This week - July 6th - Team 2

Ages 4-9

Jessika W
Charissa A
Brenna M
Betty S

Ages 2-3

Brett B
Katie B
Madison S

Babies

Adriana P
Ann M

See you at 9:15 am for set-up

image from: http://www.metro.co.uk

Neighborhood Kids

I just found the coolest website. I was on-line looking for the schedule for this summer's FairHaven Outdoor Cinema and I stumbled onto a site called Neighborhood Kids.

It's full of fun, local stuff to do. There are also articles written by Bellinghamsters.

The activites page lists the things that are actually happening today!!

So, next time you and your kids are wondering what to do this summer, check it out! And then give me a call because I'd love to go with you... seriously.

image from Neighborhood-Kids.com

Listen & Beautify

We had a GREAT night last night at Mosaic Kids. We're using John to teach the kids our Mosaic rhythms right now. (read more about the rhythms here.)

We started out learning hand motions to the 5 rhythms a few weeks ago. Ask your kids if they know them, because it's pretty neat to watch them say the rhythms and be excited by them!

So, last night, we read the story of Jesus healing the blind man in John 9. Then, I talked to the kids about how by doing this, Jesus brought beauty to this man's life! He allowed him to see the beautiful world, and grass, and his parent's faces for the first time. By healing his blindness, Jesus made this man's life so much more beautiful.

The Bible is a great way for us all to learn what God is like. In it, we see Jesus, who lives these five rhythms we have adopted at Mosaic. To quote my husband:

From the window of the rhythm of study we learn of the God who beautifies the outcast, listens to the lowly, eats with the sinner and sends the unexpected. The outcome would be that as we become better ‘studiers’ of God and his mission we become better ‘doers’ of that mission.

We did this last night with the children. We read about Jesus beautifying the life of the begging blind man, an outcast in his community. And as a response, we spent a few moments listening to God and asking him to show us a lonely, sad, or hurting person in our life, whose life we could make more beautiful. After listening, we made cards, flowers, notes, and other creations to give away. We talked about how we are to be like Jesus, and with His help we can light up the world (John 9:5), and bring beauty to those around us.

It was so precious to see the children listening to God, loving others and thoughtfully creating something to B.L.E.S.S. another.

If you weren't able to join us last night, this is something you could easily do together as a family. So, those of you who were there, make sure to chat with your kids and to help them deliver their beautiful creations. Those of you who missed us still have a chance to lead your children to love and follow Jesus in this way. A great way to verbalize what it means to "beautify" someone's life is: to do something good or nice that makes someone smile. What a great way to beautify someone's life together!

This Sunday - June 29th

This upcoming Sunday, we will be living out our Rhythms together. At Mosaic, we believe that we're not just to go to church, but to be the church together as a community.

Several opportunities on Sunday will be family friendly.

We will be joining up with RCC at their campus (2500 Alabama St) at 9:30 am to help them with a church service at Evergreen Rehab Center, and a neighborhood cleanup project in the Roosevelt neighborhood (families welcome!).

There are also several needs with the CHORE program. Several elderly or disabled people need yard work and house cleaning done. e-mail if you'd like to help!

We will be sending a group to the home of Layne and Kris Hutchins (Dale & Lori McMurtrey's brother & sister-in-law) from 8:30 am to 3:00 pm. Yard work, maintenance, etc. We need a couple of pick-up trucks for this project. E-mail Dale if you can help: dale59mc@msn.com.

Sean Humphrey House 9:00-11:00 am - Prepping a garden area for planting.

And, at 4:00 pm, even if you've participated in one of these events, you can join us at the Atkins' house for a BBQ. This is an opportunity to get to know Matt & Laura, as well as other families in the Mosaic Community. ....because we also believe in eating together. yum. (families welcome!)

image from www.kcb.org

Quote of the Week

"For anyone who says yes to Jesus
for anyone who believes what Jesus said
for anyone who will reach out & take it
Then God will give them this wonderful gift
to be born into a whole new life
to be made into who they really are
who God always wanted them to be-
their own true selves-
God's dear child."

-paraphrase of John 1:12-13
The Jesus Storybook Bible

Mosaic Mamas

Mosaic Moms are meeting again this Tuesday morning at Willow's house. e-mail for more info!

image from allposters.com

John 9 Chiastic Structure

This one isn't for the kids...

Johnny had mentioned that he noticed this structure in the passage and thought it was really interesting and proved that John was really going for something with the Pharisees. Then, I found this picture, so I thought I'd share.

More interesting John 9 thoughts here.

Borrowed from here.

VBS!

We have the opportunity to join up with Fountain Community Church's VBS this year. We are currently working on this as a team effort.

The tentative dates are July 21st-25th, with the program running from 9 am to 12 pm. All kids ages 3-12 are welcome.
So I want to know...

How many of you would be interested in sending your child to VBS?
Would you invite your neighbors?
Would you be willing to help at least one day?
Do you know some high school or college students who would be willing to help out?

