HDC’s ministry is designed to prepare individuals to engage their relational world, their oikos (the Greek word for “household”), with the tremendous news of God’s grace.
"I don’t want to, Daddy.”
“I don’t care what you want, this is what you need to do.”
This is a pretty regular exchange in the Haney home. We prefer to give the kids a voice to air their opinion and desires, but also to let them know that sometimes their opinions and desires are worthless to the situation at hand.
This may sound harsh, but let me provide an example: My 5 year old is extremely strong willed and very athletic; he thinks he’s invincible. While helping me get a ball off the roof, he was getting ready to jump off the top of a ladder. At this point in his life, his desires and opinions don’t line up with reality. His desires and opinions, in this situation, are of little value. In fact they are down right stupid.
Have you ever thought of your relationship to God in this way. Perhaps you don’t understand why He has called you to love your enemy or serve those that you would not normally give a second thought. But, perhaps your desires and opinions do not line up with the reality of being a child of the Kingdom of God.
While we are all growing in our knowledge of God and the work of salvation He accomplished through the death of Jesus, at this point in time we do not fully grasp how powerful His love is, and intern, how powerful our love for others can be as we submit to the Holy Spirit’s work in our lives.
The fact remains that God is Holy. His holiness permeates everything He is, including His knowledge, motivations, grace, love and every other aspect that makes up the perfect character of God.
On the other hand, we are not by nature holy. And our selfishness and sinfulness permeates all of what we are, including our opinions and desires. We must remember that it does not matter what we want, it does not matter what we think. We are not the end all be all, HE is. Sometimes we have to suck it up and say, " Okay, Daddy." And to me, that is humbling and motivating.
Matt Coulombe
AV Worship Minister
Do you want to change?
As much as I want to change my eating and sleeping habits, my attitude towards those around me and my relationships, I am continually faces with a big problem: ME.
It is so easy to want, and so hard to do. Discipline is something that I shy away from; even the sound of the word leaves a sick taste my mouth. But just like the bitter after taste of cough syrup, the resulting effect of good spiritual disciple is good.
The discipline I struggle with the most is prayer. I have an honest desire (at least that’s what I tell myself) to have a vibrant prayer time with our creator, but I never seem to follow through. It is a combination of things that have contributed to my failure in this area, be it time, energy or distractions, it boils down to the fact that I just plain lack discipline.
Intentions are worthless. And productive actions don’t happen by happenstance.
Lord, forgive me for my lack of disciple and my lack of follow through. Forgive me for my selfish use of the time You have given me. Forgive me for giving in to the distractions of TV, leisure and countless other worthless activities that I seem to find time for every day. Please help me to have more discipline and prove that my desires are real, not just intention.
Brian Haney
I’ve always known the best part of my job is getting the opportunity to build community.
It happens when kids make friends with other kids, when volunteers get to know kids, and when volunteers do life with other volunteers.
We’ve seen kids rally support (and make fun cards) for one of their peers in the hospital. We’ve watched as volunteers prepared a week’s worth of meals for another volunteer with health issues. We’ve baked cakes and lit candles to celebrate birthdays and anniversaries. We have hard conversations with kids, and with each other. We open our homes to each other for dinner and parties. We jump in bounce houses and laugh together. We’ve welcomed new people, and said goodbye to some as well. We pray through job changes, illness, messy family lives, loss of loved ones, and anything else life throws at us.
We serve God together. We take a group of complete strangers, and we make it in to something wonderful and fulfilling. We build community.
Serving at church isn’t just about giving your time to keep things afloat around here. We don’t want you to serve and volunteer just because we need you (even though that’s true too!). We don’t just serve because we have to, or because Tom gave a sermon telling us why would should. We serve because it feels good to be in community together, and it’s rewarding to know that we’re making a difference because of it.
The Big Picture Bible Story Book is perfect for parents to read to their younger children, and eventually, for your kids to read on their own. It has lots of great illustrations and is broken down into small chapters. Rather than simply retelling the most familiar short scenes from the Bible, this book presents the "big picture"-the unified story running through the Old and New Testaments. It will help your child learn the Bible's whole story and see how it only makes sense to trust in God's goodness, obey God's word and allow God to be King over their lives.
Written for parents with children of any age, Shepherding a Child's Heart offers perspectives and procedures for shepherding your child's heart into the paths of life. It really gets to the goal of targeting the heart of a child and not merely the external behaviors. The book deals with communication, strategies, discipline and other areas across the spectrum of your kids ages.
There is no such thing as a perfect book (except for the Bible) but both of these books have been well-used in our home. I hope they help yours too!Since we launched the Apple Valley campus this year, I’ve been running the Elementary program here, as well as at the Seven service at our Victorville campus. However, as of last Sunday I’ve officially transitioned entirely to the Apple Valley campus. All of my effort and energy will go in to ministry to A.V. families, kids, and volunteers.
I’ve been excited to make this transition, knowing how wonderful it will be to have more time to focus on Apple Valley. That being said, I was surprised at how tough it has been to leave Seven after almost 2 years serving there. I probably shouldn’t admit this over the World Wide Web, but the first week I announced to the kids I would be leaving, I had to go outside and let a few tears out before coming back in.
I read somewhere the other day that you have to figure out what you’re willing to give up in order to do the things you really care about.
I care about creating an environment where every kid feels like they belong. I care about having the passion and energy to lead a team of volunteers who love God and love kids. I care about seeing kids and volunteers build relationships. I care about spending time with families, and really getting involved. I care about remembering names, and birthdays, and to buy more marbles for the marble shoot game.
Trying to balance all of these things in two locations was difficult. There wasn’t enough time to do it all. Things I loved doing, like baking a homemade birthday cake for every volunteer’s birthday, had to be cut in order to make it work. It took realizing that I could no longer do what I cared about at both campuses in order to feel good about letting go of my role at Seven.
Now that I’ve got one focus—Apple Valley—I can get back to what I really care about. I’m handing over my beloved group of kids and families at Seven to a women named Christine, who will care for that team greatly. Now we’ll both have the time to do what matters, like bring the kids popsicles, remember to celebrate important things, and have time to sit and talk to kids about God.
So think about what that would look like in your life. I encourage you to ask yourself this week: What are YOU are willing to give up in order to do the things you really care about?
Kati Smith
I don’t have much to say today, but what I will say is this:
It’s not about You!
It’s not about Me!
It’s not about what we can get out of it.
It’s not about what it adds to our worth or self-perspective.
It’s not about how you can prove yourself or gain applause.
It’s not about us!
So what is it? You tell me.
And what is it about? You tell Him.
HDC’s ministry is designed to prepare individuals to engage their relational world, their oikos (the Greek word for “household”), with the tremendous news of God’s grace.
HDC’s ministry is designed to prepare individuals to engage their relational world, their oikos (the Greek word for “household”), with the tremendous news of God’s grace.
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