Submitted by lisacoldiron on Tue, 09/08/2009 - 22:07
There is something magical about kids and pets, isn't there? It's quite extraordinary to watch. Kids can sit and watch ants going in and about their small dirt anthills for what seems like forever! They look intently at the eyes of their pet dog or cat and wonder why they look so sad that day. They delight in watching fish in a fish tank just swimming about. They are fully engrossed in the miracle of God's critters, happy just to watch in awe as they fly, crawl, swim or run. I imagine this is one of the reasons our good Lord created the many and varied creatures that He did; He wanted us to delight in His creations. Children do this so naturally!
I love watching Howard and Lenore completely absorbed in the simple beauty of a turtle. . . a quiet, slow moving, graceful turtle! I hope in the busyness of your day, you and your children will be blessed by watching them too!
Wonderful news! Grace Place Kids has a received the "Dove Family Approved" seal of approval, after the organization reviewed an advance copy of our upcoming DVD.
Since 1991, The Dove Foundation has been promoting family-friendly entertainment, basing their standards and criteria on Judeo/Christian values. They take a positive approach to impacting Hollywood by granting awards to wholesome content, rather than condemning filmmakers who don't meet those standards.
On Grace Place Kids:
"These colorful puppets will teach your children the great benefits of having God in their lives. Here is a collection of short stories along with songs of important lessons to live their life by. There are lessons about important topics like not being lonely because Jesus is always with you or being a light for Jesus. Kids will love to watch the 'Grace Place Kids', listen to their songs and learn fantastic values in faith. Everyone will enjoy the messages these puppets teach on this DVD along with the CD of fantastic songs. We award this faith base collection the Dove "Family-Approved" Seal for all ages."
The Grace Place Kids team is overwhelmed with excitement to receive this award. We'll be sure to let everyone know when we're accepting orders on the DVD. In the meantime, be sure to watch the episodes for free on our website!
We love getting fan mail here at Grace Place Kids. Nothing lifts our spirits more than a beautiful drawing like the one we received today. Thanks, Riley!!!
The Grace Place Kids gang got back in front of the camera this weekend (or just below the camera, haha). This time we got together to film the episode "Fishy Part II," where Drucilla gets a new pet fish. Lisa and I were musing about how blessed we are to be able to bring these episodes to life...and we couldn't do it without such a wonderful cast of talented friends. Check out these photos we took in between takes. It's definitely a lot of hard work to bring the puppets to life, but it's so rewarding when it all comes together. As you can see, we were all smiles :)
The Grace Place Kids gang has been enjoying the Summer sun. I recently took a trip out West to Spokane, Washington and couldn't help but bring Howard along. My uncle Ken was kind enough to show Howard how to saddle-up and ride a horse. Check out this video we made!
Submitted by lisacoldiron on Wed, 07/29/2009 - 23:06
Early this morning, Brian and I had a radio interview with Larry and Lorri in the Morning on FamilyNet.com. It was wonderful being given the opportunity to share Grace Place Kids on Sirius Radio. They were so gracious and genuinely excited about our work! They asked great questions and then played three of our songs for their audience! It was a thrill hearing our puppet-kids singing on such a well-respected network. Thanks be to God!
Of course, it's our hope that this little interview will help spread the word about GPK so that we can continue to write, put together and share our Lord's stories for children, but both Brian and I remember that this is God's work. . . GPK is God's work and we belong to Him. And so. . . we place it entirely in His hands. We ask His blessing upon our work, upon each other and upon each and every one of you! God bless you and thanks for checking in! We love sharing GPK with you!
I'm in the process of editing the upcoming episode "The Mustard Seed" which features our friends Howard and AJ as they learn about faith. The episode was inspired by Matthew 13:31, and also features the companion song "Mustard Seed" from our debut album. I can't wait to share the finished episode with you when it's ready. Meanwhile, check out this quick video I made while working on the show...
