I love Vacation Bible School for a whole host of reasons: training youth, sharing the gospel with little people, dancing before the Lord, and having amazing conversations with folks. You know those wonderful conversations with folks who probably don’t need new friends, but I want to be friends with.

• Conversations with those who might attend a different service.
• Conversations with those who I can’t get to know from a handshake and a ‘peace be with you’ before the Children’s Moment on Sunday mornings.
• Conversations with young people who see VBS as training and take instruction without offense.
• Conversations with little people who want access to me so I can tell each one he/she belongs here.
• Conversations with fifth graders who are invited to watch and learn everyone they meet this week so they know who’s job they want next year if they want to serve.

This is better than a survey.

From the conversations that took place this year…

• I discovered who is on the hospitality committee for the local neighborhoods.
• I discovered new families are moving in with younger and younger little people…..so we’re talking about planning a preschool club to get those relationships started.
• I discovered there will be a Cotillion offered for local 5th graders and since it’s happening in October, I can schedule accordingly.
• I discovered my 5th grade boys are already telling me what jobs they want next year in VBS leadership.
• I discovered our high school seniors were handing over the reins to their younger counterparts for a smooth baton hand-off for next year.
• I discovered our middle school girls can change the roadside sign in no time.
• I discovered our kids preferred fresh fruit for snacks.
• I discovered our kids are inviting other kids to come and see about Jesus and church.
• I discovered Friday nights are better nights for specials for elementary kiddos for when we start a new life skills series for children’s ministry outreach in 2017 called “Wesley Chapel Academy”.
• I discovered even folks who attend the traditional service want to, and do, dance before the Lord ‘in the Sanctuary.’
• I discovered who lost their jobs over the last several weeks and who got new ones.
• I discovered there are already calendars out there for 2016-2017 with dates for local organizations and I asked for copies so as not to overwhelm my families with the church calendar.
• I discovered who has been thinking about serving on the CLUB345 Team for next year.
• I discovered our theme for the Bible Late Night this year will be “American Ninja Warrior: Wesley Chapel style” in August and started talking with the graduating youth of how to pull it off…with their help.

What VBS conversations did you have this year? What are you going to do about it?

“Give praise to the Lord, proclaim His name; make known among the nations what He has done, and proclaim that His name is exalted.” Isaiah 12:4 

Last week was Vacation Bible School and all that goes with it. Rather than leave for a much needed nap after the last little one was signed out, I would eat my bag lunch and change hats. I serve as the half-time Director of Children’s Ministry AND the half-time Church Financial Secretary and Administrative Support. In the words of one of the kid’s favorite VBS songs, “I’m all in.”  The narrative of how we got here two years ago is here. As I re-read the blogpost, my soul grins.

This week I am participating in the Academy of Church Business Administration hosted by The General Council on Finance and Administration in Nashville, Tennessee. This program is designed “to provide church business administrators with the necessary training and continuing education to obtain their designation as a Certified Church Administrator (CCA) through The Church Network.” The facilitators are the best of the best who wear ‘this hat.’ This is the second week. The first week, last week, I was wearing the other hat. I’ll take the first week next year, as I was advised by the coordinator and director of the program who refers to himself as a ‘church geek.’

Always looking for connection to learn best practices in all that I’ve been called and entrusted to do, the room is filled with other church geeks. Those who are responsible for “effective business practices in finances, facilities, human resources, and information technology.” Those who crunch numbers so we are good stewards of resources. Those who use limited resources to create a spirit of generosity within their local churches. Those who are hosts with the mosts. Those who communicate and market ministry to their worlds of influence. Those who consider and advise on legal and tax issues, finances and facilities. Those who have seats at strategic planning tables and facilitate human resource considerations.

