Family?

This is some of my family. Should I really admit that? Saturday, we were in our home town of Sioux City, Iowa for my nephew Tyler's high school graduation party. He's the one in the blue shirt with his cousins Micaela and Keaton. The middle picture is my brother Dan. He is normally a handsome chap but Micaela egged him on to flip his eye lids up because she knows it grosses me out! The top picture is my sister Julie (Tyler's mom.) She has been through many things in her life, especially with her health and I'm thankful she is doing pretty well now and still with us! She is facing empty nest syndrome and having a hard time. Tyler will be attending ISU this fall as he pursues a career as a doctor. Yeah for me...ISU is pretty close. I'll temp him with a home cooked meal to get him to visit!

My Sweetie Rhys

This is angel baby Rhys. We got to hang out for a while the other day so mom and dad could have a little quiet time for their anniversary. What an easy child to care for! She is so sweet and compliant. One of Rhys' fav things to do is color! Here she is working on a Curious George color book. She's also a HUGE fan of George. Micaela has a red, stuffed gorilla on her bed that Rhys played with all night. You can't see it in the picture, but she had "George" sitting on the chair with her while she colored. We also danced with the red version of George and cuddled in the rocking chair together. Good times!

Today's Lunch Date

I picked Shera up for our date. She has half day kindergarten in the afternoon. When I picked her up I told her she could pick to have lunch wherever she wanted. And in typical kid form she chose McDonald's! So off to Mickey-D's for some yummy chicken nuggets and my favorite fries. We both got a Happy Meal and they came with Shrek toys in a Shrek box. I asked Shera if she was going to go and see the new Shrek movie and she said the funniest thing...."No, I'm not really a Shrek kind of girl!" Too cute.

Shera recently lost her grandpa to cancer. So sad for someone so young to experience that kind of loss but she seems to be handling it well. I'm sure it helps her and her whole family to know beyond a shadow of a doubt that Grandpa Freddy is with Jesus. He had asked Jesus into his life a few months ago. Shera is a sweet girl with a fun spirit. Thanks for the date , Shera.

Cafeteria Food

School lunches leave something to be desired! Good thing the conversation and lunch dates are a lot better than the food. Monday, I went to Grinnell for lunch with Kaitlyn. She's such a sweetie; always smiling and happy. When I asked her if anything special had happened that day she looked at me surprised and said, "Well of course! You came to have lunch with me." That made it worth the drive! I had to post a previous pic of Kaitlyn because my camera battery died. Arrgg. Kaitlyn had some of her best friends sit with us and I got the grand tour of her classroom and met her teacher.

Last Friday, I had lunch in Grimes with Jordan. She is the daughter of a gal that used to work in Randy's office. Jordan is a dancer and is the spittin' image of her momma, Megan. They have visited JCFC a couple of times and had a rough few months but things are looking up for them. Praise God! I got to meet her buddies and teacher and see her special art project.

Wednesday brought me a date with Dawson. He always makes me laugh because he is such a little director. He is a classic first born (like me) and is always watching in Creek Kids for opportunities to help me out; like when I forget to hand out quiet seat prizes. I got a tour of his classroom and met some friends and his teacher. One little girl at our table looked very confused and asked me, "How do you become a pastor?" I said that most people go to Bible college. That seemed to satisfy her. :) One of Dawson's buddies said, "Hey, I know you! You are the egg hunt pastor!"

Today brought me back to Des Moines Christian and lunch with Miss Awnna. Her teacher, who I think is great, said Awnna has been excited all week for our date. I've been there enough for lunches and chapel that a lot of the kids know me. The first chapel I preached was last December and it was a sermon called, "I Am a Lion Chaser!" Payden (in the navy shirt in the last picture) came running up to me while we were in the lunch line and very excitedly greated me with, "Pastor Lori, Pastor Lori, I AM A LION CHASER!" He then gave me a stinging high five and a huge smile. Awesome, he remembered that sermon from December. He's just a kindergartener. That made me happy to know he was really listening to what God had for him that day.

