Glenys Nellist has partnered again with illustrator Sophie Allsopp to provide a beautiful book for children and the young at heart in Easter Love Letters From God: Bible Stories. Glenys has authored two popular book series: Love Letters from God and Snuggle Time. She serves ministry with children in Michigan and comes from northern England. Sophie Allsopp is an award-winning illustrator of many children’s books and lives in England. These ladies have come together to present an interactive Easter journey that is delightful!

Seven sections take the reader through seven events of Holy Week: Triumphant Entry, Washing Feet, Last Supper, Gethsemane, Crucifixion, Burial, and Resurrection. Each page has a 3-D look to it with the appearance of multiple items placed together to further visualize the setting of each event. The artwork is lovely, simple, and delicately fills each page to add to the story. Even the detail of the stamp on the lift-the-flap share an image that compliments each of the seven events of Holy Week.

In the writing of the story, Glenys does well in speaking of the humanness of Jesus.

“And even though he felt all alone, he knew that God was with him.” (pg 16)

The lift-the-flap love letters from God were a reminder on each page, in each scene, that nothing can separate us from the love of God. Even the darkest events were written tenderly, yet truthfully. Sin is not mentioned, but forgiveness is.

Dear _______,  Do you like surprises? Inside that quiet cave I was working on a surprise that no one could imagine. It would be the greatest surprise the world had ever known. Something was happening to Jesus. My son was going to have a brand-new life. But for three whole days the world had to wait.  Love, God (pg 27)

In just a couple of weeks there will be a free, downloadable activity and resource pack available to accompany the book designed for families and those who serve in ministry with children.  The first look of that resource will be made available at http://www.glenysnellist.com.

Though the events of Holy Week are the saddest in the whole Bible culminating in a way I have a hard time wrapping my head and heart around, this is the basis of our faith: the death and resurrection of our Savior, Jesus Christ, God’s own perfect son who came to seek and to save the lost. We must share this with our little people. They need to know. We need to know. If we already know, we need to be reminded. This hardy book shares the stories and does an amazing job of sharing images that are kid-friendly. It’s perfect for family devotion and to accompany the teachings of Holy Week in the local church.

You can win your own copy! Just comment on the blog THIS WEEK with an idea of how you share, celebrate, or remember an event of Holy Week. It can be in your classroom (for all my preschool champions), your church (for all my Sunday school and small group servant-leaders), or your home (for all our Mamas & Daddies & Grands sharing their faith in our fabulous Jesus with their little people.) Zonderkidz will be sure you get your copy early in Lent.

How will you share, celebrate, or remember our best friend Jesus this Lenten season?

“Can you believe that my son, Jesus, came back to life? Only the King of the whole world could do that. Jesus is the King of Love, the King of Hope, and the King of Heaven. And he wants to be the King of your life, too. Will you let him?” Glenys Nellist, Easter Love Letters From God, pg. 31

Growing up with 4 brothers, wedded to a man, having raised 1 son, welcoming a son-in-law, now with two grandsons….boys are fascinating, terrifying, and created in the image of a great God. When Baby Girl (who just turned a beautiful 30!) said, “Mom! You’ve got to read this!”, Amazon Prime delivered an amazing book filled with clinical research, case studies, and challenges facing American boys today. My filter? How we can best ‘share life and the gospel’ with boys today. (Books also read in this endeavor included Wild Things: The Art of Nurturing Boys by Stephen James and David Thomas, Raising A Modern Day Knight by Robert Lewis, and Knights In Training: Ten Principles for Raising Honorable, Courageous, Compassionate Boys by Heather Haupt)

Boys Adrift: The Five Factors Driving the Growing Epidemic of Unmotivated Boys and Underachieving Young Men written by Dr. Leonard Sax, a practicing family physician, psychologist, and author draws on more than twenty years of clinical experience to explain why boys and young men are ‘underperforming in school and disengaged at home….how social, cultural, and biological factors have created an environment toxic to boys…and presents practical solutions, sharing strategies that points us toward a brighter future for America’s sons.”

