1 year?!?

This upcoming Sunday will make it one year since I joined the Our Generation Kids class. I can't believe it has been a year already! Time has flown by so quickly! I first just want to thank the Lord for this awesome opportunity to be involved in these kid's lives and to also be able to teach them the Bible! Secondly to the parents of all of the kids. Thank you for allowing me to take part in your kid's lives. Thirdly to Mrs Crystal for getting married when she did :) (fyi: I took her position in her class after she married Ben last November, Happy Anniversary!!) Fourthly, Holly for thinking to ask me. And finally, for my sister Kristen, so I can tell her that I blogged about her. :)

Anyways, at first, the kids intimidated me and I was extremely nervous. Then I started to get more involved and had the opportunity to teach a few months later. I slowly became more comfortable and now seeing them and being able to teach them and talk to them is the highlight of my Sunday morning. They are all around 5 and 6 years old and at such a critical age. Most of the Bible stories that I learned were from when I was that age. I enjoy every second of teaching them and I love to listen to their crazy stories each week. I am so blessed!!

Baby Moses and the Nile

This Sunday, Crystal taught a great lesson about Baby Moses in the Nile River. It is an incredible story about the ways that God works everything out according to His will and the kids really enjoyed it!

Our memory verse for the week was Hebrews 13:6 "...The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear..."

Here is a video we took of them quoting it and telling Mrs. Holly that we miss her!

*Sniff*Sniff*

This Sunday will be Mrs. Holly's last Sunday with the Our Generation Kids Sunday School class because on Tuesday, Holly and Andrew will be leaving for Peru, South America for three months. I am so excited for them both, but I will miss them sooooooo much!

Holly has been a part of the Our Generation Kids Sunday School class since Day 1. She has been through many different cycles of kids watching them come up into the class and then graduate to the next class. Her former assistant, Crystal, left last November to get married and since then I have had the incredible experience of teaching with Holly. I have learned so much by watching her and the way that she teaches and interacts with all of our kids. I could go on and on for hours and hours about how incredible Holly is and what a difference she has made in the class and yet I couldn't even scratch the surface of what she means to us all.

Mrs. Holly, we love you so much and will miss you tons!!!!!!!!

Coming Up....

Well, this past Sunday was the saddest day in the history of the Our Generation Kids Sunday School Class for sure! For one reason or another...traveling, sickness and other things kept our attendance at an all time low. In fact, we only had ONE student to show up! :(

Next Sunday, Miss Kathryn will be teaching (since I will be out of town...bummer)and the lesson is one that you dont want to miss. We are having some guest singers and will also be introducing a new (well, some what new) teacher to the class! Mrs. Crystal Johnson is returning to our class, and we are SO excited to have her back! She was with our class a little over a year ago, and left us for a little while when she got married. We are thankful that the Lord saw fit to bring them back our way, and that she is ready to jump right back in where she left off!

Hope every one has a wonderful week!

Prayer Request

I would like to ask you all to please be in prayer for a sweet family in Ohio today.

I cam across Emily Lewis' carepage about a year ago when I was looking for someone else...I started reading her story, and was instantly drawn to this strong little girl and her fight with cancer.

She has struggled, and overcome many obstacles on her short journey through life, and is now at tbe end it seems. I am posting the link to her page, so you can read more about her and her family. (You will need to create a sign in name and password)

Please keep her, her mom, dad and big brother in your prayers. They are going through such a dark time, and need grace more than ever.


http://www.carepages.com/carepages/EmilyLewisCarePage/updates/2284754?client_code=rainbowbabies&ipc=mur

Shhhhhhh.....

Hey Everyone, I just wanted to give you an update on last Sunday!

Miss Kathryn did an awesome job at teaching a lesson about Jesus healing the deaf man. The entire first half of class time, we were not allowed to utter a word. We did craft time in silence, award chart time in silence, and even song time in silence! (Miss Kathryn taught us how to "sing" Jesus Loves Me in sign language.)

