SUMMER

2011 VOL 3, ISSUE 2

Just a few months ago, I heard an adver4sement on the radio admonishing parents to report boys and girls who thrive on bullying, sta4ng that Bullying is not okay. This commercial proceeded to list signs that a parent should watch for to make sure that their child is not on the receiving end of a mean boy or girl. I dont know about you, but that commercial took me back twenty years to memories that I would rather forget. For two years while aCending a public school, I was on the receiving end of bullies. Boys and girls who thought it was cool to cri4cize my clothes, my weight, my lack of coordina4on, and my inability to play anything sports related. There was even an occasion when

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The Biggest Bully of All
BY J ENNIFER CONLEY, D IRECTOR O F C HILDRENS M INISTRIES

one of the boys slammed me up against the wall, simply because I walked in front of him. All of these instances were hurFul and wounded my young heart, but as a redeemed ten year old, I was able to ra4onalize the instances away simply by sta4ng Well, they just dont know Jesus. Sadly, not every person who has ridiculed and aCempted to put me down has had that excuse. I regret to say, as I look back over my childhood, some of the deepest bullying wounds in my life were inicted by brothers and sisters in Christ. Why is that? How can people who have the Holy Spirit living inside of them turn into Spirit-squelching, wounding, judgmental Chris4ans? It is the reality that in every church,

there is a very real and present bully lurking close by each one of us. His name is Satan. If we are not schooled in his methods, if we are not alert to his schemes; we can become unwilling par4cipants in bullying another member of our family. Just as a lion will watch a herd of animals to locate the smallest, weakest member, Satan knows it is far easier to take out a ten year old then a forty year old; and he would

inside

The Biggest Bully of All p. 1,3 Mustard Seeds p. 2 Get Moving p. 3 Love, Dad p. 4

Mustard Seeds
For most of us, summer brings not only welcomed warm weather, but also a break from many commitments that we have during the rest of the year. It is important for families to embrace the down 4me that summer can bring. Why not put the bonus hours back in to strengthening your family? Each summer, our family makes a list of about 10 things we would like to do/accomplish together as a

BY MELISSA BARTELS

family. This list includes items from entertaining friends, visi4ng people, checking out new places weve never been, books to read, foods to try, etc. The whole family can be in on the crea4on of the list and it is sa4sfying to cross items o the list! What are some things youd like to do with your family this summer? The Lord knows how much we require rest. So take it, He gives it!

1 Kings 5:4 says But now the Lord my God has given me rest. Take some 4me this summer with your family to do something relaxing like going on a picnic. Spend 4me with each other, (leave all technology at home)! Youll create a wonderful memory and maybe even a beloved tradi4on too.

Pack-a-Picnic
Here are a few picnic foods that your child will be able to help you prepare and pack up! Cheese cubes, ham cubes, watermelon cubes, grapes and strawberries on skewers French bread to pull apart Flavored crackers Peanut butter and banana roll ups Veggies and dip Fried chicken String cheese Carrot sticks Mini-sandwiches Watermelon Brownies Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies Frozen drink boxes (to name a few!) Here are a few books to read while youre having a picnic together! Picnic Pandemonium Christina M. Butler Mother Bear's Picnic- Else Holmelund Minarik Birthday Picnic - Birthday Picnic Freda Plans a Picnic- Stuart J. Murphy A Picnic with the Barleys- Karen Hunt Try this: Before reading these books, have your little one make predictions about the story. Children love trying to guess! Predicting also helps your child focus on what they are about to read ( or hear) and encourages them to be more active readers (or listeners) as they compare the story with their guesses!

Rainy-Day Websites
Animal Jam Na4onal Geographic Animal Jam is an online virtual world playground lled with fun & adventure for kids who love animals and the outdoors. www.animaljam.com/ Animal Planet Entertain yourself with fun online pet and wild animal games and interac4ves. hCp://animal.discovery.com/ games/games.html Brain Games Give your brain a workout by playing fun games that sharpen your mind. www.sheppardsorware.com/ braingames/braingames.htm Build Your Wild Self Access the New York Zoo and Aquarium website to learn more about many types of animals and create a unique animal using various animal body parts. You will place your newly created animal in an appropriate environment and print your "wild self" at the end! www.buildyourwildself.com Discovery Kids Discovery Kids inspires kids to explore the awesome world around them and sa4sfy their curiosity with innova4ve games, ac4vi4es, quizzes and ar4cles. hCp://kids.discovery.com/ Fun Brain FunBrain is the Internet's premier loca4on for interac4ve, educa4onal games (math, grammar, science) for children and kids of all ages. hCp://funbrain.com Fun School's Fun Blaster Arcade Funschool oers free online educa4onal elementary games for kids as well as printable ac4vi4es, coloring, and crars that will help kids learn. hCp://funschool.kaboose.com/ fun-blaster/index.html Highlights Kids Similar to the Highlights magazine, this site oers fun stories, hidden pictures, games and giggles, science ar4cles, and jokes. www.highlightskids.com/ default.asp Make Beliefs Comix Create your own comic strip with this online educa4onal comic strip generator for kids. www.makebeliefscomix.com/ Comix/ PBS Kids Go! A safe place for kids to explore and play hundreds of fun educa4onal games with their favorite PBS KIDS characters. Play games with your favorite PBS KIDS GO! characters from Arthur, Cyberchase, WordGirl, and Fetch with Ru Ruman. hCp://pbskids.org/go/

