I’m pretty excited.

We’re launching a new series in Toon Town and Studio 45 called Take A Hike. 

It’s a 5 week series designed to teach kids about living a life of prayer.  

So, I want to suggest a few follow up ‘tools’ parents could integrate at home.  Here is what I have so far.

• Power of a Praying Kid (Omartian) - much like Stormie’s previous books, this one actually leads kids through regular prayers.
• Prayer Saturated Kids (Sacks & Lawrence) – this book helps parents learn how and why they want to lead their child toward a life of prayer.

Anyone out there have other suggested tools?  (i.e. websites, books, etc) 

it’s good friday

the day Jesus was arrested, tried, beaten within an inch of His life, crucified on a cross and placed inside a borrowed tomb.

crazy that the part of that i’m more focused on right now is the borrowed tomb.  Jesus didn’t own anything.  and neither do i.

i exist in a borrowed body, living a life provided by Someone Else.  it’s not mine.

the air i breathe comes from Him.  my provisions come from Him.  my relationships come from Him.

none of it is mine.

so today i sit here and remember that my time spent here on earth is borrowed time.  and i need to make the most of it.

so with all that in mind, i only have two prayer requests today:

• that as my friends’ father prepares to die, he would finally say yes to Jesus
• that my sister would surrender her life to her Savior

so, last weekend chris beall spoke to lifechurch.tv.

probably one of the most challenging messages i’ve heard in a long time.

all because of one statement. chris talked about a table he built himself. although it appears to be a simple table, appearances don’t tell you what went into it’s creation. only chris can tell you about the type of wood he chose, the type of joints he fashioned, etc. only chris can tell you what this simple table is capable of based upon its design.

then the applicable shift…

“you don’t know what you’re capable of. you didn’t make you.”

that line hit me like a ton of bricks.

how many times have i thought, “i can’t take this anymore. i can’t do this. etc, etc.”

how do i know what i’m capable of. i didn’t make me.

God made me. and He knows exactly what i’m capable of enduring, producing, and even conquering.

click here to see what i’m talking about.

thanks, chris. God is awesome through you.

I met my friend, Laura, at the gym for a spin class this morning.  I haven’t taken a spin class in over a year.

My body is spent, but I feel good.

endorphines

if they could stick that in a syringe, i’d be a junky

Interesting that I’m reading through the early chapters of Judges right now. Gideon’s story was on the agenda today. Why is that interesting?

Because we’re a few days away from the biggest attended weekend of the year. Easter.

We’ve got an amazing team of volunteers that serve on a weekly basis in LifeKIDS. But family plans can take them away on a holiday weekend. Though God always provides and everything always works out in the end… there is no lack of ‘nail-biting’ moments.

Reading through Gideon’s story , the thing that stuck out to me was not that God pared down Gideon’s army so dramatically… but how He did it. Now, for those of you that already knew this… bear with me. I’m slow on the take.

First, God tells Gideon to let any of those that were afraid to fight go home. That offer cut Gideon’s army by 22,000 men. That’s significant. But there’s the question I’d never asked before. Why were they afraid to fight? Why would 22,000 men abandon the battle? Man up, right?

It may be that the Israelites didn’t have weapons. All they had were pot shards, torches and trumpets. So, I guess 22,000 men bailing out an a battle against guys with actual swords makes a little more sense.

But, it’s the second pare down process that really intrigued me.

God looks at the 10,000 men remaining and thinks that’s still too many. So, He has Gideon lead the men to a stream where he’s instructed to observe the men that cup their hands to drink the water vs. those that bend down and drink. Why the diff?

I’m curious. If it has anything to do with the Jewish customs that the Israelites adhered to so vehemently, then using your hand to drink water is no sign of godliness. The Israelites were highly concerned about all things that entered their bodies. So, washing hands was a regular part of their daily routine. Not so much b/c they knew anything about germs. But they believed anything entering their body had to be pure. Dirty hands aren’t pure. And any food or drink that touches your dirty hands is not pure. Get the picture?

So, why would God choose the men that used their hands to drink, rather than the more pious men that did not?

God made it clear to Gideon that He wanted to make sure the Israelites did not take credit for the victory God was handing them. Not only would He lead the Israelites to attack an army 10x it’s size with no weapons… but He did it using the less than religious of the bunch. So, the victory clearly could not be attributed to the devout Israelites. The victory could only be ascribed to a miraculous movement of God.

So, that gives me hope for Easter weekend.

Why?

Because the army is small, our weapons are few… and I’m not very pious.

I’m not the perfect mom.

Anyone who reads this blog knows that.

But I’m amazed by the measuring stick I use to gauge my ‘Mother of the Year’ ranking. In fact, according to my measuring stick I rarely pass muster. Why?

Because my measuring stick is a conglomeration of the assumptions I make of all the mom’s around me. I’m great at assumptions. And yes… I know the definition of assume.

