Family Faith Companion

Accept mistakes and celebrate grace

Posted on August 8, 2013August 8, 2013 by Carol Hulbert

It’s a nasty train of thought that I’ve carried with me for a long time:

But it’s not perfect!

All of my life I’ve been a perfectionist. In the 2nd grade when we were creating self-portraits at school, my mother was mystified by my insistence that I wear the same dress for several days in a row. (I wanted to get the details just right.)

I recall in 8th grade getting a “D” in Art class because I couldn’t finish my projects; I couldn’t get them to be perfect.

It’s a disease and I know that others suffer from it too. (Like the 5th grader I worked with who was afraid to estimate an answer to a mathematical problem because, well, it could be wrong!)

I think perhaps it is something that we teach ourselves to believe?

Here’s the pitch I’m repeating these days: Jesus is bigger than any mistake.

Try this at the family dinner table (or wherever your family is gathered together): Have everyone (adults included) share a mistake that they made that day. Repeat the process on a daily basis.

Exposing and naming our goof-ups teaches our kids that:

Everyone makes mistakes;
Home is a safe place to confess our sins;
When necessary, forgiveness can be extended;
We can all celebrate God’s gift of I-love-you-anyway Grace.

It’s not too late to learn: Jesus is bigger than any mistake. What learning is happening in your family?

Photo credits:
Click here for info on banner photo (not visible in readers or email).
Broken seedling by D. Sharon Pruitt, who licensed this photo on Flickr under a Creative Commons License.

Proclaim the Presence of God

Posted on August 1, 2013December 3, 2014 by Carol Hulbert

Every family has routines — from the getting-up-and-getting-going groove, to the daily-drill, all the way to the beaten-path-to-bedtime.

Does your family routine include spending time every day, attentive to God’s presence?

It’s a behavior that needs to be taught.

Cultivate coming to recognize and experience God’s presence.

Here are some ways to teach your family to take note of God!

Make it a habit at every dinner table gathering to review everyone’s day with a sharing of highs and lows. Add in the question: where did you see God today?
Take a walk with a camera. Take photos of God at work around you. Puffy clouds with a blue, blue sky? Yes!
Is your child worried about something? Model for them the behavior of remembering when: Tell a story about a way that God has cared for you in the past. Encourage them to recall their own story. (Remember how you were afraid to go on that ride at the fair?)
Practice gratefulness. Start recording your thankfuls. (I’m up to #1756.) [Updated for December 2014 — I’m at #2985. Counting up reveals joy in all sorts of moments!]
Find God in the Bible. Read a passage using the practice of reading scripture known as Lectio Divina. Ask: “Where is God in this story?”
Add and subtract. Consider what needs to be reduced or augmented in your life, to make room for noticing God.
Admit that God is easy to see when life is full. Encourage looking for God, even in hard times.

Is God’s presence proclaimed in your family on a daily basis?

Photo credits:
Click here for info on banner photo (not visible in readers or email).
State fair photo by my niece, Sarah Clouse. Used with permission. Other photos from my archives.

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Summer schedule 2013

Posted on July 25, 2013August 28, 2013 by Carol Hulbert

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What’s up for kids and Christian Education in July and August at FUMC?
Starting July 13th and 14th, we’re off to the movies! Our special summer film series will feature six selections from the “What’s in the Bible with Buck Denver” series. It will be a fun way to enjoy a change of pace while learning some really cool stuff! (This video series is by the creator of Veggie Tales!) And, we voted on special days! Check out the schedule below.