Why does this matter in the local church? Because I want every kid to want to come back to hear about Jesus again and again and again. Jesus came to seek and to save the lost. Little boys and big boys need Jesus, just like little girls and big girls. Though I have experience with boys, I am a girl. My job? Give ’em Jesus so that Jesus is irresistible to little people in an environment that meets both a girl’s and a boy’s developmentally appropriate needs.

This blog post will focus on one of Dr. Sax’s five factors affecting American boys: accelerated early childhood education

What happens in kindergarten today is what happened not long ago in 1st and 2nd grade. “Male brains are structured to facilitate connectivity between perception and coordinated action, whereas female brains are designed to facilitate communication between analytical and intuitive processing modes.” (pg 21) This doesn’t mean that girls are smarter than boys, only that girls are trying harder because they are somewhat motivated to please the teacher. Boys, not so much. Boys are motivated by competition and physical activity. Boys are more inclined to go on a walk and say, “Race ya!” and take off. Girls are more inclined to hold hands and talk your ear off telling you about their day. When boys find they can’t please the teacher (can’t sit still, etc.) they find the environment ‘not for me’, boredom ensues, and motivation to do better is tossed out that little boy’s heart-window.

“Boys endure a greater struggle with ‘nature-deficit disorder’ which is when most of life is spent indoors rather than touching, smelling, seeing, hearing the real world which is required for a child’s brain and mind to develop properly. We have replaced nature with computer screens and fancy indoor toys.” (pg 35). All children need a balance of Wissenschaft (knowledge from books/screens) and Kenntnis (knowledge from real experience.) “For boys, in particular, emphasizing Wissenschaft while ignoring Kenntnis may seriously impair development – not cognitive development, but the development of a lively and passionate curiosity.” (pg 36) Hence the lack of interest and motivation for a natural curiosity.

What does this mean for the local church setting? We can’t just tell them about Jesus without giving them a chance to experience the saving power of Jesus. When we teach of sin (missing the mark) let’s use spit balls on a target and bring out the archery tools. Go outside! Go to camp. Engage in lessons outside. Get hands dirty. Run! A dear colleague teaches about baptism with a squirt bottle, a toothbrush, and a dowsing of a cooler filled with water. What I do indoors, what can I move outdoors?

“The regions of the brain associated with negative emotion in teenage girls are closely associated with the language areas of the brain. In boys of the same age, by contrast, brain activity associated with negative emotion is localized primarily in the amygdala, a nucleus with comparatively scant connections to the language areas of the brain.” (pg 51) If the question is to share how you FEEL if you were a particular character in a story, girls will do well. A better question for boys would be, “What would you DO if…”

What does this mean for the local church setting? Instead of asking “How did this make you feel?”, we might ask, “What would you do if…?” For instance: Joseph tossed into a pit by his brothers because they were jealous. Instead of asking, “How do you think that would make you feel if you were thrown into a pit?” we should ask, “If you were thrown into that pit, what would you have done?”

“Team competition socializes boys. It teaches boys to value something above themselves.” (pg 60). “Most girls value friendship above team affiliation.” (pg 61) “We now know that self-esteem has a value for girls that it simply doesn’t have for many boys, while competition – particularly team competition – has a value for many boys that it doesn’t have for many girls.” (pg 65). “Most girls, even athletically talented girls, need encouragement…girls are more likely to decide they’re not good enough, fast enough, strong enough, so they give up…Many boys – especially athletically talented boys – have a tendency to overestimate their skills and their ability.” Girls need encouragement, but if you take away the competitive edge for boys (everyone gets a trophy), they tend to disengage and will seek their natural ‘will to power’ and ‘hero status’ elsewhere: video games, anyone? We’ll go there next week.

What were other suggestions? Inspire boys to learn by providing a ‘boy-friendly’ environment. For my preschool peeps: restore kindergarten as kindergarten, preschool as preschool. Ask them to learn about frogs after they’ve chased some frogs and not just images on a screen or in a book. If our focus is on reading only, stop it. Make sitting optional. I personally prefer spaces without tables, or at least without chairs. Rather than talk about their feelings, give them images to use to communicate and something in their hands. When their hands are busy, their minds are calm. What else?

