Numbers & Deuteronomy in the Playhouse this Sunday!

Pastor Kevin is back in the Playhouse this Sunday as we continue to explore the Pentateuch with the kids! This week, Buck Denver and co. will look at the final two books of the books of Law! This will also be a birthday celebration week for February Birthdays so come and celebrate your friends birthdays with us as well!

AND DON'T FORGET TO KEEP GATHERING SPONSORS FOR THE KID VID VETO THIS WEEK! WE'VE GOT ONE MORE WEEK BEFORE IT BEGINS AND I KNOW THERE ARE PEOPLE IN THE CHURCH WHO WILL SPONSOR ANY AND ALL KIDS THAT COME TO THEM, SO THE MORE KIDS WHO SEE THEM THE MORE MONEY WE WILL RAISE FOR BGMC/MISSIONS!!

A Game to Raise Awareness

Here’s an interesting and enjoyable game that can be played over several hours or a few days. You may choose to play this game on a car trip or when hanging out at home together on a Saturday afternoon. The game is the "Whoops" and "Ahhh" Game. Playing it can be a lot of fun and it helps you recognize common forms of speech that aren’t very honoring. Choose a few hours when you'll all be together interacting.

Announce the beginning of the game and explain how it's played. "We will look for five types of dishonoring speech: arguing, boasting, whining/complaining, talking too much, and being bossy. Anyone who hears dishonoring speech from children or adults says "Whoops!" Everyone then tries to guess which type of dishonoring speech they heard. The family then works together to offer honoring suggestions.

When Bill says, "Aren't we there yet," in that whiny voice, his sister, Karen might say "Whoops!" You can identify that as whining and suggest that Bill ask his question in a more honoring way.

At the same time everyone is on the lookout for honoring speech that includes praise, gratefulness, compliments, and affirmation. If Karen says, "Thanks Dad, for taking us on this trip." Dad can say, "Ahhh."

To keep it fun, you might occasionally say something dishonoring on purpose to earn a "Whoops!" You might say, "I sure am a good driver." This will earn you a "Whoops!" for boasting followed by an interesting discussion of your alternatives.

Be sure to set an end time to the game. Although the evaluation can be helpful for a time, too much analysis can get irritating and loses its fun.

By the way, if you try this game, leave a comment and let me know what you think or how it worked.

This tip comes from the book Say Goodbye to Whining, Complaining, and Bad Attitudes in You and Your Kids, by Dr. Scott Turansky and Joanne Miller, RN, BSN.

Valentine's Hearts Theme Tonight at Awana Clubs!

Family week is over and it's back to Awana clubs tonight with love and hearts everywhere! OK, so Valentine's Day was yesterday, but we're not going to let that stop us from celebrating Love tonight! So remind your kids to put on those red and pink clothes, especially the ones with hearts and stuff! The team with the most "love" on their team tonight will get bonus points!

Remember we start at 6:15pm!

Immediate Affirmation Produces Results

Immediate praise for work well done is very motivating. It's important to catch your children doing something right. Not only do you want to affirm behavior but also you want to encourage the character development that you see growing. Use words like, "You're becoming very cooperative." Or, "I like the way you are learning to be kind." Praise goes a long way to build good habits.

When my (Joanne) son Timothy was four years old, we had a problem with him complaining at mealtimes. No matter what I served, he moaned. So I created a "Good Attitude at Mealtime" chart. It wasn't fancy or elaborate, just a piece of construction paper. I told him that when he saw what was for the meal, he could either say something positive or say nothing at all. If he did this then he'd get a star on his chart. If he complained, no star that meal. I drew cute little stars with different colors. I put faces on them and hats. Timmy loved it. He had so much fun with his chart that he would eagerly ask what was for each meal, just so he could respond rightly and get a new and different star. I told him that if he got 12 stars, I would give him a treat. The star chart helped us break the bad habit of complaining.

Look for ways to praise your children whenever possible. Don't just focus on a child's weaknesses. Praise goes a long way to develop a positive attitude in our kids about the changes they need to make. Remember to not just focus on behavior though. Tell kids what you like about the character they're demonstrating through those positive behaviors.

This idea is not just for young children who seem to eat up our praise. Teens need praise too. Often the faults of older children are glaringly obvious and quite scary for us as parents, but determine to catch your teens or young adults doing something right and praise their character and maturity. You'll be surprised at the results.

This tip comes from the book, Home Improvement, The Parenting Book You Can Read to Your Kids by Dr. Scott Turansky and Joanne Miller, RN, BSN.

PASTOR EDDIE IN THE HOUSE!!!

This Sunday we're mixing things up a bit! Pastor Kevin will be preaching in the adult service and Pastor Eddie will be filling in for the C.W. Playhouse service! It will be a special BGMC service focusing on the country of Iceland and Pastor Eddie is excited to share some personal information he has about this Northern country.

This will also be the week we launch our annual KID VID VETO by passing out sponsor forms, so encourage your kids to be ready to start gathering support for our biggest missions fund-raiser of the year! The actual fasting of entertainment media will begin on Feb. 26th!

And parents, prepare to be challenged by Pastor Kevin in the adult service on this subject as well!

See you Sunday!

My Child Is Just Going Through The Motions

Sometimes children learn to go through the motions to just get through a discipline experience. They'll parrot the answers that they know you want to hear. You know that helping them change their hearts is the right thing to do, but you don't seem to be getting anywhere. What do you do?

"The answer must be bigger consequences." That tends to be what parents think of first, but the solution is usually more complicated. The key may be adding positive consequences that help children practice a heart change.

One mom said, "My twelve-year-old son was struggling with meanness. I had tried taking away privileges but that didn't seem to work. I decided to try something different. I told him each day to find three kind things he could do for his brother. He would have to report to me before he was free to go out and play. By focusing on the positive we began seeing some significant change."

This is a good idea but sometimes change is slow or doesn't seem to be there at all. In these cases, parents must take a two-pronged approach. First, set up a good routine and enforce it consistently. It's like a Jello mold. You're establishing boundaries for children and requiring right responses even though they don't seem to be able to assimilate change on a deeper level.

Then pray. After all, God is the one who can change a heart. Pray that your children will respond to the discipline and guidelines you set up. Tell your children that you're praying for them. Don't give up and just let them go. Continue to set the patterns and routines to be that container that they need to act rightly. Pray that God will breathe life into the container so that children aren't just acting right, but their hearts are in it too.

Look for small opportunities for dialogue, modeling, and correction that God might use to help them change. Find positive influences for your child. It's amazing how many times a youth leader at church can say the very same thing that you are saying at home but your kids will receive it better from someone else. Hang in there. The job of parenting requires a lot of faith and work. Both are necessary to help children make changes that will last.

This tip comes from the book, Parenting is Heart Work, by Dr. Scott Turansky and Joanne Miller, RN, BSN.