Hotel Reservation Deadline

Hope you all had a wonderful Christmas celebration.

Just a reminder that today is the last day to be guaranteed the conference price of $119.00 a night for the Sheraton Nashville Downtown ((615) 259-2000).

Countdown to CEC Nashville

Well Steve and I mailed in our registration for the CEC conference today making sure we made that December 21st deadline to receive the early bird registration price. Hopefully you have registered as well?
We posted some information about some sites to see in Nashville in early November, but thought we would share some more from two sites that actually provide different tours of Nashville. There are several tours that are the perfect way to spend your free time on Tuesday afternoon. There are also some downtown tours that would be easily accessible from our motel. Don't forget those reserved rooms will also be released by December 28th and then you may not get the discounted price so if you have not made your reservations do so today.
Also, in researching these sites, I discovered there is also a shuttle service from the airport to the motel for anyone interested. Click on these links for times and prices.

http://www.nashvillesightseeing.com/tours/tourDetail.cfm?tour_id=177
Known as the Queen of the Tennessee Plantations, Belle Meade Plantation was the centerpiece of a 5,200-acre plantation, world-renowned as a thoroughbred stud farm and nursery in the 19th century.
The present 30-acre site features 10 outbuildings, which include an 1832 slave cabin and a colossal carriage house and stables.
Your next stop will be the stately manor of Andrew Jackson, The Hermitage. This was the home of our seventh president, and a favorite son of Tennessee. You will view the formal gardens, visit the slave quarters, the original 1804 cabin of the estate, and the sight where our president and his wife were laid to rest.

http://www.nashvillesightseeing.com/tours/tourDetail.cfm?tour_id=176
On the Nashville Homes of the Stars Tour, you will see the homes of Alan Jackson, Brooks and Dunn, and many other stars as you enjoy a driving tour through the neighborhoods of the elite country music artists.

http://www.nashvillesightseeing.com/tours/tourDetail.cfm?tour_id=7171
Musicians Hall of Fame & Museum in Nashville -- The Musician's Hall of Fame and Museumis a 30,000 sq. ft. multipurpose complex. This unique facility includes not only stellar exhibits of superstar musicians but also studio musicians, producers and engineers who have created the music that has become the soundtrack of our lives.

http://www.nashvillesightseeing.com/tours/tourDetail.cfm?tour_id=9213
Take a little journey through entertainment history with a Guided Backstage Tour at the Historic Ryman Auditorium in Nashville - the "Mother Church of Country Music" and home of the Grand Ole Opry from 1943 to 1974. Sit awhile in the original pews and take in a short film that features the people and events that shaped the Ryman's past and present. Step onto our historic stage and have your photo taken. Then spend some time on your own, strolling through the halls filled with fascinating memorabilia from the Ryman's storied past.

http://www.nashvillesightseeing.com/tours/tourDetail.cfm?tour_id=1132
On the Nashville City Tour, you will see the major sights in Nashville, including the Parthenon, Music Row, the State Capitol, Ryman, Auditorium, and the Country Music Hall of Fame. Discover Nashville on this all-inclusive tour of the best that Nashville has to offer. The Nashville City Tour is a sightseeing tour of historic Nashville, the State Capitol, the Parthenon, Music Row, and much more. Also included is a tour through Nashville's finest attractions including the Ryman auditorium and the Country Music Hall of Fame. Finish our tour with live Country Music and a refreshment at a downtown Honky Tonk.

http://www.nashvillesightseeing.com/tours/tourDetail.cfm?tour_id=182
The Nashville Opry Mills Shuttle provides shuttle services to Opry Mills daily.
Opry Mills combines outlet, discount and specialty retailers, themed restaurants and fun-filled entertainment venues in an energetic and exciting environment with more than 200 places to shop, eat and play. Our service includes pickup from most Nashville hotels.

