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No one can expect a group of 20 3-4 year olds to sit still for a 20 minute music class. Nor should they! My music classes are about fun with music. Love me or leave me, that’s just how we roll.

I totally love incorporating literature into my preschool and elementary music classroom. Therefore, the more I became familiar with the litary work of music educator Sharon Burch, the more I knew I wanted Freddie the Frog in my classroom!

Summer is fleeting and the school year is on the horizon. I must have blinked. I have loved every second of pretending to be a SAH mom this summer. Yet, I sat down to begin lesson planning and an all familiar excitement filled me.

Now your student can train their voice at home, or on-the-go! This collection of vocal warm ups is similar to what is done in my weekly lessons and can be used for students of all ages.

I use Faber and Faber piano literature. Check back soon to buy all your child’s piano books from my website!

I came across this excellent video today via Lifeway Kids. We don’t have a long time to do what Proverbs 22:6 says and train up our children the way they should go. I hope this video encourages you to spend a little more time with your kids this week teaching them about the love of God!

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In school, we all learned best when we had an understanding of “why” or “how” what was being taught directly influenced our lives. We are all guilty of using the expression, “I will never use this” while in Pre-Calculus or Chemistry. So, why then, do parents and teachers respond to children with “…Because I said so” when requesting obedience? They want practical application just like we do.

Don’t misunderstand, I am a HUGE advocate for “first time obedience.” I believe far too many parents let their children get by with repeat offenses. What I want to purpose is that instead of fighting the fight, explain to your children a Biblical truth each time a feud arises. This will turn your “Because I said so” into “Because God says so.” God is perfect at what He does, and I am less than perfect at what I do, so I personally would rather pass it on up!

Here are some key verses for correcting your children: 

When they really don't want to brush their teeth: "Do everything without complaining or arguing." - Philippians 2:14

When saying "no" to their BFF spending the night on a school night: "Honor your father and mother."- Matthew 19:19

When fighting over the favorite video game controller: "Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honor one another above yourselves." - Romans 12:10

When you find the toys stuffed under the bed, instead of put up where they belong: "Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right." - Ephesians 6:1

When you hear what sounds like a smack down coming from upstairs: "I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me."- Matthew 25:40

And always remind them that we do not disobey because we love God: "Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength."- Deuteronomy 6:5

May the Force be with you!

Praying is one of the easiest ways to incorporate Scripture into your family's lifestyle. When you pray scripture with your kids, they will not only be learning the Word of God, but they will also be learning how applicable it is in every situation. Using scripture when  praying will also help you as a parent grow in your knowledge of the Holy Word of God. And parents, it is okay if you don't have the scriptures memorized. Nothing bad could come from your child seeing his or her parent with their Bible open praying scripture out loud. I have provided some example verses. I pray they will help as you take on the Biblical responsibility of drawing your family closer to the Lord Most High.

1.Use a scripture passage of thankfulness in the mornings before breakfast. "Oh give thanks to the Lord, for He is good, his steadfast love endures forever." Psalm 107:1 "Enter His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise. Give thanks to Him; bless His name."  Psalm 100:4 "This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it." Psalm 118:24

2. Stick a note in your kid's (or spouse's!) lunch box with a scripture of encouragement. "Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified of them, for the Lord your God goes with you; He will never leave you nor forsake you." Deuteronomy 31:6 "No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it." 1 Corinthians 10:13 "Cast your cares on the Lord and he will sustain you; he will never let the righteous be shaken." Psalm 55:22

3.Ask the Lord for guidance when praying as a family at the dinner table.  "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him and He will make your paths straight." Proverbs 3:5-6 “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you …” Mathew 7:7 "Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path." Psalm 119:105

4. Pray a scripture of protection over each of your children (and your spouse!) before they go to sleep. "But the Lord is faithful. He will establish you and guard you against the evil one." 2 Thessalonians 3:3 "Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom." Luke 12:32 "God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble." Psalm 46:1

Come, Thou long expected Jesus, Born to set Thy people free; From our fears and sins release us; Let us find our rest in Thee. Israel's strength and consolation, Hope of all the earth Thou art; Dear desire of every nation, Joy of every longing heart.

Born Thy people to deliver, Born a child, and yet a King, Born to reign in us forever, Now Thy gracious kingdom bring. By Thine own eternal Spirit Rule in all our hears alone; By Thine all sufficient merit, Raise us to Thy glorious throne.

 "He who testifies to these things says, "Yes, I am coming soon." Amen. Come, Lord Jesus." Revelation 22:20

It’s true! The Smith household is experiencing growing pains! Okay, at this point it is more like experiencing morning sickness, but nevertheless, we are going to be blessed. Very blessed. Our plan said “no baby for at least 3 more years”. However, God had a different plan and we are okay with that. I am just about 9 weeks pregnant, which means our baby should arrive around July 7, 2013!

