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…
I wish I could claim that statement. But it’s not mine. You’ll find it here…
This week I’m participating in a book study of Nancy Beach’s book, Gifted to Lead. This is a rich book addressing the challenges of women in ministry leadership. It’s well presented and I highly recommend the read.
If you’re a woman in ministry (volunteer or paid) or if you’re a man working with women ministry (volunteer or paid)… grab this book, dig in and have a rich conversation. It will be well worth your time.
I learned a lot and have many notes to digest. Today I only want to focus on two statements that I’m still chewing on…
80% of young adults at 18 yrs old walk away from the church even after years of faithful attendance growing up.
80% of young adults 18-23 yrs old believe they have a personal responsibility to meet the needs of those less fortunate.
Interesting to me that people who feel such responsibility to clothe the naked and feed the hungry are walking away from the vehicle God intended for those actions.
Check me out doing this all in sequence. What’s up with that?!? Usually I toss in a few random posts just to keep you guessing. Not so, this time. Let’s keep rolling. If you missed the first two, you can catch up here.
Skill #3: Dialogue with God
The environments created at home and at church will be one of the first places children and teenagers learn to pray
Talking with God is not a difficult thing to demonstrate. Actually doing it is the secret. Though mealtime prayers are a ritual in many homes; breakfast, lunch and dinner are not the only times to dialogue with God. We don’t stop talking to our kids at breakfast, do we?
Here’s a fun idea to establish a habit of prayer with your kids:
Every time the bell rings at school, just say hello to God.
It draws them back to a focus on Him and encourages an opportunity to talk with Him.
As a Christ-follower, what could serve as a constant reminder to just say hello to God?
As a parent, ministry leader/volunteer, what ideas do you have that would teach a Christ-follower the habit of dialogue with God?
I’ll leave you with this little nugget. Who could resist.
Encourage children to memorize scripture so they can remember it and apply it in everyday situations
Knowing how critical the demonstration of parents and volunteers can be, it only makes sense that we lead the way in scripture memorization. And yet I slack significantly here.
I’m inspired to 2 action steps:
Lead my kids in memorization by doing it also rather than just expecting them to do it
Lead my volunteers to memorization to increase their effectiveness/encouragement
As a parent/volunteer/mentor to kids… how would you rate yourself on personalizing scripture?
Tonight I spoke with a group of parents participating in our Child Dedication experience. This is how I feel after I speak to a crowd. I’m highly critical of myself and typically battle insecurity in the aftermath.
I’ve learned to pray for the things God was in to ‘stick’ and the things God was not in to fall away and be forgotten. (like my cracks about Oprah parenting tips!)
Please pray for our families. Pray that God would inspire His vision for His glory.
Thank you, friends, for all your prayer, comments and support.
If you’re looking for a solid resource to inspire you in kids ministry, K! mag is a great place to start. You can check out the entire mag online (including Sam’s article)here.
Reggie’s book has been a long time coming. If you’ve seen his dvd, Essence of Orange, you’ll want to read this.
(If you haven’t seen the dvd, Essence of Orange, you still want to read this book. But here is what I have to say to you, “STOP! Do not pass Go. Do not collect $200. Watch that dvd!”)
Reggie’s book won’t officially release to the public until June but will be available for purchase at the Orange Conference next week!
I have the privilege of giving away a free, signed copy of the book this week! (signed by Reggie, not me)
So, here’s what I’m thinking…
I plan to squeeze every ounce out of the Orange Conference 2009. So, if you’re in ministry and unable to attend OR you’re a parent in LifeKIDS.tv, what can I bring back to you?
Leave your responses below. Winner will be announced Friday 12pm!
This time next week I’ll be in pre-conference sessions at Orange.
I can’t wait!
Here’s what I’m looking forward to:
Connecting: There are so many talented people in ministry converging in Atlanta for 4 days. I’m ready to meet as many as possible. Click here for a list of people attending the Bloggers Lounge.
Dreaming: Conferences are all about the “what if?” for me. I love to get out of the normal routine and hear from amazing leaders. The perfect ingredients for dreaming.
Investing: I’m attending with a few friends. One that I spend time with often, the other not as often. Look forward to investing in these friendships a little more.
Recuperating: Dave Ramsey’s Town Hall for Hope is Thursday. There will be a few late nights this week getting prepared. I’ll probably be sleeping on the plane. If you see me drooling in my seat… just pass on by.