That’s where I am. Jesus freak AND church geek.  I’m so ok with that. When I’m too old to get up off the floor after offering the children’s moment without asking for help from the front row youth, I can still wear both hats. It just may look differently. I plan on that being a long time from now. Two hats, one heart. A heart sold out for the One and Only and the local church for whom He sent His son to give it all that we may live out His kingdom here ‘on earth as it is in heaven.’

After singing VBS songs in my sleep last week and getting in my minimum Fitbit steps before closing at noon each day, you can find me this week along the side wall of the classroom at ACBA. I hope I won’t be much of a distraction, but if I break into dancing before the Lord, or shout, “Amen!”, well….  I wear two hats and sometimes they overlap.

“So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.” 1 Corinthians 10:31

I’m glad to be busy this time of year or I’d be sitting in the corner crying over the loss of the kids I just trained up in children’s ministry who are moving on. Yep….they keep insisting on growing up. Sigh…sniff! I don’t profess to know the answer to a smooth transition, but will share a few of the intentionals I’ve tried to offer to make the move.

Our Children’s Ministry includes bed babies through 5th grade. At 3rd grade, they get to be a part of CLUB345 where we go deeper in the Word, introduce greater use of our bibles, and partner with other churches for special events (Splash Night, Messy Night, Winter Ball, etc.) We also go on our first overnight retreat with our local denominational leaders.

With Ministry Milestones, we can set some special events that are ‘rites of passage’ like moving up to large group Sunday School, accolyting, starting in CLUB345, getting new bibles (1st graders get Early Reader Bibles, 3rd graders get red-letter NIVs), Deep & Wide Retreat, running the Bake Sale fundraiser for camp, etc. By the time the kids reach the next milestone, they are so excited they about can’t stand themselves.

At 4th grade, our kids attend a day long Deep & Wide Retreat at my home to practice developmentally appropriate spiritual disciplines to begin using as they begin to live out their faith as a follower of Jesus. Our 5th graders also attend for the first time or as a refresher and a chance for building closer relationships with the 4th graders who are coming up behind them.  Our CLUB345 piggy backs with the youth’s missions lunches and Souper Bowl For Caring with a bake sale to fundraise for the fall overnight camp. At our end of school year CLUB345 the youth have come out to cheer on the CLUB345 talent show so my oldest kids begin to ‘feel the love’ of their new youth peeps, and those completing 5th grade receive their names in framed scripture.

Our students who complete 5th grade get to have their feet in both camps during the summer of transition.  Most of our youth go on local and international mission trips, so the rising 6th graders can’t go on mission trips, but are invited to a couple of youth activities. Summer is where they totally get to serve in VBS as travel guides (partnered with a seasoned youth) or section minions in an area of leadership (partnered with a Titus 2 adult).  After the VBS decorating party, we gather for a Safe Sanctuary training specific to them and the rising 6th graders join the youth for Youth Training.  On the Wednesday of VBS, we gather at a local Mexican restaurant for lunch to bring all the youth volunteers and my rising 6th graders together to share table life.   Rising 6th graders pray over bandanas and prepare treat bags for the youth attending the missions trips. At the ‘Slide Into Fall’ dual water slide they graduate to the right side of the slide which is much faster and slicker.

It’s these students who know where all the supplies are. These students who now offer to run and load up the Bible Bucks store when we get donations. These students who come for a few hours to transition the children’s hallway from season to season. These students set up the Winter Ball. These students are invited to write articles for the newsletter. These students offer to help me and our kids in so many ways. Every opportunity is a training and sharing opportunity which makes their faith even stickier as they experience belonging and service. A 3rd grader joined us for last year’s VBS decorating party with her parents. She shared afterwards that she had no idea so much went into preparing for VBS. “I thought y’all just pulled stuff out of a closet and poof it was there.”

Oh, and when they age out of youth, children’s ministry sends gift boxes, cards, and notes to continue in relationship. So when they come home from college or stick around after high school, their connection is still clear as we arrange for them to serve on Fantastic Friday (parent’s night out), late night, and CLUB345. I invite them to share testimony of what’s going on in their lives with my kids and lead a Sunday school class so they get to inspire my current kids to stay strong in their faith. For it’s in ministry with children where we can continue the relationship that clearly communicates: this is MY church! They will always age out….but only for a season.

