Back to School... oh so SOON!

Yes, dear parents, it is that time again... August 9th (for most of us) is Parent Liberation Day aka the first day of school. This means we all get back to the routine meaning we are back into our routine for Sunday School as well.

Breakfast will be provided by Care Group #1 tomorrow... don't forget!

Love you guys!

Determining Your Love Language

Thanks so much for the fun and interactive time this past week! I am putting the handout here and an online version of the profile test we took. I hope you and your spouse are working on speaking the languages to each other and to your kids. Have a great week!

Love Language Test

Sunday's Handout

This is my Prayer

This was sent to me by a friend of mine and I really needed to hear it. Maybe it will be a blessing to you as well.

Dear Lord, I thank you for this day, I thank you for my being able to see and to hear this morning. I am blessed because you are a forgiving God and an understanding God. You have done so much for me and you keep on blessing me. Forgive me this day for everything I have done, said or thought that was not pleasing to you. I ask now for your forgiveness. Please keep me safe from all danger and harm. Help me to start this day with a new attitude and plenty of gratitude. Let me make the best of each and every day to clear my mind so that I can hear from you. Please broaden my mind that I can accept all things. Let me not whine and whimper over things I have no control over. I know that when I can't pray, you listen to my heart. Continue to use me to do your will. Continue to bless me, that I may be a blessing to others. Keep me strong, that I may help the weak. Keep me uplifted, that I may have words of encouragement for others. I pray for those that are lost and can't find their way. I pray for those that are misjudged and misunderstood, I pray for those who don't know you intimately. I pray for those that do not believe. But I thank you that I believe that God changes people and God changes things. I pray for all my sisters and brothers. For each and every family member in their households. I pray for peace, love, and joy in their homes that all their needs are met. I pray that every eye that reads this knows that their is no problem, circumstance, or situation greater than God. Every battle is in your hands for you to fight. Thank you Lord for living in my heart.

5 Love Languages

Hey Family Ties, Gang!

I just wanted to remnid you all that on Sunday we'll be walking thru how to determine your child's primary love language. Please be extra observant of your kids this week and take notice of what really makes them KNOW that you love them.

If you guys see anything that really jumps out at you or if you try something that really works or just crashes and burns... tell us about it... for example. Right now I am procrastinating putting away laundry from our vacation... because I want the kids to help.... SO NOT WORKING... =)

School

Okay, this may not be the most appropriate venue to express my concerns, but I had to let you know... I am absolutely terrified of sending my baby into the big, bad world (a.k.a. public school). I have gotten just a taste of how bad it can be by experiencing summer camp this year. It has been HORRIBLE!

Those of you who have entered this new stage of life with your children or you are an educator who could shed some light on how to prepare my child and MYSELF for this new experience, please shed your words of wisdom. Has anyone else felt like me? Please put me out of my misery and let me know that my fears are normal.

Share your favorite passage of scripture that you turn to when you are afraid or worry about something.

Reminder for Sunday

Hey, guys!

Just a friendly reminder that money is due THIS SUNDAY, the 22nd for the Skating Social at Trussville PlayStation on August 5th. The cost per family is $20 and can be given to Rhonda Shelton, Jenny Brannan or Pam Prickett.

If you won't be there on Sunday, email me and let me know that you are still planning on attending. We can make arrangements to meet up.

Are You Ready?

As some of you may know, I love investing time with our students. Understand this: Our youth are NOT the "church of tomorrow"; they're the church of TODAY!! If you study some of the great revivals in history, they started with young people! Folks, let me tell you this: Our students are ON FIRE for GOD!!! They fire me up every time I'm around them. They genuinely weep over their lost friends. They burn with desire to know God in a deep, intimate level. I'm not talking about a short-lived "warm and fuzzy" that takes place on the last night of church camp when everybody cries, hugs each other, and sings "Friends Are Friends Forever". These students take up their cross daily and follow Him and quite frankly, it challenges me to grow deeper in my spiritual walk. This may surprise you especially if you knew the sinful lifestyle of some of these students a year ago. I've heard many first-hand accounts about how within the past year, God delivered some of our students out of premarital sex, drug abuse, alcohol abuse, etc. I get pumped up just thinking about it!!


