Family XP: Fall on the Farm

Last night, the Family Ministry team put together our first Family XP (a.k.a Family Experience).  We called it "Fall on the Farm".  The idea was to partner with families by creating a fun event for a family to do together.  You see, sometimes people can live in the same house, share the same last name, spend money from the same account... and hardly spend any time together at all.  Sound familiar?  It does to me too.  That's why we wanted to give families an opportunity to get together and enjoy each other in God's creation, before we all get distracted by sports, Christmas shopping, mid-term exams, year-end projections.... and the billions of other things that a family has to fit into a week. The fact is, parenting is hard. Overwhelmingly hard sometimes. It takes so much time and intention. I read this quote once that, well to be honest, it shook to my core... "If you don't have TIME to do it right, when will you have TIME to do it over?"

That's what "Family Ministry" is all about. It's about partnering with parents to help and encourage them to weave God into their family's everyday life. It's not about giving parents more to do. It's not about church planning more events. It's about combining our efforts to create the biggest impact in a child's life, because we only get a limited amount of time to influence them.

Thanks for partnering with Family Ministry and Wiregrass Church!  Enjoy the pictures from "Fall on the Farm":

taking photos of families. love it!

train ride!

I snuck in on this family's photo being taken by a friend. too cute!!

the folks that make it happen

"photo spot" signs. stole this idea from Disney.

PACKED parking lot! THANK YOU, K. Faulk & small group for providing parking volunteers!

Farmer on the Farm

cool fall weather. cool fun family.

hugs!

family moment to remember

hayride to pumpkin patch

"crowd" waiting for the hayride.  How cool?!  We actually had "crowds" at Family XP!

It's the great pumpkin!

pumpkin...check, sunflower... check, wife... check.  good to go!

exploring 

cook out

Thank you college girls small group for providing guest service volunteers!

fun family photo!

family picnic

Photo op

proud survivors of the corn maze

Dad found a pumpkin as big as his kid

"Hey let's go and get the audio CD we get to listen to on the way home from the farm! I hear it has a great talk from Adam about intentional parenting on it!"  

(pretty sure that's what I heard them talking about)

love capturing people, capturing their small, beautiful moments

"seriously, this is how people used to get water?!"

good to the last cookie crumb

the farm was fun for students too

generations on one farm, together.

A Personal Ministry Perspective

The end of the school year had brought unexpected transitions for one particular girl. Changes beyond her control.  Responsibility beyond her maturity. The tallest girl in her class. She felt angry and awkward. To add insult to injury... acne had taken hold. Why did she have to be different?  Why did she have to be the first among her peers to advance to adolescence? Without perspective to understand what was happening, she despairingly confessed to her mother, "my body hates me."

"You are wonderfully made. God created you. You are part of His plan. "  Her parents reassured.

"Yeah... sure... you're suppose to say that" she said.

Throughout the summer, she got to spend one day a week helping take care of the little kids whose mothers came up to Wiregrass Church to prepare curriculum for Waumba Land and Upstreet.  That's how she got to know a rambunctious 2-year-old, named Grace. Very soon, 'Friends' volunteer days became her favorite part of the week. It became hard to tell if Grace was following her around, or if she was following Grace around. At any rate, the two were inseparable. However, like things often do, the summer came to an end. In the last week she got to spend taking care of Grace, she told her mother, "I just love Grace. She's so smart. She's the tallest her age. She's just like me."

The start of the new school year has come with a renewed spirit. Through Grace, she saw herself differently than she had just a few months before. God created Grace. The tallest her age, but God made her that way. Grace is advanced beyond her peers, but God has a plan for Grace. Grace, she thought, is a most wonderful creation.  When she saw herself in Grace, she saw herself with a new perspective. She began to appreciate her uniqueness. 

Her simple understanding of God grew a little in those few months.  Through her willingness to invest in Grace a few hours a week, she learned that she and Grace were a lot alike.  And how could anyone not love Grace.

