Amy Scott's Thoughts

Sharing the thoughts that bounce around in my brain!

Rainy Day Plan May 29, 2012

Filed under: Children's Ministry — Amy Scott @ 7:27 pm

I think all of us that live in Washington state know what I mean when I say “Rainy Day Plan”. Most events have two plans – the best case scenario sunny day plan and the worst case scenario rainy day plan. Never assume it’s going to be sunny – even when the little icon on the weather forecast says it might be. Two plans might be a bit more work, but when pulling off a successful event, it will be time well spent.

The 2011 Sleepover Crew!

This weekend is my annual 5th/6th grade class sleepover. Each year I bring my Wednesday night class of about 12 girls over to my house for a sleepover. This is always the highlight of the year for a lot of my students. While we a have big sleepover for all 1st-5th grade girls in February, this one is just for our class and the special treat is they get to come over to my house. I really enjoy doing this event because I want the girls to get the message that I enjoy spending time with them. I don’t just teach them at church because I have to but because I want to. Even more than that, I want them to know what their welcome in my life – beyond the church. If that means attending a band concert or a softball game, I want them to know that I’m here for them and I want to share my life with them. My home is not off-limits.

So I’ll push all the furniture up against the walls. I’ll put the extra leaf in the table and set up the card table. I’ll make my home as kid friendly and welcome the group of them right on in. Usually in the past, we’ve gone outside to play a game of croquet. Let me tell you, croquet with 5th and 6th grade girls is always a hoot! However, there are little rain drops in the forecast, so now I must plan indoor activities. Here are some of the things I’ve been brainstorming:

  • Board Games – Disney Scene It is always a hit
  • Wii Games – Mario Party or Wii Party
  • Make Your Own Dessert Kebabs – This will fill time as they make their own dessert. I’ve already made a list of the yummy food we can put on stick – like strawberries, marshmallows, cubed cake pieces, brownie bites, doughnut holes, pineapple, etc. Thanks to Sweet Maggie May’s for this inspiration (http://sweetmaggiemays.wordpress.com/2012/05/28/summer-dessert-kebabs/).
  • Crafting – I’m pondering doing a craft project similar to what we did at my family ladies retreat in April. You can get picture frames that are blank at the craft store and decorate them using mod podge and craft paper. I’m still debating if this might be too messy. I will need to protect my table and my floors. However, the girls are usually pretty good at keeping things clean when strict instruction has been given. So we’ll see… this one is still up in the air.
  • A Movie – this is how I wrap up the night at all my sleepovers. The girls lay down, the lights dim and suddenly they get sleepy! A movie is the perfect way to calm down the vibe and get them ready for sleep (because some sleep is always nice at a sleepover)!

I look forward to sharing with you how this weekend goes! Even if it turns out to be a rainy day, we’ll still have a blast. You always have to have a rainy day plan that rivals the sunny day plan. There will be no less fun had even if there are rain drops falling from the sky. We live in Washington state for crying out loud! We’re pros at having a good time indoors! Here’s hoping that is exactly what happens this weekend!

 

Happy Birthday, Nephew! May 28, 2012

Filed under: Family Time — Amy Scott @ 9:17 pm

Today is my wonderful nephew’s 2nd birthday! I couldn’t go without a blog shout out to my favorite nephew, Carson! Right now he is my one and only nephew so it makes it pretty easy to shower all my auntie attention on him. He will be a big brother in July and I’m excited to know if I’ll be have another nephew or maybe a niece this time!

This Saturday, we all assembled at the Point Defiance Zoo in Tacoma, WA to celebrate the glorious birthday! It was perfect weather – not too hot and beautifully sunny! It was a joy to watch Carson’s reaction to each animal! I also got to share a few moments one on one with my little nephew. I treasure these times to snuggle or hold his little hand. So sweet!

After the zoo, we went to a picnic area in the park to have cupcakes and watch Carson open presents! It was so much fun to watch his face as he opened his gifts. He was very excited and played with each one.  Another highlight was listening to him chatter on! I will admit that I don’t understand much of what he says, but I’m so excited for the day where I can understand all his stories! From what I can tell he has a lot of them to share!

Celebrating Carson’s birthday was the highlight of my Memorial Day weekend. I’m so blessed by his addition to our family! I love being an aunt! Every time we get to hang out is special. Family is very important to me, so I look forward to celebrating many more birthdays with Carson as well as future nieces and nephews!

