Children

VBS

/ The Pastor / 2 Comments

VBS (Vacation Bible School) is almost upon us here at Salem Lutheran Church.  Our coordinator has been hard at work for a few weeks now.   It is fun to see her excitement and energy as July 20 fast approaches.  And if you want evidence of Emily’s excitement just walk through the lower level of Salem and see the decorations…it looks like a swamp…very fun.  Right now we have 30 pre-school kids registered with more expected to just show up on Monday morning.  I am in charge of the Bible story each day which I am looking forward to with much excitement.

In the afternoons we have a VBS style program (or daycamp) going on for our K – 6 graders with Shetek Lutheran Ministries.  Salem is hosting the pre-school VBS and our ELCA neighbors down the street is hosting the daycamp program.  Daycamp has about 55 kids registered. All in all it is going to be a fun week.

My dream and goal for next year is to get most if not all the churches together in Jackson to put on a VBS program together.  There is so much we can do if we combine our resources, gifts and talents together without having to re-create the wheel (which we seem to be doing this year).  Salem, Our Savior’s and Belmont Lutheran Churches are together this year but I envision a much greater ecumenical partnership in 2010.

So here’s to VBS:  lots of energetic pre-schoolers…cool aid…games outside…crafts…singing…Bible stories…and hopefully some seeds planted.  Thank you to our volunteers, parents, and congregations for your support, time and committment.

So here’s to VBS and the Holy Spirit working in the lives of our kids.

Praise be to God!

-edh-

Spark Story Bible

/ The Pastor / 4 Comments

Story Bible

At the risk of sounding like an Augsburg Fortress commercial I wanted to highlight this story Bible that I came across.  This Bible is geared towards age 2 through grade 2 kids and contains 150 Bible stories. It has great color pictures, stories that are short and each have a question or an action statement; something to help the kids think more about the story.

After buying one copy to look at I bought another 10.  So far two people have come in to buy one and others said they are also interested.  I may need to buy more.  There is also a Spark Bible geared towards grade 3 through grade 6 students.  And all of this is part of the Spark Sunday school curriculum.

My plan is to read out of this story Bible on Sundays for the children’s message (trying to coordinate with the Gospel text)  and also to give one to parents who have their children baptized here.  I have been trying to encourage people to get into the Bible more so let’s start them young.

My point here is not to give Augsburg Fortress free advertising but rather to highlight a resource for getting kids into the Bible.  One of my fondest memories took place one Sunday morning.  One of my 3 year olds came into the narthex before worship and was carrying a couple books.  She ran up to me to show me and the first one she showed me was her new Bible.  She was pretty excited and proud of her Bible.  Now…what pastor is not going to get excited about that.

I hope more kids will develop a love for scripture early and keep scripture as a huge part of their lives as they grow up, but it all begins with the family.

-edh-

Pictures from children

/ The Pastor

My wife and I don’t have any children (yet…but who knows…God willing someday) so we don’t have art work from children gracing our refrigerator.  But recently a couple of my Sunday school kids have been giving me some artwork.  Below are two pictures I received last night at Wednesday Night Live( Sunday school).  As I receive these pictures they get taped to my office door…

img160

(from Olivia)
img161

(from Ella)

…And I tell you something (and you parents out there probably can relate to this) it is such a wonderful feeling to receive something from a child that you know they put their heart and soul into.  These two little girls were so excited to give me these pictures that it melted my heart.  I have others on my door from other children that mean just as much to me.

I don’t have much of a theological reflection of this other than to say that as a pastor I am so excited to have developed relationships with these kids (and others).  I hope I can use these relationships to be a positive influence in their lives…supporting what their families are doing.

I thank God everyday for this congregation and for the children.  They have a powerful way of warming my heart.

Praise be to God!

-edh-

…and she sucked my thumb

/ The Pastor / 6 Comments

One of the things I enjoy about the congregations I serve are the children.  On the Sundays when there are a number of kids in worship it can become quite a zoo, but I don’t mind.  One particular 3 year old likes to explore the sanctuary…during worship.  His mom usually has a horrified look on her face when she chases him down; thinking I am going to get mad, but I never do.  One little girl used to stand on the pew during the offering; holding a dollar bill and yell “Eric…I got your money!”  One Sunday, when I was preaching from the floor with a music stand, the little boy that likes to explore the sanctuary decided he wanted a better view.  He came down the center aisle and stood right in front of me; looking and listening (Try to stay focused during a sermon with that).