  

Where kids bring their parents to church

http://www.wtvy.com/home/headlines/Wiregrass_Church_Attendence_Still_Increasing_126090629.html

What a Wonderful Waumba's World

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v6zK9YP3fKs

The Big Picture

"Cooper" had worked hard all through his first preschool year. Listening, paying attention, doing homework. Short of the one time he got in trouble for talking during circle time, it had been a near flawless performance. For graduating from pre-k to kindergarten, friends and family members rewarded Cooper! It was his first big pay day!  Cold, hard cash... just for him... that he had actually earned through his own efforts! 


At the same time, Cooper's parents had started reading "Fields of Gold" in their small group, and had learned about the principle of "Give, Save, Live". Given Cooper's new found wealth, it seemed like a golden opportunity to share this practical application of finances with their young son. 


The following Sunday, Cooper came to church excited to make his own first "give". His Small Group Leader sensing his enthusiasm, saw that this was "a big deal" for Cooper.  Possibly, a defining moment. 
The Small Group Leader didn't just take the money from Cooper... she and Cooper walked all the way into the Main Auditorium (the "Big Church!") and Cooper, himself, dropped his offering into the bucket. When Cooper's parents picked him up from Waumba Land, he told them about how he had given. 


As Cooper's parents told me their story, they were so appreciative of the leader who had partnered with them that day. They understand that how they lead Cooper at home is more important than any activity or craft the Small Group Leader could ever do with Cooper on a Sunday morning. But, because that leader owned her unique role in Cooper's life, she was able to make an impression on Cooper that could influence him, for the rest of his life.


Because, on that Sunday, Cooper learned that he is part of something bigger.

Animals in the House!

If Animals Talked:

Kids react:

A Good Cup of Customer Service

I have a slightly un-healthy habit... coffee.  I can't help it, I crave the stuff. Hot, cold, as an ice cream mixed with chocolate fudge sauce and almonds....   I need to stop, I'm drooling on my keyboard.  Basically, I like coffee.  A few months ago, I treated myself to one of those fancy one cup brewers.  It was love a first sip.  All was perfect java-induced euphoria until the water tank accidentally slipped, hit the tile the floor, and cracked.  Like whipped cream on a hot caramel macchiato, my blissful morning had melted away.  Faster than you can say "mocha", I was on the company's website to order a new part! The part arrived, literally, a couple days later and much to my unexpected surprise, it was a BIGGER water tank.  Now, math has never been my best subject, but even I was able to instantly calculate: bigger water tank + coffee = more coffee FASTER! Wait... there's more!  Samples of the new iced coffees!  I had been desperate to try them but, I lacked the justification for further increase to my already maximized coffee budget.  Yet there they were, like an answered french vanilla prayer.


Now, I know what you're thinking... either, I'm easily impressed or I need to cut back on the caffeine.  And while both are true, that's not my point.  My point is that, the frustration of ordering a broken part had somehow managed to turn into a great customer service experience! My part arrived quickly, it was better than I thought it would be, I received something I didn't expect, overall I got a better ordering experience than I expected!

It all reminded me of an email I received from a parent:

My daughter loves waumba land and all the workers there. As a parent this makes me feel so good seeing her run into her class every Sunday and have no problem telling me and my husband bye. 


Because of you, this family got more out of their church experience than they expected. 

Coffee companies are the only ones who can provide great 'customer service'. When we are prepared, when a child feels safe and cared for, when we can share a small moment with a parent about their child... families get a better 'church' experience than they thought they would. And ultimately, our ability to influence children for God goes from 'tall' to 'venti'-size! 

Waumbaology 101

This was a recent post by Rick Warren, author of the book "The Purpose Driven Life".  It directly addresses the importance of two of the three foundational truths we teach in Waumba Land.

This is a brilliant 'must read'!
Children Need to Know God Loves Them 
by Rick Warren
“You (God) created everything, and it is for your pleasure that they exist and were created.” Revelation 4:11b (NLT)
So a parent's primary responsibility is to teach their children to love God. It is the first critical choice a child has to learn because it is a choice they will be faced with over and over at every stage in their life.


