Kid Connections

Rain!

I'm sitting watching the rain pelting down outside and listening to an old Kensington Temple CD called Latter Rain - ironically!  It always reminds me of two things: the first is studying the book of Joel as part of our Old Testament studies in 3rd year at ICC with Eryl Rowlands, where, on analysing the text and exploring the accuracy and interpretation, it was obvious that 'teacher for righteousness' was the more accurate translation than the use of 'early rain' in Joel 2:23; and secondly, it reminds me of a different time in my life when I was so aggressively thirsty for the presence and outpouring of God in all sorts of places ... at home, work, church, outreach events, house group, etc. 

I can't think if there was a time when I began to stop 'thirsting' but as a friend shared the fantastic story of what happened at their church last week I was very aware that my life has changed so much from that time.  My friend told us that as someone shared with the congregation near the beginning of the service, the power of God fell so strongly that it was about an hour and twenty minutes later that he realised that they wouldn't be getting to the sermon that morning!  So it's got me thinking ... what's changed for me?  I most definitely believe that God works powerfully and manifests His presence in awesome ways.  I most definitely believe that this can be anywhere - not just in a church building or 'special' meeting.  And I most definately think that I have gotten to the point where being at peace, enjoying my own space, enjoying time with my family, and knowing the God of experience has become enough for me.  But is it enough ...?  I don't have the God chasing bug nor do I think there is anything wrong in expecting the experiencial in our gatherings (at any time), but I do wonder if I am at fault for not making more of an effort to 'seek more of God' and turn up at as many events as I can, or if I have simply matured enough to be content 'in knowing God' in all of my life?

Is there a danger in being 'content' and satisfied with what we have?   

Thank you!

Thank you to all who have been so kind lately with words of encouragement and thanks.  I have been so blessed by children's volunteers, children, parents, members of our congregation, friends and my husband and our own children who have expressed their gratitude of late and been so affirming.  I sometimes think, well it's my job to make sure things are done (whether at home or at work) and I passionately believe our ministry to children and families should be the best we can make it so I never think that I should be thanked for thinking that or trying to improve what we have.  But things have been a bit tough lately and yesterday I was feeling particularly low so I am particularly grateful to those who have emailed and spoken to me this week - you remind me not only of how much you care but why I do what I do. 

It can be so easy to focus on the things we don't like, or point out the different ways we think things should be done, or be oblivious to the fact that our well meaning suggestions have already been considered by ministry leaders - usually in relation to 100 other things - and we can loose sight of the things that matter and the attitude of heart that God expects from us ... to be gracious, loving and humble.  If we  don't have anything to complain about then we can become a bit complacent and assume that if we're not complaining folk will know we are appreciative.  But our words and actions can be so powerful - we can bring destruction or we can bring positive, building affirmation to give refreshing and strength.  So for all those hugs, thank yous and words of encouragement that have brought me refreshing recently and built me up just at the time I've needed them ... thank you!! 

And to those who I've thanked (particularly after our weekend away) I pray you know just what a blessing you have been in how you have ministered to me, our church's children and their families.  Thank you too to my colleagues who strive with me to honour God and do the best we can in serving our congregation.  A dear brother sent me this earlier in the week and so I send it as a thank you and blessing to you all:

May the Lord keep you and bless you, may He be gracious unto you,
may the light of His countenance shine upon you,
may He give you peace, joy, good health, long life and all your heart desires.

childrensministry.com blog

I was just reading the childrensministry.com blog and have to echo the comments of the last two posts about children and those who lead them.  The blog is responding to a church's emphasis and priorities for leading children in its advert for a Children's Minister.  It comments:

I read a job description for a Children's Minister recently that said the primary responsibility of the job is to develop "biblical literacy and Christian character" in children.  Of course, that made me wonder what biblical literacy is.  I'm sure it means different things to different people.

I love the Word of God...I've memorized it, read it, studied it, meditated on it, grappled with it, sought God through it! That needs to be established before I go on.

