Peter Witkowski Discipleship

Thanksgiving Every Day

thanksgiving blogSometimes it was painfully awkward; sometimes it was refreshing, and sometimes it was just a touch weird.  Yet, we did it. Each Thanksgiving after the pumpkin pie had been put away, all five of us Witkowski kids would go around the table and list the one thing we were thankful for. (The first kid always had it easy. “I’m thankful for my awesome family.” Shocker, right?) Though I wasn’t always a fan of the tradition as a kid, I’ve come to realize that we need to regularly thank our creator. And our thankfulness needs to go beyond a material goods. We need to realize that God’s favor is not tied to stuff, health, or human relationships.

This is hard for us to grasp. From the time we start praying, we tend to focus on stuff. Think about how most young kids pray. “God, thank you for mommy, thank you for our dog Calvin, and thank you for my toy helicopter Aunt sally sent me.” Our thankfulness is often determined by what God has done for us lately.

But God’s definition of love is not tied to today’s stuff; its tied to him. We read in Romans 5:8 that, “God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” The best thing Christ has done for you and me is to bring us to God. Our relationship with him is the source of joy, life, and peace. Regardless of what we and our kids have experienced this year, we can be thankful. We can praise Jesus even if we have lost our mom, buried the family dog, and totaled our car because none of those things can separate us from the love of God! Our thankfulness is tied to cross. Let’s start abounding with it 365 days a year!

Does your family have a Thanksgiving Day traditions? I would love to hear about them!

 

 

 

photo credit: <a href=”http://www.flickr.com/photos/61525950@N02/10874493605″>Pillsbury Thanksgiving Table2</a> via <a href=”http://photopin.com”>photopin</a&gt; <a href=”https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.0/”>(license)</a&gt;

Peter Witkowski Vacation Bible School

VBS 2015: Everything You Need to Know

VBS BLog PhotoIn a few weeks, we will be journeying off the map with Lifeway’s VBS!  I am super excited about this year’s VBS! The lime green shirts will be looking cool, the music will be rock’n, and our kids are going to be making some awesome memories! And honestly, the only thing better than the activities will be the teaching! Each day as our kids’ journey off the map, they will encounter the gospel. As they study Daniel and a bunch of other stories, our kids will see that God doesn’t want them just be good citizens. They will leave knowing that they need to repent and embrace Christ as their God. I can’t wait see how God will use us via His Word to save the lost!

                As you continue to get pumped for VBS and start registering your kids at fbceastman.com, I want to keep you up-to-date on all of the latest changes:

What’s New 

  1. We switched back to Lifeway. Although I still think, Answers in Genesis produces a great VBS curriculum, I believe Lifeway is now even better.  Motto_2For more on the benefits of using Journey off the Map see Above.
  2. We will be starting 30 minutes later this year! VBS will begin at 6:30 PM.
  3. We are replacing meals with snacks to maximize our teaching time.
  4. Preschoolers will not go to the worship rally. To minimize chaos and to create a great welcoming space, all kids Age 4 and under will be dropped off and picked up in their CMC classrooms.
  5. All preregistered kindergarteners -8th graders can be dropped off in the sanctuary. All unregistered students will register at the tables around the fellowship hall. All kids will be picked up from their CMC classrooms (Tangled Branch Tree Houses).
  6. Parents must have their parent card (You’ll get your card when you drop off your child) to pick up a child. If you lose your parent card, go to the CMC welcome desk! I hope you and your family plan to journey off the map with us!
  7. To serve in VBS, you must be at least 16 years of age and been a church member for 6 month. If you want an official invitation to serve, this is it! We want you own our VBS team! We will have a leadership meeting on Sunday June 14 at 4:30 PM! See you there!
  8. We will end our Friday Night VBS Celebration with a meal! Immediately following the closing ceremony all kids and their parents are invited to eat dinner in the FBCE fellowship hall!

I truly believe VBS 2015 is going to be amazing!

Pray

tracksPlease join in praying for our VBS leaders and our students. Pray for God to give life to the spiritual dead. Pray for safety. And pray that no one and nothing will hinder the proclamation of the gospel!  It’s time to get excited about VBS 2015! It’s time to see God work!

How about you? Are you excited about VBS? What’s your best VBS memory as either a kid or a teacher?

Peter Witkowski Parenting

Rest for a Crazy World

Rest For a Crazy World

Life can be nuts. It seems at times, all we do is sleep, eat, work, hold a baby and then sleep again. Our life can be a constant whirlwind of obligations, short rest, and clothes tarnished with white spit up. And this is before you count up the stresses of your job, the critical comments of well-meaning people, the social crises of our day, and the occasional cold for good measure. And as we fall asleep to begin again, we can’t help and wonder if we read too little, done too much, or been too laidback. Wew!

Quite naturally, we all long for rest, a true rest from this world of constant motion stained with sorrow and confusion. Knowing our limitations, God has graciously given us sleep and a day of Sabbath rest. But there is a very real sense in which we will not be fully rested until the glorious return of Christ. We long for it but do not have it as we read in Hebrews 4.

But as we wait for that blessed day of perfect rest, we are not left without resource. And, I am not talking about our beds on a Sunday afternoon or about reading the latest time management book (I am growing fan of both things.). Real rest and the comfort of true wisdom are found in the throne room of Christ.  When we take to our knees in prayer and humbly trust upon the Lord, we will find peace regardless of the day or of our struggles. As the Psalmist says, “Be still and know that I am God” (Psalm 46). The moment we cast our cares upon the Lord and realize that he gives life, causes wars to cease, and brings healing to the sick, we will watch our world decelerate into a spiritual calm.  The best way to find rest in our crazy world is to prayerfully confess with faith that, “The Lord of hosts is with us;/ the God of Jacob is our fortress.”

Every joy or trial falleth from above,
Traced upon our dial by the Sun of Love;
We may trust Him fully all for us to do.
They who trust Him wholly find Him wholly true 

(Frances R. Havergal)