Each spring thoughts of fall ministry with Sunday school, weekly programming, special events and the Children’s Ministry Dream Team God has planned to gather begins to take up great space in my head, my heart, and my prayers. Inviting others to join a team of Jesus’ disciples to disciple little people (and themselves in the process) thrills this Jesus gal to the bone. I fully understand how difficult it is to ask folks to make a commitment for the fall a full six months ahead of time, but it’s that intentionality that has saved me from taking on more than I should when I had little people and a family to take care of. It helped us keep our family priorities.

We had a Reilly family tradition which called everyone (kids and adults) to decide by Memorial Day what we’d commit to for the next school year as a family. Negotiations took place to be sure we were best able to balance our calendars, our finances, and our heads. This resulted in a gift of reminding everyone in the family of our mutual commitment to our discipleship and relationship with Jesus and the local church as our priority. This was far from a formal meeting and more like multiple  mini-conversations in the car, around the dinner table, and while doing laundry. There was plenty of time for PTA, marching band, drama plays, school, soccer, and vacation time, but only as it worked around our priority of discipleship. Wouldn’t I want to provide the same healthy habit for the families I serve in the local church?

This last Sunday, we attached a ‘Intention Postcard’ to the copies of Sunday school lessons. I’ll begin passing them out as other regular programming takes place in the next two weeks, as well.

Thank you for serving on the McEachern Kids Dream Team this school year with your presence, your preparation, your faithfulness, your smile, your joy and so much more. It is with great appreciation that we wish for you to take a jubilee…a time of rest and refreshment…this summer for June and July.

You were an answer to prayer when you said, “Yes!” to serve this year and I can’t thank you enough.  As we begin to pray and prepare for the next school year, we humbly ask you to prayerfully consider how and where you wish to continue serving on the McEachern Kids Dream Team come August.

Please return this card to me by the first day of spring, March 20.

• I want to stay with this grade level in Sunday school.
• I want to stay in my role in Sunday school, but with another grade level. ______
• I want to loop-up with my current class to the next grade level.
• I want to begin to lead a Sunday school class (one month on, one month off)
• I want to stay in my role in Children’s Church
• I want to stay in my role in Well-Versed Kids
• I want to begin serving in Children’s Church
• I want to begin serving in Well-Versed Kids
• I want to stay in my role in Glee Club/Cherub Choir
• I want to begin serving in Glee Club/Cherub Choir (program 5:45-6:30pm on most Wednesdays)
• I want to begin serving in the new CLUB345 on Sunday evenings beginning in August
• I want to take a year off
• I want to serve and I’ve got an idea!

_____________________________________ (please print your name)

How will you invite your team to return, invite your team to take a time of rest, invite your team to share their ideas and needs, AND trust our great God to provide for the harvest. This is HIS holy work. We are invited to play in His sandbox and have the faith He will show up and show off among His people. This I know: The laborers will always seem few. The harvest will always be great. Yet our great God can multiple fire and enthusiasm among His own to draw people close to know His love and His Son. Anyone else have the prayer prompt “Lord, who?” written in sharpie on the car windshield? What is your process?

“Your ministry will always be better if you have volunteers/servant leaders who are recruited early, who are well trained, and who gave you their best YES.” The Sustainable Ministry Show podcast, episode 084

“But Christ is faithful as the Son over God’s house. And we are his house, if indeed we hold firmly to our confidence and the hope in which we glory.” Hebrews 3:6

Just a few weeks ago I got a phone call from a fellow Kidmin champion who was crushed and ready to quit. After prayer and some ‘laughter through tears’, she backed away from the ledge. My heart hurt for her as she was on the receiving end of neglect, disappointment, and feeling humiliated by her immediate supervisor. Just a few days later I received in the mail a flier from a local book store. When I saw The 5 Languages of Appreciation in the Workplace: Empowering Organizations by Encouraging People as one of the books highlighted, I stopped on my way into the office and purchased the last two copies.

Steven Covey, author of the bestselling The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People states, “Next to physical survival, the greatest need of a human being is psychological survival, to be understood, to be affirmed, to be validated, to be appreciated.” Gary Chapman of The 5 Love Languages fame has partnered with Paul White, a psychologist, speaker, and consultant who helps make work relationships work to offer a tool on how to encourage your co-workers/staff with intentionality and efficiency.