The other night at a student home group meeting, I told my group that as leaders, they must be prepared to share the plan of salvation and they must also be able to counsel someone on what to do once that person prays to receive Christ. So many churches share the plan of salvation, but never follow up after someone prays to receive Christ. I was taken aback when I asked who knew how to lead someone through the plan of salvation. No one knew!! I then posed a question that I pretty much knew that answer: Who knows what to tell someone after they pray to receive Christ? These questions immediately prompted one of the leaders of the small group to call a mandatory meeting for all small groups. At this meeting last night, which had near perfect attendance, out students were trained on how to lead someone through the plan of salvation. They were then trained on how to counsel someone after they pray to receive Christ. In that part of the training, baptism was discussed heavily. After the training session our student leaders were spontaneously asked who had not been baptized. Lets put it this way: There will be 4 or 5 students that will walk through the waters of baptism very soon!!


Here's my question: Can you lead someone through the plan of salvation? Can you give someone Godly counsel on the steps to take after they pray to receive Christ? Have you been water baptized? There were people in that student group that were infant baptized in a Catholic church, sprinkled in a Methodist church, and had been baptized prior to assuring their salvation. Can you relate with one of these students? My challenge to you is this: Be ready to share the plan of salvation and also be ready to give steps to help spiritual growth for new believers. Mark 16:16 plainly talks about baptism. Have you been immersed? If not, I challenge you to join some of our students in water baptism at out church-wide picnic on July 29. Let us celebrate with you as you obey Jesus' commandment to be baptized.


Keep it real and be blessed!

www.familytiesfridge.info

It is official -- we have a real bonafide website!! You can now use http://www.familytiesfridge.info/ to access our blog. Please feel free to pass this along to all friends and inactive members of our class.

Keep it real and be blessed!!!

10 PARENTING LAWS

(Thanks to Scott Waid for this post)

How many of these do YOU relate to? I'm sure we can all add a few to these as well!

1. The later you stay up, the earlier your child will wake up the next morning.
2. For a child to become clean, something else must become dirty.
3. Toys multiply to fill any space available.
4. The longer it takes you to make a meal, the less your child will like it.
5. Yours is always the only child who doesn't behave.
6. If the shoe fits....it's expensive!
7. The surest way to get something done is to tell a child not to do it.
8. The gooier the food, the more likely it is to end up on the carpet.
9. Backing the car our of the driveway causes your child to hae to go to the bathroom.
10. The more challenging the child, the more rewarding it is to be a parent....sometimes.

We spend the first 12 months of our children's lives teaching them to walk and talk, and the next 24 years telling them to sit down and shut up!

Fridge-lift

OK peeps...what you're looking at is what happens when:

• Someone gives me admin rights to a blog
• I wake up at 6am on July 4 with no screaming kids
• I say to myself, " Self, do something creative today!!"

Soooo.... I'm charging you, the jury, to give honest feedback on the appearance. If you like it, comment. If you dont like it, PLEASE COMMENT AS WELL!!! It doesn't mean it will get changed immediately, but I'm not one to leave a blog looking the same for a long time. As long as the powers-that-be give me the ability, I'll keep it fresh. I have other templates out there to use from time to time. Keep it real!!

Cars In the Bible?

A long haired teenage boy and his dad were talking one day about the boy getting a car for his 16th birthday.
The dad told his son that if he could pull his "c" grade point average up to a "b" average, start getting serious about his Bible studies and get a hair cut, then they would talk about him getting a car.
The next few months the boy worked hard at school, pulling his grade point average up to "b", and he studied his Bible every night. His dad said, "Son, I'm very proud of your of your grades at school and I have noticed that you have read in your Bible every night, but I must admit that I'm a little disappointed you've made no effort to cut your hair."
The son answered saying, " Dad, in my Bible studies I've learned that Sampson had long hair, John the Baptist had long hair and there is strong evidence to believe that even Jesus had long hair."
The dad thought for a moment and replied, " Yes son and did you also read that those men traveled on foot!"