What do you do to intentionally transition your kids to youth/student ministry….and beyond? What can you do to invite kids when they’re no longer kids to answer God’s call on their lives to be walkers (servers) and talkers (teachers) for the cause of Christ?

“Brothers and sisters, think of what you were when you were called.” 1 Corinthians 1:26

Picking up books for a couple of newlywed gals from the local book store, I came across Leonard Sweet’s From Tablet to Table: Where Community Is Found And Identity is Formed. Table Life being one of my faith files, I picked it up.

This 163 page little book is filled with statistics (the average dinner time 60 years ago was 90 minutes; today it is less than 12 minutes), stories (I like any vegetable stir-fried, my chicken deep-fried, and my table story-fied), and historical facts of the importance of table life (God’s first commandment in Genesis 2:16 is to ‘eat freely’ and his final commandment in Revelation 22:17 is to ‘drink freely’).

Sweet reminds us of our spiritual heritage where the story of God’s deliverance is told by a child and by the food in the Seder meal. Children catch their tribal identity by the table stories, food and customs of our tables. It’s around the table where we learn boundaries, manners, rituals of right and wrong, and get to know one another.

Jesus started out on earth in a food trough, he dined with sinners, he fed the hungry, ate with dirty hands, sipped water at a well with a Samaritan woman, and though He may have started as a guest at homes all over the region, Jesus ended up taking on the role of the host. When the Greco-Roman culture partied on to keep the gods away from mortals, Jewish feast days invited God’s presence among His people. Of the 23 parables in Luke’s Gospel, more than 15 (or almost 70%) of them feature food. (pg 110)

Sweet speaks specifically of three tables to intentionally set: setting the table at home, at church, and in the world. These are the aha moments I discovered in the read:

Setting the table at home: Homes used to have two tables – a dining room table and a kitchen table. We have exchanged the kitchen table for an island where we sit facing one direction. We have exchanged the dining room table for a great room where the ‘screen is queen’, speaking of the TV.

Setting the table at church: It’s the Communion table in the sanctuary and table of communion in the fellowship hall which brings the church talkers and church walkers together. The church walkers invest in using their hands, feet, and knees to serve. The church talkers revel in the teachings of Jesus and Paul, loving the life of the mind. When Jesus said “Do this in remembrance of me” at the Last Supper, Sweet suggests that our Savior meant for us to ‘do the table.’ Have a seat, join the conversation, engage in civil debate, share ideas, speak of human concerns, persecutions, provide comfort, extend compassion, eat, teach the children, and be the church. Do table life in memory of Jesus.

Setting the table in the world: Matthew 14:16 reminds us We love our neighbors when we reach out to them, when we listen to them, when we ‘give them something to eat.’ There is nothing like homemade food prepared and planned by a friend that feeds my soul.  When my mother-in-law passed away a couple of months ago, the church came out and dished out. There is a lovely Mom in our church who’s ministry and business is to prepare weekly meals for her community and she has blessed my socks off so many times. She makes a chicken pot pie that is heaven on my plate.  My daughter prepares dinner for her pastor and his family regularly. The gift of Christian hospitality.

The biggest star I placed in the book is on page 133: Irish novelist Bernard MacLaverty recalls a key detail of his Belfast childhood: “The air was full, always and everywhere, with the sound of the old ones talking.” Do the ears of your kids ring from the sound of the old ones talking? Ask those who have given their lives to children and youth, like Presbyterian pastor Lars Rood: “Kids gravitate to the oldest person in the room if that person shows an interest in them.” Children belong at the table. Teenagers belong at the table. They can be a pain, and they may ruffle the tidiness of the table. But if your eschatology is strong, if you have a vision of the future, they become a joy and a pleasure. The table talk they experience there gives them a sense of their place in the story, so that even if they leave the table, like I did, they can’t escape it.  Oh, the power of doing table life!

“Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and EAT (emphasis mine) with that person, and they with me.” Revelation 3:20

Our church theme this year of DISCIPLESHIP encourages our families to faithfully participate in worship, be involved in fellowship opportunities, and grow in our faith intergenerationally. Each summer our youth and adults are headed out on multiple local and international mission trips.  Our children share in the journey by praying over and sending out each mission trip member with a bandanna which we then see in the multiple photos that follow. The children decorate lunch bags for the MUST Ministries Summer Lunch Program and fill lunch bags on our Super Summer Lunch Prep Sunday in June.  But what about the day-to-day opportunities of being a blessing and serving in our own neighborhoods?

It’s hard enough for Moms and Dads to keep up with the hustle and bustle of swim practice, VBS, and road trips. Yet, we wanted to turn the focus of our little people from themselves to others. SO, we put together a bag of goodies to take the supply gathering stress away and offer ways kids can serve this summer without packing, without shots (required for some international mission trips), and without a ton of $$ as they go about their summer.

A swift look on pinterest under ‘random acts of kindness’ and a few blogs put me on a path of creativity. I gathered goodies from the 2nd floor supply room, ordered a small handbook of service projects online, and made up a list of children’s books focusing on kindness and we are set.

The pdf with the starter ideas is here:  Summer of Service Bags

I gathered lists and printables from several places including 100 Random Acts of Kindness for Kids, Random Acts of Kindness notes, Random Acts of Kindness tags, and Light ’em Up.

The Saints Book Club list for June and July I resourced from here. We added to the list The 100 Dresses by Eleanor Estes, A Little Rees Specht Cultivates Kindness by Richard E. Specht, Jr., and Wilfred Gordon McDonald Partridge by Mem Fox.  All the books should be found at the local library and focus on kindness. There is a bonus: read Wonder by R.J. Palacio (the one with the added ‘Julian’ chapter.) Eight books for June and the other eight books for July. At our Saints Book Club gatherings this summer, we will include a service component.

Some new things will be offered at the beginning of July.  For now, this will get the creative juices flowing of our kids as they adopt a summer where it’s less about me and more about we. We’ll post stories and photos in the summer newsletters as our families serve together this summer.

How will your families serve together this summer?

“Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms.” 1 Peter 4:10

Patrick Lencioni leads a consulting firm, The Table Group, specializing in executive team development and organizational health. Two of his previous books that have impacted my journey are The Five Dysfunctions of a Team, and Death By Meeting. Where the Five Dysfunctions focuses on how a group of folks interacts in order to become a cohesive team, The Ideal Team Player: How To Recognize and Cultivate The Three Essential Virtues is all about the makeup of individual team members.

In typical Lencioni fashion, the author leads the reader through a fable where the premise of an ideal team player is defined, recognized, and developed. This storytelling brings the reader into a situation where the success of an organization is determined by the hiring of a team member. A nephew was hired by a successful uncle to help creatively lead his construction company. Over lunch, the uncle shares he has medical issues meaning he is going to step aside and hand over the entire organization to the nephew. Oh, and there are two major jobs they just got and they’ll have to hire close to 80 people to pull it off. Here we go.

There is drama, there is juggling, and there is a great deal of dialogue. Love me some dialogue where talking through stuff is the major function of a team.  There are interviews (great questions and situational processes), there are systems, there are situations of culture building to carry on the ideal team following the hiring. In the process, they determine that the ideal team player must have three virtues:

The ideal team player must be HUNGRY…They go beyond what is required, passionate about the work they’re doing (not just passionate about other stuff, but passionate about the work), always looking for more to learn, self-motivated, diligent, thinking about the next step, next opportunity and they ‘loathe the idea that they might be perceived as slackers.’

