BG2MC (KID VID VETO) BEGINS THIS SUNDAY!

This is the final weekend for your kids to get sponsors for the annual media fast fundraiser before it actually begins.  This Sunday we launch 28 days of NO ENTERTAINMENT MEDIA!  But it will all be for nothing if your kids don't get some sponsors...the more the merrier!  So remind them to make phone calls to grandparents, aunts & uncles, even cousins before we kick it off this Sunday!

REMINDER:  Your child does NOT have to go the whole 28 days to participate in this fund-raiser.  I encourage you not to let your kids completely pass on this fundraiser.  If they are grousing about the length of it, challenge them to do it for just one week or even a few days, or just weekends...whatever works for your child or your family...as long as you let your sponsors know up front!  Anything is better than nothing...and what are we teaching our kids if we don't let them learn how to suffer a little bit for a higher cause?  Remind them that there are children going without food, water, and the gospel while they are refusing to give up their entertainment.  I know that seems a bit harsh, but sometimes our kids need to be pushed in order to have an appreciation for such things.  

Maybe to motivate them, you should consider making the sacrifice with them!

THIS SUNDAY! Castles & Kings Lesson 3: King Solomon!

2 Kings of Israel down and finally we move beyond Saul and David to David's son, Solomon, the builder of God's temple and the king known for his great wisdom!  The castle is looking better and better every week and we still have a couple of surprises for the kids moving into week 3!  So don't let them miss out, Moms and Dads!  Get your kids to church this Sunday...and encourage them to go to the C.W. Playhouse, where we put our all into making each service something memorable for them!  If they want to worship with the adults, encourage them to hold off until next week's family service!  That's what family services are for.  Maybe you'll even want to consider sitting in kids church with them to show them how much fun it is...

Whatever the case, we hope to see you this Sunday at the castle!

The Heart is a Wrestling Place

The heart is where we wrestling with things. When experience, teaching, and values need to be integrated into life, it happens in the workshop of the heart. Information comes into our heads on a regular basis but much of it just stays there. Only when it moves down to our hearts does it become part of our lives.

When eight-year-old, Jordan, says to himself, "I'm no good. No one wants to be with me. I'll never get it right," he's repeating negative things in his heart. Rebecca feels good in her heart because she refused to join those who were disrespectful to the teacher. Jack's mom can see a heart problem because he scowls and complains whenever she asks him to do something. In each of these situations, children wrestle with things or come to conclusions about life and its challenges in their hearts.

When parents use a heart-based approach they take advantage of this wrestling inside a child. They feed nutritious information, contribute praise for growing character, and comment about the helpful and unhelpful internal dialogue as it makes its way out through behavior.

Jesus knew that the teachers of the law were struggling inside with the fact that he forgave the paralytic in Matthew 9:4. He says, "Why do you entertain evil thoughts in your hearts?" When in Luke 24 the two disciples on the road to Emmaus realized that their surprise guest was Jesus, they reflected on the experience by saying, "Were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?"

Too often parents focus only on behavior, things like getting jobs done around the house and completing homework. The real work of parenting is done in the heart.

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