Running Dry

Have you ever been working outside on a hot day and you reach for your water bottle to get a bit of refreshment only to find that your bottle is empty? I have, and its a disappointing feeling. Sometimes there is even the feeling of anger that the water is gone. But we all know that there is no one to blame but ourselves, we cant blame the bottle it is an inanimate object. And the bottle cant become angry with us for being used up.  The correct response would be to go and fill the bottle back up with water so that it can be used again.

Sometimes this is how we treat life. We use up the talents that we have (the water) and when we run dry or run out of steam, we get angry and upset that its gone. We get angry at the job or the ministry that we feel has sucked "the life" out of us. We blame everyone but ourselves. The truth for the water is the truth in our lives, if we do not take the time to refill what we have used, we will always run dry. The more you pour out of your time and talents the more you need to also take the time to be refilled and refreshed. God gives us equal opportunities to be refilled as he does to use our talents. We just have to be willing to be refilled and refreshed. 

Don't be an angry water bottle. Use the opportunities God gives you.

Continually Growing at The Grove

Miss Megan

Baby Burst

We have been blessed with lots of babies being born into our children's ministry. That is definitely a blessing. There is no better way that I know than growing a church from birth.  But with this awesome blessing comes added responsibility. Having 30 children under the age of 2 presents the need for more workers, and especially workers who are willing to diaper, clean up, walk, and even chase the children. I do have to admit that we have a great team of workers now that give up service hours to minister to these children, and their parents. But there is always room for one more.

Many people see classes for children this small as simply childcare. But that is not the truth at all. You see these children may not be able to leave their class and tell you a full Bible story but they can let you know that they feel safe, and loved while they are at church. These children are gaining the foundation that the church is the place where they are loved, where they are safe, and where they are taken care of. And if we are honest as adults, these are the same things we want to feel about church as well.

Classes for kids this age, and even older also have another purpose. It allows the moms and dads to have time away from their kids to refresh themselves, to focus on their own spiritual growth, and to have adult conversations. In a new mom's life that can be like gold! To help mould the spiritual lives of these children we also need to be helping their parents. Another added blessing of having a baby burst is that we have lots of families that are in the same boat, going through the same phase of life together. They are able to understand and support each other in ways that the rest of us fall short. It is truly amazing how God works these things out.

Continually Growing at The Grove

Miss Megan

Getting Bogged Down

In ministry it is often easy to get bogged down by all of the things you have going on. In those really busy times, all too often we can become discouraged that we cant get everything done or if we can get it done it wont be good enough. And it is in those times that what would normally be criticism that rolls off your back, now seems like a weight that is dragging you under. I know I have personally had those times in my life and ministry.
One way that I try to combat being bogged down by the weight of criticism and busyness is to keep scripture up around me. One such scripture is Romans 8:31 which says, "If God be for us, who can be against us?" This reminds me that I have God on my side and that he will fight along side me against anything that I face. And he is the almighty creator of the universe so nothing can stand against his power.

Sometimes we all need to be reminded that we have an almighty God on our side, that we aren't really alone in it all, and that He is willing to fight for us.

Continually Growing at The Grove!

Miss Megan

Kids Camp

This time last week we were hauling our first load of supplies out to Rainbow Christian Camp in Converse, to our camp site for the next few days. Coming right off the end of a week long missions trip, I was a bit tired but more than that I was excited for the days ahead. I love camp! I love the opportunities that come from camp. We have the opportunity to build relationships with the kids present and to disciple them. I once heard that change comes through relationships. That is something that I try to pass on to the leaders at camp so that through the relationships they build with the kids, real life change will happen.

We had an awesome week with about 75 kids and 25 adults in attendance. Brad Merchant taught the kids on Psalm 23. Each child heard how God is their shepherd, always with them providing for their needs, protecting them, and even saving them and offering them eternal life.

I know that only a week has passed and probably just now are we all caught up on the lost sleep, but I am ready to do it all over again!