The ideal team player must be SMART…people smart: referring to a person’s common sense about people, knowing how to say, what to say, and how to act, ‘which is a lot more than being nice.’ They ask good questions, listen to what others are saying, and stay engaged in conversations. Smart people have good judgment and ‘intuition around the subtleties of group dynamics.’

The ideal team player must be HUMBLE…They are quick to point out the contributions of others, lack excessive ego or concerns about status, share credit, and emphasize team over self.  Even if someone has the skill set to take on a role on the team, if they treat people with preference or bias, they are not the ideal team player.

Are you an ideal team player? I admit, I have some work to do. That’s why I read these books.  The author speaks into how to become an ideal team player: practice what you want to be. Lencioni even lays out situations and scenarios of how to practice and boost your ‘idealness’ (my word, not his.)  A quick read with a story to share.

The author closes the book with ‘apart from the other two virtues, humility stands alone. It is, indeed, the greatest of all virtues and the antithesis of pride, which is the root of all sin, according to the Bible. The most compelling example of humility in the history of mankind can be found in Christ, who humbled himself to share in our humanity. He attracted people of all kinds when he walked the earth, and continues to do so today, providing an example of humility that is as powerful as it is countercultural.’

Are you an ideal team player? It’s the person who walks in the combination of all three virtues: hungry, humble, and smart.

“For He knows how we are formed, He remembers that we are dust.” Psalm 103:14

Last week I shared the ‘pop-up’ for me in the first part of the book, Leadership Pain. At the end of each chapter is the line, “And remember: you’ll grow only to the threshold of your pain.” Finishing the book this week there were several areas that further resonated with me.

A testimony from a pastor of a church in Nashville wrote, “Pain is unavoidable, but I’ve learned it isn’t eternal.” Another testimonial shared, “We can’t stop what happens to us, but we can certainly stop what happens in us.” If you are in the midst of a season of leadership pain, it is difficult to look out 3 months, 6 months, a year from now, but it helped me tremendously to think the situation could not go on forever. The line from Steel Magnolias comes to mind, “That which does not kill us only makes us stronger.” But what if the professional pain feels like it’s killing you? I would go to page 182.

It’s on page 182 that I found the life preserver I’d been looking for, “Be certain of this: when you suffer the pains of leadership, God is trusting you to weather the storm and represent him to a watching world.” What? God is trusting me? My world is watching me?  “God has put you in a position to display His kindness, wisdom, and power in the midst of your heartache.”  Whew! The author continues, “When we’re in pain, it may not seem like much of a privilege to represent God at that moment and at that place, but God himself has appointed us, empowered us, and placed us ‘for such a time as this.’ He trusts us to endure with grace. The moment of pain, then, is a point of high honor earned by faithfulness, effectiveness, reputation, and proven character. It’s an honor and a challenge to be God’s representative in a time of heartache.” What a statement!  When I naturally respond by fight or flight, I am invited to yield. My heart is hurting and God knows. This is my chance to display not blame, not vengeance, not anger, but His kindness, His wisdom, and His power in the midst of my heartache.

The author closes the book in chapter 10 with the challenge to find and build pain partners. In a terrible time of King David’s life, he had his mighty men.  David’s mighty men were totally loyal to him, loved him, knew him well enough to notice when he was in need. We also need mighty men/women. The challenge: Friendships such as these take time and have to be in place before the crisis hits.  Like the friends who dropped the paralytic in through the roof, when our faith falters, we all need friends who share a similar call into leadership who can carry us, and whom we can carry along for a season. The author warns us to be selective though. Jesus took a chosen three when He went into the Garden of Gethsemane to come closer…Peter, James, and John…they were His pain partners. They didn’t get it right all the time, but they were invited to come closer.

Characteristics to build these pain partner friendships?

(1) Listen…really listen…to hearts, not just words. Plan to listen for the long haul. What is your question-to-statement ratio? Are you engaging in conversation…tossing the convo ball back and forth…or just offering statements, announcements, info.