Out of all the conversations parents need to have with their children, one of the first and most important is telling children that God created them and loves them.


Until our children understand that they were made by God and for his pleasure, life will not make sense. Isaiah 44 tells us, “I (God) am your creator. You were in my care even before you were born” (Isaiah 44:2 CEV). Children need to know that God thought them up. They were not an accident. They may not have been planned, but they were not an accident because God knew them and loved them from conception.


Now, no parent is perfect. They can have their good days and bad days. But God does not. His love is not based on his mood. He doesn’t love us one day and dislike us the next because his love is unchanging – that’s his character. It has nothing to do with who we are or what we do. We can’t make God stop loving us. He created us and made us to love us.


Our children need to understand this. And then we need to talk to them about how we respond to this love because God also gave us the capacity to love him back It is called worship. So we need to talk to our children about this key issue – what will be the center of my life?


Whatever is at the center of your life is what you worship. As children grow up, they can center their life on what other people think (peer pressure), sports, school, family, career, having fun, money, or collecting things. And there’s nothing wrong with any of those things. God created all of them for our enjoyment. They just don’t belong at the center of your life because they don’t last.


If you center your life on you career, it can go away. If you center your life on money, you can lose it. If you center your life on your appearance or health, they can fail. All of these things can disappear and you’re left growing up with insecurity. But a life centered on God is solid because God cannot be taken away from you.


So a parent’s primary responsibility is to teach their children to love God. It is the first critical choice a child has to learn because it is a choice they will be faced with over and over at every stage in their life. Will they choose to live a self-centered life or a God-centered life?


When our children understand that they were created by God to be loved by him, and they choose to put God at the center of their lives, they will be able to stand strong against any challenge that comes their way.

Holy Cow

Have you ever noticed how kids are ALWAYS asking questions? I once exhaustedly asked my 5-year old daughter, "Why are you asking me so many questions?!" She answered, quite matter-of-fact, "Because I don't know much."


Curiosity leads kids to want to explore and learn truth about the world around them. The mother of 2-year-old Waumba Lander recently replayed this conversation for me:


"Mommy, what's that?"
"It's a cow."
"Where did the cow come from?"
"Well... God made cows."
"Show me."
"What? You want me to 'show you' how God made cows?"
The little girl didn't wait for her mother's answer.  She went to her room and got her little picture Bible.
"Show me!"
The mother flipped through the pages until her daughter's hand stopped her on the page with the picture of the animals on it, the story of Noah's ark.
"Look Mommy!  There it is!"
The mother realized her daughter wasn't looking for cows. She was looking for truth.  

The month of May in Waumba Land is devoted to the wonder of creation... the stars, the seas, the land, the animals, the people... EVERYTHING that God created!  We will learn the truth about the beginning of it all from Genesis 1:1, "God created the heavens and the earth." We will eat 'Oreo sand', make fingerprint bugs, look for glow-in-the-dark stars on the ceiling, and many other activities to help us appreciate and enjoy the beauty of ALL that God created... especially, cows.

                                                

Happy Easter Waumba Land!

A memory like an elephant

"Why did the elephant cross the road?" 

"Umm... I don't know."

"Because it was the chicken's day off!!!"

That's my little 8-year-old friend's favorite joke of all time! At least I'm assuming it is, because she's told it to me three times.  The third time she told me the joke, I said the punch line first and she got this surprised look on her face and said, "I thought you would've forgot!"

It got me thinking.  It's funny, you know, the stuff we forget and the stuff we remember.  I can remember the punch line to a joke a month after I first heard it, but I can't walk into a room and remember what I walked in there to get. 

This Sunday and next, we will be reminding the children in Waumba Land about Jesus' last days on this earth.  His triumphant entry into the city, His last meal with His friends, why He died, and when He returned just like He said He would!  

Why should we teach kids to remember all this? Forgetting comes so much more naturally. Why commemorate? Why celebrate? Why take one week a year to recognize this one event in history? 

Because while He was suffering, Jesus remembered us. He asked God to forgive us. He never forgot His purpose in God's plan for us. 