For this church, "biblical literacy and Christian character" never mentioned anything remotely close to knowing and loving God...or a personal, redemptive relationship with Jesus Christ...or an ongoing friendship with the Creator of the Universe. Nothing.  Is biblical literacy, then, the ability to find a verse in the Bible? Is it the ability to say all 66 books of the Bible in order?

It scares me when I see that the goal of a children's ministry is knowledge and not relationship....behavioral change and not relationship.  People today are longing for an experience with the living God! That needs to be the goal of children's ministry.

Lest I only come across as pointing out what's wrong, I'd like to celebrate something wonderful I saw in a job posting at churchstaffing.com.  Here's what this church is looking for in a Children's Ministry Director: Develop and lead an effective children's ministry that connects children and their families to Jesus, the church and to each other.  That's what I'm talking about!

That's what I'm talking about too!  It drives me crazy that so called bible believing churches think that the discipleship or nurture of children in the faith is about educating the brain with enough knowledge that they learn to behave like a Christian.  To train children to exhibit the right 'Christian character'.  What is that?  Is Christian character not that which emerges as we submit ourselves to the Lordship of Christ ... being refined by the Holy Spirit to emanate spiritual fruit?  Something which only comes from being in relationship with God?  My fear is that seemingly 'right behaviour' and talking 'Christian talk' is seen as a mark of mature 'Christian character', which is certainly not the case.  Filling our brain with information from the Bible does not an effective Christian make!!  It might help us to understand things better.  It might inspire us to look deeper into the things of the Word and guide us to seek first the kingdom but ... Satan himself can recite Scripture passage after passage - even to the Lord Jesus himself!  If that's what we want to pass on to our kids then we're seriously having a laugh!  There's far too much emphasis put on talking the talk.  Our faith is about being in relationship with God, which is outworked in relationship with one another too.  It's the 'walking the walk' that we need to model with children and help them in their relationship, so YES ... any children's minister must first be committed to 'developing and leading an effective children's ministry that connects children and their families to Jesus, the church and to each other'.  Otherwise we do nothing more than dispense data and demand right performance ... a bit too Stepford like to me!!! 

I read a job description for a Children's Minister recently that said the primary responsibility of the job is to develop "biblical literacy and Christian character" in children.  Of course, that made me wonder what biblical literacy is.  I'm sure it means different things to different people.

I love the Word of God...I've memorized it, read it, studied it, meditated on it, grappled with it, sought God through it! That needs to be established before I go on.

For this church, "biblical literacy and Christian character" never mentioned anything remotely close to knowing and loving God...or a personal, redemptive relationship with Jesus Christ...or an ongoing friendship with the Creator of the Universe. Nothing.  Is biblical literacy, then, the ability to find a verse in the Bible? Is it the ability to say all 66 books of the Bible in order?

It scares me when I see that the goal of a children's ministry is knowledge and not relationship....behavioral change and not relationship.  People today are longing for an experience with the living God! That needs to be the goal of children's ministry.

Lest I only come across as pointing out what's wrong, I'd like to celebrate something wonderful I saw in a job posting at churchstaffing.com.  Here's what this church is looking for in a Children's Ministry Director: Develop and lead an effective children's ministry that connects children and their families to Jesus, the church and to each other.  That's what I'm talking about!

That's what I'm talking about too!  It drives me crazy that so called bible believing churches think that the discipleship or nurture of children in the faith is about educating the brain with enough knowledge that they learn to behave like a Christian.  To train children to exhibit the right 'Christian character'.  What is that?  Is Christian character not that which emerges as we submit ourselves to the Lordship of Christ ... being refined by the Holy Spirit to emanate spiritual fruit?  Something which only comes from being in relationship with God?  My fear is that seemingly 'right behaviour' and talking 'Christian talk' is seen as a mark of mature 'Christian character', which is certainly not the case.  Filling our brain with information from the Bible does not an effective Christian make!!  It might help us to understand things better.  It might inspire us to look deeper into the things of the Word and guide us to seek first the kingdom but ... Satan himself can recite Scripture passage after passage - even to the Lord Jesus himself!  If that's what we want to pass on to our kids then we're seriously having a laugh!  There's far too much emphasis put on talking the talk.  Our faith is about being in relationship with God, which is outworked in relationship with one another too.  It's the 'walking the walk' that we need to model with children and help them in their relationship, so YES ... any children's minister must first be committed to 'developing and leading an effective children's ministry that connects children and their families to Jesus, the church and to each other'.  Otherwise we do nothing more than dispense data and demand right performance ... a bit too Stepford like to me!!! 

