First the Warning
As you survey your spiritual journey, you should occasionally examine your use of time. One area in which most of us have dramatically continued to increase our usage time is time spent online. It is wonderful to be in contact with distant friends and family; to send folks jokes, inspiring stories, and articles of interest; to share family photos; to share prayer concerns; to arrange meetings and conduct church business; to play games, and, of course, to surf the net. But I also find that some days I'm spending way too much time just hunkered down at the computer. It can be an addiction. This is also a topic to discuss with your Sprouts kids. As Christian disciples, how we spend our time is important. Every "yes" is also a "no" in terms of who we are and what we do. How much and what children and youth watch on TV and at the movies is a serious subject. So is how much time they spend at their computers and what they're doing during that time. And then there are those interesting but possibly risky "chat rooms." This could be a good topic for a gathering of Sprouts and their parents and certainly a possibility for covenant clauses in the area of Devotion and Spiritual Growth or for personal covenants. Sponsoring programs in the church to educate children and parents on Internet safety could be an Act of Kindness or even Justice.

Now the Encouragement
If you haven't been to the Discipleship Ministries page of the General Board of Discipleship website lately, I suggest you check it out. Some of you may already be reading the Covenant Discipleship Quarterly online. Be sure to also read the latest issue of the Information: Children's Ministries newsletter at www.gbod.org/children/information/f04. There is a wonderful article about why we should teach mission to children by Shirley A. Wu, Executive Secretary for Resourcing Emerging Churches, General Board of Global Ministries. It speaks directly to what we should be doing in Works of Caring in Sprouts and supports the importance of the balance of discipleship in Sprouts. She lists four basic needs for spiritual growth, all of which are met in Sprouts:

The need to be loved and to love
The need for security and trust
The need for acceptance and forgiveness
The need to achieve and to serve

I encourage you to read this informative, encouraging article and relate it to Sprouts (and to covenant discipleship for adults). Also in this issue of the newsletter is information about the United Methodist Children's Fund for Christian Mission, a joint project of the General Board of Global Ministries and the General Board of Discipleship. If you aren't aware of this ministry, you might want to find out more and consider participating. The General Board of Discipleship site is an excellent example of how easy it is to spend lots of time online. It is full of helpful information for local congregations and conference leaders!

About That Need for Security and Trust
I am writing this during the last week of October. I live in Florida. That puts me smack in between four hurricanes and the presidential election. I don't know what will happen next week in terms of the vote and possibilities of disputes or recounts (but I can assure you that it is a hot topic here). I do know that the children of this state are well aware that life can be dangerous, scary, and uncertain and that adults can be frightened by the fury of nature and angry and emotional about that thing called "politics." And I know that the print and electronic media have brought images of all this to every family in America and around the world. Many of you might have seen photos of the church steeple impaled in the choir loft or other dreadful photos of destruction from the hurricanes in Florida, other states, and the Caribbean. We are reminded that the local church and children are not immune from what is going on around us. Sprouts is an appropriate place to help children deal with their feelings about all this, to discuss the theological implications, and to encourage them to respond in helpful ways. They can learn they are not alone or helpless and that they are called to respond in loving ways to life's crises. From helping those in need to learning how to get along with those with whom we disagree, Sprouts can help children cope in these disturbing times.

Edie Genung Harris is a layperson in the Florida Annual Conference of The United Methodist Church and co-author (with Shirley Ramsey) of Sprouts.