We Are Tiny Trackers, Trackin' Down the TRUTH!

"And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up. And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand, and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes. And thou shalt write them upon the posts of thy house, and on thy gates." Deuteronomy 6:7-9

Well, you guessed it. We are putting a plug in for our favorite Wednesday night activity...Tiny Trackers, better known as TRUTH TRACKERS! Andrew and I have been given the special privilege to teach the K-5 Wednesday Night Class at our Church, Calvary Baptist, in Simpsonville, South Carolina. Our church has a wonderful program called TRUTH TRACKERS that we conduct for the children. Truth Trackers is going on its third year so it is somewhat of a new program, but very beneficial in reaching children for Jesus Christ. You can read all about when you connect to the So You May Know Link on our blog. Our good friends, Pastor Ben and Dayna Ice, who by the way are by products of MARANATHA BAPTIST BIBLE COLLEGE in Watertown, Wisconsin, where Courtney currently attends, wrote the Truth Trackers curriculum. I have to get my plug in for Maranatha as well! Ben and Dayna played a very influential role in the Lord's leading Courtney to Maranatha, and we truly praise the Lord for them and their ministry to our family and all our friends. Ben and Dayna began Truth Trackers with the help of another Maranatha friend, Lukas Counterman, by writing the material and initiating the program at our church. By God's unending grace, Truth Trackers, has taken off and several more churches have joined in and shared a part of this life changing program.








There are several sections to TRUTH TRACKERS, one being the Tiny Trackers, of which Andrew and I teach. Tiny Trackers are represented by the 3 to 5 year olds. We have a hound dog as our mascot. His name is Tiny and his sister comes along to visit sometimes too. Her name is Tracy. Hound dogs as you know are good trackers especially when they need to find a rabbit or a fox in the woods. We are hound dogs too, but in the Biblical sense. We are not trackin' down rabbits. Instead, we are trackin' down the truths in God's Word. Pretty catchy if you ask me. Below is a clip of our theme song in action: We are Tiny Trackers. It was written by our beloved Patch the Pirate, Ron Hamilton, and Cheryl Reid from our church. Our kids really love to sing it and they especially love to howl at the end...it can keep going for quite some time :). Oh, and if I can add a disclaimer, when I tell the kids to take a deep breath, I am NOT pushing Yoga. I thought about that when I saw it and didn't want anyone to get any ideas and starting kidding me...I know how some of you are :). The children needed to take a deep breath to keep up all that howling and there is plenty to be had!






Andrew and I truly love to teach the children. I especially enjoy being with the little ones for they are God's precious vessels to raise up for Him. They are so open to the Gospel at this young age and ready to soak up all they can about Jesus. I tell Andrew that I could have 10 children if the stork would drop them off at the door and I could forgo the pregnancy part :). Until then, which of course will never happen, I am content with my 3 girls and having my 10 or more by teaching other children. The best part is they can go home after we're finished. I only have my three "poops" to deal with. Hee Hee. We are especially blessed this year because Natty and Marie are apart of our class. Marie is 3, but I have never had my little one so devoted to wanting to be apart of Tiny Trackers. She is technically in the 2 year old class because of her birthday being in December. I had her stay in with me for a visit at our class Christmas party, and she has been hooked ever since. Marie begs to stay. She says to me, "Oh, Mommy, please let me go to Tiny Trackers and hear the story and puppets." She prays for Tiny Trackers every night and asks every day if today is the day she is going to Tiny Trackers. She absolutely loves the singing, stories, coloring, craft, snack, and best of all, the puppet shows.






Speaking of puppet shows, we thought you would enjoy seeing a little of what we do. We have some great helpers in our class that assist us at times in our puppet shows and with the voices. My very good friend, April Menking, helps out in our class along with one of my sister's friends, Bekah Rigsby. We have Bob Jones students on occasion, and sometimes we recruit my friend's husband, Ben. He just "adores" working with puppets and "leaps" at the chance to provide a voice. Well, I might be stretching it just a little, but we do appreciate all his help :). Andrew built the "stage" and a dear lady from church, Mrs. Kennedy, sewed the black curtain to fit the pipes. I have quite the collection of puppets. I get them from various places, and they are a lot of fun to work with.

One of the children's favorite puppets is Billy Bunny. There's just something about Billy Bunny that sends the kids in an uproar of laughter. Billy Bunny is a lot of fun to do. I guess its because I can relate so much to his silly antics and it is another side of me that comes out when working with him. Even when I am exceptionally tired, the Lord gives renewed strength for me to keep going. I absolutely love to hear the children laugh. It brings such delight to my soul. In the short clip below, you will see Billy Bunny really partaking of the key word of the night "FORGET" and applying his verse, "I will not forget thy Word..." Psalm 119:16. The clips to follow show some of Billy Bunny and other puppets with of course the help of our friends. If you want to see the whole show, you will just have to come to Tiny Trackers to see what all the fun and excitement is about!




In the clip below, we find Zacharias hearing from the angel, Gabriel. Gabriel tells Zacharias that his wife, Elizabeth, will give birth to a son even in her old age...Luke 1:5-25...of course, Zacharias, finds this hard to believe. The Word of the Night for this Tiny Trackers was "ASK" to go with their verse, "If...my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you" John 15:7.



Zacharias' wife, Elizabeth, is quite a character in puppet form. We thought you might enjoy seeing a little of her humorous qualities.



Some of our puppet friends include Beatrice Sheep and Kyle Coyote. Here is a little segment of their interaction leading into the word of the night, "ASK."



When I have the opportunity, I will take some pictures and video of our mascot puppets, Tiny and Tracy. This will keep you checking back on more of the action. For now, I leave you with a clip of our Natty and Marie which includes their Wednesday night ritual of running around the car instead of getting in it and singing "Tiny Trackers."