The Orchard Blog

Say “Thank You” today.

When we say “thank you,” we are thinking about what we have rather than what we don’t have. We think about positive things, rather than past hurts or present stresses. And when we are grateful, we attract friends and are likely to have more good things come our way!!

Here are some ideas:

1. When you wake up, thank God for the day. (I like to quote Psalm 118:24, “This is the day the LORD has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.”)
2. Before you go to bed, reflect on what you have to be thankful for.
3. Say thank you to people WHENEVER you can!
4. Stop right now and jot down 3 names of people you would like to thank. Call them or write them a quick thank you note.

I received a thank you note from a friend this week and it MADE MY DAY!!!

Thank you to those who thank others!

Posted by Kathryn Egly

If you are a typical family, you are BUSY! But here are some fun and inexpensive ways to make the most of your weekends with the kids.

• A picnic at a nearby park
• An afternoon at the local library
• An hour in the back yard discovering the different kinds of plants, rocks, and insects
• A trip to a nearby, yet unfamiliar, neighborhood or town
• A visit to an ethnic grocery store to try unfamiliar food
• Travel to a nearby farm to discover how food is grown
• An afternoon at a museum

Be creative in planning trips, and let every family member plan at least one.

Follow up with mealtime conversations about the places visited and brainstorming future day-trips. These will be days your children will remember for a long time!

Posted by Kathryn Egly

If you are like me, you want to know what a movie or CD will be like before you throw down your hard-earned cash!

Plugged-in online is a website (by Focus on the Family) that gives reviews on television shows, movies, and CDs.

So, if you child is asking for Nick Lachey’s new CD, “What’s Left of me?” and you don’t know what kind of message it’s going to relay…go to http://www.pluggedinonline.com and you’ll get a well-rounded review! You’ll also find a great review on the new movie, “Everyone’s Hero.”

Here it is folks…  Student Missions Trip Video!

Click the image below to view!

(Quicktime movie file.  Need Quicktime?  Click here for free download.)

I watched the Veggie Tales episode on Saturday morning (10 am) and thought it was great!! Bob and Larry have a new theme song for their TV show. All the characters know they’re on “TV” and they TRY to make a great impression :). The show starts at Bob’s house and he reads a letter that is sent to him from a child. The letter is about a problem the child is facing.

Bob and Larry then act out a witty and VERY entertaining story that helps the child know how to deal with the problem.

If you, or your children, watch Saturday morning cartoons…I would highly recommend that you “toon” in to NBC on Saturday mornings at 10 am!! (Or 11 am for 321 Penguins)

If you would like to find out what the creator of Veggie Tales is up to, or how Veggie Tales got to be on NBC TV, go to Phil Vischer’s blog http://www.philvischer.com.

Posted by Kathryn Egly

We are so excited to launch our Orchard Kids Small Groups this Sunday!!! We have an amazing group of small group leaders who are eager to meet the kids that they will be investing into over the next nine months!

The small groups will become an integral part of our weekly worship experience in Wahabu Land (grades 1-6).

Here’s a little info on how they’ll work:

Each service will begin with exciting and upbeat music and a kid-friendly, life-challenging message from God’s Word. Then, during the last twenty minutes, the kids will break up into their small groups.

During their small group time, the children will be buiding relationships with their small group leaders and other kids their age as well as taking steps to apply each week’s message to their daily lives.

In case you can’t tell, we can’t wait to get started! We look forward to watching what God is going to do in the lives of our Orchard Kids throughout the coming year!

See you – and your kids – this weekend!
Posted by Kathryn Egly, Children’s Director

It’s 12:43AM and I am WIDE awake! Not sure if it’s because of the fabulous double mocha I had at The Orchard’s own COMMON GROUNDS coffeebar earlier tonight OR… that I’m just jazzed about our First Wednesday gathering we had tonight!

WOW, what a night!!!

Great, great time of worship and communion. PLUS, it was really cool watching the video and hearing from our students about their recent missions trip to Tennessee. (There are some GREAT things happening in our Student Ministry right now… Kudos to the Garda’s & their awesome team of leaders…!!)

Such a spiritually refreshing night…

And now – for those of you who gave into the “temptation” to miss last weekend’s services at The Orchard, here’s the video you missed. 🙂

(Click the image below to view):

(After clicking, let it load…it might take a while!)