Here’s a preview of this film series:

Here is the schedule for July and August and the beginning of September:

Date	Green Wood location Saturday evening	Downtown location Sunday morning
July 13/14	Both locations introduced the What’s in the Bible video series. (And we voted for special days!) (If you missed this week, to be introduced to all of the characters in this series watch this short video.)
July 20/21	Attend worship with your parental units	Stuffed animal day. Kids brought their stuffed animals to the movies! We learned about Genesis. Here’s an important message from today’s lesson.
July 27/28	Attend worship with your parental units. Missing hearing the theme song? (I figured you were. Here it is.)	We’re fast-forwarding to the New Testament. Here’s the trailer.
Date	Green Wood location Saturday evening	Downtown location Sunday morning
August 3/4	Stuffed animal day! Today we’ll learn about the first book of the Bible: Genesis. Watch a portion of what we’ll see.	Attend worship with your parental units
August 10/11	Pajama Day! What a fun way to view a video; all cushy-comfy in your jammers. However, it would be wise if you at least wore shoes. Or would it be smart? I wonder what the difference is between wise and smart? We are going to find out!	Pajama Day! (It will be so easy to get ready for church!) We’ll be watching part two of the Gospels. Here’s something that the adults might be interested in watching. (Kids can watch too but it’s a message for the grown-ups.)
August 17/18	Wear your funky hat day. Yikes, I hope it’s not too hot to wear a hat! Regardless, come and watch part one of the Gospels. You know the Gospels right? (Here’s a review.)	Nothing special day? But wait! When YOU are there it’s special! This week you won’t want to miss. It’s all about the special gift that Jesus promised his disciples. That’s right, the Holy Spirit. Is this gift available for us today? Come and watch and see!
August 24/25	Pajama Day – again! Today we’ll be continuing on with the Gospels. There is lots to learn about: healing and miracles and teachings and things that aren’t even talked about in the Bible! But they are important concepts to understand. Watch this one about the Trinity.	Pajama Day #2 (just in case you missed the first one.) We’ll be learning about the books of the Bible called the “Writings.” Can anyone name a book in the Writings section? Here’s one.
Aug. 31 /Sept. 1	Backwards Day. That will be strange. Hey, we’ll be talking today about what happened on Pentecost. Now that was amazing strange!	Attend worship with your parental units. Have you been singing the theme song?

We are a Workshop Rotation Model church! Yeah for fun, meaningful learning! Join us in two locations: On Saturday evening at Green Wood, or downtown on Sunday mornings at First United Methodist Church in Ann Arbor, MI.

Photo credit: Click here for info on banner photo (not visible in readers or email).

Tending the Kingdom

Posted on July 24, 2013July 25, 2013 by Carol Hulbert

Does anyone else have VBC withdrawal?
Or are you wishing the music would stop running in your head?

♪ ♫ Stand strong, when life changes.

Stand strong through the ups and downs. ♫

As for me, I’m missing VBC! I’m missing the comradery… after all, there were 127 kids and 75 volunteers!

(Place your cursor over each photo to see a caption.)

…And I’m missing the daily divulging drama…

Lady Adele is burdened with responsibilities

…And then there was the savory silliness…

But my favorite part was that we were tending God’s kingdom; reaching out to kids with an important message: God’s kingdom is a loving place. God accepts you into his kingdom here on earth — you don’t have to wait until you get to heaven — God wants you to be a part of his kingdom now!

When you build your own personal “kingdom” (i.e., your life)
on the foundation of God’s kingdom,
you will STAND STRONG!

We had our week of VBC. Now it’s your turn. Are you helping your kids to remember God?

Need support? That’s what we’re here for! Try these:

Hints on how to squeeze in talking about God in your family.
Adding some fun to your dinner table.
When faith is slipping.
How a few simple words a day can sustain your child.

Sometimes it can be hard to understand what God is up to, especially when hit with the “ups and downs.” Help your child to see that God is always with them, helping them to STAND STRONG!

~~Carol, on behalf of the VBC Team

Watch the slide show below of pictures from the last day of VBC.
Or to see other days of VBC photos.

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Photo credits: Click here for info on banner photo (not visible in readers or email).
Photos courtesy of Tom, Marcie, Wendy, and Carol.