After the Weenend Away to Lendrick Muir!

So our church weekend away has come and gone and what a great weekend it was.  I think everyone had a fantastic time.  Our kids loved it ... and didn't want to go home!  They've requested a 14 night stay next time ... aye right!!  After all the planning, preparation, packing, etc, I was exhausted by the time we got there ... so was shattered by the time we got home on Sunday evening and apart from sending the odd email, I've spent the last 2 days chilling out on the sofa and catching up with some sleep!  I stayed up late on the Friday evening (until around 2am on the Saturday morning!) with some of the young folk (and some of the young at heart folk - like me!).  Our baby decided to wake up around then so I managed to get to sleep for around 3 hours before getting up and getting all our kids ready for breakfast before our first morning session.

The kids sessions seemed to go really well, with all the kids joined in with the various activities and really gelling well together.  The young people had their sessions at different times from the adult sessions and were pretty much free to dip in and out of whatever took their fancy.  I sat up until 1am on the Sunday morning chatting to some friends but with another early start I was thankful of a few extra hours sleep.  I always find it hard to wind down at these kind of events and get adequate sleep but fortunately I can run on adrenaline for a few days so it was fine.  My own bed was a welcome sight on the Sunday evening - when I realised just how much the jumping around with the kids had strained all my leg muscles!  Time to think about next year now!!

Weekend at Lendrick Muir

Haven't blogged for a while as I've had 2 lots of cold, sore throat, etc amidst trying to get everything ready for our church weekend away.  Everyone is working hard to make it a great weekend and there's lots planned for all ages. 

These times can be so important as there is precious time available to spend with people you don't often get the chance to be with for long periods of time and to meet folk you don't know at all!  In a large church, such as ours, you can miss so many people who are part of the same faith community and I really believe that our churches are full of rich blessings that are waiting to be shared with others ... if only we make time to make the connections.

I'm so grateful to the team who are going to be working with me to minister to the children and young people over the weekend - 20 in total!  It seems like quite a mammoth task but I know God will bless our work as we seek to honour Him and serve the youngest members of our church family - and hopefully help them to serve others to!!

God - I love Your love!

"Praise the Lord oh my soul and all that is within me.  Hallelujah!  Jesus is alive!!"

What do you think about as we near Easter Sunday?  I love the build up to Easter and love the idea of having a vigil into Sunday morning and in one voice all over the world shouting "He is risen, He is risen indeed."

The best preach of the cross I've ever heard was at an Alpha weekend many years ago when my friend Billy spoke just prior to us having communion together. We nearly needed a mop to dry up all the tears as people were so visibly moved. I dread the possibility that the reality of the cross and God's self-giving sacrifice of love is preached so badly across the nation that those hearing miss the very essence of the gospel.  God is the focus of the cross as God engages very specifically with His creation!  At the cross, God in Christ is reconciling the world to himself, yet so often I hear poor misrepresentations of the awesomeness that is 'the perfect atoning sacrifice'.  I don't want to hear 'the cross is about us and how God deals with us as wretched sinners by venting his anger at Christ instead of us so he could look at us'.  That just obliterates the Trinity and the beautiful thing that is happening.  God's love is poured out in the very blood of Christ the Son as he suffers and dies with cries of 'it is finished' - and the Father turns his face away sharing in the suffering and death of the Son - the skies go dark and the temple curtain is powerfully ripped from top to bottom, a picture of God's very heart being ripped open as God deals with that which separates us from God - sin!