There is a distinct difference between recognition and appreciation. Recognition is about acknowledging behavior, improving performance which focuses on what is good for the company, and comes from the top down in an organization. Appreciation focuses on what’s good for the company AND affirms one’s value as a person which can be communicated in any direction – colleague to colleague, supervisor to team member, even team member to supervisor. Quoting a ton of research, they found that most people leave their positions not because of money (12%), but rather because of not feeling appreciated or valued (88%). (pg 35)

There are 5 languages of appreciation in the workplace.

1. Words of Affirmation – Global praise does very little to encourage (“I appreciate you.”), but specific verbal praise for a specific job well done, affirming one’s character, and praise for positive personality traits will make the difference. The greatest tragedy is while most people genuinely appreciate the people they work with, they often neglect to verbally, or on paper, express that appreciation. This might be your language of appreciation when words shared have an edge, are not personally affirming, and you feel ripped to pieces by the words that ARE shared. This the language of appreciation of my friend above because words can cut her to the quick. And they have.
2. Quality Time – If you enjoy people dropping by your office (or you dropping by theirs), sitting down in the chair, telling stories, checking on one another, this may be your primary language of appreciation. The key element to Quality Time is not proximity, but personal attention. “I don’t need a lot of time. All I really want is for someone to stop by my office occasionally and see how I’m doing. After five minutes, I’m bootin’ you because I’ve got a lot to do!” This might be your language of appreciation if you’re the one to coordinate “Taco Tuesday” with colleagues, enjoy quality conversations, weekly meetings, regular ‘touching base’, and shared experiences.
3. Acts of Service – When others reach out to help and assist in getting the job done, this may be your greatest language of appreciation. If you get twisted when someone agrees to take on something to help the team then leaves it unfinished or drops the ball, this is you…this is me. Argh! This is my language of appreciation. When we can share in the task for the good of the organization and everyone does their part, I feel appreciated and I feel a sense of camaraderie with the staff as a whole. I’m all about the team, the big picture with many hands and faces, and everyone on the same page in service.  This is why a team approach to VBS, Fall Gathering, summer camps, and even Sunday school thrills me to the bone. When someone volunteers or signs up to take on something, then completes what they’ve taken on, I’m doing the happy dance! This is me! #bettertogether
4. Tangible Gifts – Small items are given showing you know your staff personally. “Tangible Gifts is the least chosen language of appreciation through which individuals want to be shown appreciation. (6%)” This isn’t good news since most employee recognition programs put a heavy emphasis on ‘rewards.’  If your co-workers have an assortment (a LOT) of similar gifts on display all over their offices, this may be their language of appreciation. The greatest gift appreciated by most all staff? The gift of time. Time off. Permission to come in late or leave early. Having the freedom to take a longer lunch break. A supervisor trusting the staff member to get the job done without punching a clock. Comp time.
5. Physical Touch – Though many conversations around physical touch in the workplace is controversial, all touches are not created equal. Touches of spontaneous celebration (high five, fist bump, congratulatory handshakes, pats on the back, side hugs) and those which communicate care, concern, support, and empathy can all communicate a variety of positive messages in relationships: a sense of trust, connectedness, and caring.

Want to discover your co-worker’s or supervisor’s language of appreciation without taking the assessment? Observe what they ask for over time (What did you bring me? = tangible gifts) AND listen to their complaints (How are they most easily offended, hurt, frustrated, disappointed?).

“In our work with church staff members and individuals who work for other non-church ministries, we consistently find a deep hunger for appreciation. These people are not looking for financial reward and rarely desire high levels of praise. But they honestly express the need to be appreciated for their time and efforts.  When appreciation is not forthcoming, they often become discouraged.  In fact, In our research on toxic workplaces, we sadly found churches and ministries to be over-represented, ‘missing the mark’ in their efforts to show appreciation.” (page 191)

Regardless of your position within your organization, you can make a world of difference in your organizational world by beginning to encourage and show appreciation to your colleagues and supervisors. What will you do this week to start the process?

“Make every effort to live in peace with everyone and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord.” Hebrews 12:14

As the calendar begins to be filled with mah-velous fun, memorable and intentional faith-formation experiences, those Summer Sundays should not be neglected. It has been my experience that special summer Sundays can give the traditional summer slump some major push-back.

