Days are getting shorter. Cool air has arrived. Kids can be found crowding the school aisles at Target and Walmart. And parents can be found with a gleam in their eye, a determined- to- get- back -on- track attitude, and an eerie excitement that's haunting their vocabulary! It's time for BACK TO SCHOOL.

This month, we want to explore every avenue to help you get ready to send the kiddos back ... including finances, praying for teachers, and after school snacks.

Get ready ... get set .... school starts.

September 2015

Executive Director, Kathy Weckwerth

Back to School

Founder & Executive Director

Kathy A. Weckwerth

I'm the mom of three girls and three adorable grandbabies and I know exactly what it's like to be getting ready for school.

When the girls were little, they would moan and groan as soon as the air would cool down and I'd say gleefully, "It feels like back to school weather!"

We learned in the busyness of life, that we need to have a plan for the week, or we'd never make it! We put the 3 P's in place:

PRAY ... PLAN ... PREPARE.

1. Each night we'd pray for the week ahead.

2. We'd leave the backpacks ready to go by the front door.

3. Each girl would lay her clothes and shoes out for the next day.

4. I always packed lunches right after supper.

5. We made sure that we reviewed the calendar for the week each Sunday night.

Saturdays were kept for fun and Sundays were kept for rest.

Each morning, I prayed over my girls. If I forgot or they raced out the door, one of us would remember.

Get your child ready for school by eliminating stress and creating a pattern of love, patience, and preparation!

Blessings on the new school year!

Kathy

Back to School Snacks

We got this idea from Pinterest and loved it!

Mix together in a large bowl:

1 large bag m&ms

1 box letter and number crackers

1 box scrabble crackers (Cheez- It)

1 bag pretzels (for the letter I and letter O)

1 box Alphabets cereal

1 bag Alphabet cookies (Trader Joe's)

Mix together. Store in a tight container in

Kathy's New 10 week Bible Study is available now!!

Filled with personal stories from Kathy's life that interweave with Joseph's story from the book of Genesis, this Bible study will encourage you to persevere through trials, learn from other people's mistreatment, and trust God through everything!

Great for personal devotions or with a study group.

$12.99 each or $9.99 for 10 or more books.

Order yours today at Kathy's New Joseph Book

Money Matters With Valerie McKay: Money Lessons for Kids

Unfortunately our schools lack curriculum in basic money management skills. It is important that we teach our children how to manage their finances from a young age, so they develop habits to become fiscally responsible adults. Although some of us were not taught these skills when we were children, it is never too late to teach our children these valuable techniques for managing money.

First, start with the concept of earning money. Face it, most of us will not just be handed money for the rest of our lives, but rather are expected to earn our income. Either weekly allowances or commissions based on extra chores is a way to teach kids the correlation between working at something and earning a wage. As a parent, you will determine an allowance amount or commission for chores and discuss it with your children. A popular method is to give a child a weekly allowance based on their age: for example a 5 year old gets 5 dollars a week, and a 10 year old gets 10 dollars a week. But you can determine this based on your own budget and what is reasonable for your family. It is not too early to start a toddler with age appropriate chores like picking up their toys and putting in the toy box and giving them a coin for this effort, pointing out the association between doing some or job to receiving compensation.

A very popular method for teaching children about money management is the concept of splitting their earnings into 3 buckets: Spend, Save, and Share. It starts with 3 containers, either jars, piggy banks, envelopes, marked each with Spend, Save and Share. Discuss an appropriate split of their allowance into each container. For example, 20% goes to Share, 30% goes to Save and 50% goes to Spend. Each time the child receives a payment or gift of money, they deposit the funds based on the determined split into the containers.

This method gives a parent the opportunity to discuss with your child the important concepts of saving up for more expensive items vs. spending money all at one time. Maybe the split of funds into the containers will change based on saving goals or the child. The method also teaches the child a valuable lesson that even though he or she may not have a lot of money, there are always those less fortunate to share with. The Share jar can be used for donations to churches and in combination with volunteer service. For instance, the share jar money may be used to buy food for a local food shelf, and volunteer to pack bags for an hour or two with your child. As we know there are countless opportunities to share our time and money with those in need.

I encourage you to explore information on the internet regarding money management for kids.

Dave Ramsey at DaveRamsey.com has a host of valuable material including books, blogs and videos on the subject.

Check out SesameStreet.org for a parents guide to teaching financial lessons to kids including free downloads of Jar Wrap templates that the younger kids can color and adhere to their 3 jars. This can help create a sense of ownership and pride in the process.

Let's work together to make the next generation financially wise.

Gluten Free Monster Cookies

Ingredients:

1 cup sugar

1 1/4 cups brown sugar
1 stick butter (1/2 cup)

3 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp light corn syrup
1 3/4 cups peanut butter

3/4 c. Spanish peanuts
2 tsp soda

4 1/2 c. Red Mill's Gluten Free Oatmeal

1 c. chocolate chips

1 cup m&ms
1/2 tsp salt

Mix together first 9 ingredients with mixer. Stir in oatmeal,chocolate chips, m&ms, peanuts by hand.
Drop onto parchment paper with 1" cookie scoop. Sprinkle m&ms on top.

Bake at 325 F for 15 to 20 minutes. Watch carefully. Remove when insides are just a slight bit gooey..
Do not over bake or as they cool they will get too hard! Serve to kids for great healthy snack with glass of milk.

