Kyle and I have walked through Colossians 3 with Keegan & Josie for the past two weeks. It’s the scriptural focus of the message series, Road Trip, they’re watching in LifeKIDS each weekend. I love the fact that our family is focused on this one chapter in scripture. The time spent just reading together has been refreshing.
Since God chose you to be the holy people he loves, you must clothe yourselves with tenderhearted mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience... Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds us all together in perfect harmony. Col 12 & 14
I wish I could say this has been my demeanor the past few weeks. Yet I’m amazed at how difficult it has been to live this out. Ministry has been challenging, to put it lightly. It seems that the simplest of processes in kids ministry aren’t so simple right now. The level of patience, gentleness, and humility I’ve shown is less than I care to confess.
Why is it when I ask God to increase my patience, gentleness and humility… He likes to show me all the areas where it lacks the most?
I blogged a little about this yesterday. You can catch up here.
Consider the gifts God has placed in each of your family members…
Imagine these gifts engaged on a mission…
Imagine your family embracing a cause…
There are community mission opportunities to engage your family. Some coordinated by your local church. Some waiting to be coordinated by you.
Where can you take a group of families to engage with your community this June?
Featured here are friends who saw an unmet need in their community and were brave enough to do something about. These are amazing people. Take a click and see where God leads you…
Every team needs something to rally around. A goal that can only be achieved together.
Winning the Championship… Earning a Top Honor… Defeating a Record
These are accomplished when a team unites, focuses on a goal and attacks it together.
Families are teams.
Just as a sports team works together, each one contributing their individual talents, your family can work together to accomplish more than you could ever ask, think or imagine.
Imagine what would happen if families viewed their world through a missional lens. Imagine a family rallied around a cause. Their own personal ‘Championship’ to attain. Imagine what lengths they’ll go to build lasting, meaningful relationships.
Here is #3 of the 5 Parenting Skills. If you want to catch up click here.
Parenting Skill #3 is:
Create a Rhythm
Deuteronomy 6: 6-7 says, “Get them inside of you and then get them inside your children. Talk about them wherever you are, sitting at home or walking in the street…”
Create rhythms (or habits) in your home. Rhythms are the constant themes that weave your family together. One example of a rhythm is family time. Time together as a family is easy to do when the kids are young. As they grow older, there are other things that fight for their time like friends, school, athletics, and other activities. Increase the quantity of quality time. Create the habit of spending time together.
If you are the strongest influence in your child’s life then you’ve got to create the time to be that influence.
Your kids will have questions. They’re looking for someone to ask. Increase the chances they’ll ask you. Create rhythms (or habits) where you have opportunity to talk about what God is doing.
Kenny Conley is the Next Generation Pastor of Gateway Community Church in Austin, Tx. True to Texas, Kenny thinks BIG. I’ve yet to hear anything out of Kenny’s mouth that isn’t bigger than all of us put together. He’s joining Jabberfrog today to share glimpse of what God has done inside of him lately. Enjoy, comment, then skip over to his blog, Children’s Ministry Online, for more.
Hello. My name is Kenny and I’m a Sabbath Skipper.
I’ve known better for years, but I habitually work on the Sabbath. It wasn’t until just a few weeks ago that I realized how out of control I was and began to put guidelines back into my life concerning the Sabbath. Actually I jumped into a small group of other men on staff and we’re on a Bible reading plan. While we were in the books of the Law, the thing that convicted us the most was the importance of the Sabbath and how pitiful we all were at celebrating it. Being in ministry, we’re all busy with really good things. Unfortunately our family was taking a back seat to unrealistic and out of control schedules.
For us, we first had to recognize what our Sabbath was. Sunday is a workday, so it wouldn’t be fair to our families if that was our Sabbath. We chose to go OT style and do the sundown on Friday to sundown on Saturday. It was a schedule that allowed us to have a full 24 hours with our families without school or work getting in the way. It also gave us flexibility to start ramping up for work again on Saturday night. We then surrounded each other with accountability, making sure we’re all celebrating the Sabbath.