PS – A close second highlight of the weekend, was my brother-in-law arrived today from Kansas! It’s official! My family is all back in the Northwest! This was a very happy weekend to celebrate family!

 

Pretty or Tasty? May 26, 2012

Filed under: Cooking Experiments — Amy Scott @ 8:30 am

It would be ideal if both happened, but sometimes you can only settle for one! I would choose tasty if I had the choice. I’m guessing the rest of you would as well!

Jeremy and I are in the middle of an experiment. We’re trying to eat everything in our freezer, frig and pantry before we go shopping. We are doing a good job, but now we have to get creative when it comes to making things. We wanted to use the blueberries in our freezer and make a dessert with the limited items we have.

The final result was lemon-blueberry scones with a lemon glaze.  Honestly, I made a mess in the kitchen. A big one! They also didn’t turn out beautiful and well shaped like the scones you might find at Starbucks. Oh well! I should have waited until after dinner, but I had one right away just to make sure that they tasted okay. Let me tell you – they were awesome! Yay!

So here are the lessons learned today: Simple ideas might not be simple to execute and messes can be worth the results!

 

You Lost Me Live May 25, 2012

Filed under: Simply Me,Women in Ministry — Amy Scott @ 10:00 am

I’m the type that gets star-struck… It just happens! I found myself with a few stars in my eyes as I sat in the same room as David Kinnaman and Jim Henderson. David Kinnaman is the author of two books and the current president of the Barna Research Group. Jim Henderson authored The Resignation of Eve which I reviewed here on my blog a few months back. Jim Henderson is an advocate of women in ministry and is bold enough to ask the questions that others avoid (I got that line from his website, but after reading one of his books and seeing him live – I know that is the truth)! I admire the work that both these men do, so it was a pleasure to spend 4 hours in a live setting to hear directly from them.

The event I am referring to is You Lost Me Live. It was a presentation based off Kinnaman’s recent book You Lost Me which focuses on why the next generation is the leaving the church and not coming back. In some cases, they aren’t just leaving the church, but they are walking away from faith all together. It was great to have the research of Barna bring to life this startling trend.

There is so much I could pull out my time at You Lost Me Live to blog about, but that would take forever and probably excitement me a whole lot more than it excites you. So, I will share one thought that stood out to me. Here we go – There is a belief among the older generations that Christians may walk away from their faith during their college years, but not to worry because they will reconnect with the faith community once they have kids.  It was interesting to learn that there a lot of factors that play into this being a false assumption.

The biggest factor that took me by surprise was how the economy played a large part in this. Students are coming out of college with more debt than ever before. They are also coming out of college into a hard job market. While some can’t even find employment, many are living paycheck to paycheck. This leads to many adult life experiences being put on hold. Things like moving out of the parent’s house, buying a house, getting married, and having kids are happening later and later in life. Living with the parents might be the only option for a post-grad who can’t make enough to cover the bills. This prolongs other life changes – like getting married. Who wants to propose and move into the parent’s basement? Who wants get married and have kids when they are can barely support themselves? Research shows that young people are waiting longer to get married and have kids. While most cite careers as being the reason why, is it any wonder that a career takes priority when there is a mound of debt that needs to be paid off.

This makes a lot of sense to me. I can see it in my own friends since I’m the generation they are talking about (young Christians ages 18-29). So what does that mean? The church just waits for them to come back in their 30’s once they get all the pieces of the puzzle put together? That seems like an awful lot of wasted time to me. If someone has a gap in their church attendance of 10+ years, I have a hard time believing it will be easy for them to come back to church.  I’m sure most will say that they hold on to their Christian beliefs; I’m not positive that we will see the fruit of a healthy Christian lifestyle. How deep will this faith they claim be?

The thing about You Lost Me is that the research is stated simply. The issues are clearly seen. However, a research group doesn’t have the answers; they just tell you how it is. In a way this is a golden opportunity. The church has some talking to do. They need to be honest about where the next generation is at. They need to acknowledge their needs and their struggles. They need recognize that the times are different. It’s like it was when you were growing up. However, we are all human and have our human frailty in common. We all need a Savior. When the gospel is at the core of our message then we truly do having something offer this generation that seems to be walking off. When I say the gospel, I really mean the good news – the story of Jesus – his love and redemption. It’s not about being churchy and making them all act the same and look the same and talk the same.  There is hope in Jesus and we need to keep that at the forefront.

Oh my… there are so many other topics I could discuss… this might have to be a blogging mini-series!

