-07T18:42:00.000-05:00

Here is the new backdrop! I'm lovin' it! Micaela, our logo designer and our resident artist, Charlie Boyd, did a great job. Thanks to Tim and George for filling in the unused windows and to Kayla, Judy and Randy for helping me to paint the wall and trim. The walls of the fellowship hall are the same "Pecan" color as the backdrop and so the logo really "pops."

Pastor Tommy and Pastor Justin added some more can lights today and got all the mushrooms and flashing color bars working the way they are supposed to so the lights are sweeeet! Easter is gonna ROCK!

The stage will look even better when it's set for service with all of our props. Gotta get some new table clothes in different colors....I'm thinking green and orange. What do you think?