Sunday was our annual ‘Children’s Gift’ presented during the 11 o’clock ARISE service when the children (Preschool-5th grade) sing a few songs, present a poem/drama, and pass out something yummy to the congregation en masse just before the sermon.

Over the last four years, finding a time to prepare like the traditional “children’s choir time” has not worked for us. Many of our students have commitments every weeknight and many of our parents commute or own their own businesses, so volunteers are slim. This fall we included ‘praising the Lord in song’ as an important part of our Sunday School time, so it seemed the natural time to prepare for our program.

We chose a dance song “Yes, Jesus Loves Me,” from the Go Fish Guys and a poem where each student held up student art to represent the animals and folks involved in the Christmas story, then closed with “It’s About The Cross.”

Not every kid takes the stage with great enthusiasm and not every kid sings along, but the top 3 reasons we continue are…

1. Everyone needs spiritual memories of service in church without perfection.  Everyone in the congregation loves to see kids sing and dance in church, even if they won’t sing or dance in church.  They enjoy the peppy music and how the kids act.  I always say that as long as no one throws up, the presentation is a success.  Nose picking, dress lifting, knocking into other people, no singing, singing to a different tune is all enjoyed and a story is born to share at future family gatherings.  Anytime a Sunday morning takes on a different order, it is set apart in our minds and memories.  I want our kids to have lots of church memories. Memories of ‘not the same-old, same-old every week.’  Memories of their family of faith smiling and clapping with them.  Memories of praising the Lord!

2.  They get to run in church.  Whether a child is late arriving so we hurry to gather their props or we’re handing out candy canes from red and green beach buckets after the presentation, I think it’s good for kids to run in church at times.  When I was a girl, the only lady who I perceived was “sold out for the Lord” wore orthopedic shoes, wore her hair in a bun, and shook her big floppy bible at us as she yelled at kids to stop running in church.  Yep, that’s who I aspired to be (insert sarcasm).  I will do whatever it takes to build church memories that are filled with laughter, joy, and hopefully give a better picture of what a woman sold out to the Lord looks and acts like…she may run occasionally in the church.

3.  Non-Stepford-Non-Perfect-Acting-Kids get to be affirmed by others.  We’ve all had, or been, those kids who’s name is spoken a dozen times during the Sunday School hour.  On this day, they get up there, sing, dance, smile, and get all the attention they could possibly want, and then get told, “You did great!,” or “I loved it when you…”  One of the five pillars of our Children’s Ministry is BELONG.  We want for our kids to feel they belong at church and no matter what happens during the week, this is where they know without a doubt they are loved, laughed with, and given opportunities to shine.

Even if you have just a few kids, even if pageants and programs aren’t your thing, even if your kids act all “I don’t want to be here and I don’t want to do this” on you, it’s important to learn and offer them practice praising the Lord in public. And a small Children’s Gift of Praise…even a Sacrifice of Praise… is the perfect vehicle to do just that.

“Start children off on the way they should go, and even when they are old they will not turn from it.”  Proverbs 22:6

There is a rhythm to every community. A time when you can guarantee a few Sundays of light attendance. Sometimes it falls around a weeklong school break  Sometimes it falls around a holiday typically filled with travelling and over-doing-it. So what do we do about THOSE Sundays?

The Sundays after Christmas and after New Year’s Day are two of the six that can cause this Children’s Ministry Director to toss her hands up in frustration, or…..we do our best to make them especially special!

This year we will host a PAJAMA PRAISE PARTY the Sunday after Christmas.  Everyone gets new PJs for Christmas, so kids and volunteers will be sporting them with the Youth hosting us with a hot chocolate bar during Sunday School.  We’ll gather in the gym in our jammies, eat some jacked-up hot cocoa, then head back to The Great Room to decorate huge Gingerbread cookies and jam out to Praise Songs.  11 o’clock worship service will look lively for sure.