But this past Sunday a very cute moment took place for me.  We were down stairs enjoying another magnificent Salem Lutheran Church potluck.  I was sitting at a table with a friend of ours (a member at Salem) who has a six month old little girl.  She was born about 5 weeks early and I can remember being very nervous holding her after she was born.  She was so tiny.  But now Chloe is getting bigger.  Anyway…this past Sunday Chloe was in a very good mood; smiling at everyone (I hope she stays that cute).  After I finished eating I got my opportunity to hold Chloe.  In the process of holding her apparently my thumb got a little too close to her mouth.  Just then she grabbed my thumb with her two tiny hands…and she sucked my thumb.  Actually she was gumming it.  I thought that was the cutest thing ever.  I would pull my thumb away and she would grab it again and suck on it.  Everyone around laughed.  Maybe I had some left over hot dish on my thumb…I don’t know, but it was a moment I will cherish.  If I am here long enough to have Chloe in Release Time or Confirmation I look forward to embarrassing her with that story.

I know some people are annoyed when children “disrupt” worship but if there are no “disruptions” in worship then there is no children.  If there are no children…well…you do the math.  I cherish “disruptions” and thumb sucking moments with children.  It reminds me that we are to have the faith of children; freely expressing oneself without worrying about what people are thinking about you.

What if WE actually lived our faith like children…free and without worry?  Hmmm…

-edh-

Freedom!!!

/ The Pastor / 7 Comments

Img056 This is a scene depicting 54 old car seats from a car seat clinic my wife organized.  I titled this "Freedom!!!" because these have been in our garage for some time and now I am free of these plastic shells.  Today is citywide clean-up so that is why they are sitting on the curb.

But in all seriousness, this is the second year my wife has done this.  She is a certified car seat tech and has a passion for child safety.  This scene of 54 old car seats means there are 54 more children that are riding in safe car seats now.  It is a lot of work for her (and for me for that matter), but it is all worth it.

Freedom…Yes…but safe kids…even better.

[I am hoping this makes up for the burnt wooden spoon picture :)]

-edh-

LATE ADDITION:  When I posted this earlier today I failed to mention and give some credit to my sister who came down from the cities to help with one of these clinics.  Julie is also a car seat tech.  Connie and I were both very grateful she could come.  Plus we got to spend some quality time togther (which includes time with my cute little niece).

Monday morning check in (on Wednesday)

/ The Pastor / 3 Comments

I can’t believe I made it to Wednesday before realizing I did not post my "Monday morning check in".  I guess I am not quite back into my routine yet.  Oh well…here it is anyway…

On Monday evening, Connie and I went to a presentation titled "Are we creating a culture of disrespect".  The speaker (I can’t remember his name off hand right now) was from The National Institute on Media and the Family (Please check out their website – www.mediawise.org – They have tons of great resources for parents and anyone who works and cares for children). Our speaker talked about media’s influence on our children; positive and negative (but mostly the negative).  Even though I was aware of the media’s negative impact on children I was still blown away by some of the facts.  He said that on average children spend about 1/2 hour per week with their fathers; 2 1/2 hours a week with their mothers and (now get this) 40+ hours per week on TV, non-school computer use and video games (that’s a full time job).  It really made Connie and me sad.  Then he showed a video of an experiment that was done 10 years ago and then again recently.  They video taped a group of daycare children watching an episode of Barney.  The children were calm and responsive to the show and afterward played peacefully together.  Then they watched an episode of Power Rangers.  The children got a lot more loud and active.  Afterward they got a little more violent with each as they played; mimicking the actions of their favorite Power Ranger.  Even some fights broke out.  Once again…very sad.  Now imagine what violent video games can do.

One of the driving reasons for media’s increased impact and influence is that we live in a culture where the question "Does it make money?" is asked.  It is no longer, "Is this safe for our children".  Obviously something needs to be done and it has to start in the home.  Parents who watched their children in the daycare experience were shocked and disappointed that their children would act that way after watching Power Rangers (or any show like that).  They simply had no clue.  Media makes a great babysitter so I would guess that makes it easier to turn the other way (I know this is easy for me to say…not being a parent and all).

