Tis the Season

Today, Susye & I relinquished our titles as the "Bert & Ernie of Waumba Land". Being the Directors of Waumba Land at Wiregrass Church has been one of the greatest privileges of our lives. We have had the honor or serving alongside some the finest people God has ever created; volunteers who get on their hands and knees week after week to share God's love with children. We have been blessed by sweet stories from parents about their children still singing in the middle of the week, the verses of God's Word that they learned on Sunday. We have been brought to tears of laughter by the unfiltered wisdom that only children can relate. We have worked with the funnest, most creative, passionate staff ever assembled since The Ringling Brothers, Barnum, & Bailey. 

As amazing as it has been, the saying "home is where the heart is" resonates true for both Susye & me in this particular season of our lives.  In the message series "Future Families", Sandra Stanley reminded us that while we are raising our children, "the days are long, but the years are short". With Susye's oldest daughter graduating this year & my daughter next year, we both came to the realization that our years are even shorter. We know we will dearly miss being Waumba Land Directors, but neither of us can bear to miss a moment being parents. 

From the first day through today, we have learned that the only way to lead a children's ministry is with a firm trust in God's provision. We have always believed that we should keep our hands open for God to give to & take from... and true to His nature, God has not left Waumba Land empty-handed! Garrett Hughes will take the center ring as the new Waumba Land Director in 2014. He is more than capable & qualified, he too is slightly crazy! And we mean that as a high compliment! :)

We want to thank the staff of Wiregrass Church, the wonderful, incomparable Waumba Land volunteers, the parents, and the children... for your trust, for tolerating our rants about Alabama & Georgia football, for always making us look good, but mostly for allowing us to be a part of your lives.

God bless you all & Go Team Waumba!
Becka & Susye

Go Fish!

This week we added a mural to Waumba Land! It's fishy, fun, shiny, and colorful! All the things that an ocean mural should be.

But that's not all it is.

It's also an invitation.

In Waumba Land, our mission is to "give children their first impression of who God is in a way that will leave a lasting impression in their hearts". If we want a chance to teach a child all the wonderful things they should know about our amazing, loving Heavenly Father, we have to make a good first impression ourselves. We have to communicate, in a way that a preschooler will understand, that we want him to have fun and feel safe. We want that scared, cautious preschooler to be engaged from the moment he walks in the door! We can't just tell him about our mission, we have to show him.

And that's why we painted big, colorful fish on the wall. Where you see paint, we see purpose. So while on the surface it's just a picture of the ocean, the "big picture" goes much deeper!!

 

Middle School Math

I’m not much of a numbers person. In high school, I was one of those people who had to take Algebra again during the summer, because the course over the regular school year just wasn’t fun enough. I’m inclined to agree with the person who said “and on the 8^th day satan put the alphabet into math”. That being said, I have also learned that looking at the numbers can be helpful when you need to objectively see all factors.

Every week, we evaluate our numbers so we can gain insight into how to manage our environment better. It’s more important math than I ever did in my high school algebra class. Because in this business, each number represents a life.

One statistic we constantly monitor is the number of volunteers in proportion to the number of kids. As we have tracked this data, we have noticed a growing trend. The number of “Student Impact” volunteers has exponentailly increased. We define a “Student Impact” volunteer as a student in middle school. Students Impacts serve alongside and assist adult volunteers. They have the same level of accountability and expectation as an adult volunteer, but they are not given the same responsibilities as an adult volunteer. As we continue to examine the numbers, we have noticed a demographic we did not expect. Of the growing number of students who serve, most of those are boys.

What?! Aren’t middle school boys supposed to be those “desperate to look cool” guys, who claim they exist exclusively to play video games? Isn’t this the age when boys are supposed to be more concerned with growing a beard than leading a group?

In my opinion, this growing trend communicates that more and more of our male middle school students want to be something that our culture and society has denied clear examples for them to follow. They want to be leaders. They want to be valued and they want to do something valuable. It is also worth noting that of the boys who serve faithful and consistently every week, half of them are parented by either a single mother or by another guardian.

So there’s the problem. God has called and qualified us to be part of the solution. In Transit, a male small group leader is mentoring these young men. We have an opportunity to carefully and collectively guide them to be the future leaders of our church, of our community AND of their future families. Right now their leadership skills are raw and require oversight. But if we, as adults, would be willling to invest in this leadership model, the potential is unlimited.

Though the evidence is empirical, the numbers don’t lie. We have more children to lead and more students who want to become leaders. God hasn’t added a problem; He’s multiplied the probability of His influence. 

The Light at the End of the Shake

So, this is what we taught the kids this past Sunday in Waumba Land:

2. Light Freeze 

“Light Freeze” is an activity that uses large motor skills to introduce the concept of the Bible story, "Saul on the road to Damascus".

What You Need: A light that will turn on and off.

What You Do: Have the children spread out around the room. Turn the lights off. Tell the children to be silly and wiggle and dance while the lights are off. When you turn the light back on everyone should freeze. Repeat as many times as desired.

What You Say: “That was so much fun! You all did a great job! I loved how everyone froze when the light came on. Today in our Bible story we are going to hear about a man who saw a very bright light. I cannot wait to hear what he did when he saw it. Are you ready to hear our true story from the Bible?” 

This is what it looked like:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RnR8GZmZ0EU&feature=share&list=UUhON-NTQb1HJ9ip8x9tkzCQ

via youtube

 via quicktime

Can't wait to 'shake it up' with you again this Sunday!

An Awakening

The following is a beautiful, honest, inspiring Facebook post written by Paul Cammarata. 

A little over 2 years ago at the beginning of 2011 me and my family attended our first service at Wiregrass Church. 

This is my story of that last 2 years.

