Awana Family Night

In Awana this week we focused on the Easter Story. The parents and siblings were invited to join us for the night. There were about six stations set up to teach the kids about Easter and the salvation message. This is the presentation that Zachary and Ruth did.

Pajama Night

Tonight was pajama night at Awana. (We were all supposed to be yawning in the picture. I guess Titus yawns with his tongue out.) Well we all headed out for our pajama night but things sure changed quickly. We had a snowy day and the roads were quite slick. We headed off to the next town where our Awana club is. I takes about 17 minutes (in good driving conditions) to get there. It was slow going but we were making good progress. We all of a sudden came to a road block. There was a firetruck blocking the highway. A fireman stopped us telling us that there was a bad accident and that the road was closed. He told us that we needed to take a side road around the accident. I asked the fireman how the side road was as the side roads are the last to get plowed. He said , "Just fo slow." So we started down one side road and then had to turn on another. We don't have our snow tires on the car yet and the road was incredibly icy. We were going down a bit of a hill and our car slide off the road. Ruth and Titus got out to help push us back on the road. It looked a bit funny since the kids had their pajamas on. Instead of a coat Ruth was wearing her bathrobe. A man stopped to help us out and we were good to go. But I knew that it was time to head home. So it was very unfortunate we weren't able to enjoy Pajama Night with our Cubbies but we were VERY thankful to make it home safe and sound.

Cubbie Dress Up Day

Tonight at Cubbies we had a dress up night in which the kids were supposed to dress up as an animal on Noah's Ark or as a Bible character. It was a busy afternoon and so we only had about ten minutes to try to come up with some thing. Ruth dressed up as the Bible character, "Ruth", Titus dressed up as an Israelite, and I dressed up as a mouse. A lot of our Cubbies dressed up and they were so cute. We had a couple of elephants, three tigers, a lady bug, a pig, a horse, a unicorn, turtle, lamb, a horse, and a giraffe.

Awana Kickoff

Last night was our first night of Cubbies for the new school year. I am once again heading up the Cubbies program. We have an addition to our team. Titus is now finished with the Awana program so he is a helper and we sure appreciated his help. Ruth is a leader again this year and she does a fantastic job. Teresa is also a leader again this year although last night she was sick and couldn't make it. We had 13 Cubbies and we have four children on the waiting list to get in. We will need another leader before we can take more children in our group. It looks like it will be another good year and the children were excited for club to be starting up. I got saved through the Awana program and so it is some thing I am really enjoy being involved in as I know what a difference it made in my life.

Team Work

Last night was the last night of Awana until September. When I was asked in August to start a Cubbies club at our church I felt a bit overwhelmed with the responsibility. As I prayed about it, I was was willing, but I knew I could not run a club on my own. These are my two faithful and dedicated leaders who were such a HUGE help in the Cubbies club this year. They gave 100% of themselves at Club and they were a blessing to me as well as all our little Cubbies. Thanks Theresa and Ruth for being a shining light to these little one!

Timothy for Titus

Tonight was our last official night of Awana clubs for the year. Next week we will end club with a family picnic. Titus is in the club called T & T (Truth and Training). A big part of Awana is memorizing the Word of God. Titus received a Timothy Award tonight in recognition for him completing four Awana books. We are proud of him and all of his hard work. We just pray that Titus will continue to walk with the Lord and grow in the knowledge of him. This is the last year for Titus to be in the Awana program but I already have a spot for him next year helping me out in the Cubbies program. (smile)

Flash Light Night

This past Thursday night for Cubbies we decided to make it a special event night so we had "Flashlight Night". We tried to do as much of the evening as possible in the dark so the Cubbies could use their flashlights. I went out to the dollar store and bought glow in the dark necklaces for all the Cubbies and leaders. So as each child came in we gave them a glow in the dark necklace. They really enjoyed singing "This Little Light of Mine" with all the lights turned off and as they shined their flashlights around the room as they sang. I also bought a couple of packages of glow in the dark stars. When Ruth and I got there we hid the glow in the dark stars all over the church. Our Cubbies room is decorated in a jungle theme so there are stuffed animal snakes, gorillas, monkeys and other animals. So for our game time we went on a safari (in the dark of course) looking for animals we could put in our zoo. And we also went star gazing and collected all the stars we could find. Then we ended the night with all the lights off and played a game of "I Spy with My Little Eye". The night was a success and I would not have been surprised if some of the kids went to bed holding their flashlights. (smile)

We are Awana Cubbies

Every Thursday, Ruth, Titus and I head to a youth program at our church called Awana. This is a program that is very close to my heart since I was saved through the Awana program. I have worked in Awana as a leader several years before we went to the mission field, on furloughs, and now for the past four years. I have two great leaders working with me, one is my daughter Ruth and another one is a dear lady, Theresa. The program we are working with is called: Cubbies and the children are 3-5 year olds. We have a lot of fun with our Cubbie each week. It is such a privilege to work with these children and to be a part of laying a foundation of who God is. During our Bible time I have been teaching through a book called "The Lamb" by John Cross. It lays out the gospel story in such a beautiful way. It has been so neat to see these precious little ones begin to grasp Biblical truths. How thankful I am for those people in my life who came along side me and were a part of directing me to Christ!