There is a lot more to this presentation but I will let you get some more information yourself by visiting www.mediawise.org.  As a pastor I am considering how I can be a positive influence and what the Church can and should be doing to help parents and familes.  I think the Church needs to research this more and consider how it can get this message out to our families.  Children are at a critical stage of mental development and we can’t let media influence that development.  We need to take a stand.  And what is even more scary is the rate of technology growth and advancement.  Staying ahead is not going to be easy.

Anyway…that is my rant for now.  What do you think about media and our children?  What should we be doing as a Church or what are you currently doing?

Thanks for "listening" and have a very blessed day.  Take care.
-edh-

Monday morning check in

/ The Pastor / 3 Comments

Greetings on this lovely Monday morning!

Finally…
After long last I finally got my yard done.  I have been staring at my long grass and abundant leaves for a couple weeks now wondering when I was going to get some nice weather and time to clean up my yard.  I never seemed to get those two parts of the equation at the same time.  Well…Sunday was a beautiful day and I barely had enough time.  I borrowed a riding lawn mower with a bagger and finished the yard.  I looks great and I feel much better.  The problem is I think I cut my grass way too short.  That could be a problem later.  Oh well…my yard looks nice so I am going to enjoy it for the time being.

A visit
I had one of those nice visits yesterday.  While I was on the lawn mower I saw someone pulling into the church parking lot…obviously looking for me.  I stopped to chat.  It turned out that he just wanted to explain to me why he hasn’t been in church the last few weeks.  It turned out to be medical reasons.  He is doing fine but it got me thinking:  I wish more people felt this sense of duty to be in worship; not because they HAD to be there, but because they wanted to be there to praise God.  Also:  I wish more people felt this calling to talk to people who have been absent and check in with them, "We’ve missed you in worship recently".  Wouldn’t that be nice?

Disturbing movie
I am usually not one to pass on email forwards or pay much attention to them, but I thought this was worthy to pass on to you.  There is a movie coming out that everyone needs to be aware of, especially if you work with children or care about children at all.  The movie is called The Golden Compass.  This movie is based on a series of children’s books with anti-religious themes.  Actually, the author talks about killing God.  The worry is that children will enjoy the movie so much that they will want to read the book series.  Please follow the above link to learn more so we can collectively protect our children.  This is indeed very disturbing.

Web site
Thank you for the comments I received for the new web site we are working on for Salem (www.salemjackson.org).  The site is still a work in progress but it is coming along quite nicely.  If you think of any other suggestions please let me know.  As a visitor what information would you like to see.  What needs to be improved or communicated more effectively?

Personal stewardship update
I finally reached the 20 pound mark in my weight loss.  I had been stuck at 17 to 18 pounds for a while.  I still have another 10 pounds to go to reach my first goal.  I hope to reach that by the end of the year, but with Thanksgiving and Christmas approaching, that might be difficult.

Thank you (as always) for stopping by.  God bless you today and everyday as you live out the promises given to you in baptism.

-edh-

"…weeping may last for the night, but joy comes with the morning…" (Psalm 30)

The joy of September

/ The Pastor / 11 Comments

Well…the joy of September is here.  As always, the second Wednesday of the month from September through May is always the busiest for me.  Thankfully I did a ton of prep work yesterday so I am ready to go.  At 12noon we have our ministerial meeting.  I am beginning my second term as president and third term as treasurer and second term as secretary.  Basically I am the "king" of the Jackson County ministerial.  Scary I know, but no one else will do it…so I am it.  The other part of the reason I continue serving the ministerial in this capacity is because the other pastors have told me that the community now knows who the contact person is and it is easier to keep the same person instead of changing every year.  As long as they want me to serve in this way I will continue and if someone else steps forward I will gladly turn over the reigns.  Until then I wonder if I should have people call me, "Your Majesty" 🙂

Anyway…allow me to continue if you are done laughing at me…at 2pm Release Time begins.  On Wednesdays the schools "release" the 3rd through 5th graders (who have registered) to go to their respective churches for an hour of Bible class.  This year I have 3 third graders and 2 fourth graders (these two kids are not from Salem).  It should be a lot of fun.

Starting in 2 weeks (but not today) I will have confirmation at 3:30pm until 4:30.  So I will have a 1/2 hour break between Release Time and confirmation.  Today at 6:30 I have an Endowment committee meeting and then at 7pm the Deacons meet with the church council meeting at 7:30pm.  I should be ready plop down on my couch at around 9:30pm (if all goes well).