As Volf says, Christ wasn't reconciling an angry God to a sinful world OR reconciling a sinful world to a loving God.  The problem of sin was only one that God could resolve, so through the cross a way is made open for us to know God and know the fullness of his love, forgiveness, grace and mercy as God reconciles the world to himself.  In that dramatic and powerful act God triumphs and sin, death and hell no longer have power over us.  How can we not fall to our knees and cry out to God as the Spirit convicts our hearts?   How great and awesome is our God!!  God loves you unconditionally and has given you the free gift of faith - will you accept it? 

Pray for those preaching this week and praise God with all your might.  Here's a song you might want to sing as you join the rejoicing believers all over the world:

I love Your love, I love Your love, I love Your love, I love Your love

Sometimes when I feel Your love
as I walk along the busy street,
I whisper Your name under my breath.
And sometimes when I feel Your touch
in the quiet place of my room,
I sing Your name in adoration.

And there are times when I feel like I'm burning,
With Your love so strong and so true.
And in my heart I feel such a yearning:
I will call the world,
to know You love them too.

I love Your love, gonna shout it out aloud.
I love Your love, wanna tell the world about it.
I love Your love, 'cause I found it to be true,
and I live to love You too.

by Paul Oakley

St Silas Weekend

Only 6 weeks to go to the church weekend away ... but I'm delighted that this weekend is here as I'm looking forward to putting my feet up and watching a good film tonight!  I've spent which seems like every day for the last wee while in mind-bending concentration to develop a programme that is as creative as possible to serve the needs of our children and young people at the church weekend and I've still got to finalise drafts, buy the rest of the resources and meet with the team so they can add their flare to the plans.

I really don't like the word 'programme' as it suggests a ridged format - and it's one thing I don't want as our priority is to minister to and serve the children in a way that meets their needs and hopefully help them to have fun in a place where they experience genuine Christian love, care and fellowship - and help them to minister too!  Perhaps we don't think very often about children ministering to one another or to adults but if we accept that children are part of the body then we need to accept that God is gifting and enabling them as full members of the body.  Serving is a key aspect of being a Christ follower so we need to encourage this and provide safe opportunities for children and young people to minister in.  It's exciting and challenging stuff!!

The children's and youth team are going to be busy and I'm so grateful to all who have volunteered to help (there are now many but we still need more!) and I'm praying they will be really blessed as they serve.  We're offering 3 sessions for 0-2s, 5 sessions for children and 5 sessions for young people - but at various times to help them get as much from the weekend as possible - as well as lots of activities and free time.  I'm hoping that we can facilitate something for everyone that expresses meaningful community and praying that people will be blessed, challenged and encouraged in seeing how God is at work in all ages of our church family.  This is one of the few opportunities we have to spend long periods of time together and I think it's going to be a powerful weekend.

We're almost fully booked so if you're not booked up I'd get in there quickly! 

Messy Church - fresh ideas for building a Christ-centred community!

With lots of talk happening about the shape of church with words like emerging, fluid, organic, fresh expressions, etc, here's another to throw in to the mix.  It's called Messy Church and the pioneer of this new congregation in Portsmouth, aimed particulalry at reaching children and families, is Lucy Moore who has written 'Messy Church' the book: overflowing with creative ideas to draw the community together for fun, food, fellowship and worship, this resource book contains 15 themed programme outlines. Each outline has ideas for creative art and craft activities, meal plans and recipes for eating together and family-friendly worship.

Messy Church grew out of one church's desire to reach out to those on the fringes of the church community and experience the love of Christ through creativity, fellowship and worship together.  It is one church’s attempt to be church for families who might want to meet Jesus, belong to their local church and bring up their children as Christians but can’t cope with traditional Sunday morning church services. It’s a once-a-month time of creativity, worship and eating together. You may have seen it featured on the Fresh Expressions DVD expressions or read about it in the Barnabas book Messy Church . You may even have visited a Messy Church or started one up as part of your church’s ministry to families.