Awnna has one friend in her class that can be a challenge and has been down-right hateful to Awnna this year. She is a child that has some family issues and Awnna and I have had several conversations about how to deal with this girl and how to pray for her. Whenever I am at school this girl tries to monopolize my attention and can be a little rude. I was so proud of Awnna today, she handled the situation very well, not getting frustrated or mad. She is really trying to be a light to her friend and I can tell Awnna is maturing in this challenge.

So for some of you, this all may seem silly and just fluff. There are no pearls of wisdom in this post, no lessons in leadership. But I am building relationships with my kids so that now and in the years ahead they know with out a doubt that I love them and care about their lives. I also think my presence there helps them to be more bold in talking about their church and what God is doing in their lives. Got another date tomorrow....can't wait!

Just Chillin'

Last night, several of us gathered to witness the last evening of competition on American Idol. Pastor Josh grilled some amazing morsels and we all pitched in with side dishes. Always good eats with the JCFC bunch!! Jordin was on it last night. The girl can flat out sing! Blake had two great songs but the last one wasn't his best genre. I admire people with singing ability; it is NOT my talent so I have to dream through others. :) I'm not the American Idol expert like maybe Dara and her dad, so I don't feel like I can make a true judgement on the show but I think either singer would deserve the title. Dara's dad is a stitch...he is dedicated to the show like I am when Survivor is on! We had to put him on speaker phone after the show and give him a hard time about not coming to Iowa for the party! I even sang him the party pooper song and rub it in that he missed out on chocolate cake.

Of course, I had to take a couple of pics. Baby Afton was great entertainment. She was kissing Awnna and being her adorable self. Becky gave Colin a good tickle...he LOVES to be tickled! It was extra fun to have both our kids along and Keaton's friend, Michelle, too. She's a blast and fits right in with our quirky family. It was fun to relax and laugh and just hang out. I LOVE to laugh and with my kids, you are guaranteed to enjoy a deep belly laugh or two!

Sunday Update

It was a great morning at JCFC. We had a pretty good crowd, even with a few regular families gone for the weekend. Our sermon in Creek Kids and The Buzz was about the endurance of Paul and Silas as they were unjustly imprisoned. Our Big Idea was, "Sometimes bad things happen to good people." In Creek Kids, I told the amazing story of Bethany Hamilton. She is the young lady who at age 13 was attacked by a shark while surfing. She is a champion surfer and lost her entire left arm during the attack. She has an incredible testimony of having to get herself back to shore to get help. She has gone on to use her experience to speak in schools and churches, giving God glory for what He has done in her life. I gave each of the kids a picture of her with her missing arm and standing next to the surf board that has a huge shark bite taken out of it.

I thought it was such an awesome reminder of how we live in an imperfect world and even if we are doing everything we are supposed to be doing, trouble and sadness will still come at some point. Bethany's story shows how we need to remain focused on the Lord no matter what.

We had a few newer kids yesterday, and after the message on Paul and Silas I strongly felt I needed to give an opportunity to receive Jesus into their lives. ALL of the new kids raised their hands to accept Jesus! Incredible! There is nothing more exciting than watching a child pray to receive Jesus.

I have to add....Jenn Adair pinched hit for Allison in the Buzz and did an incredible job! We need to get her a regular gig! Another guy we need to have act more often is Marcus Kimmer! He played a game show host, Rob Darker, and was awesome. Is it okay to have that much fun in church? Oh, yeah baby! If you haven't been to the Buzz, you are missing out! Marcus was a little sad though when he couldn't wear the Onny Dosmond wig and coat. Sorry Marcus.

Sickness and Disappointment

It has been a tough week for me. I have been pretty sick since Wednesday morning. I'm not quite sure what is going on in my body but I am wanting to be over it! I got up Thursday and felt a little better and had a big networking meeting to be at so decided to go ahead and attend. It's something I really enjoy and am one of the leaders so I hated to miss. By the time I finished that 2 hour meeting and ran an errand, I was developing a migraine. This is a new thing in my life within the last few months. After 2 doses of migraine meds and a desperate phone call to my doctor, Randy took me to the ER late Thursday night. I was praying for death! Seriously, I had the thought that I was ready for Jesus to take me Home. After 2 1/2 hours, a badly administered IV and 2 different kinds of drugs, the migraine was under control and they sent me home.

