Visit beautiful downtown Montevallo for an evening of live entertainment! Each event will feature a different musician and food truck at Owl’s Cove Park (737 Main Street).
This family-friendly, free admission event is the perfect way to kick off your weekend. Bring a chair or picnic blanket and make yourself at home on Main Street! The music begins at 6:30 p.m.
Mother May I is a precise-sounding musical group playing their mix of Motown, R&B, Classic Rock, 80’s Retro, Old School Funk, current Top 40, and everything in-between. This Birmingham-based band performs with a flair, intensity and stage presence that is all their own! Sponsored by Mayor Rusty Nix & Family. Featured Food Truck: Big Boy Barbecue, M&M’s Lemonade Stand. Friday Nights at the Cove is hosted by Montevallo Main Street, a volunteer-driven organization whose mission is to promote and revitalize our historic downtown. Montevallo has been a Designated Main Street Community since June 2016.
For more information, contact us at [email protected] or 205-597-9322.
On April 30, 2022, in conjunction with St. Elias Lebanese Food Festival, the ‘9th Annual Cedar Run 5K & Cedar Shake Fun Run’ will take place. All proceeds from the run for three years will go to Just Keep Smiling. Consider signing up to participate, whether it is running or walking in the 5K or Fun Run, creating a team or securing a sponsorship with a wide range available. Invite your company to support the JKS mission. Details can be found at www.StEliasCedarRun.org.
Regardless whether running is for you, make plans to enjoy and support the St. Elias Lebanese Food and Cultural Festival on April 29-30. There are other opportunities for supporting Just Keep Smiling as well. Just Keep Smiling ‘Auction & Appetizers’ on Thursday, September 29 at Regions Field is a great night for a great cause. Visit www.justkeepsmiling.org for more on the 501(c)3 and these events.
Shades Mountain Community Church in Bluff Park, Ala is hosting a Christmas Market Friday and Saturday November 12-13. The event is free to the community and free pastries and coffee from Daysol Coffee Labs will be served. Join us Friday night 6-9 pm or Saturday 8am- 2pm for a festive local shopping experience!
We know you are never too old for candy, or great fellowship and fun…that’s why Trunk or Treat is for everyone! No matter your life stage, Trunk or Treat is a great event to experience—enjoy a magic show, inflatables for the kids, popcorn, candy and more. The kids love walking around to the decorated cars to collect their candy (and the adults may enjoy dressing up and handing out candy at their cars even more)!
TRUNK OR TREAT
SUNDAY, OCT. 24, 2021 • 3PM – 5PM
MT. LAUREL SQUARE
MORE THAN 50 CARS with trunks open, creatively decorated, and filled with loads of great candy–that’s Trunk or Treat! You and your family are invited to be a part of it! Come in costume and prepare for a great time! Don’t forget your bags or buckets!
• A FREE, FAMILY EVENT OPEN TO ALL!
• HOT BEVERAGES, EXTRAS, LIVE MUSIC, LOTS OF FUN!
• COME AND GO AS YOU PLEASE
• RAIN OR SHINE!
Calling all mommas of every kind! Join us for our conference October 30th from 9am-12pm
(Based on the content of Ginger’s best-selling book, Don’t Make Me Count to Three!)
Do you find yourself threatening, repeating your instructions, or raising your voice in an attempt to get your children to obey? Are you discouraged because it seems you just can’t reach the heart of your child? Through personal experience and the practical application of Scripture, Ginger encourages and equips moms to reach past the outward behavior of their children and dive deeply into the issues of the heart. Ginger’s candid approach will help moms move beyond the frustrations of not knowing how to handle issues of disobedience and into a confident and well-balanced approach to raising their children.
Ginger Hubbard, bestselling author of Don’t Make Me Count to Three, Wise Words for Moms, and I Can’t Believe You Just Said That, speaks at women’s events, parenting conferences and home school conventions across the country, and co-hosts the Parenting with Ginger Hubbard Podcast. For more information visit www.GingerHubbard.com
Want to learn more about what Heritage Christian Academy has to offer and see the campus? Register today for our special “Come & See” even on Tuesday October 19, 2021! Space is limited so be sure to early to secure your spot!
Senior Scene
As a child I loved the start of a new school year. Fresh notebooks, clean paper, the skill of sharpening your pencil to a perfect point!However,what may be exciting for some children may be upsetting to others facing new teachers, classmates, bus drivers, and schedules. One thing of which we can be sure. The 2021-22 school year will launch a New Normal in education which remains to be defined. More than ever, we need to be aware of what our grandchildren are ‘learning’ in their school settings and support our adult children as they manage decisions concerning their children’s education.
How can a grandparent help? Whether near or far, there is much we can do to encourage and support our grandchildren this school year. The objective is to give our intentional interest and care!
1st and foremost-Pray! Consider joining or starting a Moms/Grandmoms in Prayer Group. Go to www.momsinprayer.org for information.
Volunteer to read in your grandchild’s classroom or school library. Offer to help with a craft or party around a holiday or special event.
Create a field trip matching what your grandchild is learning. History and science are great subjects to work with like visiting a nearby historical location.
Learn with them. Find out what they are learning in a history, science, biology, etc. Research further to generate discussion.
Long distance? Write a book together. Teach them the lost art of letter writing.
Support your grandchild’s teacher. Send encouraging notes and prayerful thoughts. Offer your help.
Generate conversation through questions about their friends, teachers, and activities. Be interested!
