Good Neighbor Weekend

What a weekend it has already been and there is still another day to go! Services were canceled this weekend so that the church could go and be the church! All over Indy more than 2000 people are serving this weekend! I had the opportunity to be a video crew for today's projects and got to see several of the projects! It was awesome to see the lives being impacted at different locations all around the city - and knowing that there were so many more locations where people were serving! Here's a few pictures from today! My locations were all downtown during the morning and afternoon - so all the pics are from different ministries which serve the inner-city community here in Indianapolis!

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Pumpkin Seeds

Here's a favorite pumpkin seed recipe...

Ingredients...

• 1 1/2 tablespoons margarine, melted
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon garlic salt
• 2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
• 2 cups raw whole pumpkin seeds

Simple Instructions...

1. Preheat oven to 275 degrees F (135 degrees C).
2. Combine the margarine, salt, garlic salt, Worcestershire sauce and pumpkin seeds. Mix thoroughly and place in shallow baking dish.
3. Bake for 1 hour, stirring occasionally.

Stuckey Farms

If you're looking for a FUN and CHEAP fall activity, I highly suggest Stuckey Farms! They have free wagon rides out to the apple orchard or pumpkin patch and if you pick your own its cheaper than buying one of the already picked pumpkins or apples!

Here's some pics from tonight - I went with some of the girls in my Life Group!

Make a Smilebox slideshow

An Incredible Weekend

If you missed service this past weekend ... well you missed something pretty special!
Don't worry though ... its now available by clicking here!

Fall

October is here and I've begun to see the many colors that come along with it around town! What are some of your favorite things about the fall season?

For me, I love pumpkins and the crunch of fall leaves, as well as the cool air which means I can pull my favorite hooded sweatshirts out! Unfortunately though, it also means that the cold days of winter are ahead!

I hope you enjoy the unique things that come along with the fall season and take some time over the next few weeks to spend some time enjoying them!

96 Hours

*EDIT* see more storm photos under the photos link at the top!

That's how long we spent without electricity this past week! While our electric here in Ohio is back on in our area, our internet is not - so this quick post comes to you from one of my favorite places ... Panera :-)

***EDIT*** Unfortunately, I wasn't quick enough and Panera's 30 minute rule that they're enforcing kicked me off the internet ... so this post comes to you from the Waynesville Library, who graciously allows you to stay as long as you want :-)

We were able to get a generator (which we shared with neighbors on each side!) from a friend who's power came back on early in the week, so between the generator - which kept food in the fridge cold and our gas grill - which allowed us to eat hot meals, the week wasn't all that bad!


Duke has been the MOST POPULAR and the MOST UNPOPULAR people in Ohio this week! There are now 2100 people from all over the country here working on power lines. When these trucks come to YOUR neighborhood ... they're loved, but when they're in everyone else's neighborhood ... well they're not real popular with the people here! (Yes that's a power pole strapped on top of his truck ... a very common site this week!)


Following the 80mph winds that came last Sunday there are debris EVERYWHERE! Below are a few pics ... I'll load more once I'm 'back in Indy and things are back to normal :-)

The local Snow Trucks have been converted to Debris Trucks and are going house to house...


And this is the pile of debris they have collected so far at the local park where they're chipping everything! On the left ... the chipped pile. On the right ... the pile to be chipped! (I know it looks like a hill, but its really a HUGE pile of trees!!!)

Hurricane Ike

Well, I may be gone for a few days. This was suppose to be my week of vacation and I was planning to spend the week with family in Ohio ... hanging out, doing stuff, etc ... but it looks like Hurricane Ike had other plans. Winds reached almost 80mph (that's a Level 1 Hurricane!) at home yesterday and there is a TON of damage, including 90% of the power grid down in the Cincy Region. So, after waiting until today I'm going to slowly meander east hoping that sometime between now and then the power comes back up ... but if not we'll make the best of it. There's lots of debris to clean up as well ... so most likely we'll be spending the week doing that! Check back ... there may be some good stories to share once the power comes back up ... maybe tonight ... maybe the weekend - its all up in the air right now!

Children's Ministry in the 21st Century

Here's a recent read...

Children's Ministry in the 21st Century

What I liked...

This book is a compilation of several different Children's Ministry Leaders. They bring their expertise in specific areas to the table and share about what the current best practices are when it comes to ministering to children and families. Also, its relevant. It talks about the issues that are facing our kids here and now ... not what we should have done, but what we need to be doing!

What I didn't like ...

Being a PreK Director ... I'm partial to the little guys :-) And this book focuses primarily on ministry to children in Kindergarten and older. While MANY of the ideas are applicable to the younger crowds, it would still be nice to see a book like this written with Preschool Ministry as the focus :-) This book does devote a chapter to Preschool Ministry.

Who should read it...

This is a great book for anyone who cares about the next generation! Whether you're a volunteer, a parent, or a ministry leader ... everyone can walk away with SOMETHING from this book ... whether its a cool idea to try or just a new perspective on the world around you and how it relates to ministry - you'll find something in it that will make you think, evaluate, and apply!

Overall...

This is an easy read and a fairly good book. It has TONS of practical tips (nearly every chapter is followed with at least 10 ideas to try!) The book can be read from cover to cover, or in segments based on topics. If you want to just focus on Special Needs ... then you could just read the Special Needs Chapter and get a ton out of it!

My Score...