Shuttle Service
http://www.nashvillesightseeing.com/tours/tourDetail.cfm?tour_id=190
Round-trip transportation to and from the airport and your Nashville hotel. Service begins at 5:00 am and runs until 11:00 pm. We depart every 15-20 minutes from the airport and every 30 minutes from most hotels. $23.95 ($18.95 online)

The following tours are all available from Grayline Tours at http://www.graylinenashville.com/tours.cfm

Discover Nashville
Enjoy this 3 1/2 hour tour of Music City USA. Enjoy a narrated tour of Historic Downtown, Fort Nashborough, the State Capitol, The Parthenon, Vanderbilt University and Music Row. Your tour will also include entrance into theRyman Auditorium the Mother Church of Country Music, long time home of the Grand Ole Opry and recently voted the finest concert venue in the United States. You will also tour the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum. This 37 million dollar facility is a beautiful tribute to Country Music and the artist who have made it great. End your touring day at a Nashville Honky Tonk with live Country Music and a refreshing soft drink compliments of Gray Line Tours. This is a fantastic and affordable way to get to know our city.

Making of Legends
Nashville has been one big Jam session over the last century. This tour will play back the history of the artists, the instruments and the music that was made inNashville. The Fisk Jubilee Singers, Jimi Hendrix, Johnny Cash, Elvis Presley, Berry Gordon of Motown, Willie Nelson, Bob Dylan, Paul McCartney, Chet Atkins and these are just a few of the greats who cut their craft and created music for the ages while they were in Nashville. Rewind in time as you learn the orgins of the title "Music City", and tour the famed Jefferon Street, known as the musical Harlem of the south for its R&B performers. Tour the United Record Pressing Company, one of the few remaining vinyl record companies and manufacturing partner of Motown. Enjoy a sidewalk tour of historic studios on Music Row and hear the stories of the greats who recorded there. Your final stop will be the Musicians Hall of Fame. The Musicians Hall of Fame is a one of a kind collection of instruments and musical memorabilia from the country music of the Grand Ole opry, the English invasion of the Beatles, the freedom days of Bob Dylan & Hendrix, Motown, R&B, and Rock & Roll.

Grand Legends
Opryland and Music Valley are the home of entertainment and hospitality in Nashville. Explore the beautiful gardens and waterfalls of Opryland Hotel while you ride on the Delta boats through the hotel's breathtaking Delta addition which features 4.5 acres all under a domed ceiling fashioned in glass. Your tour will include a viewing of the Country Music Sidewalk of Fame. Admissions to your choice of the Music Valley Museums, Visit the Grand Ole Opry Museum, and the plaza of the famedGrand Ole Opry House.

Homes of the Stars
Your tour will include a drive through downtown Nashville,including Historic 2nd Ave., the State Capitol, Fort Nashborough and the Ryman Auditorium.You will enjoy a driving tour through the neighborhoods of the eliteCountry Music artists who call Nashville their home.While on your tour, you will the homes of Country Music Greats such as Alan Jackson, former home of Vince Gill and Amy Grant, Ronnie Milsap, Dolly Parton, Bryan White, Martina McBride, Ronnie Dunn and Kix Brooks, the late Web Pierce, the late Hank Williams, Trisha Yearwood, the late Tammy Wynette, Lori Ann Crook and Little Jimmy Dickens.

Opry Mills
Includes Pickup Service from most Nashville hotels and coupon book for big savings. Ask for hotel pickup. Call for pickup time.
Shopping and Entertainment
Shoppertainment at its finest. Opry Mills combines outlet, discount and specialty retailers, themed restaurants and fun-filled entertainment venues in an energetic and exciting environment with more than 200 places to shop, eat and play including:
Rainforest Cafe'
Alabama Grill
Applebarn
IMAX 3D Theatre
Regal Cinemas
Bass Pro Shop's Outdoor Worldand much more........Pickup Times at Hotels
9:00 AM 1:00 PM 5:00 PM

Walking Tour
Hear the unpublished stories, "Naughty and Nice" about these great streets, buildings, songs, events and people that have made Nashville a city whose name is known throughout the world.The lyric of Nashville's history is composed of romance and tragedy, heroes and villains, civil and war, southern belles and Brothels.The stories you will hear while on tour read like a John Wayne or Randolph Scott movie, with characters such as Daniel Boone, Davy Crockett, Andrew Jackson, Granny White, Fannie Battle (arrested by the Union Army for compromising their soldiers and the Army's secrets at the same time.) All of these characters will come to life with stories of time spent in Nashville. I can assure you that the fictional stories of "Gone with the Wind" will have nothing on the true stories of Nashville!While on tour you will experience a Behind the Scenes Tour of the Ryman Auditorium. Known as the "Mother Church of Country Music", these walls will tell the stories of Nashville's modern folk heroes of Music. Johnny Cash, Elvis Presley, Hank Williams Sr., Patsy Cline, Tootsie Bess and countless others whose songs and lives shaped the image of this city and molded the music "home-grown" in Nashville, "Country Music

Downtown Trolley Tour
Tour departs from the Hard Rock Visitors Booth on 2nd Avenue. The tour includes a drive by sightseeing tour of Historic Downtown, Ryman Auditorium, State Capitol, the Parthenon, Vanderbilt Museum, Country Music Hall of Fame, Fort Nashborough, Bicentinnial Mall, and Music Row.

