Growing in God's Love

Preschool SS snack time prayer

2011-10-31T11:01:00.000-07:00

Mrs. Jane taught the preschoolers this sweet prayer that they pray every Sunday before snack

God Is Wild About Us

2011-06-27T06:04:00.000-07:00

VBS 2011 Slideshow

2011-06-17T09:29:00.000-07:00

God Is Wild About Us!

The Moment of Truth

2011-05-19T07:11:00.000-07:00

It All Comes Down To Love

2011-05-18T07:04:00.000-07:00

Truth Works!

2011-05-17T07:41:00.000-07:00

Last Sunday our Children led us in worship with their annual musical performance. They worked hard all year with Dr. Messer to get "Truth Works!" ready to share. Each one of them was wonderful! John even leaned over to me halfway through and said, "this is great!" and at the end he even joined them in the "do right" hand motion:)

Everyone loved it and appreciated the message that the children shared on Sunday morning.

Early rehearsal on Sunday morning...

Performance...

Video to come soon...

Lunch with Johnny

2011-05-02T15:42:00.000-07:00

Today I went to Johnny's school to have lunch with him on his birthday.

I always want to take pictures when I have lunch with the kids from Parkway. The problem is that there isn't usually another adult there to take one for me! Since today was Johnny's actual birthday, his mom, little brother, James, and little sister, Ayano, were all there too. So we got a pic:)

Thanks for letting me come eat lunch with you, Johnny! Happy Birthday!

here's how James eats a cupcake...

He is Risen!

2011-04-24T14:37:00.000-07:00

Happy Easter from the preschool Sunday School class!

Easter Egg Hunt 2011

2011-04-22T07:50:00.000-07:00

There isn't much that gets kids wound up like the anticipation of an Easter Egg Hunt! These kids were crazy excited on Wednesday night. Our pastor even said that next year the egg hunt needs to be top secret...don't tell the kids that it's happening, have the parents hide baskets and eggs in their cars, go about a normal wednesday night, and then when it's time: Surprise! Easter Egg Hunt!

It would be pretty impressive if we could actually pull something like that off.

Nonetheless, it was fun to see kids so thrilled to be at church and having fun. And what we thought would for sure be a rainy day all day, turned out to just be a cloudy evening. It was a great night!

I didn't get any pictures of the actual hunt because it was over in all of 30 seconds:) I also missed a lot of the big kids because I didn't make it to their playground until the end of the night. And this being my first attempt at shooting with my dslr in manual mode, a lot of my pictures turned out blurry. The good thing is that I know what I did wrong on those, so hopefully I'll keep getting better at it.

Will was all business and collected more eggs than anyone!

Ayano is too cute in her pig tails:)

Sweet sleeping baby Cole and his mommy, Amy.

The egg hunt took on a whole new meaning when Carlton realized that there was candy in those eggs!

Nate

Harris tells me about his success

Ayano tastes the goods

Nate and dad take a break on the swing

Owen

Carlton and mommy

Amy and her sweet boys

Mackenzie

BFF's - Mackenzie, Jessica, Kaelie, Ally

Maddie

His shirt is right, somehow this monkey escaped to the big kid playground and climbed up to the top of this 6ft ring ladder!

Marie

Crazy girls - Marie and Maddie

James

Nate

Katherine helps Ayano swing

Up there!

She's getting me! (Joi and Carlton had a great time playing chase!)

one of our sweet nursery workers, Jade, helps Nate swing

fun on the alligator seesaw

baby Cole:) - 4 months old

Another of our sweet nursery workers, Joi, plays with Nate

Kelly

Mackenzie, Marie, Kelly

Olivia

New York, New York

2011-03-22T17:03:00.000-07:00

During the month of March, our children's missions classes are studying CBF missionary Ronnie Adams and his ministry in New York City. Ronnie works with several churches in a variety of ways to minister to the NYC community.

You can read more about Ronnie's work here.

We began our month's study by "interviewing" Ronnie to learn about his background and creating visuals of the city.

Working together to build Central Park...

Drawing New York City at night

Truman and Owen, hard at work.

Colin and Kaelie and their finished products

Harris's finished drawing...looks exactly like the empire state building to me!