On the Sunday following New Year’s Day, we’ve invited a Titus 2 Mystery Guest to speak with a special activity.  Baby Girl and #1 Son can give personal testimony when they were little people about the influence of having someone just a bit older sharing about their journey of faith .  They can name the young man who purposed in his heart to be a ‘delight’ to his parents as a teenager, the young woman who purposed in her heart to maintain relationship boundaries, and the multiple missionaries who gave testimony of their week-long, months-long, and whole life experiences of sharing the Good News of Jesus around the world.

Year before last, our church’s theme was “go into all the world and preach the Good News to all creation.”  Every other month we invited a young person to share of their missionary experiences.

• On Easter Sunday, a young woman shared she had been going with her family to Honduras every year since she can remember on a short term mission trip.  Immediately following, our youth began talking about going to Honduras.  Last year, these same students partnered with the young woman’s home church and did just that.  They made it happen in just a year’s time.  And they are going back next summer.
• Another young woman visited and shared of her difficulties in the mission field in West Africa.  One of my girls came away telling me and anyone else who would listen that God is calling her to Russia and she has purposed in her heart to make it happen no matter the difficulties she may face.
• Another young girl, a senior in high school, shared about her receiving Operation Child Christmas Shoe boxes in a Latvian Salvation Army orphanage as a little person.  She was adopted into a family of home-church friend’s of ours as I met her on a Chrysalis Flight the summer before.  Just an FYI…the best gifts in the boxes she received:  bubble gum and flavored toothpaste.  Now, every shoe box that leaves Wesley Chapel has bubble gum and flavored toothpaste in it.

Our Titus 2 Mystery Guest will be sharing with my little people on the Sunday following New Year’s Day.  This very special young person is a student at Georgia Tech and that’s all I’m going to say about that because the mystery matters.  And I can’t wait to see what God will spark in the heart and mind of a child a direction, a purpose, or an intention from the testimony of His own.

“Teach the older men…teach the older women…then they can train the younger women…and encourage the young men…In everything set them an example by doing what is good.”  Titus 2:2-7a.

“The best question a leader can ask his/her team is, ‘What’s missing?'” ~John Maxwell

I LOVE the women who make up our Children’s Council. In the beginning of my tenure, we met monthly. We now meet quarterly and I adore their company. I enjoy meetings, but meetings with a purpose, a focus, take-aways, and ‘circle time.’ Those meetings give me insight, a filter, and energy.

Last Tuesday we gathered at the local Starbucks because we can get caught up, laugh, and speak face to face as we wait for our dessert in a cup. It’s relaxing, a breather for a hectic day.

Sitting in a circle, we each picked up a folded card that would ask questions to prompt our opening conversation. These questions were emailed earlier in the day to give time for prayerful consideration:
What are we doing well?
What is confusing?
What is missing?
What are we not doing well?
What is fruitful?
What has energy?

Taking notes offers a filter when implementing programming and communicating to our families in the days and weeks to come.

I then passed out a 2015 calendar (I spent the previous couple of weekends in Microsoft Publisher to prepare) with sermon titles, special events, school holidays, and the dates of Fantastic Friday/Parents Night Out, Faith Milestone events, VBS, and CLUB345…the dates of the non-regular-Sunday-stuff. The goal: Families need to plan ahead ( the council should be our greatest advocate and talk up these activities way ahead of time) AND the greater calendar offers the filter to not overwhelm our families and servants in the regular rhythm of our community.

Then, a front/back page of 2014 Celebrations as well as 2015 Plans, along with a more detailed explanation of upcoming Faith Milestone events with the what, the who, the when, the why, and the where that will be shared at next month’s Administrative Council meeting. I also introduced the upcoming three worship services in 2015 that will take place on the fifth Sunday of the month: Families First On The Fifth with a glimpse of what that’ll look like, but really just a ‘jumping off point.’

We started at 6pm and departures started a little after 8pm. It took a while, but a productive and focused meeting where everyone spoke, everyone shared, and everyone laughed.

Three MUSTS for meaningful meetings:

1.  Great preparation – have a plan, share the plan ahead of time (ex: emailing the questions to prayerfully consider along with the reminder email.)

2.  Great participation – have something where everyone shares, all voices are important (what folks talk about offer a glimpse into what their hearts and minds are taking up the most space in their heads.)