Offer help with carpool and afterschool care where you can have one-on-one time with your grandchild. Great resource for car time: backseatbiblenuggets.com.
Our families need us now more than ever as we traverse the educational systems of our culture. The enemy’s attacks against our children will persist to waylay our families and God’s moral foundations Be it homeschool, private or public education, the intentional Christian grandparent has a great deal to contribute to the balance and health of our grandchildren. Remember, our grandchildren NEED us! Step up and Step In – to your grandchildren’s education this school year! Want encouragement and other ideas on how to do that? Attend the only National Conference on Christian Grandparenting live at Shades Mountain Baptist Church October 21-22. Visit www.legacycoalition.com/summit for registration, speaker, and schedule information.
Several years ago, the prayer ministry of Christian Grandparenting Network saw the urgency to establish a day for grandparents to unite in prayer and established a Grandparents’ Day of Prayer to coincide with National Grandparents’ Day. The purpose of Grandparents’ Day of Prayer is to raise an awareness of prayer among today’s Christian grandparents. Visit www.christiangrandparenting.com for a list of ways to participate, including a 30-Day Prayer Challenge giving thanks to God for your grandchildren and praying for their new school year.
“Jesus said, ‘Did I not tell you that if you believed you would see the glory of God.’” John 11:40
At Grace Klein Community (GKC), we believe in miracles and see them every day. With a community of thousands of volunteers, we cannot post all the prayer needs on our social media platforms.
Some days, however, God impresses on our hearts that the time is now to engage the entire community. January 27, 2021, was one of those days. Long-term volunteer Rob Compton was in the hospital with COVID and pneumonia. The doctors told his wife, Kathy, that she had one day to get affairs in order and informed her that he would be on a ventilator the following day. The doctors said he had two to five days to live. Of course, Kathy never mentioned to anyone that the doctor gave Rob a death sentence. All she did was ask people to pray.
Grace Klein volunteer and COVID survivor, Rob Compton, believes in the power of prayer. He is seen here with his wife Kathy and two of their grandchildren.
Though we did not know the severity of the situation, we knew in our hearts to use our social media platforms to rally prayer. Rob shared his testimony just one week prior- when GKC hosted a Youth With A Mission (YWAM) serve team from Texas- and many in attendance were new believers. We asked them to pray for God to heal Rob. We knew Rob would experience healing in heaven or if he walked out of the hospital. But we fervently prayed God would heal Rob here on earth and grow the faith of the YWAM team and other Grace Klein Community members.
After hundreds of people prayed globally, Rob slept on his stomach for the first time since contracting COVID and pneumonia. Overnight, his oxygen levels rose to 90 when they had been in the mid-80s for three days. Coincidence? Not a chance. We witness the power of God when His people pray.
On the day the doctors said Rob would be dead, he was discharged and walked out of the hospital. Rob is alive! Guess what? Due to bad weather, the YWAM team came back through Birmingham, and as they all sat on the floor, with Rob’s voice still raspy, he told them about the faithfulness of God. He heard people flat-lining all around him and knew the doctor did not think he would live, but he survived by the grace of God and the prayers of the saints. Often GKC is known for feeding people or food rescue, but we hope we will go down in history as an organization that believed God and saw Him do the impossible every day. All glory to God!
If you have a Miracle that you would be willing to share, please email [email protected]. Subject Line: Miracle Moments or call 205-408-7150.
Senior Scene
Recently I was reading in John 15 where Jesus delivers his “I am” statement- “I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener” and wondered how old a grapevine could live to be. I was amazed to discover they can live 120+ years. The oldest grape-producing vine living today is in Slovenia and over 400 years old!
Imagine the generations that took care of those vines. Creator Jesus knew the fruit that could be produced from a well-tended branch, but one thing was required to be productive. “If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit.” A good branch had to remain on the vine!
So, it is with the Christian grandparent. With an earnest desire to see our grandchildren become Christians and live victoriously in this world, we are called to intentionally ‘remain on the vine’ to bear the good fruit of faith before our adult children and grandchildren. Once secure on the Vine, the branch must grow “showing yourselves to be my disciples.” As God’s children we never ‘arrive’ as a Christian. We are to grow in faith our whole life long. We cannot assume we can pour faith and unconditional love into our grandchildren unless we are experiencing those same things in our relationship with Christ. We cannot give what we do not have ourselves. A healthy branch is an ever-growing branch!
A healthy ‘branch’ lives joyfully. “I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.” No one likes being around a grumpy ole’ grandparent. These verses prove a grumpy, negative, disagreeable grandparent is not a product of a healthy branch! Grandchildren need grandparents with a heart of joy, a fun-loving spirit, and a positive outlook on life. Grandparents who are pleasant to be around, speak kind words, encourage, serve, and have a heart for adventure.
The only national conference on Christian Grandparenting is coming to Shades Mountain Baptist Church for two inspiring days at the Legacy Grandparenting Summit 2021 on Oct. 21-22. With more Grandparents living today than at any time in history, today’s intentional Christian Grandparent can reach this and future generations for Christ! Be sure to stop by the Shades Mountain Baptist Church booth at the Celebrate the Family Expo May 8 at the Pelham Civic Complex to learn more about grandparenting resources including the Legacy Grandparenting Summit, www.legacycoalition.com/Summit.
-Cynthia Moss
GrandLife Director, Shades Mountain Baptist Church
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