MUSTARD SEED
Featuring: A.J. and Howard
Music written by: Colvin Atiba Fields
Lyrics by: Lisa Thommes Coldiron
Instrumentation: Colvin Atiba Fields
Inspired by: Matthew 13:31-32
The smallest seed, the tiny little mustard seed. . . this is what our Lord chose to use as a description of the amount of faith we need to move mountains. Isn't that something? It's so tiny!
Boy, oh boy did we have a great time filming Grace Place today. Lisa made her usual trip up from Delaware to our studio headquarters in Manhattan (a.k.a. my apartment). She brought some of the cool hats and shirts that we've got in the works. Before we knew it, Amanda was at the door ready to lay down the vocals for the new song "Please Don't Bounce My Curls." It's always such a kick to hear her sing these songs; she brings so much to the performance!
The big news of the day is that I have acquired a Flip Mino Ultra HD camera. It's super convenient to carry around and it's great to be able to capture all the fun moments we have making the show. So, check out our first behind-the-scenes look at the making of Grace Place Kids!
Submitted by lisacoldiron on Mon, 07/13/2009 - 21:40
You know this time Howard really gets it right! He really, really gets it. He knows that if he waits in quiet, God will answer him. He knows that he knows that he knows God will answer him. And so he waits. . . and waits. . . and waits. . . in quiet. Isn't this truly the most difficult part of faith for us; the waiting? But, God always hears, and God always answers. Our problem is that we are usually just too busy to wait for the answer and so we push forward armed with our own agendas and our own fortitude. In turn, our good Lord waits and watches as we struggle and push and work with great effort all the while worrying and wondering why God hasn't answered our prayers. Quietly and ever so gently though, He is whispering into our hearts, "I am here, I am here, I am here, quiet down, slow down and let me help you. . . let me love you, let me carry you for a while." Maybe we can try to be a little more Howard-like this week, maybe we can offer our prayers to our good Lord, and then wait in the quiet for His answer with a trusting (child-like) heart that the prayer will be answered by an all-knowing, good and wonderful God. In so doing, I guess we'll be a little more like Gladys, who knows EXACTLY who she is, and EXACTLY who her God is! The key is, just don't stop knocking! God, in His goodness and omnipotence will take care of the rest.
Submitted by lisacoldiron on Mon, 07/06/2009 - 21:04
I'm just back from a weekend at the beach with my two young nieces (Caroline and Grace) and my four year old nephew, and God-son, Kevin. We swam in the ocean, went in and out of every single store on the boardwalk, took long walks on the beach collecting shells and talking, ate yummy food, shared stories, watched fireworks, buried our feet in the sand and just enjoyed every moment of our time together! What a gift from our Lord! Children. . . their joy, their innocence, their energy, their non-judgmental love. . . no wonder our Lord said, "Let the little children come to me, and do not stop them; for it is to such as these that the kingdom of God belongs." (Luke 18:16) They come with absolute faith, no questions or doubt. . .just perfect acceptance that this life God has given them is good and full. They find joy in every moment, big or small. They bring God's light everywhere they go.
At the end of the day, they wanted to sing for me. They wanted to get out their "Meet the Grace Place Kids" album and sing! And sing they did! They sang their hearts out! The girls wanted to sing like Lenore with her stuffy nose, they wanted to sound like Gladys on Knockin' Rockin', they wanted to add a "wof wof" rhythm to "Shine on Me" that they had made up, and then, 4-year old Kevin wanted to sing "My Hero" all by himself. Well, this was one of those moments in life that you know you just will never forget. To hear his sweet little voice singing, "He's my hero, my hero, my hero is God" moved each and every one of us to tears. I will always treasure that whole evening in my heart.
I'm going to try. . . to really, really try to become just like them in my faith. To come before our Lord with the faith of a child. To leave the worries, anxieties, and cares of this world completely in His care as I just curl up next to Him and let Him love me. I believe this is what He wants of us. I believe.
You Are The Light Of The World The boys are at it again. This time Howard is PUMPED about a newspaper hat he made, but AJ shows him how to get REALLY excited.
