AWANA Awards Night

I am so proud of my kids for doing their best this year in AWANA and completing their 1st books in Cubbies and Sparks. We placed Candice in Cubbies this year, she was technically a little too young, but has an easy time with adjustments and a mature understanding of sitting still, participating and learning the Bible stories and verses. So we thought it best to go ahead with it. There were some other kids her age who went in the same time, but the program seemed a little difficult for them. Our church then decided to add the Puggles program. This is for the 2 year olds and gives them the stories and Bible in a much simpler form with alot more parental interactions. Great Program, though we-along with her teachers- did not feel that Candice needed to be moved backwards-so she stayed in Cubbies. She pushed through and learned all her verses. I think her favorite is "He is not here, for He is risen." And of course she loves to tell the story that goes with that verse of Jesus being raised from the dead. She recieved her Cubbie pin and a certificate! Way to go Candice! Now if we can just work on more application of all that stuff!

Clayton also finished his first book in Sparks. Sparks is starting a new curriculum for Sparks, so this was all new to the leaders. I like these better because there is a lot of character biographies and more application of Scripture-which i think is very important at this age! Clayton loves Sparks, and he really looks up to the older kids-he is always saying how he can't wait to go in T&T! This year gave him a few challenges with some of the verses because there were more verses put together and no shortening of them. (which again i am all for!) He did great though, participated well, and learned alot! Way to go Clayton! Clayton earned his First Book Ribbon!

This last picture is of me speaking in front of the church about Sparks and the need for more willing workers. If you have AWANA in your church, you may think -"oh they have enough help" or "what can I do-I am not a teacher"--My plea is this. These kids NEED all the Scripture in them they can get from people that just plain care about their spiritual life. You don't have to know much-you need to know how to read, so you can follow along to the verses theya re saying, and you need to know how to be an encourager! God will prepare you for some other job if He wants you there and you are a willing soldier in His army! By the middle of the year, i will admit that it get tiring, but those are the nights you pray even harder for the kids and thier each unique situations. And those are the nights that God speaks to you and gives you a blessing by seeing something happen for Him that night! I have the priveledge of teaching the Bible Study time for Sparks (K-2nd graders). There are several kids who ride the bus to get there-they come from non-Christian homes many of them! When they hear that someone loves them just because they are who they are, thier eyes light up! When they hear that Christ died for their sins because He loved them that much, thier eyes light up and they listen. When they hear that Christ is not dead, He is VERY ALIVE in heaven-thier eyes light up-they want to kow more about Him! Those are the nights that I absolutely LOVE what I do! There is usually one kid that for some reason will stick out to me each year-maybe they need extra help, or they have a heart to know God better-this year there was one child, who no matter how much you talked about God to him, he wanted to hear more. That boy did not get saved this year that i am aware of, but i pray for his soul. He is being worked on by the Holy Spirit and I have faith that he will soon come to the knowledge of God's saving grace! If you have never heard of AWANA, check out www.awana.org