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.