11.24.2009

A fantastic way to give

I read a post today over here that I think is a FABULOUS idea families can use to give on the go. They make "sock lunches" to keep in their car and hand out to the homeless when they are out together as a family. What a great opportunity to share with your kids the importance of beautifying others and living a sent life!

Go check it out!

The Big Picture Story Bible


I have an item for your Christmas list to Grandma!

In January, we will be starting a lovely new series at Mosaic kids.

We're going to go through this book:

which I highly recommend for every household.

We're also taking some of the ideas from the lessons from here.
Thank you to Tony Kummer for posting these, they've been very helpful!

This series is super fun and we're looking forward to all the things we will learn about God's Story!

Pick up a copy so you can follow along at home!

Mexico Shoeboxes


Dear Mosaic Families-

Sunday we talked about giving with your kids! We have been learning about what it means to be the Church: The People of God. So far, we have discussed that God’s people BLESS, believe, meet, and obey. Today’s topic was: God’s people give, share and encourage. We also revisited this idea from last year.

I thought it would be helpful for our kids to have a practical way to participate in this aspect of being God’s people: Giving.

My good friend, Erin Blinn, is a Mission’s Pastor in Texas and has started a program which provides shoes for needy children in Reynosa, Mexico.

Mosaic Kids has signed up for two shoeboxes this year! We will be filling shoeboxes for a 7 year old boy and a 3 year old girl, who are siblings.

Your kids are encouraged to bring a little allowance money to help cover the cost of the shoes (which Mosaic will purchase), OR to go to the dollar store and pick out goodies for the child. We encourage you to pick out crayons, toothbrush and toothpaste, stickers, matchbox cars or anything else you can think of that would fit in a shoebox! Please bring these items back with you next Sunday, November 29th! We will ship them off to Mexico with Erin and her team to two children in Mexico.

After the trip, Erin and her team will have pictures and information for us about the children we were able to help!

We are very excited to partner in this program.

Here's a note from Erin:

Thank you for your willingness to help with our shoebox program! The little guy in the photo attached this note is Bryan. Last year when we met up with him to give him his shoes, the excited little guy marveled at the Spiderman shoes in his box. Whoever packed the box added some other 4-year-old appropriate goodies.

Bryan unpacked them with delight. Upon discovering a box of crayons in his shoebox, Bryan set the box down, took the crayons out and started dancing in the dusty dirt street shouting, "Colores, colores!" My team and I blinked back tears. Here's a little boy dancing over a box of crayons that you can buy at Wal-mart for $.20 during back-to-school.

This will be the fifth year Grace Vineyard, the church I work at, has participated in bringing shoes to the children of Vamos Tamaulipas, a low-income community in Reynosa, Mexico just south of McAllen, TX. Bryan's story perfectly captures why we take shoes: we believe God's love is practical and that sharing can be as simple as a box of shoes for a little one who might otherwise go without. The community's 520 kids will receive shoes this year, and Grace has committed to providing 300 pairs through our attendees and friends. Which is where you come in. :)

Here's how it works. In September, volunteers traced the feet of each child in the program and sent them to us. We then take the footprints and buy a pair of closed-toed shoes (athletic shoes are best) based on the tracing. The shoes are packed in a Rubbermaid shoebox, and the shoebox is stuffed with age-appropriate goodies (socks, toothbrush, toothpaste, matchbox cars, crayons, stickers, etc).

A team from Grace Vineyard then delivers the shoes door to door December 16-20.

It's pretty simple. It brings a lot of joy. I'd love for you to share in that joy.

And thanks for participating. After the trip I'll send you an update with photos so you can see how your gift affected a community. It's been incredible!!!

Thanks,

Erin

The 12 Disciples - UPDATE


We are still working on the names of the 12 disciples!

This past Sunday was a time crunch Sunday, so we ran out of time to hear everyone recite the 12 names. Some of your kids knew them and were so eager to share and they did a great job! Prizes and celebrations will be had this coming Sunday, November 29th!

Continue to work on them with your kids. It might even be worth a $.99 investment on itunes for a song that will help. Just type in "the 12 disciples", there are several options.

There's always the good old fashioned way of using Matthew Chapter 10 as well.

Good Luck!

11.18.2009

The Jesus Storybook Bible -Videos!



Check this out! There are videos available, with animations and dramatized readings of The Jesus Storybook Bible, on Sally Lloyd-Jones' blog. This has long been a favorite Story Bible at Mosaic Kids, and now you can listen and watch the stories together. There are only a few on there for now, but go check them out here.

11.10.2009

Mosaic in the evening???



If you haven't noticed, we have had a very full room on Sunday mornings! We are moving toward adding an evening Gathering in the near future, which you will be hearing about over the coming Sundays. This Gathering will also have a focus toward a church plant in the future. Exciting stuff! Our very own Aaron Walters is here in Bellingham as a church planter and is looking forward to getting to know some Mosaic folks who may have a heart to join him.

This brings with it some changes! We will be adding a kids program with the same ages and content to our evening Gathering. So, you will have your choice of when to attend, depending on what works for your family.

If you are currently a Mosaic Kids Volunteer, be thinking about when you would prefer to serve: Morning or evening? We will be dividing teams up accordingly.

Please be in prayer for us as we move toward this exciting new change.

Upcoming Weeks!

Sunday, Nov 15th - BEAUTIFY SUNDAY - Majestic, 10am
Sunday, Nov 22nd - THANKSGIVING BASKETS @ the Majestic - TEAM 4
Sunday, Nov 29th - Mosaic @ the Majestic - TEAM 1

Sunday, Dec 6th - Mosaic @ the Majestic - TEAM 2
Sunday, Dec 13th - Mosaic @ the Majestic - TEAM 3
Sunday, Dec 20th - BEAUTIFY SUNDAY - Majestic, 10am

Not sure what team you're on??? Find out here.

Who are the 12 Disciples??




We were talking this past Sunday about the disciples... how many were there? What were their names? I decided it would be fun to have our kids learn a bit more about them, so I issued a little challenge:

Learn the names of the 12 disciples and the next time we meet you will get a little surprise!

My goal is that we ALL learn them, so I will have Bibles out and work with your kids on the assigned Sunday (November 22nd)... so that everyone gets a special prize and some Biblical literacy too!

So, here's where you come in. Take some time over the next 2 weeks to learn the disciples names and learn what you can about who they were together with your kids. (Hint: Try Matthew 10)


image from here