3.  Great prayer – before, during, and after.

Top takeaways from last night’s meeting?

1. We have renewed energy for Sunday school (good thing because I had a copy of Sunday School That Works: The Complete Guide To Maximize Your Children’s Ministry Impact put out by Group Publishing for their take away and our discussion for our winter meeting.

2. As an alternative to our typical SCREAM Retreat in March, we will offer a day away retreat called “Deep And Wide” in July. 9am-9pm and only for rising 4th, 5th, and 6th graders…a faith milestone at Mrs. DeDe’s house (great response from the Moms on the Council because I live 45-50 minutes away from the church in the mountains of North Georgia.)  We’ll hike, swim, go the movies, and have a program specific to practicing ‘soul training’ and answering their own personal call into ministry.

3. Sending the weekly Sunday school challenge by text to the families of the older kids.

4. Incorporating the traditional songs with motions in Sunday school…there’s great truth in the traditional songs of ‘Deep and Wide,’ ‘My God Is So Great,’ and ‘He’s A Peach of a Savior,’ etc.

“The most effective children’s ministry director is the one who has an inner circle of champions and advocates who believe so much in what you’re doing they will hide bodies for you.” ~ Lynley Jones, Children’s Ministry Director, Asbury United Methodist Church, Lafayette, Louisiana

This post was originally published November of 2014. Since the pandemic it has been viewed more than 15 times each day.  I began serving a new church family in 2017 and prayerfully waited for the opportunity to implement practices which would engage children in the worship service and set aside Children’s Church here, too. When we opened for in-person worship the summer of 2020, we got our chance. The children do receive age-specific, developmentally appropriate Christian education during the Sunday school hour, which doesn’t look like your typical Sunday school. The fruitfulness has affirmed our decision to say, “No more children’s church for us.”  

Since last summer, our staff team has been on the mission of improving the worship experience for our medium-sized church in the Atlanta suburbs. We’ve attended seminars, trainings, workshops, and even a week-long retreat with The Worship Design Studio team. We have been intentional to institute many details making the experience more personal, more inviting, relative to all learning and worship styles, giving multiple opportunities for congregational involvement throughout.

What has this got to do with little people? Everything.

It has always been our desire to connect as a family of faith…a family where our kids and their parents and grands pray, sing, praise, give, share and greet together.  Before this month, we dismissed the kids to a separate Children’s Church time immediately following the children’s moment and before the pastor’s “big sermon” which took place toward the end of the order of worship.  On Communion Sunday, we ushered the children back to their parents so to participate as a family.

When we changed the placement of the “big sermon” to be early mid-service, the giving, greeting, and praying were now at the end of the service in response to the Word proclaimed.  Our kids were going to miss some powerful times as a family of faith if we continued Children’s Church.  Oh I could do those things in Children’s Church, but not like it’s done with our whole family of faith.

I spoke with our pastor, a couple of ‘big names’ in KidMin, and some of our Children’s Church families sharing what we were doing and they were game for us to stay and continue to worship together. Families sitting side by side, arms around shoulders, standing in unison in call and response, enjoying time and space together.

We had already offered some interactive pew tools for our kids and now I could kick it up a notch, such as…

Sermon Bingo…our pastor puts out the sermon schedule, scripture, and title for the entire year in advance.  This helps me when I prepare the weekly Children’s Moment, so I set up a bingo card with words and phrases that are likely to be sung, spoken, or shared for the several week-long worship series.  The kids then mark or color the spaces when they hear the vocabulary.  These are placed on clipboards in the narthex.  The kids are invited to place their completed cards in my mailbox outside the worship space.

Etch-a-Sketches…for our littlest disciples.

Clipboards with blank paper…I invite the kids to take notes, draw pictures, write a note or draw a picture of encouragement to give to someone who sits in their row or one of the pastors.

A Challenge…when the sermon was titled “Salt and Light,” I challenged the kids in Sunday School to pick up a clipboard outside my office and tally the times they heard the words “salt” and “light” and tell me after the service which word was said most often.  I have a few tally sheets on the bulletin board behind my desk…”light” won out.

