Awana

Tonight was the last night of Awana.  It is a wonderful program our church does for kids 3 years old until 5th grade.  After that the kids usually attend Junior and Senior High that happens on the same night.  So our church is a lively place on Wednesday nights during the school year and it is our outreach to the community too since we have a lot more kids coming to Awana than come to our church.  Kids really love going there and the leaders are so dedicated and wonderful.

CUBBIES

I have been helping with Cubbies (the youngest group) for almost 5 years.  It is pretty challenging since it is in the middle of the week, from 6:30-8pm and some of the 3 year olds are pretty cranky by then.  But this year we had such great kids and they were so excited to come and say their verses.  It wasn't always easy to be there with Kason as his mom since I'm home with him every day but that's ok.

Next year Kason is moving on to the Sparks where Anika is.  It is going to be so different having all our kids part of the big kids.  I will be done helping in Cubbies and I am really relieved despite of this year being good.  I spread myself way too thin this last year at church, helping every Wednesday night and every other Sunday morning teaching 4-5 year old Sunday school.  I just feel bad when nobody volunteers to help but I should not have done so much because this year I felt like all I do is take care of little ones, at home during the day, on Wednesday nights and on Sunday mornings and it was just a little too much.  So I told one of our pastors I have to be done.  It's ok if nobody is willing to take my place, people have to see that if nobody steps up, there won't be Sunday school or other things that depend so much on volunteers from our church.  I am finally ok with saying no and not feeling guilty about it.  Somehow it feels very freeing.  I want to be available to do other things next year, like reaching out to our peers who are slowly growing apart except for a few rocks.  

Kade with the friends that finished 2nd book

I am pretty proud of Kade this year.  It is not always easy for boys to keep up with their books and finish all the homework and verses.  It is a completely different story for girls who love to stay on task and get as much done as possible but Kade has a few friends who could care less about doing the work and so he had a hard time staying in it as well.  As it was getting close to the end of Awana year I asked Kade how he's doing with the book and he just casually said "oh, I don't know if I'm going to finish my book this year."  He must have caught me in a pretty bad moment too because my blood was boiling when I heard him say that.  I was really upset that he doesn't care at all and pretty much told him he's not going to be part of Awana next year if he's not going to take it seriously.  It was a bit harsh but just because other boys come there for games and socializing I don't want Kade to think it doesn't matter.  It is being responsible.  Anyway, after we had that talk he got a bit worried and worked super hard to catch up and finished the book last week.  He was really excited he did it and I couldn't believe how he's able to memorize like 10 long verses from the Bible in one afternoon and not get them mixed up.  I'm getting old because I don't think I could do that and was getting mixed up by just checking him.  So tonight he got his 2nd book award (he has one more year next year).  I didn't tell him anything about a reward but when we got home I told him I got something for him because he did such a great job finishing the book.  It was a flag football set which he loves to play with his buddies.  I hope he remembers that when we work hard at something, it pays off.  It's not always fun especially when we feel like no one sees us or cares, but He does and that's all that matters.

Kason ready for Sparks in the Fall

SPARKS is a huge group - Kindergarten thru 2nd grade

Anika and Emily with friends that finished their 1st book