C Things to do in Westmoreland

GET Moving!

ounty

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Latrobe Farmers Market (every Tues. from 2:00 6:00 p.m.) Latrobe Memorial Stadium parking lot Ligonier Farmers Market (every Sat. from 8 a.m. to noon) Across from the Millcreek Restaurant Greensburg Palace Theatre Stage Right Presents: Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory September 23-25 Summer Sounds SummerSounds is a free outdoor summer concert series held every Friday evening at 7 pm. Runs through August. St. Clair Park, Greensburg Westmoreland County Parks and RecreaIon www.co.westmoreland.pa.us/parks/ site/default.asp Does your family do something special in Westmoreland County? Please share any informaIon on fun family ouIng ideas! Email us at: [email protected]

person God wants you to be. But if you let God ll your heart with his love and Sow & Grow care, youll be able to show love and care to others. Let God plant good You will always harvest what you plant! things in your heart and watch what Gala4ans 6:7 (NLT) grows!

Mini-Bible Lesson

If you plant daisy seeds in your garden, what do you think will grow? Daisies of course! The Bible tells us that whatever we plant in our heart is what will grow in our lives. So if you ll your heart with mean thoughts or bad feelings, it will be hard for you to be the kind, loving

Days Truth: My heart is full of Gods great love and care, so I can share love with my friends everywhere. The One Year DevoDons for Preschoolers Carla Barnhill

The Biggest Bully of All - Contd from p. 1

love nothing more then to use us to do it. Whether we are a parent, a teacher, or just a friend to the youth that frequent our lives, we have a responsibility to nurture and protect them. Let it not be said of us that a child failed to reach his full poten4al in Christ because of a wound that Satan used us to inict. How do we stop this from happening? I wish that I could give a list that would safe guard all of us from crossing that line. If only it were that easy. What I can tell you is that there is tremendous power in prayer and consistent 4me spent in the Word of God. When God has the throne of our lives, Satan is hard-pressed to lead us down the bullying trail. We will all make mistakes and there will be 4mes when we say or do unkind things to each other. But, through walking the road of con4nual submission to Christ and living in a spirit of humility, we will become more aware of the invisible bully and less prone to join his ranks. Satan truly is the

biggest bully of all! May we all become experts at recognizing his games and may we teach our children to do the same.

Kid Quotes
The ques(on: How were people created? God used dirt. Lots of dirt to make boys. Jessie, age 6 God used magic Carrie, age 3 God did itin like, 7 days or something. Sam, age 7 Its a mysterykind of like Where do babies come from? Francine, age 8 I dont know how they were created, but I know why: To be Gods friends. Bryce, age 7

fathers hearts of Christian Soundings from the

Love, Dad

A tradi4on that I treasure as a dad is the devo4onal 4me we spend as a family. My children are currently 7 (Audra), 5 (Isaac), and 4 (Tucker). About a year ago my wife, Emily, and I wanted to start gevng serious about laying a solid spiritual founda4on for them. So, our almost nightly rou4ne is, just before puvng the kids to bed, we read a quick story out of the Bible and pray together. Our goals in reading the stories out of the Bible together are to teach our kids the truth, help them learn using the scripture as a basis, and to talk about how the learnings can apply in their everyday life. The stories are generally only

10-20 verses in length, knowing the limited amount of 4me we will have their aCen4on. We will follow up reading with some ques4ons, and some4mes to make it exci4ng, whoever can answer the ques4on gets to catch a ball for every correct response. Our prayer 4me gives us the chance to hear the things that concern them and are on their hearts, and an opportunity to lir up the needs of friends, family, and our church family. This 4me in scripture and prayer is also teaching them disciplines that are important in each of their walks with the Lord. God has entrusted me with the responsibility to lead my family and provide the spiritual direc4on. This 4me has become an opportunity to not just capitalize on that responsibility, but it is crea4ng memories for the kids that they will hopefully remember throughout their lives. And when they have children, I pray it will be tradi4on that gets carried on.

Todd Murgi