I wanted to find the perfect way to tell Chance that we were going to have a baby. I don’t know if this was the perfect way, but it was pretty cute. Being Dave Ramsey fans, we are very big on saving. So I bought the cutest little Precious Moments piggy bank and put a note on the top that read, “Our Baby’s College Fund. Only 18 years and 9 months to save!” And I guess you could say he was very surprised. So surprised he didn’t sleep for weeks. We were both more petrified than we were excited. But yesterday, our feelings changed.

Yesterday, we saw our sweet baby. We didn’t just see him/her, we heard the heart beat. The very strong heartbeat! While there is still fear, we were both overcome with excitement at that sweet moment. I cannot even comprehend what it will be like to hold that baby in our arms. We ask for your prayers as we continue on this incredible journey.

"Children are a gift from the Lord; they are a reward from Him." - Psalm 127:3

When you work with kids, I think every season is your busy season! Last summer I remember thinking, “It will be so nice when all of the kids get back in school and we can really begin a consistent schedule.” What was I smoking? I might as well start planning the Fall Festival the week after Vacation Bible School because, in reality, it will be here in the blink of an eye. However, in saying all of that, I have the best job in the world. I wouldn’t have it any other way. The only downside is that unless I go eat lunch with the kids at school, I only get to be with them on Sundays and Wednesdays. I just love those kids. They stole my heart the first week I was here. And I don’t ever want them to give it back.

I thought I would give you an overview of some of what has been going on in the Children’s Ministry at FBC Henderson.

1. We successfully renamed the Children’s Ministry ”JumpStart”. Our key verse is Acts 1:8 which says,”You will receive POWER when the Holy Spirit comes on you.” Power…JumpStart….Get it?

2. I have painted the hallway and 3 out of 8 classrooms in the Children’s Wing. Having done all of the painting by myself, I have had a little painting burnout, so unless someone wants to come help or I get a sudden bust of motivation to paint, the rest of the classrooms are stuck with their boring colors at least until after Christmas.

3. In August we kicked off our new curriculum, “The Gospel Project for Kids!” and I LOVE this curriculum. And even more importantly, they kids love it too. We are working our way from Genesis to Revelation and connecting each story with the ultimate Story of Christ redeeming us!

4. The last Wednesday in August we had 9 of our kids baptized! We went out to Chickasaw for a special baptismal service in the lake. When I suggested this, I had never been to Chickasaw and didn’t know quite how brown the water was. Ick! I told the kids they were just getting the real “Galilee experience.” They seemed okay with that.

5. September was not quite so filled up. We had See You At The Pole. Next year I am going to help in making the SYATP at our Middle School really great!

6. October was CRAZY. The kids all had Fall Break for a week. Then we had a going-away party for one of my favorite 4th graders ever. Then we had an awesome “Cotton Ride” (its like a hayride, but you sit on piles of cotton instead). Then, on Halloween we had the church’s annual “Fall Festival.” We had over 1000 people come through our church that night. The best part is that each of them were shown and told how much Jesus loves them. I have always been an anti-Halloween person and really struggled with the thought of “celebrating” Halloween. But, through a lot of prayer, I was shown that we were not “celebrating” Halloween, we were just using Halloween night as a way to make contact with  many families who need to be in church. After all, what could make the devil madder than using his holiday to tell people about Jesus and try to get them involved in a local church?! Church-1 Devil-0.

On a personal note, Joyful Noise lessons are coming to a close next week with the recital on Nov. 16th. It has been a fun semester and I have really enjoyed getting to know my new students! I am looking forward to the holiday break, but will be accepting new students in January! If your child is interested in either private piano or voice lessons, go to the Joyful Noise tab at the top and fill out the registration form!

Blessings, Molly

The ladies of FBC Henderson are getting together every Sunday night to learn amazing lessons and experience lots of laughter! We are studying Lysa Terkeurst’s Made to Crave. All I can say is “WOW!” This study is phenomenal. It is so eye opening how Christians view being over weight as something acceptable when it is not! Is it extremely hard to get away from eating food that is harmful to your body? Yes! Is sin ever an easy cycle to break? No! We are learning how we were made to crave something . . . and that something is God. Lysa’s book is packed with scriptures to help you combat temptation and make you feel empowered.

If you are a Jesus girl and want to experience true freedom both spiritually and physically, check out this book! It will chance your life!

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*Click on the picture to purchase*

Blessings, Molly

Yesterday was "one of those days." In reality, all I wanted to do was curl up in my bed, drink a cup of hazelnut coffee, and be left alone. If you know me, being left alone is not typical of my personality. I like being with people . . . 99% of the time. Recently I have been struggling with an old friendship that quite frankly, might be broken forever. My friend is living far out of the will of God. I was feeling the burden of this friend so greatly that I felt myself slipping into a deep state of depression. However, God helped me get ready for work. But, as soon as I could shut my office door, I just cried at my desk. My heart hurt.