I got up Friday morning feeling half way decent and was to be at a Women in Ministry Luncheon that was held for the conference I was speaking at this weekend. I should have listened to Dara who advised me to stay home but thought I would be okay. By the time I was there an hour, I was feeling very ill. I had to leave early and got progressively sicker as the day went on. Finally at 10:45 Friday night, it was apparent that I was NOT going to be able to speak at the conference and had to make the difficult phone call to cancel. I am so disappointed! This is something I have been looking forward to for months! I HATE to inconvenience people when they are counting on me but I know I need to take care of myself.

I guess this rant is to say that I know God is teaching me some things through this. He is all up in my grill! (Gotta try to keep my humor!) My husband and pastor have been on my tail about taking time off and obviously the Big Guy is showing me the same. I keep saying I'm gonna take a day off and it never seems to happen. I use the excuse of taking part of a day off, but it's just not the same. Pray I can get this through my thick head. It's only me who pushes, not Pastor Josh, not my family, not my friends....only me. I feel such an urgency to reach people for the Lord but must not be stupid about my health! I feel so incredibly privileged to be the children's pastor at JCFC and there are always so many things to do, I just need about 8 more hours in a day! :)

Fun With My Kids

Here are some pics of ball games and lunches from the past week. Don't I have the cutest kids ever?! We went to Isabelle's soccer game and saw baby sis, Eliza. I had a great time at lunch with Trinity and her friends and Mary and her good buddy, Emilee. Jaron and I had our second lunch date of the year. Most of the time, the kids' friends ask if I am their mom but when I ate with Jaron, one of the kids asked if I was his grandma! I wasn't offended - I can't wait to be a grandma!

Lots of Stuff

I love to be busy and active and the last week has been a little extra crazy. Sunday was awesome at JCFC. We had 49 in the kids department and 16 of those were babies!!! EEEK, the Baby Steps volunteers were in over-drive! People are beginning to understand why I keep saying we need an additional nursery!

In Creek Kids and The Buzz we are focusing on ENDURANCE for the month of May and Sunday we had the story of Ruth. She knew what endurance was all about! I love the book of Ruth and her undieing dedication to her mother-in-law, Naomi. Our Big Idea was - Don't give up. God will help you start over. I think we all need to be reminded of that. We all have "do-over" days. Our scripture is "Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up." Galatians 6:9 NIV

This Friday and Saturday, I will be a part of the annual Assembly of God Women's Ministry Conference in Des Moines. I have the honor of leading a workshop on parenting. Speaking to adults is out of my comfort zone but I know God will help me through the butterflies. I just pray that it will be an encouragement to at least one mom who needs some wisdom from God in raising her kids. Pray for me!

Last night, we had our Baby Steps meeting at our place. I made dinner for my AWESOME team and we enjoyed some great fellowship and had a time of planning. We are dedicated to serving our babies and their families and spent some time discussing how we can improve and get to the next level in ministering to them. We have plans mapped out to double our nursery size and are awaiting the go-ahead from the theater and Pastor Josh. Pray we have favor in getting this done quickly. It's very exciting to see how God is blessing our children's department with growth, resources and additional volunteers. I showed them the love with some of my homemade chocolate cake. I may have one piece left for my favorite pastor! The pics are of the team.

Happy Mother's Day

I am so blessed to be Micaela and Keaton's mom. Thank you, Lord, for choosing me to raise them along with my amazing husband. In the world we live in, sometimes it is challenging to be the mom we all want and know God wants us to be. When I think of being the children's pastor at Jordan Creek Family Church, I don't only think of your children but I think of YOU. I feel like if I'm to minister effectively to kids, I need to minister to the whole family. We just finished up our first Parenting Life Group and plan to repeat it in the fall session of Life Groups. I do not claim to be a parenting expert but want to help our JCFC parents through this adventure with Biblical teaching, some great resources, discussion and advice. The following came from a newsletter I receive from Joe McGee Ministries. Hope it is a blessing to you all.

