Easter is Coming!

Can you believe it is just two weeks until Easter? Well it is. Have you been inviting your neighbors, co-workers or people you see around town? Be sure and get some of our round invites to hand out and tell them about the Cross service on Friday night April 10th and the three Easter services on the 12th. They will be at 8:00am, 9:15am and 10:45am. Connection classes will still meet at the regular time as well. We are planning to have just a few classes available at 8:00am for those helping with the 8:00 service. If you would be interested in helping out at 8:00am as well as your normal Connection class time, please see your associate. It’s always hard to get paid teachers for Easter Sunday and they cost us twice as much because it is a holiday. Our adult classes are signing up to help as well that hour, so hopefully we can get it covered it without any paid people.
Be praying about who you can invite. It is one of the few times a year people will consider coming to church. So let’s be ready to welcome them with open arms and show them what a great place First Euless is to worship all of the time, not just Easter. Maybe they will return and keep coming back. Can I get an amen? April 14th we will have a huge Outreach night to go and visit the guests who came on Easter. We will need lots of help. So please be sure and sign up with your Associate and let us know if you will be here. There is a meal at 6:00 and then we go out and take bags and visit. Nothing tells a parent that you care about their child more than a personal visit to their home.
Have you signed up to help in Vacation Bible School yet? What are you waiting for? Its going to be the best year ever as we travel to Australia to see the Kangaroos and Koalas. We will learn how Peter met Jesus and his experiences following Jesus and what Jesus taught Peter. There are lots of opportunities to bounce babies, train toddlers, tutor twos and threes and play with pre-kindergarten and kick back with kindergarten. June 15-19 will be a great week as we plant spiritual seeds in the lives of our preschoolers.

Terrell Ann Dickerson is our Administrative Assistant for Preschool. Each week she provides your roll sheets, makes updates and adds new members, processes the information for our guests so we can go visit, produces the weekly newsletter and so much more. She is my right arm and if anyone can keep me in check it’s her! Terrell Ann is a valuable asset to our Preschool Ministry and she constantly keeps us laughing around the office each week. While she and her husband Clarke serve in our youth area each week, she still has a heart for Preschool Ministry. She served as the Pre-K and Kindergarten Associate a few years ago. She loves the Lord and each of you and wants to make sure you have everything you need each week. Be sure and let Terrell Ann know just how much you appreciate her. She will be going into the hospital next week for surgery and will be out for a few weeks. So be praying for a quick and complete recovery.

We are so blessed to have such an awesome Preschool Staff who care about you and about our preschoolers. Our heart’s desire is to lay a spiritual foundation for our preschoolers and to equip you to help lay that foundation. What we all do is so important and the investment you are making in each of these children and their parent’s lives is huge. Never forget that what you do is making an impact and that you make a difference.

Have a great day in the Lord!

New Procedures

In the last couple of months the Preschool staff and I have been discussing procedures for Sunday mornings in case of fire, inclement weather and other things. I met with Bradley Thomas and told him of my concerns. In light of recent events, it only affirmed to us that we were headed in the right direction. I am working on writing these out and compiling them so that we can post them in each classroom. I would hope we would never have to use them, but we need to be prudent and prepared for anything that might happen. With Spring upon us, we all know that inclement weather can happen at any time. Fortunately, it has not happened on a Sunday morning up to this point. We will be compiling procedures for three separate cases: Fire Evacuation (which you should have marked exits displayed in your rooms); Inclement Weather procedures; and Crisis procedure. Obviously our fire procedures would be to explain what you would do to evacuate each age group of children in case of fire. Evacuating babies and toddlers is different than the rest of Preschool. Inclement weather in our area usually means tornado warnings. We will outline just where you would go with your class of children. Fortunately, part of our buildings are built under ground. That is a safety plus for us. Crisis procedures would cover a number of things but pretty much anything that doesn’t relate to fire or weather. It would be to protect our preschoolers and teachers from any other threat that might be on our campus. We will also send these procedures to our parents so they will be aware of what we do and can rest assured that their children are being taken care of in case of any emergency. The last thing we need is several hundred parents rushing our buildings to pick up their children when the safer thing for them and their children is to follow their own procedures. But as a Mother I understand that the first thing you think of is getting to your children and making sure they are safe and sound. So by making our parents aware of our procedures ahead of time, we can divert additional emergencies. I just wanted you to be aware that we are working on these. They will be coming soon and will be posted in your classrooms. When we do get them, we will all want to know what the procedures are for each classroom or area you might be in. Coordinators and greeters will have different responsibilities than classroom teachers but will be assisting in every way. We will have clear cut guidelines and a chain of command so that every consideration is taken into account and the safest possible procedure is followed. If you have any suggestions or insight you would like to share with me, I would be glad to receive it. You can email me at cjones@firsteuless.com. Thank you for all you do to not only teach our preschoolers about Jesus but to ensure their safety while here on campus. I cannot tell you often enough or too much how much I appreciate each and every one of you and how privileged I am to serve alongside you.