(2) Revealing…”relationships deepen gradually through a slow dance of self-disclosure.” Will I continue to wear the mask, or be ‘on’, or does our shared faith permit us to be honest without judgment? And here’s the hard part: do we invite others to be revealing without offering advice or judgment? Lord, help this naturally ENTJ gal to check my J at the door!

(3) Finding common ground…others who share your call, your position, your profession, not to give advice, but to ‘listen and love without strings attached.’ Without expectation…no strings attached.

I have pain partners – professional friendships who will speak truth into my life and who invite me to speak into theirs or just sit and share sacred space.  It seems we don’t have enough margin in our lives to make the time for such gatherings, but I would die without them.

The testimonials throughout the book were shared by men and women in pastoral, para-church, non-profits who further the cause of Christ in our world. Many were from outside the US.  Most were on the other side of their leadership pain. Sheryl Brady from Plano, Texas offered precious insight, “I thought my painful position would destroy me, but it was really just a place for my personal preparation. It was never meant to work there because it was simply a training ground. I fasted there, but it wasn’t for there. I served there, but it wasn’t for there. I prayed there, but it wasn’t for there…I couldn’t see where all the pain would lead, but He could…This is when you must keep going, step by step, day by day. This is when your hungry heart must follow the daily bread crumbs God always gives and accept that you have enough hope for today.”

Looking back on that painful season through this book, the daily bread crumbs God offered by the hands of my family (my children were the world that watched me and they still love the local church as I do), my pain friends (children’s ministry colleagues and mentors who helped me laugh through tears), and remaining in the written word of God (I’ll never forget the day I turned the page and discovered John 12:7a) grew my trust muscle like nothing else.

Today I serve in a healthy, ‘Spirit of Yes’, and kind local church.  Today I even get to serve outside my local church pouring into the lives of others answering the call into professional ministry with children and families. Today I get phone calls and emails from others who are living through painful leadership seasons. Some have persevered to find their emotional legs and continue to follow their calling into professional ministry. One suggested this book make my reading list and I am so glad she did. One is no longer in ministry…no longer even an active part of a local church. I will call her this week and offer what I have: some daily crumbs. Because that’s what pain friends are for.

“Sometimes you have to walk with Him for a while to realize just how good He is.” Sheryl Brady

Asked why I was invited to mentor a precious group of Children’s Ministry professionals for the next six months, I responded, “I think because I had outwitted, outplayed, outlasted and been voted off the island, but I am still in the game.” We laughed.

I LOVE God’s call on my life to professional ministry with a focus on faith building in children and their families. My professional development includes being connected to a networking group for more than 10 years, sharing life with several mentors who speak truth and laughter in my life, listening to podcasts (EntreLeadership and The Bregman Leadership Podcast), and reading books.

Leadership Pain: The Classroom For Growth shares in personal stories, insights, and practical exercises to live less confused by the pain we experience in our roles and process through it. The author, Samuel R. Chand, is a mentor to pastors. The book is written for leaders in ministries and non-profits and opens with “Leadership – all leadership – is a magnet for pain.”

Resonating with me is our need for ambidextrous faith: holding God’s blessings in my right hand and life’s challenges in my left hand, ‘trusting God to use both to accomplish his divine purposes in and through him.’ The book is not a treatise on the biblical analysis of pain, but rather a help to understand the external challenges, internal stresses, and growing pains of leadership so that every heartache, hurt, and disappointment doesn’t stop me in my tracks.

One testimony in particular struck a chord with me.  A Pastor in Orlando shared, “In life, you can’t heal yourself; it takes relationships to heal you.”  From the colleague driving over an hour to greet me at the door with flowers, the visiting young missionary family who stayed at our home offering that ‘working at a church is like passing a brick…it’s painful, it’s gonna leave a mark, and there’s going to be blood for a long time’ (young guys, huh?), and the prayers of my networking group which I stayed with even when it was awkward. Laments aren’t sub-Christian; they are part of a vibrant , authentic walk with God.

