Back to School Drive

Host a Back-to-School Picnic at your corps or at a local park. Ask the women to bring school supplies for distribution to children. These items can be distributed through the corps assistance programs, given to the children who attend your corps programs, or given to a local school in your area.

Suggested school supplies

• Writing – pencils, markers, crayons, pens, erasers
• Art – glue and glue sticks, scissors, paints, paint brushes, construction paper
• Paper – lined, looseleaf notebook paper
• Notebooks – 3 ring binders, spiral bound notebooks, composition notebooks
• Pocket folders
• Backpacks
• Dry erase markers
• Ziplock sandwich bags
• Boxes of tissue
• Hand sanitizer

Decorations

Check Amazon or Oriental Trading Company for inexpensive school themed party supplies. Table centerpieces could be various school supplies that could be added to the drive when the program is over.

Refeshments

Serve easy to fix items like hotdogs, hamburgers and baked beans. Ask a local grocery store to sponsor the food. The Men’s Fellowship could do the grilling. Ask the women to sign up to bring other side dishes or desserts.

Program Outline

• Welcome and Prayer.
• Lunch is Served
• Game – “Are You Smarter Than a 5^th Grader” – Google provides free questions. Play this trivia game around your tables or as a large group.
• Game – “Quick Math” This is a timed game. On “go” participants have 1 minute to complete as many math problems as they can. No calculators allowed! Give prizes for the most correct answers. Sample problems: 5 + 6 = ______ 8 – 2 = ______
• Coloring pages or word search problems
• Closing devotional.

Time to Get Up

I cannot live without my GPS. I even use it when I go home from a familiar place. I may know where I’m going, but I like to look at the paths that the GPS shows me to be aware of any road closures or detours that may arise.

This past fall, the three-minute drive to my youngest son’s daycare center became a 10-minute drive as the immediate roads from our house to his daycare were closed. While I typically use my GPS, this time, I did not, and I remember that it took me out of the way. I remember feeling frustrated because I was used to only taking 3 minutes to get there. Feeling completely inconvenienced and utterly confused, I pulled over, turned on the GPS, and followed the direction it set out for me. I arrived at his school safely. What started as a frustrating and confusing situation turned into a smooth and seamless drive because of my total dependence upon the right directions given to me by my GPS.

I have always made it my goal to be aware of where the Holy Spirit wants to guide me. Even though I am very familiar with what I am doing in life, it is so important that I am sure I am dependent on God’s plans, not just my own. When I found myself going away from the truth of God, I ended up in confusing, isolating, and terrible places. It is imperative that I am aware of the paths God has laid out for me. The last thing I ever want to do or be is stranded and simply confused because I don’t know where I am heading in my spiritual journey. It could become so easy for me to depend on my human internal GPS for my spiritual life and become unaware of going in the wrong direction.

The psalmist shares with us in Psalms 25: 4-5: “Make your ways known to me, Lord teach me Your paths. Guide me in Your truth and teach me, for You are the God of my salvation. I wait for You all day long.” Here, the psalmist exclaims to God that he depends entirely on His direction and is waiting on His guidance.

Nothing is better than driving to your destination without detours, road closures or construction insight. There is no better feeling than to arrive at your destination safely, even if there was turmoil and road closures. Our GPS is well equipped to let us know how to avoid getting stuck and how to pivot. Just like this, being guided by our heavenly father provides us with the assurance that the truth in His teachings guides us through life’s hardship with the assurance that He will make His ways known to us.

Maybe you found yourself turning off God’s GPS and going your way only to realize that you were not aware of detours and the potholes of life. Perhaps you found yourself stranded on the side of life’s road confused and scared because you found yourself outside the will of God. I want to share with you that you are never too far from the hands of God that He cannot reach you. Just like the psalmist, if we ask the Lord to make His ways known and teach us His paths, we can be assured that He will guide us in His truth and be more than willing to teach us because He is the God of our salvation.

Are you unsure of what God’s plan is for you? Have you found yourself on the side of the road because you chose not to use God as your guide? Are you ready to wait for the Lord to guide you and teach you His ways and His path for your life?

While these answers won’t come instantly, we must practice prayer that will allow us to be aware of the voice of the Holy Spirit. God is always speaking and asking the Holy Spirit to be our comforter. We can be assured that God wants to share the plans He has in store with us.

As you journal and color, I encourage you to answer these questions and spend time in prayer, making your request known to your heavenly father. We need His paths and His teachings to remain in His will. You are so dearly loved by the one who created you. May you always know and be aware of the paths God has set in front of you.