Have a look at some pictures of Messy Church in action and find out more about how and why it got started on the 'messy' website: www.messychurch.org.uk.

Worship in the faith community - family, individuals or what?

I'm just about to go back to work after mat leave and, having had a lot of conversations with children's ministers/workers and other church leaders lately about the difficulties in corporate worship times, I've been reflecting a great deal on the aims and difficulties of what we are about when we gather together - particularly where children are obviously present or obviously absent!  It seems that the gathering of God's people in a local church context, and what that means, is both becoming something of a task that is causing difficulties and a task that is raising lots of questions.  Essentially, it comes down to three things:

(1) 'What is our biblical understanding of the gathered community of faith?' (church with a small 'c', as opposed to the Church with a capital 'C' - the missiological community, which is by nature the invisible Church or scattered community = the 'being' of Church),
(2) 'How does this biblical revelation and subsequent theological conviction influence our practise in gathering together?' (since theology can't be theology unless it is actually reflected in our outworking = the 'doing' of church),
(3) As reflective practitioners, 'How do we reconcile the cultural differences, generational preferences and contexts of today to offer something that is appropriate to all ages as a gathered community?'  Should we be influenced by culture and allow it to shape our practise in contexts that are safe, meaningful, understandable, relevant, etc OR should we be counter-cultural and speak somewhat prophetically into the culture or context of society we find ourselves in to challenge and influence it's shape? 

Confused?  Who'd be a Children's Minister!!??!!

How we answer these questions will depend on our values, presuppositions, traditional influences, and hopefully mainly on our openness and convictions of the Holy Spirit as God speaks to us in our earnest seeking to answer these questions.  Practical issues and questions DO help to highlight the underpinning values, aims, etc, and bring them to the fore of the discussion - that's why they are issues in the first place.   

Rather than bore you with some practical issues within the debate, check out the discussion started by Rob Mason under the 'Living a life of Worship' category at He Must Increase .Com , the UK worship leader network, or visit the link from Children Matter! entitled Children, Family and Oldies.  It's all good stuff - praise God for the interest!!!  And thanks to all for the comments.

Thank God it's Monday ...

... is the name of a book by Mark Greene, the director of the London Institute for Contemporary Christianity. He previously worked in London and New York for a leading advertising agency before becoming lecturer and then vice-principal at the London Bible College (now London School of Theology).  He spearheads 'Imagine', a project aimed at recovering the central task of whole-life discipleship in our church communitiies, which is something that I am really passionate about.  This revised edition of his book is fun, fast and full of stories. It's a highly practical book looking at making the most of the time we spend at work. Examining our jobs, colleagues and bosses from God’s point of view. Expanding the ‘spiritual’ part of life from the weekend to the workplace and understanding that God is at work there through us, in us, and in those we work with. 

One reviewer says, Mark Greene provides a theology of work that is sadly lacking in many churches, pointing out that most people work with non-Christians and yet never see them as potential Christians. He also challenges the pressure put on those who are already over-worked to spend vast amounts of time outside work hours evangelizing when their real witness has to be with those with whom they spend so much time.

Amen.  We need to get with the programme I think!

Emerging Church?

I'm looking at what the whole ethos of 'emerging church' has to say about children so I thought I'd google 'emerging church and children'.  Low and behold the first link it came up with was International Christian College, with a link to the Monday evening classes (April-Jun 2008) on the themes Exploring Emerging Church with Peter Neilson - looking at 'Examples of how Church is reconfiguring for our times and why'; and The Heart of a Child with Vicki Shaver - looking at 'Nurturing Children's Spirituality through Family and Church.'  Both, I'm sure, will be excellent and will speak to the subject of children and emerging church.

The subject of emerging church seems to attract many voices of different opinion within the Evangelical world.  Those who criticise the emerging church movement believe the movement's embrace of a postmodernist philosophy leads emergents to such things as unorthodox theology, relativism and universalism.

