Yay, Jesus!

Worshipping with a sanctuary full of preschoolers is amazing! Those kids worship with their whole being and it is an incredible experience for me each and every week. I like to think I am teaching them, but to be completely honest, they are the ones doing the teaching.

This month, our preschoolers are learning that "Jesus will help me." We have heard incredible Bible stories of Jesus healing people. Today's story of healing had a powerful ending. I told the story of the 4 friends who brought their paralyzed friend to Jesus. As soon as I came to the part where Jesus healed the man, several of the kids shouted out "Yay, Jesus!" and began to clap. The rest of the kids broke out in an excited applause for Jesus, too! The expressions on their faces were priceless! They were beaming with excitement because Jesus helped this man just like Jesus had healed the blind man in our story last week, and the lepers the week before that. They have heard story after story of Jesus helping others and those sweet kids felt the need to celebrate!

God spoke to me through these precious kiddos today. I thought about all the things I need help with. I thought about all the things our kids need help with. Why is it that we always try to do things on our own? Why don't we ask God for help before we get to the end of our rope?

Our kids are going to need help many many times in their life. Wouldn't it be awesome if everytime our kids needed help, they went straight to Jesus?  The best way to make that happen is to talk to Jesus with your child about every need. Jesus, help me make wise choices. Jesus, please make my boo-boo better. Jesus, I need help with school. Celebrate each Jesus victory with your child and thank Jesus for healing boo-boos, for making sicknesses go away, etc...Helping your child understand that Jesus loves them and wants to help them with anything and everything will strengthen their relationship with Him.

The same Jesus who helped the people in our chapel stories is the same Jesus who wants to help us today and everyday.  I don't know about you, but that makes me want to clap and shout, "Yay, Jesus!"

Second Chances

I have loved all the feedback I have been getting from parents & kids this month regarding kindness. All the stories of how you guys were going crazy with kindness warmed my heart! I noticed a pattern in all of these wonderful examples of kindness. Most involved being kind to people that are EASY to be kind to. While being kind to people that are EASY to be kind to is great, what about the people that make being kind difficult?

There are some people in our lives that just rub us the wrong way. How do you feel about people that are just down right nasty & rude to you? How do you treat those people? More importantly, how does Jesus tell us to treat these people?


"Treat others the way you want to be treated." Luke 6:31 We have all learned this as kids and probably referred to it as The Golden Rule. Some of the kids were shocked to learn that The Golden Rule they learned at school actually came from Jesus! It is an easy rule to follow when people are nice to you. However, when someone doesn't treat you nicely, is it as easy to follow? What about those that have snubbed you time and time again?


Everyone deserves a second chance. That’s the crazy kind of kindness that God offers us: He’s the Master of second chances—and third and tenth and five hundredth chances. When God offered us salvation through Jesus, He performed the most extreme and unexpected act of kindness ever. Because God gives us a “second chance,” He wants us to do the same for others. He wants us to do for our enemies what they wouldn’t do for us.  When we do, there’s no telling what God will do in people’s hearts.

See ya at FX this Sunday as we discover a new virtue together!

Go CRAZY with Kindness

We went out to eat last Sunday after church. While we were waiting for our food to arrive, my son, Taylor, started talking about how much fun he had at FX: Family Experience. He took over the conversation and said, "Let's all tell our plan for how we are going to go CRAZY with kindness this month. Daddy, you go first. What are you going to do to show kindness this month?" My husband and I looked at each other and giggled but quickly realized that Taylor meant serious business! As we shared our thoughts sitting around the table at Cheddar's, I was feeling SUPER ORANGE! What a great feeling it was to sit around and talk about ways we could show kindness and treat others the way Jesus would treat them! Our family had an ORANGE moment and it was AWESOME! Even my sweet hubby, enjoyed our conversation and commented later that we needed to do that with Taylor more often! WOW!

I couldn't go to sleep that night because I couldn't help but wonder if other families had experienced similar conversations around their dinner tables. I saw parents updating their Facebook status this week with comments on how their kids were showing kindness and how their Krazy straws were starting some incredible conversations about ways they showed kindness and how people were kind to them. I was super excited to hear how other families were thinking ORANGE!

My challenge to you this week: Look for opportunities to start a conversation with your family about how they went CRAZY with Kindness. Surprise your kids by setting the table and putting their Krazy straws out. Use the straws as a way to get those converstations started! Encourage them to treat others the way they want to be treated! If you missed FX and would like some Krazy straws, stop by my office this Sunday. I will be happy to give you some Krazy straws to take home! If you're lucky, they might even be ORANGE! :)

Orange You Glad?

ORANGE you glad God made you special?
ORANGE you glad He loves you all the time no matter what?
ORANGE you glad???

Growing up as a fiery red-headed little girl, I never liked the color orange. People used to say I had "orange hair" and I always resented that. I never could wear orange things because it really looked bad with my hair! After marrying an Aggie, I quickly learned that orange was a despised color and one that we would never have in our house! It wasn't until 2009, that my deep LOVE for the color ORANGE grew...

What is so special about ORANGE? ORANGE is a strategy, a way of thinking. ORANGE is what you get when you combine Red & Yellow. Red symbolizes the love of a family. Yellow symbolizes the church & the light of Christ. When the church and the home combine their efforts and partner together to influence the next generation, ORANGE happens.

In his book, THINK ORANGE, Reggie Joiner says, "When you think Orange, you see how two combined influences make a greater impact than just two influences." The Church and Families partnering together to help kids discover a God who made them, loves them and wants to be their friend forever. What a HUGE concept!

It is my prayer, that families will become ORANGER than ever! When parents become engaged in what their kids are learning at church and the church is more intentional about equipping parents with tools & ideas to teach their kids at home...we will be living ORANGE!

Orange is contagious and I hope it spreads like wildfire!!