One Week And Counting

Would you like an extra $50.00 to do Christmas shopping with?? Well register for the CEC conference by December 21st (exactly one week from today) and you can save $50.00 on the registration fee.

If you are a Children's Minister then you are bound to have at least one copy of a Susan Lingo book in your library. She has written so many resources giving teacher's ideas for lessons. Paul Learned (long time CEA friend and Director of Business Development for Standard Publishing) graciously submitted these quotes in regards to Susan Lingo and Rick Rusaw (both speakers at our conference this year).

"Susan Lingo ministers to children's ministers because she can perceive the way children think and thus design learning activities for concrete minds. This is why Standard Publishing has been thrilled over the years to publish Susan's outstanding resources for children's Christian education. Her object talk books, her craft books, her stories for children, her activities to develop Bible skills -- all these are effective because they connect with the way children think and learn about God! So Standard is glad to sponsor Susan Lingo at the 2008 CEC to help others who minister to children teach the way God made children to learn!"

You can find more about Susan Lingo's resources at http://susanlingobooks.com.

"Rick Rusaw is traveling around the nation helping churches become externally focused by linking with the service organizations in their community and providing valuable volunteers for meal-on-wheels, Big Brothers, Habitat for Humanity, etc. By benefiting and improving their communities, churches earn the right to be heard when they speak the Gospel of Christ's salvation. Standard Publishing is pleased to bring Rick to the 2008 CEC so he can share his vision of churches that communities cannot be without."

Sure hope you are making plans to be there. This year is going to be our best conference ever! I can just feel it!!

Adultolescence and the Church

Doug Brown posted a question to the forum a couple of weeks ago regarding a class on "God and Pop Culture". Several posted some ideas for Doug. Along that same I found this post and hoped some would find it beneficial. You can find this article and more at http://www.desiringgod.org/ResourceLibrary/TasteAndSee/ByDate/2007/2487_A_ChurchBased_Hope_for_Adultolescents/

A Church-Based Hope for 'Adultolescents'
John Piper
"Christian Smith, professor of sociology at Notre Dame, wrote in the most recent Books and Culture a review of six books that deal with the new phenomenon of "adultolescence"--that is, the postponement of adulthood into the thirties. I want to relate this phenomenon to the church. But first here is a summary from Smith's article of what it is and how it came about.