Iain Mobsby, an Anglican priest, has published his MA research in a book called Emerging and Fresh Expressions of Church: How are they authentically Church and Anglican?, a title I presume because emerging church expressions are taking serious criticism from academics, and highly regarded Evangelicals and many alternative worship and emerging churches in the UK seem to be specifically connected to the Anglican Church.  He says the results of his research "indicated a number of things that are interesting regarding different sub groupings of fresh expressions relating to contextual theology, Trinitarian theology and new forms of mysticism," and highlights that most "emerging churches use Andrei Rublev's Trinity Icon to frame much of their thinking."  Well, anything that uses the Trinity as a hermeneutic or lens through which to better understand a true expression and practical outworking of Church is definitely a plus in my book!  Some useful websites on the subject are:

http://www.emergingchurch.info/
http://www.ekklesia.co.uk/cultureandreview/emerginandfresh
http://www.alternativeworship.org/definitions_awec.html
http://www.cmaresources.org/  specifically http://www.cmaresources.org/articles/What_Kids_Church.asp an article by Neil Cole on 'What about kids in organic church?' Part One: Integration is better than Segregation - yes I have to endorse what he says.  We have a lot to give thanks for with the instigation of the Sunday School movement but we need to understand the context and motivation behind it.  We seem, now in the 21st Century, to be somewhat stuck in a time warp and unable to easily reform.  Isn't a key lesson from the reformation that we must KEEP reforming?  Church isn't school!  We must move beyond the old Sunday School model where cognitive learning is the primary task to a model that truly seeks to nurture children's relationship with Jesus and looks to give children real ways to express their faith and know God more.

Useful books:

I Like Jesus But Not the Church: Following Jesus Without Following Organised Religion

Postmodern Children's Ministry

The Out of Bounds Church: Learning to Create a Community of Faith in a Culture of Change

So what about the voices against Emerging Church?    Critisism of the movement comes from esteemed scholars such as DA Carson and John Piper (so in knowing some of their thinking and theological handling on the role of women in the church, I am already suspicious as to how their theology meets the emerging church 'conversation'!) but keen to know their concerns.  Some comments refer to emerging church as fad-driven, straying from the gospel, and question its orthodoxy.  Brian McLaren is a leading voice in the emerging conversation and Carson has been particularly vocal in his criticism of McLaren's doctrinal views, saying "I have to say, as kindly but as forcefully as I can, that to my mind, if words mean anything, both McLaren and [Steve] Chalke have largely abandoned the gospel" (D.A. Carson, Becoming Conversant with the Emerging Church, (2005), p.186).  Steve Chalke took some pretty heavy criticism after writing his book The Lost Message of Jesus, but I do think his efforts to raise legitimate concerns about the dangers of unsophisticated atonement theory needs to be seriously engaged with. 

A must website to visit is ApologeticsIndex.  Point 8, Glossary of Emergent Terms for Those New to the Conversation provides some interesting reading!  I'm afraid I don't appreciate the satire even if it is an attempt to accurately portray views!! 

Conclusion: It seems muck slinging is becoming an acceptable method of dealing with other believers who don't fall into the same categories as we place ourselves.  Are we still all in the same body?  I sometimes don't know who the enemy is anymore.  Why do we resort to devilish tools when we're supposed to watch each others backs? 

The criticisms are more than serious - I'd say they are so strong actually that I don't think I could align my theological underpinning to the EC movement if allegations of rationale are as liberal as they are accused of, however, in practise, I totally support a more fluid and organic presence of the 'Church' in all areas of life (that's what the Church is isn't it?) and see the many flaws in traditional models of church.  Does that make me one of them?!? 