HOME, SWEET HOME
"Someone once said that the three sweetest words in the English language are mother, home, and Heaven. These three words all center on the middle one. No one thinks of his or her mother without thinking about home. And the home should be a picture and a reminder of Heaven itself. In Psalm 68:6 we read, “God sets the solitary in families.” The greatest blessings God gives us are a home and a family.

It was in 1822 that John Howard Payne, the sixth of nine children, wrote his tender, heart-wringing song, “Home, Sweet Home.” The last three lines of that song say:
Be it ever so humble, there’s no place like home
Home! Home! Sweet, sweet, home
There is no place like home. There is no place like home.

God has ordained that the spiritual lives of His people be centered in the home. Deuteronomy 11:18-21 speaks about this: Therefore you shall lay up these words of mine in your heart and in your soul.... You shall teach them to your children, speaking of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up. And you shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates, that your days and the days of your children may be multiplied in the land of which the LORD swore to your fathers to give them, like the days of the heavens above the earth. (NKJV)
As parents, God has given us the responsibility to teach His Word and His ways to our children at home. This doesn’t just mean we do it at some weekly, pre-designated devotion time. Every single moment that we are awake, it is our job to incorporate the Word of God into the daily activities of our home lives."

Our greatest accomplishment as moms will be adult children who love and serve God. With His help and the guidance of the Holy Spirit, we can truly have a Home Sweet Home! God bless you on this Mother's Day. I pray it's a very happy one for all.

Take Me Out to the Ball Game

Awnna, Colin and I went to Colby's baseball game last night. Colby had some awesome hits and we had a lot of fun watching his team, the Royals, score big! Of course, taking a two year old lends for a little multitasking but the kids were great and seemed to enjoy the game, too. Colin was so cute with Colby's brother Cale. They both turn three this summer and were having fun "playing ball" on the side lines. They were so funny with their batting gloves on and playing catch. I got to meet several of Colby's family members; he had his own fan club there! When we were leaving, Colin told Colby, "Good game." and gave him the thumbs up. :)

Ruth Harbor

There is a wonderful ministry in Des Moines that I only learned about a couple of years ago through my friend Amy. Ruth Harbor is a home run by loving "house parents" where a pregnant young lady can go to live and make the decision to raise her child or opt for adoption. It's also a place where she can grow in her relationship with Christ. Some of the JCFC ladies have taken this ministry to heart and we got together last night to make up some welcome gift bags for the new ladies entering the house. We all pitched in and bought all the things we girls love from cosmetics and shower gels to stationary and chocolate. We gave them books and pedicure sets and lots more goodies. We had a great time of fellowship and yummy pizza and prayed these small gestures of love will touch these young women. Can you even begin to think of being 15 or 16 years old and living in a strange place away from your family AND preparing to give birth? I have added the Ruth Harbor web site to my list so you can check it out and pray about becoming involved. They are having a fund raising event "Walk for Life" that I wish I could have participated in but I don't think it's too late if you want to sign up or make a pledge! Thanks to Amy for hosting last night.

Hangin' With My Kids pt. 2

Today, I had lunch with a very handsome guy. Don't worry honey, it was our pal Colby! We had a great conversation despite the fact that we were in the noisy cafeteria. Colby introduced me to some of his friends and after lunch, I got a tour of his classroom. I even got to meet his teacher, Mrs. Wilson. I love having lunch at the schools and seeing my kids in a different environment than church. Colby is a sweet guy with great manners and a killer smile! Thanks for the date, Colby!

Hangin' With My Kids

Saturday, Randy and I went to see our buddy Jacob play soccer. We got to see two of his goals! I really love sports at this age before it gets SO crazy competitive. We had a great time with Jacob's family. Jakester's sisters weren't as happy to get their pics taken but oh well, I got them anyway. Jake is getting "five" from one of the coaches after his goal!

