New Website Up

Hello All!

I have a new site up at www.iheartchildren.com  and that will be the blog that is updated. Please change any bookmarks to the new site! I know you will love it over there :)

Peace,

Brittany Sky

Seasons of Faith Book Review

Last Thursday I wrote a post about Symbols of Faith by Marcia Joslin Stoner and this week I would like to talk about the counterpart of that book Seasons of Faith. This book is a great resource for teaching the Christian Church Year. I use it a lot when I am planning my Children's Church lessons so I can add Christian Traditions and History components to each lesson. It is a great resources for all ages and was written for intergeneration use. The information is not written on a young child's comprehension level but it is easy to take and make it something for that age level, as well as other age levels. It's a wonderful resource and I definitely recommend it for any Christian Education worker.   

Web Wednesday

I have been looking for other children's ministry blogs the last few days and this one is a must see. The Scripture Lady  is a blog devoted to "get the kids you minister to excited about the Word of God!" She has lots of fun games that help kids learn about the stories in the Bible and how to use their Bibles. It's a great resource to turn to for a Bible retreat after Bible Sunday. Go check the Scripture Lady out!

And then Jesus Changed Water into Gatorade: A Children's Sermon

Hold up a pitcher of water, and ask the children if they think it is good to drink water after they have been running hard in a game such as basketball. Yes! Then ask them if there is something even better than water after they have been playing hard. Explain that some people recommend a sports drink such as Gatorade, because it helps the body to recover from the stress of exercise. Pour a packet of powdered Gatorade into the pitcher of water, and stir it up so that the water changes color. Tell the children the story of Jesus at the wedding of Cana, and how he felt that the people needed more than water in order to have a good celebration. Ask the children if Jesus turned the water into Gatorade ... then tell them, “No, he turned the water into wine!” Point out that Jesus always wants to make everything better — including us! Stress that Jesus doesn’t want any of us to stay the same, but he wants to change us and transform us so that we can do God’s work in the world. Suggest that Jesus has the power to make us more loving, more forgiving and more faithful to God, and he uses this power to change anyone who follows him. Pour each child a cup of Gatorade, and let them know that the changes they can experience are much more amazing than simply changing water into a sports drink.  


Dear Loving God, thank you for wanting the best for us all. Amen. 

Lent: Lesson 4

Lent: Lesson 4

Call to Worship
(Sung to “The Bear Went over the Mountain”)

Let’s worship God, let’s worship God, let’s worship God,

With joyful hearts, with joyful hearts, with joyful hearts,

Let’s worship God with joyful hearts!

Joys and Concerns
Have the children share a few joys and concerns they have and follow with a prayer thanking God for our joys and asking God to be with us in our concerns. 

Sharing
Say: Does anyone remember anything about what we learned Lent last Sunday? (It’s 40 days, we grow closer to God, we have symbols that teach us, etc.)

Listening
  Say: Last week we learned that Lent is a forty day period before Easter when we prepare ourselves. During that time we remember Christ and the changes that he made in our world, and we try to better ourselves as followers of Christ. Many people follow the custom of giving up something during lent to remind them of Christ’s suffering. Some people decide to make some sort of change in their lives during this time in order to be a better follower of Christ. Lent gives us time to learn about prayer, sacrifice and showing kindness to others. During Lent we grow closer to God and better understand the Love that God has for everyone. We then use the Love God gives us to love others.

This week we will use our senses to learn more about Jesus and his experiences.