The Bible Helps Us Stand Strong: VBC Day 5

Posted on July 14, 2013July 14, 2013 by Carol Hulbert

The group on stage. We so enjoy helping to lead singing!

Friday was the last day of Kingdom Rock Vacation Bible Camp (VBC) at FUMC – Where kids stand strong for God! At our opening time, Sing & Play Rock, we sang songs, of course! We’ve got a few favorites that kids were asking for and there was big news…

Wally became a knight! She did it!
But in typical Wally-fashion she started to worry about it right away! (Standard behavior for a lot of us, right?) Wally was concerned that she’d forget something that she’d learned in the training manual. The mention of a training manual reminded us that we all have our own special training manual: The Bible. And you know what?

The Bible helps us… Stand Strong!

All week long we’ve been learning ways that help us to Stand Strong! Amazingly enough, kids remembered all of the different ways!

God’s love helps us stand strong,
Family and Friends help us stand strong,
Prayer helps us stand strong,
Trusting God helps us stand strong, and now, today…
The Bible helps us stand strong!

In what has now become routine, we met today’s Bible Buddy: Victoria, a Red Fox. In the video that introduced Victoria, we learned that fox are thought of as cunning animals. Victoria told us that the fox weren’t special; they were just using the gifts God gave them. She reminded us that God gave us a gift that helps us, just like a training manual. So whenever you don’t know what to do, check out the Bible!

Today’s special verse from the Bible is:

Your word is a lamp to guide my feet and a light for my path.
Psalm 119:105

Our sneak peak at today’s Bible Adventure came from the once again, lost/hidden helmet. It was quite funny how the kids tried to help Rachel find the helmet. It turned up behind the cross but she thought they were saying it was, “in a pile of moss.” Ha! Our clue introduced another king. (We’ve talked about lots of kings this week!) This king’s name was Josiah (pronounced Jo-SI-ah). I’ll bet that Josiah will teach us something about the Bible.

The preschoolers went off to the following stations…

Games – We played “Pin the Tail” and “Scripture Search.” Did you know that in King Josiah’s time, the Bible wasn’t a book like we know it; it was written on scrolls that unrolled to be read. We unrolled the scrolls we found to see what they told us.
Bible Adventures – This is the station where our Bible story is told. Josiah became the king at the age of 8! Can you imagine being king as an 8 year old? Even though he was a youngster, Josiah wanted to follow God. But he didn’t know how to follow God! Luckily Josiah made an important discovery in the rubble of the Temple in Jerusalem. We looked for treasure in the “rubble” and just like Josiah, we found God’s word!
Chadder’s Theater – All’s well that ends well. Chadder found the treasure and saved the castle.

Preschool: Crafts - decorated picture frames

Crafts – We decorated picture frames for our Kingdom Rock crew photos. What a great memory!

Meanwhile elementary kids visited the following stations…

Chadder’s Royal Theater & Missions – All’s well that ends well. Chadder found the treasure and saved the castle.
Tournament Games – We played “Towers and Castles,” “Pool Pass” (yep, it included water), and “Fallen Knight” – a different twist on tag.

Bible Adventures: the "fire" to burn the smashed idols

Epic Bible Adventures – This is the station where our Bible story is told. Our story is found in 2 Kings 22:1-23:23. Josiah became the king at the age of 8! Can you imagine being king as an 8 year old? Even though he was a youngster, Josiah wanted to follow God. Luckily he found an important treasure in the rubble of the Temple in Jerusalem. We looked for valuables in the “rubble” and like Josiah had done, we made sure that all of the “false gods” or idols were destroyed. Ask your kids how we demonstrated that!
Imagination Station – We decorated picture frames for our Kingdom Rock crew photos. What special memory from VBC will you recall when you see your crew picture?

At the King’s Kitchen we feasted on “Bright Bites” – a reminder that the Bible lights our way. (What cool cupcakes the kitchen folks made for us! Wow, they sure were bright!) We continued to gather God Sightings. God is everywhere when you look for him.

