Adopt-A-Child Reminder

So far, in our goal of raising $1200 for our Adopt-a-Child initiative, we have raised $741.91.  This coming weekend will be our last weekend to collect money.  If your Camp Grace (1st - 4th grade) child has not yet brought in $2 to contribute, and your preschooler (2's to Kindergarten) has not brought in $1, please make sure to have them bring it.  Remember, if we all do a little, we can have a big impact.

Adopt-A-Child

As we did last year, we are going to "adopt" some children this Christmas season, but helping to provide them with gifts.  Grace Church is working with local schools, and we (as the Children's Ministry) plan to take 15 of those children.  We are going to have volunteers shop for the gifts, and we'll use the money we collect from the children in our programming to cover the costs.

We are asking each Camp Grace (1st - 4th grade) child to bring in $2, and each preschool-age child to bring in $1 sometime over the next few weeks.  The money will be collected during the Big Group portion of our programming, and our goal is to raise up at least $1200, all of which will be donated to this cause.  If everyone does a little, we can have a big impact.  We want this opportunity to be an opportunity to worship God more, as we seek to bless others in a reflection of the grace our Lord has shown us.

Watch this video from last year, to hear how an initiative like this can touch someone's life:

(You can also watch this video on our YouTube channel.)

How Do I Train My Child to Manage Money?

Here are some thoughts from Randy Alcorn, author of The Treasure Principle, a great resource for adults that we have used at Grace Church:

1. Give your children something greater than money -- your time.
2. Use life's teachable moments to train your children.
3. Take a field trip to a junkyard. 
4. Teach your children to link money with labor.
5. Teach your children how to save.
6. Get your children started on the lifetime adventure of giving.
7. Provide your children with financial planning tools.
8. Teach your children how to say "No."
9. Show your children how family finances work.
10. Never underestimate the power of your example.

Read the full article for more details on each idea.

We (Wii) Went There

Over Christmas and New Years, our kids got to play a Nintendo Wii at the homes of family and friends, and they had been talking about how great it would be to have one. So, in the beginning on January, I promptly informed our kids that if they came up with half of the cost of a Wii, we would cover the other half. (Joanna was just as surprised as the kids.) They went right to work counting up what they had, and had over $40 (mostly money from recent birthdays and Christmas), plus a $15 gift card to Target.  It was well short of the $106 they would need (they, of course, had to pay for half of the sales tax), but not a bad start. At our bank, I started a separate savings account that we called the “Wii Fund.” By early March, they had enough, and we purchased our system at Target one Sunday afternoon.

How did they earn the rest of the money?  Here were their main avenues:

• Set up a lemonade stand on a surprisingly-warm February day
• Making and selling very creative Valentine’s Day cards
• A little bit of money as gifts for Valentine's Day (from grandparents)
• One tooth for the “Tooth Fairy"

In this process, we were really excited to see their character and attitudes, particularly with Hannah and Elijah. Probably the greatest part of this “project” was seeing them display honorable and Christ-like character.  For example, they . . .

• Didn’t whine or bug us with questions about when they would be able to buy it.
• Worked together as a team. Not once did any of them consider any portion of money more critical than another one’s contribution. It was always our Wii Fund.
• Earned money by working (lemonade stand, homemade cards)
• Turned down additional money from grandparents.  Hannah said, “My Daddy probably won’t let me take that.” Maybe that was true and maybe not, but I loved how she thought to honor me.
• Continued to tithe and save in long-term savings when they received money (versus just putting all the money towards the Wii Fund)
• Reacted with pure joy and gratitude when we took them to Target to buy it (they had no idea why we were there)

They have shown to be faithful with the little money that they have. Even with birthdays and Christmas in 2009, they expected to and had no problem with spending money out of their own piggy banks to buy gifts for others, and to give and tithe. We are now considering giving them more to be faithful with, and more responsibility (Matthew 25:21; Luke 16:10).  Specifically, we’re thinking of giving them a small amount of a monthly allowance, and see if they continue to be faithful to give and save, along with having an allotment to spend. But we know if they prove unfaithful, we will remove even the little that they have. 