“God was with the boy as he grew up. He lived in the desert and became an archer.” Genesis 21:20

Have you ever read a book because someone you love and admire recommended it? When that someone you love and admire orders it in front of you, on his phone, through Amazon Prime, while shaking his head, with a grin on his face? The book did arrive two days later and because I love and admire #1 Son, I read The One Minute Manager Meets the Monkey by Kenneth Blanchard, William Oncken, Jr., and Hal Burrows. The One Minute Manager Meets the Monkey was required reading for a supervisory course for #1 Son. He’s read the thing three times. He recommended it to me because, evidently, I am a classic Monkey-Picker-Upper.

An example of a Monkey-Picker-Upper: Kid comes home from school and says he wants to play hockey with his buddy. Mom takes that Monkey (the next step is to prepare the kid to play hockey) and adjusts the family schedule for all the practices and games, runs all over town securing all the equipment, fills out the paperwork, fills the cooler with snacks and drinks, fills up the van with gas, writes the check for the season. All the kid has to do is show up.

A Monkey-Picker-Upper is someone who picks up the ‘next steps’ or ‘action steps’ for others…aka ‘the Monkey.’ A Monkey-Picker-Upper is someone who feels responsible for other’s ‘dropping the ball.’ A Monkey-Picker-Upper is one who champions their own duties and concerns, as well as the those of the team.  A Monkey-Picker-Upper may be one who is a detail person who partners with a vision person. A Monkey-Picker-Upper feels their calendar and time is easily highjacked for another’s cause. A Monkey-Picker-Upper is typically exhausted and dreams less because they are running around reacting to problems created by others with very little time, if any, ‘to create and innovate and initiate’ on their own. That’s the line that stopped me in my tracks.

Serving on a local church staff team, I found the last part of the book incredibly enlightening. It has to do with managing organizational time. Time for me, also means ‘taking up space in your head.’ The writers share there are three kinds of organizational time:

1. Boss-imposed time – “Keeping bosses satisfied takes time, but dealing with dissatisfied ones take even more time.” (pg 113). As Christians, we submit to the authority over us. It takes time to keep the boss informed, to protect him/her from embarrassing surprises, to anticipate how he/she wants things handled, to build a record of success so he/she feels more comfortable giving me more autonomy, and so on.” (pg 115) Be sure to take the time so he/she knows you can be trusted. Ask the question, “What’s the best way to keep you informed?” Then do it.

2. System-imposed time – Time spent on the administrative and “related demands from people (peers/associates) other than our bosses and our own staffs’ demands that are part of every organization.” (pg 116) This is where relationships come in and learning the organization’s system’s requirements. “We can’t manage without the support of these people, and we need them more than they need us. So, in order to survive within the organization, we have to conform to the red-tape requirements of the system.” (pg 118) Be sure to make the Christmas party, join in on the office lunches, bring some cookies or biscuits to the ones who manage and run the system. Learn the movers and shakers, the hands and feet, and love on them well by listening and being fully present.

3. Self-imposed time – The time I spend doing what I decide to do – aka, discretionary time. “Self-imposed time is the most important of the three types of time because that’s the only time in which we have discretion to express our own individuality with an organization. It is only with self-imposed time that we make our own unique contribution to an organization.” (pg 119)

So, what will it take for you to be able to pursue more discretionary time? This I know: I have been the Monkey-Picker-Upper for a staff team. It’s exhausting and not the best God has for us nor for the organization. It’s incredibly difficult to break the habit of picking up other’s Monkeys, because the Monkey-Picker-Upper desires to present the very best to the One and Only who has called us to serve with gifts and graces and vision and energy. “Although discretionary time is the most vital time of all, it is, unfortunately, the first to disappear when the pressure is on.” How will you manage your organizational time this week?

“If all I do is tasks, I leave a ton of value on the table for creating and initiation of doing things better.” – Seth Godin

A grandfather asked if I had a few jobs his granddaughter could do for me while she visited the week before Thanksgiving. Still building relationships at my new church, we made arrangements for the following Tuesday afternoon. Sweet girl arrived right on time and started making halos for Christmas Eve, helped me set up the Kid’s Welcome Center for Sunday since Preschool was out, and released quarters to be rolled from coin envelopes collected during the previous month’s stewardship campaign.

