Shoal Creek Dads-Sons Small Group This Sunday

If you're a dad and you have a teenage son that you want to be on a spiritual journey with, then you need to check out Shoal Creek's Dads-Sons small group that happens every other Sunday at 9:30am, in "The Attic" at Shoal Creek. A free breakfast of either pancakes or donuts will also be provided for anyone who attends.

Some comments from the dads that have recently attended:

"I really enjoyed it and so did my son. We really love that it is every 2 weeks and I am really looking to get even more out of it." 

"I thought it was a great learning experience I learned things about my sons that I never knew." 

"I have enjoyed the discussions that have been had in the meeting time and outside."

This Sunday's discussion will revolve around:  

When sons are young they want to be just like Dad. When sons grow older they want to be themselves. The son will eventually win the battle for independence. How as Dad’s should we fight this losing battle? How as Son’s do we figure out who we really are and can be and how can Dad help?

 

Four Needs For Sunday's Halloween Bash at Shoal Creek

Here are four ways to help us throw our biggest party of the year, the Halloween Bash:

1 - We only have about HALF of the needed group of volunteers to make the Halloween Bash move on greased wheels! Would you sign up for one shift here?

2 - Do you have a pop-up tent we can borrow for our booths and stations? We need 8-10 to borrow from 4pm-7pm. Contact me if you can help with this.

3 - Would you specifically volunteer for the role of inviting people on a spiritual journey? We don't want to just throw a huge party for our community--we want to connect families to God by getting them on a spiritual journey. We need some people who'd be willing to be walk around and invite families back to Shoal Creek. Sign up here to find out how to help us accomplish this most important task. There will be a meeting for you this Sunday, 11am, in The Attic.

4 - Bring a bag of candy to church this Sunday! Candy. That's it, no further explanation needed.

The Shoal Creek "Parent's Day Out" Program

The Shoal Creek Community Church "Parent's Day Out" Program is a service your family can take advantage of to get a little break during the week to knock out errands, or get a "breather" when you need it most. I've had all of my children enrolled at some point over the past 5 years, and the programs continues provide quality childcare for families in the Northland.

One of the reason Parent's Day Out (PDO) is successful is the hiring of caring child care providers like Nikki. Hear her story, and how PDO has played a role in where she's at today.

I started attending Shoal Creek Church in 2012. Little did I know what God had in store for me. We became a family of five in 2013, and I became a stay at home mom. I have always been a planner, but when things are out of my control; I have learned to give it to God. I became a teacher in the Three's class at PDO in January 2014. I was then promoted to Assistant Director in September 2015. This program has truly been the perfect opportunity for my family. I get the chance to serve others, be a stay at home mom, and my children get to be in a program to learn and grow all while learning about GOD! I would have never thought this is where I would be today and I can say that I am so blessed, and I thank God every day for where He brought me. "And we know that all things work together for good to those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose." -Romans 8:28

If there's any chance you might be looking for quality child care with a faith-centered curriculum, please contact Lauren Sapp, the Parent's Day Out Director.

Young Life Fall Retreat Nov 11-13

If your student has an ability to attend the Young Life Fall Retreat (Nov 11-13), don't let them pass it up!

Find details here, but just know that it's like a 3-day mini-summer camp, packed full of fun, games, songs, relationship building, talks about Jesus, and silliness! We already have some Shoal Creek high school students signed up, and we'd love to send your students with them. Contact me for any questions you might have and I'll be glad to answer them.

Shoal Creek Community Church Services 10/23

Not able to attend either of our Sunday services this morning? Or just want to check out what we do before you consider attending?

Then watch live right now, or catch up here later this week!

Week In Review

Here's your week in review in case you missed anything we put out in the past week!

HS Girls Chipotle Lunch THIS SUNDAY after second service at Chipotle! We have a new leader for our HS girls that we'd love to get connected to you and your daughters! Kailyn will be helping out regularly on Sundays, leading a small group, and taking girls with her to our local Young Life Club every week. Would love for you to meet her! Please contact me if your daughter can go (and you can go too moms!)

First HS Girls Small Group Tues 10/25 - This is going to be happening this coming Tuesday, so contact me if you have a daughter that wants to attend, and I'll get you details on exactly when/where they're meeting up.

Presently Picking Popcorn People for Halloween Bash! - The Student Ministries at Shoal Creek are going to be in charge of supplying popcorn to all the families that come, and that means we need about 8-10 total families to SIGN UP FOR A SHIFT HERE or just reply to this email!

This Week's "Must Read" - The Scary Facts About Bullying That Everyone Should Know

One Way To Pray With Your Children - Prayer is supposed to be consistent part of a spiritual journey, and that means that we have to figure out some way to help our kids engage in the practice of prayer. Here's one way to think about it.

Warm Is The New Cool

What's the "temperature" in your family right now? On a scale of "roaring fire in the hearth" to "ginormous ice sickles", how close do you feel you are in the relationships you have with those you call family? 

This recent post from the Fuller Youth Institute would say that the "temperature" of your family is pretty important...

In a comprehensive study of relational dynamics in more than 300 families spanning 35 years, family warmth was more correlated with faith transmission than any other relational factor (including amount of contact between the generations, the type of contact, and the number of children in the family). 

But as a parent, you aren’t the best judge of your family’s warmth. As is true with so many aspects of family life, this study found it is our child’s perception of closeness that matters more than our own perception of closeness.

Fuller goes on to say that there are generally five ways to kill family warmth in your family, those five having to do with:

• Words - We tend to be less filtered, and therefore more hurtful, with our words when it concerns family members versus other relationships
• Tone of Voice - Sometimes it's not what you say, it's how you say it.
• Body Language - (see above)
• Technology - Nothing kills conversation like screen time.
• Fatigue - Except maybe being overly busy and too tired to relate.

There's a lot here for all of us to work on--maybe we could just pick one area, and make a concentrated effort to display better behavior, and get that family-thermostat up a little higher this week.

Fuller has some other great tips in their post, so check it out as well.