Do you give an allowance to your children?  What age were your children when they started?  Are there any strings attached?

Who Owns It?

Our kids are selfish. (I don’t think it’s just our kids, is it?) They insist on what they want, when they want it, and where they want it. And when they exclaim, “It’s mine!” we have a couple of choices. We can take the item away and make them share, or we can go deeper to the heart level, and explain that they actually don’t own anything. We want to teach our children that they are stewards, not owners, just as we are learning ourselves. God owns everything, and He blesses us with so many things, not just for ourselves, but so that we can share with others. So, over the years, whenever our children try to claim “ownership” over something, we remind them that their toy, Webkin, candy, etc, is not theirs, but God’s.

Well, earlier this week, our 3-year-old Sender showed his understanding of this truth, in his own twisted way. A friend was over, just a few months younger than he is. They mostly played well, but at one point Sender had a toy that the other boy wanted. Quickly, Sender clutched the toy to his chest and started to claim ownership.  He got as far as, “It’s mi—,” when he caught himself. I guess he knew that wasn’t right. So, then he started to say that it was God’s. He only got as far as “It’s G—“ when he again paused. He knew that if he admitted that it was God’s then he would be ‘convicted’ to share the toy.

So instead of proclaiming the truth (“It’s God’s”) which would lead to a life-change application (“I can share”), he said nothing, walking away still holding the toy.

Are we not all that self-deceptive?  We claim to trust God in our words, but when it comes to application, we aren’t willing often enough to make the sacrifice in order to bless others. As Matt Williams taught (see February 14, under “Fear & Freedom”) in his sermon this past week, giving is a gospel issue.  We should give not just because it’s a good thing, but because Jesus gave all for us. Any sacrifice we make to bless others is peanuts compared to what He did for us, and His sacrifice should be all the motivation we need.

In what ways do you need to give and share, as a reflection of God’s ownership and Jesus’ sacrifice?  How can you move from mere head-knowledge of trust in God, to life-change application? Here are some ideas:

1. Give (financially) just a little more, and see God provide for you
2. Get in Biblical community
3. Organize a social event or project for your Community Group; don't let it all fall on your leader
4. Serve more often and more sacrificially in your local church
5. Go on that mission trip that’s on your mind
6. In your local church, don’t go to the most crowded worship service just because it’s convenient for you
7. Spend more quantity, not just quality, time with your kids
8. Take your children’s pastor out to lunch (OK, if not that, at least make him feel better by leaving a comment on his blog)
9. Say “no” to a work opportunity that will cause you to have less time and energy for you family and church

Any other ideas of how you've been learning to trust God through being courageously-generous with your time, money, etc? 

-- Joey Espinosa

Money, Money, Money

In our adult worship services, we have been teaching about money, through the series entitled “Fear and Freedom.”  (If you missed any weeks or want to review, you can get the audio and notes from our website.)  The goal for this series is not to get the body to bring their money to the church, but to rally the church’s resources to help the body. 

Just as it is the role of the Grace Church staff to equip the body in this area of discipleship, it is the role of parents to teach their children about money from a Biblical perspective.  In this article from The Village Church, we are prodded with these questions:

“How are you teaching your children to love the Lord in all areas of life, including money? Are you talking to them often about why we give money to our church? Are you leading by example in the way you and your spouse talk about and handle money in your household.”

Another useful article along these lines is by John Piper, on the Desiring God website.

Through this series, have you done anything new or different to help teach your children about money?

Coats for Kids - Final Tally

Thanks to everyone who participated in our "Coats for Kids" collection, over the past few weeks.  We raised about $150 from our preschoolers!  The money will be used to purchase coats, hats, and gloves for Pendleton Place, a children's emergency shelter in Greenville.  Hopefully, your children learned that God owns everything; therefore, we should be free to be generous to others. 