What are the relationships that heal you?

“My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.” Psalm 73:26

This ‘sin talk’ is appropriate for older elementary and confirmation age.  The office dots lesson I did teach to preschoolers…then let them loose in the ‘drama center’ with a sheet of dots and baby dolls.  Do I teach on ‘sin’ every week? No. But we have to ‘go there’…because God did…and Jesus did in the biggest of ways to die for our sins that separate us from God and others.  Vocabulary matters.  I have an obligation to introduce the vocabulary of salvation and peace.  Sin is in the mix. This is how I do it.

Supplies:
Bible
Smoothie straws
Office dots (if you can’t get bullseyes, place several of these around the room)
Paper Archery Bullseyes (if you can get them, place around the room)
Peanut M&Ms (biggest bag you can find)
Bright, Red Lipstick

Opening discussion/statements:
Sin is like a dirty dog in a clean kitchen.
Sin separates us from others/puts up a barrier between me and others, but most importantly, it separates me from God. Only Jesus can remove the barrier that sin causes to separate us from God.
Activity:  Obedience is when we obey immediately, completely, and sweetly. Using the office dots, invite a volunteer to stand up front as you toss out scenarios when a typical kid would not obey Mom immediately (asked to turn off the video game and you don’t), then completely (asked to brush your teeth and you only wet the toothbrush), then sweetly (stomping feet up the stairs). After each scenario, place an office dot on the face of the volunteer kid. But then share that ‘when we repent/turn away’ and ask for forgiveness, the dots are removed.

Lesson:

SIN in the Old Testament – Pair share: What is a rule you have at your house? How many rules do you have at your house? (Adam and Eve had only one rule: don’t eat from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. Adam had two jobs: guard the garden – think hockey goalie, and name the animals. Guarding the garden meant keeping the one rule.)

• Introduce the Rule Of First Mention (how a word/phrase is used the first time in the scriptures helps set the tone for the following uses of that word/phrase). For instance, the punishment for Adam after the fall was to leave the garden and gather/grow their food from among the ‘thorns and the thistles’… when Jesus was crucified, when and where do you hear about ‘thorns and thistles’?  – SIN is first mentioned in Genesis 4:6
• Who’s word is SIN? God’s
• Hebrew word “chattah” (khat-taw-aw) means ‘an offense against someone we know’…Mom, Dad, brother, sister, neighbor, etc.
• Payment for that sin was to face a perfect lamb/goat/pigeon (look at a volunteer straight in the eyes) and slit it’s throat once a year at the temple.  Ask: Is that how we say ‘we’re sorry’ or make a wrong right today?

Sin in the New Testament – Read 1 John 1:8-2:3,6

• Greek word “hamartano” (ham-ar-tan’-o) means “to miss the mark so as not to share in the prize,”…an archery term
• Bullseye? To be like Jesus = Pleasing God by loving God and loving others
• Activity: Place the paper bullseyes/dots around the room. Teach how to make a spit ball. Kids use straws and paper to make spit balls and spit through straws trying to the hit the bullseye (they can not move  for the first 2-3 minutes of trying to hit the bullseye with the spitball…then invite the kids to do whatever it takes to hit the bullseye.)
• Pair Share: When did you hit the bullseye? (when I was closest to the bullseye/target/Jesus…the bullseye never moves, but the students move.) Jesus is the bullseye, not our friends, or anyone else. JESUS!

Judas Sin – Read Mark 14:43-46

• Judas SIN is that sin that comes at you looking like a friend (not the same for everyone). Judas greeted Jesus in the garden with a kiss (customary greeting of a friend back-in-the-day/like a handshake or a hug today). The meaners did not know which man was Jesus (He didn’t glow or wear white like the paintings and pictures show us. He looked just like everyone else…only his words and actions were different.)
• I confess to the kids that my Judas Sin (drumrollllllllll…big deal presentation) = Peanut M&Ms (pretty, bright yellow bag, darlin’ size, colorful, yummy…and before I know it, the whole bag is gone.) Ugh!
• Pair Share: What is your Judas sin? (video games, friends, that something that takes up WAY too much space and WAY too often in your head.)