I really think that the kids enjoyed the illustrations, and that they caught on to what the lesson was all about.

We are still working on getting everyone to bringing Bibles, and memorizing the verse of the week, so keep helping them at home parents!

Thanks for the opportunity to teach such an adorable class of kids!

Sheeeeeees Baaaaaack!

First of all, I'm so sorry that I haven't written in a few weeks...on top of all the crazy changes we've had, I totally forgot my user name and password, and I just now took the time to get it all figured out. (Yikes!)

So, top priority, I'd like to say that we are so thankful to have Miss Kathryn back from Argentina! She will be giving us a Missionary Update this Sunday, so the kids wont want to miss it!

Since I haven't posted since graduation Sunday (partially because I couldn't remember my password, and partially because I was too depressed to talk about loosing some of our students) I'll fill you in on what is going on:

We went from a class of 10-12 down to a class of 4-5...Big adjustment for me, especially since so much of our class time revolves around conversation interaction with the kids. But I think I'm getting back into the "groove" so to speak, and our newbies are getting used to being in an older class. (I must say though, they were NOT happy about leaving Ms. Elisabeth's class...cant say that I blame them though, she has a heart for kids that I admire!)

While Miss Kathryn was gone, Miss Kristen filled in, and did a wonderful job! (You're welcome back any time Kristen!)

I guess I should introduce you to our Newbies!
So Here they are:

Ben~ He's incredibly sweet, and tenderhearted. Haven't found a shy bone in him yet, and he has been so willing to get in there and try out our new class!

Luke~ The younger brother to an "Alumni" of our class, he's learning the ropes well. He's a goofball, and keeps the class lively (which I appreciate...going from a large energetic class, to just a handful makes from some quieter moments that I wasn't used to!)

Our Veteran Anna~ You know her, but shes now the big fish in our pond. Overnight she went from the youngest to the oldest. She has matured so much and is setting the bar high as an example to our new students.

Tito~ What a cool kid...and a cool name at that! He's a sweet kid with a lot of stories! You give him a word, he'll give you a story! We are glad to have him!

So there you have it...that's the "New" OG Kids in a nut shell- I have my user name/password written down, so be looking for more posts soon! Ha ha!

Thanks again parents, for allowing me the opportunity to work with your amazing kids!

The Republican!

First I want to say that these past two Sundays have been quite emotional.  First of all, Hollis and Shianne accepted Jesus as their Savior.  Amen!  Mrs. Holly and I could not be more proud!  But sadly, we lost all but one (Anna Armstrong) of our kids to move up to the next class.  But, we are very proud of them all and know that God is really going to use their lives!

Sunday morning we learned about forgiveness and having the right attitude from a parable in Luke 18 about the Pharisee and the Publican.  Both went into the temple to pray and repent, but the Pharisee did so righteously, thinking of himself better.  The Publican prayed humbly and was truly sorry for his sins.  At the end, I reviewed the lesson by asking little questions.  One of them was, Who do you think was forgiven more?  The Pharisee?  Or the Publican?  John Williams raises his hand as fast as he could and said, "THE REPUBLICAN??"  It was so cute.  

I also just wanted to say thank you to all the parents for allowing me and Mrs. Holly to have the opportunity to teach your children.  I enjoy it so much!  

CONGRATS MISS KATHRYN!

Just wanted to say a public CONGRATULATIONS to Miss Kathryn! She is graduating from West Forsyth High School tonight, and I couldnt be prouder of her. She has been an amazing addition to our class, and I am so thankful to not only have her as a teacher in our class but as a sister.

Kathryn, you are a wonderful teacher, an amazing sister, and a beautiful example of a godly woman. I am so proud of your accomplishments, and of your desire to serve the Lord with your life. You are great with our class, and I am blessed by how you have allowed Christ to be seen in your daily walk with Him. As you walk across the stage tonight and receive your diploma, know that we are all excited for you, and the path you have chosen to take.