Coats for Kids - Continued

We had a great start to our collection in our preschool programming.  (Click here for a description of what we're doing.)  This coming weekend (February 6-7) will be the last weekend that we will be collecting money, and then a volunteer will purchase the coats for Pendleton Place, and emergency children's shelter.  Please make sure that your preschool-age child brings $1 to his or her small group.  If we all do a little, we can have a big impact.

Coats for Kids

In our Preschool programming, we just began a 3-week series on "God Owns Everything."  We are teaching that as a response to God's ownership, we should be free to be generous, and that we should honor the Lord with our wealth (Proverbs 3:9).  We will teach through the accounts of Zacchaeus, the Rich Young Ruler, and the Poor Widow, from the New Testament.

As a application of this Biblical principle, we will be collecting money to buy coats, hats, and gloves for children in Greenville who do not have any.  More specifically, we will donate these to Pendleton Place, a local emergency shelter for children. 

If you have a child in our Preschool programming, please have him or her bring $1 to their class, and we will collect the money during our Big Group time.  As you talk about this with your child(ren), remind him that since God owns everything, we should be generous.  Since He has given us so much, then we should be generous towards others. 

If you have questions about this or anything else regarding our Preschool programming, please let us know.

Theophilus and the Widow

Since we're in the midst of a teaching series on being Courageously-Generous, and since we're teaching a 3-week series in about "God is Generous" in our Preschool programming, we thought we'd share some thoughts from Jamie Munson, pastor at Mars Hill Church.

"Like the widow, are you willing to joyfully trust Jesus with your life, and, out of love for him, sacrifice more than just your abundance?"

Read the full article here.

Teaching Money Basics to Kids

“Financial decisions are spiritual decisions.”  What a crucial principle that was taught in this past weekend’s sermon (Fear & Freedom, January 17, 2010).  We should be intentional and purposeful in how we handle our resources, since we are stewards, not owners (Matthew 25).  Furthermore, we need to teach our children these same principles.  There are lots of great resources out there, including tools from Crown Financial Ministries, Junior’s Clubhouse (a website from Dave Ramsey), and Moonjar.  

The Moonjar is a triplet of boxes that encourages kids to divide their money into portions for sharing, saving, and spending.  Might be worth looking into for your young ones.  If there is enough interest, we can probably order in bulk for additional savings.  Let us know if you are interested by posting here.

Budgeting for Kids

"Most kids have no concept of how much things really cost."  (Did I hear an "amen" from all you parents?)  That's from an article that came out before Christmas, courtesy of CNNMoney.com.  There are some good principles for helping children understand the value of money.  Even if you don't agree with all the principles and applications presented, it is clear that it is our job as parents to teach our children about finances. 

One of the most important concepts to understand about money is that it is really a function of time.  Money is earned, and in order to get it, we must sacrifice a certain amount of time.  For example, if your student earns $6 per hour, then they must trade in 5 hours of their work day to buy that $30 sweater.  Likewise, if they want you to buy the new video game console, with extra controllers and games, that could total $300 or more.  If you take home $15 per hour, then to buy that toy requires you to work 20 hours (not counting taxes)!  This definitely puts a different perspective on what things really "cost."

Seeking God with $10 - Final Tally

Last month, I gave my older kids each $10, with the instructions for them to ask God about what they should do with it. (Read about it here.) Here's what they each did:

Hannah:

• $5 for Adopt-A-Child
  
• $5 to buy a Christmas gift for her friend that lives across the street (a Littlest Pet Shop monkey, since her friend "really, really likes monkeys")
  

Elijah:

• $1 for a general tithe to our church
• $6 for Adopt-A-Child (He explained, "If I didn't get anything for Christmas, I would be sad.")
  
• $1 to his piggy bank
• $2 for Osborn Mission (As part of their school curriculum, the kids have been learning about how so much of the world doesn't have access to a Bible in their native language. Our friends Philly & Elizabeth Osborn feel called by God to plant a church to a people group who have never heard the Gospel. You should check out their website.)
  