Boundaries & Free Will – Read 1 Corinthians 10:23-24, Philippians 2:14

• Using lipstick as I speak…Life and I are pretty when I stay within the boundaries of what is right in God’s sight, and ugly (draw the lipstick way outside the boundaries of my lips) when I don’t stay within the boundaries of what is right in God’s sight.  Wait out the drama of putting on the lipstick…they can’t believe you are going to draw all over your face with lipstick, so when you actually do it, they roar. Note: Have a wet wipe handy…it’s pretty much the only thing that can get lipstick off your face if you plan to run to the grocery store after church.

“God will not reveal His will to the curious, but only to the obedient.” Week 4, Disciple 1

Several years back, in a conversation between our youth ministry leader and I, we wanted to offer a way to involve the women of our church with the youth ladies of our church. We also wanted to connect my 5th grade girls with the girls of the youth group since they’d be headed that way in just a few short months. And we wanted to initiate a culture of invitation so that when we had a future event, our folks would be more apt to invite new folks and not just insiders. That conversation birthed our annual spring Chick Night.

We begin promoting it several months out at a registration rate set on a ‘per couple’ basis to encourage inviting new ladies to participate.  Registration must be for at least two..no singles…and you must be in 5th grade or older.  The 6:30pm-9:30pm event includes dinner, games, game prizes, a message, and a take home t-shirt at a cost of $35/couple.

Last year’s theme was based on Breakfast at Tiffany’s with breakfast food, black dresses and pearls, games involving jewelry, and a message on pearls of wisdom for women of faith by one of our very own ladies’ bible study teachers. Oh, and the Tiffany blue punch with sweetened condensed milk was divine!

This year’s theme was based on the movie ‘Steel Magnolias’ with a southern garden party theme, hats/flowers/fascinators/head bands, simple magnolia table decorations, and we called it, “A Night of Blush and Bashful at Wesley Chapel.” Food included chicken salad, raw veggies and ranch dressing, dill-cucumber and pimento cheese sandwiches, deviled eggs, pink cupcakes, and fuzzy pink lemonade. White table cloths, white Christmas lights, white and pink paper products along with magnolia leaf centerpieces with Steel Magnolia table conversation tents made of cardstock folded into tents with various quotes from the movie.

Games included a Steel Magnolia People Bingo game I came up with after watching the movie for the upteenth time for folks to mix and mingle and get to know one another. Two rolls of toilet paper and a roll of tape for each table to come up with a Project Runway wedding dress to be worn by a model at each table (ended up not having time for this one, but gotta have backup games just in case), a Pink Party Ring-A-Bell search list (the person who is wearing the darkest pink nail polish, wearng the most pink accessories, and the most letters of the word ‘pink’ in their name.)  And no evening is ever complete without the pocket-book scavenger hunt.

The message was presented by a precious woman of faith born and raised in the Atlanta area, known by our youth ministry leader raising four girls to whom we paid an honorarium.  My favorite line of the evening: “Southern women know how to show up…in life’s highs…and in life’s lows. Love one another well.” ~ Paige Knudsen

Once we set the theme, put it on the calendar, and set the scripture for the night, we split the responsibilities.  I take care of the marketing, the money, the registrations, the tshirt sizes, the table assignments, the tshirt tags, and the games.  Our uber creative youth ministry leader takes care of the registration form, table and room decorations, arranges for the food, designs the tshirt, and secures game prizes.

How do you connect your girls with your Titus 2 women?

“So encourage each other and build each other up, just as you are already doing.” 1 Thessalonians 5:11