You Are a Temple

2011-03-12T13:21:00.000-08:00

Children's Choir sings in the March 6th worship service.
Scripture Reading: Caleb Huneycutt.
Soloist: Maddie Akin.

A reading and "Still, Still, Still"

2010-12-20T15:51:00.000-08:00

Christmastime

2010-12-19T18:14:00.001-08:00

The Children's Choir sings "Christmastime" with the Sanctuary Choir during our Carols for Christmas worship service on December 19

NO FISHIN'

2010-12-05T19:56:00.000-08:00

Our boys' skit at the Hee Haw Variety Show

NO fishin' from Rebecca Orton on Vimeo.

This Land is Your Land

2010-12-03T20:44:00.000-08:00

Katherine performs at the Hee Haw Variety Show!

This Land is Your Land from Rebecca Orton on Vimeo.

PASSPORTkids! 2010

2010-12-01T10:31:00.000-08:00

One of the highlights of my job is taking kids to camp. Last summer, 10 of us traveled to Crossville, Tennesse (somewhere in between Nashville & Knoxville) to attend PASSPORTkids

Our theme: Barefoot

Sunday night worship

Caroline helped lead worship by carrying a water jug across the field. This was an example of what children in Ethiopia have to do to get water for their families.

Katherine prayed

Morning Devotions

Morning celebrations

We had the most mail!

Monday Night - Ethiopian Night Market

Worship

AFTERNOON ROTATIONS

The kids spent each afternoon rotating between different stations. Each day they went to a missions rotation (the missionary or one of two water sessions, well digging, and camper's choice)

Missions:

Our staff missionary - Tori Wentz

Well Digging:

Water

Pool time!

Camper's Choice:

Alexis at Canoeing

Caleb in basketball

Maddie makes a banner in crafts

Barron rehearses for his role as Jesus in the Worship Drama rotation

Caroline rehearses to be part of the Worship Processional

Katherine's water bottle holder from crafts

Caleb in soccer

Barron and Brendan canoe

Barron in Drama -they were telling a story about superheroes

Alexis in cooking

Alexis made a delicious blueberry muffin, ice cream cone, with chocolate on top...all for me:) yum!

Caleb canoes

Leah in crafts

Katherine canoes

Brendan in cooking

Rec!

Every time we turned around, Katherine was getting hurt!

Meals!

Free time

Everyone's favorite: Gaga Ball

Caleb...

Lauren!

Boys Cabin

New friends

Best chaperones ever

Wednesday - Closing Celebration and Worship

Barron performs in the worship drama

Missions offering total!

Our camp pastor - Chris

"Baby shark"

Departing camp! What a great week. Can't wait until next year!

Katherine on CNN!

2010-11-15T19:05:00.000-08:00

Katherine welcomes her dad home from Afghanistan in one of the most touching videos I've seen. A wonderful reunion.

Click on this link: CNN Blackwell family

Thank you, Andrew, for serving our country.

Trunk or Treat

2010-11-05T12:11:00.000-07:00

Trunk or Treat 2010! October 28

Unfortunately, rain tried to ruin our plans:( We moved Trunk or Treat to the Fellowship hall and used our trunk decorations to decorate tables.

The kids got to dress up, received lots of candy, and the trunk decorators were able to get rid of all the candy we bought!

Although it wasn't an ideal set up, we made the best of it and had a great time!

Our Alice in Wonderland "trunk"

TG eating candy at the end of the night

VBS Day 4 Pics

2010-09-07T14:43:00.001-07:00

June 10
Day 4 theme: God's Word is for everyone.

Bible Story: The community of believers share. Acts 2:42-47

High Seas Expedition tshirt day!

1st Graders practice for the closing celebration

Preschoolers on the playground...

the shipwreck!

Miss Megan and her awesome themed fishnets and leggings

Rec with Ryan and the Youth

The babies LOVED the blow up animals that decorated the sanctuary

So we took it back to their room while the big kids rehearsed

Carlton gives the turtle kisses...

Wink's Monkeys

4th and 5th Graders pause for a pic before hearing the Bible Story

Mr. Bob's Treasure Chest

4th and 5th Graders in crafts

Johnny's picture frame

Marina's Dolphins practice for the closing celebration

Preschool Crafts

1st Graders in Crafts

Closing Celebration

Before the kids took the stage, we announced the missions offering. Every year the boys and girls compete to raise money (what's wrong with a little healthy competition? especially if it's for missions, right?) This year the girls won, so Ryan agreed to take a pie in the face & Lauryn did the honors...

