October ParentLink

ParentLink is our monthly parenting podcast that helps us understand key elements of an Orange Parenting Strategy. This month, I talk about "Creating a Rhythm" in your home that allows for spiritual formation to take place.  This month, I propose an idea of a "To-Don't List." You can listen/download a number of different ways. You can listen on our website, download from the iTunes store, listen on our blog or Facebook page.

October in the Children's Ministry

Thanks for sharing your kids with us this past month at WCC! We had a great month of September at the church. We added a new worship minister, kicked off our Wednesday night Bible studies, and started our small groups.  Not to mention that in KidQuest and FirstLook, we started telling God's Big story at the very beginning!  Check out the rest of this email for great information about what is happening in the Children's Ministry at Wentzville Christian Church in October as well as some great parenting resources.

The main focus of October will be the enviroment of Course Correction. Let’s face it … none of us really like to be corrected, especially when being corrected involves a season of pain. We would all like to make the right decisions the first time around and live in an environment that is filled with joy and easy living.

However, when we truly look at the environment of COURSE CORREC TIO N we realize it is an environment filled with grace, mercy, and, yes, even joy. To grasp the fact that we have a heavenly Father who loves us as His own sons and daughters and disciplines us only because He loves us is amazing and overwhelming. He doesn’t just discipline us and walk away, He takes the time to lift us up and get us back on the right path. He makes something beautiful out of the messes we create. I don’t know about you, but for me that is true joy!

This environment flows out of Hebrews 12:11–13 and is the direct opposite of punishment. Instead, biblical discipline encompasses: a season of pain, a building up in love, and a vision for a corrected path for the individual with the purpose of healing at its core.

This month we are looking at the environment of COURSE CORREC TIO N. Most people might think this sounds like a painful process. The truth is, it can be! When we find ourselves “off course” in life, sometimes just the realization that we are wrong can be painful. Sometimes the consequences of our decisions can be painful. However, God has a way of using our mistakes and missteps to make us beautiful and powerful examples of His love in our lives. I pray your family will experience the beautiful healing and restoration that God brings to His children.

MEMORY VERSES FOR OCTOBER
KIDQUEST (elementary)
“O Lord my God, I called to you for help and you healed me.”
Psalm 30:2 (NIV)

FIRSTLOOK (preschool)
“You always show me the path that leads to life.”
Psalm 16:11a (NIrV)


IMPORTANT DATES

• Starting in October we will be serving a dinner on Wednesday nights, 5:15 p.m. to 6:15 p.m. before Bible studies. Be sure to come eat with us!
• Taking the Plunge -- A Baptism Class for Kids begins on October 12. Go to www.wentzvillecc.org/plunge for more info.
• On October 30 at 3:00pm, we will host Trunk or Treat! Kids will have an opportunity to walk around our parking lot and trick or treat at decorated trunks.  This has been a great event in years past and we expect it to be even better this year.  Be on the lookout for how to sign up your trunk too!
• Operation Christmas Child Supply Drive and Packing Party. Right now we are in the middle of a supply drive for our 2nd Annual Operation Christmas Child Packing Party.  In August, we collected school suppllies; In September, we collected hygine supplies; in October we will be collecting small toys.  Please drop off any of these items in the green drop box under the missions bulletin board. The packing party will be November 5 at 10am (there is a rumor that we will also be having a pancake breakfast that morning prior to the packing party).
• SuperStart registration (4th, 5th, and 6th Graders) has started.  SuperStart is the nation's largest preteen Christian conference.  This year, we will be attending the conference in Louisville, KY on November 11, and 12.  You can go to www.wentzvillecc.org/superstart for more info.

PARENT RESOURCES

• HomeFront Monthly
  This month's HomeFront flows out of Hebrews 12:11-13 and focuses on the environement of "Course Correction".  This great resource include food and game activities for the whole family as well as some great reading for you! You can download this month's HomeFront Monthly here.
• ParentLink
  ParentLink is our monthly parenting podcast that helps us understand key elements of an Orange Parenting Strategy. This month, I talk about "Creating a Rhythm" in your home that allows for spiritual formation to take place.  This month, I propose an idea of a "To-Don't List." You can listen/download a number of different ways. You can listen on our website, download from the iTunes store, listen on our blog or Facebook page.
• Family Currents
  This month's Family Currents is all about "Living a Legacy" and goes right along with our current sermon series "Outlive Your Life." You can download this month's resource here.
• Coming Soon!
  A resource that will give you devotions that will help you walk through the Bible with your kids! We are going to call this resource "The Big God Story Bible Study."

IMPORTANT CHANGES

• Our elementary kids will be getting their OWN room for Sunday morning worship very soon!  We are in the construction phase of the KidQuest Room!  We are going to have a paint day on October 8!

ParentLink August 2011

Here is the August edition of ParentLink.  There are multiple ways to watch/listen to this great parent resource.

• Subscribe to the podcast via iTunes 
• Watch/Listen just below
• Listen/Subscribe on the WCC ParentLink website
• Listen/Watch on the KidQuest Facebook Page

July Parent Link -- Hosting a BBQ

Welcome to our monthly parenting piece. Parent Link is designed to help parents understand the key elements of our Orange Strategy for parenting. While the angle and content of each month’s Parent Link is different, each month’s podcast and outline are based upon one of five family values:

1. Widen the Circle
2. Imagine the End
3. Fight for the Heart
4. Create a Rhythm
5. Make it Personal

Here is the July 2011 edition of ParentLink.  I talk about the responsibility of being a parent to a newborn and to an adopted child and how they are different but the same.  I also talk about how its our responsibility as a parent to ensure that there are other voices in our child's life that are saying the same things we say when we are not around.

