Operation Christmas Child 11/10/2010 Deadline

In conjunction with the "Reach Out Club" at WCCC where Ellen serves, we would like to invite you to participate in Operation Christmas Child.  They are taking cash donations to buy items or to pay for postage ($7 a box) or complete packed boxes for a boy or girl.  You can find out what to pack in your plastic shoebox (you can get at the $1 store) at the following website.   http://www.samaritanspurse.org/index.php/OCC/ and then print your label for a boy/girl  2-4, 5-9 or 10-14.  

Time is short we need the donations by next Wed. 11/10/2010 to be included. Ellen will then take all the donated items and get them to their drop-off in Greensburg.  I'd encourage families to consider doing this together, it's a great way to teach your children about the needs in most of the world and one small way they can take part in helping a child in another country. Take them out shopping and let them fill the box with a variety of items i.e.:

TOYS

small cars, balls, dolls, stuffed animals, kazoos,

harmonicas, yo-yos, jump ropes, small Etch A

Sketch®, toys that light up or make noise (with

extra batteries), Slinky®, etc.

SCHOOL SUPPLIES

pens, pencils and sharpener, crayons or markers,

stamps and ink pad sets, writing pads or paper,

solar calculators, coloring and picture books, etc.

HYGIENE ITEMS

toothbrush, toothpaste, mild bar soap (in a plastic

bag), comb, washcloth, etc.

OTHER

Hard candy and lollipops (please double bag all

candy), mints, gum, T-shirts, socks, ball caps;

sunglasses, hair clips, toy jewelry, watches,

flashlights (with extra batteries)

A PERSONAL NOTE

In a separate envelope, you may enclose a note

to the child and a photo of yourself or your family.

(If you include your name and address, the child

may write back.)

DO NOT INCLUDE:

Used or damaged items; war-related items such

as toy guns, knives or military figures; chocolate or

food; liquids or lotions; medications or vitamins;

breakable items such as snowglobes or glass

containers; aerosol cans

REMINDER SET YOUR CLOCKS BACK ONE HOUR THIS WEEKEND

otherwise you may be knocking on our door at the wrong hour! 

For Sunday Meeting 11/6

The text to be covered will be I Peter Chapter 3

(this is posted so that you may read the chapter ahead of time if you so choose)

FFF Homechurch and Bible Study Meeting Times

Sunday Meetings 10 a.m. followed by a "pot luck" lunch.  We ask that you bring enough to feed your family plus a little extra.  Things like casseroles are great to make, bring your favorite or a crock pot recipe, we'll have room for about 4 casserole dishes in the oven to keep warm if needed, desserts are optional. We will have water and lemonade or iced tea to drink. 

Wednesday night Bible Study is 7pm to approx. 8:30. Scripture based topical study and discussion currently discussing the tithe

Twice Monthly Ladies' Bible Study 7pm at Melissa Maitlands house we will be starting up in mid/late November and we will be doing a study on the Holy Spirit.  You are free to carpool with me from my home.

Books for both the Wed. night study and Ladies study will be ordered on Friday, November 5th, please contact me before Friday evening if you would like me to order a book for you. 

Age Integrated Weeknight Study for Fall

We are planning on having an age integrated study (all ages will participate together, children and adults).  Everyone will be learning about the same topic and this way you can continue to discuss it during the week at home and work on the same memory verse together. 

If you missed previous info. on this we are looking to use the curriculum "It All Begins with Genesis" for our study.  It will take us through a hands on study of understanding Genesis, the plan is to follow a schedule i.e. the following:
7:00 start time:  Singing, Prayer, Memory Recitation, Lesson Time ending no later than 8:15 promptly each week, anything left to cover after 8:15 should be picked up the following week.  We'd really like to stick with this schedule as we know folks like to be on a schedule during the school year, more so than our summer lesson nights where we weren't in a hurry to end the evening. 