Then Austin snuck up out of nowhere and got me too!

gross, all in the hair...

To close our week, all 125 children sang for us. I'm determined to get a video of this next year!

quick camp video

2010-08-31T15:44:00.001-07:00

I haven't done a big camp post yet, but I told Brendan's mom about this today and wanted to share!

Passportkids! gives campers the opportunity to lead in evening worship services. On Monday night, Brendan led a prayer...

Brendan praying from Rebecca Orton on Vimeo.

Ring Around the Roses

2010-08-24T10:23:00.000-07:00

During VBS this year, Mrs. Jan taught Ayano and Carlton to play "Ring Around the Roses." They LOVED it! My favorite parts of this video are how they know to hold hands, how they try to sing with her (Ayano says "ashie"), and how they clap and jump up and down at the end!

Ring Around the Roses with Mrs. Jan from Rebecca Orton on Vimeo.

VBS 2010 - June 7-10

2010-08-23T08:05:00.000-07:00

A great time was had by all while we explored the mighty love of God on our High Seas Expedition. With 125 children and 38 volunteers, we celebrated our largest VBS to date (at least since I've been at Parkway). It was a fun week of experiencing God through Bible stories, games, theme dress, crafts, and songs...

During Wonderful Wednesday, the Parkway Kids helped decorate!

Barron was very proud of his shark eating the fish. What a creative idea!

Mrs. Brandy made this ship!

Day 1 theme: God's Word is true.

Bible Story: God frees Peter from prison. Acts 12:1-19.

Beach Day!

Nancy, Alexis, and Leah's class

4th and 5th graders in our opening ceremony

Day 2 theme: God's word is comforting.

Bible story: God comforts Paul in a storm at sea. Acts 27.

Pirates and Sailors Day!

Cutie Pie-rate Carlton

Sailor Ayano

Everyone loves snack time

Marina's Dolphins

The Mitchell kids...James had a hat and eye patch earlier in the day...

Mrs. Jodie leading a preschool music session

Sean

Revin

Morgan and Harris

Ally

Katherine and Lauryn

Kaelie in crafts

Caleb, Barron, and Johnny in music

Maggie

Emma Grace, Maddie, and Marie

Jessica and Kaelie

Carlton snuck in the boat while Mrs. Brandy's class was away!

Elementary Crafts with Mrs. Amy

Some of Scully's Ship Mice

Samson!

Wink's Monkeys in Preschool Crafts

Mrs. Jan taught Carlton and Ayano to play "Ring Around the Roses" (I'll post a video soon!)

Rec with Ryan (our Youth Minister) and the Parkway Youth

Crazy pic!

We LOVE Mr. Bobby and Mrs. Pat - our 4th and 5th grade guides. Each year they help the 4th and 5th graders memorize all the books of the Bible!

Day 3 theme: God's word is surprising.

Bible Story: Paul survives a bite by a poisonous snake. Acts 28:1-10

Crazy Hair Day!

Kaelie's Crazy hair!

Everyone arriving on crazy hair day

Savannah and Kelly win the prize for craziest hair!

Salty's Sea Gulls hear the Bible Story

Elementary music with Mrs. Linda and Mrs. Paula

Rec

Snack with the WONDERFUL Patsy and Margaret!

This picture is classic.

Brendan and mom

Thomas brothers

Katherine

Barron

Preschool Crafts

Mr. Bob tells the Bible lesson

Mrs. Jodie and Allie - Preschool Music Leaders

Bubbles and playground time for Marina's Dolphins

Rec

Scully's Ship Mice

Day 4 theme: God's word is for everyone.

Bible Story: The community of believers share. Acts 2:42-47

High Seas Expedition tshirt day!

Day 4 pics still to come!

Don't be sad! You can come back next year!

Lazy Summer (or not!)

2010-08-16T14:33:00.001-07:00

I can't believe that summer is already over! The months of June, July, and August are the most eventful, most stressful, and the most fun months of the year for me. I'll post more detailed stories and pictures, soon! I promise! but for now...