Teaching Little Hearts

This week I have the privilege of teaching the preschoolers during VBS in Davis City, Iowa. Most of the kids in this community do not go to church anywhere because there are not a whole lot of Bible teaching churches in the area, in fact in the two towns we are visiting, there are only 3. I am so blessed to be able to introduce these little hearts to my savior! This week they have been learning that God should be the guide of their life and that they can trust him to lead them in what is right and what is best for them.   It is my prayer that I am able to plant seeds of faith in the hearts of these precious little ones. I am so glad I am able to be used by God to teach this amazing group of kids.
Our verse for this week is  "God will help me know what to do". Isaiah 30:21 (paraphrased)

Family Missions

This summer on Thursday nights, the kids have been learning about how missionaries help those in other parts of the world, and how they can be missionaries.

Somewhere along the way I picked up this definition of a missionary that I have been sharing with the kids each night as we learn. " A missionary is someone who goes somewhere to tell another person about Jesus love, no matter if it is across the hall, across the street, across town, across the country, or across the world." I want each of these kids to know that they can be a missionary, and that it doesn't have to wait until they are grown ups. Every one can share the love of God with someone else.

During my lifetime I have had the opportunity to go on mission trips to other locations. And some of my favorite trips have been those where families are ministering together. One such trip was one where a group from the church I was attending went to another state to do Vacation Bible School for the kids and teens in that community. You would think that this would be a job just for adults, as they would be the ones doing the teaching. But we had whole families that went, and so the kids were given a job to do at VBS as well. Their job was to show the love of God through friendship. The kids we took had already experienced this VBS so now they were to help the others around them understand the stories we were telling. They got to be the ones to play with the kids and begin conversations about the God they were hearing about. Everyone on that missions team had a job to do, including the kids. And I have to tell you that watching the kids on our team, play and talk with the kids in the community was a joyful thing to see. Connections were made that would have had no place had we not brought peers for the kids in the community. And the joy on the faces of the kids on the team is almost indescribable. No one is too little, or too young to share God's love with someone else. I wish that more families would embrace this pattern of ministering together through missions. It doesn't have to be going to a foreign country. Family missions opportunities can come through serving at a homeless shelter, a nursing home, or even partnering with an intercity ministry.

I would like to encourage you as parents and grandparents to seek out opportunities where your whole family can serve together. Show your kids that missions work knows no age limit. I can promise that the work may be hard but will definitely be rewarding!

Continually Growing at The Grove!

Miss Megan

Happy Creative Ice Cream Flavors Day

I love looking up creative or silly holidays and filling up my calendar with them. It makes the weeks more interesting, and sometimes it even coincides with an event I can do with the kids in my ministry. Since we do not have a Wednesday midweek service, I guess I will have to pass on celebrating this particular holiday with all of my kiddos.

Those of you who know me, know that I enjoy doing crazy, silly things with the kids not only because, lets face it, I am a big kid myself, but also because all too often we get caught up in the programming and lessons, and forget to take the time to just have fun with our kids. Now don't get me wrong, I think that Bible lessons are the most important thing we do at church each week, but I also know that it is through the fun and even silly times that memories are made and relationships are built.

So if I were to celebrate Creative Ice Cream Flavors day, it would probably go a little something like this. I would get a bunch of vanilla ice-cream for the kids, because that is the best base for building flavors, and then lay out a whole bunch of toppings and syrups. After each kid builds their very own flavor filled concoction. We will then talk about why they chose the flavors they did. And why different is good. And the truth is different is good, because God made us all different. There may be things about us that are similar, just like there are toppings that were used that are similar but no one person, or ice-cream is exactly the same. We have an awesome, creative creator who made us all different and we can celebrate that.  And we can celebrate that he made us all creative too, even if it only extends to ice cream flavor creating.

Creatively Growing at The Grove!

Miss Megan