Saturday night we kicked off our outdoor summer movie nights with "Star Wars" on the big screen in the Oak Hollow neighborhood. this was the first neighborhood that we went to back in our pre-launch days. It was great to be back. We enjoyed hanging out with The Crossroads family and meeting several new families from the neighborhood who joined us for a great family night.
I was utterly exhausted from a long day of cleaning and working on the house. I made it through setting up the movie screen before I crashed in my lawn chair. I didn't even budge to go get free chocolate. That's exhausted right there!
As I was sitting, desperately trying to stay awake, I looked around and realized that the teens at the movie night had congregated in my space. It feels weird to be old enough to be the mom of two middle school kids, but at the same time I enjoy visiting with the big kids. It is a new journey, but I am looking forward to the next few years.
Today at The Crossroads, we were definitely feeling the summer slump. Lots of families were out on vacation, but we also had several new families drop in to worship with us. I love seeing new faces continuing to check out The Crossroads.
Worship went well. I felt a little unsure during practice this morning since we did not get to run through the songs earlier in the week, but it all came together in the end. I've been singing Third Day's, "Your Love Oh Lord..." all week - so it was cool that it was in the set.
I was in children's again this week. We were finishing up the Boys vs. Girls series, talking about what makes girls special. I took the opportunity in my 2nd and 3rd grade small group to read, "You Are Special" by Max Lucado. It was a perfect tie-in to the big group study, and I loved getting to share one of my favorite reads with the kids.
Next week our children's coordinator will be out of town. She asked me to fill in for her. I said, "sure." (I really don't mind at all.) Then I realized that I will also be doing the singing (in the microphone) part of the worship time. I haven't sang into a microphone in over 18 years. Next I realized that all the vocalists from the praise team will be staffing small group time. Now I'm a little nervous. Why couldn't the tone deaf people be staffing children's ministry this week? But it's not about me, now is it? The kids will love me - off key or not. I'm glad that our children's coordinator will have the opportunity to go out of town with her family and have a week off.
I hope that Shawn did a good job with his sermon in the family series. I think I have missed all but one of these. I hope they are making a difference with our people in the way they relate to each other and the way they parent their children. I hope that our people are encouraged that God does not require perfection in parenting and that we all mess up and just keep on trying.
This is my last week of teaching summer school. I have enjoyed my students much more than I ever anticipated. However, I am looking forward to having a break before the fall session begins.
Other exciting news - we have an offer on our house, it was crazy low, but we countered. We will see how this all plays out. I can't wait to get moved to Anna! It will make the school year with football and volleyball practices much easier to manage.
Sunday, June 27, 2010
Sunday, June 20, 2010
Monday Morning Update 6.21.10
Luke 9:48, "Then he said to them, 'Anyone who welcomes a little child like this on m y behalf welcomes me, and anyone who welcomes me welcomes my Father who sent me. Whoever is the least among you is the greatest.'"
At The Crossroads, from the very beginning, we knew that children are important to God. Jesus stopped his agenda to spend time with kids. As churches, we frequently fall into the habit of creating a worship environment for adults and a separate worship venue for children, never mixing the two. Parents drop their kids off for free babysitting, not even sure what goes on in their area, and our children's workers are overworked, underpaid, and burned out.
This week as a part of Shawn's message series on family, we all joined the children in the gym for Kid's Cove. Our children's leaders operated the video based service just like they always do, and parents had the opportunity to see the kid's worship experience first hand. We all participated in the fun activities, getting loud and rowdy right along with the kids.
At breakout session time, parents attended sessions with their kids to see what they do during small group time. I led the teen breakout session - a big change from the young elementary students I usually lead. I enjoyed the opportunity to talk to them about being valuable to God and how they can make other people feel valuable this week.
We had tons of fun today with the kids. I am hopeful that we will see increased communication with children about their worship experience, now that parents know what that looks like. I am also hopeful that more parents will be willing to volunteer to be small group leaders since they have witnessed up close and personally how easy it is to be involved. More workers equals less burnout!