What is Adultolescence?
Smith writes,
'Teenager" and "adolescence" as representing a distinct stage of life were very much 20th-century inventions, brought into being by changes in mass education, child labor laws, urbanization and suburbanization, mass consumerism, and the media. Similarly, a new, distinct, and important stage in life, situated between the teenage years and full-fledged adulthood, has emerged in our culture in recent decades--reshaping the meaning of self, youth, relationships, and life commitments as well as a variety of behaviors and dispositions among the young.
What has emerged from this new situation has been variously labeled "extended adolescence," "youthhood," "adultolescence," "young adulthood," the "twenty-somethings," and "emerging adulthood."
One way of describing this group is to highlight the tendency to delay adulthood or stay in the youth mindset longer than we used to. Smith suggests the following causes for this delay in arriving at mature, responsible adulthood.
First is the growth of higher education. The GI Bill, changes in the American economy, and government subsidizing of community colleges and state universities led in the second half of the last century to a dramatic rise in the number of high school graduates going on to college and university. More recently, many feel pressured--in pursuit of the American dream--to add years of graduate school education on top of their bachelor's degree. As a result, a huge proportion of American youth are no longer stopping school and beginning stable careers at age 18 but are extending their formal schooling well into their twenties. And those who are aiming to join America's professional and knowledge classes--those who most powerfully shape our culture and society--are continuing in graduate and professional school programs often up until their thirties.
A second and related social change crucial to the rise of emerging adulthood is the delay of marriage by American youth over the last decades. Between 1950 and 2000, the median age of first marriage for women rose from 20 to 25 years old. For men during that same time the median age rose from 22 to 27 years old. The sharpest increase for both took place after 1970. Half a century ago, many young people were anxious to get out of high school, marry, settle down, have children, and start a long-term career. But many youth today, especially but not exclusively men, face almost a decade between high school graduation and marriage to spend exploring life's many options in unprecedented freedom.
A third major social transformation contributing to the rise of emerging adulthood as a distinct life phase concerns changes in the American and global economy that undermine stable, lifelong careers and replace them instead with careers of lower security, more frequent job changes, and an ongoing need for new training and education. Most young people today know they need to approach their careers with a variety of skills, maximal flexibility, and readiness to re tool as needed. That itself pushes youth toward extended schooling, delay of marriage, and, arguably, a general psychological orientation of maximizing options and postponing commitments.
Finally, and in part as a response to all of the above, parents of today's youth, aware of the resources often required to succeed, seem increasingly willing to extend financial and other support to their children, well into their twenties and even into their early thirties.
The characteristics of the 18-30 year-olds that these four factors produce include:
(1) identity exploration, (2) instability, (3) focus on self, (4) feeling in limbo, in transition, in-between, and (5) sense of possibilities, opportunities, and unparalleled hope. These, of course, are also often accompanied by big doses of transience, confusion, anxiety, self-obsession, melodrama, conflict, and disappointment.'

How Should the Church Respond?

How might the church respond to this phenomenon in our culture? Here are my suggestions.
1. The church will encourage maturity, not the opposite. "Do not be children in your thinking. Be infants in evil, but in your thinking be mature" (1 Corinthians 14:20).
2. The church will press the fact that maturity is not a function of being out of school but is possible to develop while in school.
3. While celebrating the call to life long singleness, the church will not encourage those who don't have the cal to wait till late in their twenties or thirties to marry, even if it means marrying while in school.
4. The church will foster flexibility in life through living by faith and resist the notion that learning to be professionally flexible must happen through a decade of experimentation.
5. The church will help parents prepare their youth for independent financial living by age 22 or sooner, where disabilities do not prevent.
6. The church will provide a stability and steadiness in life for young adults who find a significant identity there.
7. The church will provide inspiring, worldview-forming teaching week in and week out that will deepen the mature mind.
8. The church will provide a web of serious, maturing relationships.
9. The church will be a corporate communion of believers with God in his word and his ordinances that provide a regular experience of universal significance.
10. The church will be a beacon of truth that helps young adults keep their bearings in the uncertainties of cultural fog and riptides.
11. The church will regularly sound the trumpet for young adults that Christ is Lord of their lives and that they are not dependent on mom and dad for ultimate guidance.
12. The church will provide leadership and service roles that call for the responsibility of maturity in the young adults who fill them.
13. The church will continually clarify and encourage a God-centered perspective on college and grad school and career development.
14. The church will lift up the incentives and values of chaste and holy singleness, as well as faithful and holy marriage.
15. The church will relentlessly extol the maturing and strengthening effects of the only infallible life charter for young adults, the Bible.

In these ways, I pray that the Lord Jesus, through his church, will nurture a provocative and compelling cultural alternative among our "emerging adults." This counter-cultural band will have more stability, clearer identity, deeper wisdom, Christ-dependent flexibility, an orientation on the good of others not just themselves, a readiness to bear responsibility and not just demand rights, an expectation that they will suffer without returning evil for evil, an awareness that life is short and after that comes judgment, and a bent to defer gratification till heaven if necessary so as to do maximum good and not forfeit final joy in God."

CEC 2008 News from Conference Chair Pat Malone

In our monthly archives of "The Christian Educator Newsletter" are several posts designed to provide the CEA community with valuable information regarding CEC 2008.  In October, Lynn Leaming posted several messages regarding our conference speakers and some helpful web links about their ministry background and current ministry work.  Also, in last month's archives is a nifty downtown Nashville map posted by Trey Laminack showing us places of special interests and all the restaurants, coffee houses, and ice cream shops Trey plans to visit while in Nashville.  Personally, I see this map as a sort of location finder or schedule key of Trey's where-abouts during the conference so we can easily track him down and request special delivery of a cappuccino when we are too lazy to walk there ourselves (of course, he may expect us to buy his coffee too).

