It’s been a ….
I must say, after working here for 8 years, this has been the most challenging for sure! Arriving home off holidays last March I was hit with a new “normal” to embrace. I had to quarantine, no “in-person” church, and totally reshape what we would be doing in Early Childhood Ministries (ECM).
Thank you to my wonderful team! Marcia Bowler and Jaqi Tiechroeb continue to work hard and have been flexible during these uncertain times. Thank you to my hubby Dave, he helped with doing some online live videos for the families. Thank you to our families for hanging in there the best they could and engaging on our social media sites with encouragement and photos of their awesome kiddos!
I don’t think we could have made it this far without the tremendous amount of prayer. We have an awesome prayer team that lifts up our families and their specific needs when requested. This has been one of the “best” years for some of our families and one of the “worst” years for some of our families. It has been really all over the map.
I would say there have been some “wins” in our area. Our parents have engaged more in our social media platforms and we have heard that families have become a little more engaged with each other due to less interaction with others.
All this to say, there are children counting down the days to Sundays (the highlight of their week) our CrossRoads Kids are really enjoying learning about Jesus!
A few of our highlights of our past year:
- Joining with K-6 in handing out Advent Boxes! Families were able to get a box delivered or come and pick up their box. The special part of this… praying for the families and listening to their hearts!
- The Scavenger Hunt! We had families log in to a Zoom scavenger hunt! Families from ECM to grade 6 joined in the fun! Whole family engagement was the key, and we saw some crazy interaction! Prizes were delivered to the families with the most points and fun was had by all!
- Child dedications of 16 families! It was a great Palm Sunday …Baptisms and Baby Dedication. Some of our families had not seen each other in probably a year! The warmth I felt in seeing them greet one another and the tears shed in happy meetings was so awesome. Continue to pray for our young families and their precious children.
I was reminded recently about how the Father wants to wrap His arms around us!
I wrap my arms around you Jesus and you wrap your arms around me.
This is exactly what we need to do when we are feeling lonely! Remember the Father wraps His arms around us! A wonderful takeaway from our “Hope for the Journey Conference”, when we look into the eyes of a child, we want them to feel safe, feel precious and feel loved. That’s how I want the children of CrossRoads to know Jesus! When one of our precious children of CrossRoads thinks about Jesus, I want them to know… they can always feel safe in His arms, they will always be precious to Him, and they will always be loved by Jesus.
Parents, I encourage you through these challenging times to read Psalm 3. I believe we all need someone to lift our heads. That someone is Jesus! I also believe that we all need people to journey along with us! Please know there are people who would love to meet with you and pray for you!
We are looking forward to being able to gather in larger groups and with each other! Join us on Facebook, CrossRoads ECM Families to be in “the know” of what’s going on!
Gratefully,
- Pastor Tammy
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