Northwood Parents

For those of you who get to church early and stay at church late, who stay in the nursery more than your share, who serve the Church in ways no one will ever know — here’s a reminder of why you do it ….

See you here Sunday as, together, we have a part in more “cardboard testimonies!”

This week, our preschoolers will continue a month of learning about God and how much He loves them.  Your child will learn that God wants everyone to go to Heaven and live with Him forever.  He wants everyone to know about Him and how much He loves us.  He also wants us to tell others about the great love He has for us.  God teaches us in the Bible to tell others about His love.  Sunday afternoon, pray with your preschooler about someone that he or she can share with about God’s love.  Talk about one way you and your preschooler can show this person His amazing love.

Elementary kids are finishing up their month long virtue of faith – trusting in what you can’t see because of what you can see.  This week, children will learn that Jesus came and died so that we could live with God forever.  We will be taking a look at John 3:1- 16.  Your child will gain an understanding that the only way we can be with God forever in Heaven is to believe in Jesus.  At lunch on Sunday, talk with your child about the most important thing we need to know about Jesus.  Talk about what Heaven will be like.  Talk about how Jesus is the only way we can go to Heaven.  There is none other!

I hope you have a great weekend and I look forward to seeing your child here on Sunday!  Remember … summer isn’t a break from church!  It’s so imporant that your child, at an early age, learn and see demonstrated the importance of attending church!

Do you ever find yourself forgetting what is most important?  I know I do. My keys, my debit card, my phone.  While I am not one, it seems to me that some parents have forgotten their kids!  Sometimes I watch as they beam with pride over their son’s developing vocabulary or his hand/eye coordination.   They are amazed by their daughter’s intelligence.   But, sometimes I wonder if they forget to dream about what really matters. Maybe it all has to do with perspective.  Though there’s nothing wrong with celebrating achievements and encouraging greatness, there is a problem in pursuing what the world says is valuable. When we only strive after accomplishments, we neglect the heart of Christ —  and when parents model that behavior over and over again, children in our homes and in our churches forget why they’re here in the first place. Jesus said in Matthew 23:11, “The greatest among you will be your servant.”  His life lived these words out in washing feet, feeding the hungry, and healing the sick. The cross , itself was all about humility. Philippians 2:8 says that, “He humbled himself and became obedient to death – even death on a cross.” 

You see, if you allow your child to be involved and in pursuit of greatness all the time, you’ve missed everything.   As a matter of fact, some of the greatest individuals are those who have never been recognized once.  They have never been applauded, honored, or had their name on a marquee.  No one cheers their names in the stands or watches their shows from a couch.  But in they have humbly served a cause greater than themselves.   I think all parents want their children to excel in life and in the gifts God has given them and, when they accomplish these goals, parents should cheer loud and proud, but more importantly, parents should want them to pursue Christ!  The only way this happens though is for parents to realize what is most important (and it’s not cheerleading, baseball, and an academic report card)!  It is Jesus Christ and serving Him!

Last night, we kicked off one of my favorite times of the year … VBS Adventure Week!  Last night our children learned that we are accepted by Jesus – that He loves us in an incredible way that we can’t even imagine.  Children heard about a time when Peter was fishing and he had been fishing all night!  That is until Jesus came on the scene and told him to lay down his nets.  Now here’s the goal for tonight … we want each tribe to grow (each grade level).  Here’s where you, as the parent come in … we need you to invite the kids in the neighborhood, your friends, and family.  Bring them with you to VBS tonight!  The tribe that grows the most will be the Tribe of the Night!  Your kids will not want to miss tonight!  It’s going to be a lot of fun and I’m looking forward to seeing them here!

Tonight … it’s Week 2 of our summer children’s ministry program Soul Food!  Tonight, we’re looking at the virtue of faith!  We’re teaching kids that we can believe in a God we can’t see because we can see what God has made.  We’ll talk about the birds and flowers and how they don’t have to worry.  No bird has ever worried about what he will eat, where he will go, or how he will spend his day!  The bird just knows that God will take care of him.  We really want children, even at an early age, to understand that God is their friend!  God is on their side!  God promises to always take care of them!  It’s a lesson that, if they can grasp at a young age, will make an incredible difference in their lives.  We’re also in the kitchen tonight making personal cheese and pepperoni pizza!  It’s going to be so much fun!  I hope you’ll make Soul Food a part of your summer plans for tonight!  See you then!

It’s a new month and a brand new opportunity for us to teach your children some incredible truth that can change their lives…

This Sunday, preschoolers will learn about the Bible and that the words we read in the Bible are God’s words.  Your preschooler will hear that the Bible is always true, it teaches me what is right, it teaches me what is wrong, and I should think about the Bible day and night!  Your preschooler will hear these four phrases over and over throughout this month.  Repeat these phrases with your preschooler all month long.  Ask your preschooler to show you the motions to these phrases.  Take some time to sit down with your preschooler, sometime after Sunday, and read a story from her Bible together.  Talk about how the story you read is a true story that God wants us to know!

This week, elementary kids will begin learning a new virtue:  Faith – trusting in what you can’t see because of what you can see.  This week, your child will learn that we can believe in a God we can’t see because we can see what He has made.  Your child will discover that we can know and understand the realness of God because of all that He has created.  We’ll even give your child an opportunity to think about things he sees in nature everyday that remind us that God is real!  Sometime after Sunday, ask your child to discuss with you how birds and flowers can possibly help people believe in God.  Ask your child to talk with you about what faith is.  Is faith something we have to have if we’re trusting God?  Is faith an important virtue to have as a part of our lives?

