A year ago, Daniel decided to transition from Young Adults Ministry into being a Campus Minister. We are still working with the same congregation, Westover...but we moved from their large north campus down south to their church plant, Westover South. In all honestly, I wasn't super excited or on board with the decision, but I trust my husband and God has always remained faithful to us. Within 3 months, I knew we were right where we should be. The Westover South community is hands down my favorite church that we have ever served with. If you were to assemble a dream team to plant a church with, no lie you would choose these people! Not only have Daniel and I fallen into a good stride of life and work down south, our kids are flourishing here. They can hardly wait for Sunday night for worship or Tuesday night for small group. They tell me spontaneously all the time how much they LOVE our church. And yes, it does this momma heart some good to hear that! When we moved last May, Daniel and I hit the ground running. I immediately began teaching and working with these awesome kiddos...
We are sharing a building with Travis Heights which works with marginalized. The building is a little rough and a bit of a challenge, but the kids' classes actually meet in a food pantry :).
That summer I put together a little VBS with the lego theme focusing on the Good Samaritan and how we can build relationships and connect with our neighbors by helping others. *If you didn't know, You Tube has bible stories told through legos...the kids love it!
After our big worship, we had stations the kids cycled through. Application where Ashley had them work through building bridges...
Charis' craft station had the kids create crafts to give to their neighbors.
The final station, Kayla did application working on team building activities focusing on communication and working together.
One momma made lego snacks for everyone!
It was a super fun morning worshipping and learning together. Even Max joined in on the fun!
I feel like this day was when my kids really started to get to know the other kids better and their sweet friendships began.
We also did a Mother/Daughter movie night and Father/Son Kickball night that summer. The Sunday before school started, Daniel put on a Back to School Blessing.
After worship, the kids rolled scripture into these little capsules to either wear or put on their backpacks for the year. The kids thought it was super cool and the parents loved them wearing scripture...
The same night, we also did a school supply drive and had all the kids help fill backpacks for families who needed them for school.
We ended the night with the best treat ever...Bahama Bucks snow cones!!
We have of course participated in several fun kid events throughout the year I have already blogged on, so I won't repeat. What I will repeat is how much joy these kids have living down south worshipping with this community!
These families live out God's love and provision in their lives in ways we talk about, but don't always see. The adults invest in every kid there. One night these sweet girls jumped up on stage to lead worship after service...
and then Ryan grabbed his guitar and helped them :).
It takes a village to raise a kid and I'm beyond thankful for ours. I love that these people are shepherding, loving, and pouring God's love into them. I also love that they are modeling what it means to live on mission in their communities and their hearts desire to serve. So yes, while I was hesitant to move down South it has turned out to be one of the greatest blessings for our little crew.
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