Got to church this morning at 10am to work on the 1st/2nd grade room at church. We planned to paint SPLATS on the wall to better define small group areas. I was pleased with the turnout of folks. I was surprised to see that the hole in the drywall was fixed already. I expected us to have to wait on the splat that goes there, but we were able to get them ALL PAINTED TODAY. We will probably need to do another coat on the red splat and the orange one, too, but it will certainly be fine for tomorrow. This week some time, I can go in and touch up those with no problem. We also put together the fourth coffee table for that room. 

The 1st/2nd grade room is the first one to need all four tables. That makes me excited and nervous. Excited because we are making a fourth group out of the four deaf kids in our ministry. The parents/interpreters have thought it best to pull those kids to their own small group so that they can be helped more individually with the Bible lessons. These kids don't learn the Bible lessons the same  way as hearing kids, so if someone can help them learn the Truths in their heart language, I am ALL FOR IT! Pulling those kids to their own group will give us a bit more room in the other two 2nd grade groups, too.

I am excited about how far this room has come. The volunteer staff in that room was really having a difficult time managing close to 30 kids each week, but we've made some changes that have really helped. First of all, this year's staff is PERFECT for that room. I'm so thankful for Elizabeth and Trish and Mike and Mary. They all work together to bring those kids exactly what they need. We've done what we can environmentally to make the room not so crazy/unorganized. We've also worked on the large group teaching to make it make sense to these kids so that when they go to small group, they have something to discuss. And I've also tried to make things simple, but effective for our Small Group Leaders, so that they can focus on building relationships with the kids instead of preparing the activities. The new MoBucks incentive has done wonders for our whole minstry, but especially these rowdy 2nd grade boys (one of which belongs to me!). Tomorrow will be the GRAND OPENING of our MoBucks store. These kids are REALLY excited!!!

And I am, too. Someone asked me today if I was happy staying home and not working for LRSD. I said, YES...and didn't feel guilty about it. There's no turning back now. First, I am pleased with what's going on with my children. We've gotten serious about a few things around here and done it in a way that is showing our children how to respect authority...something that I have been concerned about as of late. It's been rough some days, but I can't wait for the day when no one is in trouble and we can live peacefully and happily in our home. It's coming. It just takes some of us longer than others to get there.

Second, I absolutely LOVE what I do for the church, even if I don't get paid for it. I am working in my purpose...showing kids their value to God by making our ministry relevant and valuable to them...showing kids that even though they're kids, they matter to Him. They can be a Friend of God. They can be a Spiritual Champion. This is the kind of stuff I am passionate about. It's what makes me tick.

Why am I talking about all of this at 1:45 AM? Well, I came home from church this afternoon with a migraine. And it was bad. I usually take one excedrin and lay down, but laying down made it worse. I could not find one way to lay where my head didn't pound. An ice pack didn't even help. I thought for a few minutes I was going to have to go to the emergency room. I wanted to cry, I was in so much pain, but then I took the 2nd excedrin and waited and whimpered another 20 minutes or so. Finally, I found a way to lay where it didn't hurt SO bad (it still hurt, but not SO bad) and I fell asleep. That  was around 7:30 or so. I woke up at 9pm on a caffeine high and ready to watch another episode of LOST. We watched it and Allen went to sleep. My mind was still running so I got up around 11:30 and have been working on tomorrow's (today's) Bible lesson.

Just now, my mind is beginning to slow down enough where I think I might be able to sleep, so I think I'll go try.

That's all for now! I'll put the camera in my stuff to take to church tomorrow so you all can see what we did in there.

Debbie

Oh I am SO excited about this!
Mosaic Kids have been earning MoBucks for the past three weeks in anticipation of THIS SUNDAY when Mo-Mart will open for the first time.
Another volunteer and I went shopping yesterday and found some GREAT prizes on clearance at Walgreen's. The kids are going really love this stuff. We've got notepads, flashlights, calculators, hair things, craft kits, pinball games...LOTS of variety. We still have to find a few more $3 prizes.
Today, we went to Sam's and bought a cart to store and present the stuff on. As the staff got out of staff meeting, there was excitement in the air. They are getting as excited as their kids will be about MoMart.
I can't wait!!!

I'm working on getting Bibles for every K-4th grader. We decided on the NIrV Bible and went searching for a good price because they are expensive! I did a lot of research and the cheapest hardcover, NIrV Bible with print that kids could easily read was found was here at around $10 a piece, but you  have to buy a case of them. If any of you might be interested in helping to provide Bibles for 60-80 kids, please message me.

Debbie