baptism……….
i love baptisms! Bellevue had their first baptism service this weekend and i was lucky enough to have a front row seat. here are just a few of the amazing moments!
Kidz World in June
The Rethink Group, who writes the curriculum we use in Kidz World has just started publishing these videos that give you a highlight of what we’ll be focusing on all month. If you have a preschooler (2yrs through Pre K) they’ll be learning that “God wants me to do the right thing”, listen to Autumn Ward explain…
If you have an elementary child (K- Club 45) they’ll be learning about responsibility, watch this video and hear how Reggie Joiner explains it. I’m looking forward to having some discussions about Responsibility with Presley.
Holy.Week…………………
Holy Week is a great time to come together and CONNECT as a family through faith discussions and around the events of the Jesus last week on earth. The message of the Cross is central to our faith, and I would argue that there is no more important thing to teach your kids. We have always tried to make the Holy Week special for our family. First, we created the space in our week to come together each evening. Second, we have a plan of what we are going to do. Over the years this plan has developed into something we’ve put together for families, it’s called CONNECT and it’s a 8 day family Easter devotional. You can actually download a pdf version of it here.
Last night we had our first devotional time from the CONNECT Easter Devotional! We combined Sundays and Mondays together because, well to be honest, Sunday was a blur – a good blur, but still a blur. So we started before dinner and had the girls collect the items for the Holy Week Scavenger Hunt, these items will be symbols we use all week to tell the Easter story. They were off in a flurry, running and yelling out which items they wanted to be in charge of finding. It was fun to see what they came up with, here is a photo of our stash……
After we had dinner, we did Monday nights devotional. It was fun to talk about all of the different kinds of worship. I loved asking the girls when they have felt God the most and it was great to pick some worship songs to sing together. The girls chose Barlow Girls – No One Like You. Now, while I would not have normally chosen that song, I LOVED that they knew the words to such a powerful song and that it was worshipful for them! We then sang – Not To Us and that led to O Happy Day and just a fun night of music and worship together! Cant wait for tonight!!
We also have the resurrection eggs that Presley and I are talking about this week. She loves to open the eggs, talk about what is inside and then have me hide them ALL OVER the house. We will probably do that about 900 times this week!
its.no.secret……
its no secret that i LOVE a good book and………
i love secret keepers by dannah (sounds like hannah) gresh, http://blog.secretkeepergirl.com/. i found this little treasure about 3 years ago. its 8 great dates for you to do with your daughter. i took alivia on the dates when she was 10 and just completed the 8 dates with claire.
what i love about this is – 1 it opens up a plan for me to spend intentional time with my daughter. 2 -its so easy, she has it all set up for you and 3- the topics she addresses are things we NEED to be talking about with our girls, but just dont always come up in our every day conversations.
one of the”dates” are for moms and daughters to go shopping together! 
not only do we shop ( she talks about money not being the focus so dont worry if you are short on cash, dont let that stop you) she walks us as moms and daughters, through a series of tests to see if the clothes we are picking out are communicating modesty and purity along with great fashion. there are some great ways to be creative and still be modest and look fashionable! she gives some great tips for layering to add in those pieces that alone wouldnt work but can, with some effort and extra creativity. rebecca st james also gives some great words of wisdom on the cd!!
the last date is my favorite, and a real moment of truth to what stage of life we are in as parents. we are no longer the parents of newborns or toddlers. we have reached the stage where we have laid a foundation for their future – the good and the bad. from here we begin to slowly let out the reigns, we begin to instill in them a hope for their future. with both alivia and claire, we have taken the opportunity for pat and i, together to take them to a nice dinner. we tried to make it special and dress up, we wanted them to feel loved and cherished. (with 3 girls its not often – or ever- that mom and dad get to go out alone with them).
(since we just had claires date, i will share a photo of claire with her daddy at the end of the post). after we had eaten, pat talked to claire about her beauty, her spirit, her giving heart. the character and qualities we see in her, affirming her beauty inside and out, the excitement we have for her future and the plans we know God has in store for her.we also took this a step further and presented her (as we did with alivia) with a purity ring. pat talked to her about his love for her, her heavenly Fathers love, and her value as a person. he told her about the ring, the circle reprenting Gods love for her, there is no beginning and no end. there is a diamond to represent a precious stone as she is precious. and finally that the next man to place a ring on her finger is no small thing. he must prove that his love for her is pure, and his love and desire for God is as well, so we can be sure that he will establish their home under Godly leadership.
at age 10 what we are doing is laying a foundation, before emotions and hormones kick in. when she can receive what we are saying and let it really sink into her heart. there are many conversations to come for us, and for sure some ups and downs but we are working to be proactive with our childrens future. not only in conversations but in PRAYER!
here is the sweet photo i will cherish in my mommy heart forever! (on a side note, i am so lucky to be married to this man!)
getting.away.together.priceless…….
We are so thankful that God provided us with a BEAUTIFUL morning on Friday for a hike together. We went on a crazy, steap, long hike to the top of the mountain we were staying on. Pat took his Bible with him and when we got to the top we were able to have some devotions together as we looked out across the most amazing view. Life on top of the mountain gives us a different perspective on life, we need that perspective to help us navigate as we travel back down to the valley, where we really live most of our lives. Suddenly some of the things we thought were so important, we realize really arent and we can see where we may be missing something really important.