Pockets monthly magazines on clipboards…I attach a note about a few upcoming kid’s events like Fantastic Friday/Parents Night Out or the Jingle Bell Shoppe.  Even our middle schoolers enjoy these.

Cloth 3 ring binder zipper pouches from Dollar Tree (they are quiet)…with crayons, or colored pencils, or a handful of legos (for the pre readers).

And yes, all of them are out each week in a nice, shallow rubbermaid container set just outside our worship space.  Colored ribbons make for a colorful display.  I look forward to seeing what else we can come up with.

Attending the bi-annual CEF Conference (Christian’s Engaged in Faith Formation formerly known as Christian  Educator’s Fellowship) last month in Nashville, ‘kids in worship’ was the topic of almost every conversation.  Facebook has had multiple conversations and some very heated.  We have a Children’s Ministry networking luncheon coming up this week and it’ll be the topic, as well.  I’ll blog afterwards with what we came up with.

We are no longer offering Children’s Church.  We want to live and worship as a family of faith.  Our staff supports it, our parents support it, and our kids are thriving making connections with folks of all ages and stages.  Like family, some things are taught and some things are caught.  We want opportunities for both.

We offer a nursery for ages 0-4 years old.  This gives our parents a choice for our smallest disciples of staying in the service or be loved on in the nursery.  Our Mamas seem to like having the option.

There appears to be a great deal of research out there now that kids who worship with their families and connect inter-generationally in a family of faith are more likely to remain active in the local church as they get older.

This is the research my own family has lived:  We worshipped together in the early traditional service and served together and separately throughout Baby Girl’s and #1 Son’s preschool, elementary, middle school, and high school years at our home churches…in Baton Rouge, in New England, and in Woodstock.  They were invited to serve and lead on Sunday mornings and at other times as they grew in their faith and faithfulness.  They enjoyed a regular diet of adult investment into their lives.  When #1 Son didn’t want to go, the conversation went something like this, “Church and worship is what we do as Reillys.  It’s who we are.  God gets an ‘awards’ day once a week for all He has done for us and we go.  This is not a choice you get to make.  It’s right up there with you don’t get a choice to not brush your teeth or not take algebra.  It’s what we do.  When you get old enough to earn a degree, move out, and pay all of your own bills, then you can make a decision about church.  Until then, we leave in 10 minutes.”  If we were too busy or too tired for church life, we were too busy and something had to go.  It was never church.  The priority of worshipping together and serving in the local church was guarded and made for lots of conversations of who we were as Christians as they grew up.  A life lesson of filtering what is good for what is best.  Oh, and did I mention that I was not on church staff until they were in late high school?

This is what I know:  Baby Girl and #1 Son remain active in their spiritual disciplines and in their separate and distinct local churches now as young adults, along with their young spouses and little people.

“What’s good for kids in church is good for everybody.”  Mark Burrows, Children’s Pastor at First United Methodist Church of Ft. Worth

My Mother-in-Law got a new cell phone. Her flip phone broke in half and she got tired of having to use both hands to talk. She didn’t want a smart phone, but wanted another flip phone, so my Honey got her one. Same color, same style, but it has a few upgrades that the first one didn’t.

We got daily phone calls for two weeks about her frustrations. She would open it in the night to use the light and hit a button. It took her picture. She wants to know what Verizon is going to do with a picture ‘they’ took of her in the night. She found the flashlight button, which we thought was a good upgrade, but now she can’t turn it off and she says it blinds her and she really doesn’t want to use her glasses at night to turn it off. Somehow she has gotten a ding alarm set for 3am and wants to know who is calling her in the middle of the night.  We chuckle and we have tried to ‘fix’ her new phone, but as she found out when she went to the Verizon store, upgrades can’t be removed.  She has now quit calling us and is finally settling into her new, upgraded cell phone.  If she finds a new challenge, she now goes straight to the source, the Verizon store, and they teach her.

