In Christ Alone

by Mollie

  Do you have a song? That one worship song that captures your attention no matter what you are feeling that day? Even if you are late, grumpy, your kids spilled breakfast on you, and you have a list of chores a mile long...this song lifts you up.

 "In Christ Alone" is that song for me.  Every time I hear it sung it bring chills up and down my body.  The lyrics are powerful.

Take a minute and worship. You know you want to (wink, wink)

 What's your favorite song?  Leave a comment and tell me!

Blessings,

If - Then

by Mollie

The promises in the Bible are good. Like really good.  God promises all sorts of good things that would seem PERFECT in our lives RIGHT NOW.  So often I forget the first part of those verses: the "if"

Isaiah 58:9-11 says.

  "you will call, and the LORD will answer;

   you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I.

   IF you do away with the yoke of oppression,

   with the pointing finger and malicious talk, 

and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed,

then your light will rise in the darkness, and your night will become like the noonday. 

The LORD will guide you always;  he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land and will strengthen your frame. 

You will be like a well-watered garden,  like a spring whose waters never fail."

 My friend, Holly, brought this verse to my attention and I really like the last part. "a well-watered garden"  Peaceful, lush, serene... are you picturing it with me?!?

Its the "IF" in those verses that are gonna get me. 

  The Message puts it like this:

  What I'm interested in seeing you do is: 

   sharing your food with the hungry, 

   inviting the homeless poor into your homes, 

   putting clothes on the shivering ill-clad, 

   being available to your own families.

Do this and the lights will turn on, 

   and your lives will turn around at once.

Your righteousness will pave your way. 

   The God of glory will secure your passage.

Then when you pray, God will answer. 

   You'll call out for help and I'll say, 'Here I am.'

God is good and He continually blesses us more than we could ever expect, but some of those promises have an "if"  

Things I should already be doing...  

I hope you and your family have a fantastic week!

Blessings,

  

Changing Times...

by Mollie

   We have an incredible staff here at GVC.  I am really blessed by a lot of these people, but nothing is better than our staff meetings.  We get the privilege of doing a devotional together at the beginning and I am always challenged.

 This month our Jr. High Director, Andrew, did a devotional about how God doesn't change.

  Its a simple concept on the surface, God doesn't change.  Then you start to think about all the things that do change: the weather, kids, family dynamics, routines, seasons, etc. God stays consistent through all of it.

  I have a routine with my girls.  We get up at the same time everyday, eat our meals around the same time, take naps, etc.  When we are off our "schedule" they are grumpy and it makes things difficult.  My girls are comforted by consistency.  Don't you think that rings true about our relationship with God?  God is consistent, He is our comforter.

"Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows."  James 1:17


p.s.  our staff is also pretty cool too... we played around the world ping pong after the meeting! 

Blessings,

New Years Resolutions

by Mollie

 ** We are taking a quick break from the prayer lists to celebrate the new year!

 I hope that you and your families has a spectacular new year!  I know I stayed up way too late, but it was SUPER fun!  Our family had a super competitive game of Cranium going on, HYSTERICAL!!

  Ronnie and I don't typically set resolutions but this year we decided to bite the bullet and do it.  We each set individual resolutions.  Both of us are going to try to be more disciplined: with devotionals, working out, eating healthy, etc.  We also set a family resolution: we decided to do one generous act each month for the entire year.  This is going to span from making lunches, doing someones yard, helping someone move, etc.  This month we decided to go and visit one of the elderly homes in Rancho Bernardo, we are going to take the kiddos and just go spend some time visiting and chatting.  I'm really excited to see how these acts are going to influence our family and our girls.

  I also set a couple resolutions for the GVC kids ministry.  Here they are:

 #1:  That this ministry would be family based.  Through Sunday School and other events, we (staff) would be able to empower and equip parents to have spiritual conversations at home with their kiddos.

#2:  This blog would serve as a tool for families to relate and connect with one another.  Please follow and leave comments.  I want to hear what is going on with your families and I know everyone else does too!

  I can't wait to start this new year, I KNOW God has big things in store!

Blessings,

 

# 21 - 25

by Mollie

 We are almost through all 30 of the ways to pray over your kiddos.  Last week, #20 was compassion.  It kind of piggy backs the idea of generosity and was really cool to pray over Zoie & Pennie.  I am in the process of cleaning out our garage (big STINK!) but hopefully we can be generous with the things that we no longer use!

  On to the task at hand:

 #21: Responsibility. "Grant that they may learn responsibility, 'for each of you should carry your own load'" (Gal 6:5)

 #22: Contentment. "Father, teach them 'the secret of being content in any and every situation...through him who gives [them] good strength" (Phil 4:12-13)

 #23: Faith. "I pray that faith will find root and grow in my children's hearts, that by faith they may gain what has been promised to them" (Luke 17:5-6, Heb 11:1-40)

 #24:  A servant heart, "God, please help them develop servant hearts, that they may serve wholeheartedly, 'as if [they] were serving the Lord, not people" (Eph 6:7)

 #25: Hope. "May the God of hope grant that they may overflow with hope and hopefulness by the power of the Holy Spirit" (Rom 15:13)

 Hope you have a great week getting ready for Christmas!

Blessings,

#16-20 of Praying for your child

by Mollie

   Last week #15 was about generosity.  That is something that is really hitting home with my family.  Almost 4 years ago Ronnie and I lost our home in a fire. Not the San Diego fires, but an apartment fire in Costa Mesa.  To top it off it was the day of our 1st wedding anniversary.