I am so thankful God is journeying with our family. Sometimes we can barely hold on with out sliding back down the mountain and sometimes we reach a temporary place to rest. Our prayer is that we never rest to long and continue to grow and enjoy the journey itself.
National Marriage Week
In case you haven’t noticed the barge of marketing campaigns or the little hints your spouse has left for you, this Sunday is Valentine’s day. There are many ways you can show your spouse or significant other just how special they are this week. Notice I didn’t say “day”. This week is also National Marriage Week. Take a moment each day this week and try to do one thing that strengthens your marriage. Be creative, think outside the usual chocolates, flowers, or anything that comes in a small square box. The best gifts are the ones with the most thought and usually the least amount of money. All this week I’m giving my wife, Mandy, a gift each day that has a special thought behind them, and honestly some of them cost me nothing but time and brain power.
What special/thoughtful gifts have you shared with your spouse? Help us all out and share!
Discipline Rewarded
I hate camping, for whatever reason God wired me to appreciate the outdoors without having to sleeping on the cold, wet ground. Please, no offense to those of you that love camping, like you I love the outdoors, it’s just that I prefer the beach while staying in a condo. The beauty of this no love for camping attitude is that, I share it with my wonderful bride.
This month Discipline is the virtue our kids are learning about in Kidz World, and we have created a tool for parents and kids to talk about discipline at home. Kids, parents, and the family were to set a goal and if they all accomplished it they could reward themselves. The reward our kids chose was of all things, a camp out in the living room, which is the closest we ever get to roughing it.
Each of the girls chose to memorize a different verse, while Mandy and I chose to accept the 31 day challenge. Our family challenge was to laugh together everyday. It was really fun to try and intentionally take time to laugh together. I was so proud of our girls, they worked on their verses, and made sure Mandy and I read Proverbs everyday. Although my 36-year-old body felt the effects of sleeping on the floor, it was one of the best family nights we’ve ever had.
If any other Cross Point families have stories to share from the week, maybe what the challenges are that you and your kids chose, how you accomplished your goals and what reward everyone picked. We would love to hear your stories of the fun you are having while God is at work in your families!! Join the discussion.
FX Launch
I haven’t been blogging lately, actually since before Christmas, mainly because we were up against a deadline of launching a new ministry experience at Cross Point. This past Sunday (01.10.10) we launched FX at all three of our campuses. FX is our family experience, which wasn’t totally new to our Nashville campus having hosted KidStuff for the past six years. However, FX was new to them as well as for our North and Dickson campuses. One of the key essentials to the Cross Point Family Ministry strategy (based on an Orange Strategy) is Reactivating the Family. We believe it’s essential that we partner with parents in the spiritual development of their children, and FX is one of the ways we do that. There are two components to the FX experience: FX Live and FX Home. FX Live is a monthly worship experience for Kids and Parents (K-5th grade) that uses music, drama, and video to share God’s Big Idea for the month which is the same message kids here in Kidz World (our weekly kids ministry environment).
At the end of FX Live we give families a tool for them take home and apply the Big Idea all month. This month’s Big Idea is Discipline, and our tool is a family goal chart.
Email blasts go with this tool each week giving parents and kids a new set of instructions for using the tool to apply the message in Kidz World for that week. If you are a Cross Point parent and you want signed up for this email blast simply email fxhome@crosspoint.tv and be sure to catch us at the next FX Live on February 7th
Kids Christmas Choir this Sunday
This Sunday at Cross Point on all our campuses we’ll have kids singing in a choir as part of the morning worship service. It’s going to be a great opportunity for our kids (3 years- 5th grade) to serve and for Cross Point to experience multi-generational worship. We are really excited out it. The combination of Kids, Christmas, and singing in Church is almost always guaranteed to result in a story. Tim Hawkins explains it best…
Who knows what is going to happen this Sunday?
Most Affordable Gift: Time
The most affordable gift you can give in this busy, noisy, crazy culture is your time. By giving your time, I don’t just mean give them a moment of your time, but being fully engaged and physically present in that moment. Here are a few suggestions….
Surprise them by coming home early
Play a family game
Have a family meal together, around the table, not around the TV. Start the conversation with taking turns sharing the best part of your day. My friend Blake gave me this idea the other day; pick one person and take turns going around the table telling them everything you appreciate or like about them.
When going on a date, actually have the evening entirely planned out. Basically, don’t say “What do you want to do?” as you are getting into the car.
Look them in the eye and listen to every word they say as if it was the last words they would ever speak to you.
Turn off the TV, put away the laptop, turn off the phone, and forget about Twitter.
Take a “yes fast” for a weekend. You clear your calendar of events and say no to any invitation to fill up your day and evening. Instead spend the time at home with your spouse or family.
Plan a night or weekend away with your spouse
Help your spouse with the dishes, laundry, or cleaning. Better yet, get the cleaning done before she comes home have the house cleaned so you can spend the weekend together.
If you have errands to run, take at least one of your children with you. The best conversations with my girls happen on the way somewhere in the car.
Take each child on a special date. We have the tradition of monthly breakfast dates, I started this early on and it’s been the best thing I’ve done as a Dad.
Can’t afford a vacation, try a staycation. Stay home, but make yourself inaccessible to those outside your family , don’t do house projects, and do plan activities you can do at home.
Pick a book and read a chapter each evening together. We would recommend Biographies or Character building books.
What free activities has your family done? Add to this list, we would really like to learn from you.
