This month we are talking about honor - letting others know you see how valuable they really are. There are lots of ways we can honor people and honoring for what they’ve done is great, but we should also honor people because of who they are. That can be really challenging especially because we are naturally wired to put ourselves first, but honor is the opposite. Honor teaches us to see others first. In Romans 12:10 says, “Love each other deeply. Honor others more than yourselves.”

So here’s what we want you to do this month. Parents, as you’ve heard, our widget  is a badge of honor which your kid is supposed to give away to someone they admire. Well, we want you to make sure that this happens. Don’t allow for this widget to become just another toy in your home. Follow up with your kids and see to it that they honor someone this month by giving their badge away.

Kids, in your family yearbooks, write the name of that person down and why you  gave them your badge. If possible, take a picture of them and paste it on there.

As always, we love to hear stories from you so email them in to famjamz@ubcmiami.org.

Honoring others is the ultimate challenge this month. Everyone is valuable. We gotta look at this world and attach value to people.

So, that’s it for this edition of The Toolbox. Don’t forget, the tools only work when you take them out of the box.

Stop and think about someone you really admire.

Are you thinking of someone? Whether that person is a teacher, coach, friend or family member, he or she is valuable to you. You recognize that this person is important because what they do impacts your life.

Every person has value, not because of what they do, but because each and every person has been put together by God. When God created people, He made them in His image. That means every person alive today has been put together in the likeness of God. So every person has value. And it’s our job to help everyone feel like they are valuable.

This February, we’re taking on the Ultimate Challenge of showing the highest degree of honor, and we will define honor as “letting someone know you see how valuable they really are.”

Week 1: 1 Samuel 16:1-13). We’ll notice that God doesn’t see as the world sees; He looks at the heart instead. Bottom line: Honor those who are overlooked.

Week 2: (1 Samuel 18:1-4 & 5-9). We’re discovering that honor can also be shown between friends. Bottom Line: Honor others more than yourself.

Week 3: (2 Samuel 15:1-16a, 18:5-7, 15, 31-33). We’re discovering that it’s important to honor the people in charge of you. If you don’t and you dishonor them, it usually doesn’t end well. Bottom Line: Honor those who are over you.

Week 4: (2 Samuel 6:12b-22a) We’re discovering that another way to show honor is through worship. When we really love God, it’s natural to Bottom Line: Honor God in front of others.

By Cara Martens. ©2011 Orange. All rights reserved. www.WhatIsOrange.org * All rights reserved. Used by permission.

All ages are welcome to participate in the 5K. Click here to register.

This is a year of breakthrough! Have you heard our Pastor Bill say that? Well, we believe it is. We see a church multiplying its influence across this city and to the nations. A church that leverages today’s technology to spread the Gospel near and far. A church inspiring marriages to be great. We see a church of people serving and giving in Jesus’ name. A church where generations are redirected because parents are choosing Christ.

That’s right, Parents. Remember what Deuteronomy 6:5-8 tells us:

Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. 6 These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. 7 Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.

Tell your kids about God and the wonderful things He has done for you. An hour a week at church is not enough. They are watching you and doing life with you every day. You’re the spiritual leader in their lives. You have a responsibility to them, a key role to play in their spiritual development. We want to come alongside you… that’s what thinking orange is all about.

We are praying for breakthrough for you and your family. May this year be one of growth in Christ. We want to see generations changed because parents are choosing Christ. 100 years from now all that will matter is whether kids have a relationship with God or not.

Be in the know of what your kids are learning about God. Use every day moments to talk about virtues. Use every day moments to tell your kids about God.

January is a great time to work on changing the way we play this game of life. It feels like a fresh, crisp start to a new year! Are you ready? We’re going to spend the month in Proverbs, a book packed with wisdom—especially about the topic of Self-Control.

Self-control means choosing to do what you should do and not what you want to do. This is a way to display to the world around us that we have God in our lives. And He’s present every hour of every day, ready to help us take control of our thoughts, words and actions.

Each week, we’ll talk specifically about choosing to have self-control in areas where we know kids (and adults) typically struggle.

