netmums.com

Very good website I have just found - great for Food Ideas for the busy amongst us - spread the word!!!

Journeys

If you are looking to find out more about our faith, these evening give real life stories and discussions with coffee and cake - you would be given a warm welcome.

22nd January
Is there a spiritual side to life?

29th January
If God and heaven exist what are they like?

5th February
Does this faith thing work in real life?

12th February
Does God have real power to changes things?

19th February
Crossing the line - what's it like?

The evening start at 7:45pm and are on the 1st floor, Cable House (next door to the Church) Hall Street, Chelmsford, CM2 0HG

Book your place on: 01245 358855

Feedback

If you have any feedback on anything conncerned with Oaks and Acorns, please see any of our staff - they should all be in burgundy polo shirts with their names on if you are unfamiliar with them - they will be pleased to help out wherever possible.

Dates for your Diary

As we only run during Term Time, please note there will be NO Oaks and Acorns on the following mornings:

Monday 12th February
Monday 2nd April, 9th April and 16th April

Please note we can only accomadate children of 5 years and under, if you have older children who are off school on an Oaks morning they cannot attend.

Adults Meal Out

This was mentioned last term but we have revised the date to Monday 29th January.

Time: 8:00pm
Venue: The Garden Chienese Restaurant, Baddow Road
Menu - Buffet - Hopefully

This evening is open to all staff and Mums, Carers, Grandparents - basically adults who attend Oaks and Acorns. We opted for such a meal so that we can have some fun and hopefully finish some sentences. We also opt for just after Christmas as December is so busy and it is a good reason for a cheer up in January. Please let us know as soon as possibkle if you can come so we can book a table.

Photos

We do take photos of the children at events such as the Assault Course or Christmas Party. Thses are for use purley within the Church and the Group and will not be posted on the Blog.

If you have any problems with photos being taken of your children, please let any of the staff know so that we can take appropraite action.

If you would like any copies of the photis, please let us know and we will happilly arrange this for you.

Our beliefs

We are run with a Christian ethos and beliefs. We are supported by the Church and it’s leadership. One of our aims is to show you the love of God in a practical way each week. We also pray generally for the group and it’s attendees on a regular basis, if there is something particular you would like us to remember in prayer, please see either Elsie or Joyce or fill in one of our prayer request forms. We would love to share our faith with you or answer any questions you may have.

You are also all warmly invited to any of the services here at the Elim Christian Centre – our Sunday Services are as follows:
First Morning Service 09:15 am - 10:30 am
Discoverers (Ages 0 - 11): 09:15 am - 10:30 am
Coffee 10:30 am - 11:15 am
Second Morning Service 11:15 am - 12:30 pm
Discoverers (Ages 0 - 11): 11:15 am - 12:30 pm
Deep Impact Youth Church (Ages 11 - 18) : 11:15 am - 12:30 pm
Evening Service : 6:30 pm - 8:00 pm

For more info see http://www.elim.org/

Assault Course - 19th February

We will be holding an Assault Course for the little ones on February 19th (first mrning back after Half Term). This will be to raise money for our supported Charities and is generally great fun. The kids will each receive a certificate and a reward for their efforts - whilst we encourage them to do as much as possible, the joining in is the most important thing.

We attach a sponsorship for for this event and would ask you to start asking Grannies, Uncles, Neighbours etc to help us support others through this event.

If you get to the morning any haven't managed to get any sposnors, don't worry, your children can still join in but we would ask you to make a donation of your choice to the charity jar we will have available - obviously cheques are accepted from the millionaires amongst you :)

Fund Raising & Recipes

We will br raising funds this term for the two Charities we are supporting this year. This will be firstly The Smiles Foundation - a charity which supports many projects which we have been involved with, particularly in Romania. The second charity will be The Js Foundation - a local based charity trying to raise funds for a specific young people based Hospice facility. If you would like to discuss either of these Charities, Jenny is our expert on The Smiles Foundation whilst Diana is our expert on The Js Foundation.

We will be collecting small change again, please bring this along with you - remeber your small change can make a big difference.

We also tried to do a recipe book last year but as yet there were nott too many Delia Smith's out there - please can you let us have your favourite recipes and we will try to pull all these together.

Children Learn what they Live

"Children Learn What They Live"
by Dorothy Law Nolte

If children live with criticism, they learn to condemn.

If children live with hostility, they learn to fight.

If children live with fear, they learn to be apprehensive.

If children live with pity, they learn to feel sorry for themselves.

If children live with ridicule, they learn to feel shy.

If children live with jealousy, they learn to feel envy.

If children live with shame, they learn to feel guilty.

If children live with encouragement, they learn confidence.

If children live with tolerance, they learn patience.

If children live with praise, they learn appreciation.

If children live with acceptance, they learn to love.

If children live with approval, they learn to like themselves.

If children live with recognition, they learn it is good to have a goal.

If children live with sharing, they learn generosity.

If children live with honesty, they learn truthfulness.

If children live with fairness, they learn justice.

If children live with kindness and consideration, they learn respect.

If children live with security, they learn to have faith in themselves and in those about them.

If children live with friendliness, they learn the world is a nice place in which to live.

Note from Rhianne

Just to update you all on my current situation. The Company I was working for closed and I therefore lost that job mid November. Since then I have been working at Asda but on on a temporary basis - it was fun to see some of you in there - trust you were all jealous of my lovely lime green uniform :)
Anyway, will be starting a new job with effect from the 15th January but this will be full time so I will not be able to be with you for a while. I am hoping to back sometime after Easter this year but I will know more later in the year.
In the meantime, Joyce will be taking over as acting leader for the time being. I will still assist with monthly notes and some of the background work such as waiting lists, etc. If you have any queries, please see Joyce firstly and I am confident she will be able to help you. The team will be a little stretched during this team so please help us to help you, take cups back to the serving hatch when dealt with, pick up biscuits or playdough dropped on the floor and this will really make life a little easier.
I wish you all well - keep smiling and enjoy your morrnings with us.
Rhianne

Date we are back

We are back as normal (or as normal as we ever are!) on Monday 15th January. We look forward to seeing you back.