Hey Parents,
Tomorrow night, Saturday December 10th, the Goodlettsville Parade will be taking place and this year our church has put a "float" in it! We are asking our youth to come and ride on the back of it and to wave and smile their cheerful faces to the crowd! We need your students to show up around 4:30 PM here at the FLC Gym and then we'll have some chili for them back at the church after the parade is over. If you're free please let them come and join us!
On Sunday night, we are hosting our Bridge Dinner for over 150 of Nashville's homeless. We need BOTH you and your students to come and help us out with this ministry. We're asking all of our church family to show up around 5:15 PM Sunday night where we will give everyone their assignments for the night. It will be a great night and we want you to be a part of it!
Lastly, December is here and we know what all of our students are thinking about...so read this for a Friday thought!!
How to Be Rich
With December here, we don't have to wonder what our kids are thinking about. They're making their lists and checking them many more times than twice. It might be a new toy car for a child or a first car for a teenager. From Fisher-Price to Ford, there's something for everyone at every age during this season of giving.
As focused as our kids may be on what they're getting for Christmas, sometimes that makes it even more surprising how much they want to give.
The New York Post Office even has an Operation Santa division, where they watch for letters to Santa where kids describe someone in need. Volunteers match donors to the kids' unselfish requests. The postal service's Director of Elf Operations expects about two million such letters this Christmas, just in New York alone.
Children seem to be the first to notice the homeless man on the street of know about the family with the unemployed dad. They're wired for generosity, and how we approach the holidays will help determine if they stay that way.
In each one of our lives, we have a tendency to move toward a lifestyle of generosity or a lifestyle of greed. Are we wrapped up in ourselves or our things, or do we reflect God's character by giving freely to others.
Kids will see this most clearly when parents and leaders give them a specific opportunity to be generous.
For an example, let me tell you about a kid named Seth. Seth had an unruly reputation in his 7th grade class. He wouldn't pay attention and got into trouble for being disrespectful. Then one Sunday, Seth heard in his small group at church about some kids about his age in another country. The small group leader talked about those kids and what they needed just to survive.
For some reason, that got Seth's attention.
He decided he'd rake leaves and shovel ice to raise money so he could help his small group support one of the kids overseas.
This simple act of generosity led to a radical transformation in Seth's life. His attention span changed, he participated in class, he had a new view of the world.
Seth became part of a better story.
When the apostle Paul was talking to young Timothy, he gave this simple instruction about how to be part of a better story: "Be rich in good deeds. Be generous and willing to share" (1 Timothy 6:18).
In other words, you're not generous because you're rich. You're rich because you're generous.
Kids will face the tension between generosity and greed all of their lives. It will only intensify as they grow older. First it's toys, then suddenly it's houses and bank accounts. But we can teach them to measure success in a different way, not by what they get, but by what they give.
Hope to see you all Saturday or Sunday!
Jeff
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