 

The World of Avonlea May 24, 2012

Filed under: Recollections,Simply Me — Amy Scott @ 6:06 pm

I’ve always been a fan of the magical world of Avonlea created in the mind of author Lucy Maud Montgomery. Growing up, I remember watching Anne of Green Gables and Anne of Avonlea on VHS. Still to this day, I love to do a good Anne marathon and watch them all! I don’t own the third movie – The Continuing Story, mainly because I don’t feel it flows well with the older movies. But that is just my opinion…

Last summer I bought the entire Anne of Green Gables book series. It was so delightful to see the story played out on the page with so much depth that comes from a book rather than a movie. It was also great to see the continuation of the story through Anne’s children. I wish that the movies would have continued through the whole book series. Oh well. I also purchased The Chronicles of Avonlea and The Further Chronicles of Avonlea. These are delightful short stories that center around the town.

One of my favorite childhood shows on the Disney Channel was the Road to Avonlea. The show takes us back to Avonlea and focuses on Sara Stanley and her relatives, the King family. I have vivid memories of watching this show and being excited for each new episode. I also remember how sad I was when it ended.

Recently, I decided to rent the series through the public library (which is going to be a slow process since apparently I’m not the only one who wants to watch it). Originally I thought about buying it, but the whole series costs $200 and that seems a bit frivolous right now.  I’ve now completed the third season (they go pretty quickly because each season only has 13 episodes). I never realized it but the show is a mixture of stories from Lucy Maud Montgomery’s The Story Girl, The Golden Road, and The Chronicles of Avonlea. If I hadn’t read the chronicles last summer, I would have never seen this new layering to the story line. It make me very excited!

As you can tell, I’m a big fan. That might be an understatement… I’m in love with Avonlea! It captures my imagination and takes me back to a simpler time. It has good values and is truly heart warming. There’s little bit of something for everyone – humor, romance, life, death, action, family, friendship… You get the picture! I love reliving the memories from this childhood television show! Kind of makes me want to go visit Prince Edward Island… Too bad Avonlea is fictional. My husband is probably lucky in that regard, since there is no chance that I can move there!

 

Book Nook May 23, 2012

Filed under: Amy's Bookshelf — Amy Scott @ 8:00 am

I don’t think I can state how much I love books! When I have a book in my hands, I am happy girl! Now I know how boring reviews can be, so I don’t want to go into a lot of detail, but I thought I would share with you a few of my recent reads and new finds.

  • Currently Reading: Parenting Beyond Your Capacity by Reggie Joiner and Carey Nieuwhof – Seriously, this book rocks! It really focuses the impact that parents can have when they partner with their faith community. I find myself wanting to agree out loud with the authors as I read! Definitely a must read for parents and pastors!
  • The Katie Weldon Series – The final book of this series came out in April and I was on the edge of my seat for it to arrive. I reread the entire series (3 books) before I started Finally and Forever. Written by my favorite author, Robin Jones Gunn, this book is a great finish to a great series!
  • Love Finds You In – This series is written by many different authors and takes places in cities all over the US. While it’s not new to me, I reread Love Finds You in Sunset Beach, Hawaii by Robin Jones Gunn. I also purchased two book by another favorite author, Melody Carson – Love Finds You in Sisters, Oregon and Love Finds You in Martha’s Vineyard, Mass. Both were very relaxing and fun to read. The series is quite lengthy and while I don’t plan to read all of them, it’s fun to explore these cities and maybe meet a new authors.
  • Sons of Encouragement by Francine Rivers – These books are based off of five Biblical men. It’s truly interesting to watch their tales come to life. I’m halfway through the series and while I know it’s a fictional account of these men, it’s still pretty neat to see the details the Rivers puts into making their stories as authentic as possible.

Here are a few books that I’m hoping to get my hands on in the near future:

  • Logged On and Tuned Out: A Non-Techie’s Guide to Parenting a Tech-Savvy Generation
  • Love Finds You in Pendleton, Oregon
  • Love Finds You in Victory Heights, Washington
  • Sticky Faith: Everyday Ideas to Build Lasting Faith in Your Kids
  • You Lost Me: Why Young Christians Are Leaving Church…and Rethinking Faith
 

Fly on the Wall May 22, 2012

Filed under: Children's Ministry — Amy Scott @ 10:00 am

This Sunday, I got the chance to do something I don’t often get to do – attend another church! Jeremy and I along with a parent and child from Bethel headed up to Renton, WA to see how others do things. I kind of felt like a spy, undercover… Okay, it wasn’t that covert, but it was super interesting to explore another ministry and see how they operate. For example, this church uses a check-in program for students that were looking into trying at Bethel. This was a great opportunity to play with the system and see how they utilize it. Also, we are able to take notes on how this children’s ministry makes large group and small group spaces within their gym. I took lots of pictures and notes.

