November 24, 2013

Mom In Need A mom in our congregation could use some help once a week with childcare. She has a ten week old son and a two year old son. She is looking for a volunteer to sit with them for a few hours once a week so she can get some household chores done. Call April Ramsey or email aprillynnkaty@yahoo.com if you or someone you know is interested in helping her out.

GLCs Date Night Fundraiser

ONLY 5 SPOTS ARE AVAILABLE for our annual event to be held Sat., Nov. 30th 4:00 - 8:00 pm. Our teen girls group (Girl's Loving Christ or GLC) sponsors this to help out parents so they can do last minute Christmas shopping. Pizza and fruit will be served and and well do some themed crafts and games along with a Christmasstyle movie. Call or email April Ramsey now if interested. The free-will donation will be used to help the GLC teens make bears for donation to the Jo-Jo Bear Foundation for critically-ill kids

Women in Mission will host Christmas by Candlelight Dessert Buffet Sun., Dec.15th at 7:00 pm and is open to all women and girls aged 10 and up. Our own Tina Hergenrader, a published Christian author will be our guest speaker. $5 ticket proceeds will benefit a future LWML mission project. Teresa Croll and Lori Bishop have more information. Mark your calendars, buy a ticket for yourself and a friend and enjoy an evening with your fellow Christian sisters!

. Krause Volunteer Opportunities - Krause Children's Center is in desperate need of volunteers for their charter school. Needed are individuals willing to serve as surrogate parents for students in their ARD meetings. This involves meeting students ahead of time and sitting in on school meetings to advocate for them and will be 1-2 hours a week, usually during school hours. Interested individuals can contact Melanie Tibbins, Trinity Charter School ARD, at 281-392-7505.

ALSO:
The weather is getting cooler and we want to make sure our Krause kids stay warm! Krause is looking for volunteers who can help shop for coats on Tuesday, November 26 th at 8:30 am. Funds have been set aside but they would love helping hands to select the 65 needed coats. Contact Rina Chandarana John, Director of Volunteer Services at 281-392-7505.

Christ Clinic Item for November:

aspirin (81mg in bottles of 120 or less)

PLEASE VISIT THE WISHING TREE OUT IN THE WELCOME CENTER AND HELP BRIGHTEN ANOTHER PERSON'S CHRISTMAS. I still need 2 more turkeys to be given to the families at Christmas and 47 presents need to be taken off the tree. So far, each of the 65 Krause residents will receive an $18.50 gift card from Walmart. All presents are due Dec. 8, TWO WEEKS FROM TODAY. The families greatly appreciate your support of this annual project. Please see Deb Plautz with any questions, 281-395-4681, bobplautz1@aol.com.

Blood Drive Thank You Joan and Marie would like to thank all who participated in our blood drive on Tuesday. We had an excellent turnout. And, we'd also like to thank the youth for preparing the Loomis Center for this event. We appreciate all of you. Our blood drives for next year are on Tuesdays: Feb. 4th. May 6th Aug. 5th and Nov. 18th.

'TIS THE SEASON! Christmas Music Events at Memorial MARK YOUR CALENDARS!! Wednesday December 4th Join us for an evening of carols as we share the Christmas spirit with those in the Katy Community through caroling! A timeless holiday tradition great for the whole family! Saturday, December 7th at 4:00 pm the Houston Lutheran Choral will be performing their Christmas concert here at Memorial entitled A Great and Mighty Wonder! This unforgettable experience is something you and your whole family won't want to miss. They will also be performing the concert Sun., Dec. 8 th at Trinity Lutheran Downtown at 4:00 pm. Ticket/concert information is available at 713-229-2932 or hlc-tx.org. Wednesday December 11 at 7:15 pm our children's choir shares through word and song the true meaning of Christmas. Plan to come early at 7:00 pm for a Christmas hymn-sing! Saturday December 14th enjoy shopping at the Katy Christmas Festival while hearing our Praise Band perform holiday tunes! Stay tuned for the time. Sunday December 15th Cantata at the Mall: our 10:45am service will be held ONLY at 11:00 am at Katy Mills Mall as Praisemakers, Joyful Ringers, Children's choir & instrumentalists lead us in a celebratory service through music! Join us and bring a friend!

GENEROSITY TIP OF THE MONTH - NOVEMBER Practical suggestions to aid Disciples of Jesus in taking on the character of Jesus, especially the character attribute of generosity. One of the things that often hinder disciples from a life of generosity is playing the percentages. We recognize from the OT, the principle of tithing, or giving as first fruits 10% of all we receive. This is a great starting point for a life of generosity. Yet, when we are below that percentage, then it seems that we have a hard time getting started, so we dont. When the starting point seems so far away, we can easily get discouraged, so instead of making an intentional and diligent commitment of a percentage to God, we instead just do the best we can. Such a method of giving prevents developing generosity as part of our character. Tip of the Month: Start somewhere and increase through your increase! (Actually, this is a two-part tip!) 1. Make a commitment to a percentage, any percentage 2%, 3%, 7%, whatever percent you prayerfully decide upon. Pray for the Spirit to help you stay committed to that amount. 2. As you are blessed with an increase from God, consider the reality that you were able to live on the previous amount, albeit perhaps with a challenge. Take a percentage of the increase, greater than the percentage you are already giving, and add it to your commitment. In this way, you will grow in your commitment to God, and begin to develop a pattern of generosity. For example: If you earn a raise at work of $100.00 a month, instead of just adding $10.00 a month to your commitment (or whatever percentage you are giving), add $25 or $50 to your commitment. You are still blessed with more than you had, but now you are also starting to be generous with these new gifts God has given.