I thought this was a superb idea. I am anxious to see how today impacts families in realizing how important children are at The Crossroads. I am already looking forward to the next cooperative worship experience.
At The Crossroads, from the very beginning, we knew that children are important to God. Jesus stopped his agenda to spend time with kids. As churches, we frequently fall into the habit of creating a worship environment for adults and a separate worship venue for children, never mixing the two. Parents drop their kids off for free babysitting, not even sure what goes on in their area, and our children's workers are overworked, underpaid, and burned out.
This week as a part of Shawn's message series on family, we all joined the children in the gym for Kid's Cove. Our children's leaders operated the video based service just like they always do, and parents had the opportunity to see the kid's worship experience first hand. We all participated in the fun activities, getting loud and rowdy right along with the kids.
At breakout session time, parents attended sessions with their kids to see what they do during small group time. I led the teen breakout session - a big change from the young elementary students I usually lead. I enjoyed the opportunity to talk to them about being valuable to God and how they can make other people feel valuable this week.
We had tons of fun today with the kids. I am hopeful that we will see increased communication with children about their worship experience, now that parents know what that looks like. I am also hopeful that more parents will be willing to volunteer to be small group leaders since they have witnessed up close and personally how easy it is to be involved. More workers equals less burnout!
I thought this was a superb idea. I am anxious to see how today impacts families in realizing how important children are at The Crossroads. I am already looking forward to the next cooperative worship experience.
Monday, June 14, 2010
Tales from the trenches
ESL summer school...
Today my beautiful hispanic children were trying to decide what ethnicity I am. They knew I was not hispanic because my spanish is so bad, but they also discussed among themselves that I am not white like their other teachers. After a long debate, they finally just asked. "Mrs. Kemp, what's it called when you're not white, but pink with brown polka dots?" I couldn't answer due to my laughter.
Last week one of my little guys was walking around the room singing Taylor Swift, "She wears short skirts, I wear T-shirts...." all while doing his rockstar snap. Today the same little guy was walking around doing his rockstar snap and saying, "I'm dazed and confused. I'm dazed and confused."
I'm having fun with the kids, working with great people, and the best part is, only 14 more days to go!
Today my beautiful hispanic children were trying to decide what ethnicity I am. They knew I was not hispanic because my spanish is so bad, but they also discussed among themselves that I am not white like their other teachers. After a long debate, they finally just asked. "Mrs. Kemp, what's it called when you're not white, but pink with brown polka dots?" I couldn't answer due to my laughter.
Last week one of my little guys was walking around the room singing Taylor Swift, "She wears short skirts, I wear T-shirts...." all while doing his rockstar snap. Today the same little guy was walking around doing his rockstar snap and saying, "I'm dazed and confused. I'm dazed and confused."
I'm having fun with the kids, working with great people, and the best part is, only 14 more days to go!
Sunday, June 13, 2010
Monday Morning Update 6.20.10
We experienced another fantastic Sunday at The Crossroads. We were missing several families who were on vacation, but we still had a great crowd. I love seeing how our families are starting to connect and spend time together during the week. Seeing the friendships developing is really neat.
The worship set was fantastic. It was a big, upbeat set. "Marvelous Light", "The Way", "Blessed Be The Name", and "Mighty to Save". The electric guitar is adding new dimensions and sound to the worship band. Jake, our acoustic player, played the bass today to give a deep foundation for this particular set. I had fun playing along.
I filled in for a friend today in the children's area. The kids were excited to see me and were anxious to share all about obeying (and not obeying) their parents.
Shawn continued his message series on family. I haven't really heard anything about his sermon yet. He said he thought it went well. I'm sure he did an amazing job.
The very best part of the day for me was about 3:00, when I picked up my two little girls from MeMaw's. I have missed them desperately this last week. It was good to sit down tonight to a full table at supper. Their spots have been very empty. I have enjoyed hearing their stories about all the fun they had at their grandma's house.