I spent a lot of my morning in the Word of God. I strongly believe that church workers are at the deepest risk of spirituality starvation. We pour, pour, pour into others. If we are not diligent about letting God pour into us, then our well will dry up in the blink of an eye.

I am working through a couple of Bible study books right now. My choice yesterday was Captivating by John and Stasi Eldredge. To be specific, I was watching the videos sessions that Stasi created to go along with the book. In the session God lead me to yesterday, different women were talking about experiences they had with God. They all had basically asked this question, "God, what do you think of me?" Their stories were absolutely beautiful.

After the video was over, I asked God the same question, "What do you think of me?" The answer was not what I was expecting. He said to me, "Right now, I think you are trying to find your satisfaction in everything else but ME. Only in me will you find true satisfaction. You won't find it in any earthly relationship. You think you will feel satisfied if your friend decides to talk to you again. You think that by this friend hearing what you have to say, you will feel better. You just need to cast this care to me, daughter. I care for you. I will fulfill you. Right now, you need to just focus on our fellowship."

All I could do was exhale. God is my COMFORTER. He SATISFIES me. He CARES for me. He is my REFUGE. How wonderful a thought is it that God knows our hearts. He knows what burdens us and what anxiety we are feeling. He knows all of it. All we have to do is give it all to Him. Let Him take control. Let Him be our All-In-All.

Blessings, Molly

As some of you know, I have taught piano and voice lessons for 4 years through Englewood Baptist Church. Since my career has moved my husband and I to Henderson,TN  I have been toying with exactly what to do with music lessons. I have decided that I simply cannot give up teaching those sweet fingers how to play the piano and those voices how to sing. This is why I am launching my own personal music studio entitled, “Joyful Noise!” Psalm 98:4 says, “Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth, burst into jubilant song with music.” I pray that the truth in title of this studio, the studio verse, and the studio mission statement may be fulfilled in each and every lesson.

Joyful Noise Mission Statement:

The mission of Joyful Noise is to lovingly instruct young students the art of excellence in music. It is designed to teach each student how to experience self-discipline through the act of both piano and vocal instruction, practice, and performance. Piano literature will be selected to increase the student's ability to play on the piano, knowledge of music theory (as pertains to the student's level of skill), and performance ability. Vocal exercises and literature will be selected to increase the student's ability to create supported, clear, and appropriate vocal production.

The first semester of Joyful Noise will begin the week of August 13. Lessons times are flexible to fit with the busy schedule families possess. See the Joyful Noise page at the top of this website to register your student, for payment information, and to place orders for music instruction literature. For more information, please feel free to contact me via my contact page.

Blessings,

Molly

Serving as a new Children’s Director brings so much excitement. But with that excitement comes a plethora of challenges. How did the last director lead? Should I try to lead in the same way . . . or are the families wanting/needing something different? Do I throw away the thousands of 10 year left-over arts and crafts supplies or keep them for that one day they might be needed? I’m not so sure if it was a good idea to give that child sugar . . .

"Their teachers were considered model in every way. Each class was a study in the art of discipline. Yet these students grew into lethargic adulthood. Now they sit in serene Sunday repose week after dreary week. These adults are doing what they were compelled to do as children. They sit quietly doing nothing for God they have been trained in the way they should not go, and now they are old and will not depart from it."

