Thank You, St. Andrews! The members of the Engagement Ministry are so grateful for the dozens of you who volunteered last Saturday for our annual Back to School Carnival. It was truly a church-wide effort to set up, clean up, and host all the fun on the front lawn and in Heffner Hall. For everyone who helped publicize and prepare for the event, to those who showed up bright and early at 8 am on Saturday to move tables and pitch tents, to the last volunteers who left around 2:30 after cleaning up all the sticky, sweaty fun, and of course to everyone who wrangled a child, painted a face, cooked a hot dog, or helped a family have fun and feel welcome on our campus…thank you! By all accounts it was our best turnout ever. What a wonderful way to introduce our neighbors to all the friendly people and dynamic ministries at St. Andrews! Click here to see more pictures from the carnival.

39ers The 39ers is a group of people who like to meet and fellowship together for lunch once a month at one of our local restaurants. This month they are meeting at Bambinelli’s at Noon on Monday, August 6th. (3202 Northlake Pkwy NE, Atlanta, GA 30345) If you would like to carpool to the restaurant, meet in the church parking lot close to the office at 11:45. Contact Sarah Slusher  or Charles Mills for more information.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gq1V1NDWiZY&feature=share

Enjoy the ad for our Carnival!

Kids are going back to school and they need to have their backpacks blessed.  Join us in worship on Sunday, August 5, so that families, friends, teachers and students young and old will have the special opportunity to get their backpack, tote, tote, or messenger bag blessed.  We will have a special prayer of blessing and everyone will receive a tag for their bag to remind them that wherever you go, God goes with you.

St. Andrews participates in the Presbyterian Coffee Project’s partner Equal Exchange letting members order the finest fair trade and organic coffee beans available.  The products please the palate and empower small-scale farmers and their communities.

Order forms are available in the Narthex.  Contact Mary Evans to order by August 13.

https://www.presbyterianmission.org/ministries/compassion-peace-justice/hunger/enough/presbyterian-coffee-project/

Nursery on Sunday The nursery will be in the Middle School Room beginning at 9:45 a.m. this Sunday. The education building will be closed this weekend due to the floors being cleaned and waxed.

If you would like to serve on a committee for the Presbytery of Greater Atlanta, see their website for more information and the application form.. There are committees in many areas- everything from grant-writing, to personnel and operations; click here  to see the complete description.

The Nominating Committee is currently in the process of identifying and nominating a slate of elder and deacon candidates to present to the congregation later this fall. Members of the congregation who wish to suggest someone (either self or another member) for these positions should complete the Nominating Committee Suggestion Card found in the pews and return it in the offering plate.  A copy of the nominating form can also be found here, or email St. Andrews’ office to submit suggestions.

Have you ever asked your child to do a chore around the house and then gone behind them and thought…He didn’t complete this chore! She didn’t get this sink clean like I wanted them to! He didn’t load this dish washer the correct way, and he left all the extra dishes in the sink to still be washed!

Well, if we are honest, we probably have all done this. One time, my sister and I asked my son and daughter, who were both around age 3, to pick everything off the floor and we would come back and check in a few minutes. Well, we came back, and they had put every single thing that had been on the floor on top of the chairs, the couch, and the tables in the room. We looked around and just busted out laughing. My sister and I realized they had done exactly what we had asked them to do. We were not very clear in our directions. We assumed they understood!

A very important step we need to take first with our children before we expect them to do anything new is to describe to them in detail what that task entails. It is also imperative that we show them the steps, and then have them walk through each step. Having them walk through the task begins building the muscle memory for them. They will think this is silly, especially older kids, but you can make it fun! It is also important to do this at a time when there is no conflict between us and our child!

Below is a resource of cards you can print out with detailed steps for different chores. These are great to use in teaching your kids. You could put these up in areas to help remind them how to do certain chores.

Hope these help!

Your Building Families Specialist, Sarah “Say” Spencer

s.spencer@thornwell.org 404-550-3149

https://www.boystown.org/parenting/Documents/job-cards.pdf

This resource is from Boys Town. “Boys Town is an agency that provides a continuum of care to children and teens. Each of our locations offers its own set of child and family services, which can include group homes, in-home family services, foster care, parenting classes and behavioral health services.”

“Boys Town is also home to parenting and child behavior experts who have developed a wealth of original content over the years and it is available for free in our For Parents section. From toddlers to teens, if you have a question, chances are we have got an article, vidwo, or Q&A on the subject.”

 Notice the shout-out to our own Caroline Johnston!

Greetings,

I’m pleased to inform you that this year’s Summer Camp programs are in full swing, and the children are having a ball. So far, our younger campers have enjoyed visits from the Fun Bus and the Petting Zoo. Our older campers have participated in wonderful fieldtrips that have included visits to Noah’s Ark, Stone Mountain Park, Swimming and Tellus Science Museum, just to name a few. Both groups have also enjoyed very impressive in-house Art and Science activities.

Diane Eubanks and Stephanie Train have dedicated their time and talents into making sure that the campers have an amazing time this year. Our summer teaching staff are to be commended for all of their creative energy that they bring to the program. I would like to recognize Ms. Caroline Johnston for going above and beyond what we ask of her each day. It is such a joy to have her with us and a part of our team this summer.

As always, we appreciate all of our extended family at St. Andrews Presbyterian Church and all that so many of you do to help make the school such a blessing to our children and families.

In Christ,

Ann McKinney

Director St. Andrews School