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It was wonderful to see many of you at the Capital Christmas Eve Services, as well as during our AWANA Christmas store! Times of fellowship - whether in-person or on-line seem all the more precious this year. Thank you so much for your faithfulness in allowing us to continue to minister to your children on-line this year. It is a joy and a privilege to partner with you in your child’s spiritual growth. Please don't hesitate to let us know if there’s any way we can further serve you or your family.

January Highlights

After two weeks off for Christmas celebration, we’re looking forward to getting back together again on Sundays for AWANA beginning January 3. We begin the second half of our AWANA year this month. Just for fun, on January 24 all children are invited to bring their favorite stuffed animal, as well as their handbook and Bible to their on-line club.

January 2021 at AWANA
January 3 — AWANA — On-line classes — Welcome Back
January 10 — AWANA — On-line classes — Half way through our AWANA year
January 17 — AWANA — On-line classes — 3rd quarter begins
January 24 — AWANA — On-line classes — Fun Theme Night: Bring your favorite stuffed animal to class
January 31 — AWANA — On-line classes

October Clubbers of the Month 

To encourage clubbers to pursue good character and godly qualities, including preparedness, consistent effort, attentiveness, kindness, compassion, patience & enthusiasm, we will award “Clubber of the Month” ribbons approximately five times this year to a boy and girl in Sparks and T&T who consistently exhibit such qualities. Being prepared includes such things as wearing their uniform, reading their Bible and working in their handbook during the week and bringing both to class on Sunday. All are encouraged to attend Church or Sunday School, to bring/invite friends to hear about Jesus, and to participate in Theme Nights. Each of these things, plus attitude and demeanor, will be considered in selection. Children may only earn this award once during the school year, to provide an opportunity to recognize others.

Due to our remote structure, we weren't able to present awards and take pictures of our first winners until the Christmas store, so here are the awardees for Capital AWANA weeks in September and October.
SPARKS BOY
James Womer
SPARKS GIRL
Layla Lucas
T&T GIRL
Grace Granado
T&T BOY
Philip Abraham
Congratulations James, Layla, Philip, and Grace!

The next winners will be announced soon for the Capital AWANA weeks in November and December. The third opportunity includes all weeks in the month of January.

Commander's Corner 

With half our time remaining in this AWANA year, it’s a great time to assess your child’s progress and identify next steps to continue his/her spiritual growth. For some that may mean adjusting schedules to ensure school work is complete, so that Sunday can be a day of church, family time and AWANA. For others that may be finding new ways to help your child memorize verses, begin daily devotions and prayer together, or working with your child to establish specific goals appropriate for him/her to work toward.

AWANA has set verses to music which can be found on the internet. The books of the Old and New Testaments, can be especially challenging, so here are the links for both: youtube.com/watch?v=XAFopUtR4c4 and youtube.com/watch?v=tbSgW5ty5ow.

AWANA curriculum for each grade can provide a good basis; Truth and Training is tailor made for Bible study and prayer. 

For those planning to complete their book this year, laying out a schedule now, will help make this plan a reality. One simple approach would be to count the sections remaining and divide that number by 14 to determine the number of sections he/she would need to complete each week. I actually recommend dividing by 12 so that there is a little margin in case sickness or other things preclude sticking to the plan completely. We understand that all God’s children are unique and encourage you to help your child set achievable goals for the remainder of the year.

Please let us know if you have questions or desire additional resources or ideas to help your child “grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” (2 Peter 3:18).

Requesting AWANA Photo Highlights 

One thing we miss in our AWANA on-line format is the opportunity to capture pictures and share memories of clubbers’ times in AWANA. We hope you are capturing picture memories of your child doing things that please God. If you are willing to share a picture of your child engaged in AWANA on-line and/or doing AWANA activities during the week, we’d really appreciate it! You may provide them by replying to this email. We may share a few in our newsletter or post them on the protected site available via the link below, which also contains photos from prior years.

You can always view our AWANA Photo Gallery at awanacapitalbaptist.org/photos/.