My husband and I have been convicted of the sin of gossip. We have listened to Dave Ramsey speak on it in his book EntreLeadership and we caught his passion for how destructive gossip can be. He and I have set a rule in our home that if one of us begins to gossip, we have the responsibility to stop the other one. We will call each other out if we even feel like our conversation is heading in that direction.  A few years ago the Lord spoke to me and I felt it down to the core of my being. He said to me, “Girl, you want me to use you? Then you better get a hold of your mouth!” He has brought that truth back to me over the past few years. I have experienced embarrassing and uncomfortable situations simply because I couldn’t keep my mouth shut. I have seen and experienced the destruction of gossip for both the gossip-er and the gossip-ie.  I believe that the devil knows exactly how to tempt and destroy the church. Most of us are not tempted to experiment with drugs, we have no desire commit a murder or mess around in the area of serious alcohol addiction. However, he KNOWS we are easy to get on the gossip-train and ride it day in and day out. I mean, come on, you know that lady had a crazy outfit on Sunday. And did you SEE the way that he spoke to his wife?  My kid came home and told me that her kid plays video games 7 hours a day. Can you believe a parent would let her child do that? That would never happen in our house.  You see how easy it is? It is so easy, I was convicted by merely typing the examples. In the very short time I have held a particular position of leadership, gossip has already come around to hurt my soul and effect my worship. Luke 16:10 says, “Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much.” How then can we expect God to bless our families, ministries, personal lives, place of business, classroom, if we can not learn to keep our mouths shut. If we talk about other teachers, workers, or peers, behind their backs how can we ever expect God to give us more friends, more students to minister to, or more good opportunities. We have to be faithful with what he has given us. Gossip is a prime example of how to destroy the church’s faithfulness to Christ.   Dave Ramsey says, “Negatives go up; Positives go around.” To put it simply, if there is an issue, take it to someone who can take care of the problem. If there is something positive to say such as, “I was really impressed with how she handled all 20 kids by herself Sunday morning,” tell it to whoever you want! In the Children’s Ministry at First Baptist Church, I am striving to have an Open-Door Policy. This means that any time there is a situation within the ministry that is problematic, whether that be a teacher not appropriately teaching the lesson, a child who is causing serious issues, or you feel that I personally am not fulfilling my responsibilities, my door is open. I am in the office every week and my cell phone is always available for a phone call. Our talks are and will be completely confidential. Talking about an issue among the body of believers will hold no benefit. I strongly encourage you in the Lord to refrain from gossip. When you gossip you are destroying the church- the very thing that Christ died to save.  Blessings from  Him to you.   <iframe style="height: 240px; width: 120px;" src="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?lt1=_blank&bc1=000000&IS2=1&bg1=FFFFFF&fc1=000000&lc1=0000FF&t=molsmi04-20&o=1&p=8&l=as4&m=amazon&f=ifr&ref=ss_til&asins=1451617852" frameborder="0" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" scrolling="no" width="320" height="240"></iframe>

It seems like every lesson I study, every podcast I listen to, and every book I read lately emphasizes the importance of prayer. I have felt conviction for some time now that my prayer life was not what it could or should be. I will simply think to  myself, “I’ll pray more tomorrow,” but tomorrow comes and the cycle continues. I am doing a personal Bible study on Beth Moore’s A Woman’s Heart, God’s Dwelling Place. I just listened to Session 2, CD 3 when she discusses how in Exodus 16 God instructs the Israelites to go get their manna each morning. He supplied their needs each morning, but they had to go get it from Him. This is where I can’t hide from this truth any longer: If I do not go get my daily manna from Him, my ministry, my marriage, and my life as a whole will not fulfill all that God has planned. 
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</div><div>So today after I had my morning coffee with God and Beth, I went on a prayer walk. I prayed out loud in each Sunday School classroom that holds children every week. It felt awkward at first, and I’m pretty sure the man who was cleaning the floors probably wondered about the crazy lady talking to herself, but I did it anyway. The more I prayed out loud, the more comfortable it became. I ended in the church Prayer Room where I knelt to pray for my husband, my marriage, my ministry, and specific people God has placed on my heart. </div><div>
</div><div>If we want to see the Lord move in mighty ways, we have to ASK Him to do so. If you are involved in the Children’s Ministry at FBC Henderson or anywhere else, I encourage you to come to the classroom where you teach, lay hands on the coat racks that will hold sweet little coats and on the crayons that will be held by the most precious of hands. Pray over these rooms. Pray that God will give each child who comes through the doors the joy of His salvation. </div><div>
</div><div>Blessings from Him to you, </div><div>Mrs. Molly



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<div>Work books, Leader Guides, and Audio CDs are available by clicking on this picture to your left. </div></div>

 For any children’s ministry to be successful, it  needs volunteers . . . and lots of them! I have only been at First Baptist Henderson for a few weeks now and already I have been on my knees thanking God for the parent volunteers he has placed in this ministry. It is this fine group of people that kept the Children’s Ministry afloat until they found a Children’s Director and between the time that I was voted on and able to start full-time. 


For this reason, the Children’s Ministry of First Baptist Church Henderson would like to invite all volunteers in Children’s Sunday School, Children’s Church, Team Kid, Children’s Choir, Vacation Bible School, and Nursery to an Appreciation Dessert Night. It will take place on Monday night July 2 at 7PM in the CLC. Bring nothing but yourself! All desserts will be provided for you as a small token of our deep appreciation for you. 


Please RSVP by calling me at 731-989-2626, emailing me at [email protected], or commenting below. 


Blessings to you. 

<div dir="ltr" style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;">Psalm 119:105 says, “Your word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path.” As adults, we know this to be true because we have relied on it’s truth during many hard and trying times. But our kids are just starting out in their Christian walk and need to be taught how to rely on God’s word in every situation. It is the responsibility of the parents to instill this belief in their children and it is the church’s job to reinforce it every chance they get. Encourage your kids to memorize Psalm 119:105 this week. They will be forever blessed by having this word in their heart.</div>