We gathered one last time (alas) for Fanfare Finale, the closing of another great day of learning. Today we learned about the power of the Bible. God gave us this special gift that helps us know what to do when we are sad, afraid, confused, worried and, even when we are happy (hint: say thank you.)

The Grad Group delivered another load of cereal boxes to the Bryant Community Center in Ann Arbor. Their count was a total of 122 boxes! The amount collected for the Evelyn S. Chapman Memorial United Methodist Elementary School in Monrovia, Liberia was over $400.00. (Sorry, I didn’t get the exact amount.)

Great job Kingdom Rock participants! You’ve done much to spread God’s great Kingdom in the world.

We reviewed the Bible Buddies for the week and everything they’ve taught us and watched an interesting demonstration that used balloons, Bibles and fans.

And of course we sang a few more songs!

Thanks for joining us at VBC!
~~Carol, on behalf of the VBC Team

For more info about children’s programming at FUMC, visit here.

Watch the slideshow below of pictures from Thursday. (Pictures from Friday will be up early next week.)

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Photo credits: Click here for info on banner photo (not visible in readers or email). Bible Buddy image used by permission of Group Publishing. Other photos courtesy of Tom, Dave, Derrick, Wendy, Marcie, and myself.

Our Rock: VBC Day 4

Posted on July 12, 2013 by Carol Hulbert

Day four (already!) of our Kingdom Rock Vacation Bible Camp (VBC) at FUMC, where we have been exploring how we stand strong with God!

I loved seeing kids bringing in offerings for our mission projects! Some serious change made it into the toilet today! (Kids: Remember not to try this at home!) We have already collected over $250 for running water bathrooms for kids at the school in Liberia. And, we’ve collected over 75 boxes of cereal. Thank you for your generous donations!!

At our opening time, Sing & Play Rock, we met today’s Bible Buddy: Sir Valient. Sir Valient is a large, powerful lion. He is our Bible Buddy for the day to remind us that God is powerful. God is so powerful, not even death can stop him! That’s what our Bible story is about today: God’s son Jesus died and yet he rose from the dead! That’s powerful! That’s the sort of power that we can place our trust in. Indeed, today’s Bible Point is:

Trusting God helps us stand strong.

Wally could use some help standing! She was so worked up and worried about appearing before the king, that she couldn’t even stand up.

Whoa! Wally is so nervous she can barely stand up.

Our advice: Trusting God will help you stand!

We told her that trusting in God was the way to go. (That and practicing for her test!)

Our key Bible verse teaches us about trust:

Trust in the Lord always,
for the Lord God is the eternal Rock.
Isaiah 26:4

Oh but it can be hard to trust God! Sometimes we go through difficult or confusing times. And then we keep making goof-ups; we call it sin – anything that causes us to become separated from God. That is the cool part of our Bible story: Jesus was willing to die on a cross and take the punishment for our sin. We can be reunited with God because of what Jesus did!

The preschoolers went off to engage in the following…

Games – Today we were bowling! One of the pins was very surprising. It just wouldn’t fall over. Ask your kids why.
Drama/Bible Adventures – We used a rock to help us to understand the story about Jesus’ death for our sins, and his coming back to life. (Kids: Ask your parents to try to break rocks, and to walk around with a rock in their shoe. Recreate what we did today!)
Chadder’s Theater – Our Chadder movie always leaves us hanging on a cliff! What will happen to Chadder in the dungeon? He sure looked like he was afraid. (It was dark!) Remember what he kept repeating? “Trust in God…”
Crafts – Today we created a surprising picture, but it required waiting to be able to see it. First we “colored” our white paper with white crayons. That’s right, it sure seemed like a strange request but we had to trust the leader. It only made sense when we did the second step.