As pastors, it’s really had for Jeremy and me to get away on a Sunday. I get a little nervous about leaving for a whole day and being off site. We have a great team and things went just fine without us. It’s nice to know that our leaders are top-notch and our students were in good hands.

Jeremy and I usually make a point to visit new churches when we’re out of town. We’ve seen church in Georgia, Washington DC, California, etc. It’s very rare that we get to explore in our own area.  I think the biggest thing I can take away from the experience is just how important it is to have a wide sphere of influence. It’s easy to just keep doing what we’ve always done and not make time to explore the options. Our goal isn’t to become mini-versions of whatever we see, but wrestle with what really worked and what wouldn’t work for us.

Just as important as it is for us to keep our influences wide, it was great to take a long a family with us. We sort of used them as our guinea pigs. However, by including them we got honest feedback from a family perspective, not just a pastoral perspective.  Sharing this experience really added another layer of depth to our research!

Overall, it was a wonderful trip. We had a good conversation about ministry on the way up and back. We got to see ministry from another perspective. It was neat to see what God is doing outside our own church. Sometimes I get so focused on my little corner of the world. There is truly something uplifting about seeing how God is moving in our cities, counties, states and nation.  It’s not all about us! It’s important to learn from each other and keep growing.

 

Constant Clean Out May 21, 2012

Filed under: Simply Me — Amy Scott @ 7:31 pm

I’m the kind of person that likes to go through my stuff on a regular basis. I’m not a fan of clutter. Things really have to prove their purpose to me in order to live in my house. It seems I’m often sorting through closets, drawers, boxes. I love getting lost in a project. I got that joy this afternoon.

It might not look too big, but this pile filled a trash bag!

For someone who gets rid of things pretty easily, there is one thing you’ll find that I tend to store. Cards and mementos! If you sent me a card in the last 6 years, there is a good chance that up until today, I kept it. I have a spot where I place all my cards and once that spot got full, I would put the cards into Ziplock bags and into a box in the garage they would go. My project actually started off by trying to consolidate my photos, but turned into me going through all my cards. I’m happy to say that I got ride of a lot of cards. I kept quite a few, but really only the ones that hold meaning to me. I’ve always had a fondness for cards. If someone took the time to send  it then it lived forever in my house. I hope this is a turning point for me. Can you imagine if I kept this pattern up? It’s like micro-hoarding! My poor future children would one day be moving me into the a nursing home and when they opened my garage they would have found nothing but boxes full of cards. Thank you cards, thinking of you cards, birthday cards, invitations to weddings and baby showers. Here’s hoping I broke the cycle now so I have brighter future ahead of me!

My collection of mementos started around high school. I had a shoe box where I put little things that meant something to me. A movie ticket stub, a program from a show, a napkin, a flower… Little things. Just small tokens that symbolized a special date or time. These small things add up and eventually can take up quiet a bit of space. Now I did get rid of a few mementos, but mainly I just organized them better. These small things might seem insignificant, but each holds a memory. I wonder if I’m really saving these things for a reason. I can picture in my head going through them when I’m old and gray to relive the moments. I can also picture telling my future children why I saved them. However, it’s highly likely that same day they will go into the trash as well so I can continue to make space. Today was not that day for my little friends. They’ve been saved until next time!

Jeremy and I don’t have a ton of storage at our house. It’s important to take time to go through things every now and again. It seems like when you get rid of something, another thing takes it place. If you keep getting and never giving then you’ll run out of space. I don’t want my stuff to overtake me. Just last week I went through my closet after shopping for new clothes. Get new things, give old things. I’ve recently gone through the drawers in my nightstand to make they are tidy and that I’m not holding on to something useless. I also find that time really helps when it comes to getting rid of things. The more distance I put between me and my stuff, the more willing I am to part with it. I really won’t miss it and I’ll be glad for the extra space I create. Plus, I’ll admit that there is something really satisfying when the project is done. That moment for me today was filling a trash bag full of cards and various random objects.  It feels so good!

