Rockin' Out for Jesus!

It's hard to even put in to words the love, energy, and innocence felt during our preschool's Children's Chapel. Our monthly worship service was held this morning, allowing our students, families, and staff to share in a wonderful time of worship together... an amazing way to start all of our days!

We started hosting our monthly Children's Chapel this past fall and are coming up on our final Chapel of the school year in May. It's been a year of learning, singing, dancing, praying, and praising God! We don't claim to do everything right and often think of our times together as organized chaos, but to see the light and love in the eyes of these young children it's easy to embrace and fall in love with. When one of our little kindergarteners takes the microphone to open us with prayer, everything else in the world just melts away.

Over the past year, I've been overwhelmed by comments and stories about the impact Children's Chapel has had on our parents and families. I love hearing our students rockin' out to "Walk in the Light of Jesus" or "Jesus You're my Superhero" as they walk out the door at the end of the school day. However, I didn't realize the impact a Chapel designed for children would make on the adults as well. When one man told me that his time worshipping with us had led he and his wife back to church after not attending for over 10 years, it was hard (for both of us) to stop the tears of joy from welling in our eyes.

I am humbled to be involved in such a positive ministry and have the opportunity to work with and for such incredible people. If you haven't had the opportunity to join us for Children's Chapel, I would encourage you to make time to worship with us on Friday, May 14th. The service will run from 9:15 - 9:40am at the Sunrise Early Childhood Center at 7551 Oaklandon Rd. Come ready to laugh, sing, and dance along with our ECC family as we rock out for Jesus!

Photos & Facebook

One of the Sunrise Early Childhood Center's new years resolutions is to take advantage of more of the great technology that exists in our world today. Last year we launched a school website (www.sunriseecc.org), which was definitely a much needed starting point! If you are reading this post, you should also be aware that we have a blog (sunriseecc.blogspot.com) that I'm planning to utilize a little more frequently than my two posts in 2009. :)

Our newest accomplishment is the creation of a Sunrise ECC Facebook Group. Simply send a facebook request to be added to our group and you'll be able to access all of the latest information on our classes, activities, field trips, and much more! I just finished posting over 30 photos from Jesus' Birthday Party and December's Childrens Chapel, as well as some great pictures of our Kindergarteners playing in the snow! You can check out several of these images in the photo gallery on our website too!

I hope our electronic leap into 2010 turns out to be beneficial for someone out there, even if it is to just be able to show grandma how cute the kids look in their antler headbands and red rudolph noses!

Winter Wonderland

One of the many blessings of working with preschool students is watching them LOVE things that we, as adults, have grown to HATE. Take, for example, the blanket of snow that currently covers our city and seems to be getting thicker by the minute. As adults, we complain about the terrible drivers, the hassles of school delays or closings, how cold our feet are, how wet the floors get, the need for summer to get here quicker, and how this snow just doesn't fit in to our hectic schedules. For many of us, snow has turned into something we could absolutely do without.

This morning at the preschool, we declared an official "Red Flag Day." Instead of having parents (and often times little siblings) walk the students to the classrooms, on Red Flag Days the teachers meet parents at their cars and deliver the students to their classrooms for them. This allows the parents and whatever little ones came along for the ride to stay in their warm cars and not have to fight the crazy, snowy parking lot.

As the flurries poured down, cars began pulling up in front of the school. Bundled in our coats and gloves we started holding little hands, carrying miniature backpacks, and bringing each student through the school doors. As I carried my first little one across the snowy sidewalk, I could tell that she thought that snow was definitely NOT something she could do without. Her eyes followed the flakes as they fell from the sky, while her tongue stuck straight out of her mouth trying to catch as many snowflakes as possible during the short trip. My second little package was just as mesmerized and much more chatty! He told me about the snowman he wanted to make and how much he loved playing in the snow. As I helped him take off his boots and change into his little sneakers, he told me just how fun school had been so far... and school hadn't even started yet!

How often to do we as adults look at amazing wonders (like 7 inches of snow!) and miss the beauty? Do we miss out on cherishing the opportunity to slow down, build a snowman with the kids, and bundle up together inside, because we are too busy being frustrated or inconvenienced? Are there things in your life that you could benefit from embracing with the innocence of my little friends at Sunrise? I will definitely admit that my socks are soaked, my To Do is not empty, and my car is simply a white bump in our parking lot... but I wouldn't change any of it, if I had to give up the time I shared with the little ones during Red Flag Day.

Discovering Summer

A couple weeks ago I asked a high school friend of mine to visit our school during our Discovery Days summer program. She's an aspiring photographer and we needed photographs for our website, so it seemed like a good fit! Courtney spent the afternoon with us and left with some great images of the kids. A few of them are displayed above, however I've posted several of the best here in our website photo gallery. Enjoy!

With this being my first summer at Sunrise, it's been a fun experience to be a part of the Discovery Days program. In previous summers the school offered a similar program, Summer Fun Days. This year we added themes to each day, which definitely got our teachers' creative juices flowing. This summer the kids have been on treasure hunts, created beautiful artwork, eaten fruit kabobs, and listened to some amazing stories! I've personally enjoyed watching the acrobatics on the zipline out my office window and hearing the laughter from little ones as they dance through the sprinkler and splash in the water outside!

I would encourage you to spend some time in this beautiful weather before it disappears. The deadlines, phone calls, and bills will be there when you get back. When was the last time you ran through a sprinkler with your kids, took a walk with your husband, or just laid in your yard and watched the clouds go by? I'm guessing it's still just as fun as it was when we were kids... maybe more!

laughter, friends, and faith

Wow! What a year this has been! Only 10 short months ago, I started as the new Director of the Sunrise Early Childhood Center. My first official day was September 2nd, which was also the first day of our new school year. Talk about jumping right in with both feet! Fortunately the teachers, staff, parents, and kids were amazing and made me feel right at home in my new role.

Throughout the last year, I've had the opportunity to see and be involved with some pretty cool things... which brings me to why I've decided to start a blog. There is just too much happening here at Sunrise to keep to myself. The children teach me something new every day and have opened my eyes to things that I never would have seen for myself.

I encourage you to check back here often, comment frequently, and ask any question that might come to mind. My plan is to share stories, pictures, thoughts, and ramblings... however I've learned that "plans" are made to be changed and often turn out much better if you just let things happen. I invite you to join me on this journey of laughter, friends, and faith. I promise you won't be disappointed!