This joke really made laugh! Kevin and I have a 17 (yes 17) year old and Kevin is always on him about cutting his hair! I know most of you have young children, but just wait, your day is coming!!

I hope everyone has a wonderful 4th of July. Remember to pray for those men and women overseas and here in the states who are away from their families to give our families "Independence " and freedom. God bless you.

TOP 10 SIGNS YOU MIGHT BE A FRUSTRATED MOM

1. Your children know how to read HTML code but can't operate a vacuum cleaner.
2. Your children tell you that you said "yes" and you don't even remember the question.
3. You go to the grocery store and find yourself having a good time.
4. Your husband asks how your day went and you rate it on a scale of 1-10 repeats of "stop that!" or "no!"
5. You can't remember the last time you didn't have to share your drink.
6. You mistakenly tell the kids it's "sanity" time when you meant to say "bed" time.
7. The laundry seems to have taken on an evil nature and you begin to feel that it's out to get you.
8. You dread hearing the phone ring because it's a sure sign there's about to be trouble amongst the children.
9. It's finally your turn on the computer and "Touched By An Angel" is just coming on.
10. You go to sleep with "I'm bored" or "I'm hungry" still ringing in your ears.

THANKS TO SCOTT WAID FOR THIS POST!!!!

My first post, YEAH! Hopefully this will work. Just a little disclaimer, I am not a writer. I always have a story to tell and I love to talk (believe it or not), but a writer I am not. This is just my little part in trying to keep the fridge stocked.


A few weeks ago Jason's friend from work came to our class and spoke. He really touched me with his story. He urged us all to buy the Casting Crowns CD Lifesong. I have just recently bought the CD and have been blessed every day since I bought it. I work in Gadsden and so I drive a lot everyday and I try to use this time as my alone time with God. All of the songs on this CD have touched my heart and God has used them to speak to me in lots of different ways. One of the song titles is IN ME. What the song reminds us is that God does not NEED us, he WANTS us. He doesn't just want us when everything is going great in our life, he wants us when our hearts and lives are troubled, when we are weak. We are nothing without Christ, with Christ we live. Without Christ we are weak, with Christ we are strong. We will never make it trying to live on our own ability, we must put our faith, trust, and strength in him and praise his name forever, even in the storm.

The 4th of July is rapidly approaching. I hope everyone enjoys a long day with family & you all have a safe 4th. Also, lets not forget on the wonderful 4th to thank God for our freedom & the troops that protect that freedom!

Seeing is not believing

One day a 6 year old girl was sitting in a classroom. The teacher was going to explain evolution to the children. The teacher asked a little boy:

Tommy do you see the tree outside?

TOMMY: Yes.

TEACHER: Tommy, do you see the grass outside?

TOMMY: Yes.

TEACHER: Go outside and look up and see if you can see the sky.

TOMMY: Okay. (He returned a few minutes later) Yes, I saw the sky.

TEACHER: Did you see God up there?

TOMMY: No.

TEACHER: That's my point. We can't see God because he isn't there. Possibly he just doesn't exist. A little girl spoke up and wanted to ask the boy some questions. The teacher agreed and the little girl asked the boy: Tommy, do you see the tree outside?

TOMMY: Yes.

LITTLE GIRL: Tommy do you see the grass outside?

TOMMY: Yessssss!

LITTLE GIRL: Did you see the sky?

TOMMY: Yessssss!

LITTLE GIRL: Tommy, do you see the teacher?

TOMMY: Yes

LITTLE GIRL: Do you see her brain?