After checking some holiday websites with the 2019 summer dates, this is what we’ve come up with to rebuke the idea of low attendance Sundays during the summer:

June 2 – Our first night of VBS begins this evening, so we’re asking everyone to wear their past VBS tshirts.

June 9 – National Iced Tea Day is 6/10, so our 5th graders will be serving the congregation Chick-Fil-A iced tea (purchased the day before) between services. Chick-Fil-A typically donates their $$ from gallon iced tea sales to local charities during June, so it’s a perfect fit.

June 16 – Goodies with Guys (Father’s Day) donut holes & jerky will be served to the guys, Dads, Granddads between services.

June 23 – National Pink Day (wear pink).

June 30 – McPeachern – the children serve the church brunch & lunch of all peach goodness with BBQ, peach tea, peach salsa & chips, peach ice cream, peach cobblers. This is the only fundraiser our ministry with children does. Even our littles can serve chips!

July 7 – National Strawberry Sundae Day – serving strawberry sundaes in children’s church/well-versed kids.

July 14 – National Flip Flop Day.

July 21 – National Ice Cream Day.

July 28 – National Parent’s Day so we’re offering freeze pops outside our entrance around the Gaga Ball pit.

August 4 – Promotion Sunday wearing team spirit wear this year (think foam fingers and such), then we are headed to a Braves base ball game after services for an afternoon game. Our gym floor is being replaced, so we needed a way to gather AND build memories.

What other ways can we make summer 2019 Sundays special?

“You are observing special days and months and seasons and years!” Galatians 4:10

After multiple texts, running into each other at the local outlets during the holidays, and catching up on social media, a dear friend and I were finally able to meet for lunch. Rachel Castillo is a fearless champion for providing families hope in the midst of life’s challenges. She is a knowledgeable professional in leading non-profit organizations. In July 2018 she began serving as the President and Chief Executive Office of Georgia’s Advocates For Children committed to the prevention and treatment of child abuse and neglect.

Rachel led me on a tour of the Flowering Branch Children’s Shelter where I was introduced to several professionals who lead programs striving to one day help create a world where all children are respected and loved, happy and thriving.’ One of those programs is Safe Place. Safe Place is a national prevention program for young people under the age of 18 in need of immediate help and safety.

Safe Place designates businesses and organizations as locations where children and youth in crisis can find help. Designated Safe Place locations display a yellow Safe Place sign, the universal symbol of youth safety. Each Designated Safe Place undergoes training and is listed in a national database with addresses of Safe Place sites. One way children can get help when in crisis is through the TXT 4HELP program. TXT 4HELP is a nationwide, 24-hour text-for-support-service. Children text the word ‘safe’ and their current location (city/state/zip) to 4HELP (44357). Within seconds, a message including the closest Safe Place site and contact number for the local youth shelter is delivered.  The young person will then have the option to reply with “2chat” to immediately text with a professional for more help.

Tracy Arp is Advocates for Children’s Safe Place Coordinator. Tracy shared with me that any business, church, school, fire station, etc. can become a Safe Place site. “We offer training for each site to ensure that the site employees feel comfortable if they were to have youth need the assistance of Safe Place. Safe Place is a national organization, but Advocates for Children is the only one in North Georgia.  Although Advocates for Children is located in Bartow County they provide services to their surrounding counties as well, which include, Polk, Floyd, Cherokee, Gordon, Cobb, Fulton, Paulding, and Pickens to ensure that all youth are safe.” 

How do students hear about it? Most young people hear about Safe Place during school or community presentations where Safe Place information cards are distributed. These cards have the local Safe Place phone number and explains that Safe Place help is free and confidential. Youth also hear about the program through word of mouth, social media, and public service announcements on radio or TV. (from http://www.nationalsafeplace.org)

The week of March 17-23 Safe Place will be celebrating National Safe Place Week and are looking for more outreach opportunities. I will be proposing to our Family Ministry team to undergo the training so that our local church can become a Safe Place site. Our county has only several sites and most are QuickTrip gas stations. I believe we can do this. We are blessed with a facility and a family of faith which loves children and youth. Reading Psalm 27:5, I am compelled!

“For in the day of trouble he will keep me safe in his dwelling; he will hide me in the shelter of his sacred tent and set me high upon a rock.” Psalm 27:5