Exploring

Favorite Hymn	Mark 14:26 They sang a hymn and then went directly to Mount Olives.	They sang a song and went out. Remember familiar Lenten and Easter Songs. Ashes to Ashes Ashes to ashes, Dust to dust- This flesh is not forever. Spirit to Spirit, Life to Life- All that You are Is all I will be; Soon, Lord, in You forever. Survey the Wondrous Cross When I survey the wondrous cross on which the Prince of Glory died; my richest gain I count but loss, and pour contempt on all my pride. Forbid it, Lord, that I should boast, save in the death of Christ, my God; all the vain things that charm me most, I sacrifice them to his blood. See, from his head, his hands, his feet, sorrow and love flow mingled down. Did e'er such love and sorrow meet, or thorns compose so rich a crown. Were the whole realm of nature mine, that were an offering far too small; love so amazing, so divine, demands my soul, my life, my all.
Strip of Leather	John 18:12-14 Then the Roman soldiers under their commander, joined by the Jewish police, seized Jesus and tied him up. They took him first to Annas, father-in-law of Caiaphas. Caiaphas was the Chief Priest that year. It was Caiaphas who had advised the Jews that it was to their advantage that one man die for the people.	Wrap leather around wrists and imagine how it must have felt.
Rough wood	Luke 23:26 As they led him off, they made Simon, a man from Cyrene who happened to be coming in from the countryside, carry the cross behind Jesus.	Feel the bark and remember the man who carried the cross for Jesus, Simon of Cyrene. Consider how he felt with that responsibility.
Small bag of spices	Mark 16: 1-8 The Resurrection  1-3 When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices so they could embalm him. Very early on Sunday morning, as the sun rose, they went to the tomb. They worried out loud to each other, "Who will roll back the stone from the tomb for us?"  4-5Then they looked up, saw that it had been rolled back—it was a huge stone—and walked right in. They saw a young man sitting on the right side, dressed all in white. They were completely taken aback, astonished.  6-7He said, "Don't be afraid. I know you're looking for Jesus the Nazarene, the One they nailed on the cross. He's been raised up; he's here no longer. You can see for yourselves that the place is empty. Now—on your way. Tell his disciples and Peter that he is going on ahead of you to Galilee. You'll see him there, exactly as he said."  8They got out as fast as they could, beside themselves, their heads swimming. Stunned, they said nothing to anyone.	As you smell the spices remember how the women took spices to the tomb to cover the smell of the decaying body they expected to find.
Candle	2 Corinthians 4:4 If our Message is obscure to anyone, it's not because we're holding back in any way. No, it's because these other people are looking or going the wrong way and refuse to give it serious attention. All they have eyes for is the fashionable god of darkness. They think he can give them what they want, and that they won't have to bother believing a Truth they can't see. They're stone-blind to the dayspring brightness of the Message that shines with Christ, who gives us the best picture of God we'll ever get.	The candle brings light to darkness, as Christ brought eternal light into a dark world.

 

Benediction
Say: Wonderful God, thank you for wanting to be closer to us. Help us to grow closer to you during Lent. Amen.

More Exploring
Have the children draw about one of the things they learned. 

Site Under Construction

I am in the process of redesigning my website (yay!) so my site will be done for the next few days. I will be leaving up my blog at www.aheartafterchildren.blogspot.com if you need access to it for resources. I will not be posting anything new for the next week so if you need help with something please email me: Brittany Sky.

It's Been One Year

Happy Anniversary! Yesterday marked the very first blog post of this blog. It has been a great experience thus far for me and I hope that it has been a helpful tool for many.

I remember telling Andrew (my fiancé at the time) that I wanted to start a blog. I had a Professor who had been talking lots about integrating our life's calling into the tech savvy lives we already led. With a blog I could put up anything I wanted: curriculum, thoughts, children sermons, class notes, etc, and people could use that information in their own ministries.

Andrew said ok, and here we are. One year later and I have my own web domain, my own website, and I'm reaching people in 67 different countries. It's amazing to me. It's amazing how God is working through this random thought I had about a blog. God is so amazing.

The upcoming year should be a great one too! I am fixing to redesign my blog and website and I am so excited! I hope everyone is having a great winter! Happy Anniversary!

Symbols of Faith Book Review

Check out this great book any time you want to include more Christian history and tradition. If you are talking about Easter, for example,  this book can add more to your lesson. It has lots of reproducibles as visuals and for crafts. It has explanations for each symbol and where the symbol came from. It is written on level with children but an adult can learn just as much from this book. It is a great resource for added components of history and tradition.