Looking for encouragement for your everyday life? Tune in to our podcast for YOUR BEST with Kathy Weckwerth

Find it at ITUNES-Kathy Weckwerth YOUR BEST

and

at KSCR Benson at

http://www.935kscr.com/#!yourbest/cx7e

This month:

Kathleen Sogge-Kathleen's Corner

Tony Guerreo-Everyday Worship

Pastor Frank Riley-Powerful Promises

Pastor Lewie Schultz-Powerful Promises

Sheri Pearson-Inspiration

Dr. Deb-Healthy Living

Dr. Justin-Healthy Living

Rob Proper-Movie Critic

Cindy Morgan-Worship Artist

Tune in each week to hear inspiration and motivation from our Best Life staff. Interviews, movie reviews, health advice, worship interviews and more!

YOUR BEST RADIO - Everyday Radio for Everyday People

Top 5 things to

Pray For Your Children's Teacher(s)

One of the best ways we can help our children have a successful school year is to pray for their teachers. Ever thought about it? Your child is spending an average of 943 hours a year in the classroom with their teacher (s). Because this is where they're learning and growing, let's spend time thinking about that

person (s) they'll spend the most time with!

PRAY

1. Pray for PEACE- the classroom is made up of lots of children with lots of idea, opinions and attitudes. Let's pray for a spirit of peace to rest on the classrooms.

2. Pray for ENERGY-we know that each day we find ourselves overwhelmed with the family, cooking, the job, the after school activities and church events. Why would we think that our teachers wouldn't experience those same feelings? Let's pray that God will infuse our teachers with energy.

3. Pray for WISDOM- Each day we are given decisions to make. Those decisions affect our lives in many ways. Teachers are choosing what to say, what to do, what to teach. In today's world where things are no longer black and white, being a teacher is a difficult task. Let's pray that God will grant our teachers wisdom.

4. Pray for UNITY- Whenever you put lots of children together, you have many dynamics. With a change in culture and a shift towards violence and bullying, we need to pray for our classrooms to have a spirit of unity! Let's ask God to protect our children and give the teacher an ability to provide unity within her classrooms and teach children to give each other respect.

5. Pray for FAMILY- We don't think about it. We think about ourselves and our own children and grandchildren, but most likely our teachers have families of their own! They're getting their own children ready for school, packing lunches, and dropping off at the bus stop. Let's pray for the teacher's marriage and their families!

I believe when we pray for our teachers, we'll see things change for the better! Start joining me in prayer!

Where Kathy Will Be Speaking

Wednesday, September 9, 6:00 p.m. East River Electric's Annual Event, Sioux Falls, South Dakota

Thursday, September 10, 9-3, Big Stone Bible Camp Annual Event, Ortonville, MN

Saturday, September 12th, 8:30-11:30 Best Life Ministries Women's Leadership Event, Benson, MN

Saturday, September 19th, 8:30-3:00 Best Life Ministries Conference, Hutchinson, MN

Thursday, September 24th, 1:15 Fron Lutheran Ladies Group, Church in the Grove, Benson, MN

Saturday, September 26, 8:30-3:00 Best Life Ministries Conference, Faribault, MN

Wednesday, October 14, 11:30 a.m. UCAN, Inc. (United Communities Advocating Non-Violence)

Saturday, October 17, 6:00 p.m. Church in the Grove

Monday, November 9, 11:45 a.m. Our Savior's Lutheran Church, Montevideo, MN

Saturday, November 21, 6:00 p.m. Church in the Grove

Sunday, November 29, 2015 2:00 p.m. Advent Christmas Tea, Trinity Lutheran Church, Benson, MN

Saturday, December 12, 2015 6:00 p.m. Heritage Hills Christmas Party

Thursday, December 24, 2015 11:00 p.m. Candlelight Christmas Eve Service (speaking & music) Church in the Grove

Would you like to hire Kathy for your next event? Call #320-316-3338 to book her!

BLM's 2016 CONFERENCE Topic is BLAZE YOUR TRAIL

WE ARE BOOKING CONFERENCES Right Now! NEED US TO COME TO YOU?

Bring our conference to your location! $50.00 referral fee to anyone who refers us to a church who delivers an event.

Do you ever feel God calling you to something new, something different, something challenging!

This year's conference will explore when God calls us to things we don't feel equipped to handle ... where do we find our confidence? Where do we find our courage? Where do we find our wisdom? How do we do it?

New workshop classes include: Finding Your Trail & Blazing It, Celebrating God Through Psalm 119, Every Woman Needs God, Living Your Best With Authentic Prayer, Reconciliation, Developing a Strong Marriage and Letting Go of Fear and Worry.

Tickets this year are $35.00 for a day with us. Connect with Executive Director, Kathy Weckwerth for questions or to book your women's event!

Kathy's email

Upcoming Conferences for 2015:

Saturday, September 19-St. John's of Biscay, Hutchinson, MN

Saturday, September 26-Peace Lutheran, Faribault, MN

Saturday, October 3-Calvary Community, Nebraska City, NE

Saturday, November 14-New Joy Church, Rogers, MN

This month, take some time to enjoy the fun things in life! Make time to create your own list of favorites.

Keep in touch with us via our facebook page: BLM facebook for encouraging help.

You can find out more about Best Life Ministries by visiting our website at www.bestlifeministries.com or
kathyweckwerth.com

Remember, it's never too late to make changes.

Start today. Start living your best life!