Meanwhile the elementary kids visited…

Tournament Games – We played “The King Says,” “Four Kingdoms,” and “Lion Tag.” ROAR!
Epic Bible Adventures – We learned that Jesus was willing to die on the cross because he knew we’d sin. Jesus took our sins to the cross – the sins of everyone, even us! After hearing this moving story, we discovered a surprise in the dark tomb!
Chadder’s Royal Theater & Missions – Chadder is in trouble again. Will he be able to find his way out of the scary dungeon? We heard more information about the school in Liberia and looked at pictures. That’s one of the classrooms below.
Imagination Station – More surprising events in this station today! Unexpected results of a special type of paint, and more how-does-that-work demonstrations. We talked about how hard it can be to trust God because we can’t see God. We took a special trip to a dark room and were surprised by what we found there.

At the King’s Kitchen we feasted on “Crown Rounds,” two reminders about God: a crown for a King, and roundness because God’s love is never-ending. After we replenished our energy we worked on recording our God-Sightings and build relationships with our friends.

At the end of our day we gathered at Fanfare Finale. We sang and watched a very moving performance about Jesus dying on the cross and coming back to life again.

The Grad Group was “off-site” today. They headed over to the Bryant Community Center. The report from Dave: “Eight Grads and two VBC volunteers handed out canned goods, produce, bread, sweets, and boxes of cereal (collected this week at VBC!) to local individuals and families in need. These young volunteers did an awesome job in spite of being on their feet for a solid two hours. After the clients had moved through, we stored any food that was left, broke-down and recycled some cardboard boxes, and cleaned off the tables. At the end of their experience, we were rewarded with some malted milk balls and chocolate covered raisins for all of the hard work.”

Boxes of “freshly donated” cereal, passing between hands of those who have and those who need… What a moving experience!

Continue the learning at home!

Here are a couple of questions to talk about around the family dinner table:

Name some places you can be where you can trust God. (Hint: everywhere!)
Practice is good in sports, musical instrument playing, and in trusting God. What are some ways you can practice trusting God? (Some hints)
How do we know that God is real if we can’t see him? (I heard a preschooler answer this question with “but everything we can see is God.”

See you tomorrow!
~~Carol (on behalf of the VBC Team)

Here’s the slideshow of Wednesday’s pictures…

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Photo credits: Click here for info on banner photo (not visible in readers or email).

Bible Buddy image used by permission of Group Publishing.

Other photos courtesy of Tom, Dave, Derrick, Wendy, Marcie, and myself. (Thanks guys, for all of the wonderful pictures of kids having fun!)

Standing Strong with Prayer: VBC Day 3

Posted on July 11, 2013July 11, 2013 by Carol Hulbert

Welcome back — day three of Kingdom Rock Vacation Bible Camp (VBC) at FUMC, where kids stand strong for God!

At our opening time, Sing & Play Rock, we were rocking the castle! Singing and moving to the music. How did the rest of our morning go? Great!

But first, a few links and other items of interest:

See what we did on Monday and Tuesday at Kingdom Rock.
Help your kids be on the look-out for “God Sightings” — noticing God at work in your world. (The beauty of “God Sightings” is, once you start noticing, you see God a lot more!)
An item for your calendar: We will be singing two songs during worship this Sunday, so please join us at 9:30 and wear your VBC T-shirt!
Keep those cereal boxes and coins coming! Neighbors near and far thank you!

Now, what else happened today? Well, Wally was on the run. She was taking flight from a knight in shining armor named Pistachio! Pistachio is big bully! I wonder how this will unfold?

Speaking of getting away fast, we watched a short video that introduced our very fast Bible Buddy of the day, Swift. Swift is a falcon. Did you know that falcons are the fastest birds around? They can fly at the speed of 200 miles a hour! (Can you imagine how fast your family car would have to travel to get from Ann Arbor to Chicago in just one hour? Pretty fast.)

