Cubbies Awards Ceremony

Last month, Jillian "graduated" from AWANA Cubbies with a very special ceremony at the church.  AWANA stands for "Approved Workmen Are Not Ashamed" and the mission of Awana is to help "churches and parents worldwide raise children and youth to know, love and serve Christ." 


One of the biggest draws for us visiting Derwood Bible Church when we moved back from the UK was knowing that it had an AWANA's.  When I was still a young child, our church had GA's (Girls in Action with a missionary focus). I really enjoyed GA's, but I can still remember when AWANA's came to our church when I was in 3rd grade; it was BEYOND AMAZING!  I participated in the AWANA Olympics (balloon volley and the three legged race were my events), Backwards Day, Twin Day, Crazy Hair Day and lots of other fun activities. I loved being in AWANA's so much that when I graduated from Guards (its now Truth and Training) in 6th grade, I began volunteering with the 1st grade Sparks and stayed with them for another two years.  I feel extremely blessed that my daughter is now participating in this fantastic program, but what really makes AWANA's AMAZING is the dedication of the gifted teachers who desire to share the love of God with the kids.  I am so thankful for all the work they do and believe that their time is very well invested! 


Jillian often tells me, "Mommy, I love learning stories from the Bible" (which excites me greatly)!  And I think in large part, Jillian's enthusiasm comes from how engaging Bible learning has been at Cubbies!  During their meeting the kids do a craft, have a puppet show, play games, have a yummy snack, and recite their Bible verse, as well as get lots of loving from their teachers! :-)


We are super excited that next year we will not only have Jillian as a SPARK but Faith will be a CUBBIE too!  Hooray for AWANA's! 

Faith, Xandra, Ava, Jillian, Julie, Jon, and baby Joey ready for the award ceremony to begin!

Saying the pledge allegience to the American and the AWANA flag.

Trisha, Aliyah, Me, and Anna sat in the back row together.

Jillian heading up to the stage for her performance with all the the other Cubbies!

I love when kids sing! It makes me so happy, especially when they are singing songs about God's love and hiding God's Word in their hearts. 

Buddy (Andrew) and Faith

I love this adorable photo of them smiling at one another.  A couple of Sundays ago, Buddy gave Faith a picture he had drawn and said, "Faith, I made this for you, so it can help you remember me."  Both Julie and I thought it was the cutest thing ever.

Little Faith also ADORES Buddy. Their friendship really blossomed (nearly a couple of years ago) when he and Ava stayed with us a couple of days when their daddy was in the hospital.  When he left, Faith cried aloud for a long while, saying " My Buddy! My Buddy!"; she wanted him to live with us forever!  It broke my heart to see Faith miss her friend so much, but it was sweet to see how much my two year old loved her friend.

Faith, Miss Julie, Joey, and Jon- this pictures cracks me up because neither Faith or Joey are their kids but it looks like they expanded their family by two more kids!!!

Little Anna resting between her daddy's legs.

Buddy with his two Cubbies leaders Mr. Brad and Miss Sadie

Kaylee, Amy, and Xandra with their Cubbies leader Miss Marti

Audrey, Miss Weber, Ava, and Jillian (Jillian told Miss Weber all of her Bible verses for the year)

The girls got a special gift that had a stuffed animal Spark inside and a bag too for her book next year! 

A sweet photo of Miss Weber with both the girls

A lot of the kids playing with balloons after the fun ceremony.

Anna walking to her Daddy! 

I love Brad's face in this photo, it was a little emotional for him (and me too) how grown up our little Anna is getting!  Before we know it, Anna will be a Cubbie too!