Alternate idea for Children's church

My son is 2 and 1/2 years old and my wife is a preacher in Arlington.  Jude, our son, is as active as any other kid his age and he has that overwhelming stigma to overcome of being a DOUBLE preacher's kid.  Here is a picture of him in worship a few Friday nights ago.

He sits by himself next to Mrs. Virgina Thompson who is a saint of AHUMC.  Literally he sits there the entire time and I am not even around.  

It got me thinking about how much I appreciate the fact that AHUMC does not have "Children's Church" during worship.  

Each week my son sits with a saint of the church (either at AHUMC or at First Arlington UMC) and participates in worship.  He has different models around the church, not just his parents, guiding him and helping him.  Notice Mrs. Virgina holding the song sheet for Jude to see.  He does not sing just yet (his daddy is not much of a singer either), but she sits with him and shows him "how we worship" together.  

I was thinking what if at church we had parents partner up with older adults to sit with children and model "worship" for these little ones?  I know my son is much better "behaved" for others and follows others better than for Estee or me.  What if children were being mentored in worship by saints of the Church each week?  What if parents sought out mentors for their children (such as Mrs.Virginia) to help them grow in the faith?  What if all parents were as active in our children's faith development as we are in their soccer development?

Anyway, in case I never said it before, I thank God for Mrs. Virgina.

Who are mentors to you or your kids?

Ramadan 2010 as told by Boston.com

If you are not a follower of "The Big Picture" I recommend it greatly.  They have fantastic pictures and some (like this one below of a boy at Ramadan) move me at my core.

Here is a link to the recent post of Ramadan.
Here is a link to the blog.

Who would have thought Mums piss people off

Recently heard of a minister in Grapevine Texas who wrote an article about the exorbitant cost of homecoming mums these days. This link will take you to an article with a synopsis as well as two links: the original article as well as Rev. Dr. Ryan's follow up column.

I had no idea that mums could piss a lot of people off.

While reading these articles I was considering what if instead of a button to advocate for the "Ban the Mum feed 33 children" (which is a good idea), what if the UMC woudl create alternate mums. The UMC could sell these mums for a fraction of the cost (say $50?) and $10 could go to mum creation and the other $40 could go to feed children.

I applaud the good Reverend Doctor Ryan to speak out, I only hope the rest of the UMC would be willing to not only critique and condemn culture but create new culture.