Thursday, July 31, 2014

Hello Parents! We hope you are all enjoying your summer so far! It's hard to believe that summer is almost coming to an end. We wanted to update you all on some events that will be coming up for the months ahead.

8/3
Fallout Shelter
This Sunday we will be wrapping up our 1st series, No Limits. The activity for the night will be a game called Fallout Shelter. For this large-group game, students will use all of the resources available to them to build a fall-out shelter to protect them in a water-balloon fight. Small groups will each work together to make the most of their limited supplies while finding creative ways to secure more protection. We are asking that you send the kids with a change of clothes as they will be getting wet. Wait, why are we doing this? Because it’s summer. It’s fun. And, it reinforces the idea that limits don’t define what you can do. At the beginning, the task may feel impossible. Garbage bags and tape? Are you kidding me? But give students a little time and they can come up with some really creative ways to move past their limitations. Maybe they’ll trade in all of their balloons to buy more defenses. Maybe they won’t even build a shelter, and they’ll just attack everyone first. Encourage them to be creative and brainstorm a strategy. When you do, you’ll build the relationship of the small group and open their minds to see past their limits when facing a big goal.
9/26-28
NYC Missions Trip
Some areas of service will include: serving in a soup kitchen/food pantry, serving meals to homeless people and delivering food to families/individuals that are in need. We will also be helping a local church with light maintenance. To end the weekend,we will be visiting Hillsong NYC church for an afternoon service. Cost is to be determined and fundraisers are being planned to help with the cost. We will provide you with more information when it is obtained.

10/12
Mazezilla @ Klingle Farm
Time: 6-9pm
Cost is $10 for entry
Flashlights will be needed

12/28
Progressive Christmas

Time: 12-9pm
A time of food, fun & fellowship! The youth will be visiting six different families that were preselected to serve a specific meal course. They will be served appetizers through dessert


Sometimes what we say and what our kids hear are two different things. Often, it’s hard
to know if they could use a little extra encouragement or a little less pressure. Try asking
your teenager if they’re pressured or encouraged by you. Use a scale of 1-10, with 1
being not enough encouragement and 10 being too much pressure. Now use the same
scale and evaluate yourself...do you encourage your teenager enough or pressure too
much?
Chances are you and your student will have different answers. That’s okay! Don’t let
it discourage you! Use it as a conversation starter. Afterward consider showing your
student how you answered. No need to make it a formal meeting. And, this doesn’t mean
that you have to give in when they say, “I want you to bug me less about my math grade”.
It simply shows them that you care what they think and it gives you both a way to get on
the same page as you move forward.


Here’s some great wisdom on how to give you kids worth and value without saying a word:
http://orangeparents.org/to-shine-my-face/

Thursday, July 3, 2014

No Limits

When you were little, what did you dream about becoming? An astronaut? A ballerina? A professional wrestler? Whatever it was, chances are it was something that you felt was important. Something big. That’s the thing about little kids— they dream big because no one has told them that they can’t do something yet. They literally have no limits. But it’s different when we get older, isn’t it? In middle school and high school we start to see the areas we lack for the first time. We’re not the most popular or influential. We aren’t the most talented. And eventually we start to wonder if we can ever do or be anything significant. The big-dreaming days of our childhood feel long gone under the weight of our all-too-limiting reality. That’s exactly what happened in the life of a guy named Moses. With a tough past and not many real skills, he had no reason to believe that his life would be used do anything extraordinary. But after a few encounters with God, Moses’ perspective changed completely. He found that, with God, there is no limit to what you can do.