TOMMY: No

LITTLE GIRL: Then according to what we were taught today in school, she possibly may not even have one! (You Go Girl!)



"FOR WE WALK BY FAITH, NOT BY SIGHT" II CORINTHIANS 5:7

Date Change for Skating!

Please mark your calendars to reflect the change in the date for our skating party at Trussville Playstation. The new date is SUNDAY, AUGUST 5th from 4:00-6:00pm. Cost per family will be $20. We must have at least 11 families to participate. Please reserve your spot with a $5 deposit which can be given to Rhonda Shelton or Jenny Brannan. Total cost will be due no later than Sunday, July 22nd. Please comment here to let everyone know if you are game!

Family Movie Night

"Surf's Up!"
Let's meet at the movies in Trussville on THIS SATURDAY, June 23rd for "Surf's Up" at 4:40pm. Dinner to follow at Moe's.
Please let Rhonda know if she needs to save seats for your family by responding here or emailing her at rshelton0828@aol.com.

HELP!

THE FRIDGE IS EMPTY!

CONTENT NEEDED IMMEDIATLY!
SERIOUSLY, THIS IS A REALLY REALLY SAD AND LONELY BLOG!

IF YOU ARE INTERESTED IN MAKING A POST ON THE BLOG, PLEASE LEAVE A COMMENT HERE, OR EMAIL RHONDA SHELTON, OR JENNY BARRETT SO THAT WE CAN ADD YOU TO THE LIST OF AUTHORS AND YOU CAN BEGIN CONTRIBUTING!
The few of us who have been making all the posts have obviously run out of content to put on it, so we need fresh new fruit to be added!!!!!

Not sure if you have anything to say???? Here are a few ideas for EVERYONE in Family Ties to be involved in the content on the FRIDGE~
TEACHERS: please post summaries of our lessons in class! Especially since we are in a series, it is a great way to keep anyone who missed a Sunday informed!!!
CARE GROUP LEADERS: please post information for your care groups about socials, prayer needs, etc. Even though you are supposed to be sending out emails for these purposes, this is another great way to keep bases covered and make sure everyone is aware of all opportunities before them.
CLASS MEMBERS: What has God been teaching you lately? Have you put into practice a lesson recently learned from our class studies? Your experiences in life, both the success and failures, are great learning tools for everyone! Give your testimony of how you came to know the Lord personally....how you teach your children about Jesus....how you and your spouse make time for each other, and time for your family....How do you teach others around you (in the work place, at the ball field, etc) about Christ????

I have to believe that in a class our size, we all can have something to say to encourage others! Even if you're not a "writer", ask for help in telling your story!
HELP US FILL THE FRIDGE WITH A GREAT FEAST FOR EVERYONE!!!

Sunday Fun Day Questionnaire

This Sunday, June 10th, is another Family Ties "Sunday Fun Day!" We will be using this day to help get us geared up for our next bible study series on the different love languages of children. I have compiled a list of questions that I would like for you all to ask your children. Bring their answers with you to class on Sunday and we will share them with each other. I am sure this will be quite amusing!

1.) Where does your daddy work?

2.) What does your mommy do all day?

3.) Who has all the money at your house?

4.) Who cleans your house?

5.) What do you want to be when you grow up?

6.) Do you love school?

7.) Do you love going to church?

8.) Who cuts your grass?

9.) Where does God live?

10.) Who is the prettiest person you know?

11.) Who loves you more than anything?

12.) Do you love your sibling/s?

13.) Do you want your mommy to have another baby?

14.) What makes you happy?

15.) What makes you sad?

Song of Solomon

So.... you know that we were out of town. I have heard that John and I were the subject of much talk on Sunday. I want to know what you guys thought of the Song of Solomon lesson. I hear it was wonderful! Let me know YOUR thoughts. Thanks again, Vaughn!

If you want to check out a book to further "help" with this lesson, check out the book "Intimacy Ignited" or "Sheet Music".