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Hello! Happy February! My coffee is hot and tasty and that just feels like the best little gift on this chilly day! I hope you also are getting the chance to enjoy a similar simple joy today! Last week was a nice slow week, thanks to the snow. I worked both in the office and remotely some last week, I am always grateful for the flexibility to do that with this job. It was particularly nice last week as we jumped right into planning my sister’s wedding after her surprise pre-snow storm engagement! What an exciting year ahead for our family! We’re back in the swing of things again today, though! Here’s some updates for you to be reminded of…

This week is another Wednesday Roots Night! You know the drill, family dinner in the Family Life Center at 5:45pm and then age-specific discipleship activities begin at 6:30pm. Lil’ Roots and Bridge Roots kids are exploring Spiritual Gifts this week, Youth Roots Girls are discussing healthy, godly relationships and Youth Roots Boys are learning about the Kingdom Characteristic of responsibility. Pastor Kevin will continue the discussion on “Identity in Christ” from this past week’s BELIEVE session in his Adult Bible study. Don’t miss out! 

Tonight you can pop into the Share and Prayer meeting on Zoom with the link that is at the bottom of this email. Saturday morning the ladies will gather for the annual Valentines Brunch. Five Sr. High Youth Roots guys and three chaperones will depart for their Ski Retreat on Friday evening. See, lots of things happening around here! Be praying for all the great work that God is doing in this place! 

 

What WE’RE Learning This Week: A nugget of what our Lil’, Youth and Adults Roots heard this week

Our Key Idea: “I believe I am significant because of my position as a child of God.”

Our Key Verse: John 1:12

How Every Generation Lives This Out: Talk about this together... God loves you just the way you are, but he also wants you to grow. What are some ways you’d like to grow and change as a child of God?

Check Out This Week’s PODCAST

*This season of the “The Dig” podcast is specifically designed for EVERY 

GENERATION to deepen their understanding, ignite their curiosity and grow as fruit-producing, God-glorying disciples! Don’t miss out! To make it easier for you to find and listen, you can now grab “The Dig” episodes on the church website: https://www.mgcb.org/family-ministries/the-dig-podcast--8 

 

What I’M Learning This Week: Sharing what I’m reading and listening to lately

Normally by the end of January I like to have our theme for FAMJAM locked in and already be moving into some more detailed planning for teaching time and texts. But I had been struggling to get any sense of clarity on which direction God wanted us to go this summer. I had spent some time over the last few weeks fleshing out a few different outlines, some I like more than others, but nothing was really screaming at me. 

I was sitting in my office praying for some vision and direction on our FAMJAM theme on Friday, kind of frustrated on how hard this was for me to get fleshed out. I very clearly heard God say to me “You need to get quiet.” 

Listen, I do not do quiet well. I nearly always have background noise on while I’m working. I often listen to music while I read. But this was no messing around. If I wanted to get clarity and direction on this I was going to have to be quiet. I turned off my music, closed my office doors and sat and just listened. 

And to no one's surprise, there it came. Our theme settled in on my heart followed by a really awesome chunk of time where my mind was clear and me and God did a whole bunch of brainstorming. 

I’m not quite ready to share our 2026 FAMJAM theme with you quite yet, soon though! Keep praying over that ministry effort for this year. But more importantly, get quiet. 

Quiet will be uncomfortable and it will feel like eternity and it will seem unproductive. But more often than not He comes in the whisper (1 Kings 19:12). And the only way to hear a whisper is to be quiet.

 

Make Every Week Count: Parenting, Grandparenting & Spiritual Mentoring Resources

Something to Read: Oh, I am excited about this one! You can only pre-order at this point, but it’s releasing soon! Who wants to read “Heaven and Earth” by Jordan Moody, with me?

Something to Listen to: Lil’ Roots and Bridge Roots Kids are studying Spiritual Gifts this winter during our Wednesday Roots Nights. Amanda and I really enjoyed this take on Spiritual Gifts!

Something to Follow: Kingdom Play Kits is a small, faith-based business making scripture-saturated sensory kits for kids to play with while cultivating discipleship conversations! 

 

How Can You Pray? Prayer Requests and Praises from Roots Ministries

PRAY for our five Sr. High Youth Roots and three Chaperones headed to the Winter Ski Retreat this weekend.

PRAISE for being back in-person worshipping together yesterday!