Possible Family Night Out…

Just got this info in, thought I would pass it along.  If you are a big soccer fan, you may want to check it out:

 The Columbus Crew is having a Faith and Family Night on September 8th.  The cost is $12 and it includes 1 ticket to the game (Crew vs. Chicago Fire),  pre-game concert featuring two Christian Bands: New Method and Nate Sallie, and some testimonies by Crew players.

Sounds like it could be a fun night.  If you want tickets or more info, here is the Faith and Family Night Flyer: faith-family-night.doc

My Introduction at the Creek

 Just imagine if it went a little something like this….

Cross Current Volunteer Opportunities

There are a few opportunities on the horizon where we need a few volunteers to step up and help.  Here a some areas where we are going to need help in the coming weeks:

 1. Snack Shack- at least one adult a week to come and run our snack shack, where students can purchase snacks, candy and drinks for Cross Current.
This starts this coming Sunday, August 26th from about 5:45pm to 6:45pm and 7:30pm to 7:45pm.

2. Habit Shack- We want to provide an area where students can go and get resources to help them grow spiritually.  Some resources will be charged for and some will be free. As we gather these supplies, we will need individuals to help man the habit shack and someone to manage it- tracking supplies, scheduling volunteers, etc.
This habit shack will start on Sunday, Sept. 9th.

3. Care Group Leaders- If you truly have a passion for helping students grow in their Christian walk, and you want to take an active part in the process, this may be the spot for you. You would be assigned a small group of teenagers, and you would begin to develop a relationship with them, encouraging them, spending time with them, and growing them in their Christian walk.

As you read this blog and one of these volunteer positions interests you, I would ask that you do three things:
1. Check with your Student to make sure that they are okay with you being involved. If your student has an issue with you volunteering, give them the opportunity to tell you why.
2. Pray that God would show you if this is something that you should do.
3. Let me know if you would be willing to partner with us in Cross Current Student Ministry.  My email is sstem@sycamorecreek.org

Survey Says: Spiritual Teens are happier

I came across this information on one of the blogs that I read.  MTV and Associated Press recently completed a survey of young people ages 13-24.  You can read then entire survey by going to research.mtv.com or surveys.ap.org.  The tough news is that only 44% of young people consider themselves “spiritual” and only 10% say that spirituality is the most important thing in their lives. Here is an overview of the survey results: 

1. General happiness — 65% of young people say they’re happy.  But, when ethnicity is considered, 72% of whites are happy, but only 56% of blacks and 51% of Hispanics.  I am sure that poverty and opportunity are factors here, but these statistics warrant further review.
2. Parents, family, and relationships — Amazingly, parents are seen as an “overwhelmingly positive influence” in the lives of young people.  But, here’s an interesting reversal of #1 — 30% of blacks and Hispanics identify family as the thing that brings them the most happiness, contrasted to only 15% of whites!   
3. Religion and spirituality — 44% say that religion and spirituality are either “a very important or the single most important” thing in their lives.  80% of those who say that spirituality is the most important are happy with life in general; in contrast 60% who say spirituality is not important at all are happy with life in general. 
4. Fortune and fame — Almost no respondents said money was the source of their happiness, but many cited financial problems as a source of unhappiness.  70% want to be rich, but just 29% want to be famous. 
5. Technology – 50% say the internet alone makes them feel happier, and 50% say they never turn off their cell phones. 

I think it is even more clear now that students need active parents and a solid youth ministry in which they can connect.  We have our work ahead of us!

Food Fight Tonight

Just a note to parents:  tonight is FOOD FIGHT NIGHT!  I just started filling water balloons with mustard, mayo, ketchup, etc.  YOu will want to make your students bring a change of clothes.   I am pretty sure that you won’t want them to get back in your car after the food fight until they change.

Tonight is gong to be awesome!!!

Tonight’s Plan- Note the change of Schedule

Tonight, we have scheduled (as of right now) to do the MENTAL CHALLENGE that we did not get to do last night, due to natural circumstances   So that means that students need to wear tennis shoes, not sandals or flip flops.  I can not stress this enough.  I don’t want anyone to get hurt.

That will push our FOOD FIGHT NIGHT until tomorrow night.  So have students wear clothes that can be covered in food, stuff like ketchup, mustard, pudding, etc.

Weather Plan for tonight’s Extreme week

Watching the weather, I have seen that it is supposed to dump buckets of water on us at dinner time.  Which in turn would not make outdoor games possible. 

So Here’s the plan:  If it does rain tonight, we will be in the auditorium and have OLD SCHOOL NIGHT Tonight.  We will then bump everything back, making mental challenge tomorrow night and Food Fight Night our last night!

If you have questions, shoot me an email at sstem@sycamorecreek.org

We can always use volunteers

We could still use a few volunteers for Extreme week activities.  We are looking for some people to come and help with games, activities etc.

 The plans and rules are going to be laid out, we just need warm bodies to help.

If you can spare a few hours this week, let me know. Email me at sstem@sycamorecreek.org

Medical Release form

Thanks to all the families who stayed after church for the Cross Current Family Meeting.  I know God has great plans for the youth of Pick-town  

If you were not able to attend, or did not get a medical release form, here is the file.  Please print one for each student you have attending (have guests fill one out as well) and bring them to your first youth activity.  Which hopefully will be Extreme Week tonight!

sccyouthreleaseform2007.pdf

The 4 W’s of Freedom

Teenagers do not like to give any details (and if you have had teenagers in your life for any length of time you know what I am talking about), but as parents there are certain details that you should get when your teen steps out for a night out. You want to give your teen the freedom they so desire, but you also need to protect your child.

 So I give the four W’s of freedom. Four things that you need to know when your teen heads out:

1.Who- Who are they going with?  You need to know who your teenagers are spending time with.  Be sure to find out who they are going with, who is going to be the, and if it is a party, perhaps you shoud find out if there will be an adult present.

2. Where- Where are they going? That old commercial, “it’s 10 o’clock do you know where your child is?” rings true.  You need to know the basic plan, if for nothing else than emergency purposes.  Find out wher they are going, even though sometimes they do not know.  Try to get a basic idea.

3. What- What are they going to be doing?  As much as teenagers act like they never have a plan, they usually have an idea of what they are going to do.  So find out what the general plan is- are they watching a movie, bowling, playing cards, blowing stuff up (this may be a good time to suggest saying “NO”).

4. When- When are they going to be back?  I am not sayng that you have to set a curfew or anything like that. That is something that is totally up to you.  But you need to find out when they will be coming home.  For many reasons: one, you will rest better knowing when they are coming home; two, if they do not come home at that time, you can find out why and make sure that nothing is wrong; three, it helps teens be responsible and keep the line of communication open.

As you implement the four W’s of Freedom, your teen will begin to respect that and give you the information without you asking.  And a line of communication with your teen like that is priceless.