Also, don’t forget … VBS Adventure Week is only about a week away!  Pick up a pre-registration form at the Welcome Center or in the Children’s Ministry Areas this Sunday!  You can also invite your friends to attend VBS by picking up a flyer at Northwood on Sunday or inviting them on Facebook.  Just join the VBS Adventure Week group.  We can’t wait!

I’m not much on talk!  Now, I know for some of you, that is very hard to believe.  But, I’m really not!  I think that’s why I like hanging out with kids!  They don’t just talk like us adults!  When they talk, I listen! When they talk, they really, genuinely have something they want me to know.  It’s not just words, it comes from their heart – it’s important to them.  When they talk about spiritual things, they don’t look for big spiritual, eloquent words to communicate the truth of what God is doing in their lives.  They use very simple, easy to understand words – words that convey simple truth. 

 In Scripture we hear that Jesus loved the children.  As a matter of fact, we read in Mark 10 that some children were brought to Jesus.  The disciples saw this happening and rebuked them. We see that Jesus became angry at the disciples and explained to them that it is those who become as little children that will inherit the Kingdom of God!  I think maybe that’s why Jesus cared about children so much – why He got so angry when the disciples wanted to them to leave Him alone.  Jesus understood that the simple, childlike faith is what we all need.  We don’t need spiritual lingo if we have the real thing.  If Jesus is really making a difference in our lives, if He is really changing us, then the spiritual lingo is unnecessary.  Our childlike faith and actions lived out will be the only lingo necessary.

It’s hard to believe, but it’s two weeks away!  VBS Adventure Week is coming to Northwood June 14 – 18 from 6:30 – 8:30 pm.  This year’s theme is SonRock Kid’s Camp!  Your child won’t want to miss it!  This year, we have awesome crafts, some great games, and yummy snacks!  We have the most exciting, loud worship rally anywhere with games, challenges, flying beach balls, and screaming kids!  It’s one of my favorite parts of VBS!

Registration for this year’s VBS began yesterday!  Pick up a pre-registration form at the Welcome Center or in the Children’s Ministry Area and turn it in this week!  Of course, you can also register on your child’s first night of VBS! 

Here’s a video of last year’s VBS!  This one’s going to be even better!  I can’t wait!

Here’s what we’re talking about this week at Northwood…

Preschoolers will continue to learn the incredible truth that, because God made them, He will always take care of them.  Preschoolers will hear the account of Genesis 12:1-7 when Abraham and his entire family had to move because God instructed Abraham to do so.  That was a hard thing for them to do but, we know according to the Scriptures, that God took care of Abraham on his journey just as He takes care of us!  He is with us in good times and bad times.  On the ride home Sunday, pray with your preschooler that God will protect you on your ride.  When you arrive home, thank God for letting you get there safely.  Remind your preschooler that “God will take care of me.”

Elementary kids are learning the importance of Scripture this week!  Kids will learn that we need to memorize Scripture and apply it to our lives everyday!  Your child will have the opportunity to pick a Scripture to memorize during the upcoming week!  Encourage your child to memorize his Scripture.  Explain that it is important to memorize Scripture so that we can have God’s Word in our hearts at all times, even when we don’t have a Bible handy!  Explain that, when we know what the Bible says, we can apply it to our lives and live it out everyday!

It’s going to be another great Sunday and I’m looking forward to it!  See you then!

A Messed Up Masterpiece?

This past week at our weekday program MAPS, one of our 3 year olds wanted to color me a picture. That’s cool, kids love to color right? So I got him a piece of construction paper and some markers and away he went. A basic task like coloring should be predictable, right? Paper, markers, and a 3 year old = scribbled mess and a masterpiece, right? That is what I expected, but soon the idea that I had about how this project would turn out crumbled … or so I thought!

The preschooler got a hold of a post-it note pad and thought to decorate his paper with the post-it notes. He asked for some tape and I gave him the scotch tape.  He proceeded to use the entire roll of tape on his artwork!  The end result was a crumbled, taped up, scribbled on piece of paper!

That day really inspired to think. What I had expected was not at all what was produced.   The result of markers and paper was not a nice picture for me to put in my office.  It wasn’t at all the masterpiece I hoped for!  It looked like a big wreck at first glance!  That is until he said, “Mr. David, this is for you.  It’s special because I used tape, and stickies, and markers on it!”  That one statement turned it from a mess into a masterpiece!  It was awesome!  He wanted it to be special.  I only wanted a colored piece of paper!  His idea of a masterpiece and mine were very different!  He knew what a special masterpiece would look like.  I didn’t have a clue!

That is so true in my everyday life.  What I expect is seldom what happens!  The day that I have very well planned in my mind is very seldom the day that really happens!  That really bothers me!  I would really like for everything in life to go exactly as I have planned in my mind but, the truth is … that isn’t real living!  Real living is living in the expected and the unexpected.  Real living is realizing that God has a great plan and it will be accomplished in my life.  Real living is understanding that the masterpiece I think needs to be created really isn’t a masterpiece at all!  I’ll trust God to create the special masterpiece instead of settling for a colored piece of paper!  I learned my lesson last week!