This is a useful article from Scot McKnight in Christianity Today, who says, "Emerging catches into one term the global reshaping of how to "do church" in postmodern culture".  I think there is a desire here to 'do' church in a way that really helps us 'be' the Church!  Whatever position we align ourselves with, we must seriously critique any model of church that is not mission focused at heart but this seems to be.  As gathered communities of believers we portray a particular expression of the worshipping community of faith.  BUT our 'being' Church IS NOT that gathered expression in isolation to our daily walk - with other believers and non-believers ... and, of course, GOD.  Our 'being' and 'doing' Church is who we are - the body of Christ - in our homes, in our streets, in our schools, in our workplaces, as we drive, as we frequent restaurants, super markets, etc, etc, etc ... If any expression of church is only what we can glam up and re-package as a post-modern Christian expression to lure in the crowds then count me out!  We are to be in the world but not of the world - we need to help the world understand reality and what is truly absolute, in knowing God and God's story.  We must be careful in how we use terms and labels or we will misunderstand one another and miss something of God at work in our world today!  Perhaps we (adults) should step aside for a while and let the kids lead?  We might just learn something... !

WordLive is live!

Check out the excellent website that SU have developed called WordLive.  It is a multi-media Bible reading experience aimed at helping you deepen your relationship with God.

WordLive offers a fantastic range of creative approaches you can follow to engage with God’s Word. WordLive is designed to be intuitive and simple. Each day when you log on you will be prompted to pray and then read the Bible. The next step is up to you.

Using the revolving carousel that sits underneath each day’s Bible passage, you can watch a video, listen to the Bible passage, dig deeper into further Bible study, dip into creative prayer suggestions and explore other activities.

You can sign up to receive a daily WordLive email or podcast. Or you may prefer to access WordLive through your mobile or pda. However you choose to use it, WordLive brings God’s Word to you, wherever you go.

WordLive is updated and growing each day with new notes, images, videos and audio. It also has an extensive archive of material. It is still developing and will keep evolving and is FREE of charge to use.

It is a great tool to aid spiritual growth so do check it out and please consider financially supporting WordLive so it can be maintained and others can discover and continue to benefit from its existence. Donations can be made on the website by visiting the Donate page.

Sabbath

I love Thursdays - they have become my Sabbath day as I normally work on Sundays.  I still need to look after the kids so it's never total rest but it is a break away from as much work as possible, including housework, which means no washing/drying of clothes, no washing up, no vacuuming, no cooking (soup was made last night) - everyone else gets to do those things where needed.  It does mean chilling out on the sofa, reading, listening to praise music and dancing about with the kids, and watching a good movie - probably 'Flushed Away' which is a favourite with our 2 year old just now.  But the babes are sleeping now, after having breakfast, so it's time for putting my feet up for a while and doing absolutely nothing!   

At the end of the year ...

In the business of the day, I have escaped for a while as hubby looks after the 3 young ones!  I'm looking forward to a long soak in the bath with lots of the Christmas gifts I received - bubble bath, bath spa, scented candles and lots of Turkish delight!  But I thought I might just reflect for a while on the year gone. 

It's been an odd year.  The arrival of our beautiful son was most definitely the highlight of the year yet the memories of a most unexpected surgical delivery marred the experience (after the boy turned, deciding that he would like to come out 'foot' first, which was only spotted by the midwife when I was at the stage of delivering him ... and that was only after what seemed to be 20 minutes of contractions and took the midwife by surprise - it was my 5th so I knew I'd deliver quickly but that was fast!!).  Delighting in our new bundle of joy reminded me of how precious our children are and also of those babies that never were for us, entrusted to the care of the Lord, so it was joy tinged with sadness too.  He is the most charming we boy and I am so amazed by him.  I was chatting to my friend about the love we have for our kids and she said it's not a case of spreading the love more, we actually have more love to give.  I think she speaks the words of a very wise woman!