I’m five weeks into my new practice and I’ve only blown it one weekend. Here is what I’ve learned:
I’m just as productive as I was before. I’ve got the same about of work, but I seem to be getting it done in one less day of work. Who knew. I think it’s like the tithe. For many people it is a step of faith to first begin giving that 10% and they have to trust God with the tithe. When choosing to celebrate the sabbath, you have to trust that God will multiply your ability to get everything done with one less day to work.
Celebrating the Sabbath changes the way I work during the week. Every day I’m thinking about that Sabbath and and prioritizing my week so that when Thursday comes, I’m able to wrap up what needs to be done for that week. I’ve found that it has helped me become more efficient.
I’m happier. Seriously, I’m less stressed, I feel more confident about the direction we’re going and I’m having such a blast with my family on my days off. My relationship with my wife is better and I’m making great memories with my family.
It’s funny how as pastors, we’re sure to tithe and stress how important it is for others to follow this suggestion, yet so many of us totally neglect taking a Sabbath rest. The irony of it all is that taking the Sabbath rest is one of the ten commandments, which is pretty important.
So, schedule your next Sabbath rest day. Enjoy it and be sure to honor God this way!
Last week I posted about hooks in ministry. Read it here to catch up.
Hooks are important in ministry b/c most people know what they want, but don’t know what they need. I need a good hook to gain parents’ attention in order to expand their vision for their family. The best hook in my tackle box for a young family is Child Dedications.
Child Dedications is a natural draw because:
It’s the ’shiny’ moment where the parents showcase their child/family.
Parents want to express their sincere intent to do what is best for their child.
Parents are hungry for direction.
How do we know parents are hungry?
They’ll pay $25 for the book, “What to Expect When Expecting”
They study the origins of names searching for the perfect one
They’ll tour the hospital BEFORE giving birth to their first-born
For the record… once you reach child #3… things change a little:
That $25 book becomes a booster seat for the toddler
Your kindergartner chooses the name based upon his favorite movie character. And that’s how you have a child named Jack-Jack
The hospital tour occurs while you’re pacing the halls in the midst of labor
But I digress. Back to my point… Parents are willing to jump through a few hoops to participate in an event like Child Dedications. So it should be more than just an isolated event. Child Dedications should be a process that lead mom and dad to embrace a God-sized vision for their family. I’ll unpack my process for Child Dedications, but I’d like to hear your thoughts first. No lurking. What’s the most important thing you want parents to know when they walk away from your Child Dedication event?
I can be creative with the term. When it comes down to it, the goal is the same. Create an entry point to my ministry inserting the participant on a journey. A pilgrimage toward loving the Lord their God with all their heart, mind and strength… and loving others more than they love themselves. If I’m honest I’ll be on this pilgrimage for as long as I draw breath.
The process has been on my mind a lot lately. Grasping a God-sized vision for families in my ministry… in my community. What are the entry points that will attract their attention, capture their imagination, then engage them on a journey to willingly and deliberately live their lives differently?
My current hook is Child Dedications. I’ll share some of my thoughts over a series of scattered posts. (I’m not trapped by linear thinking ) They’ll all fall under the category titled Child Dedications, so click on the category link and you’ll be up to date.
More on the discussion on David Staal’s book, Words Kids Need to Hear, there are 7 things my kids need to hear from me.
#3…
“I Treasure You”
Here are my take-aways…
Kids long to feel special
Parents can share the words “I treasure you” in countless ways and with consistent frequency because the message does not need to wait for new reasons.
Keep it simple: the longer the message, the lower the comprehension
…simple heartfelt messages offered on an ongoing basis penetrate deeply and become part of an internal belief system
When you say “I treasure you” inside a moment that includes only you and your child, you eliminate much of the temptation for comparison with others
Continuing the discussion on David Staal’s book, Words Kids Need to Hear, there are 7 things my kids need to hear from me.
#2…
“You Can Count On Me”
…become great at keeping commitments to your child. Big or small. Short term or long term.
Our children benefit more from our ability to be ‘present’ than they do from being rushed off to one more activity. Try to slow down.
Sometimes words kids really need to hear are those they say to a parent willing to listen.
National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse says teens from families that almost never eat dinner together are 72% more likely than an average teen to use illegal drugs, cigarettes and alcohol.
) They’ll all fall under the category titled Child Dedications, so click on the category link and you’ll be up to date. 
