If you haven't read Linda's thread about her dad...he passed away on Saturday evening. Please keep Linda in your prayers. I cannot even imagine the pain she is going through.

Thanks rae...I am always looking for new good books to share during Children's Church. I just got a new one for Thanksgiving. Its called Saying Grace...I can't remember the author, but it is a beautiful story and the pictures are awesome. I had 18 today and they actually listened to the story. The story is about a young girl and begins with everyone worrying about the "harsh winter". Her mom tells her Only God knows and to pray about it...be anxious in nothing...ends with a thanksgiving feast. So, if anyone is interested check it out at your local Christian bookstore.

Hi guys. I'm going to be posting the basics of this on the Christmas Countdown, but I wanted to make sure all of you got the whole info.

I recently met a woman who just got her first children's book published. The book is wonderful. It's geared toward preschoolers or early readers. The book is What Will I Be When I Grow Up? The subtitle is How God Made Me Somebody Special.

The author, Susan Snyder, used Colossians 3:23 (Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord) as the key verse. Throughout the book she points out various possible vocations and why they're important. She then includes an appropriate scripture for each one. For example:

Will I be a recording artist . . . and sing for lots and lots of people?
Maybe, but even if I'm not . . . I can sing and praise God every day.
"I will sing of the Lord's great love forever; with my mouth I will make your faithfulness known." Psalm 89:1

The book is published by Harvest House Publishers and available through all bookstores, including online outlets. You can get more information at www.susan-snyder.com. Feel free to let her know you heard about the book from me. She's a wonderful woman.

For the record, I get nothing from this. I just think it's a great book.

Already being done Shawnna...

Everyone please pray for Linda's dad. If you don't know the situation check out the "I'm so sad" thread. She really needs to be lifted up also.

Our board rep finally had a chance to meet with the two couples who lead the children on Sunday. He came to me yesterday and said, "I'm going to take you up on your offer. I want you to keep doing everything you've been doing."

I think he felt like if he returned to the fun stuff (leading the kids) he had to take the responsibilities (mostly what I do). Silly man. I really enjoy those responsibilities. He and I work well together, so this will be great.

I told him that I think if he just announces that he couldn't stand being away from the kids people will understand. While I know that Satan will do what he can and people will talk (that's what people do), I really don't think this will cause any problems at all.

We'll be making the changes in early October. I appreciate your continued prayer.

Thanks, Shawna. I really do feel fine about this. I'll still be very involved with the children. We're also involved elsewhere in various ways. Our church is growing and making some big changes.

Last year we opened the Rescue Resort. It's a residential facility for women who want to turn their lives around. We've had women who were just out of prison, who were just out of drug rehab, and who simply realized their lives were headed in the wrong direction. It's a secure place located on 14 acres. The idea is that we form a community of caring people around them so they have a brand new set of friends to turn to instead of those from their past lives. Two of those women were just baptized on Sunday. It's been beautiful to watch their lives change.

In November we're hoping to start a Thursday evening service. This wouldn't be at our church. (We're looking into venues. We may make it mobile--moving it from location to location.) It would be an outreach to those who won't walk into a church. It will also be for those churched people who are not getting all they need from their own churches. The idea is not to get them to come to our church. It's to get them fired up to go back to their own and make a difference.

In January we're hoping to open the Rescue Hotel. This would be a place for men. While it would be somewhat similar to the Rescue Resort, it will also be very different. Quite simply, men have different needs. In addition to being a place for men who are looking to change their lives, it will be a place for a man to go on short notice if he needs a place to clear his head. Our pastor is convinced that many, many marriages could be saved if men had a place to cool off, clear their heads, and get some good counsel.

So, in the midst of all that, our Director of Operations is prayerfully considering the best way to make it clear that this is a personal choice because of his passion and no other reason. With this much being done for the Kingdom, Satan is surely prowling, looking for ways to cause trouble.

Yes, Satan looks for every opportunity to stir up trouble. However, people should be able to see that you are doing a great job...some may even feel like he is taking over because you did so well. Don't let that interfere with what you feel God is telling you. It may be that He put you there until this person could take care of things elsewhere. God has a way of doing that. And, God may be opening a different door for you and you needed this experience to fulfill a new obligation.

More changes are on the horizon for us. I spoke with our former Children's Pastor on Sunday. He is our representative on the Board. Several days earlier when we were emailing back and forth about an issue in Promiseland (our chldren's ministry) he mentioned that he had some ideas to discuss. Bottom line is that he wants to step back into the hands-on leadership of Promiseland.

Don't worry. There haven't been any huge issues. He things I'm doing a great job, as are the people in charge on Sunday mornings. He simply misses it terribly. It's his passion. When he accepted the much larger responsibility of Director of Operation he just didn't see how he could continue to do Promiseland. As the changes our church has been implementing have started to move forward, he feels confident and comfortable enough to resume those responsibilities.

I've assured him that, while I've loved being the Children's Ministry Director, I have no problem whatsoever turning the reins back over to him. I had a sense that I was simply holding his place until the urgent needs were met elsewhere. I'll retain some of the responsibilities as a way to support him. I don't know if we'll sit down and discuss who does what or whether he'll just let me know what he'd like me to cover. Honestly, either is fine with me.

The biggest issue, from his point of view, is how to make the change without it looking like the Sunday morning leaders and I were not doing a good job. That's really not it at all. However, we all know that Satan can use a change like this to stir up trouble.

I'd appreciate your prayers.

Bible study went well. The crowd was very small, which I expected. However, since most of the talkers were gone, the quiet ones got a chance to really shine. We discussed the difference between doing things out of duty and doing them out of love and what that means.