Friday, February 26th

SFSD is closed today-Friday, February 26th so Providence Christian Preschool is also closed.

Click Click Cluck

I have to admit that I did recently have the baby itch, not the human kind but the puppy kind. Between reading and seeing "Marley and Me" and seeing the 8 week old seeing eye puppies that visited our preschool recently I did think about wanting to have a little puppy to hold and love. I know Iso would be a great big brother! However, reality set in and I quickly decided that was a very crazy notion.
An even crazier idea is that the Stolpes may be going together with some neighbors and friends to hatch chicks this spring. Jon has been scheming his plans for a chicken coop and the kids have already thought about names. Oh my! It would be awesome if we could time it right so that the preschool could share in this excitement. I haven't quite reached that excitement level yet though I'm sure our country friends, Denise and Mike, would be very proud of us down in Virginia. Stay tuned for more updates soon. I guess this would certainly supply us with fresh eggs for more family meals. The New Year's cooking idea has continued to be a hit with everyone taking turns to prepare a meal-I'd definitely recommend it once your kids are old enough!

Here's a post to share from Nancy Beach-author, speaker, and programming director at Willow Creek Church in Chicago. I had the privilege of attending one of her workshops at the Promiseland Conference last spring.


Creativity in a Downturn
With all the bad and scary news about the economy – which affects every single ministry I know, including ours – there are a few upsides. First and foremost, it’s apparent that people in general feel more vulnerable and open to spiritual needs and spiritual experiences. This is tremendously significant for the local church, and if we ever needed to BE THE CHURCH, it’s now…
Another upside is that when resources are scarce, we are propelled to become amazingly creative. We learn how to do things a different, less expensive way – but often end up being even more effective. In his terrific book, Organizing Genius, author Warren Bennis describes great groups who uncovered the most remarkable discoveries in garages, dismal basements, and other non-stimulating environments with absolutely no money and very few people. All they had was their brains and passion and inventive spirits. And it was more than enough!
Our team both at my church and also at the Willow Creek Association are in extremely difficult meetings these days, trying to figure out how to do more with less. But as John Ortberg taught us this past weekend, heaven is not in a downturn! God is still God, and we can depend on the one who owns the cattle on a thousand hills to provide us with precisely what we need to do ministry another day, even in the midst of potential lay-offs, lower offerings, and weary leaders. I take heart from Psalm 24 that begins:
The earth is the Lord’s and everything in it,
the world and all who live in it…
Lift up your heads, you gates;
lift them up, you ancient doors,
that the King of glory may come in.
Who is he, this King of glory?
The Lord Almighty –
He is the King of glory. (Psalm 24: 1a, 9, 10)
I am choosing these days to lift up my head to the Lord Almighty – that’s where our help will come from. He is an unlimited supply of creativity, resources, people, ideas, strategies, and transcendent moments to provide for each and every one of his children. Let us not despair or be downcast. God is NOT in a downturn!

If You Give a Mom a Muffin

(Our theme at Providence this month is the Laura Numeroff books. I had to share this realistic snapshot of motherhood from those wonderful and tiring preschool years!)

If You Give a Mom a Muffin

If you give a mom a muffin, She'll want a cup of coffee to go with it.
So she'll pour herself some.The coffee will get spilled by her three year old.
She'll wipe it up.Wiping the floor, she will find some dirty socks.
She'll remember she has to do some laundry.When she puts the laundry in the washer,She'll trip over some snow boots and bump into the freezer.
Bumping into the freezer will remind her she has to plan supper for tonight.
She will get out a pound of hamburger.She'll look for her cookbook. (101 Things To Make With a Pound of Hamburger.)
The cookbook is sitting under a pile of mail.She will see the phone bill which is due tomorrow.
She will look for the checkbook.The checkbook is in her purse that is being dumped out by her two year old.
She'll smell something funny.She'll change the two year old.While she is changing the two year old the phone will ring. (Of course!)
Her five year old will answer it and hang up.She remembers that she wants to phone a friend to come over for coffee on Friday.
Thinking of coffee will remind her that she was going to have a cup.She will pour herself some.
And chances are,If she has a cup of coffee,Her kids will have eaten the muffin that went with it.

Written by Kathy Fictorie
Based on If You Give a Mouse a Cookie by Laura Numeroff