This is an interactive study with object lessons thrown in to help the younger crowd understand and remember the concept being taught, the lessons also show how to study your Bible, and include memorization.  We'd like to make the memory work part of the program and come up with a reward system for those that complete it.  The memory work offers varying levels of scripture length so that you can decide which one is best for your family to learn together.  In other words some verses are shorter, some are longer.  Older children can choose to memorize all the verses and hopefully we can come up with some type of reward system that everyone likes to encourage them to do more than just the 'family verse'.   You chose the  version of scripture you wish to memorize from, the book we have , references NIV, the KJV was not in stock when we purchased, but it really has little bearing on the lesson presentation. We can discuss more ideas about memorization at our first meeting.

If you are interested in joining us let us know which day of the week you prefer, we are leaning towards a Wed. or Thurs. evening starting in mid September and running through May, I believe the study is a 32 week program.

adding for Thurs

Sean Cody 1 vanilla ice cream
Lintelmans 5

Food for Thursday Night & Count thus far

Maitland Family 5  bucket of vanilla ice cream
Mizener Family 6   chocolate syrup, crushed cookies
Eutsey Family 6  whipped topping
Eichelberger 7 Veggie tray, condiments for hot dogs, water, paper products
Terranella 9 hot dogs and buns

RSVP for final Family Night August 19th

Hi all, if you wouldn't mind replying if you'll attend the last family night of the summer that would be appreciated, we'd like to grill hot dogs, have a veggie tray and ice cream sundaes for dessert. (Maybe even roast some marshmallows if it's not really hot)

Just reply to this post if you plan to attend so we can plan accordingly.  If you are willing to bring something please indicate that as well, here's what we'll need.

Hot dogs
Buns
Ice cream (the big Aldi buckets of vanilla will be fine)
Maitlands are bring one of these
Toppings
chocolate syrup
whipped topping
crushed cookies

I'll make up a veggie tray and dip and we'll bring out the usual jug of water.  If you want to bring anything else to drink feel free.  We'll also provide the paper products, silverware, and condiments.

Plan to arrive around 6 and we'll get the grill fired up and cooking so we can eat by 6:30 and fellowship till 8pm and then we'll tackle Daniel Ch. 7.

Fall Family Study: " It All Begins with Genesis"

   At the Answers in Genesis Conference we purchased a new curriculum to help our children build a Biblical
Worldview.  The title is "It All Begins With Genesis".
   Here's the description:   There are 34 lessons taking you through Genesis 1-11 to help you understand the importance of a biblical worldview and how it must be founded on the authority and accuracy of God's Word.  You will carefully examine the text to uncover links to other passages, the meaning of words in context, and understand the people in the Bible through character studies.  Using the inductive method of study, you will learn how to start from the text and examine it in a systematic way. Studying the text by starting from ground level and moving on up to a bird's-eye view will show you how the message of the Bible is consistent throughout and connected to everyday life.
   Along the way, you will learn how to build your thinking--starting with a biblical foundation to understand the world around you. Understanding the difference between how the world sees the history of earth and how the Christian should view it as a crucial part of defending the faith. Developing a biblical worldview begins by knowing what the Bible teaches.
   Get prepared to read and understand the Bible and apply it to your life--strengthening your faith and becoming equipped to share with others and defend what you believe.  
   The study includes a memory verse for each lesson and hands on activities to help cement the message being covered. 
   We are interested in doing this as families one evening a week starting in the fall.  If you are interested in attending with your family, please let us know and we will decide on a day of the week. We'd probably prefer to do this on a Wed., Thurs,. or Sun. evening from about 7 to 8:15 or 8:30.

You can check out the link below for more info.  
http://www.answersingenesis.org/PublicStore/product/It-All-Begins-with-Genesis-Pack,6467,238.aspx

The workbook that follows along is available for $12.99 each for 6 or more copies and could be used one per family or one per child  at your discretion.

This program would be done as an age-integrated study (families together) for the year.  Let us know if you're interested and the preferred evening. 

Summer Fellowship is NEXT week

Just a reminder that the next Summer Fellowship night is Thurs., August 5th, not tonight the 29th. 

This will be water night, bring along your squirt guns and we'll do some water balloon games, if anyone has any other game ideas involving water, let us know and we can plan for those.

Bring along a snack to share and a folding chair if you have any.

We'll be in Daniel Chapter 6 with Mr. Angelo this meeting, so be sure and pre-read and give the text some thought.

