This Year's Advent Calendar...

Check out my wife's blog to see how we are doing Advent this year.


On this journey with you,

Pastor Beau

The one that rubs...

My wife has written a very thought provoking post over on her blog...

Go check it out!

On this journey with you,

Pastor Beau

To the dads doing it right...

Happy Father's Day
as a special Father's Day treat my wife, Kiera, wrote a special post for all those dad's doing it right...

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Church is what WE do...
my husband is a pastor and I am the Early Childhood Director at the same church....
there are certain things we know about church attendance...
there are patterns and weeks that we know we will have more in attendance and weeks that there will be less...
and then we have the weeks that we have no idea why we had a ton of kids or why the classrooms were empty...

but there are 3 Sunday's that we know what to expect...
*Easter is by far the biggest Sunday ever...
*Mother's Day is usually the second busiest Sunday...
and then ...
*Father's Day Sunday the classrooms/pews are empty


early this week, on a Christian radio station, I heard a DJ talking about Father's Day at church...
He was talking about how at church on Mother's Day Sunday you hear things like'
Mom's are amazing
We couldn't do this without them
We are so grateful for all our mothers
yada yada yada...
and then on Father's Day you hear things like:
Dad's you need to step it up
we have a generation of kids without dads
our perception of God is tarnished because of all the bad dads in the world....


I was totally thinking about this today
about dads bringing...or not bringing...their kids to church on Father's day
while I walked around church doing my job,
in-and-out of classrooms seeing families and dads around campus.

Well guess what...
somethings never change...we had low numbers in the childcare today...it was slow...

but guess what else...
I saw dads today...
I saw lots of dads bringing their kids to church...
dad's who are amazing men of God that decided today...on the day our country has chosen to celebrate their roles as father's....they were going to bring their children and families to church!

So today I want to say, GO TEAM DAD....
it makes my heart soar to see the father's doing it right...
today I saw

• a young, 20 something, single dad of a 3 year old boy bring his son to church
• a first time dad volunteering at our check-in station
• another dad working with his wife as the toddler Sunday School teacher (with only 3 toddlers and 3 other adults that dad could very easy have said, "you know what, it's my day, I'm going to church, or out for coffee, you ladies look like you have it covered"...but no he stayed in the toddler room and taught those 2 yr old's that a Father is a man who will always teach them about God, no matter how young they are)
• a father that has been dealing with horrible medical issue with his wife and has faithfully been bringing his two sons to church over the past 2 months all on his own...today he was able to bring his wife to church...and rather than say, I need a day off...I deserve a day of just me (which he does!)...he brought his wife and sons to church
• a grandfather battling cancer was there preparing the morning coffee
• father's leading worship
• a dad coming for his 2nd or 3rd time with his 5 year old daughter (today his wife was not with him, not sure if she was sick or why she didn't come), but this father brought his daughter by himself to church on Father's Day
• a man, that brings children that live in his trailer park to church, stepping up and being the father/grandfather that they don't have
• a teen father in church with his son
• And many other Godly fathers

I sat in church and looked around the room, but this year I didn't see the empty chairs...I looked around at all the fathers...the men of God that are raising up this next generation.  I saw those fathers worshiping their heavenly father, opening up their Bibles and soaking up God's word...
I saw father's doing it right...
Father's that need to hear a big thank you!
as a wife to one of these amazing Godly father's I would like to stand up and say something that has been a long time in coming...
*Dad's you are amazing
*We can't do this without you (I really couldn't...)!
*We are so grateful for all our Godly father's...
*thanks for being the example!  Thanks for giving us a healthy perception of what our Heavenly Father's Love looks like!
Thanks for living out Deuteronomy 6!....
"The Lord our God, the Lord is one.  Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.  These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts.  Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.  Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads.  Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates."  Deuteronomy 6:4-9


On this journey with you,


Pastor Beau

The Swim Test...

Guest Blogger!

Head on over to my wife's blog and read her latest post RE the now infamous 'Swim Test' our son recently encountered... and her thoughtful response that we should all ask ourselves.

