Happy Birthday, Jesus! Kids Christmas Party Recap!

Last night was our last night of AWANA for our 2013 year!  And all my #KidsMin said a big AMEN!  Don't get me wrong, I absolutely love my AWANA program and all of my sweet kiddos.  It is actually one of the highlights of my week.  However, I am ready for a three week winter break and plan to take full advantage of these free Wednesday nights (I'll be home catching up on laundry)!  

Last night we ended our last AWANA with a bang and I threw my kids a Happy Birthday, Jesus party!  I will say this, I have nothing against Santa, but when I'm at church I want our entire focus to be on celebrating the birth of Jesus who is our Savior.  That's what we did last night.  Our kids came in and I opened us with prayer and then sent my kids to their classrooms for a 20 minute lesson and fun time with their specific teachers.  At 7:00 PM our kids came back into the sanctuary and our party began.  

I read the Christmas story from Luke 2 and then it was time for pizza and Happy Birthday, Jesus cake!  Can you say excited?  I didn't serve pizza last year so the kids were thrilled to discover an extra treat this year!  Afterwards, I read them the story of "The Crippled Lamb" by Max Lucado and on a total whim invited 4 kids up to pray out loud with me as we thanked Jesus for coming to earth to be our Savior.  

I'm telling you, it is out of the mouths of children that I see the glory of God in ways I have never seen before.  By the end of their prayers, I had tears in my eyes and had a hard time finishing my own.  The love of God was so real and so tangible to all of his children that I was overwhelmed with God's goodness.

After our prayers we played one round of "Merry Christmas" bingo so everyone could win a piece of candy and sang a few Christmas carols together.  Despite having the longest and most lingering cold I was able to lead the kids in: We Wish you a Merry Christmas, Silent Night, and Joy to the World.  I will also say, there was nothing quite like hearing 50 little voices sing Silent Night.  Again... tears to my eyes.  

I'm officially ready now for our 3 week break!  

I'll still be blogging throughout our break but you can also follow me on these other networks to keep up:

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