Looking forward to focusing on HONOR for the month of February. To see the new challenge for the purple bead/belt, click “belts” up above (or here). There are a couple Clubbers who will be receiving the honor of the orange belt this week!! Great job, girls! Let’s see who can join them by the end of the month. Fulfill five challenges to receive your orange belt. Keep working on those challenges.

Here is Reggie Joiner sharing what we will be talking about in CrossTrainers this month. David is the central character. Once again, good stuff!

Highlighted quotes: “The basis of honor is seeing people the way God sees them.” “Honor notices those that aren’t being noticed.” “Honor is putting others ahead of yourself.” “We should not only honor those that God made, but also those that He put in charge.” “Honor shows respect to those who are in charge.” “Honor is ultimately based on how you view & respect God.”

and here’s the teacher…

And here is the missionary family in Japan our church supports, Don & Hazel Schaeffer…

We also prayed for our brothers & sisters in North Korea that are in chains. ” Remember them that are in bonds, as bound with them; and them which suffer adversity, as being yourselves also in the body.” (Hebrews 13:3) For more information on the situation there & in China, watch these videos…

China:

North Korea:

If you are interested in learning more &/or praying for these persecuted countries, go to Voice of the Martyrs & Open Doors. And for a children’s version if your children are interested, go to Kids of Courage.

As for our own children, right now they follow. Parents, teachers, etc. have told them about God’s glory, but most probably haven’t yet SEEN His glory. Let’s be praying together this week for our children to SEE His glory early on. “Grab their hearts early, Lord! Show Yourself to them in a personal way that they would NEVER think of walking anywhere but by Your sweet side all the days of their lives.”

As a fun review this weekend, here’s a little experiment you could do on Saturday or if we get a snow day this week. *fingers crossed!*

Gather these materials:

– shallow pan
– small bowl
– 1/4 cup liquid dish soap
– 1/2 cup vinegar
– 1 Tablespoon baking soda
– 1 cup water
– food coloring or a packet of red powered drink mix

1) Pour the dish soap & vinegar into the bowl & set it inside the shallow pan.

2) In a separate container, add the baking soda to the water & stir. Sprinkle some of the red drink mix into the water & soda until it turns red like wine.

3) Slowly pour the water mix into the soap & vinegar mix & watch as it erupts into a foaming red volcano!

Surprised??

The chemical reaction that made your cool red volcano was NOTHING compared to Jesus turning water to wine!

4) Use the red foam & a paintbrush to paint the words “Jesus can do anything!” on a sheet of paper.

5) Hang the paper up on the fridge to remind you of Jesus’ first miracle. Be looking for miracles He’s doing in & around YOU this week. Then come back to Club & share so we can ALL be encouraged!

* This family time experience idea was found in the Hands On Bible under John 2. I LOVE this Bible for great tie-in ideas. If your child doesn’t have a Bible they use regularly, you may want to check this one out. It is irresistible! You may find yourself looking at it with your child & getting excited about His Word. ; ]

Hi-YAH!

I pose a Challenge for us as families: every time anyone touches the TV or game controller, say the verse for this month. Can you say it? James 1:19 – “My dear brothers & sisters, pay attention to what I say. Everyone should be quick to listen. But slow to speak. Everyone should be slow to get angry.” Why not challenge your whole family: every time anyone touches a controller, they must say the verse out loud. This will give everyone an automatic way of reviewing and engrafting God’s Word into your heart as a family.

When Satan tempted Jesus, He overcame with verses that were locked into His heart. Do you have verses locked into your heart? That’s what we were talking about Wednesday night. We memorize, but we want to also meditate, engraft, lock verses in for life. Satan wants to literally kill you, your family, your kids. He wants to make sin attractive so we get lured into it. Your sin may start out looking innocent enough. Maybe we only hold bitterness against one person secretly. We just indulge in one off color show a week. Worry isn’t really a sin, is it?? We’re all pretty good at justifying ourselves (see Adam & Eve in Genesis 3:12 & 13). If we quench that twinge of guilt the Holy Spirit gives us over that, it’s easier to sin a little more. Before we know it, we’re trucking full steam ahead down the road to destruction if we don’t let the Holy Spirit pour self-control into us. We have to “do what we SHOULD do, not what we WANT to do,” even as adults. Instead of trusting our own opinions & thoughts, the wise person gets God’s perspective through daily feeding on God’s Word (Romans 12:2): read it, memorize it, meditate on it, engraft it, lock it in.

