Awana Club - 2008 ~Leon Spring Baptist Church~
Okay, so it might not be a big deal for any of you, but for me....it means a lot. Not only did we have to quit Awana's in Beaumont, but then we also had to find a church in San Antonio that offered the Awana Club. It was so hard to do that. Natalia loved her teachers and her friends in Beaumont and Carson loved being able to go to Cubbies and see Mr. Matt and Ms. Elizabeth. That was the highlight of his day! But I knew that we had to continue with Awana. So, we got to San Antonio on Monday, January 28th and on Wednesday, January 30th, they were attending Awana in San Antonio. I remeber that first day, I wasn't even sure why I was doing this. They had a little bit of a hard time staying and trying to figure out what they were supposed to do. I remember calling Dave (almost crying) right after I dropped them off, telling him that I didn't know if I was going to be able to do this. But I knew that they needed to keep learning about God and they needed to keep hidding God's Word in their heart! And that is the only thing that motivated me week after week. They had to get used to the new teachers, new kids and new way of doing things. It was truly an adjustment period. I would get off from work at 5:00, I would go over to the house to pick Natalia and Carson up. My Mom (thank you Mom) would feed them and have them all ready for me. She would keep Luke while I took the other two to Awana. We would leave the house by 5:30 and drive about 30 minutes (with traffic) to the church. Even though it was a huge adjustment for all of us, I'm glad we did it. Natalia and Carson learned a bunch of Bible verses this "school year", and we even tried putting some of them into practice. So, let me brag a little (more :0) )...
Natalia finished her handbook so she received her crown, a patch and all the red and green jewels that she could possibly receive. She also earned all the blue (?) jewels because she had perfect attendance! In addition, she received the Sparky pin (BIG DEAL!!) because, after finishing the handbook, she finished the whole workbook. Some weeks she would learn 3 to 6 verses per week. Her teacher asked Natalia if she could learn Psalm 23 and say it in front of everybody for awards night. At first, when we started to learn the Psalm, Natalia was a little hesitant to learn it because she thought that if knew it then she would have to stand in front of everyone and use the microphone to say it. Once I told her that she didn't have to do it if she didn't want to, she learned Psalm 23 with no problem. Well, the night of the awards, the teacher asked her if she would like to say Psalm 23 in front of everyone and Natalia said that she would do it. So she did. She said it with a little boy. They were both a little shy and quiet, but they did great! Anyway, I'm very proud of her!
Carson, was a champ. He also learned so many verses this "school year". He was so excited to receive his little Cubbie Bear, which will go on his vest. He sat with his whole class and stayed with them throughout the entire ceremony. He also had perfect attendance! The only night he missed is when he got his tonsils taken out and his ear tubes in on a Monday. That Wednesday he wanted to go to Cubbies so bad but he had to stay home. He stayed crying while Natalia went to Awana's with Matt and Elizabeth. ~I mean, talking about being committed! :0)
Carson showing off his little Cubbie Bear and his certificate.
Anyway, sorry if I bored you with all this information, but I just don't want to forget how young they were when they started learning scripture! And how much they enjoyed it while doing it!
Isn't this sweet? ~I almost cried when I read this little poem.
Now...this card, she made for me at home on Mother's Day.
This is a little house in the middle of the garden next to a huge pond. Luke kept saying "my house" and when people went in "his" house, he wouldn't like it. He would say, "oh oh, in my house."
Ah yea, and this is Luke at the end of the day....that's when we decided it was time to go.