Only 2 more meetings left, will you all be able to attend the week of Labor Day? I was contemplating whether or not that was the best date for everyone or if they'll be starting back to school and won't fancy coming out for the evening?? If that's the case we can make the 2nd date in Aug. be our last meeting with hot dogs and smores, starting at 6:00.  Post a comment and let me know what you'd prefer.

Visionary Parenting extra link

This program link from Family Life Today is great to go along with our study from last week. 
http://www.oneplace.com/ministries/familylife-today/listen/myth-2-good-parenting-leads-to-happy-children-94911.html
 The one line that I took away from it when discipling is "I'm not concerned about your happiness, I'm concerned about your holiness".  I've heard that used before to adults but never thought about it as far as training and discipling our children.  (Warning if you are in your 40's this program might scare you, LOL!)  There are also other broadcasts that you can listen to from the same author.

We really got down and specific with chores and if/then yesterday.  We made up two charts, one for chores and we got out the marbles and jars and came up with an amount for payment when the jars are full.  I did tweak it a bit to fit my desires for my children.  For example they each have a list of 4 things or so they must do without earning a marble, like put your pjs away, make your bed, brush your teeth, and keep your room cleaned up.  Vaccuuming their room is a marble.  Then we made up the chart of all the other chores we could think of and what they are worth.  Stephen earned about 11 yesterday, 3 for gathering all the garbage, replacing the bags and taking it out! all by himself, that was awesome, they usually do this in 2's and complain.  Oh yes, they each have 1 specific chore they don't get any marbles for i.e. Stephen's is unloading the dishwasher, Emma's is sweeping the foyer and kitchen floors, Amy's is keeping watch over the kitchen and seeing it stays tidy.  Everyone is responsible for taking their dishes to the dishwasher each meal as well which keeps down on kitchen messes.  Make it what you want it to be and suit your family!

We also made an if/then chart, still working on it for the older gang.  The younger though we instituted a few things yesterday.  The two younger kiddos lost dessert for throwing sand at eachother in the sandbox, we went through the steps Rob Renow showed and they were good, it did take longer, but not as long as I thought.  It really was good! I started to write them out on an indexcard like Barb suggested. 

Have a great weekend!

Next Thursday night is Water Balloon Volleyball night!

So come prepared to get wet and hopefully it will be weather in between what we are experiencing this week and last like 80 degrees. 

Bring a snack to share, anything goes: store bought or homemade

We'll be in Daniel Chapter 5 with Mr. Steve teaching this week, so read up ahead of time and come prepared to join in with helping to read or answer questions.

Volleyball night this week

so glad it's volleyball night and not another water night as the evening is going to be even cooler than our tube tug night! 

If everyone that is coming can bring along a bag of pretzels, chips, cookies, any type of snack to contribute that would be great.  I haven't put out the sign-up sheet since week 1 and we've been blessed to have plenty, so this is just a reminder if you'd be willing to contribute something. We always have cups and water ready to go.

This week Mr. Angelo will be teaching on Daniel Chapter 4, so pre-read if you haven't done so already. 

Bring along a sweater you might need it by the time we end!

Pics from Summer Fellowship Night

We started off the night like above with some sackraces, Mr. Angelo had to join a team as we were one player short! I told him he looked like Jr. Asparagus from Veggie Tales when he was jumping!

Then we moved on to the sponge game with water in a bucket, dividing up into two teams, the results were really close, so close Mr. Angelo and Mr. Mizener had to get out a tape measure to tell who won.

Then we did a spoon/golf ball relay and finally onto the main event "Tube Tug".  We gave everyone numbers and first played everyone as teams against eachother, but then called out numbers to have them go at the tube.  It was quite entertaining from the porch perspective!  Joe Teranella seemed to be on the bottom defending position a lot.  As you can see some did not give up too easily.  We kept watering down and soaping the tarp to keep it nice and slippery.  When the big kids were finished, we let the little ones play and slide.  By the end of the time many were soaken and wishing they were dry as the temperature was not too warm!  

We finished up our night with our study in Daniel.  Last night Mr. Steve taught on chapter 3, the fiery furnace, as usual he had a lot of humor in his lesson.  Looking forward to chapter 4 for next week with Mr. Angelo, read ahead not just once but twice is what Mr. Steve encouraged everyone to do.  