Come to find out she attended a church where I knew people. Rattling off names, I asked if she knew them.  She did not. One family I knew had endured a horrific and very public loss over the last year, so I found it odd she didn’t know them. I then asked if she went to youth group or middle school group since she was in 8th grade. She said she didn’t have time because of all the other things she’s involved with. “Like what?”, I asked.

She is part of two organizations. One requires 10 hours of community service per semester, and the other 40 hours. 50 hours of community service…per semester! Wow! When I asked how she got involved in the one requiring 40 hours of community service, she said she was invited due to her good grades and it was a high honor to be included…at 8th grade. Pressing further, I asked if she knew of the time commitment ahead of time when she joined? She said, “Yes, but it’s a high honor and I need it on my college application.” I asked, “Can you get your community service hours at your church?” She said, “No. I have to get them at other places.” And would I mind signing this form to get credit for her service hours today?  She pulled out a clean, folded chart filled with 1 hour here, 2 hours there. As I wrote in her 2 hours with me, my heart hurt for her. No doubt she was a ‘good girl’, but she was missing out on the deeper relationships with her local church, the Titus 2 men and women of her home church, and I was the only faith-based organization on her list. What in the world?!

Just the year before a college freshman who was one of my main volunteers for special events told me he could not use all his hours serving in his own home church for community service to receive his ‘cords’ at high school graduation or on his college application according to his high school guidance counselor. So he was scrambling to get the required community service hours in with everything else he was doing as a senior in high school. His team sports hours counted, but his service to his home church did not….except for Vacation Bible School. What in the world?!

Rant coming: Can we just step back and stop it! Stop the busyness and over-crowded schedules of our kids at such a young age especially for the sake of getting into a good college and the honor of being invited to join the elite dance team, elite junior beta club, and elite travel sport team? I know that academics and team sports are important and there is much to learn, but are the ‘honors’ of that taking priority over their deepening relationships with the Lord and His people in His church? It’s the ‘taking priority’ that saddens my heart. Every parent wants the best for their kids, but we get sucked into following the many voices of academia et al as if they know what’s best for our kids. My own kids were average students, not great students in primary, middle, and high school, but they were growing into great people, because of the people who spoke into their lives deeply and shared lives over time at their home church. When they got to college (they still got into good colleges) they knew how to balance their lives, had great devotional skills, and had wonderful people who loved on them through those early years because of the relationships they built in their home church through children’s and youth ministries. When they graduated college, they graduated with the ‘cords’ they didn’t have at high school. Today, they are both highly trained in their vocational fields AND serving local churches, along with their spouses because they had living, breathing, authentic examples of men and women who love the Lord with all their heart as young people. Moms and Dads are doing the best they can. Can we just help them choose Jesus and not apologize for guarding that priority in their lives? Can we just stop saying, “It’s ok,” when it’s not? Can we choose to raise adults committed to the Lord and the gospel rather than over-committed to what? A form? A team? An honor club? Grades? Can we just stop it! Rant over.

As a young mom, I read the following from a source unknown…

Satan called a worldwide convention. In his opening address to his evil angels, he said, “We can’t keep Christians from going to church. We can’t keep them from reading their Bibles and knowing the truth. But we can do something else. We can keep them from forming an intimate, abiding experience in Christ. If they gain that connection with Jesus, our power over them is broken.”
“Here is how I want you to do this. Distract them from gaining hold of their Savior and maintaining that vital connection throughout their day.”
“But how shall we do this?” shouted one of his angels?
“Keep them busy in the non-essentials of life and invent numerous schemes to occupy their minds,” he answered.  “Steal their time. Persuade them to work long hours and every day of the week. Tempt them to spend, spend, spend, then borrow, borrow, borrow. Keep them from spending time with their children. As their families fragment, soon their homes will offer no escape from the pressures of work.”
“Over-stimulate their minds so that they cannot hear that still small voice. Entice them to play the radio or cassette player whenever they drive, to keep the TV, the VCR, their CDs going constantly in their homes. And see to it that every store and restaurant in the world plays music constantly. This will jam their minds and break that union with Christ. Fill their coffee tables with magazines and newspapers. Pound their minds with the news 24 hours a day and invade their driving moments with billboards. Flood their mailboxes with junk mail, sweepstakes, mail order catalogs, and every kind of newsletter and promotional offering free products, services and false hopes. Even in their recreation, let them be excessive. Have them return from it exhausted, disquieted and unprepared for the coming week.”
“Don’t let them go out in nature. Send them to amusement parks, sporting events, concerts and movies instead. And when they meet for spiritual fellowship, involve them in gossip and small talk so that they leave with troubled consciences and unsettled emotion.”
“Let them be involved in soul-winning. But crowd their lives with so many good causes they have no time to seek power from Christ. Soon they will be working in their own strength, sacrificing their health and family unity for the good of the cause.”
Well, in the end it was quite a convention. The evil angels went eagerly to their assignments, causing the Christians everywhere to get busy, busy, busy and rush here and there.”