There are other CEC-related posts in the archives and several more posts about our conference will be showing up as we grow closer to January 20.  I believe almost all your questions will be answered (or at least addressed) by visiting this site at least once a week.  As a bonus, you may also learn about the latest ministry resource on the ministry market or discover a great idea that will help you in your ministry.

Since blogging sites make archiving past messages so much easier to find and read again (compared to traditional listservs), I decided to add a portion of a CEA Forum email message from Pat Malone to this post (regarding our upcoming 2008 Christian Education Conference).  You can read it below my signature.  I hope we have a big group this year since many of us were snowed or iced out last year in Texas.  See you in Music City!  -- Eddie Mathews

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The following is an excerpt from an email sent to the CEA Forum on December 5 from Pat Malone (CEC 2008 Conference Chair)...

Good afternoon to you all,

Registrations are rolling in!  I get some in the mail each day.  Let me remind you that the Early Bird Registration Fees are good through December 21^st (means your envelope is post marked no later than the 21^st).  I am trying to save you (or the church) some money, but I understand that some of you have to wait for the new year in order to have church budget funds available.  Just a gentle reminder in case you can take advantage of the Early Bird fees.

Two things concerning our conference hotel, the Sheraton Nashville Downtown.  (1) Our block of rooms and the room rate are good through December 28^th.  After the 28^th, we must release all rooms not booked and regular rates at the hotel will apply.  I was able to negotiate a little later deadline date than usual which gives you a couple of days after Christmas to take care of business.  If you fail to get your reservation made on time, you are on your own.  (2) Saturday night, January 19^th.  Several of you have indicated a problem booking Saturday evening.  My fault; I take full responsibility!  I failed to include Saturday evening in our contract.  Ordinarily this would not be a problem.  But there is a major city event in Nashville that concludes the 19^th.  The hotel has promised to work with us as much as they can since they anticipate some cancellations for that night, but they won't know for sure until the end of December (the rooms are under contract like our rooms are under contract).  But they will give us every consideration they possibly can.

Or sponsors mean a lot to the financial stability of our conference!  Long time, faithful supporters are 21^st Century Christian Publishing (Tuesday evening CEA Banquet) and Standard Publishing Co. (Sunday evening reception).  Standard also sponsors presenters each year which is a real boost to our program.  Needless to say, I was elated when contacted by David C. Cook Co. about sponsoring a breakfast.  So when you enjoy breakfast on Monday morning, it will be courtesy of David C. Cook Co.  And other vendors are important as well.  Four J Pro Sound and A/V provides the audiovisual equipment we need for our classes, saving us a lot of expense.  Last year Karyn Henley was one of our presenters.  This year Karyn Henley Resources will be one of our commercial vendors.  ALL of these good people make contributions for which we need to be grateful and support their companies whenever we can.  If you were responsible to pay all of the conference bills, you would appreciate them as much as I do.

Jonathan Seamon, Site Chairman, is working on some extra special touches which will make our conference and our time in Nashville more enjoyable.  More about some of these next time.  For now, you will just have to speculate.  And Cheryl Chase, our Notebook Chairman, is working diligently with Jerry Bowling, Program Chairman, to produce the best possible notebook for our conference.

Do I sound excited?  Well I am!  Our conference is now just 6+ weeks away.  So get your registration in (if you have not already done so), and make your hotel reservation (if you have not already done so).  As a car dealer here in the Metroplex says, "Come by plane, come by boat, come by donkey.  I don't care how you get here, just get here!"  Looking forward to seeing you in Nashville!

With peace and blessings to you all,

Pat Malone, Conference Chairman

Family Christmas Devotional Idea

I found this idea for counting down the days till Christmas at http://www.teachingmom.com/features/adventhistory.html and sent it to our Children's Minister Jami Bell. She in turn did a great job in implementing it by making boxes for each family at church with all the individual items in them and an explanation laminated so that each family could use it asa family devotional time as they countdown to Christmas. I realize it is too late for many of you to implement this but perhaps you could put it in your folder of ideas for future reference. If you need more information about where Jami found all the ingredients I am sure she would not mind you emailing her at jbell@carechurch.org.