 

The Bad Blog Follow-Up May 19, 2012

Filed under: Family Time,Simply Me — Amy Scott @ 9:21 pm

It’s a just like a sister to help me add to my blog about what I’m bad at! April let me know that she thought I should have hills added to my list. It’s true. I don’t like hills. As you can guess, that means I’m not much of a hiker. Unless you consider hiking to be walking on a flat surface. In fact, I used my hatred of hills as a part of my college decision process. After visiting Seattle Pacific University and staying in a dorm room at the top of the hill, I decided I just couldn’t do a hill daily. However, funny thing, while Multnomah had no hills on campus, we did have to walk up a small hill and a couple flights of stairs to get to chapel. Since it was a good Christian college, we had chapel almost everyday. So much for avoiding hills. At least, I only have to go there once a day verses up and down multiple times a day. I’ve also been asked why I decided not to climb Mt. St. Helen’s with my hubby, but I think the answer should be obvious! It’s a giant hill!

Now the another thing I thought of after the fact was video games! April spent the night last night while my hubby was away at a men’s conference. It’s nice to have someone else around the house so I don’t have to be home alone all night long. I know I have a dog, but at 13 pounds, he isn’t too intimidating to potential intruders! Anyway, April and I played some Wii Party and it came to me. I’m really bad at video games. We tried our hand at Super Mario Bros a couple weeks ago and we struggled at the first castle. Apparently lava is deadly. Go figure! So yes, video games. I’m very bad at them!

Just thought you should know!

 

 

The Bad Blog May 18, 2012

Filed under: Simply Me — Amy Scott @ 9:00 am

Most people blog about things they really love and are good at. I thought I would do the opposite and give you some insight into the things that I’m really bad at! Trust me… all of things I am about to list have been proven by experience (and humiliation)!

  • Ironing – I fail at this! Why do irons leave marks on my clothes even after I make sure the iron is clean? Why do things wrinkle right back up again? Why don’t I own a full sized ironing board! Some questions can never be answered.
  • Sports – Hand/Eye coordination – what’s that? Moving quickly – do you mean run? Never! I’m terrible at sports. I hated running the mile in school. I remember when my dad finally realized I wasn’t going to be a sport star and let me drop out of the whole sports scene… oh those were the days, being picked last and coming home from practice crying!
  • Being creative on the spot – I don’t do creative in an instant. I need time to think and process things. I very rarely ever have great ideas when put on the spot. I’m a thinker which tends to limit my creativity.  So if you want some of my best creative thinking – don’t expect it to come together in 5 minutes! Better to give me 5 hours or 5 days!
  • Animals – I don’t like animals… I know it seems terrible, right? I love my dog, but really he is the own animal I would say I love. I don’t like to hunt or fish like my hubby. Birds totally freak me out. All insects are evil in my book. I don’t like to pet animals, hold them, feed them… you get the idea. It’s best that animals and I keep our distance.
  • Saying no to sugar – I have the hardest time not having dessert when offered to me! Or really sugar at any time of the day.  If it’s near me, I want it… I need it! It calls to me!!! Sugar will always been my weakness. Why does it have to taste so good?
  • Getting up early – I’m so not a morning person! I often wonder what it would be like to get up and bounce out of bed, fully awake and ready for the day! I would much rather stay up past midnight and get up after 9:00am. However, my life doesn’t run on that schedule. Bummer.
  • Heavy lifting – I’m a weakling… Enough said!
  • Waiting/Being Quiet – These two go hand in hand. If I have something I need to say to someone, I have a hard time waiting for the right moment to present itself. I would much rather get whatever is it off my chest.  If I don’t talk things out ASAP, I have a tendency to over think things and play out all the scenarios in my head. It gets pretty tiring, so why not just have it out now. It shows itself a lot when I have issues, but also with good stuff too. I just don’t like to wait. Why talk about it tomorrow when you can talk about it today?
  • Not Thinking – My brain is always processing and chewing on something. Sometimes I wish I could just tune out and forget. However, my over-thinking nature plagues me. I know I’m a high-strung person. I wish I wasn’t, but I am. Ugh!

It might seem silly to mention these things, but I’m realizing that while I have strengths, I also have weaknesses. I’m not going to be the best at everything. Honestly, I don’t want to be the best at everything. Knowing who I am and my limitations is important in life. While I certainly don’t like to dwell on terrible I am with iron, it is good to know. So that way, if someone asked me to iron their wardrobe, I could say no – knowing that I’m doing them a favor by not pretending to have no weaknesses and flaws. I’m not perfect.  Just thought you should know! Oh wait, you already knew? I can accept that!