Here are 10 things that I loved about Summer 2010 (in no particular order):

1 Vacation Bible School

2 Passportkids! Camp

3 Wonderful Wednesdays

4 Water Nights

5 Free Movie Tuesdays

6 Pool Parties

7 Playdates

8 Interviewing and hiring a new nursery worker

9 Cleaning out the preschool supply closet

(with the help of the masters of organization, Bob & Paula)

10 Lunch dates with friends

High Seas Expedition

2010-06-09T18:55:00.001-07:00

We are having an amazing time at VBS this year! With 125 kids and 38 volunteers our week has been filled with love and fun. Here's a pic of some of our (entering) 4th grade Parkway kids on crazy hair day...

more pics to come soon!

Heroes of the Faith

2010-05-20T18:53:00.000-07:00

Sunday, May 16 our children's choir performed the musical, Heroes of the Faith. Dr. Messer worked so hard all year with our children to make this production happen. She is wonderful! And of course, all of the children worked hard to memorize their lines and songs. It was a beautiful day. The preschool choir even sang the first and last song with "the big kids."

The children led us through a museum of exhibits which told us about different heroes in the Bible. In the end, they shared the thought that all of us can be heroes of the faith!

Watch the opening song...

Pic of the week - YA Second Sunday

2010-05-16T19:01:00.000-07:00

With two of my bestest one year old friends, Nate and Carlton at the Young Adult Low Country Boil for the McAfee graduates.
Carlton insisted on not one, but two handfuls of my S'mores Cheesecake.

Savannah's Preschool Graduation

2010-05-14T19:02:00.000-07:00

Parkway's Weekday Preschool has the cutest graduation program of any preschool out there...I'm sure of it. This year, I was honored to be invited by Savannah to attend.

These preschoolers practice for at least a month before their performance, so they have this program at perfection come graduation day. They get up on stage in bright yellow caps and gowns and sing and dance through a list of songs that describe their "Parkway days." It's so much fun to watch!

At the conclusion, each child walks across the stage and receives a diploma.
Congrats Savannah! I'll miss seeing you during school next year!

Reason #588 to be a Children's Minister - Cute Thank You's

2010-04-20T11:11:00.000-07:00

Thank you notes are great, but when they come from a child they are so much cuter:)

Here are a few that I've received lately...

From Harris after his MRI.

From Maggie, after I had lunch with her at school.

From Nate's 1st Birthday Party

Strong Man Harris

2010-04-03T08:00:00.000-07:00

One of my favorite things to do is to attend performances of our Parkway kids.

In late February, I went to see Harris perform in the Circus - an annual event of the Smoke Rise Baptist Preschool.

He definitely stole the show as one of the strong men!

Take a look...

Easter Egg Hunt

2010-04-01T09:41:00.000-07:00

Beautiful weather and great fellowship made our annual Easter Egg Hunt a blast!

Thanks to Amy Kennedy for taking these pictures and
thanks to the Parkway youth for being our Easter "bunnies!"

Preschoolers anxiously awaiting their release to the playground

Tyler Grace - so many eggs!

Harris - cheese!

Kelly

Truman

James

Harris

Morgan - proud to find one of the camouflage, hard-to-find eggs!

Truman

Ally

Savannah

Kelly

James and his "piderman" basket
Harris

Harris was so proud of how many eggs he found

Savannah

Maddie

Keziah

Andrew

Katherine

Colin

Show us the goods!

Brendan - love the shirt!

Brandon

Kaelie

Jessica

Hunting is over! Time for fun.

Marie

Topher and Colin - probably the cutest picture of the night

Barron and Brendan - when did they get so tall?!?!

Ally and her mom

Ally, TG, Harris

The babies had their own hunt! But we had to call in the clean up crew (preschoolers) to collect the rest of their eggs:)

Nate

Ayano

Carlton
Smiling for the camera
They loved playing in the little house

Love your neighbor as you love yourself

2010-03-31T12:21:00.000-07:00

We spend a lot of time in missions talking about people all over the world. We talk about ways that we can show God's love to them. A few weeks ago, the preschool missions class colored puzzles with a picture of the world and this verse:
"Love your neighbor as you love yourself." Mark 12:33

Harris, Owen, and Truman hard at work.