Swift introduced our Bible Verse of the day:

Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about
everything.Philippians 4:6

This would be a good Bible verse to “store in our heart” where we can pull it up, just when we need it? Visit here for some hints about “memorizing” Bible verses. Pray about everything! Yep; good advice.

It turns out that prayer was today’s Bible Point:

Prayer helps us stand strong.

Prayer is talked about a lot in the Bible. In our story for today, Nehemiah persevered to rebuild the wall around his favorite city, Jerusalem (as told in Nehemiah 1–6). He prayed a lot to God for help. And God listened!

Our preschoolers were busy with…

Games – Played two games: one where they helped build a wall, just like Nehemiah. The second game used bubbles; it was called “Blown Away.” Can you blow away your concerns in prayer to God?
Drama/Bible Adventures – We learned about how it can be difficult to rebuild a wall when the people around you are making it difficult to do your work. We heard about how hard it was for Nehemiah.
Chadder’s Theater – We watched another episode of Chadder. Is Chadder in trouble for helping make the movie? Then we played a game called “Falcon Freeze.”
Crafts – We made a prayer wall.

It took a lot of work but it reminded us of all the things that we can pray to God about; big things AND little things.

Elementary kids visited the following stations…

Epic Bible Adventures –

“Jerusalem” was a mess! The wall had been knocked down. We learned about how Nehemiah felt when he heard that his beloved city was in trouble. We also learned how he constantly turned to prayer. Then we helped rebuild the wall in record time!
Tournament Games – “Noodle Jousting,” “Knights in Knots”… what next? (But what fun!)
Chadder’s Royal Theatre & Missions – Chadder’s stunt did not go well. Everyone was mad! Chadder was worried. I wonder what will happen!?
Imagination Station – There were lots of surprises in store for us today! A very difficult experiment with forks and a toothpick and a match… Catching bubbles with our hands… God sometimes surprises us in how he answers our prayers.

What about the Grad Group? Our “older” elementary kids are working every day this week on various mission projects.

A Grad Group member helps lead kids into the castle

They helped out here at VBC, delivering kids to their crews in the morning and delivering coffees to our volunteers! Today they also made Rice Krispie Treats to take to the Bryant Community Center’s summer camp program. Kids at camp are fed lunch AND dinner every day during the program. What a great treat to share with our neighbors.

At The King’s Kitchen we were served a treat called “Prayer Mix.” It looked like normal trial mix, but in this case each ingredient had a special meaning! Next time twisted pretzels are served, I bet your kids will think of how the shape looks like praying hands. Ask your kids what some of the other snack pieces represented.

At the end of our morning everyone gathered together again for Fanfare Finale for more singing!

But what is wrong with Lady Adele? Why does she seem to be dragging a heavy weight? What? People keep giving her more work!

Look at the train of stuff she's pulling along

She is encouraged to pray to lighten her load

We convince Lady Adele to give up her concerns to God in prayer. We help her to unburden her load. She is very grateful!

Continue the learning at home!

Here are a couple of questions to talk about around the family dinner table:

We can pray at any time. When is your favorite time to pray?
We often pray when we are worried. What is something that worries you? How can prayer help you deal with that worry?
Do you suppose that there is anything that you might pray for that God doesn’t really care about? (the answer: NO!)

See you tomorrow!
Carol (on behalf of the VBC Team)

Here’s the slideshow of Tuesday’s pictures…

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Photo credits: Click here for info on banner photo (not visible in readers or email).
Bible Buddy image used by permission of Group Publishing.
Today’s photos courtesy of Tom and Carol.

With a little help from our friends: Kingdom Rock VBC Day 2

Posted on July 9, 2013February 6, 2017 by Carol Hulbert

Do you know what this blog does outside of VBC week? It quietly posts ideas to bring faith conversation to your family! Easily read future posts (usually one a week) by subscribing over on the right. Enter your e-mail address to have posts sent directly to your inbox. Or click on the orange RSS icon to subscribe in a reader.