The Voice of God

Okay, am I weird or does anyone else have this kind of communication with the Lord? I'm in the kitchen getting some leftover meatloaf for lunch and got the ketchup bottle out of the fridge. Heinz...we buy only Heinz. I had the thought, "There are some things you don't buy in the store brand. IE, it's gotta be Hellmann's mayo, Hidden Valley Ranch dressing, AE chip dip, etc." As I'm thinking that, I hear that voice..."It's just like my Word. Podcasts, sermon CD's and other books just aren't the same as reading your Bible." Wow, guess He told me. I try to listen to podcasts and sermons while I'm driving and try to read stuff on ministry and leadership but if I read my Bible more, I would get even more benefit. All those other things are good but not like the original. I remembered we have the Bible on CD so I got it out to use in the car. I feel like I need to be accountable for this so when you see me, please occasionally ask what or where I'm reading in the Bible. Anyone else have those conversations with God?

Organizing

I finally got something done that has needed accomplished since we moved here last August. It has been a nagging thought that was with me all the time. I am usually pretty organized but for some reason, I couldn't get motivated to get this done until I had no choice. It was the dreaded "office"/Micaela's room. It feels soooo good to finally have those boxes of papers sorted, put in file folders and hanging nicely in the file cabinet I bought at Christmas time. I needed to create a little more space for Micaela to live this summer. She gets home tomorrow evening. I had to get creative in where I put everything, I'm out of closet space! The church office really doesn't have anywhere for me to keep stuff so it's usually here at home. That will be one nice thing about getting into a building in a couple of years. I'll design the children's area with LOTS of storage. :) I should have recruited Angela Sustala to come and help me. I would have been embarrassed for her to see how I failed at this one! She is the all-time organizational QUEEN.

Leadership

I've been trying to digest all that I heard at the conference so I could share some highlights with you all. The past several months, I have been working on my leadership skills and trying to listen to sermons and read different things about it. The conference was another great tool for sharpening those skills. The most helpful session was on delegation and duplicating yourself, two things that don't come easy for me but are crucial to avoid burnout. Brother Jim Wideman, for those of you who don't know, is one of the pioneers in children's ministry. His teachings have been a big part of my life and this session rocked my world. I need to delegate so that I can focus on the things that only I can do. I need to duplicate because multiplication is always better than addition! Even a math moron like me can figure that out!

One very valuable thing, out of many, that I learned from my friend Pastor Kevin Umphress was a great example of the on-going benefit of delegation and duplication. When he was the children's pastor at our former church, Berean Assembly of God, he and I worked closely on a lot of stuff. When he resigned to pastor back in his home state of Oregon, he left a very healthy team. Because he knew how to delegate and duplicate himself, he was personally missed but there were no glaring holes to fill. He had raised up a team and gave them the tools to do their thing whether it was teaching Sunday School or ministering in midweek services or doing an object lesson in kid's church. Everyone came together and the children's ministry didn't skip a beat. That, my friends, is a sign of GREAT leadership. Like Brother Jim says, children's ministry is not rocket science; we just need to love kids, teach the Word and build a team.

And the pics are just for fun. The alligators are an example of some of the art work a designer of kid's sanctuaries had there at the conference.

May Baskets

I wanted an additional way to thank our Easter Egg Hunt attenders that are not a regular part of JCFC and the Lord gave me an idea. May Day Baskets! Who doesn't love a May Day surprise? Sandy donated the stickers, bags and tissue paper, Amy helped me put them together with the treats and make some gift tags and Sandy and I delivered them. Thanks for your help girls! I prayed these simple little expressions of gratitude and love will bless the families that received them.

I told Awnna this story...I remember one May Day when I was in 1st grade and I was very sick with the mumps. I was so sad that I couldn't be a part of the fun but my day was made by the little 1st grade boy down the street. I had a crush on him, his name was Dick Ludwig and he was the object of every girl's affection. He brought me a May Basket with popcorn, candy and my FAVORITE flowers, purple lilacs! It made my heart go pitter patter! :) I didn't tell Awnna about the pitter patter part. After all, I'm always telling the girls the only "boyfriend" they need is Jesus!