All my ‘mom’ friends laugh at the antics of their adorable kids, as if their child has redefined cute. My ‘mom’ friends never run late… but IF they do, it’s simply due to a snafu that morning and isn’t a curse that plagues them no matter what time they rise in the morning. (Which, by the way, is always before dawn… b/c they are Proverbs 31 women, you know.) My ‘mom’ friends spend their evenings in peaceful tranquility b/c nary a cross word is spoken in their home. Certainly a voice is never raised.

Are you laughing yet?

I grew up in front of the boob-tube. My mother never acted like the moms on t.v. Growing up, I assumed that my mom was not the norm. That everyone else had moms like the ones on the other side of the screen. But I have to remember that June Cleaver no longer sets the standard for motherhood, Claire Huxstable only parented 30 minutes at a time, and Jane Jetson was a cartoon.

So… I think my ‘mom’ friends are not as glorious as I make them out to be. And the moms inside the one-eyed monster just aren’t real.

The What Up at OKC:

• We’re entering week 2 of new series called LOST.  Story about a little boy that loses his dog.  The fun part was hanging LOST posters around the kids space.  The posters look so legit, parents and kids really thought we were searching for a lost dog.  Even cooler… we set up a 1-800 number for the kids to call.  When they call in, the kids listen to a special message.  We’re tracking the number of calls.  Big hit, so far!
• We had a MicroMission at the church last night.  As we gear up for Easter, we’ve got some creative invite tools for everyone to use when inviting people to church.  The tools came with some assembly required.  That’s where our kids come in.  We invited them to the church with their parents to help assemble the invites.  We intentionally make it a part of this big invite push and we make sure the kids know they are part of the impact.
• Vision infusion is my primary focus, right now.  As a ministry leader, what methods do you use to re-infuse your volunteers with the Big Picture?

At the crashpad:

• Slow blogging week.  I spent the better part of the past two days at the hospital with one of my families.  Their 2-year-old so sick and doctors running test after test trying to figure out the problem.  It has a way of bringing your to your knees in ways you never imagine.  Jonathon is doing better today and will leave the hospital next week.  Praise God!
• On that note… I have a new appreciation for my 2-year-old and his antics.
• Our LifeGroup is reading through John.  We had a few epiphanies with Chapter 1.  My hubby blogs about it here.

Blogs to check out:

• Rindy Walton is a woman I learn a lot from.  She’s got amazing experience as a mom and God is taking her through a refining season right now.  Her response inspires me.  Read what she has to say about life.
• My friend Robyn just started blogging.  Robyn leads LifeKIDS at the Tulsa LC Campus.  She’s got a goose-bump story.  Give her a shout-out and welcome her to the blogging universe.

Have a fun weekend.  Ban the cartoons and get outside!

See you Monday.

The recurring statement heard countless times in the span of 20 minutes.

Just another part of the evening routine.

Yet my daughter still drinks the bathwater.

There seems to be a disconnect between her understanding of the benefits of drinking the bathwater vs. NOT drinking the bathwater.

Thus the conversation ensues…

Mom: “Josie, did you play with Brutus in the backyard today?”

Josie: “Yes”

Mom: “Were you on the ground?”

Josie: “Yes”

Mom: “So, you were on the ground in the grass where Brutus pees, right?”

Josie (hesitantly): “Yeah”

Mom: “What that means is all the germs from the pee-stained grass were on your body when you got in the bathtub. And those germs are now floating in that water you keep drinking. So, really… you’re drinking Brutus’ pee.”

As her face falls, I know she understands what I’m saying.

And just in time, Connor swoops in to further prove my point. Sitting next to her in the bathtub, he cries, “I pee, mommy! I pee!”.

I rest my case.

One of the biggest challenges in kids ministry is communication to parents.

Most parents want to be informed. Most kids ministries wish to inform. But there is a disconnect I’ve not comprehensively bridged yet. I’m hoping you can help me out.

• How often to you expect communication from your kids pastor?
• What form? Email, Snail Mail, Website, etc?
• Do you like it in frequent tidbits? Or less frequent chunks?
• What is your expectation?
  • Is it… Information about the content of your child’s service? (i.e. ‘Here is what we learned today…’)
  • Or… Big picture tools and/or activities to implement at home? (i.e. ‘We’re focused on the miracles of Jesus this month. Here are some great resources to use with your child at home’.)
• How often do you seek out tools to use in your child’s spiritual development? (i.e. books, devotionals, games, etc)
• What question would you add to this list?

Please let me know your thoughts. Your feedback will help me significantly improve the partnership between kids ministry and parents.

So I’m entering year 2 of blogging. Thought I’d start with a new look.

The banner features a common moment in the life of my 2-year-old… coloring.

I’m still figuring out the new format.

Feedback is appreciated!