Being on maternity leave has meant that all my time has been spent with the children, which has just been so special.  Life doesn't get much better than this ... I wish I was young enough to have another 5 but, alas, I suspect that I am probably at the 'use by date' stage of life and unfortunately time doesn't stand still!  It has also meant that I notice (and get extremely hacked off with) everything in the house that needs cleaned, mended, changed, decorated ... etc!  I hate a messy house and try to have it tidy enough for me to enjoy, as well as those who visit.  Hospitality is very important to me and I like the family and anyone who visits to feel very much at home.  After recovering from surgery I was able to do lots of cooking, which I enjoy, with lots of family meals most nights and Christmas has been a never-ending cooking season!  I have only myself to blame for all those extra calories so I will begin 2008 with the usual goal of loosing weight and getting fitter.  I think the whole family have been more conscious about having a healthy diet this year.  I had to watch my diet when I was pregnant to control pregnancy diabetes.  Investing in some new bikes and a double trail-buggy (for the young ones) in the summer was a good kick start to improving fitness too so I hope we will get lots of use out of them when the weather is better.

I've missed not using my brain as much this year and although I have done some writing (for a book I'm working on) I feel a bit brain dead.  My husband bought me 2 brain train games for the Nintendo DS for Christmas so I've been enjoying those.  We decided to get Sky TV after I had the baby as we knew I'd be a bit house bound for a bit and don't do idleness well!  However, I did become very comfortable being a 'couch potato' for a while, overindulging in the comedy and film channels, so perhaps a habit to kick as the new year begins.

Ministry wise - I'm looking forward to the launch of the new Children's Ministry Network at the first conference in Perth on the 26th January at Lethem St Mark's Church, and to the development of the network as a new resource and source of support for children's workers - much more support for workers is required and there are a number of denominations behind this new venture.  I have been reflecting too on models of ministry and what is, and isn't, working with today's children, particularly here in Scotland.  I suppose old habits die hard and although I am very aware of lots of effort that goes in to work with children in our churches I feel we are not serving our children or children's workers well by allowing investment (in time, money and effort) in poor practises and methods that are not well thought out.  Sometimes it's the blind leading the blind because no one will step up and help.  Leaders and workers burn out because they feel they need to dream up newer and better ideas for the most creative experiences that children can have.  Or they feel overwhelmed with the responsibility of not only teaching scripture but having to do it in a super cool or elaborate way.  We need to speak 'release' to those who feel burdened or isolated in their role before they burn out or bail out!!  The most important thing we can give children is ourselves!!!  Turning up with a pure heart and a desire to accept them as they are and to share of our relationship with the Lord is the most effective resource we will ever have.  That will never change!  We can only introduce someone to the person of Jesus at the level we know him ourselves.  Our relationship with Him should never come second to the 'work' we do for Him, for the work is only of any use when it pours from a selfless heart of worship in adoration for the Lord, as we try to be all that we can be for Him wherever He has called us.

Children are a blessing beyond words and God esteems them with great honour.  Please take time to pray for the children you know and those you don't know - particularly those who are experiencing hurt, fear, poverty and illness - intercede for them, those who minister to them and those who have the power to change their lives for the better. 

I give thanks for those who touch my live - my family and my friends whom I love and admire in so many ways.  I know I am truly blessed and I am so grateful for the amazing things the Lord has done for me. 

May you know God's richest blessings, joy and peace in the year to come, and the care and love of Him who gave Himself for us.

Psalm 121

I look up to the mountains—does my help come from there?
My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth!
He will not let you stumble; the one who watches over you will not slumber. 
Indeed, he who watches over Israel never slumbers or sleeps.
The Lord himself watches over you!  The Lord stands beside you as your protective shade.
The sun will not harm you by day, nor the moon at night.
The Lord keeps you from all harm and watches over your life.
The Lord keeps watch over you as you come and go, both now and forever.

To Halloween or Not to Halloween?

Kids are intrigued by Halloween and see the opportunity to dress up and eat lots of sweets as one not to be missed.  It can be difficult to know how to respond to this event and Christian opinion differs.  There are some good articles - of various extremes - worth checking out for yourself:-

What Does the Bible Say About Halloween; Hallowing Halloween; and Halloween