Here is a list of small gifts you can give as you countdown to Christmas:
1. Quarter--A quarter! That equals 25 cents. But 25 also stands for the number of days till Christmas, when God gave us His best present. Jesus told about one woman's gift and the way she gave it. Read: Mark 12:41-44
2. Grape Gum or Candy--Grapes make jelly and juice, raisins and wine. But Jesus didn't need grapes to perform His first miracle. Read: John 2:1-10
3. Smiley Face--Here's a smile! A smile usually expresses happiness. Jesus gave us many instructions to keep us happy. Read: Matthew 5:1-12.
4. Swedish Fish candy--Well, if you were surprised to find these fish, wait till you read the story today! Others were surprised to find fish, too. Read: Luke 5:4-7.
5. Birthday Candle--As you know, we are getting ready to celebrate Jesus' birthday. However, Jesus talked about something else that is related to this candle. Light! Read: Matthew 5:14-16.
6. Small Bell--You could make some noise with this. But it would not have bothered a certain man--until he met Jesus. Read: Mark 7:31-37.
7. Goldfish Crackers--These would not go very far if you were really hungry! But Jesus could make much out of little. Surely He knew how to multiply! Read: Matthew 14:13-21.
8. Cotton Balls--These cotton balls would be helpful in a thunder storm, wouldn't they? We could use them for ear plugs to muffle the loud noises that thunder makes. But we know someone who doesn't need cotton. Jesus can control the weather. Read: Matthew 8:23-27.
9. Piece of Map--People needing to use the other parts of this map are in trouble! Don't you get lost today! Read: John 14:1-6.
10. Soap--Do you like to wash? Behind your ears? Washing turned out to be a happy time for a man who met Jesus. Read: John 9:1-7.
11. Heart Candy or Sticker--Hearts. Wordlessly, they speak of love, don't they? Jesus spoke some commands about love. Read: Matthew 25:17-41.
12. Small Cross--We use the cross as a symbol, representing Jesus. Do you know why? Read: Phillipians 2:1-11.
13. Packet of Salt--Ordinary salt. Yes, Jesus related salt to us and our behavior. He also gave us some advice. Read: Matthew 5:14 and Colossians 4:6. (Notice that He doesn't recommend pepper!).
14. Sand--Don't try to eat this! It's sand. It reminds us that Jesus knows something about architecture, about buildings--and building lives. See His instructions: Matthew 7:24-29.
15. Silk Flowers--Flowers are pretty, aren't they? Jesus used flowers to teach us a reassuring lesson. Read: Matthew 6:28-34.
16. Raisins--Raisins! Many children are given raisins instead of candy for a snack. That's because they are a health-promoting and delicious fruit. Jesus told us how we can produce good fruit. Read: John 15:1-5.
17. Seeds--Jesus told a story about seeds that man planted. Then He explained it, revealing its deep meaning. Read: Matthew 13:3-8 and Matthew 13:18-23.
18. Christmas Carol--Christmas is just about a week away. And here is an appropriate song. Sing it loudly! Read: Psalms 100.
19. Rock--A hard stone! Can you change this stone into a piece of bread? Do you think Jesus could? Jesus was asked to do just that. Do know how He handled it? Read: Matthew 4:1-4.
20. Crumpled Foil--Try to smooth out this piece of aluminum foil and use it as a mirror. It's hard to see your reflection plainly, isn't it? Many circumstances are hard to understand, but someday everything will be clear. Read: 1 Corinthians 13:12.
21. Mustard Seed (or packet of mustard)--The mustard seed is the smallest there is! When it sprouts, it grows into one of the largest plants! See what Jesus said. Read: Matthew 17:20.
22. Dove--We've learned that the cross represents Christ, but do you know what the dove stands for? Read: Matthew 3:13-17.
23. Scrap of Wool Material--The threads that compose this fabric came from the wool of a sheep. Jesus called Himself the good shepherd. Do you know who His sheep are? Read: John 10:7-18.
24. Marble--A marble! Do you know what is sometimes called the "Big Blue Marble"? The world. God made the world for us. What does God continue doing to the world? And who is the world? Read: John 3:16.
25. Picture of Baby--Isn't this baby cute? When he was born, he made a whole family happy. Jesus was born a baby, too. He came to make the whole world happy. Read: Luke 2:1-20. Enjoy your celebration today. Continue to learn about Jesus--and love Him forever!