Happy St. Patrick's Day!

On this day where you may have enjoyed some green eggs and ham, some green ketchup at Burger King, a green beverage (like a Shamrcok Shake!), or have taken in some parades or irish dancing, remember that today can be more than just another excuse for the world to eat, drink, and be merry. The man celebrated today (which is widely recognized as the anniversary of his death), Saint Patrick, was a missionary.

There is not much known about Patrick's ministry and there are a lot of unconfirmed legends associated with him, so he is somewhat of a mysterious figure, but from what I have read, he was taken as a slave at around sixteen years old and was a captive for several years before fleeing and returning home in his early to mid-twenties. During his time of captivity, his faith grew. Some of his writings have been recovered, including several letters. It seems that he was known for rebuking his fellow Christians and it is said that he used the shamrock to teach others about the Trinity.

So as we wear our green shirts and see all those shamrocks around us, let them remind us of the life that Jesus' death and resurrection give us and keep us thinking about who God is as we continue to grow in Him each day. Let it also give us a reason to praise God for those who came and went before us who gave their lives to advance His kingdom!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Todd

It’s time to have ‘the talk’ with your kids – the money talk.

I came across this article today and thought it was very useful. It provides helpful guidelines on how to introduce your children to the concepts of Earning, Spending, and Saving wisely. Of course you can add Giving to that as well.

We The Savers: Having the Money Talk with Your Kids (I found the article was slow to load, but it eventually will.)

They include a helpful chart of how to introduce these concepts by age:

• Age 3-5:
• You need money to buy things
• You earn money by working
• You may have to wait before you can buy what you want
• There’s a difference between what you want and what you need
• Age 6-10
• You must make choices about how to spend your money
• You should shop around for the best deal
• It’s dangerous and costly to share too much information online
• Put your money in a bank account to protect it and earn interes
• Age 11-13
• It’s smart to save 10% of what you earn
• Entering credit card or Social Security numbers online puts you at risk of identity theft
• The earlier you save, the more you’ll have in the long run
• A credit card is a loan and you’ll owe more than you spent if you don’t pay your bill in full each month.
• Age 14-18
• College is expensive and you should choose a school and student loans based in part on your career expectations
• You should avoid using credit cards for things you cannot afford in cash
• You pay taxes on your income and should budget for take-home pay, not gross pay
• A great place to save and invest is a Roth IRA
• 18+
• You should never be without health insurance
• You should use a credit card only if you can pay off the balance every month
• You should always diversify your investments and pay attention to the costs associated with various investment products

~Susannah

Lesson Loop 3.8.12

This week in our student ministry:

Third Place: "Students share about missions:"
We had 3 of our students share about how God used them this past year on missions endeavors.
Brendan B. - Habitat for Humanity
Tiffany F. - Missions Trip to Russia (teaching English and sports camp)
Emily B. - Missions trip to Dominican Republic

It was so awesome to hear how God is using our teenagers for His glory around the country and even around the world!

Lucid: "Transforming, not Conforming"
We looked at Romans 12, and we considered how God calls us to be transformed by the renewing of our minds, so that we are not caught up in all the ways that the world thinks. We do this by filling our heads and hearts with the Word of God.
Here are some of the ways that the world thinks about things according to our students: