Email me your snail mail addy, and I’ll get that curriculum in the mail for ya!

If you missed the contest or didn’t win… sorry. Keep an eye open, though. I get to give away stuff every now and then

If you hadn’t already checked it out, hop on over to my post on how you can use Phil Vischer’s new DVD Why Do We Call it Christmas? to teach about Hanukkah!

Over a year ago we embarked on a crazy journey. To make a long story, short… we felt led to leave Thunder Bay, Ontario and my position at Redwood Park Church to move back to California. Along the way, we discovered some reasons for the move: being closer to family after living away for 12 years and me going to grad school were just a couple of the reasons. Upon arriving in California with no jobs, no place to live, and no idea of what God had next at the beginning of July 2009, Erin landed a well-paying job within a couple of weeks (and she’d been out of the workforce as a stay-at-home mom for 11 years)!

Well, here we are in the middle of August 2011, and I thought I’d give you all an update.

Over the past 5 days, I’ve discovered the wonderful acitivity of geocaching! The best way I can describe it is high-tech treasure hunting. You use a GPS to find things all over the place! Anyway, one of the things you’re encouraged to do is set waypoints along your geocaching journey, especially if you are exploring an unknown trail or something like it. A waypoint is simply a set of geographical coordinates that specify a certain place… sort of like setting a waypoint where you parked your car so you can find your way back if you get lost. Another way to look at waypoints is that they are virtual signposts or breadcrumbs to help you see where you’re going and where you’ve been. All that to say, there have been a couple of significant waypoints recently as we continue to chase the Wild Goose.

This fall, I will begin a Masters program in Sociology at San Jose State University! Classes start in a couple of weeks, and I am really excited about it. My desire is to focus on children, families and religion with the intent to take a look at the cultural and theological factors that affect the church world when it comes to ministering to children and families. It is also my hope to bridge the gap between the academic world of child spiritual formation and family and children’s ministry in the local church. I’m not sure what that all looks like, but that’s part of the adventure!

In October of this year, I am privileged to be one of the workshop leaders at Group’s Kidmin Conference! I will be facilitating a workshop called Teaching Digital Learners. I’m stepping in for my friend Matt Guevara who isn’t able to make it to the conference. I’m really excited to share about this topic and brainstorming with those who will be at the workshop about how to understand and reach a whole new generation of kids who now process things much differently than most of us do. I hope to see you there. If you are, let me know… I’d love to have coffee, lunch, breakfast, dinner…whatever!

Beginning on Monday, August 15, I will be joining the children’s ministry team at Menlo Park Presbyterian Church as the 4th/5th Grade Assistant Director. In short, that means I will be overseeing the aspects of children’s ministry that are focused on 4th and 5th grade. I’m looking forward to being a part of the team at MPPC. We’ve been attending there as a family for the past couple of months and have been blessed by what the church is doing in the San Francisco Bay Area. I’ve missed working in children’s ministry this past year think this position is a great fit for where God has us. The fun part is that my first day on the job is also the beginning of a 2 and a half day retreat with the entire family ministry staff… talk about jumping in!

So, there’s a quick update about some waypoints that God has placed in my life recently. I’ve been taking it one step at a time and look forward to the journey ahead. Please pray for our family as we transition to this new season. Specifically, please pray that we are able to replace our dying van (we need another van and a smaller car); pray that we can figure out all of the childcare challenges of going to a family where both parents are working; and pray that I will be able to quickly readjust to being in school again after 13 years. I’m so thankful to all of you who have been praying for us and cheering us on along this.