The Swim Test

On this journey with you,

Pastor Beau

Family Dinner Friday

Here's the first of a new series of easy to make, throw down meals that anybody can make.  Throughout this series Kiera will be talking with different families who will be sharing their favorite throw down meals with us.  The idea here is to learn how other families do 'family dinner' while possibly learning some new favorite recipes.

First Family Dinner Friday Meal:  The Chambers Family :)
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We all know it...sitting down at the dinner table eating dinner together as a family is important!
We know there are statistics about how eating diner together is good for our families...we've heard them numerous times

• gives our children better grades
• they're less likely to try drugs and alcohol
• less likely to have an eating disorder
• their more likely to abstain from sexual behaviors
• have lower cases of depression and ADD or ADHD
• higher levels of self esteem
• kids eat healthier foods
• families save money on grocery/food bills
• and countless other positives

If we know these facts then why do an overwhelming percent of American households still not eat dinner together?
And by together I mean TOGETHER...
in the same room,
at the same table,
no TV,
no cell phones,

Easter, Death, Crucifixion & our Children

From time to time I will ask some of you to guest write on this blog.  For the Easter season I have asked my wife, Kiera, who is the Early Childhood Director at Redding First to shed some light on ways to discuss Christ's death and resurrection with our young children.
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Matthew 27:11-66 and Matthew 28:1-10

The story of the Crucifixion is a cruel one.  It’s not just a story about death, but a brutal, hateful death.  As Christians, Easter is just as sacred as Christmas, if not more.  But it’s not filled with all the sweet pictures of a sweet baby, soft lambs and gift giving wise-men, rather one of a violent bloody death and an empty tomb.  We as parents want to convey to our children Jesus' awesome act of love but want to do so in an age appropriate manner.  Christ's atonement is vital to our doctrine, it is a life transforming event and for those who would believe, an event that extends to us forgiveness and hope of a forever future with God.  It is a tragic story with a beautiful ending.  

This is a touchy subject. As Christian parents we are known for shielding our children from violently graphic images.  Yet for a few weeks every spring some Christian parents go as far as to have our children color pictures of a dying Christ hanging on a cross, with the crown of thorns, blood dripping down his face, hands and feet impaled with nails and spear hole in his side.  

I agree 100% that Christ’s death and resurrection is vital to my atonement.  But do my children need the full details of His death at age 3.  I don’t think so.  These are hard graphic images for adults to swallow, let alone children.  I don't purpose we sugar coat Christ's death to our children.  I'm just believe that we give them age appropriate details.  

For children under 5 the concept of death is still something vague and hard to comprehend.  Add to that a violent hateful death for children raised in a loving sheltered environment it is mind boggling.  So talking about death might in and of itself be the first thing a parent brooches when discussing Easter with their preschooler.  Then you can talk about how Christ loved us so much that he chose to die for us.  Stressing His love over His death is important at this age, that this was ultimately an act of love.  

But I also believe that the nature of Christ's death isn't the point that young children need to understand, they need to hear about the love behind the death.  As your child asks you detailed questions about the Crucifixion you should answer them.  Simple straight forward answers are fine.  

• Did Jesus die on a cross?  Yes, Jesus died on a cross for you and for me!
• Were the people mean to him?  Yes, there were mean men that wanted to get rid of Him.
• Did they hurt him?  Yes, they didn't treat him very nice and they hurt Jesus.
• Why were they mean?  They thought Jesus was going to take away their power
• Why didn't Jesus just stop them?  He did all of this because He loves you.  He chose death so you could choose to love Him and live forever.

I don't think any of these answers sugar coat the truth of what happened.  But I also think it gives children age appropriate answers without graphic details that young children don't need or understand. And as with many topics with children, don't be scared to answer the questions, but answer the question with simple truthful answers and then stop.  Wait for them to ask the next question.  If they don't ask the question they are probably not ready for the answer.

Some activities that you may want to participate in as a family....

Resurrection Eggs (preschool version)

Resurrection Cookies
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Thank you very much Kiera for your wonderful insight on this topic!  I look forward to having you guest blog here quite often!

On the journey with you,

Pastor Beau