We're Like a Puzzle: Children's Semon

Say: (Hold up a puzzle) How many of you like to play with puzzles? (yes, or raise their hands) I love puzzles too!  (Take two or three pieces out of the picture) Is this how a puzzle is supposed to look? (No!) Are you sure? Is it supposed to have holes? (No, it's supposed to be put together!) Oh they are supposed to all be there and put together? (Yes!) (Put the puzzle back together.) We are all like puzzle pieces. If we look at puzzle pieces they are all connected to each other. If one piece is gone the puzzle isn't complete. Without one of us, the world would not be complete. If one of you weren't here at church, the church would not be complete. We are are so important to God and to our church and to our world. The next time you play with a puzzle, remember how we are like puzzle pieces and say thank you for all of the people in God's world. 

Let's pray. Dear God, thank you so much for all of Your people. Amen.

Lent: Lesson 3

Lent: Lesson 3

Call to Worship
(Sung to “The Bear Went over the Mountain”)

Let’s worship God, let’s worship God, let’s worship God,

With joyful hearts, with joyful hearts, with joyful hearts,

Let’s worship God with joyful hearts!

Joys and Concerns
Have the children share a few joys and concerns they have and follow with a prayer thanking God for our joys and asking God to be with us in our concerns. 

Sharing
Say: Does anyone remember anything about what we learned Lent last Sunday? (It’s 40 days, we grow closer to God, we have symbols that teach us, etc.)

Listening
  Say: Last week we learned that Lent is a forty day period before Easter when we prepare ourselves. During that time we remember Christ and the changes that he made in our world, and we try to better ourselves as followers of Christ. Many people follow the custom of giving up something during lent to remind them of Christ’s suffering. Some people decide to make some sort of change in their lives during this time in order to be a better follower of Christ. Lent gives us time to learn about prayer, sacrifice and showing kindness to others. During Lent we grow closer to God and better understand the Love that God has for everyone. We then use the Love God gives us to love others.

This week we will use our sense of taste to learn the color of Lent! Can anyone guess what color we use to remind us of Lent? The color is PURPLE! We use the color purple to remind us that Christ is the King of Kings. It also reminds us to repent and turn to God to be closer to God.

Exploring
Have the children sit down at the table and pass out plates and napkins. They will be eating grapes, purple jello, and drinking grape soda. While they are eating ask what symbols they remember from last week, or how their Lent Pledges and Calendars are going.

The Bread and Cup Symbol: Helps us remember the meal that Jesus shared with his friends. We have this same meal with Him when we share Communion.

The Butterfly: When the butterfly is in its cocoon it is like Jesus in the tomb, and when the butterfly emerges it is like Jesus being resurrected.

The Cross: Represents the resurrection of Jesus on Easter

The Donkey: The donkey that Jesus rode into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday.

The Easter Lily: the bulb of this flower looks dead but then it comes to life and blooms a beautiful flower. This reminds us of the new life that we have when we are renewed in God.

The Fish: This reminds us of Jesus and he asking us to make fishermen of all people.

The Lamb: Lambs were used for sacrifices and Jesus sacrificed his life for us.

Light: Jesus’ triumph over the dark of death

Palms: Remind us of Palm Sunday and the day Jesus entered into Jerusalem for his last week.

The Stone: The stone that was placed in front of Jesus’ tomb that was moved when the women discovered Jesus was missing and had been resurrected.

Benediction
Say: Wonderful God, thank you for wanting to be closer to us. Help us to grow closer to you during Lent. Amen.

More Exploring
Using the labyrinth page have the children use their fingers to “walk” around the labyrinth and say silent prayers and meditations.

Lent: Lesson 2

Lent: Lesson 2

Call to Worship
(Sung to “The Bear Went over the Mountain”)

Let’s worship God, let’s worship God, let’s worship God,

With joyful hearts, with joyful hearts, with joyful hearts,

Let’s worship God with joyful hearts!

Joys and Concerns
Have the children share a few joys and concerns they have and follow with a prayer thanking God for our joys and asking God to be with us in our concerns. 

Sharing
Say: Does anyone remember anything about what we learned Lent last Sunday? (It’s 40 days, we grow closer to God, etc.)