Comment below, or e-mail me your response.

image from Adamcha on flickr.

Kids at Communion

We made a change in the schedule of our Gatherings recently at Mosaic. The kids have started heading downstairs about 30 minutes into the meal, with the older kids then returning upstairs for Communion and worship at the end of the Gathering. This change was made in response to some conversation over the length of the meal for kids. Several Mosaic-ers felt like the kids were done eating way too soon, and then chaos would ensue for the rest of the meal, making "building deep relationships," as our rhythms state, or just plain sanity for parents, a bit challenging. So, we decided to experiment.

Now, we'd love to know what you think:
Does it help with the chaos that was happening after kids were done eating? Do we like having the kids in for Communion? How do we feel about the age break? Is 4 too young to be coming back up?

Any feedback you could provide would be awesome. Comment away!

image from dstarcher on flickr.

This Week - June 22nd

Mosaic is gathering at the Majestic this week at 5 pm and we'll be chatting about John 9 with both kids and adults. See you then!

Praying the Psalms

My post the other day about this book got me thinking about Eugene Peterson's thoughts on the Psalms. Before he wrote The Message, Eugene Peterson was a Pastor... of a church plant, no less! He describes, in his introduction to the book of Psalms in The Message, how as a Pastor he was "charged with, among other things, teaching people to pray." He would frequently point them to the Psalms, and eventually he started paraphrasing them for people to use in prayer, leading to his now famous project of paraphrasing the Bible into what we know as The Message. What I love about Psalms for Young Children is that just as Eugene Peterson paraphrased the Psalms for adults to use in prayer, Marie-helen Delval has now done the same for children. This book is a great way to teach children to pray, using these Psalms written in words they can grasp.

Here are Eugene's thoughts on praying the Psalms:

"Faced with the prospect of conversation with a holy God who speaks worlds into being, it is not surprising that we have trouble. We feel awkward and out of place: 'I'm not good enough for this. I'll wait until I clean up my act and prove that I am a decent person.' Or we excuse ourselves on the grounds that our vocabulary is inadequate: 'Give me a few months - or years! - to practice prayers that are polished enough for such a sacred meeting. Then I won't feel so stuttery and ill at ease.'
My usual response when presented with these difficulties is to put the Psalms in a person's hand and say, 'Go home and pray these...
...Untutored, we tend to think that prayer is what good people do when they are doing their best. It is not. Inexperienced, we suppose that there must be an 'insider' language that must be acquired before God takes us seriously in prayer. There is not. Prayer is elemental, not advanced language. It is the means by which our language becomes honest, true, and personal in response to God. It is the means by which we get everything in our lives out in the open before God."

So, like I said, grab a copy of the book, and let's teach our kids to pray and to live lives of open communication before God.

image from _multifaceted on flickr.

Quote of the Week

"The soul is healed by being with children."

-Fyodor Dostoevsky

Buy This Book!

Many of you have taken heed of my book recommendations in the past. Allow me to add another. I have shared about this book with a few of you, but everyone needs to know! I can't say enough good things about it.

Psalms for Young Children by Marie Helen Delval, with illustrations by Arno.

It's only intro is this: "This selection of Psalms, paraphrased for young readers, uses language and imagery appropriate for children while remaining faithful to the spirit of the biblical texts."

It's true! These are Psalms rephrased for kids. But I love them for me, too! They are perfect to use as prayers, any time. They go through the range of emotions: fear, sadness, trust, hope, praise. You can find one to express whatever you are feeling. I recommend reading one together as a family for prayer time. There are some for bedtime, some for waking up in the morning, as well as Psalms of praise... perfect for mealtime.

Here's an example:

"God, you are good
and you forgive me.
You are full of love.
When I pray to you,
I know you will answer me;
I know you will show me
the right path to take.

Psalm 86"

and to top it all off, the illustrations awe awesome, as you can see from the cover shot above. I want to frame a few of these, Psalm and illustration, side by side.

So, order it today (click on my handy Amazon list to your right), or stop by Barnes and Noble to see if they have a copy (that's where I got mine!)

I'm loving this

http://bridge45.blogspot.com/

Now who wants to join me??

Father's Day @ Bloedel Donovan

This week - June 15th...

Mosaic is celebrating Father's Day together. We'll gather on Lake Whatcom at Bloedel Donovan at 5pm for a BBQ. Bring your own picnic meal, something to grill, frisbees, whiffle ball, and footballs. If you need directions, click here.

There will be a craft station set up for kids of all ages to make Father's Day *surprises*!

See you there!

image from Paint and Shoot on flickr.

Up Next - Team 1 - June 22nd

Ages 4-9

Delia B
Hilary E
Joanne S
David G
Matt & Elinor

Ages 2-3

Kelli G
Shaun P
Laura A

Babies
Hannah A
Andrea G

See you at 4:15 for set-up

image from: http://www.metro.co.uk