What are stumbling blocks in your life, areas you lack control over, things that Satan trips you up with over & over again? Maybe it’s losing your temper, or over eating, or secret lust, or gossiping, or not quite telling the truth. Whatever it is, take some time this month to search the Bible & find verses that fit just that situation. Write them out. I’ve typed mine out & put little pictures to them to cue me at times throughout the day. Post your list somewhere you have time to meditate on them; on the kitchen cupboards so you can think on them while doing dishes, or laminate them & put them by the bathroom mirror to study while you shave or do your hair in the morning. Whatever works!

Once we’re armed with the Word of God, we are then (& only then) equipped to fend off those attacks from Satan. That’s doing what you SHOULD do, not what you WANT to do. Let’s give our children a first-hand example of self-control this month. The Word of God & the Holy Spirit are the tools God gave us to successfully do this thing called self-control. Without it, we will be miserable & eventually destroyed – God knows that. So what’s controlling you?

Need an idea to avoid having bored kids Monday, their day off of school? Here’s a fun craft idea to make over the long weekend. Make a self-controller. (Click on the pictures to get enlarged versions on of them.) We took pie boxes from McDonalds & stuffed them with plastic grocery bags to make them stiff. Then we wrapped them with foil like a present. The buttons we used are “Stop”, Pause”, “Power”, “Guide”, & “Select”. These remind us to STOP before reacting, PAUSE to ask God for His power, POWER to do the right thing comes from the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit is our GUIDE, and we can SELECT the right reaction, words, etc. You can make one for each member of the family to have & personalize them with stickers (or small drawing & tape on) to remind of those areas they want to work on self-control with : money, food, frowny face, thought bubble, crazy face, eyeballs, a mouth, a tv, etc. Use creativity.

Be sure & get the Bible verse on there somewhere at least in part. Bring your family’s self-controller in to church this month. We want to see it! Did it help you remember to pause, stop, use the Holy Spirit’s power, did you select the right reaction because of it?? Share with us – we can encourage one another!

Hi-YAH!

Have you ever seen anyone explain the Cycle of Apostasy with puppets?? This stuff is great!!!

And he tackles some great questions in a wonderful way…

You’ll have to get DVD#2 to see the whole answer. : ]

The Club has the first six (there will be 13 total, but 6 are all he’s made so far). See me to borrow one of them (or return them). We’re passing them around the families so we can all enjoy! I also have 2 sets of the Seeds CDs we’ve been using to memorize our verses for your families to use, too. Take them home & learn with your kids. I am SO thankful people are out there using their talents & the technology available to help us teach our little ones, and I get to review/learn a fun way right along with them!

This month, we are being challenged to step back & get wrapped up in the right things – Jesus & others (vs. ourselves & things). Here are a few excellent quotes from the video below: Generosity is a reflection of God’s character. God generously gave His only Son so we could have a relationship with Him. Generosity changes us when we learn how to give the way God gives. We’re not generous because we’re rich, we’re rich because we’re generous!

On Wednesday nights in Club, we are going to be talking about how to worship, have a quiet time; getting wrapped up in Jesus. Can’t wait!! It’s going to be another great month of learning, growing, & sharing. Join us, will you?

Hi-YAH!

This month, let’s remember to see the many, many people God has surrounded us with to make our lives full & rich & thank them. Yes, even that pesky neighbor &/or irritating relative. GOD put them there. So instead of getting upset with them, let’s thank God for them.

God wants to make us more like Him through that person or situation in our lives, but to get where He wants us to be, we gotta make pit stops. We can’t just speed through life & expect good results. That’s one reason we’re commanded to rest & refocus once a week. He knows what we need. (Remember, He made us.) Have a thankful week.

Hi-YAH!

Wednesday we talked about the Pharisee & the Publican. Sunday we talk about the Parable of the Vineyard Workers. Both come together so well for a double-wham impact lesson on comparing. We all do it, but it sure causes a heap of trouble in life! “That’s not fair! Why did HE get more??”, “How come SHE can do it & I can’t??”, etc. etc. etc.

Parents deal with it in whining & arguments, but God’s children of all ages give Him grief over the exact same thing. “Gotta keep up with the Joneses”, “Man, I wish WE could go on that vacation.”, “If only my husband was like HER husband.”, “At least I’m not as bad as HE is.”

If you get a chance, go to studio252.tv and click “video”, then “I’ve Got a New Gratitude” to see a great version of the Vineyard Workers Parable. Your kids will enjoy it (& you will, too)! And, if you register, you can hear the great song there under the video section as well as a few other clips on Gratitude. The kid that sings is the Christian version of Justin Bieber! It’s worth registering to unlock the extras.

How much better our lives would be if we could learn to keep our eyes on Christ instead of others around us. Let’s purpose to live that out in front of our children. And intentionally teach them this month that comparing is a big fat waste of time, energy, & is a huge joy & gratitude killer.

Hi-YAH!