-- Joey Espinosa

Adopt-A-Child Summary

The final numbers are in. God raised up over $1000 through Children's Ministry for the Adopt-A-Child initiative. Praise Him! It amazes us to think that this much money came through the hands of kids. We hope that hundreds of children were able to feel love towards other children, even those they have never met. We see that if everyone does a little, we can have a big impact for the sake of Christ. If you missed it, watch this video.

Adopt-A-Child Video

Check out this video that shows the importance of engaging our culture. While we do need to preach the Gospel with words, Jesus also commands us to show love for His sake as well, through our actions. In fact, although salvation is based on faith alone and not works, there is a level of judgment that we will receive based on what we do or don't do to love others (Matthew 25:33-40). What we do with our God-given resources is actually a reflection of how we feel about and worship the Lord.

Our Children's Ministry is "adopting" 11 children this Christmas. (For more details, read this.) If you worship at Grace Church, and your preschool- or elementary-age child has not brought money in yet, or if he or she wants to bring in additional money, please do so by this Sunday, December 13th. Thanks for your support!

Adopt-A-Child for Christmas

This Christmas season, Grace Children's Ministry is "adopting" 11 children from nearby schools, in conjunction with our church as a whole who are looking to "adopt" over 200 children. Most of the children are from families from Monaview Elementary School, a local Title I school that Grace Church has partnered with. We are also working with elementary schools in the Powdersville community, and in Allendale county.

The goal is to show the love of Christ to our neighbors, and to help the children in our own body understand that our neighbors are not just the people who live near us. Since God has given us so much, and since He owns it all, it should be natural for us to share with others. If everyone contributes a little, we can have a huge impact, so we are asking each Camp Grace child (1st - 4th grade) to bring $2, and each preschool child (2 years old - 5k) to bring $1. The money will be collected during their Big Group times, and then volunteers will shop for each child.

We are off to a great start. We have collected around $600 so far, with a goal of $900. The last day that we will be collecting money is December 13th. Any additional money over the goal will be added to the amount that Grace Church sends to Allendale.

We are excited about this opportunity to have an engage our culture. Thanks for everyone who is partnering with us. If you have any questions about this, please contact us at children@gracechurchsc.org.

Seeking God with $10

I've been trying to figure out how to redeem our family's time and money during this Christmas season. Plus, God has recently shown me that I have not led and shepherded our children well in a few areas, particularly in the areas of prayer and money. So, last week I came up with a way to combine all this into one "project."

I explained to our older 2 kids (Hannah, 8, and Elijah, almost 6) that I was going to give each of them $10, and they could use it on whatever they wanted. If they wanted to save it, or spend it on themselves, or give, or buy something for someone else, that is fine. I did not want them to do anything based on what they thought I wanted them to do. The only thing they had to do was consider what God wanted them to do. Normally, they feel so much pressure from me to "do the right thing" and "be good kids," but they need to learn that they should seek to please our Lord. Before anything else, we need to seek Him and His will.

Hannah immediately said that she was going to buy a gift for her best friend. Elijah said that he was going to give it away. I asked them if that's what God wanted them to do. They were confused, since those were "good deeds." I explained that those were good choices, but they may not be want God wants at this time.

Soon, Elijah asked, "But can I ask you for advice?" What a great question! Of course he can, but only after he learns to ask God. Within 10 years, I will no longer be a primarily authority figure in his life; I will be in a role of delegating responsibility, and later we will be in partnership. This project is a great opportunity to sow nuggets of truth as I seek to disciple my kids according to Deuteronomy 6:7 - "Repeat [these commands] again and again to your children. Talk about them when you are at home and when you are on the road, when you are going to bed and when you are getting up."

What I hope my children will learn through this endeavor:

• Whatever we do with what God has given us can be an act of worship. That could mean sharing, saving, or even enjoying His blessings.
• Just because something is good does not necessarily mean that God wants you to do it.
• I will always love them, no matter what choices they make.

-- Joey Espinosa


edit: See the final results here.