Bottom Line: You are the greatest influence in your child’s life, but not the only influence your child needs.

Application: Host a party this summer in honor of the adults who influence your child’s life.

Family Resources

I know its a couple of days before July 1, when most of our new parenting/family resources are posted on our website, but I want to remind you about these great tools! Here is the direct link to the Parent Resources! Remember, this isn’t about doing more; it’s about framing the things parents naturally do with some space for God to work.

ParentLink (posts at beginning of every month

A podcast that helps parents and church leaders understand how, by combining their influences, they can accomplish more for the spiritual wellbeing of a child than either could individually. 

Here is the topic for the July ParentLink podcast:

You are the greatest influence in your child’s life. And here’s some great news, you’re also not the only influence your child needs. This month’s Parent Link Live talks about how to look for other trusted adults who can influence your child and help you “Widen the Circle.” 

Family Currents (posts at beginning of every month)

The Family Currents newsletter is designed to help parents grow in their roles as spiritual leaders in the home.  You will find great info about spiritual disciplines, prayer, practical parenting tips and much, much more.

HomeFront Monthly (posts in the middle of every month)

HomeFront Monthly is a resource you will receive for parents every four weeks. This is a magazine-like publication stuffed with great ideas about how to create spiritually forming times in the home. It has articles and activities on everything from marriage to family, and food time to blessing. This resource is all about equipping parents with really practical ideas about how to create space for the Holy Spirit to spiritually form their kids.

 HomeFront Monthly ties to the lessons and HomeFront Weekly through the common thread of the Environment. Therefore, there is only one HomeFront Monthly for both FirstLook and KidQuest with ideas for engaging both age levels. This is also where you will find the children’s remember verses. They will be learning one verse over four weeks to help them truly hide God’s Word in their hearts.

HomeFront Weekly (posts every week)

 HomeFront Weekly cards are provided as a parent resource with each week’s lesson which will be handed out in KidQuest and FirstLook, placed on the KidQuest table in the foyer and available for download here. The HomeFront card is not a review of the past week in KidQuest or FirstLook; it is an introduction to the next week in KidQuest and FirstLook. This resource is designed to help parents intentionally spend time in God’s Word with their children before coming to church each week. The cool part is this: parents are first to introduce their kids to the Bible content they will hear at church. In this way, the church is supporting parents as they spiritually nurture their child.

May Parent Link -- Create a Rhythm

Value -- Create a Rhythm
Bottom Line -- God wants to be part of our everyday life.
Application -- God should be like the everyday dishes, not the fine china.

Don't forget you can also listen to this on the

• ParentLink website
• On FaceBook
• Subscribe via iTunes

April 2011 Parent Link -- Fight for the Heart

Parent Link is a podcast we do every single month to help connect the church and the home.  In this month's edition we talk about building your relationship with your kids so when your control over them is gone, you will still have a cloud of influence over their hearts.  I do admit, this month is GREAT, so please take some time to listen.

March Parent Link

We have just posted the March edition of Parent Link on the website.  I am also trying to post it here for your listening pleasure!

This month I was able to talk about how we as parents need to give our kids room to experiment and be creative, even if it means failure.

I look at the life of Thomas Edison and how he "failed" over 2000 times while trying to create a long lasting light bulb.

Merry Ukrainian Christmas

Merry Christmas from Ukraine. Today is the Russian Orthodox calendar Christmas. So everyone here in Ukraine is celebrating. We asked the director of the orphange what we could buy all the kids for Christmas and she said Lemons and Kiwi because the don't get them very often at all.  What a Christmas. We also bought some toys for the rooms as well.

Well anyways, since becoming a parent of 2, I have been doing a lot of thinking about parenting and I have come up with something profound. No one is a perfect parent.  You would think that God would give us a perfect parent in the Bible right, well not exactly, just look at these examples.

• Noah had a drinking problem
• Abraham offered his wife to another man and slept with another woman to have a child.
• Rebekah schemed with her son to deceive her husband, Isaac.
• Jacob's sons sold their brother into slavery.
• David had an affair, and his son started a rebellion.
• Eli lost total control of his how his boys behaved in the temple.
• You would even think that the parents of Jesus would have been perfect right, well they left Jesus in the temple for 3 days before finding him.

So if there are no perfect examples in the Bible, why do we expect ourselves to be perfect parents?  I want to encourage you not to try to be the perfect parent that you see in movies and pictures, because the don't really exist.

I do however want to encourage you with a few words of wisdom about what can make a great parent. If you aspire to have your kids learn these 3 things, then I believe you will be the parent God wants you to be.  I pray that as I journey through parenting that my kids would learn these above all else.

1. My children would KNOW and HEAR God's voice, discerning it from all others.
2. They would DESIRE to obey Him when they heard His voice.
3. They would OBEY Him not in their own power, but in the power of the Holy Spirit.

When we imagine the end of our child's life, what will be important.....THEIR RELATIONSHIP WITH CHRIST.  So everything wee do and teach should point them towards having a loving relationship with him!

However before we can get our children's relationship with Christ right, ours as parents has to be right as well.  That is just what this month's Parent Link is all about.  Please find some time this month to listen to it and get some helpful tips on getting your relationship right with Christ so you can help your kids grow in him too! You can listen by going to www.wentzvillecc.org/parentlink.

Have a Merry Ukrainian Christmas!