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Welcome to spring at Mountain Park UMC! We are excited about all of the things going on in the life of our children's ministry. Grab a nice glass of lemonade, prop your feet up, and catch up on the latest news in the ministry.
Just a reminder, tomorrow night's events will be a little different from other weeks. Children's Choirs will still meet at their scheduled time (ending a little early), but there will be no GROW. Instead, children are encouraged to attend the Ash Wednesday service with their parents. Parents will need to pick up their children from choir at 6:50, as requested by the directors. Thanks!
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Walk the Wild: Kids' Camp-In
All second through fifth graders are invited to attend our very first children's ministry camp in! This event will be held on Friday, March 24 and Saturday, March 25. The cost is only $25! But registration ends THIS SUNDAY, March 5, so make sure you let us know you're planning to attend! Join us for hot dogs, s'mores, and an overnight stay in The Park. Talks and worship will be led by Trey Hockman. If you need a form, click here to download it!
Done in a Day
Attention all children's ministry leaders and volunteers! Our conference is offering something new this month to help all of us in ministering to the kids in our care! They are offering a training time called "Done in a Day" on March 18. Our location is at Covington First UMC. The best part is, it's very inexpensive and still lets you have your afternoon free for hobbies and rest! It will take place from 8:30 AM until noon. If you pre-register, the cost is only $10 ($15 at the door), but if we can get 5+ people to go from our church, we only have $5 each! The deadline to sign up as a church group is Sunday, March 12.
Save the Date!
Sat., Apr. 15 - Easter Egg Hunt, 10:00 AM in the Family Life Center,
For all children through 5th grade.
Join us for crafts, the egg hunt, and a visit from the
Easter
Bunny! Rain or shine! Bring your
Easter
basket!
Candy
donations
are now being accepted for the
egg
hunt. Please drop off your
donations
in the designated bins located around the church (please make sure candy is individually wrapped).
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In preparation for the Lenten season, we wanted to share a resource we found for your families! This resource will be given out at the Ash Wednesday service, but in case you cannot attend or happen to misplace it some time during the season, we want you to have a digital copy to go to as well. It is very family-friendly, giving things you can make to celebrate the season of Lent, through service projects that are super easy (like buying a chocolate bunny and writing a note to attach, then giving it to someone special) or little forms of encouragement to share. The Joy Journey: Christ-Centered Activities for the Easter season may be found
here
.
Biblical Parenting
As a mom of two young kids, I'm always looking for ways to be a better parent. Several years ago, my mentor introduced me to a super-helpful website for helping parents, and the tip that I was e-mailed this week just spoke to my heart. It answered a question I had right then, and immediately, I knew it was a God moment. So I wanted to share the e-mail with you this month, in case it is something that you might need to hear, too.
Obey First and Then We'll Talk About It
When parents give an instruction but children don't want to comply or it's not convenient for them, sometimes they need to learn to "obey first and then we'll talk about it." This emphasizes obedience.
If little Brian has pulled a chair over to the counter and is climbing onto it, you may say, "Brian, we don’t climb on chairs."
"But I was just…"
"No, you need to get down. Obey first and then we'll talk about it." Once he gets down, discuss the problem and find a solution together.
"Katy, go get your pajamas on."
"I don't want to go to bed."
"No, obey first and then we'll talk about it."
To some parents this may sound like blind obedience. We've all heard stories about people who were led into cultish activity because they couldn't think for themselves. No parent wants a child to fall into a pattern of blindly following a leader's instructions, but evaluating instructions is an advanced skill.
Many parents have gone too far in the other direction ending up with children who can't follow simple instructions without a dialogue. Parents sometimes believe they have to talk their child into wanting to obey. Inadvertently, these parents teach their children that if you don't like a request then that's enough reason to resist it. These children make poor employees, develop selfish attitudes about following someone else's leadership, and have a difficult time in relationships because they haven't learned how to sacrifice their own agenda for others.
Talking about it is important but sometimes even we, as adults, must obey first and then understand later. God asked Abraham to sacrifice his son without fully understanding and then considered it faith for him to obey. Peter didn't know why he was to go to Cornelius' house but went anyway only to discover that God wanted to bring salvation to the Gentiles. Philip was asked to leave a revival in Samaria and go out into the wilderness, not knowing why, but when he got there he led an Ethiopian man to Christ.
Evaluating instructions is an advanced skill and will become important later on but children need to learn that sometimes we all must "obey first and then we'll talk about it."
If you would like to subscribe to the Biblical Parenting Tip website, you can do so by clicking
here
. They recommend books for parenting as well as local meetings for seminars on family dynamics.
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