There's my Heart: Children's Discovery Club

"Lay not up for yourselves trasures upon earth...but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven...for where you trasure is, there will your heart be also..." Matthew 6:19-21

Good morning, dear friends,

It's been a while since I shared updates from our Children's Discovery Club, and there have been many goings-on.  Let's try to catch up and share the latest news!

December Clubs

If your month of December was anything like ours, it was busy! Every year Christmas gives us many opportunities to share the good news of God's coming to earth with those around us.  Our children's clubs were no exception!

Our first club in December, taught by our coworker Damaris, was all about Jesus's coming, taught through the message of...the candy cane!  The children really enjoyed...

...our candy cane cake...

...and our craft time!  Damaris led the kids in making a candy cane Christmas ornament with the message of the candy cane attached to it.  No red pony beads here, so Damaris dyed some wooden ones with Koolaid!  Smelled nice, too!

During the Christmas season, the children practice for a Christmas program to which we invite the parents.  We were thankful for the families that came and saw firsthand what our children's clubs are like!  One mom came early and stayed for the lesson time.  Our children always practice and perform well.  This year we gave them a song to learn in English!  (C-H-R-I-S-T-M-A-S)

Thankful to share the good news with these children at Christmastime!

January and February

We had some "false starts" to our club this year after the holidays, but we're back in the saddle now!

In January, it is traditional to eat a "king's cake" for Epiphany, and our club happened to fall very close to that day, so of course we had to celebrate!  A tiny porcelaine figurine is baked into the cake.  The cake is cut in its entirety and all of the pieces are distributed, usually by the youngest child present (who picks the person receiving each piece randomly.)  The one who finds the figure is crowned the "king" of the day, and gets to pick his queen.  Two cakes = two kings and queens, and some happy kids.  (The cakes are delicious, too!)

Fast forward to February...For the first time in many weeks, "all" of our kids were there.  Here's a picture of the group, on our very crowded living room couch:

We are continuing our travels with Christian in Pilgrim's Progress.  After reviewing Christian's progress in January, we climbed the Hill of Difficulty to reach the Beautiful Palace and receive our armour.  We learned that God is very near in times of troubles (He even told us ahead of time that there would be troubles in this life!) and He gives His armour to protect us and help us.

The heart verse at the top of the blog for today reminds me of why I am here in France!  These children are our "treasures," and yours as well!  Thank you for investing in the ministry here with us in France!  This is treasure abounding to your account in heaven!  Thanks for "paying it forward!"

See you in a few weeks for our next club!