The staff and worship committee at my church have taken on the challenge to instill excellence in worship for 2015 and we aren’t waiting until January to get the ball rolling.  We are ‘shooting a few bullets’ this fall.  Jim Collins, noted author and researcher of the book Good to Great, calls it ‘shooting bullets before cannonballs.”  http://leadershipfreak.wordpress.com/2012/08/09/jim-collins-on-bullets-before-cannonballs/.  Over the last several months we have spent time with the best:  Mark Burrows from First UMC in Ft Worth, and Rev Dr Marcia McFee.  We have continued to participate in online training and working diligently alongside our laity in prayer and discussion about some of the things we have ‘sprinkled’ here and there before we go ‘all in’ for the Advent season.

We’ve been at this a month now.  We are putting educational information in the weekly bulletin and in our monthly newsletter. I note it in the emails addressed to folks who serve on the worship teams on Sunday morning and our worship leader is talking it up at their practices.  We are taking every opportunity to speak face to face with energy and enthusiasm.  Our senior pastor is even planning for a few Sunday School class visits over the next month or so to give folks a chance to participate in word, deed, and prayer.

I LOVE the energy that comes with the tension of change in the local church.  It gives me a chance to share in the whole church, not just my area of Children’s Ministry.  It gives me a chance to be invited into the hearts and spiritual histories of the saints of the church as I may be more accessible, maybe even ‘safe’, when the tensions come.  Just last week, I happened to be sitting behind someone who needed to ‘share’ immediately after services.  She placed her hands on my shoulders, looked me in the eye, and shared her personal challenge with tenderness and grace.  In that very moment, I got to feel, hear, and see her heart as I looked into her eyes.  It allowed me to encourage, affirm, and pray for her.  I was invited into her journey.

The sense of the movement of the Holy Spirit comes to more people when we make changes at church.  And it can be uncomfortable.  And they don’t know what to do with the discomfort…the tension.  Folks begin to articulate their personal preferences, their personal histories, and their personal narratives.  How they do this is a direct result of their dedication to prayer and bible study.  How I respond is also a direct result of my dedication to prayer and bible study.

Every church I have every served has been a place of change.  Some congregations handle it well, some just get mean about it.  Thom Rainer, President of Lifeway says, “Obstacles and critics are common, but not insurmountable.”  Church saints and leaders who are in the Word on a daily basis and in prayer on a daily basis, share their challenges in a way that invites others to know their hearts because they are kind, they are constructively involved, and they read everything that comes out: bulletins, newsletters, emails, everything!  Those constantly in the Word and prayer speak of their tensions with tenderness, open minds, and discussion for clarity for understanding.  Oh the filter that is afforded with a regular diet of prayer and bible study!

I, too, get frustrated when I have to take on an upgraded cell phone, an upgraded computer, any upgraded device.  Yet I have discovered the situation invites me to slow down, to pay attention to the details, and to participate fully until I can be more confident in my place in the mix.

When it comes to participating fully in church change, I will devote myself to prayer (talking with the Lord), bible study (the Lord talking with me), and to be ‘all in’ in the community of faith (read everything that comes out from the leadership).  It’s a ‘whole church’ thing, not just my particular area.  Then I’ll ask, “What ELSE can I do to help?”  When the Holy Spirit is involved, I will not settle to sit on the sidelines and wait to be invited onboard.  I’m jumping on and holding on for dear life because something great for His Kingdom is going to happen and I don’t want to miss a thing.

“To love Him with all your heart, with all your understanding and with all your strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself is more important than all burnt offerings and sacrifices.”  Mark 12:33

A text message came across my cell phone last Friday evening with the blessing of a couple of free tickets to the movie, The Song, that opened last weekend. Loving to go to the movies, but with my hubby with an already planned-out college football Saturday, I invited my neighbor to join me. She had the flu. So I went by myself.