The worship set was fantastic. It was a big, upbeat set. "Marvelous Light", "The Way", "Blessed Be The Name", and "Mighty to Save". The electric guitar is adding new dimensions and sound to the worship band. Jake, our acoustic player, played the bass today to give a deep foundation for this particular set. I had fun playing along.
I filled in for a friend today in the children's area. The kids were excited to see me and were anxious to share all about obeying (and not obeying) their parents.
Shawn continued his message series on family. I haven't really heard anything about his sermon yet. He said he thought it went well. I'm sure he did an amazing job.
The very best part of the day for me was about 3:00, when I picked up my two little girls from MeMaw's. I have missed them desperately this last week. It was good to sit down tonight to a full table at supper. Their spots have been very empty. I have enjoyed hearing their stories about all the fun they had at their grandma's house.
Thursday, June 10, 2010
What's Up?
Life has been insane for the last several weeks. The end of school is always crazy, just at the same time as church life is ramping up for the summer. Added to this, I am currently teaching full day summer school, and I am one busy lady. So tonight, I wanted to take a few minutes to kind of catch up with where I've been, and what's been going on.
After spending weeks dreading summer school, I am actually enjoying it. It is relaxed, laid back, with no lesson plans or paper work. I show up, pull something amazing and interesting out of my wealth of supplies, and teach 13 kids how to read. I am teaching Kindergarten ESL. It is apparently a Texas requirement that these second language learners are offered 120 hours of language development during the summer. So as long as my teaching falls under the expansive umbrella of "language development" I'm fine.
The biggest adjustment for me is that I have no breaks. As in absolutely none. I supervise them eating breakfast, and lunch, and have recess duty. We are never apart. Although this is great for their language development, it is an exhausting experience for me. It means that my perky teacher personality must always be fully on, without any moments to bring it back down. Tuesday night I was in bed and asleep before 8:00!
I am fully enjoying the people I am working with. One of my favorite ladies from Joe K. Bryant, Kate, is teaching the Pre-K class. I am loving getting to hang out with her. The other Kindergarten teacher, Pablo, is phenomenal. I am awed by his relationship with his students. Both of these colleagues are amazing teachers. It is a privilege to teach alongside them and add to my toolbag of skills.
Since my life is crazy anyway, I've decided to take my fitness up another notch. This makes no sense to me why I decided that now is a good time, but I am not well known for making sense. I am determined to be in the best shape of my life, so that I can have the energy and stamina to follow God's calling on my life. I'm up at 4:30, doing P90X. I am loving it! It's crazy hard, amazingly complex, and leaves my body trashed. However, I am seeing unbelievably quick results in everything from my numbers on the scale to the numbers on the measuring tape, to the height of my vertical jump, to my stamina on my runs. I'm still doing my regular workouts in the evening as well. My energy level is unreal.
My littlest girls are at MeMaw's until Sunday. I am missing them so bad it hurts. James has been hanging out with friends in Anna, leaving Grace the only kid at home with her Dad. I think this may have helped ease him into his summer Daddy Day Care role. He's shown up twice this week at work with treats for me - coffee and Sonic drinks. This is a man who knows how to make me feel loved.
Another noteworthy moment occurred this week. On Wednesday, Shawn and the big kids were at youth, and I wanted to see Ironman 2 (which they've already watched). I went to the movies all by myself for the very first time ever. It was a little weird to turn to whisper comments into my best friend's ear, and he wasn't there. Yet, for the most part, I really enjoyed the time to myself. For a short while, I didn't have to be "on". I could just chill.
I am looking forward to the weekend. Tomorrow I will be 1/4 of the way finished with the summer school gig. It's just 15 more days till summer for me!!!! Yeah!!!!
After spending weeks dreading summer school, I am actually enjoying it. It is relaxed, laid back, with no lesson plans or paper work. I show up, pull something amazing and interesting out of my wealth of supplies, and teach 13 kids how to read. I am teaching Kindergarten ESL. It is apparently a Texas requirement that these second language learners are offered 120 hours of language development during the summer. So as long as my teaching falls under the expansive umbrella of "language development" I'm fine.