WELCOME TO SEPTEMBER, ERIC!!!

A request
On Sept. 30 Salem is planning on giving our 3rd graders Bibles.  This has been a tradition for us for some time now (as it is for many congregations I know).  We haven’t done this for three years because we haven’t had any 3rd graders for a while.  Also on that day I am planning on introducing the congregation to the new pew Bible we have purchased.  This will be a big change for people; moving from a printed insert to a Bible.  Ooooh…this may cause some controversy…I will keep you updated on this.

Anyway…my request is this:  Do you have a Bible Sunday for your 3rd graders?  And if so, what do you do?  How to you present the Bibles?  What Bibles do you give?  Do you have an inscription inside the Bible? etc.  I am looking for ideas here to help make this a memorable day for our kids.  Also…one thing I am thinking about is after we present the Bibles to the 3rd graders I will ask the 3rd graders in turn to present the pew Bibles to the congregation.  I thought this would be a neat experience for everyone.  What do you think?  Any ideas for me?

Thank you for "listening" and stopping by.  May the joy of the Lord kick you in the butt today to be a light to someone who sees only darkness.  Take care and God bless.
-edh-

Five things I want children to know

/ The Pastor / 2 Comments

Blog update notice:  Some of you may have noticed that my "blogs that I enjoy" list is a little different — the order has changed.  The reason for the change is that I have now placed them in alphabetical order to make them easier to find faster.  Or maybe I changed it for something to do as I wait for my wife.  I don’t know…but there it is 🙂  Enjoy!

************

David at Here I Stand has just tagged me to write about the five things I want my kids to know when they grow up.  Since my wife and I don’t have children…yet…I still want to participate; because even though we are not raising children in our home we are still involved in the lives of many children: our niece and nephew, and the many (O.K….few) kids we have here at Salem and Belmont.  I have a great desire to see the kids here raised with good values and to know God.  So here are five things I want children to know when (and as) they grow up.

(1) You are loved — you are lovable — you are never alone.  I know, I know, this sounds like three things and that I am cheating but hang on.  In my youth ministry training we learned that everyone has a deep seeded desire to know that they are loved, lovable and not alone.  We need to know that someone loves us.  We need to know that no matter what happens, how we look or what we do we are still lovable.  We need to know that even though the rest of the world may abandon us, we are never alone.  God loves us unconditionally.  Three basic necessities of live.  All children (no matter the age) need to know this.

(2) Don’t let anyone look down upon you because you are young (and don’t look down upon someone else because they are young). I believe there is much we can learn from children and they need to know this.  Too often they are put down and told to remain quiet in the church.  They aren’t given leadership opportunities because they aren’t "old enough".  But God uses each person no matter their age.  Just look at: David, Jeremiah, Mary, Timothy, to name a few.  They made a little difference…don’t you think?

(3) Remember who you are and whose you are.  The world likes to label us.  We are too often defined by what we do (i.e. career, job), by what our last name is, or what we have done in the past.  The most important definition, though, that we need to cling to is the one given to us by God through our baptism.  We are God’s children.  But also along those lines, remember your roots and don’t forget your family.  Even though your last name should not define what your life should be about it is a reminder of who you are and where you came from.  You are your parent’s child and God’s child (two things that will never change).

(4) What you do and how you live means more than what you say.  One of my biggest pet peeves is hypocrisy.  We too often hear politicians say one thing and then do another.  And the same happens with everyone.  If I stand in the pulpit and say "do not gossip" and then go down to the coffee shop and gossip; people will remember my actions.  Actions speak louder than words and people ARE "listening".

(5) Golf is a great game.  How can I not teach my kid the game of golf…seriously.  Some of my favorite memories are with my dad on the golf course.  Last week, when our niece turned 3, my wife and I gave her a little set of toy golf clubs.  I couldn’t resist.

So there you have it.  As people have been saying through their blogs, this list is definitely bigger than the five listed here.  How our children are raised has a direct impact on all our futures so thank you, David, for the tag.  This was fun.

Now who to tag…most of the blogs that I read have been tagged already so I am going to cheat and not tag anyone…well…kind of.  If you are reading this and have not been tagged, consider yourself tagged (I know, I know, that is cheating…but it works).  Enjoy 🙂

-edh-