Welcome back for day two of Kingdom Rock Vacation Bible Camp (VBC) at FUMC – Where kids stand strong for God! We are so glad your children are able to join us this week at FUMC. We are having a blast! Be sure to watch the slide show of pictures from yesterday!

At our opening time, Sing & Play Rock, we got right down to business – singing Kingdom Rock songs with gusto!

Wally was back – in sweaty exercise attire! What’s up with that? She was working out, in order to become strong!

It looks like she’s got a long way to go. She needs some help getting in shape; she could barely lift a shield. I wonder what she’ll do?

We also met today’s Bible Buddy, Duke. (That’s Duke on the right.) Duke is a jousting horse. Jousting is a sport; something knights do with big spears and heavy armor. No wonder Wally was working out. Becoming a knight is tough work!

I wonder how a big horse relates to today’s Bible Point. See if your kids know.

What was today’s Bible Point? (So glad you asked!)

Family and friends help us stand strong!!

As always, our key Bible verse applies to the concept:

So encourage each other and build each other up.  (1 Thessalonians 5:11)

So encouraging one another is one way to help our friends and family stand strong!

Our sneak peak at today’s Bible adventure came from a clue in our hidden helmet. (How does that helmet always seem to disappear every day?) Our clue tells us that our Bible story is about Esther. She’s the one that has an entire book of the Old Testament that tells her story! We’ll learn more, I’m sure.

Today the preschoolers did the following…

Games – Today we played “Parachute Pals” and “Helping Tag.” What fun!

Drama/Bible Adventures – We got to play different roles in the story of brave Queen Esther. I wonder what role involved making noise with drums?

Pre-school Crafts - decorating friends & family

Crafts – We created ‘fridge art to represent family and friends who help us stand strong.
Chadder’s Theater – We watched another episode of our video. Chadder and Joey discover who was stealing the palace treasures! But now Chadder is in another fix!

Elementary kids visited the following stations…

Epic Bible Adventures – We met Queen Esther and heard about her plight. We also had a chance to peek into the royal throne room and we encouraged Queen Esther to stand strong.

At Bible Adventures is where we receive the day’s wrist band. Have you seen one of these come home with your child? Take note of the QR Code that takes you to a fun spot on the web. There’s lots of good stuff on those wrist bands.
Tournament Games – We played “Teamwork Pass,” “Lean on Me,” and “Knight Tag.” Believe it or not we do rest a bit.
Chadder’s Royal Theatre & Missions – We watched another episode of our video. Chadder encouraged his friend Joey to do the right thing when they discovered who was stealing the palace treasures!

Chadder’s the star in the video
Imagination Station – We talked about sinking feelings. Then we discovered a way to float instead! Then we tried to build towers from straws. We found that cooperation helped.

At The King’s Kitchen we quenched our hunger and our thirst with today’s tasty treat: Building Blocks. We could play with our food! Meanwhile, it reminded us to build each other up with our words and our actions; to build relationships with our family and our friends. During our snack time we shared our God Sightings: instances where we saw God at work in our daily life; a smiling face, a pretty sunset, a helping hand… all of these are God’s fingerprints! We’re creating lists of all of our God Sightings.

Today the Grad Group worked on packaging snacks for the LOVE Thy Neighbor program – a local outreach to feed the homeless lunch on Saturdays. They also counted cereal boxes (17!) and money donated for our mission project. $84.77 has been collected so far to help build bathrooms in Liberia!

Yesterday the Grad Group decorated bags that will be used in church this Saturday and Sunday, to collect a special offering to add to our building bathrooms fund. I’ll bet that at VBC we can raise more!

As our morning drew to a close everyone gathered at Fanfare Finale. Lady Adele helped us review our day. We sang our favorite Kingdom Rock songs about standing strong. We also watched a volunteer stand strong against a “Kingdom-ly Contraption.” What will happen to the knight? I wonder if having friends around him will help?