Every week you have all of the resources, supplies and snacks you need to teach your class. Each week you walk into your classroom expecting it to be there and poof, there they are! Behind the scenes is Kimlyn Nichols, our Resource Coordinator. Kimlyn takes her job very seriously. We could not function nearly as efficiently as we do without her. I have never seen anyone put as much heart and soul into their job as she does. She is out and about each week ordering and purchasing the supplies we need to make Preschool run. She reads the curriculum for all three areas and age groups and decides which craft will be the best for you to teach your lesson. I appreciate all of her hard work and her sweet spirit. Please send Kimlyn a note this week and let her know you appreciate her too.

Have a great day in the Lord!

Cathy's Corner

Last week’s tragic shooting and death of the Pastor at First Baptist Maryville, Il makes us ask the question why. Then there was the senseless shooting and killing of ten people in Alabama this week. When these things happen, they can make us feel vulnerable, especially when there seems to be no reason or motive for the deaths. Then there is the current economic crisis. All around us people are losing their jobs, homes and everything they hold dear. I was reading this week in a book called When Life Takes What Matters and I thought I would share with you one of the devotions I read.

Caught Off Balance

Sudden loss, besides leaving us hurt and bewildered, can leave us listing seriously to one side. This state of imbalance is surprising, if not downright frightening. We had no idea we were leaning so heavily on a person, job, or ability until it was yanked away without warning.
When a loved one who partially defines who we are (or who we are not), is taken away by death, distance, divorce, or disagreement, our grief is intensified by the loss of this part of ourselves. Maybe we had depended on the person to express emotion for us or to think or decide for us. Perhaps the person was our sense of humor, our planner, our conscience, our practical side, our memory, or even are proof of worth. In one way or another, that person was our balance. And now we are off balance.
It is not just the loss of a person that can throw us off balance. Sometimes the loss of a job, ability, ideal, attribute, or goal carries with it a large chunk of our self-esteem, identity, or purpose, leaving us feeling lopsided and ready to topple over. When this happens, it may be time to confess that our sense of well-being was improperly anchored. We may also discover that our vision needs to expand—that who we are is more than what we do or how we look, and that the sum of our worth is far more than any loss.
God’s secure love and His sure promise to care for us are the perfect ballast; they provide stability without adding weight to our load. When our lives are filled with Jesus Christ and the security, worth, and identity He provides, the losses we experience cannot destabilize us. We may still toss and turn in stormy weather, but we’ll never run aground or be shipwrecked.
Find rest, o my soul, in God alone; my hope comes from Him. He alone is my rock and salvation; He is my fortress, I will not be shaken. My salvation and my honor depend on God; He is my mighty rock, my refuge. Trust in Him at all times, O people; pour out your hearts to Him, for God is our refuge. Psalm 62:5-8.

So if life has caught you off balance this week, trust in God to be your rock and your refuge. He will never let you down.

Judy Kuchar is coordinator for our paid childcare area known as our 1st Act Ministry. She began as a teacher several years ago and moved in to the role of coordinator almost two years ago. I am so thankful for Judy’s leadership and expertise. She has improved our paid childcare ministry by leaps and bounds. Her love for God, the kids, parents and teachers overflows in everything she does. She comes to me quite often with new ideas and ways to improve our ministry. It shows in our teachers and the quality of care the children receive. She also serves on Sunday mornings as a Coordinator in our Middle Preschool area. Let Judy know how much you appreciate her and all she does.

Have a great day in the Lord!