I love you!

The Things They Come Up With!

A Sunday school class was studying the Ten Commandments.
They were ready to discuss the last one.
The teacher asked if anyone could tell her what it was.
A student raised his hand, stood tall, and quoted,
"Thou shall not take the covers off the neighbor's wife."

I just got that joke in an email at work, and I couldn't help thinking about some of the crazy things our kids have said! That is one of the thousands of reasons why I love teaching our age kids, and honestly, I cant tell you how many times a child has said something in our class, and instantly, Miss Kathryn and I are giving each other the "did they just say what I thought they said" look and trying not to snicker! I'm sure there are parents cringing at the thought of "Oh no, what have they said" but I assure you, I've never heard anything that will incriminate any moms or dads...as of yet at least.
On our field trip to Stone Mountain a few weekends ago, the kids were talking about other trips they would like to take, after a few good ideas like "the zoo, aquarium, six flags, etc." they came up with what they found to be the BEST field trip destination. Any one want to guess where they want to go??? Okay, I'll tell you- The Hyatt. Yep, they want to go to a hotel. When asked if they knew what that was, and why they would want to go to a hotel for a field trip, the response was priceless, "Because they have an elevator." My first thought was "and here I am taking them to Stone Mountain ~ had only I known they could be just as easily satisfied with an elevator!"
It's not only the way they think about the simple things in life (like elevators) but how they grasp the Bible that truly amazes me. The understanding of a child is often times (in my opinion) far greater than the over analytical mind of an older person. My prayer is that I would be a teacher, wife, friend, and child of God who loves and enjoys the simple things in life; someone who takes a moment to not think quite so hard, and allow the Lord to speak to me the basic truths of His Holy word.

Stone Mountain

I had an awesome day at Stone Mountain on Saturday with our class!  Here are two of the videos that were from that day.  The first is a short one on the way down after we had left the church and the second video is of one of their favorite songs!  Enjoy!! :D

What's Important?

So yesterday we had a simple lesson, and I really think it clicked with all of the students. We learned about the man who asked Jesus what the most important law was, and how Jesus answered him in two parts: The first is to Love the Lord thy God, and the second was to love thy neighbor. They came up with ways to show love for God, (and what it means to love him with our minds, strength, heart and soul) as well as ways to show others love. We did a verse study on Psalm 1:2 "His delight is in the law of the Lord" and the best definition they came up with was "you will live a better, and happier life when you obey God" (I couldn't have said it better myself)

Sometimes I think that as adults, we over analyze some of Gods simple truths, and it takes the understanding of a child to really bring it to the the surface.I studied this week and I pondered that verse, over and over, trying to come up with a way to explain it...within seconds of asking who thought they knew what that meant, I felt like I should turn the class over and let them teach the lesson! ha ha! What an amazing class to work with!

Shianne brought a friend with her, Saylor, and we sure did enjoy having her! Shianne also was our quite seat winner for the week, (Way to Go Shianne!)

We got a few permission slips back for our field trip, but I'm still missing some, I REALLY need to have them all by Thursday and at the very latest Sunday. Please try to remember to bring those back for me :) On that note, we will be leaving the church at 10 am, and wont be returning until about 6pm, if anything should change, I will let you know.

Next week, we will have a Role Change, and Miss Kathryn will be teaching the lesson, and I will be doing the crafts (gulp...Miss Kathryn sets the bar really high with crafts, so lets hope I can get crafty at some point during the week!)

Thanks for the opportunity to work with your children, they are the highlight of my week!

That was SO much FUN!

I don't know why, but this Sunday FLEW by, and I couldn't help but notice the huge smile permanently stuck to my face the whole time! It was just one of those days (maybe every one woke up on the 'right' side of the bed) haha, but everything ran so smoothly, and everyone was upbeat and excited! Wahoo!