Listening
  Say: Last week we learned that Lent is a forty day period before Easter when we prepare ourselves. During that time we remember Christ and the changes that he made in our world, and we try to better ourselves as followers of Christ. Many people follow the custom of giving up something during lent to remind them of Christ’s suffering. Some people decide to make some sort of change in their lives during this time in order to be a better follower of Christ. Lent gives us time to learn about prayer, sacrifice and showing kindness to others. During Lent we grow closer to God and better understand the Love that God has for everyone. We then use the Love God gives us to love others.

This week I want us to look at some of the symbols of Lent. Does anyone know what a symbol is? It is something we use to help us learn about God. We have a symbol of ashes. The ashes help us to remember to repent and be close to God. There are other symbols that we learn during Lent to help us prepare for Easter.

The Bread and Cup Symbol: Helps us remember the meal that Jesus shared with his friends. We have this same meal with Him when we share Communion.

The Butterfly: When the butterfly is in its cocoon it is like Jesus in the tomb, and when the butterfly emerges it is like Jesus being resurrected.

The Cross: Represents the resurrection of Jesus on Easter

The Donkey: The donkey that Jesus rode into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday.

The Easter Lily: the bulb of this flower looks dead but then it comes to life and blooms a beautiful flower. This reminds us of the new life that we have when we are renewed in God.

The Fish: This reminds us of Jesus and he asking us to make fishermen of all people.

The Lamb: Lambs were used for sacrifices and Jesus sacrificed his life for us.

Light: Jesus’ triumph over the dark of death

Palms: Remind us of Palm Sunday and the day Jesus entered into Jerusalem for his last week.

The Stone: The stone that was placed in front of Jesus’ tomb that was moved when the women discovered Jesus was missing and had been resurrected.

Exploring
Today we will color one of the symbols that remind us of God’s stories.

Benediction
Say: Wonderful God, thank you for wanting to be closer to us. Help us to grow closer to you during Lent. Amen.

More Exploring
Symbols crossword from Children’s Activities for the Christian Year.

Lent: Lesson 1

Lent: Lesson 1

Call to Worship
(Sung to “The Bear Went over the Mountain”)

Let’s worship God, let’s worship God, let’s worship God,

With joyful hearts, with joyful hearts, with joyful hearts,

Let’s worship God with joyful hearts!

Joys and Concerns
Have the children share a few joys and concerns they have and follow with a prayer thanking God for our joys and asking God to be with us in our concerns. 

Sharing
Say: Do any of you remember a few months ago when we learned about the church seasons? (Yes we ate grapes, we learned about colors, etc.) Today we are in a new church season. We had Advent, Christmas time, and ordinary time. Can anyone tell me what we are in now? We are in the season of Lent. Does anyone remember anything about lent? I will tell you!

Listening
  Say:  Lent is a forty day period before Easter when we prepare ourselves. During that time we remember Christ and the changes that he made in our world, and we try to better ourselves as followers of Christ. Many people follow the custom of giving up something during lent to remind them of Christ’s suffering. Some people decide to make some sort of change in their lives during this time in order to be a better follower of Christ. Lent gives us time to learn about prayer, sacrifice and showing kindness to others. During Lent we grow closer to God and better understand the Love that God has for everyone. We then use the Love God gives us to love others.

Exploring
Today we will be handing out the Lenten Pledge papers. They are just going to put their names on these and take them home. Read the top of the sheets and explain what they will be doing with them.

Next take the painters tape and make a pathway around the room. It doesn’t have to be a circle or a line, it can be anything. Have the children follow you on the makeshift labyrinth. Explain to them that a labyrinth is a tool for meditation and prayer. There were first placed on the floors of the medieval churches in Europe, and people walked the path focusing on God. Since Lent is a time when we prayer and renew our faith, invite the children to walk the path with you and say silent prayers and then say the following closing prayer together on the path.

Benediction
Say: Wonderful God, thank you for wanting to be closer to us. Help us to grow closer to you during Lent. Amen.