Not on my watch!

“My zeal wears me out…” Psalm 119:139

Faith Milestones are those moments in time when we can stop to say, “This skill is important for me to learn and understand to continue to grow in my faith in Jesus Christ.” Celebrating these specific faith milestones helps bring an awareness of God’s presence into our homes and highlights the rituals of daily faith formation experiences shared by the family of faith. Just as learning to tie shoe laces, learning to pump your legs on the swing, riding a bike without training wheels, and learning to drive, milestones give us the confidence to say, “This is important and I can do this!”

For 2018, this is the schedule:

January – I Can Pray (1st grade) 1/17 5-6:30pm
Engaging children and families to grow in relationship with Jesus through various prayer practices. Establishing prayer as a normal part of a family’s daily routine and tradition for passing on and experiencing the Christian faith.

February – 5th Grade Rock Solid Retreat (5th grade) 2/3-4
Outdoor ministry is a memorable, formative, and vital part of a child’s faith journey. The experience of going away to camp can renew and enhance spiritual growth.

February – I Love My Church (2nd grade) 2/28 5-6:30pm
Families are invited to come for this special event where they tour the church, learn more about things like baptismal fonts, Bibles, Sunday School rooms, and choir. Memories are created reminding your child of this special place where they hear God’s promises and learn to live and love like Jesus.

March – Bible Ninja Warrior (3rd-5th grade) 3/18 3-5pm
Learn how to use your Bible with the skills of a Ninja, both physically and mentally. At each station resembling the TV show American Ninja Warrior, students will learn the basics of studying the Bible as part of every day, thus building their spiritual muscles as a follower of Jesus.

Princesses of the King 3rd-5th grade Friday 3/23 7-9:30pm Secret Keeper Girl Mother & Daughter Conference @ FBC Woodstock

May – I Can Serve (graduating 5th graders & middle school youth) 5/16 5-6:30pm
Graduating 5th graders, as well as middle school youth) can serve as co-leaders in VBS after learning how to lead and serve our smallest disciples. Students will learn Safe Sanctuary guidelines and appropriate child care-giver systems.

July – Day of Service Retreat With Ms. DeDe (rising 5th & 6th) 7/17 10am-5pm Ambassadors will prepare spaces and supplies for fall children’s ministry programming and last week of summer kid’s camp happening the following week along with fun, fellowship, and learning what the Bible says about being a true blue friend.

July – I Can Go To Sunday School (K4) 7/29 12:15pm-1pm
A special time to welcome preschoolers and their families to Sunday school. This meet and greet event includes hearing a Bible story in The TreeHouse, singing songs, and meeting Sunday school teachers.

August – Blessing of the Backpacks (all K5-5th grade)
Wear your backpack to the Children’s Message at any of the worship services and receive a special blessing as the new school year begins.

September – Fall Camp Glisson Retreat (3rd-5th grade)
Outdoor ministry is a memorable, formative, and vital part of a child’s faith journey. The experience of going away to camp can renew and enhance spiritual growth. Students will attend overnight camp from Friday pm through Sunday midday with other students from North Georgia Conference local churches.

October – Bread & Juice Class (K5 & 1st grade) 10/10 5-6:30pm
Learn the how and why we say, “Yes!” to Jesus as He invites us to the table as his friends for Holy Communion.

November – Ambassadors (4th-5th grade) 11/7 5-6:30pm
Students are offered an opportunity to take on various leadership roles in the year to come. Expectations and learning to serve using their gifts and graces in their home church and in the world.

What else would you add?

“Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.” Romans 12:2