Next Sunday, when the 2-year-olds eat bread, drink white grape juice from paper cups, and imagine what it might have been like to sit at the same table with their friend Jesus, they won't just be 'having a snack'. They will be learning to remember. 

As if the name 'Waumba' wasn't 'Goofy' enough

Large Group is crazy, fun, and predictably unpredictable. There is a method to the madness, but you can never be sure what to expect with 2-year-olds in the audience! The basic formula for Waumba Land Large Group involves...

1- a Worship Leader opening with a skit applicable to a situation a preschooler might encounter, then a

2- video transition with characters identifiable by most preschoolers in order to get the kids' attention for the...

3- ... age appropriate Bible story. Foundational truth is reinforced through...

4- ... interactive worship and a memorable Bible verse.

It's all about making the Bible relevant to THEIR world and current influences. 

Do you remember your favorite cartoons when you were 4 years old? Remember when you only got to watch them on Saturday mornings? Which cartoons or animated movies do you like these days? Do you want to know what in the world this video has to do with leading kids to Christ... find out on Sunday! :-) 

"If you build it..."

In the classic baseball movie "Field of Dreams", Iowa farmer Ray Kinsella, plows up his cornfield to build a baseball diamond.  Do you remember those famous words that Ray heard? If you do, Congrats! You know your movie trivia! Here's another bit of trivia.  This extremely artistic (haha!) concept drawing is of the Waumba Land Large Group area: 

Unfortunately, nobody heard a voice saying "if you build it, he will come", even though that would have made a really cool, albeit slightly plagiarized, story. But we built the stage anyway. As you know, it now looks like this:

It would be great if buildings alone could bring people to God.  But, more times than not it's the PEOPLE in them that play the biggest part.  Waumba Land has the most amazing cast of characters.  Here's how I know. Each week as I go through the rooms, I notice the personal touches you've made...  extra coloring sheets tucked away in a drawer... candy stashed in a cabinet... personalized notes written on the curriculum... tips and reminders written on the boards... 

From infants to preschoolers, you are going above and beyond to set the stage for God to have a starring role in a child's life! You're not just babysitting kids, you are owning your unique role. You don't need lights or a camera to take action! 

You already know what took Ray Kinsella an entire movie to figure out.  His field, our building, is just the place God will leverage for the dream of His people being restored to Him.  

So, take a well-deserved bow! 

Welcome to the Jungle

Greetings and welcome to the new blog for the Waumba Land volunteers of Wiregrass Church!  Our hope is that this will be a way, not only to communicate fun, exciting news and information, but to help build community within our volunteer group.  You often hear that community and connection happens in circles not rows, that is absolutely true!  But, it also happens when people unite for a common goal.  We have a common goal to see these children one day live their lives as followers of Christ.  In the coming months, we will begin introducing other leaders that serve in Waumba Land for that common interest. Don't worry!  We're not going to grill you for personal information, just important things we need to know like... who is you favorite cartoon character? Feel free to share stories with other leaders in this blog, just please be mindful that this IS the internet and security is always our #1 concern. Please refrain from using any child's name in a posting. And, remember, this is a G-rated blog (haha!).  Thanks for being the best volunteers on the planet!
See ya Sunday!

Good Food! Good Friends! Good Times!

This is a picture of the snacks for Sunday.  It doesn't seem like a lot.  Not too long ago, this amount of food would have easily lasted an entire month! If this Sunday is like last Sunday (with 27 three-year-olds in just one service hour!), I'm a little worried that we'll come up short.  It's a great concern to have!  I love using food to help kids relate and learn. Snacks are just one of the tools we can use every week.  Which leads me to the "tip of the week".  Last week the snack was part of the curriculum for many of the kids. But this week, snack time will just be "snack time".  Try combining snack time with the "Make It Real" part of the curriculum, to ask the key question ("Who will help you?"), or to ask each child to say the Bible verse.  Let's face it, as long as you have food, you will have the undivided attention of your little friends!  Make it a good time!

Thanks for all you do to make 'church' the best part of a child's week!

See ya Sunday!