Emilee brought a visitor, her cousin Marcus, which gave us a total of 10 in attendance. We sang our usual songs, "Twelve Men went to Spy on Canaan" and "Father Abraham" but instead of a craft, Miss Kathryn mixed it up for us, and we had a game after the lesson. We learned about Cleopas and his friend as they were on their way to Emmaus, (I'm sure the Whole Church heard them shouting the answers to my relentless review questions!) They heard about Jesus joining the men, though they didn't know it was him, until he prayed over the meal with them (at which point, he vanished) We talked about how Jesus left, and how he will be returning...what a sobering thought huh? They played an awesome review game that was a mix between musical chairs and unscramble the sentences. Anna was our quite seat winner, and was answering questions like crazy! Its so neat to see them grasping the Bible. Hollis read Matthew 28:19-20 for the class, and read it like a true preacher! Sad story though, as part of an illustration to show how Jesus went back to be with his father, I told them I was moving to New Hampshire to live with my dad...the majority of them were HAPPY!!! (NOT the response I was expecting!) Anna even said "I'll be happy to git rid of you" haha!! She says she was joking....but I've heard a saying "joke by joke, the truth is told..." hmmmmmm :) Too bad they are stuck with me.

The Best Place to be on Sunday Mornings!

Hi, I just wanted to take a minute and thank the parents of Our Generation Kids for letting me be a part of your children's lives.  Holly could not have explained each child better.  They each bring their own special characteristic to the class. Being in there on Sunday mornings has been the highlight of my Sundays and I look foward to it each week!  I love hearing them quote Bible verses back to me, singing and doing motions to Father Abraham, and the challenge of finishing the craft on time.  Their faces light up when Holly teaches and when things begin to make sense.  I would not want to spend my Sunday School time anywhere else!  I know God will greatly use them!

I will also be posting things along with Holly on this blog.  We look foward to keeping you updated with what's going on! 

Meet Our Class

So now that we have an "official blog" let me introduce you to the class!
Miss Kathryn and I are the teachers, but we aren't really the interesting ones! Miss Kathryn is just a few weeks away from graduating high school, and will be taking about a month away from our class in June/July for a Mission trip to Argentina. There isn't a ton to say about me, other than I absolutely LOVE being a part of the Our Generation Kids Sunday School class, and am anxiously awaiting what God has in store for us next. So, moving on to the stars of the class, here's a little info on our awesome class!

Anna- The "little sister", she may be tiny, but she is packed with spunk! You can tell she has brothers! :)

Emilee- The "mother" of our class, always helping and looking out for everyone. She loves chap stick, purses, and anything girly!

Hollis- "Mr. GQ" always looks trendy, and ALWAYS has his Bible. Wants to be a missionary when he grows up!

John- The "professor", he usually has a trivia question for us, and thrives on memorizing things. (oh, and he also wants to me a missionary to either Canada, Peru or Brazil!)

Juan- Our "quiet one", he's not very loud, but when he smiles, he lights up the room!

Shianne- the "girly girl" who loves to tell about her newest webkins, and loves to be pretty!

Rosemary- Our "closet energy bunny" at first glance, she seems shy and timid, but give her a little while, and she really opens up!

Yeriko- our "future song leader", there is not a child who sings with any more gusto than him, though he could also be our future media man, this kid knows a TON about computers and games!

So there they are! :) What a bunch!

Here it is...

I've been considering creating a blog for quite some time now, and maybe I have just been stubborn to not do it sooner, but I have finally given in, and here you are! Miss Kathryn and I only have the kids for an hour each Sunday morning, but that hour is packed full of so much.

Not only do we have our scheduled activities; breakfast, awards, song time, craft time, lesson and more, but we also have the funny comments, great questions, and hilarious dialog that occurs in between! We have a news letter that comes out monthly, which is great for keeping you informed, but this blog is really more for entertainment. I'll be posting about the things that aren't really "news worthy" but they sure are great for a laugh, or just to put a smile on your face. It is truly an honor to work with the Our Generation Kids Sunday School class, and I can't wait to see what happens next!