Christmas Eve Children's Sermon

We have been anxiously waiting for this night for four and half weeks now! Are you so excited? Do you know who is being born tonight? JESUS! Yes! Jesus! A long time ago on a night just like this Jesus was born! And the angels in heaven were so excited they had to tell the shepherds who were watching their sheep to go see Jesus. The angels told the shepherds to go to Bethlehem to find in a manger a baby named Jesus wrapped in a blanket who was the born King of Kings. They followed a bright star to find the baby Jesus lying in a manger. Tonight at the end of our service we are each going to have a light to help us remember the star in the sky and to remember the light of Jesus. We are going to have special lights. I have gotten you all a special Christmas present. After our prayer I will give each of you a special glow stick to shake up and hold at the end of the service.

Dear God, thank you for sending us the Light in baby Jesus. Amen.

Fourth Sunday of Advent: Love

Fourth Sunday of Advent: Love

“So they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the child lying in a manger.”
Luke 2:16

Call to Worship
Leader: Let’s get ready!
Children: Let’s get ready!
Leader: Let’s get ready for Baby Jesus!
Children: Let’s get ready for Baby Jesus!
Leader: Only one more week until his birthday!
Children: Only one more week until his birthday!
Leader: Let’s light the Advent wreath!
(There will be a wreath on the table for Advent.)

Joys and Concerns
Have the children share a few joys and concerns they have and follow with a prayer thanking God for our joys and asking God to be with us in our concerns. 

Sharing
Ask: Today is the Fourth Sunday in Advent. The word Advent means the arrival of something. Do you know who we are waiting for to arrive? (Jesus)Yes! Advent is the time we use to get ready for the birth of Jesus.

Listening
Today we are going to read the story about Jesus’ birth from the bible.
Luke 2:1-20 (The Message)

The Birth of Jesus

 ^1-5About that time Caesar Augustus ordered a census to be taken throughout the Empire. This was the first census when Quirinius was governor of Syria. Everyone had to travel to his own ancestral hometown to be accounted for. So Joseph went from the Galilean town of Nazareth up to Bethlehem in Judah, David's town, for the census. As a descendant of David, he had to go there. He went with Mary, his fiancée, who was pregnant.

 ^6-7While they were there, the time came for her to give birth. She gave birth to a son, her firstborn. She wrapped him in a blanket and laid him in a manger, because there was no room in the hostel.

An Event for Everyone

 ^8-12There were sheepherders camping in the neighborhood. They had set night watches over their sheep. Suddenly, God's angel stood among them and God's glory blazed around them. They were terrified. The angel said, "Don't be afraid. I'm here to announce a great and joyful event that is meant for everybody, worldwide: A Savior has just been born in David's town, a Savior who is Messiah and Master. This is what you're to look for: a baby wrapped in a blanket and lying in a manger."

 ^13-14At once the angel was joined by a huge angelic choir singing God's praises:

   Glory to God in the heavenly heights,
   Peace to all men and women on earth who please him.

 ^15-18As the angel choir withdrew into heaven, the sheepherders talked it over. "Let's get over to Bethlehem as fast as we can and see for ourselves what God has revealed to us." They left, running, and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in the manger. Seeing was believing. They told everyone they met what the angels had said about this child. All who heard the sheepherders were impressed.

 ^19-20Mary kept all these things to herself, holding them dear, deep within herself. The sheepherders returned and let loose, glorifying and praising God for everything they had heard and seen. It turned out exactly the way they'd been told!

Exploring
Color and cut out a nativity scene.
http://dailycoloringpages.com/images/nativity-diorama-christmas-coloring-pages-01.png
Benediction
Say: God of our world, thank you for Advent! Amen.

Web Wednesday

I would recommend to everyone the power of Twitter. If you don't already have a Twitter account here are a few reasons why you should get one:

1. So many people have moved to this form of communication. You can talk about what you are working on, ask for suggestions, and post website links.
2. It's a form of free marketing and advertising. If you want people to know about an activity you are planning, they can see your updates and gather that information instantly.
3. Social networking. They say it's all about who you know. Well here you can talk to people all over the world, get ideas, and make new support systems based on your needs.