The story is of an aspiring singer—songwriter Jed King who is struggling to catch a break and escape the long shadow of his famous father when he reluctantly agrees to a gig at a local vineyard harvest festival.  Jed meets the vineyard owner’s daughter, Rose, and a romance quickly blooms. Soon after their wedding, Jed writes Rose “The Song,” which becomes a breakout hit. Suddenly thrust into a life of stardom and a world of temptation, his life and marriage begin to fall apart. (www.thesongthemovie.com)

The Song is heavy on drama and music.  His life and marriage do fall apart with the infamous other woman, drugs, booze, and stereotypical life-on-the-road situations. Though much is implied, the film-makers don’t show, nor glorify, the ‘acting out’ of such.  Classy move.  We get it without showing it.

Though it is marketed as a date night film similar to FireProof, I disagree with the comparison.  It is definately an adult movie.  There is actual cheating and drug use involved in this movie, not just disallusionment and disappointment. There is also repentance, hope, and the start of restoration.  Marriage is hard, ongoing work.  Temptation comes in the areas of our giftedness.

The scenery is beautiful, the cast is perfect, the music is moving, and the narration from the Song of Solomon scriptures thread throughout.  I’m still processing it in my head.  It’ll certainly begin a conversation or two.

“He has taken me to the banquet hall, and his banner over me is love.” Song of Solomon 2:4

With a 40 minute commute one way to the office, I can only sing so much. So, if I’m not talking to family on the cell phone headset, I’m listening to podcasts. One  that always challenges me is the EntreLeadership podcast. Professional interviewers take on some of the best names in organizational leadership about every other week.

A few weeks ago, they interviewed Sally Hogshead, author of How The World Sees You. Her new book has a measurement tool to help distinguish the best way to communicate, add value, or fascinate, based on how others see you.

I had taken a Meyers-Briggs evaluation at a QUEST conference and discovered that I am an ENTJ = Extrovert, Intuitive, something else that begins with the letter T, and prone to Judgement. Then I had taken a DISC evaluation when I started consulting for Proactive Ministries and discovered that I was a high I=enthusiastic, optimistic to a fault, talkative, persuasive, impulsive and emotional; naturally trusts others and functions best when around people and working in teams. Yep, I am the one who likes meetings.  ENTJs keep environments positive with their enthusiasm and positive sense of humor. They will go out of their way to keep things light, avoid and negotiate conflict and keep the peace.  And before I can think I’m ‘all that,’ I am prone to NOT be a good listener, may give the impression of waiting to speak instead of truly listening to what someone else is saying and in some cases, gestures and facial features are overly used.  These are how I see myself.  Have mercy!

This measurement tool, found at howtheworldseesyou.com/you, entering the coupon code entreleadership, could be taken for free as a gift to listeners to the Entreleadership podcast for the sole purpose of finding my best way to communicate, add value, or fascinate.  AND discovering my WORST way to communicate, add value, or fascinate.  This is how others see me.  In her introduction she writes, “On the day you were born, you already knew how to fascinate.  Like breathing and swallowing and smiling, the ability to fascinate is a hardwired survival mechanism.  Fascination is an instinctive form of connection.”   Yet, along the way, there happens situations, people, or circumstances when we choose to become boring instead of fascinating.  As I read further in the book, this is the passage that stopped me in my tracks:  “Your most fascinating traits are your most valuable traits.  Too often, these traits are the first to go in favor of blending in or avoiding criticism.  Yet when you dull your edges, on some level you’re giving up.”  Not being a quitter, I took the Fascination Advantage evaluation.

Of the possible personality archetypes, I am “The Coordinator.”  The evaluation tells me the world sees me as speaking the language of ALERT (details) and PASSION (relationships).  The coordinator brings a “pragmatic, step-by-step approach to every project; is loyal to the team; detail-oriented, works in an ordered manner, and focuses on deadlines working to avoid unwelcome surprises.  The coordinator prompts deliberate action, exhibits a strong will and determination, and is aware of all facets of a situation.  Being the eternal optomist, the author suggests there be “Innovators” around the tables where I sit, since that is the where I scored the lowest.  Not a problem!