In two weeks we'll be playing volleyball with the older kids.  Anyone who has any fun game ideas for the under 10 crowd or so is welcome to bring them along.

Next Night is Teamwork Night

We had a lot of fun playing kickball tonight, well I did at least!  The boys once again beat the girls, but next fun night we will be having teamwork night.  All the games will focus on group activities, dress in clothing you can get dirty and maybe even wet, something you won't be worried about staining. 

We'll be gathering up some supplies this week and hopefully the weather will be sunny.   Don't miss this one it'll be a great night!

See you then!  Bible lesson will begin in Daniel Ch. 3

Visionary Parenting Tonight/Next Week Info.

Tonights lesson will be "Go to the Ant" for the little ones
we'll be making ants to help remind us that God wants us
to do our work without being told and that God uses small
things to accomplish big things.

We will be doing fingerprint ants and having a special snack
(graham crackers and raisins) ants in an anthill. 

Next week we will be talking about the Fruit of the Spirit is Love.
We'll be planting tomato plants to take home, making little stakes
with our verse on to go in the plants.  We'll also be painting fruit
pictures with kool aid, makes great watercolor paint and smells
great. 

Bring your fat plastic wiffle ball bats and balls,

we have several of the skinny variety. But the fatter ones are better for the younger folk, like me! 

Mud Warning for Thurs. Summer Fellowship Night

Just a warning especially for those of you with little ones for Thurs. night, hopefully the weather will be much warmer and the sun will shine Wed. and all day Thurs. and it won't be much of a concern.  But figured it would be worth noting that our yard is INDEED muddy right now.  Just had to bath the dogs before letting them back in the house this evening.  If you have little ones you may wish to bring a long a change of clothes or shoes that can be hosed off.  I know when we had a meeting here a few weeks ago the little ones kept finding the mud, we hosed down a few children before they left for the day!  so keep that in mind, hopefully the big kids won't have any problem remembering where the muddy spots are!! ??

We will be starting our Bible lesson in Daniel Chapter 1, so remember your Bible so you can follow along.  Steve will be teaching this week and Mr. Angelo (Terranella) the following meeting. 

Remember a lawn chair as well, we have some but not enough for everyone. 

We will be playing wiffle ball for our sport of the night.

Children's Lesson Time for Visionary Parenting

Well we have the lesson plans all ready to go for the next 8 weeks and I think the children will really like them, I know I do! 
We have the stories, crafts, and snacks all picked out.  Here's the list of what we'll be covering and the Bible verse each week will focus on.  Children will receive a take home card with the verse we went over and if you desire you can review it during the week with your child/ren. 

Week 1 Joseph Romans 8:28 "And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose."
Craft Joseph's Coat and a Color Page
Snack Fruit Loop Necklaces (colorful like Joseph's coat)

Not in this order

The Lost Sheep  John 15:9 As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you: continue ye in my love.
Craft painted/macaroni sheep
Game find the sheep
Snack not sure yet will come up with something like sheep food!! lol! maybe marshmallow something like sheep fluff/wool

The Prodigal Son Psm. 86:5 "For thou, Lord art good and ready to forgive and plenteous in mercy unto all them that call upon thee."
Craft Muddy Pig Picture
Snack

Elijah Phillippans 4:19 "But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus"
Craft Raven Picture and finger puppet
Snack Rice crispy treats

The Tower of Babel Matthew 6:33 "But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you."
Craft Popsicle stick puppets
Game knock down the tower
Snack

Watch my Ways/Words Psalm 141:3 "Set a watch, O Lord, before my mouth; keep the door of my lips."
Craft watchdog
Snack toasted dog bones (bread cut into dog bone shapes with butter, cinnamon sugar)

Go to the Ant Prov. 6:6 "Go to the ant, thou sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise."
Craft model ant, fingerprint page
Snack crushed graham crackers (ant hill) with raisins (ants)

Fruit of the Spirit is Love John 15:12 "This is my commandmet. That ye love one another, as I have loved you."
Craft tomato plant seeds in styrofoam cups and worm stakes
Snack heart shaped cookies

10 days till Visionary Parenting (Details)