Twitter is awesome. My twitter profile is this: www.twitter.com/iheartchildren. Check me out and while you are there check out this live feed of all this children's ministry: http://twitter.com/#search?q=kidmin. Anyone who tags their post as #kidmin will be included in this list. 

Advent: Week 3

Third Sunday of Advent: Joy

“So they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the child lying in a manger.”
Luke 2:16

Call to Worship
Leader: Let’s get ready!
Children: Let’s get ready!
Leader: Let’s get ready for Baby Jesus!
Children: Let’s get ready for Baby Jesus!
Leader: Only two more weeks until his birthday!
Children: Only two more weeks until his birthday!
Leader: Let’s light the Advent wreath!
(There will be a wreath on the table for Advent.)

Joys and Concerns
Have the children share a few joys and concerns they have and follow with a prayer thanking God for our joys and asking God to be with us in our concerns. 

Sharing
Ask: Today is the Third Sunday in Advent. The word Advent means the arrival of something. Do you know who we are waiting for to arrive? (Jesus)Yes! Advent is the time we use to get ready for the birth of Jesus.

Listening
On Christmas morning, boys and girls around the world will wake up early and run excitedly downstairs to see what Santa Claus has left for them... Well, that's not exactly how it goes -- around the world children celebrate the Christmas holidays in many different ways.

In Germany, the 6th of December is a special day:

...There's a special tradition all over Germany on December 6th. [On] the evening of December 5th you put your cleaned (big) boots outside the house in front of the door (or inside). Some people also put a plate there or on the windowsill. The bread in the plate is for the white horse of Santa Claus ... In the morning you see that Santa Claus really was at your house and put nice things into the boots or plates, e.g., all kinds of nuts, oranges, apples, sweets, chocolate, small presents ... But if you [weren't] well behaved the whole year you only get a switch so that your parents can punish you, but they don't!
Kristine and Wiebke, Germany

And in Italy, January 6th is a day long-awaited by many children:

The 6th of January is the day on which the three Wise Men arrive at the Bethlehem cave in which kid Jesus is and give him gold, incense and myrrh and for this reason in Italy children receive presents traditionally brought by the "Befana," a good old witch who comes into their homes through the chimney. This is the last day to the Christmas holiday in Italy.
Elisbetta, Italy

In Sweden, December 13th is a special day that children look forward to all year long:

Saint Lucia [Day] is celebrated all over Sweden on December 13th. The custom with the girl dressed in white with candles on her head has a complicated background ... In our school we celebrate Saint Lucia Day outside very early in the morning while it's still dark. Our Saint Lucia is coming in a carriage pulled by a very small horse. She is followed by Santa Claus on a big horse and a lot of girls and boys in white gowns and a lot of candles. They all sing traditional Christmas songs and read poems. After the ceremony we all eat ginger cookies and bread with saffron. To celebrate is very important to Swedish people.

What are some of the Christmas traditions your family have?

Exploring
A long Christmas tradition is the tradition to send Christmas cards. Today we are going to make a card for someone special!

http://www.daniellesplace.com/Images3/christmascard2003pat.gif
Benediction
Say: God of our world, thank you for Advent! Amen.

This Christmas

This Christmas will be a new experience for me. It will be Andrew and I's very first Christmas together. We have been talking a lot about what we will be doing this season and what traditions we celebrated with our families before that we would like to incorporate into our new Christmas traditions. I am quite demanding about a few things, like we must fall asleep before Santa comes, and that Christmas light drives have to occur for it to feel like the Christmas season. He had different traditions and different demands. He wants Christmas cookie smells and a white light Christmas tree. As a 22 year old you would think that maybe by now I would have grown up a bit and that Christmas would be less exciting. Pondering my inability to see that I should grow up and out of these Christmas traditions, I learned something. Christmas is a time for joy and families. Christmas is about the traditions we all establish. Without these important experiences we miss out on the meanings. The season is such a joyful one. We all get excited about the coming of Christmas. The anticipation. The wonderful things to come. I love Christmas because everyone seems so happy. Jesus is coming and we are all eagerly awaiting that joyful message. It is important that we establish traditions. We make it more real that way I think. Without the Christmas lights everything just feels like any other time. But this season is so unlike any other. More people are helping others, giving to others and feeling good about the coming year. We have hope because of the Christmas season. And the Christmas story has always been one of hope. So I encourage all of you to take some time and talk about what makes Christmas Christmas for you and to find that joy, hope and anticipation that we so easily forget at any other time of the year.