Calling All Volunteers


Please consider donating a few hours of your time to our AWANA program at Capital. We are looking for additional volunteers to present a lesson for Sparks or T&T and others to augment our Communications team. Materials and training are available for all opportunities. Just reply to this email for more information. Thanks

There is still time to contribute to the AWANA Global Outreach Campaign

We started the annual AWANA Global Outreach campaign in early October. Since then, the AWANA Clubbers have returned tubes full of quarters ($10) to provide a child in another part of the world with the opportunity to attend AWANA for one year.

Our goal is to encourage Clubbers to earn these quarters (perhaps doing extra things around the house or some other helpful activity their parents approve), so that they can personally make a difference in the life of a child in another part of the world. In addition to helping spread the Gospel, Sparks will earn a patch for their uniform and T&T will be half-way complete with their requirement (see page 7 of the T&T handbook for more info).

God, Help Me to be a Better Parent!

Pastor Ryan A. Sturgis

As a parent, at times, I struggle. Knowing what “battles to fight” and what things to allow my children to “grow out of” can be difficult to discern. I find comfort in the fact that this is a “tightrope,” most godly parents attempt to walk. I’m not alone in my journey to be a parent who helps my children develop godly character while not “provoking them to wrath” (Colossians 3:21)  by being overbearing. That being said, I wanted to share two things that help me find better balance when things tip too far in one direction.

Keeping my heart stayed on God and the reality that He is in control gives me the courage to let go of control.

With my children, I am a parent more inclined to be overbearing than I am to let things slide, so to speak. As a trained counselor, I try to catch behaviors early before they are repeated enough to be labeled as traits. That’s counselor-speak for, “I’m controlling.” For some reason, I never assume the Legos or cereal will end up on the floor (foolish, I know). When frustrated by situations or behaviors that are not inherently sinful, but are typical for my child’s age, I step back and check my own heart. Proverbs 4:23 says, “Keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it spring the issues of life.” Keeping my heart stayed on God, and the reality that He is in control gives me the courage to let go of control. I review my heart and ensure I am being faithful to train up my children (Proverbs 22:6) while, at the same time, truly trusting God to order their steps.

Secondly, when every battle seems worth fighting, I ask God to be present. It has been my experience that perspectives, attitudes, and behaviors tend to shift when our home is filled with worship and thankfulness. When my wife and I are intentional about inviting and hosting the presence of God, our parenting is impacted. “Above all, love one another deeply, because love covers a multitude of sins” (1 Peter 4:8). I ask God to be present because His presence changes the way that I respond to disappointment and frustrations.

As parents, it takes wisdom to know what battles are worth fighting and which ones we need to leave alone. Thankfully, God has promised us wisdom. “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him” (James 1:5). Reviewing my heart and ensuring that I am personally submitted to God’s control helps me to avoid the need to be overly controlling in my parenting. Inviting God’s presence helps me to be more grace-filled when dealing with my children.

How are you doing in this battle from balance? What has helped you in your journey in being a godly parent? I would love to hear from you.

Originally posted at capitalbaptist.org/god-help-me-to-be-a-better-parent/

Pastor Ryan A. Sturgis has over a decade of direct service and leadership in the human services.  He possess a B.S. in Clinical/Counseling Psychology from Averett University with a Minor in Religion, M.A. in Pastoral Counseling from Liberty University, and M.A. in Global Studies from Liberty University (in process).

Children's Ministry at Capital

Capital Children’s Ministry now offers on-site classes Sunday morning at 9:30 and 11, with an online connection for those not ready to come back on campus yet! You can find the new schedules and links at www.capitalevents.church, under the Capital Kids OnLine tab.

Whether you’ve been a part of our Sunday morning programming in the past or not, we encourage you to try out our children’s program offerings for preschool through grade 6.
AWANA is a ministry of Capital Baptist Church (3504 Gallows Rd, Annandale, VA 22003). Call (703) 560-3109 or email visit awanacapitalbaptist.org for additional information.
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