Birthdays, quilts, puppets and MORE!

I am constantly reminded of the tenderness and sincerity of children and their prayers. Just this past Sunday morning, I overheard the 1st-3rd graders praying for each other. I was extremely moved by how genuine and heartfelt their prayers were. I think we can really learn a lesson in love and compassion from these kids!! There was one special prayer on Sunday that melted my heart: All of the children joined in on praying for Elizabeth, the birthday girl. They prayed protection and happiness over her on her special day. Elizabeth is such a blessing to all of us, with her contagious laughter and joyous smile. Here's a picture I snapped of her with her best buddy, Ava.


The Kindergarten class was busy with a fun craft on Sunday. They were building a quilt out of construction paper squares. The kids each thought of one way God cares for them, then carefully illustrated their idea. Their teacher them came by and added a caption of this idea. Here are the proud students in front of their quilt.


The Kindergarten class at the 5:00 gathering was busy creating puppets! They had a blast decorating their puppets, gluing hair on them, and using them during their lesson that evening! Here's a picture that captured the moment:


As winter time approaches, it's fun to see the kids all bundled up in their jackets, scarves and hats. Here's one of the youngest members of the Stirring Kids dressed for the chilly occasion:


JUST A REMINDER:

This Sunday marks the Stirring Kids Thanksgiving celebration! We're planning a fun day with special crafts, games and food! If parents would like to participate, we'd love for you all to bring tasty snacks for the kids to share. Feel free to drop any food off with your child's teacher on Sunday. Let the celebration begin!!

We have FUN

On Sunday, I took some time to chat with a few of the Stirring Kids. I asked them all the same question: What's your FAVORITE thing about coming to the Stirring? I believe that I got the same answer, more or less, from each child. Each of them said, in their own way, that their favorite thing about coming to the Stirring is that they have FUN. They told me how much FUN their teachers are, how much FUN Kids Worship is, how much FUN the crafts and lessons are. They all love having fun. One of the main goals we have here at the Stirring Kids, along with making disciples, is to create a place where KIDS can be KIDS. Where they can have fun, where they can laugh, where they can express their creativity and individuality, where they can make friends and a place where they are SAFE. I don't know about you, but it's sure hard for me to have fun in a place where I don't feel safe. We love. We make disciples. We have fun. Here are some pictures of just how much fun we have...

The ways we learn...

The Stirring Kids team is composed of some of the most creative leaders I've ever known. Not only do these teachers love to come each Sunday and serve God by working with these incredible children, but they are also beyond creative with the ways they go about teaching the kids! In our 1st-3rd grade classroom, the teachers have a number or techniques for transforming ordinary Sunday School lessons into captivating adventures. Some days they use playdough to create memorable scenes from the lesson, other times they make murals to capture the main themes, one teacher even has the kids act out the best parts of the story. Here's a picture of two of our teachers taking advantage of not only the beautiful weather, but also the incredible creativity of our kids!



Over in the Toddler Room, story time is a huge part of the day. Many of the kids look forward to our big stack of story books each week. If you were to peek your head into this room at any time during the day, you'd see at least 3 kids gathered around a teacher, enjoying a story of their choice!



In the Pre-K room, our teachers often take a much more "hands-on" approach to learning. Whether it's worshiping with instruments or beading necklaces, our Pre-K kids are always having a blast. Here's a group shot, showcasing their lovely beading skills!


There really is no "one-size-fits-all" when it comes to teaching children. It is our highest priority to infuse every single lesson with passion, love and creativity.

Adventures with Elmo

Meet Elmo. Elmo has become a regular favorite among the Toddler Room at our PM gathering. He goes just about everywhere the kids go. Elmo has a seat at the table for snack. He has a spot at the carpet for story time. He even gets to participate during craft time! Elmo enjoys the playground quite a bit. The only problem is there's only ONE Elmo, and about 10 kids. We have a room full of amazing toys: a train table, building blocks, a toy kitchen with tons of fake food, baby dolls galore, strollers, plastic animals, stuffed animals... the list goes on and on. But are any of the kids interested in any of these fantastic toys? Nope. What's the one and only toy the ALL want to play with at the same time? Yep, you guessed it, Elmo. I'm surprised all of his limbs are still intact. I snapped some awesome pictures of the kids with Elmo. He's such a trooper :)

God Made My Mouth

This past Sunday, the Toddler Room was full of joyful chatter and more laughter than normal. As I walked in, I found kids and teachers alike making silly faces at each other, and laughing hysterically. At first I was puzzled by this, until I noticed the title of Sunday's lesson: God Made My Mouth. The toddlers were simply exploring this creation which God had given them. It was so much fun to watch the kids as they explored what their mouths could do (they were blowing bubbles, making funny noises, making silly faces, eating- a huge favorite!) all the while thanking God for their mouth. I snapped a few great pictures of the kids in action.





As the weather begins to cool down, and kids begin to show up on Sundays with their new Winter jackets, I wanted to remind parents to label those jackets with your child's name, just in case it gets left behind!

Our future leaders

Sunday was such a fun day for our kids. For the past month or so, the three older classes have been learning a few songs of worship, and on Sunday they got join the adults in the "big service" and show of their hard work. The worship team lead the song, and the kids joined right in. There's something special that happens when kids get up in front of the adults in church, and begin to worship. I see it in the eyes of the parents, in the eyes of the worship team, in the eyes of the teachers and especially in the eyes of the kids. There is a certain kind of joy that comes with watching kids play and worship together. Adults suddenly forget the worries and stresses that plagued them seconds before, and are overwhelmed with this joy. Teachers suddenly realize that, although the kids might not absorb every moral of every story, they ARE absorbing something so much more.