Ella, Morgan, and Ally

We are so happy that Ella has joined our class!

dancin' Carlton

2010-03-22T10:50:00.000-07:00

Carlton dancing in Sunday School

Ways to be Missional

2010-03-22T10:24:00.000-07:00

What do you think it means to be Missional?

Check out these interpretations drawn by our Elementary Missions class.

Reason #587 to be a Children's Minister - Cute Valentines!

2010-03-10T10:41:00.000-08:00

Reason #586 to be a Children's Minister - Cute Christmas Cards!

2010-03-02T10:42:00.000-08:00

I finally got around to taking these off the fridge and scanning them. I have absolutely LOVED getting these in the mail for the past 3 years, and thought I would share this year's batch with you:) The ones at the end are from our friends and family outside of Parkway.

Savannah and Kelly

The Mitchell Grandkids

Owen and Olivia

Micah

Tyler Grace

Maggie and Daniel

New Baby Sam

Brendan and Colin

Brendan and Colin meet Santa!

Johnny, James and Ayano (last year James was crying in the picture)

Barron, Harris, and Carlton

Nate

Our Christmas Card - we only sent it to family since we don't have cute kids to show off yet:)

We took this picture in Central Park while we were in NYC for the marathon.

Our friends Christina and John Michael who are now expecting their first baby in May!

Isaac, John's cousin's little boy

My Uncle Gary and his new bride Petra!

My Grandma Betty sends us a pic with Santa every year

Our good friends from Samford, Adam and Haley's kids - Barrett and Jace

My cousin Karla's kids

Q & A with Guest Author Maddie Akin

2010-02-20T16:46:00.000-08:00

Meet our Guest Author of "A Day at Parkway"

Maddie dressed in her dream job outfit

Name? Madison McKenzie Akin

Who is in your family? My little sister Morgan. My mom and dad. And my playful dog Sandy.

What grade are you in? 3rd Grade

What is your favorite color? Light blue.

What is your favorite TV show? Sponge Bob

What is your favorite movie? Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen.

What is your favorite food? Spaghetti with Garlic Bread and a Shirley Temple.

What is your favorite flavor of ice cream? Peppermint

What is your favorite ride at Disney World? Space Mountain and Everest Expedition

If you could go anywhere in the world where would it be? Sydney, Australia

What is your favorite musician? Taylor Swift and Black Eyed Peas

What is your favorite animal? Spider Monkey

What is your favorite thing to do at home? Swim in my new pool!

What do you want to be when you grow up? A chef

What is your favorite football team? Georgia Bulldogs!! (GEORGIA TECH STINKS!)

What is your teacher's name? Mrs. Feinstein

What is your favorite game? LIFE

What is your favorite vacation that you've ever been on? Disney World

What is your favorite DS game? Ninento Dogs

What do you love about Parkway? The teachers and my friends

What is your favorite thing to do at church? Missions and being with my friends

What is your favorite Bible story? Daniel in the Lions Den or Jonah in the Belly of the Whale

What is your favorite song from choir? Goliath (from our Heroes of the Faith Musical)

Who are your Sunday School teachers? Mrs. Paula, Mrs. Amy, Mr. Joel, Mr. Chad, Ms. Peggy

What is your favorite craft? the vase that I made in art at school

Is there anything else you want to tell us? Parkway is the best church!!!!!!!!!!

A Day at Parkway by Maddie Akin

2010-02-20T16:39:00.000-08:00

We have a wonderful Children's Minister, Mrs. Rebecca. We have fun activities throughout the year. On Sundays we have a children's sermon with Mrs. Rebecca. We talk about how God loves us, how Jesus died for our sins, and much more! We have two Sunday School teachers, Mrs. Paula and Mr. Bob. They teach us crafts and we learn about God.

Children in grades K-5 can present the Bible to Dr. King, our pastor. In the middle of the adult sermon, children in Kindergarten thru 1st Grade can go upstairs and learn some more about God.

We have a wonderful music teacher, Mrs. Susan. She teaches us songs about God on Wednesday. This is optional for all ages. We have different musicals to participate in. We are working now on Heroes of the Faith, a wonderful fun-filled musical. On Wednesday we have dinner served for families. After dinner and music we have missions to teach us about missionaries around the world that are sharing God's love with others.

