Kingdom Kidz | Grace Community Church

What flavor is your campus?

As Assistant Director of Kingdom Kidz Elementary, I have the opportunity to visit each campus on a regular basis and view the Kidz programming from a global perspective.  I've realized that each campus has it's own unique characeristic, it's own flavor.  

The difference in the programming from campus to campus can be contributed to several factors:  size of the campus, demographics, general volunteer enthusiasm...

For example, at OJ, most of the elementary Kidz attend Grace Community School and are hearing the Word all week long, therefore have to be challenged even more on Sunday mornings.  The shepherds there are mostly veterans in the Kingdom Kidz world.  I would say the OJ campus is a vanilla sundae with all the trimmings.

Athens is a simple cup of home made ice cream, and boy is it sweet! Those kidz are so happy to be there every week, soaking up the Word! And a big shout out to the Hughes who are their every sundae, I mean Sunday, shepherding the kidz!

What flavor is your campus? I really wanna know!

I can so take you on!

These are the words I heard yesterday morning from large group teacher Mark Reis at the University Boulevard Campus.  He was talking about a snowball fight. 

Yes, I had this crazy notion to create fake snow and then let the kidz have a snowball fight...inside.  This took place on all four campuses Sunday morning.  

I had reservations about this because I thought the shepherds would be less than thrilled about the idea, but the kidz...I'll let you decide how they felt about it...

Pie Jousting

In Kingdom Kidz Elementary, we are starting a new unit called "Kingdom Tales."  The kidz will be going back to the times of Knights and Ladies, tournaments and banquets to learn about the noble character of God.

We will learn life-changing truths through the Bible stories of leaders who changed their worlds.  Leaders like Gideon, Esther and Daniel to name a few.

The kidz will also be learning about other important things. Like Pie Jousting, for instance.  My vote is for Pumpkin Pie...

Stinky Shoe Offering

I never expected my five year old to grasp the concept of a child needing shoes in the way he did.  I explained to him that during the holidays the offering he gave in Kingdom Kidz would be used to buy shoes for children who needed them.  We went through the normal Q & A about who, where, how and why.  All the while I'm having to remind myself...he's five, questioning is his business. We wrapped up our conversation and much to my surprise he jumped into action.  What followed touched my heart as a parent and lover of those who have little.   

A Penny's Worth

By Mary Rossman

                                                       

Often as I am going through our house picking up the usual clutter that seems to appear daily, I find a penny or two. I usually consider its presence as clutter and treat it as such. When I have no pocket available to carry it I actually view it with annoyance because it is too much trouble to take the time to find my purse or a coin bank. I have been known to deposit a single penny in a waste basket – particularly if it is really soiled with dirt.

                                                      

Since our youngest granddaughter was small she has loved pennies and has valued them as a wonderful treasure. She never fails to announce her find when she discovers one. However she also never remembers to take them home, so the pennies remain to be found all over the house. While playing at our house recently she came to me with a handful of her treasured pennies and asked if there was something I could put them in. I glanced down at a near by table and saw a lovely small enameled bowl that had been given us by missionaries we support. I told her I thought that would be fine for her pennies. She admired the bowl, and placed her treasured pennies in it and showed it to everyone in the house.

 

                                                      

Since our youngest granddaughter was small she has loved pennies and has valued them as a wonderful treasure. She never fails to announce her find when she discovers one. However she also never remembers to take them home, so the pennies remain to be found all over the house. While playing at our house recently she came to me with a handful of her treasured pennies and asked if there was something I could put them in. I glanced down at a near by table and saw a lovely small enameled bowl that had been given us by missionaries we support. I told her I thought that would be fine for her pennies. She admired the bowl, and placed her treasured pennies in it and showed it to everyone in the house.

 

Destinations

Article By Myra Brandenburg

My husband loves to plan for vacation. In order to plan the trip we meet as a family and figure out the end-point or the destination. Then once we agree on where we’re going, he studies the road map and picks points along the path that will be interesting and out of the ordinary but still keeping our eye on the destination. When we get to the destination we celebrate!

I love this analogy because it is very critical for us in our spiritual walk to have a destination. How about you? Have you considered where you want to be spiritually in 1, 3, 5 years, or even your last days? What about your children? Have you thought about what destination they should be at when they turn 18 and are left to face the world as an adult? This way of thinking is life-changing because it removes all the gray areas. We can make decisions based on our destination.

A good example of this is in marriage. When you get married you don’t think “gee, in 10 years I want to be divorced”.  When you get married you promise to be with each other for the rest of your lives. How are you going to do that if you don’t make plans to work on your marriage?

A good example of this is in marriage. When you get married you don’t think “gee, in 10 years I want to be divorced”.  When you get married you promise to be with each other for the rest of your lives. How are you going to do that if you don’t make plans to work on your marriage?

Fun For The Whole Family

Article By Millie Tanner

Recently, my 5 year old twins were discussing different holidays. Luke stated that Jesus died and then walked out of the cave alive on Easter. I listened and laughed to myself. After agreeing with his brother, Jake told Luke that Jesus dressed himself as a baby on Christmas day. They both thought for a moment until one of them asked me, “Mom, if Jesus was born on Christmas and died then came back to life on Easter, what did Jesus do on Halloween?” Wow!

We moms have the overwhelming task of teaching our children the Bible in a way they can understand and grasp. As a mother of preschoolers, I am beginning to learn the importance of conveying abstract concepts in a concrete way. One way to do this is by establishing family traditions that provide young children hands on experiences. By incorporating activities during the Christmas season that are purposeful and intentional, we can help our children begin to understand our identity as a family as well as our traditions of faith.