My Wednesday Night Experience

This past Wednesday for our 7 o'clock classes I decided that we would break from our normal routine and all be together. Our various classes have been learning various ways to be with God, inevitably learning that God is in everything, and I have a secret passion for dance, so we all were going to take a break to dance. Now I am talking children from age 4-14 all in a open hallway with Miley Cyrus, John Lennon, Casting Crowns, and many others. I had a plan, which I will post below, but having had some experience in ministry knew that with or without a plan it was going to happen the way it was going to happen. We spent an hour dancing, running, breathing, playing, singing, giggling, and just having fun in the Holy Spirit. It was a great time! After we were done stretching and cooling down I asked the kids what they had learned from all of this. These were their answers: that our body tells us more things than I'm sleepy or I'm sick, that God is with us even when we are just being silly, that we need to watch out for other people so we don't hurt them, and that dancing with God is fun. It was a WONDERFUL experience. I got to share something I love with them and they got to teach me about how God uses our movements for God's love.

Liturgical Dance Lesson Plan

Coloring sheets

Talk about dancing: Our bodies have special knowledge that our heads don't have. Our bodies tell us when we are sick, or sleepy, or happy. We can use our bodies to feel God too. We have been learning how to worship God in new ways this fall. We’ve learned that we can be with God when we paint, sing, talk, color, make crowns, and make sculptures out of clay. Tonight we are going o learn how to be with God through dance. At church we call this type of dance liturgical dance. I am going to walk us through stretching and a warm up and then I am going to give you an example of what liturgical dance looks like. I want you to know that there is no right way to dance in liturgical dance. The goal here is to use movement to find God. 

There is a Bible verse I want us to learn: 

²Let Israel be glad in its Maker;

   let the children of Zion rejoice in their King. 
³Let them praise his name with dancing

Stretch: “Watching the wheels go round”

Warm up: “Party in the USA”

Example: “She Is Love”

Loosen up: “Fireflies”

Fast Liturgical Dance: “If We Are the Body”

Slow Free Moving Liturgical dance: “Everything”

Cool Down Dance: “Wonderful Life”

Stretch: “Send It On”

3 Extra Songs: “I Saw God Today”, “If Today Was Your Last Day”, “Imagine”

The Nuts and Bolts of Christian Education

Let me first say that Delia Halverson is amazing. Anyone of her books is a must for any Christian Educators library. This one in particular is a favorite of mine. If you had no idea what to expect when taking a Christian ed job, this book would act as your life vest. If has so many helpful ideas on how to start. It is easy to follow. It has reproducibles in the back for important Christian Ed plans. It really is a must have.

Random Ramblings by Brittany Sky

I work at a relatively small church, therefore creating a fairly small budget - now I am not complaining at all. I know children's programs that have no budget, but I just want everyone to know that I have to be careful about what I spend money on. I write a lot of my own curriculum for this very reason but sometimes I need help or inspiration so I google. In recent weeks I have been googling for ideas for the spring, new curriculum, new special activities, new coloring pages, etc. and have run into a frequent problem on many of the websites listed as top sources, they require you to pay an annual fee. Now I am not saying that people should be working for free. I understand charging for a membership (too a degree) but the fee is never a small one. The reason I thinks this bothers me the most is this: if we are all fighting for the same thing - to show the love of God to all - then why are  we charging each other for the tools we need to do it? They give you a partial lesson or they give you a trial membership, or they allow you to see a few things but never the good stuff. It's always a teaser. Why? I am not trying to criticize anyone, I just want to understand why we charge each other for things we know we all need. We are supposed to be a church, not a business, right?