The biggest adjustment for me is that I have no breaks. As in absolutely none. I supervise them eating breakfast, and lunch, and have recess duty. We are never apart. Although this is great for their language development, it is an exhausting experience for me. It means that my perky teacher personality must always be fully on, without any moments to bring it back down. Tuesday night I was in bed and asleep before 8:00!
I am fully enjoying the people I am working with. One of my favorite ladies from Joe K. Bryant, Kate, is teaching the Pre-K class. I am loving getting to hang out with her. The other Kindergarten teacher, Pablo, is phenomenal. I am awed by his relationship with his students. Both of these colleagues are amazing teachers. It is a privilege to teach alongside them and add to my toolbag of skills.
Since my life is crazy anyway, I've decided to take my fitness up another notch. This makes no sense to me why I decided that now is a good time, but I am not well known for making sense. I am determined to be in the best shape of my life, so that I can have the energy and stamina to follow God's calling on my life. I'm up at 4:30, doing P90X. I am loving it! It's crazy hard, amazingly complex, and leaves my body trashed. However, I am seeing unbelievably quick results in everything from my numbers on the scale to the numbers on the measuring tape, to the height of my vertical jump, to my stamina on my runs. I'm still doing my regular workouts in the evening as well. My energy level is unreal.
My littlest girls are at MeMaw's until Sunday. I am missing them so bad it hurts. James has been hanging out with friends in Anna, leaving Grace the only kid at home with her Dad. I think this may have helped ease him into his summer Daddy Day Care role. He's shown up twice this week at work with treats for me - coffee and Sonic drinks. This is a man who knows how to make me feel loved.
Another noteworthy moment occurred this week. On Wednesday, Shawn and the big kids were at youth, and I wanted to see Ironman 2 (which they've already watched). I went to the movies all by myself for the very first time ever. It was a little weird to turn to whisper comments into my best friend's ear, and he wasn't there. Yet, for the most part, I really enjoyed the time to myself. For a short while, I didn't have to be "on". I could just chill.
I am looking forward to the weekend. Tomorrow I will be 1/4 of the way finished with the summer school gig. It's just 15 more days till summer for me!!!! Yeah!!!!
Monday, June 7, 2010
Monday Morning Update (for real) 6.7.10
We had a great day at The Crossroads yesterday. Sunday is always the highlight of my week. I enjoy seeing friends, and visiting for a few brief minutes in amongst the chaos of setting up.
We added an electric guitar player to the band this weekend. He did a super job. I'm looking forward to seeing where this will take the band now. I'm excited about the things we can do with a fuller band.
Shawn started a new sermon series, "Family". I am excited about how God is going to use this series to bring change and direction to the families at The Crossroads. I am anxious to see what he has planned for the next few weeks.
After the services, we headed out to a local walking trail and picked up litter and had a family picnic. I had a great time hanging out with several of the families from The Crossroads. It was fun to lay on my blanket and make pictures in the clouds with some of the kids. It's been a long time since I just stopped and watched the clouds float by.
We added an electric guitar player to the band this weekend. He did a super job. I'm looking forward to seeing where this will take the band now. I'm excited about the things we can do with a fuller band.
Shawn started a new sermon series, "Family". I am excited about how God is going to use this series to bring change and direction to the families at The Crossroads. I am anxious to see what he has planned for the next few weeks.
After the services, we headed out to a local walking trail and picked up litter and had a family picnic. I had a great time hanging out with several of the families from The Crossroads. It was fun to lay on my blanket and make pictures in the clouds with some of the kids. It's been a long time since I just stopped and watched the clouds float by.
Sunday, June 6, 2010
Monday Morning Update 6.6.10
I am way too exhausted to blog tonight after an incredibly long, hot, stressful day getting ready for summer school.
So for those who just can't wait - here's a link to Shawn's blog to get his take on the day.
http://www,blazingthetrail.blogspot.com
So for those who just can't wait - here's a link to Shawn's blog to get his take on the day.
http://www,blazingthetrail.blogspot.com
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