In week one, the Proverbs principle we’re focusing on compares someone without self-control to a city with broken down walls—defenseless (Proverbs 25:28 NIrV). Our Bottom Line is: God can give you the power to control yourself.

In week two, we’re studying a young and new king, Solomon, who was smart enough to ask God to make him wise. The Bottom Line is: Pause before you lose your temper. We want to be slow to anger, to make the best choice for the future too, instead of just reacting based on how we feel and what we want right now.

In week three, we’re continuing to see the destruction that happens when we don’t have self-control. We want kids to know that God wants better for us and wants to protect us. So, we’ll focus on the hurt that’s caused when we use our words without thinking about what we’re saying. We need to be slow to speak because wise people’s words can bring healing to a situation (Proverbs 12:8). The Bottom Line is: Select your words carefully.

Finally, in week four, we continue to see that sometimes God says things a certain way to grab our attention and hold it long enough to make His point. Proverbs 25:16 clearly says we better be cautious or we’ll end up in a stinky mess. None of us like getting sick (or cleaning up), that’s why our Bottom Line is: Know when to stop.

We can’t wait to hear what you think about Self-control: Changing the way you play! God is the key ingredient in self-control and He’ll help us have the power to control ourselves.

By Cara Martens. ©2011 Orange. All rights reserved. www.WhatIsOrange.org * All rights reserved. Used by permission.

A couple of weeks ago, if you went to Family Worship service with your kids, they should have received a small piece of paper that talked about advent. It also had a challenge for them that ties into what Pastor Bill is teaching this month in church. So, here’s what we want you do in December:

As a family, we want YOU to be a gift to others. As a family, we want you to think of something you can do TOGETHER to make a difference in someone else’s day.

For example, as a family, you can volunteer at our next CityServe (December 10th) and help our local mission partners. Or as a family, think about someone who wouldn’t expect to get a present from you and get them one. Use this month’s widget to wrap it and make their day! Of course, you can also come up with your own ideas, too. The whole point is to make someone else’s day by giving something away.

And finally, write about your experience in your family yearbooks. We want to be celebrating what God is doing in the lives of our families as we put these virtues into practice and allow them to change the world around us. If you have stories you’d like to share with us, email us at famjamz@ubcmiami.org

It’s official—the holidays are around the corner. Relatives are asking for Christmas lists so they can get their shopping done and the commercials on TV are rolling out their latest toy temptations to get children drooling.

It’s so easy to lose perspective in all the hustle and bustle. So this December we’re gonna focus on Generosity. We need to be reminded about what we should get all wrapped up in this year!

We define generosity as making someone’s day by giving something away. James 1:17 says, “Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights.” So, we know that God is the giver of all good things. But we also know that God’s generosity has a purpose.

In Week 1, we listen as Jesus tells the parable of a rich man in Luke 12:13-21. He gets wrapped up in storing more and more stuff and ends up losing everything that really matters. Bottom Line: People are always more important than stuff.

In Week 2, we learn that you can’t take it with you! A rich young ruler has a big question in our Luke 18:18-25. It’s interesting because Jesus really wasn’t after the guy’s stuff; He was after his heart. Jesus knew that this guy was trapped and He wanted to set the guy free. Bottom Line: Don’t let stuff get in the way of loving Jesus. Living generously shows the people around us what we love and trust in most.

In week 3, get ready for a very special FamJamz, the last one of 2011. In one of the busiest times of year, we’re gonna pause and be reminded of the Christmas story in a way you haven’t heard it told before. It’s important to take time to remember who gave first. We can stop and remember how amazing it is that God sent His Son to show us a new way to live and later make it possible for us to live with Him forever if we just believe.

By Cara Martens. ©2011 Orange. All rights reserved. www.WhatIsOrange.org * All rights reserved. Used by permission.

December 17 & 18, save that date! FamJamz will be hosting a very special production that weekend. We’ll be telling the Christmas story in a way you have not heard it told before. Invite friends and family to this one.

For more information, come out to FamJamz this weekend and next!

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