Be sure to check out Parkway!

Parkway Baptist Church
State Bridge Road
Duluth, GA

For nothing shall be impossible with God. Luke 1:37

If you are interested in being a Guest Author, please post a comment or talk to Mrs. Rebecca!!

A gift of art.

2010-02-04T16:24:00.001-08:00

During the month of January, our Kindergarten through 2nd Grade Sunday School class studied church helpers. As one of their activities, Mr. Bob asked the children to draw pictures of specific church helpers from Parkway.

Marie Loden, a 2nd Grader, drew this picture of me. What impressed me the most was that she even drew in the right eye color! When Mr. Bob gave this to me, he said that he thought she also captured my spirit:-)

I just love this! Thank you Marie! You are so talented. I can't wait to hang this up in my office.

Maybe I will start decorating my office with the artwork of Parkway kids, like this.

We come to church with our families.

2010-01-27T08:16:00.000-08:00

Last Wednesday, the 27th, we learned about families that come to church to learn English. We have an ESL program at Parkway and we talked about how many churches provide these classes to help people learn English that can't speak it very well. Last week's story was told through the eyes of the child in a family who goes to church to learn English. We drew pictures of our families because we come to church with our families just like the little girl in the story goes to church with her family.

Tyler Grace and her family. We think there's an extra person in there...

Truman and his family. He only drew 3 people at first-those 3 in the center that look the same. Not sure why, but after we asked him about everyone else he added the other 2 over on the side.

Harris and his family. He spent as much time drawing those boots as the other kids spent on their entire pictures. After finishing the boots, he was tired and asked me to help him finish. Harris told me to make his dad's pants khaki and we decided that yellow was the closest available crayon color to khaki. The yellow crayon I picked up happened to have glitter in it so Harris says his dad is wearing "circus pants."

And they needed me to draw my family, too. John, me and Piper.

Helping Others

2010-01-26T15:00:00.000-08:00

In preschool missions on January 13, we learned about ways that we can help others. The activities and story in the lesson were geared specifically to learning about homeless people and helping them. We played a matching game with pictures of items that are used by homeless people and in homeless shelters...sleeping bags, tents, cots, warm soup, spaghetti, and vans.

We also read a story that included those items and information about a few members of Fredricksburg Baptist Church who volunteer to pick up homeless people in their church van and take them to the homeless shelter for a warm meal and place to sleep. To help the kids understand what it might be like to be homeless, we stepped outside in the cold for a few minutes and talked about what it would feel like to have to sleep out there! As you can imagine, that did not sound like much fun to them.

On this particular night, Harris was the only one that felt like praying and he asked God to "help homeless people have a warm bed and maybe some soup." The prayers of these preschoolers are always so sweet, and there's nothing like hearing these kids talk to God.

After watching a short Boz video on helping others (more on him later), our task was to build a homeless shelter using blocks for the building, and felt pieces for beds. Check out the individual creations of Ally, Truman, and Harris below. They took this activity seriously and worked hard on their shelters to make a safe place for people without a home to sleep. I have to say that I am always amazed by the level of understanding and compassion that these preschoolers show.

Truman, Harris, Ally

Truman working on his shelter.

Harris's shelter before he put the roof on.

Harris and his finished product.

Ally and her shelter.

I also have to add that this month of lessons on helping others in both preschool and elementary missions has been well-timed and has allowed us to talk about helping the people of Haiti. Our preschoolers even knew what happened without us having explain the earthquake!

Pic of the week

2010-01-25T13:06:00.000-08:00

Carlton wore his birthday present from me for the first time, so we had to take a pic together:)

December 20 - Last Sunday of Advent

2009-12-21T09:00:00.000-08:00

Toddler Sunday School Class

The Preschool Choir waits to sing in Big Church

Go Tell It on the Mountain...

Over the hills and everywhere

This is the way the wise men came

This is the way the stars shone bright

John and Will in the nursery

Our attempt at a group photo

Welcome God's Miracle, Sam Perkins

2009-11-21T08:30:00.000-08:00

Sam Perkins, Parkway's newest and smallest member was born on Tuesday, November 17 at 4:07am. He weighed 7 pounds and 4 ounces. I was able to visit Sam on Wednesday and I'm happy to report that he is very cute, mom and dad are doing great, and big brother Christopher is very proud.

