BARF Night (aka Bring A Real Friend)
This week’s theme was BARF Night. This means that our AWANA kids can bring a real friend to enjoy all the AWANA fun! There were so many friends here of all ages and sizes! They got the true AWANA welcome when they played games, heard the message about a greater reward and learned some verses!
See all of the “Friends”
Game Time (Outside)
Each week our kids break into color groups to play games. Through the whole night kids are earning points for good attitudes, learning verses, wearing their uniforms, coming on Sundays etc. At the end of each AWANA Wednesday the color teams can win 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th place!
Take moment to congratulate the COLOR Winner this week: YELLOW TEAM
Table Time (Inside)
For table time our students are either a Hiker (K-1) or Climber (2-3). During this time clubbers get to practice and learn the verses from the bible and spend some time with their leaders. This is also the time they have a snack and for this year they get candy (this year’s theme). The clubbers truly enjoy this time build relationships! This week was particularly unique as we had all our BARF friends there.
A Better Reward
During Counsel Time, Ms. Betsy started by giving an “Awana shout out” to all our friends that came for BARF night. We had 30 new friends at Awana this week – so awesome! We went over the Awana Rules as well as reviewed what Awana stands for. In line with our candy theme this session, the clubbers picked up very quickly (based on the fact that they munched on jolly ranchers at their tables) that this week’s candy was….HARD CANDY! Ms. Betsy had the clubbers identify if they are one to “savor” their hard candy or “crunch” their hard candy. We definitely have more savorers than crunchers. We talked about how we have to be patient when eating hard candies because we have to suck on them long enough for them to get smaller so we can swallow them safely. This transitioned us into a discussion about patience and waiting. We talked about “good” things that we wait for (Christmas morning, vacation, dessert) and other things that are not so fun to wait for (shots at the doctor, the dentist, a punishment). Being patient also manifests in our relationships; if someone is bothering us or frustrating us, we have to to learn to be calm and kind rather than getting angry or annoyed. Regardless, waiting and being patient is hard but Ms. Betsy emphasized that it’s important to learn how to be patient to live a happy, healthy life.
Ms. Betsy talked about how sometimes things happen in our life that we don’t understand or not according to our timing or plan. She shared how, in these times, it’s important to remember how much God loves us and that he has a plan for each and every one of us. His timing is always best; if we trust him, things will always turn out better than if we take things into our own hands.
We watched a video that showed 36 different kids with a choice; they were given a chocolate chip and a big box with a bow on it. They were told that they could eat the chocolate chip whenever they wanted – BUT if they waited 5 minutes, they could have what was in the box. It was really cute watching the kids while they waited and how they contemplated whether or not to eat the chocolate chip! Believe it or not, 32 out of the 36 kids did NOT eat the chocolate chip but instead waited to open the box – which had a giant cupcake in it! The smiles on their faces was priceless! This video showed us not only how hard it is to wait but reflected that there is a greater reward if we wait on God and trust Him.
Reminders for Next Week….
- Sunday 10/1 – Uniform Sunday – Don’t forget to wear your uniform and bring your book/bag on Sunday!
- Wednesday 10/4 – It’s TEAM COLOR Night! – Next Wednesday, be creative and crazy dressing in your team’s color!
Have a great weekend!
The AWANA Team
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