   There was a 15 yr old kid who left a lamp turned over on the bed.  It got to hot and started the fire.  Ronnie and I got out with our lives and the clothes on our back.  We moved in that night with my in-laws here in San Diego and started rebuilding our lives.  The people at GVC blessed us tremendously, they blessed us with clothing, furniture, appliances, everything. They were generous.

  That is something that Ronnie and I are seeking to teach our girls.  To be generous with our time and our resources.  Watoto taught me that.  I blogged about it on Monday, click HERE.  I think it is SO important to pray that over our children, I want their lives to be a blessing.

Here are numbers 16 - 20

 #16:  Peace, peaceability. "Father, may they 'make every effort to do what leads to peace" (Rom 14:19)

 #17: Joy. "May they be filled 'with joy given by the Holy Spirit" (1 Thess 1:6)

 #18: Perseverance.  "Lord, teach them perseverance in all they do, and help them especially to 'run with perseverance the race marked out for {them}" (Heb 12:1)

 #19:  Humility.  "God, please cultivate in my children the ability to 'show true humility toward all" (Titus 3:2)

 #20: Compassion. "Lord, please clothe them with the virtue of compassion" (Col 3:12)


   I would LOVE to hear if you and your family are participating in these prayers.  Just leave a comment here or email me (mollie@greenvalleychurch.com)

  THIS FRIDAY is Family Caroling!  There will be a post tomorrow about it OR click on the left sidebar to find out more info.. Hope to see you there!

Blessings,

 

More ways to Pray

by Mollie

    I hope that you are having a fantastic week.  I know that our Christmas tree is up, our lights are up (thanks honey!), and we have been enjoying Christmas movies almost nightly. I'm a little over "Prep & Landing" at this point, but Zoie LOVES it so it will continue!

   In my previous post about prayer I covered the first 10 ways to pray for your children.  If you didn't catch those click HERE

   I hope that you are already seeing a difference in the way you are praying for your kiddos and its starting to bless your family.  Here are numbers 11-15.

  #11:  Faithfulness. "Let love and faithfulness never leave {them},' but bind these twin virtues around their necks and write them on the tablet of their hearts" (Prov 3:3)

 #12: Courage.  "May they always 'be strong and courageous' in their character and in their action" (Deut 3:16)

 #13: Purity.  "Create in [them] a pure heart, O God,' and let their purity of heart be shown in their actions" (Ps 51:10)

 #14: Kindness. "Lord, may they 'always try to be kind to each other and to everyone else" (1 Thess 5:15)

 #15: Generosity. "Grant that they may 'be generous and willing to share [and so] lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age" (1 Tim 6:18-19)


 The author, Bob Hostetler, end the article saying this: "I discovered an additional benefit: as I prayed with my children each night, the Lord brought to mid the quality I'd prayed for that morning, and I would repeat my request in their hearing.  Before long, they began to echo my praying and pour out their own hearts in prayer for the very virtues I desired to see in them.  Thus, my simple prayer program changed not only how I pray, but also how my children pray...and, by God's grace, how they live as well."

  I hope you and your family have a very blessed week!

The Power of Prayer

by Mollie

  Welcome to GVC kids ministry blog!!  I am thrilled that you are here, make sure you follow the blog or sign up to have the posts delivered to your inbox so that you are up on the latest things happening here in Kids Ministry!

Check out the links on the left side of the blog for our upcoming events!

 I hope that all of you are recovering from Thanksgiving and gearing up for Christmas!  Last week I sent out an email about the power of prayer and praying for our kids.  Nicole, our new co-director, gave me an article titled "31 Ways to Pray for Your Children" and it has been great! I shared that first 5 with you last week.  Quick recap..
 
    The author, Bob Hostetler, said "Each day of the month, in addition to praying for their safety ad for the concerns of that day, I also ask God to plant and nurture in them a specific character trait, virtue, or fruit of the Spirit, through my and my wife's efforts, through the influence of others, and through their own actions and decisions."

  The first 5 are:

  #1: Salvation. "Lord, let salvation spring up within them, that they may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus, with eternal glory" (Isa 45:8, 2 Tim 2:10)

 #2: Growth in grace: "I pray that they may 'grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ." (2 Peter 3:18)

 #3: Love. "Grant, Lord, that my children may learn to 'live a life of love,' through the Spirit who dwells in them" (Eph 5:2, Gal 5:22)

 #4: Honest and Integrity. "May integrity and honesty be their virtue and their protection" (Ps 25:21)

 #5: Self-control. "Father, help them to be 'alert and self-controlled' in all they do" (1 Thess 5:6)


   I don't know about you, but praying those five things for my children really challenged me.  Beyond the fact that I want my children to have these five qualities in their life and I can PRAY for these things to come about, my children need an example. I SHOULD BE THAT EXAMPLE.  I think when I realized that in its entirety my stomach hit the floor, and then my knees.  I need to be dousing my children with prayer and the protection of the Holy Spirit AND praying these things to be true in my husband and my life as well.

  Here are your next 5:

 #6: A love for God's Word. "May they grow to find your Word 'more precious than gold, than much pure gold; [and] sweeter than honey, than honey from the comb" (Ps 19:10)

 #7: Justice. "God, help them to love justice as you do and 'act justly' in all they do" (Ps 11:7, Micah 6:8)

 #8: Mercy.  "May they always 'be merciful,, as [their] Father is merciful" (Luke 6:36)

 #9: Respect (for self, others, and authority).  "Father, grant that they may 'show proper respect to everyone,' as your Word commands" (1 Pet 2:17a)

#10: Strong, biblical self-esteem. "help them to develop a strong self-esteem that is rooted in the realization that they are 'God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus" (Eph 2:10)

  I hope that you find the opportunity this week to pray these specific prayers over your kiddos, it will bless YOU more than you know.

Blessings,