I, along with many others I'm sure, began to tear up when the kids got up there. I suddenly realized that these amazing, talented, loving children are our future leaders. Excitement and joy filled me when I remembered that I get to take part in shaping these mini leaders. They are so eager and willing to do the things that so many adults often question or avoid. I was reminded on Sunday of what it really means to have the faith of a child.

My quote of the week comes from little miss Addy Nickens...
Me: "Addy, you did SUCH a great job up there. I bet your mom and dad were really proud of you!"
Addy: "Yeah, I know they were! My mommy smiled REAL big at me. My mommy loves me. I love her too. You know who else I love?"
Me: "Who?"
Addy: "God. And He loves me too!"

She was so matter-of-fact about it. She loves God. No questions asked, no ifs, ands or buts about it. Addy Nickens loves God, and she knows with all her heart that God loves her too.

Here are some fun pictures of our littlest leaders here at the Stirring.

Discipleship

Summer time is officially coming to an end, which means so many things: cooler weather, evening comes sooner, and school's back in session! Simpson students are back and ready to hang with our kids! I love seeing the students back and pumped to be around the kids again after a long and refreshing summer away. They all bring such a contagious energy with them! Our team is made up of people from across the board: high school students, college students, married people, single people, parents, teachers... all with one thing in common- they all have a love for children and a love for Christ. It's incredible to see the way Christ works in and through each of them to connect with the children each week. I love our team. I love watching them shape our children. It's so much more than just showing up to help for two hours each week... the time they spend with these kids will stay with them for a lifetime! Sundays are about discipleship and about teaching our kids how to love God, love each other, love the world and love the least. Sundays give us the time and the space to start an ongoing conversation with our kids about their relationship with God. My hope and prayer is that our kids are not only learning about God, but also beginning to develop their own relationship with Him. I am so thankful for the passionate and dedicated men and women that make up the Stirring Kids team. Here are a few pictures of the incredible teachers who are helping to shape our kids here at the Stirring.

Farewells and new beginnings

Last Sunday marked the end of summer and the beginning of a new school year for many of our elementary age kids here at the Stirring. At our 10:00 gathering our 1st-5th grade classes celebrated with an End-Of-Summer-Water-Extravaganza! The kids had a blast, and kicked off the school year with a real SPLASH! On Sunday, we also said our final good-bye to Kristin Barber, the incredibly amazing 1st-3rd grade teacher. She's headed to Humboldt State University to finish up the Nursing Program there. She will be missed by her lovely class! As the kids enjoyed their snack on Sunday, they each got to share what grade they were going into, which school they attend, and what they were looking forward to MOST about school starting. Listening to them share their excitements about the up-coming school year was hysterical! They were excited about everything from getting new pencils to playing on the monkey bars! I'm so honored and blessed to be able to share this journey with these kids, and encourage them along the way. There's really nothing better than a new school year full of new possibilities! (Spoken like a true teacher, huh??)

The itty bitty "mother" of the Toddler Room

Meet Avery. This precious girl is almost 2, and possibly one of the most gentle children I've ever met. One of her favorite things to do in the Toddler Room is to ensure that all of the other toddlers have the proper sippy cup. If ever a sippy cup is miss placed, Avery is the first to return it to it's owner. She is also the first to recognize if another child is drinking out of a cup that does not belong to him or her. It's so much fun to watch this little girl in motion. It's almost like she has some built in motherly instincts. She loves to pass out hugs, and is the first one to comfort a crying toddler. Avery has an older sister, Addy, in our Pre-K/Kindergarten class who is just as sweet and gentle as her younger sister. Addy brings a special kind of joy to the Pre-K class. She is so much fun to watch play and dance and sing with her fellow Kindergarteners. Both of these girls bring so many smiles to the faces of their teachers... we love having them in our Stirring Kids family!

The happiest time of the day!

If you've spent any time in the Pre-K/Kindergarten room here at the Stirring, you'd know that snack time is not only the happiest time, but also the quietest time of the day. For nearly 110 minutes of the day, the Kindergarten room is booming with laughter, stories, singing, and the business of activity. But, for 20 minutes each week, there is an eerie silence that comes over the room... and it only comes when paper cups full of water, and napkins piled with cheese-its appear. My mom always told me that you know the food is good when nobody's talking. If this is true, those must be some DELICIOUS cheese-its! I love the dynamic of this classroom, and the incredibly intelligent children that pass through the doors each week. Each child brings so much personality and spunk to the room. Here are a few shots of this weeks snack-helpers. I must tell you, Susan (the amazing teacher in this room) does such a fantastic job of pitching these fun little jobs to the kids. Susan waits patiently for her rowdy students to settle into their multi-colored tables, and as they do, she picks the kids who are sitting quietly to help with snack. Each week, three helpers are picked: 1. hand sanitizer dispenser, 2. paper cup dispenser, 3. napkin dispenser. The kids love to help, and enjoy the praise they receive from their teachers. Davey was extra stoked this week to be passing out the cups. He's such a sweet boy! Madison was totally focused on her duties... I could hardly get her to take a break for a picture :) Lily, on the other hand, was posed and ready when she saw the camera coming her way. Such responsible little children we have!