Reflect What You Expect

We’ve all heard it said before “inspect what you expect.” That leadership principal has rang true for me for many years in many situations. I cannot argue with that principal nor do I intend to. As a leader, we are to follow up on the tasks that we delegate to others to ensure that the task is being carried out as requested. I’ve always felt that there was another step to be taken, that simply 'inspecting' is not enough.

Without reflecting what you expect you could create a mindset that you’re “too good” to do what you’re asking your volunteers or staff to do. I believe that there is power in those that are under your leadership seeing that not only are you inspecting to ensure excellence, but that you’re reflecting the same excellence you ask of others in your own daily life. This mindset creates and breeds productivity. Managers inspect, leaders inspect AND reflect.

For example, when asking a volunteer to greet all of the parents with a smile, I don’t walk around with a sour look on my face. I am communicating that I’m not too important to do what I’ve asked others to do. There is also the reality that I will need people on my team who can do things that I am not gifted to do. In these situations, I am sure to communicate that I am asking them to do something because it is a weakness of mine. Some leaders try to hide their weaknesses. However, I believe that we lead through our strengths but connect through our weaknesses.


Tim

Valley Training

With the ever-changing culture of the world and maintaining a culturally relevant church, it is essential to keep everyone informed and updated on the way we do church. One of the best ways to be sure everyone is up to speed is by training up our leaders. The Bible says to train up leaders according to 2 Timothy 2:1-2. “You therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. And the things that you have heard from me among many witnesses, commit these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also.”

Here at Valley Family Church, we have Valley Training on the second Wednesday evening of every month. During Valley Training, we have the opportunity for all of our Leadership to spend some time with Pastors Jeff and Beth, where they can impart wisdom and vision with the group. From there, volunteers break off into their individual departments and gain insight and training that is more specific to their area of ministry. Valley Training also includes a time of eating and fellowship. When everyone is together moving in the same direction, work gets done for the Kingdom! At VFC we call that “Screaming Green.” We put our personal preferences aside to run with the vision of the house. Valley Trainings offer a great way to accomplish this task.

Shon

Important Guests

I have been working at VFC for a little over 7 years. In the past 7 years I have had a variety of different responsibilities in Preschool Ministry. However, my main focus has always been ensuring the preschool classrooms are ready for the weekend services. Ensuring the classrooms are ready means each room has enough supplies to get through each service, all the toys are safe and working properly, and finally, walking through each classroom to ensure that each toy is placed in its proper place and is placed with excellence. 


One day last spring as I walking through a classroom, I had two questions cross my mind. I asked myself, does it really matter if every item in the classroom is placed with excellence?  Does anyone really care if a toy is haphazardly placed on shelf? That is when the Lord spoke to me and gave me an example to show me the importance of setting up the rooms with excellence.

This is what He said: Think of this…when someone of importance, like a mother-in-law or a government official comes to a person’s house for dinner, what do they do to prepare for their important guest? What they do is walk through each room and make sure each item is in its proper place and placed with excellence. They take the time to ensure that when their guest walks into the house what they see is excellence. They want to put their best foot forward and they want their important guest to know that they took time to prepare for them. It is the same each week at VFC. We live by the code and one part of our VFC code is “the queen of Sheba inspires us.”  We understand that a spirit of excellence glorifies God and leaves people breathless. So, we give God our best in all that we do. 


Each week, we prepare the classrooms, the bathrooms, the atrium, and the parking lot for very important guests who we want to leave breathless. We are taking the time to ensure that when a visitor or guest walks in the door, they know that they are home and that we care about them. The guest can be an infant or an adult; each guest is important. Each week during our services, young children come and hear about God for the first time, scripture is spoken into their lives, and their lives are forever changed.  As a parent checks in their child for the first time or the 100^th time, they see the room and know that we have taken the time to ensure that their child is going to be safe and happy and they are going to learn about God. God taught me that day that walking through each room and ensuring that the room is set up with excellence does matter to Him and to each child and adult who comes into the room because they are God’s very important guest!


Jodi

Kid's Safety First

In Kids Ministry we are very aware of how precious children are. They are a special gift sent to us straight from Heaven. Because we know we are working with your little angels, we do everything we can to ensure that they are safe and sound so you can rest easy and engage in worship and service, gleaning everything that the Lord has for you.

All of our Kids Ministry rooms are equipped with safety features, from smoke alarms and door locks to band aids. We ensure safety in the bathrooms by only allowing adult females to change diapers and monitor the bathrooms. But there may be nothing we do that is more important than our drop off and pick procedures. Here at Valley Family Church we want you to feel comfortable and safe. We have a check in procedure where our smiling volunteers greet each family and record their pick up number from the Parent Pick up Receipt (PPR). This number is used if the parent is needed to come to the room at any time during the service. If a parent is needed, their number will be displayed on the screens in all of our service areas.

When it comes time to check out, every parent needs to show their PPR and a volunteer ensures that the numbers match on the PPR and the child’s name tag. There is no exception to this. If a Pastor or staff member comes to pick up their children, they must show their PPR. If a volunteer’s spouse or best friend picks up a child, they too must show their PPR. We do this to ensure that people who are watching from the halls and may not know they are friends or employees can see this check being made. Kids are God’s gift and we endeavor not only to come along side in teaching them, but to first and foremost ensure that they are safe.


Shon

Reward What You Want Repeated

One of the most popular aspects of our Games Room is the Kids Cash Counter. After every service, the Cash Counter is the place to be, because that is where the kids get to spend the 'kids cash' that they earned during service. Using this system has allowed us to reward the good behavior that the children demonstrate that we would like to see repeated in the future. Instead of constantly saying "no" or "don't do that," this method allows us to encourage children in their accomplishments and highlight their good behavior.