4 out of 5 (It's good ... definitely a recomended read, but not something I would read over and over!)

Global Expedition

Make a Smilebox slideshow

I spent the better part of today pulling together all the things that go into "camp". From registration forms to supply lists I gathered them and placed them in the "Master Notebook" which we'll use as we begin putting together camps in the future! So, tonight I thought I'd share with you a few of my favorite photos from this past year's 4yr-3rd Grade Camp ... Global Expedition! Thanks to Kurt and Ryon who helped tremendously with photos this year!

Autism

Autism is the fastest growing developmental disability in our world today! Nearly 1 in every 150 children are now diagnosed with autism. Here's an interesting article by Larry Shallenberger ... it takes a different perspective on autism ... check it out here.

Preschool Centers - Labels

How do we divide the kids into their small groups each week?

Truly ... it's a simple process and after several weeks of trial and error I couldn't think of an easier way to do it ... it was just finding that way to do it that took a little bit of time! But it works!

First of all, remember that preschoolers can't read! They do know their colors and most of them recognize or can at least match numbers. So this limits your options :-)

At first I tried allowing the computer assignment system to divide the kids. Randomly I divided each room into four colors - but, it never failed when it was time to split up there would be 10 kids in the Blue group and 0 in the Red group ... which just left everyone confused.

So...here's my solution...

A sheet of mailing labels and a Publisher document.

I take the four centers and create a document with four color boxes - one color per label. The colors repeat every four labels, which evenly distributes the children into small groups. The labels also have a number printed on them. The number corresponds to the child's bin in the classroom where they keep all of their things while they're in the classroom. When it's time to break up into centers the children look at the color box on their label and go to that same mat color. The kids are able to match their colors and know exactly where to go when they start...and trust me - they know where to begin because in the rare case that you have to start a kid at a different color than what's on their label ... there are a million questions to answer and some very stressed preschoolers :-)

Fun With Food

I have always LOVED Onion Rings! Often, while at the grocery store I find myself reading the ingredient labels on every brand of onion rings, hoping that just this once I'll find that one of them has dropped corn from their recipe ... but it never seems to be the case! So, tonight I decided to make some of my own Onion Rings ... and they turned out pretty good! Here's the recipe and a few pictures ... not too hard to make and pretty tasty!

All Recipes (TONS of recipes for anything and everything - check it out!) - Onion Rings

Family Service Project

August's Family Service Project was held at NVCL! Families with children of all ages helped to complete several projects around the Northview Campus! Here's a recap of the day!

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Introducing ... LAMBIE!

This is Lambie ... she's the star of the show in the Preschool Ministry. The kids go NUTS when she wakes up from her slumber each Thursday night to tell the preschoolers a Bible Story and boy were they excited tonight when Lambie told them all about her summer and then about David and Goliath! And... the highlight for each child every Thursday night is when they get to hug Lambie before going to their Small Group Activity Centers. I love preschoolers ... simply because they LOVE stuffed sock puppets ... LIFE IS JUST SIMPLE! :-)

Lambie also stars in weekend video curriculum from time to time. The kids love seeing her on the screens and are constantly trying to decide it she's real when she appears on video!

Thanks to Lambie's "mom" who shares her with us each week and teaches the Preschoolers :-)

Here's a picture of Lambie ... I'll post pictures of the REAL Studio 6.7 Preschool Lambie next Thursday night!

Cardboard Testimonies

Absolutely Incredible!

The Fridge Door

Growing up, we "posted" things on the fridge door, I guess today we "post" things on our blogs! How much life has changed in the past few years! This drawing has not only made my blog, but also the wall in my office :-) I thought I would share it with everyone ... it is certainly a great drawing and helped me to feel better after being hit with the bungee cord! Sometimes, kids can just make you feel better! This child did such a great job ... and truly captured what was going on at the time!

Make a Smilebox photobook

Thanks to Aime I think my roommate and I just found a great new way to spend our time :-)

Here's a quick recap of this past summer's mission trip to South Dakota. This was so much fun...I can guarantee there will be many more to come ... stay tuned!

10 Days Later...

No more stitches, bandages, hats, sunglasses, or pain medicine! I am finally feeling almost "normal" once again and made it through a busy day with only a slight headache! All the bandages are off and my eyes are not as sensitive to lights as they were earlier in the week ... which is awesome, because wearing a hat AND sunglasses INSIDE a building just kind of looks funny :-)

Now if it would just stop itching ... I know that's a good sign, but wow - it can get annoying!

All that's left now is a follow up at the ophthalmologist in a couple weeks!

Here's how it currently looks...

Family Service Project

This past Saturday the families of Studio 6.7 spent their morning helping out with some projects around the Northview Campus.

The younger kids (PreK and Kindergarten) spent their morning picking up rocks in a newly seeded area and pulling weeds from the playground - and let me tell you - pulling weeds from a playground is a HARD thing for a kid to do!!! But for the most part ... they pulled weeds :-) And, every now and then, tested the equipment to make sure it was in good working condition :-)


The older kids spent their morning pulling up the stakes from groundbreaking so that construction can get underway in the coming days and painting a wagon for hayrides this fall!


Here's a few pics from this past weekend ... and more by clicking here!

Knight Crossing

Here's a Video from Elementary Camp last week!

CLICK HERE

It was an AWESOME week! Here's one of my favorite activities at camp each year...

THE GIANT SLIP 'N' SLIDE