Sam, everyone at Parkway is looking forward to loving you and caring for you as you grow both physically and spiritually with us.

I also took our yard sign to his house to welcome him home from his Parkway family. When I pulled up to the Perkins home, a man pulled up in their driveway ahead of me. He stepped out of the car and had a basket of goodies to deliver to the Perkins. He told me that he would leave it on their doorstep since they weren't home. As he was making his way back from the doorstep, I pulled the yard sign out of my car and began to walk it up the driveway to place it in the yard. The man asked to see it so I showed it to him and explained that I was the Children's Minister at their church. He absolutely loved the sign and told me that he thought it was a wonderful way to welcome a baby home. Then he said, "You know what's weird? That's my name." No way! Sam Perkins delivered a present to baby Sam Perkins. Best story of my week.

Sam and his proud big brother, Christopher

Trunk or Treat - October 28, 2009

2009-11-20T15:50:00.000-08:00

Trunk or Treat has no spiritual significance except to show people that as brothers and sisters in Christ we can just have a really good time together:)

The Kennedy Family and their Sponge Bob Trunk

Each person at the Andrews/Miller/Tuck trunk had a detailed schedule thanks to Alexis

Caroline and Nancy on their "trunk" rotation

John and I as Thing 1 and Thing 2 with our Cat in the Hat trunk

Amy and Nate the snuggly bear

If you come to Parkway, you are guaranteed to have a cute baby as evidenced by the picture below:

Ariel and Bride Ariel (Savannah and Kelly)

Savannah

The tourist Neals and their Travelocity Gnome

Wolverine Colin

Ninja Brendan and Wolverine Colin

King Bob and Queen Paula the judges for our costume contest

Lynda

Cade and Lindsey and their Christmas trunk

Toy Story

Sergeant Barron

Woody Harris

Harris and the awesome guitar that his mom made

The cutest Buzz Lightyear you've ever seen - Carlton

The Wallace's Toy Story trunk

Ayuko and Ayano

Ayano - more proof that if you come to Parkway you'll have a cute baby

Thomas the Tank Engine - James:)

Mario Johnny

Kaelie as Wendy with Tinkerbelle

Jodie and Kaelie

Dave and Jane

Pirate Akins and their trunk

Russ - Pirate? or Milli Vanilli?

Witch Marie and Pirate Maddie

Kristen and Peacock Ally

Emperor Caleb (who won the costume contest) and Brandy

The Great Swami

Louise's Children's Choir trunk

Jumpie

the best part of my week

2009-10-17T09:17:00.000-07:00

I arrived home late on Wednesday night, tired and exhausted as usual. On my way into our complex, I stopped to check our mail and found two of the cutest pieces of mail I have EVER received. They totally made my week and reminded me why I love my job.

Carlton is a very special baby:) Because I love him so much, I gave him a birthday present and this is what I got in return:

James had surgery recently and I visited him at the hospital. If you don't know James, you should because he is one of the cutest and smartest 2 year olds I've ever met (he knew his ABCs at 18 months).

One of my favorite things to learn about a child is what he or she loves the most about life. For James, that's trains and specifically Thomas the Tank Engine. So when I visited James in the hospital I took him the biggest Thomas balloon that I could find!

And he sent me this:

cutest missions class ever.

2009-10-14T18:02:00.000-07:00

Hiti, Morgan, Harris, Tyler Grace, and Truman.

(we missed Ally, Savannah, Owen, Daniel, Anderson, and MacKenzie)

Chariots of Fire

2009-09-22T12:45:00.000-07:00

Last week, I rented Chariots of Fire in hopes that I would gain some inspiration for the rest of my marathon training. In all honesty the movie was pretty boring. And I guess that could also be because it was released in the same month that I was born almost 28 years ago. Not much motivation there.

What I did find, surprisingly, was inspiration for faith. The movie is based on the true story of two men who compete in the 100m run at the 1924 Olympics. Harold Abrahams is a Jewish man who has to overcome antisemitism and class discrimination in order to run and Eric Liddell is a missionary who runs because he believes it brings pleasure to God. These are both beautiful themes and are probaby why the movie won 4 Oscars. My favorite moment in the movie came when Eric Liddell preached this mini-sermon after winning a race...