Who:  The whole family
What: Parents and any children you wish to attend with you will watch the series and join the discussion. Older children are welcome to help with the younger children, younger children will have a felt lesson, craft, and snack.
Where: 9100 Barnes Lake Rd. N. Huntingdon  (blue flat roof house, left hand side if you are coming off Rt. 30 just pass the entrance to Norwin Hills Plaza and on the left right after Lincoln Hills Housing Plan, bottom or top driveway on the left.  Drive in around the back to park (1 space out front in front of the garage doors, park in front of the one with windows only)  Do not park on the right hand side at my brother in laws place, drive around the back, enter at stairs on porch, double doors on right.
When: 7:00 Wed. beginning the 19th for 8 consecutive weeks
Bring: something to right with, there are worksheets that go with the series

Those planning to attend currently:
McClafflin Family
Cook Family
Eichelberger Family (Paul)
Terranella Family
Emslie Family

Well hopefully this weekend....

Ellen and I will take some time to sit down and plan out the studies for the 8 weeks for the children who have parents attending the "Visionary Parenting Seminar".  We are so excited to actually dig out our Betty Luken's Felt Set and use it!!  Ruby absolutely loves the felt and we never use it at home, she's had a taste of it at AWANA and at WEC and has even asked about it, but it's been stored under the couch for a long time.   We are going to come up with some crafts and color pages that all coordinate together with the lesson and hopefully we'll have interest for all ages that are attending.  We are really looking forward to this time.

Time is flying by and it will be here before we know it!

If you are planning attending either event....

leave your name in the comment section so we can get an idea how many folks we'll need parking for and seating.  Thanks!

Pictures from the last Fellowship Nights

Mega Van Volleyball

  

Well the size and quality of these pictures is definately not the greatest, they are from the Yahoo group we ran the year we did this, but you can get the gist of this, I don't think Kara will have anytime to look these up for us till later in May!   But you can get an idea of some of the fun activities we did.  3 Man Sling Shot of Water Balloons, Lemon Eating Contest, Body Builder Balloon Night

Session One will be on:

Session 1 - God's Grand Vision for the Family

Did God create the family for a reason? Do you KNOW why God brought your family together? Discover why God created families, and why He gave you your children. 

Bring something to write with and we will provide you with the worksheets that go with the series for note taking. 

If you missed the previous post, see below for more information.

Summer Fellowship Nights

About 2 or maybe it's even be 3 yrs. ago we had hosted a teen fellowship night at our home twice a month.  It was a lot of fun and we just didn't have the time to work it into our schedule again.  But this year we are making time for it!!

What it is:  Fellowship Time for ages 12 and up in the form of playing volleyball, wiffle ball, kickball, water night etc... twice a month from 6:30 to 9p.m. at our home.  Bible Study will take place from 8:00 to 9p.m. led by Mr. Eichelberger aka Steve! and possibly one or two other Dad's who's family will be participating.

Who: Anyone 12 and up can be dropped off, but we'd encourage parents to consider attending and joining in on the activities too.  Parents can come for just the study portion if you'd like or not at all, but it'd be great to have you join us when you can, adults need fellowship too!! Children younger than 12 are welcome to come along with at least one parent and attend the entire evening or part, but cannot be dropped off.

When:  We are working to determine the day of the week we will meet and announce that soon, as well as post a schedule on the blog.  Currently considering Thurs. evenings.

Bring: You'll want to wear comfortable, but modest clothes.  As we will be playing sports please be sure you dress appropriately, no midriff tops and short, shorts please. And for water night we ask you wear dark colors.  Bring your Bible and a notebook for the studies.  We will have a sign up sheet for snacks (just bagged chips and cookies are fine, not necessary to bake unless you feel the desire to!) and we will have jugs of water for those that are dying of thirst after all the activity! 

We'll end our summer with a hot dog, marshmallow roast and an opportunity to share what the Lord is doing in your life.  

If you'd like to participate, let us know.

Visionary Parenting

On Wednesday, May 19th we will begin an 8 week study called "Visionary Parenting" by Rob Rienow.  This is an interactive DVD study.  If you are interested in more details on the series and seeing what it's all about go to:

http://www.visionaryparenting.com/aboutvp.htm  and watch this video.