When I was a child, the summer seemed to last so long! I can remember those days when my brother and I had countless adventures, family vacations, campouts, VBS, and many hours at my Grandparent’s pool. Now as an adult, the summer seems to fly by! My family has already been on vacation, finished a summer swim season, experienced Christian Camp, and spent a lot of time with friends. It seems like they just got out of school. Now, fall sports are beginning and we need to go “back to school” shopping! What ever happened to the lazy days of summer?
Here at church, the feeling is the same. Where has the summer gone? There haven’t been any lazy days here at church. If you walk down the elementary hallway, you will notice each week that there have been people working in the building. We have transformed 2 areas into what will be our OverDrive rooms for the fall. Our kids are getting a taste of what OverDrive will be like on Sunday mornings by taking each age group into the enrichment area so that they can experience what it feels like to put Lakota’s wheel (seek, study, serve, and share) into action! We are also working on our small group rooms downstairs. Walls are being painted and carpet is being picked out. Besides all the existing building changes that are being made, there is a lot going on behind the scenes to prepare for finishing the upstairs for our 4th – 6th grade kids. We have been getting permits, receiving and selecting bids, and adjusting the building plans to meet all our needs! It is very exciting as the unfinished area will begin to be transformed this week.
There will be no slowing down in the month of August!! As we complete the work upstairs, there are several things that we are going to need help with from volunteers to get this project done. Please consider donating your time and your expertise in any of the following areas:
• Installing carpet squares (upstairs and downstairs)
• Installing wall base
• Installing blinds
• Painting
• Building a stage
• Building a stage set for both the upstairs and downstairs areas. (carpentry work)
• Building and installing a tech booth (carpentry work)
• Installing lights
Please contact me if you are willing to help out in any way in the month of August. I will keep a list of volunteers and will call when we are getting close to whatever area you volunteered to help with. So far, there have been many people involved in this project and it will continue to take many more to see this through to completion. I am so thankful that we have a church family that is willing to roll up their sleeves and pitch in. I firmly believe that our kids are going to grow to be more like Christ because of our new program. I am so excited!
Parents – please be watching for a letter that will be coming in the later part of August that will have a lot of information about the fall. This letter will confirm what hour your child will be in his/her small group. It will also explain new check-in procedures and where to go/what to expect on Sept. 7th.
Lastly, not only are we busy working in the building, training volunteers, placing kids in small groups, and working on our fall curriculum, we are also recruiting volunteers!!! So far we have 165 volunteers signed up to serve next year! That is an awesome number!! However, we still need 104 more volunteers. Almost all of our volunteer positions rotate on a month/off a month. The only position that does not is a small group leader. Please consider volunteering in the children’s ministry. I know you would find it a blessing. Here are the specific needs we have:
Nursery- 33
Preschool – 17
Preschool Check-In – 5
Small Group Coaches – 8
Small Group Leaders – 12
Tech volunteers – 2
OverDrive Volunteers – 24
Welcome Center Host – 3
I am looking forward to an incredible year and I look forward to serving along with you as we all strive to be more like Christ!
Tammy