"You came to see a race today. To see someone win. It happened to be me. But I want you to do more than just watch a race. I want you to take part in it. I want to compare faith to running in a race. It's hard. It requires concentration of will, energy of soul. You experience elation when the winner breaks the tape - especially if you've got a bet on it. But how long does that last? You go home. Maybe you're dinner's burnt. Maybe you haven't got a job. So who am I to say, "Believe, have faith," in the face of life's realities? I would like to give you something more permanent, but I can only point the way. I have no formula for winning the race. Everyone runs in her own way, or his own way. And where does the power come from, to see the race to its end? From within. Jesus said, "Behold, the Kingdom of God is within you. If with all your hearts, you truly seek me, you shall ever surely find me." If you commit yourself to the love of Christ, then that is how you run a straight race. "

With each half marathon I've run, I find myself immediately full of excitement and pride for the accomplishment of crossing the finish line. This usually lingers for a few days at most, but is then quickly replaced with lethargy and a lack of motivation! After you spend 3 months preparing for a less than 2 hour performance, it's kind of a let down to be finished so quickly. I hear that this is the worst after running a marathon so I'm trying to prepare in every way possible.

I love how the writer names the difficulty of running and notes that it takes a strong desire and energy from within to complete the task. Because I run, I can see the easy relation to faith. You have to want to grow closer to God and you have to spend a lot of time and energy doing so or you'll never grow.

As many long distance runners will tell you, "it's about the journey, not the destination." It's about the 6 months that you spend training for a marathon, the 4 hours that you spend out on the course, the people you meet, the sites you see along the way, and what you learn about yourself. All of that means more than crossing electronic sensors and recording your finish time.

So it is in faith--it's about how you live each moment of your life, because while we are on this earth there is no stopping point, no finish line. God desires for us to continually seek our Creator, no matter how un-motivated we may feel. Growing closer to God doesn't stop when we leave church on Sunday afternoon, or when we complete a Bible study, or come home from a retreat. It is constant work, as is anything in life--marathons, parenting, work, you name it--but if you commit yourself to the love of Christ and seek God with all of your heart, you will surely walk closer with the Great Shepherd.

busted!

2009-08-31T13:06:00.000-07:00

Once last week while John was out, he came home and caught me watching this...

handy manny

and then he took a nap one day and woke up to me watching this...

HSM2

his comment?
"you are such a children's minister"

and NO, I am not ashamed.

Ode to Ms. Agnes

2009-08-27T08:52:00.000-07:00

Oh, Ms. Agnes, you will be missed. You faithfully cared for our babies and loved each one as much as the next. You spoke to them as if they could speak back to you and we all know they wanted to. You cared for them in so many ways including washing their little hands after changing their diapers:) They know that you love them and they hope that you will come back to visit. Don't think that the mommies of those babies will not miss you. Because they love you with a fierce love. There aren't too many people that mommies will happily allow to care for their babies. But they left their tiny people with you along with loads of trust. And I will miss you too. Your hugs and sweet spirit always cheered me up if I was feeling down. Everyone at Parkway loves you and we hope you will come back to check on us and our babies sometime, ok? promise?

Take 1: "Everybody Look!" Carlton wants to show off and stand up, Nate eyes something good on the floor, and Micah looks at me.

Take 2: Mrs. Brandy dances to get them to look. Notice Nate's expression = mesmerized

Take 3: ALMOST perfect. Except Micah happens to be hungry at the moment and is staring at his food.

who we are.

2009-08-25T17:15:00.000-07:00

Parkway Kids are the fun-loving, friend-making, visitor-welcoming, Bible-reading, God-loving children at Parkway Baptist Church in Duluth, Georgia.

I am Rev. Rebecca Orton (more affectionately known as "Mrs. Rebecca") and I am a pastor to these precious children and their families. I'm anxious to share the lovely things that happen within my ministry in hopes that you may also experience the joy and wonder of these children who are part of God's creation. The little ones that I minister to each day have truly stirred in me a deep devotion and desire to encourage the growth of a thriving and healthy faith in the heart of each child.