Thanking volunteers at Christmas

We have traditionally done our volunteer appreciation gift at Christmas. This year our budget is very tight, so we had to be creative. Tomorrow our team is meeting to make cocoa cones for our volunteers. The cost is a very budget friendly forty cents per gift! These cute little concoctions sell for five or six dollars at gift shops. Our volunteers have responded very positively in the past to our gifts, but they especially seem to appreciate the homemade gifts! I look forward to a fun evening with my co-workers assembling these little cuties.

The cone bags were purchased in bulk at a local cake and candy supply store. Each bag gets 1/2 cup of cocoa mix, 1/4 cup of marshmallows, and 1/4 cup of chocolate chips. We'll tie the bags with raffia and attach a card with a greeting and instructions for "cocoa for 2."

Worship anywhere!

Today was a holiday weekend, so we took a planned pause in our elementary kids programming. Many of our volunteers are out of town, as are our kids and their families. I took the opportunity to sleep late on this Sunday morning - it was heavenly! Then, because one of the kids had a birthday party to attend at 11, we had church at home. It was a first for us, so I wasn't sure how it would go.

I asked each kid to choose something from the Bible to share. All of them went off on their own to select their reading. We alternated their readings with some worship from the Hillsong Kids DVD. We ended by writing prayer requests on slips of paper. We spread the slips of paper on the floor and did "popcorn" prayers.

Some highlights of the morning:

1. Justin, our soon-to-be 10 year old, read John 3:16.
2. Emily, our 8 year old, asked where to find the story of the plagues. I told her that was a really long story, and probably too long for our purposes. She said, "I'll just choose my favorite plague!" Again, I wasn't sure how that would go. When she finished, we asked, "What can we learn about God from that story?" Right away, the kids started talking about God's power and how He uses people to do His work.
3. Lindsey, our first grader, did a nice job reading the Creation story from a Bible story book.
4. Praying together for a neighbor with cancer, our missionary friends, homeless people and an upcoming birthday.
5. Our new puppy, Ginger, got to go to church this week! She nibbled on the Bible storybook when we weren't paying attention.
6. The kids saw that we can worship anywhere.

I'm just waiting for next Sunday morning, wondering if the kids will say, "Can we PLEASE do church at home again today?" We won't be dropping out of church anytime soon, but this just might be the start of a new family experience for us!