Kids Quest

Apologies and Forgiveness (Humility)

Posted on 08. Feb, 2010 by admin in KQ Blog, Parents

The Bible says, ”

“Pride will destroy a person”

Proverbs 16:18

Did I read that correctly? Destroy? When I think of destruction I think of something like this.

Or this:

That is pretty powerful. For the Bible to say that pride will cause such a crazy reaction is insane. I’m sure you have been hurt at least once in your life by a family member or friend. How did that end up? Do you have friends or people in your life that you no longer speak too. That the first thing you think of when their name comes up is some situation that caused you to get hurt? What do you think would have been different had they apologized? If you say, “not much”, then what would have been different if you had forgiven them? It is interesting that a few words can lead to so much change. What!? You don’t think so. What is the difference between a person who is married and not. Two words. “I do”

Relationships rise and fall on our ability to apologize and forgive. To simply communicate and understand, as people we aren’t perfect, but are still committed. You might be asking what if this person keeps hurting me. At what point do I say enough is enough. Jesus made it SUPER simple. If you are good at math this will be fun. Jesus broke it down with a word problem.

21 Then Peter came to him and asked, “Lord, how often should I forgive someones who sins against me? Seven times?”
22 ”No, not seven times,” Jesus replied, “but seventy times seven

Lets look at that:

7×70=490

Lets say we were to forgive someone 490 times in a day what would that look like a month.

490×30=14,700

Wow, that is a lot of forgiveness in a month. Can you imagine how much forgiveness that would be for a year.

14,700×12=176,400

You would be rich if those were dollars. Just for fun lets see what a lifetime of forgiveness looks like. Mind you this is one person and one situation.

176,400×75=13,230,000

Even if Jesus was being literal, and he wasn’t meaning 490 times a day but overall. That is still a heck of a lot of forgiveness and would probably do as much or more for our perception or understanding of a person and/or situation as it would bring change to it. Anytime you feel the desire to walk away from a situation hurt or from a friend who is hurt, just remember, you have activated an atomic bomb that can and will destroy.

Total Recall

“Pride will destroy a person”

Proverbs 16:18

FUN IDEA FOR THE WEEKEND: Rainbow Pancakes

Posted on 03. Feb, 2010 by admin in KQ Blog, Kid Quest News, Parents

Hey, I was online this morning when I stumbled on this fun idea for breakfast. Rainbow Pancakes. How fun is this that.

I am going to surprise the kids with them this weekend and post the results. Give it a shot and let me know in the comments how it goes. Click through to the site to get the recipe.

Here is quote from the article.

“My kids have never eaten so many pancakes in one sitting before. They were loving it! Seriously… if you want to start out your day with the most gloriously happy children, just try these yummy rainbow pancakes.

I used a version of this recipe, and added food coloring, flax seed, and love.

Don’t forget the love.

Sorry. I couldn’t help myself. I am corny like that.”

Via: iammommy

Can you guess which JoLTer drew this picture of me? (looks just like me)

Posted on 01. Feb, 2010 by admin in Quick Quest Cash Offer

Posted via email from J’s posterous

Dependability: It’s what you do

Posted on 01. Feb, 2010 by admin in Kid Quest News, Parents, This Week

PARENTS

This week I had a chance to really start thinking about dependability and what it means. My main obstacle was not how to get kids to apply the concept to their lives but to actually get them to understand what it means to be dependable. Thankfully I found a picture of a moldy sandwich. I promise, this will make more sense.

TOTAL RECALL

KIDS: Don’t forget to remember this for February 7th.

Don’t just do the minimum to get you by. Do your best.

Colossians 3:22-23

Message

OK, back to the moldy sandwich and how it relates to dependability. To be dependable is to be trustworthy and reliable. It is how your actions shape others perception of you so, it is to say, What you do is how you are known.

We depend on a lot daily, not just people but things. For the adults, some of us depend on our morning cup of coffee, or our car to get us here and there. For kids, we depend on the TV to to work when we watch it, or the playground equipment to stay together when we climb on it. We even depend on out own bodies to work, out heart to pump and out lungs to breath. These are things we don’t usually think about because they just work, everyday, without having to get involved very much.

Your still asking yourself, what about this moldy sandwich. Hold on, I am getting there. In life we also depend on people. Police, Firemen, Pastors, & Parents. All of these people we have learned to trust. Sure there are some bad apples (hmmm, apples, thats not a sandwich but its food. We are starting to bring it around) but between a perfect stranger and one of these people we would choose one of the above in a crisis. They have proven themselves reliable in a moment of need. Now to the sandwich.

When I started looking for a way to illustrate being dependable I found this picture of a moldy sandwich. I thought to myself, “Thats gross, I would never eat that” and that is how an undependable person is thought about. Not that they are gross, but, “Hey, I would never call on that undependable person” That sandwich probably had some delicious ham, lettuce, tomato, mayo, maybe even bacon….mmmm bacon. But due to the condition of the sandwich we can’t see past the mold. The sandwich is still there, but now it is known as a moldy sandwich. Even if we had a magic wand that could make the sandwich edible, would you want to, knowing it was all old and moldy. I wouldn’t, and being undependable is like that.

Application

Lucky for us, we are not moldy sandwiches. We are people, and we can change. Jesus provided us a magic wand that can make us new, both in Spirit and in mind. We can change the way people perceive us by changing the way we think. That can be done by taking time and reading the Bible. In changing our thoughts we change our actions, and when our actions change the course of our lives are changed. In the end we can help change the lives of those around us. You can depend on it.

2 Timothy 3:16-17

16 All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness,

17 so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.

7 Days of Kindness

Posted on 27. Jan, 2010 by admin in Kid Quest News, Parents

The Good Samaritain from J Doss on Vimeo.

The Message

This week we talked about kindness and went over the story of the Good Samaritan. Our goal was not just to teach the kids how to be kind because, quite honestly, The Quest has some of the greatest and kindest kids I know. It was also meant to teach them to be kind on purpose, to look for opportunities to be kind. Much like the story, the religious leader was probably a very kind person…when people were there to see it. The church helper might have been a super kind person, when he was told to do so. But the man from Samaria, who saw an opportunity to give without any recognition or being told to do so gave out of his own pocket. There was no expectation to be paid back or the favor returned. This is who Jesus says our neighbor is.

Application

When we asked the kids, “who is your neighbor, one of the kids responded, “This crazy lady who lives next door to us”. Others responded similarly, but not quite as funny. The kids were asked to put themselves in place of the person needing help. the question was asked again, who is your neighbor. At that point they were able to recognize the Samaritan as a neighbor.
This week the kids have been given a handout to help them be purposeful in the kind choices they make. The instructions are easy.

I know what you are thinking, “if you are teaching to be kind without expecting a reward, why are you offering Quest Cash?”. But the purpose is not expect the kids to live this out perfectly after one Sunday, but to motivate the kids to experience the natural rewards that come with living out a kind lifestyle.