Family Ministry

New Year's Holiday Services

Please note that there will NOT be a 9 a.m. service at our Cedar Falls Campus this weekend, January 1. All other services will held at their normal times at all of our campuses.

Also, there is no kidventure (k-5th) programming.  This is a great opportunity for your elementary children to participate with and observe you in a normal worship service.

Happy New Year everyone!

Christmas Traditions

We all have Christmas traditions. This month, I thought I would share one of my families' traditions with you. A way that we enjoy the season and have more opportunities to talk about the real meaning of Christmas.

Each year, we wrap 12 Christmas stories.  There are a lot of children's Christmas books that tell the Christmas story or share about someone discovering the true meaning of Christmas.  For the twelve days before Christmas, each night we unwrap one of our stories and read them before bed.  The last book is read on Christmas Eve and on Christmas morning before the presents are opened, we read the Christmas story from the bible.

For our family, this is a lot of fun and reminds us each day to talk about what we are celebrating. Trust me our children do not let us forget to unwrap a book!

I encourage you as a family to make some memories together as you remind your children what we are celebrating.  Many of you have amazing ways you celebrate! In fact, we'd love it if you'd share some of your traditions with us. Post a comment with your Christmas traditions! You might just inspire another family to start something new that will be meaningful for them. 

 

Christmas Greed

How do you make sure that you don’t inadvertently fuel greed in your family this Christmas? Here is a great blog post from Carey Nieuwhof on this topic. Check it out!

Happy Birthday Jesus!

This month we've been teaching your child that God gave us Jesus!

We know the holiday season can get really busy, and it can be tough to find opportunities to celebrate with your kids the true meaning of Christmas. So we wanted to make it easy for you!

Every preschooler loves to bake! They love helping you in the kitchen. Plan a family fun night. Gather everyone in the kitchen, and let them help you bake a birthday cake and decorate it. Then, decide together when when you will have a party to celebrate Jesus' birthday.  Maybe it will be part of your Christmas Eve celebration or maybe it will be the centerpiece dessert on Christmas Day.

Whatever you decide, make sure you take time to talk to your children about the birth of Jesus, God's only Son. Sing Happy Birthday and celebrate Jesus! 

Star Ornaments!

All month long, we are celebrating Jesus birthday!  Here is a fun activity you can do at home with your children.  

Here is what you do: Click here  for some birthday stars you can print.  Decorate them with your child, poke a hole in the top, and use string or an ornament hook to hang them up!

What you say:  What shape is this? (point to star) That's right! It is a star!  In the Christmas story, after Jesus was born, the wiseman followed a bright star in the sky all the way to Jesus' house to give Him gifts. They gave Him gifts because Jesus was a very special baby. He was God's son!  God gave us Jesus because he loves us very much. Let's decorate these stars and put them on our tree so we can see the stars and remember that Christmas is a time to celebrate Jesus' birthday! 

Parental Wisdom...

The other day I was talking with a mom of a high schooler and I just have to relay to you the wisdom she passed on to me. This mom has four kids, three of whom are out of the house and gone. That leaves her with the baby who is no longer a baby but a senior in high school getting ready to graduate and move on to college. As I spoke with her she was telling me how it took parenting the other three kids to finally get to a place where she semi knew how to relate with her teenage daughter in a loving not smothering, connecting not dictating, and guiding not micro-managing sort of way. She told of the joy that she received to be able to connect with her daughter by coming into her room late at night and getting to just listen to where her daughter is at physically, emotionally, socially, and most importantly and most encouragingly where she's at spiritually.

There's two things we need to take with us from this Parental Wisdom.

1. It's okay to learn as you go!

No parent is ever there! You will be a different sort of parent as your kids are 2 and 6 verses 12 and 16 verses 22 and 26. You will always be learning as you go and you will always be rubbing against new things, SO, learn as you go.

2. Listen, just plain LISTEN.

All of us have a tough time just plain listening, now pair that with listening to your kids! That can be tough! BUT, in talking with this mom she specifically mentioned how she had to continually check herself during bed time to make sure that she wasn't talking, interrupting, offering advice, providing suggestions, or any other form of verbal communication unless her daughter asked. So much of your parenting communication is spent talking at, telling to, asking of, or even commanding your kids. Why not try targeted intentional time with your kids where you just plain listen? Car time, bed time and meal time are great times to try out listening. This mom said that her relationship with her daughter immediately went to the next level when she just plain listened. Her daughter started to share more and even sought out advice, guidance and wisdom from her mom.

So, take these two things with you and try them out 1. Learn As You Go and 2. Just Plain Listen. I'd love to hear your thoughts and experiences trying these things out, so why don't you leave a comment through the blog.

Wee Kids Welcomes Darla Popken!

Wee Kids is excited to introduce to you a new member of our team, Darla Popken. Darla will leading Wee Kids programming at our Osage Campus!  To learn more about Darla, be sure to check out Pastor Chip's blog post this week!

Happy Birthday Jesus!

This December we will celebrate with our children that God gave us Jesus. God loves us SO much that He sent His Son to live among us and ultimately die for our sins. We will tremble with Mary as she hears of her coming child. We will give thanks with Mary and Joseph when they find a stable in which to deliver their first child. We will rejoice with the angels who came to deliver the good news. We will honor our Savior with gifts along with the wise men. As we work through the amazing Christmas story, we will celebrate the most amazing gift of love ever given, God’s Son Jesus.

We will have a special parent take home this month—a birthday party for Jesus! We will tell you more about that later this month. 

Click here for this month's Parent Cue to help you include God in your daily rhythm and reinforce what your child learns on the weekend. It's easy stuff, we promise. Take a look!

 Be sure to check back each week as we share more ways to celebrate Jesus's birthday!