Thanksgiving JOY!

“We were filled with laughter, and we sang for joy. And the other nations said, ‘What amazing things the Lord has done for them.’ Yes, the Lord has done amazing things for us! What joy!”

—Psalm 126:2-3

   

Get your family laughing this Thanksgiving!

• Turkey, Pie! This summer camp favorite has a Thanksgiving twist that you can use at home to get the giggles going—no prep or supplies necessary.

1. Have everyone at your family Thanksgiving feast stand in a circle (note: this game is best played by at least four participants, with the more, the better!).

2. Instruct everyone that the goal of this game is to be the last person standing who hasn’t cracked a smile or a laugh. To ensure no smiles, everyone must keep their lips pursed tightly over their teeth. Showing teeth counts as a smile and a ticket out of the game!

3. The person with the nearest birthday starts the game. He or she decides which direction around the circle the game will move by saying “turkey!” and turning to face the person to the left or right. The next person passes the “turkey!” along in the same direction or can face the person who just passed the “turkey!” and say, “pie!” A “pie!” reverses the direction of the game and then everyone starts passing “turkeys!” in that new direction. Anyone can reverse the game with a “pie!” at any time.

4. Since the object of the game is to be the last person who hasn’t smiled, a strategy to win the game is to be as goofy as possible in saying “turkey!” and “pie!” to get the person next in the circle to smile. 

5. By the time the game is down to two people, it’s a hilarious battle of who can get the other to laugh and win the challenge.

After the game is finished, ask your kids:

· How did you feel trying to make each other laugh? What surprised you about how people reacted?

· Why are you thankful for today? What do you love about our family laughing together?  How can we thank God for laughter and joy?  How can we share our joy with others?

Keep laughing and learning throughout the Holidays!

1. Teach little ones vocabulary by inserting funny, incorrect words in the place of correct words for objects. For instance, pick up a banana and say, “telephone?” Then, ask for the real name of the object and praise your kids as they identify items correctly.  

2. Empower your older kids to help teach your younger kids with creativity and humor. Challenge older children to choose a favorite Bible story and retell it in a fun, cartoon story through drawings. After they’ve pieced the cartoon together, have them share with their younger siblings. Encourage humor and fun while staying true to the story. In creating their cartoon version, your kids will commit the story to memory and all of your children will remember the activity fondly as they laugh and learn together.

 3. Remember to keep laughing and exercising the Fruit of the Holy Spirit...JOY... throughout the holidays which can be the most stressful time of the entire year!  Laughter is truly a great medicine - and it's free!

 

 

HOPE is Ripe for Harvest

We’re well into fall, and everywhere you look you’ll see the beautiful,warm colors of turning leaves, pumpkins, and all the rich produce that comes with the harvest. Amidst the fall festivals, corn maze tours, and pumpkin-spice lattés, take time to harvest hope with your kids.  Introduce them to the needs of your community and beyond.  Food shortages and poverty afflict the USA and the world at perilous levels as natural disasters and drought seem unrelenting. Despite events beyond our control, you can empower your kids to be a catalyst for compassion! Give them the chance to grow up in the knowledge that they can make a difference and God can work through them to reveal hope—no matter their age or location in the world.


Cottonwood Creek Baptist Church, Allen, TX is participating in "Scare Away Hunger" to benefit a local food bank as well as "Shine the Light" night resource kits for families to utilize.  Here are some additional family experiences for you to harvest hope with your kids.

FAITH@HOME EXPERIENCES

Introduce kids to the impact they can have on the world:

• Harvest Time — Take your kids to a local farm or community garden and volunteer together. Use the time to talk with your kids about food shortages around the world and discuss how to get involved, as a family, in the solution. Ask the farm or garden’s manager if they donate a portion of the crops to a soup kitchen or other charitable foundation.  Make that your next family destination to volunteer and see how the crops you helped harvest can feed the hungry.

• World Well-Fare Website Tour—Introduce your kids to the needs in the USA and around the world with a virtual tour of the efforts of nonprofit organizations. Explore websites such as compassion.com and worldvision.org to show your kids how other children in the world live with very little and how we can help them, even from the other side of the globe. There are also projects, such as Operation Kid-to-Kid (ok2k.org.), designed specifically for getting kids involved in impacting a stricken region of the world. Currently, ok2k is focusing on “squashing malaria in Mali.” The funds gathered by kids participating in ok2k will go to purchase effective mosquito nets that protect children and families while they sleep.  Our church is working GAIN and setting aside a whole Sunday in November called THE GIFT to process and pack food, sort and pack seeds, collect hair and blood donations, all for meeting the needs of people in a needy region.  Our kids are helping meet the financial needs by filling M&M tubes with quarters and presenting these at offering times.

• A Tricky Treat—If you take your kids trick-or-treating in your neighborhood, challenge them with this twist on an old tradition. As they knock on doors, ask them to request a single, non-perishable canned good at each door (rather than candy). Help your kids gather the cans, and then go with them to donate the food to a local food bank. Reward your kids with something special for giving up the usual swath of candy to help those in need.  Our church is doing something very similar to this by partnering with Scare Away Hunger in order to benefit a local food bank.

GOD MOMENTS

1. Equip kids with compassion.  In the past decade we’ve seen an alarming climb in the occurrence of violence at schools, devastating bullying, and depression in very young children. Teachers and caregiver are doing everything they can to reverse the trend, but there’s only so much they can do. The real solution is in the kids themselves and introducing them to the power of compassion. When your child witnesses bullying, takes part in it, or is the victim, use the experience to bring into focus that cruelty is not the answer—kindness is.
2. Allow for generosity. If you give your kids an allowance, label a savings jar where they can donate funds to go to a local charity. Don’t make it mandatory.  Let your kids choose how much and when to give of what they’ve earned. 

To learn more about how to experience an "On Mission October" visit http://www.cottonwoodcreek.org/ministries/missions/annual-church-events