There are many ways that the children can earn this 'kids cash'. Kids cash can be administered for the following reasons:
-Coming to church
-Bringing their Bible
-Memorizing their memory verse
-Completing the at-home assignments
-Bringing a friend to church as a first time visitor
-Displaying good behavior
-Being a first time visitor
-Birthdays


By offering a reward for positive behavior, children are encouraged to repeat the behavior again in the future. This also teaches the children the Biblical principle that God takes pleasure in rewarding us for the positive things that we do. 1 Corinthians 3:8 and Revelation 22:12 tell us that God is interested in rewarding us when we make good decisions, and we want the children to understand this as well. By rewarding them for positive behavior, we shift our focus to what the kids are doing right rather than what they are doing wrong. By praising the positive things they do, we encourage the children to build up those traits.


The key to having success with this method is to have prizes that are 'worth it.' When the reward is desirable, the children will be more likely to strive towards good behavior in order to receive the reward. Our success with this method stems from our willingness to put the time and resources into supplying quality prizes.


The success that we have had by using this tool is a testament to our Pastors and leadership and their belief in this next generation. Using this method has allowed us to better disciple the children and encourage them in their spiritual and personal growth!


Tim

The Importance of Child Dedication

Have you ever wondered what the importance of a Child Dedication is? Psalm 127:3 says ^“Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord, the fruit of the womb is a reward.” Children are truly a gift from God, so one reason for a child dedication is to recognize, honor and celebrate their lives. Children are worth getting excited about!

However, Child Dedication isn’t only for the child – it’s for the parents too! This is an opportunity for parents to step out in faith and publically acknowledge their intention to care for and raise their child in a Christian home according to Proverbs 22:6 - “Train up a child in the way he should go, And when he is old he will not depart from it.” Essentially, parents are stating they will train up their child, but in doing so, are also asking for the support of their church family.

This is another reason why we have Child Dedication, so that we, as a church family, can pledge our support and willingness to actively take a role in the caring, nurturing and training of the child. At VFC, we don’t just provide childcare for kids of all ages; we minister to kids so that their life may be transformed. Therefore, we make sure that our Child Dedication services are conducted with excellence because we recognize the importance of this moment for families. After all, we are Valley Family Church and our focus is on the family!

There are many ways to host a Child Dedication, but at VFC, we hold a special ceremony following our last Sunday morning service for families to invite their friends and extended family to. During Child Dedication, families are welcomed and Pastors Jeff and Beth share a word of encouragement about raising kids in Christian homes. Then each family is individually prayed over by Pastors Jeff and Beth and a photograph is taken for families to remember this special moment. Each family also receives a certificate that announces their child’s dedication to the Lord. Afterwards, Pastors offer closing remarks and pray for the children collectively. Directly following the ceremony, we hold a small reception with cookies and punch to celebrate what has taken place and to give families the opportunity to connect with one another!

There’s nothing like seeing a family attending church and growing in faith together! Therefore, we provide as many opportunities as possible for parents and kids alike to develop a healthy and vibrant relationship with the Lord and to get plugged in to our church family. While Child Dedication is only one of the many opportunities we have available, there’s something so special about this time for families to make a public declaration about their dedication to raise their children in a Christian home!

Shon

Monkey Hear, Monkey Say

Have you ever felt like you are talking to brick wall? Have you ever felt like when you are in front of a group of preschool or elementary kids that none of them are listening to you or watching what you are doing? Well, you are not alone! There are many times throughout my day where I feel as though I am talking to myself. But I have good news! Even if it feels like you are only talking to yourself, the children are always watching and listening to what you are saying, but it may not necessarily look like it!

Here are few examples from my preschool classroom:

In my weekday community preschool class, I teach some of the children who attend VFC on the weekends. During class, as we were talking about Jesus and how He was a little boy and had to grow up just like preschoolers do, I asked them what other stories they knew about Jesus. Many responded with how Jesus was in a manger, but the same little boy talked about how Jesus put mud on someone’s eyes so he could see. This was the same story being taught the previous weekend! He remembered what was being taught to him, even though it may not have appeared like he was listening!

Recently, I had a child say a not so nice word and a volunteer in my classroom told the child that is was a bad word and we don’t say bad words at school. Right after she told him that, he said, “I know another bad word,” and said an even worse swear word. This goes to show you that kids are listening and they know the difference between good words and bad words. We need to be cognizant that the words we are speaking, they are hearing!

Here is another example of the positive effects of words: In our community preschool, we have a time designated each day called “Circle Time” and during this time, we share a devotional with the preschool kids. During our daily devotional, there is a short story, a Bible verse and then a prayer. I always close the prayer by saying, “in Jesus Name, Amen”. Well, one Friday morning, my student teacher was doing the devotional with a group of kids and as she concluded the prayer she simply said “Amen.” One of the kids piped up and told her that her prayer was wrong because we have to say “In Jesus name, Amen.”  It was a great example to me of how they are always listening even when you don’t think they are!

Children pick up on things you say and do and they will repeat it! It’s important for us as volunteers and Kids Ministry staff members to remember that kids are always listening and that we should only speak words of life. We need to remember that even on those mornings when it seems like the children only want to do talk to their neighbor, that they are listening and watching your every move! Here at VFC one of our codes is “We reach youth – we honor age.” When we remember to speak words of life and love into each child, we are reaching the youth and the next generation!

Jodi