Leading up to that first service I had been invited by former coworkers to this place called Wiregrass Church. It was "different" and "better" than other churches. I more or less brushed it off as the same old thing I had heard before. You see I was not a religious person. Not that I had a problem with organized religion it just wasn't for me. So I never mentioned it to my wife and we never went.  

Skip forward a year or so and my wifes friend Gina invites us to their church. Its in a new building and the first service at the new location was coming up. My wife was really excited about it and I grudgingly agreed to go. At this point I didn't realize it was the same church that my former coworkers and friends Jeremy and Greg had invited me to before. So sunday comes along and we go to the 9 o'clock service. Needless to say it was an amazing experience. I ran into a former classmate who's son is now good friends with our son. A couple services later I also ran into Jeremy and his family and that's when I realized it was the same church I had been told about years before. So after that first service we were all hooked. Me, my wife, and the kids all loved it. They say Wiregrass is the church where the kids bring their parents. I can honestly say we have seen that first hand.  

Skip ahead a couple months of going almost every sunday and Melanie decided she wanted to start volunteering in Waumba Land, the Pre K environment at Wiregrass. So as she started in Waumba Land I tried to find a place for me to serve. I was very hesitant to work with the young kids and just wasn't sure it was for me. After a few weeks I decided to give it a shot. It just made sense for me and Melanie to serve together since we are already such a good parenting team. Lets just say I had no idea what I was getting myself into. 

I loved it! Getting to know the kids and working with them is one of the most rewarding things I have ever done. Too put it bluntly it's addicting. It's exhausting at times, but I just loved coming every week and investing in the lives of these young children. Then I experienced something I didn't expect. Sadness. You see at the end of the year all the kids move up to the next age group in Waumba Land. I began to realize all these 3 yr olds we had grown to love would be leaving us soon and in another room with new leaders. I honestly don't know how elementary teachers do it. I only spend one hour a week with them and it was very sad seeing them go. I couldn't imagine if it was 5 days a week. Tears were shed on more than one occasion. This past year we were fortunate enough to move from 3's to 4/5 yr olds at the same time that the promotion occurred. This allowed us to stay with some of the same kids for almost 2 years now which has been a huge blessing.

While serving in Waumba Land is a huge part of the Wiregrass experience for me there is also of course the unique service and message style of Andy Stanley. I always enjoy the service on Sundays. We have an incredible band and they just kill it each and every week. I will readily admit that this is one of the biggest reasons I originally fell in love with Wiregrass. "Come for the music, Stay for the message" seems very appropriate here. As i've continued to come every week I have grown far more knowledgeable in christianity. And how to specifically apply its teachings in my everyday life. My previous experiences with church was always so abstract and hard to understand the message just never seemed relevant to me. Thats the great thing about Andy. He presents everything in a straightforward and easy to understand format. Some call it the self help church. I would say that's a pretty good description for a lot of the messages.

Most importantly I can now say that I am a Christian and strive to be a disciple of Jesus Christ. Being a part of the community that has formed around this church has been an incredible experience for our entire family so far and I really can't wait to see where it takes us next.

See Jane Serve

You've probably never met her. If you have, you might not remember her. But if you've been to Wiregrass Church even once, you've been blessed by her.

Jane moved to Dothan about four years ago. Within the first few weeks of her arrival, Jane was in Waumba Land asking how she could help. Jane started to serve in the infant room. Jane LOVED taking care of the babies. She thrived when she could soothe a fussy baby. She flourished when she could reassure a young mother. She believed beyond a doubt that while she was rocking those babies, their mommas & daddies were in the auditorium learning about God. And that was important because what they learned, they could teach to their children. 

But Jane was always aware that her heart was stronger than her body.

Eventually, Jane couldn't pick up the babies anymore. One of the other volunteers would put a baby into Jane's arms, and Jane would quietly and patiently rock the baby while she slept.

Jane loved serving in her church. She loved taking care of children. She loved partnering with their parents. And that's what she did. For as long as she possibly could.

We lost Jane this past December. But Jane's story isn't over. Because Jane loved to serve, she taught her son the importance of loving God through serving others. Her son has led his family to serve others and to use their gifts and talents. Jane's son and his family serve throughout Wiregrass Church in practically every environment as small group leaders for adults, women & students. They are out front and behind the scenes. If you're a volunteer who's eaten a doughnut, a visitor who's thrown a coffee cup into an emptied trash can, or a regular attender who's sang along with Jane's grandson, known as "the red-head kid rockin' the guitar" on stage, then you've been blessed by Jane's great legacy of service.

As for the babies that Jane loved so much, they are rambunctious two & three year olds now. They don't remember Jane, but they are nonetheless blessed. Because while she held them, they knew they were adored.

April, Natalie, Jane, Rachel and babies

The Years in Picture

I remember the first time I saw 900 West Main Street. The interior had been gutted. Concrete floors went on for what seemed like miles. There was a forest of 2x4's framing out what would be the new Waumba Land. The visual display of where God was taking us would have been frightfully overwhelming, had we not seen what God can do through the eyes of where we had been. We fully expect 2013 to be a wonder-filled year at Wiregrass Church! Indulge us a few nostalgic moments as we take a look at Waumba Land over the last 2 years....

large group area at old location

Neal & Larry building the sign for large group

large group in progress

Large Group stage

Volunteer room at old location

Volunteer room with volunteers! :)

Volunteer room now with decor!

Waumba expansion

additional Waumba Land murals in expanded area

 Waumba Land on any given Sunday....

 Family Ministry Pajama Party...

Can you believe all that in just TWO years! It's been pretty crazy!

You might even be wondering if we're ready to slow it down.

Don't BET on it!!

Thanks for all you do to make Sunday the best day in a child's week!

Love, Susye & Becka

(p.s. Go Dawgs!)