This last week, our staff team participated in a 4 day worship design retreat with the fabulous Rev. Dr. Marcie McFee.  On the last day, she presents some ‘tags’ for our team members so that we can hope to achieve some balance in bringing our best to the 85% of our congregation who attends only Sunday morning worship. Her ‘tags’ included …

The Swinger=the one who loves the brainstorming process and moves from one focus to another (we’ve got this one)

The Shaper=the one who loves the details, the organizing, and the gathering of supplies (we’ve got this one)

The Hanger=the one who sits back, doesn’t talk much, but sees the bigger picture (we’ve got this one)

The Thruster=the one who pushes to the deadline, the one who holds the others to remain focused and ‘get-r-done.’ (I AM this one!)

The creativity of our Creator amazes me everyday.  We each have a message.  As believers in Jesus, we have a message of hope, love, and forgiveness.  How we deliver that message has been given to us as a gift from the Creator in our personality.  Being our best selves and communicating in a way that uses our best gifts can give momentum to the message.  Name and claim the gifts and language God has poured out upon you.  I know that I feel alot better now that everyone knows that I know what my language is.  And I am grateful for every team that has allowed me to play.

“You are the guardian of your message…You don’t need to find the light.  You ARE the light.  When you let your personality shine, you can light up the world.” – from How The World Sees You by Sally Hogshead

The Lord’s been waking me between 3 and 4 every morning for the last several weeks. Even on vacation. It must be the Lord because I cherish a good night’s sleep and consider napping one of my favorite spiritual disciplines.

Getting back to sleep is hard for me when the brain kicks in, so I’ve been praying…

• for the Moms who didn’t get a full night’s sleep last night either because their little one is sick, is nursing, or just left for college…our God is a Father with a Mother’s heart. He gets it.
• for the friend who is undergoing treatment; who has read all the scary stuff on the internet yet chooses to read the bible and funny books instead…that the only hole her mind goes into is the pothole in the parking lot on her way to a Nutella milkshake.  I pray she’ll have the funniest nurses on the planet and affectionate doctors because she’s going through something that a hug just might be the best medicine of the day.
• for the friend who is ‘between the rains,’ where life and direction is dry, aimless, seemingly purposeless…and I pray she’ll remember the promises offered at her baptism, through her calling.  I pray her work towards wholeness will be fruitful, so she will find her identity in His restoration and redemption and not her brokenness.
• for the Mama who has begged the Lord for a cure to work in her baby girl, but now just begs…be SO present Lord.
• for more folks to come to the upcoming training event we’ve been advocating for for the last 8-9 years to provide excellent resources and experiences and friends-in-the-Lord to those who answered the call into service to minister with children in the local church in the North Georgia Conference…and I pray that more than three will come.  But if only three come, I pray we will be faithful to pour into them with all the hope and energy as if 100 come.
• for a children’s ministry colleague who continues to look for work in professional ministry because of all the places to cut expenses, her previous church chose the ministry to children…Did she hear you right, Lord?  What can she do in the meantime?  Can she find meaning and provision?  Let her count the moments instead of the days.
• for my grandchildren to live closer…just sayin’.
• for every machine in my office to work today…not like yesterday.
• for His voice to be clear and like a loud, flashing siren when my children, my hubby, or I get even close to stepping over the line of what is right in His eyes.
• for forgiveness for passing judgement…even in my head.
• to be fully present when a heart is before me.

What do you pray for when He wakes you early…really early?

“O God, you are MY God, earnestly (early in the morning) I seek you…On my bed, I remember you; I think of you through the watches of the night.” Psalm 63:1, 6

Last year, our long-time-serving Church Administrator and Financial Secretary retired to a life of traveling, fun, and love. The position was 3/4 time and the search began immediately for her replacement. After 8 months, the right fit was not happening.

I had been ‘working’ on a whole host of things that included Children’s Ministry co-rep for our denomination’s conference and Discipleship Team, speaking and training around the country, coordinating two networking groups, writing, reading, taking and leading bible study, all important and wonderful mostly-volunteer-work that mattered. But now that we are true empty nesters with grandbabies that live way too far away, we wanted to improve the family balance sheet in preparation for ‘later.’  I had been working ‘part time’ since our little ones were little ones.

The other consideration was that although our finances were secure, like most Americans, we were probably one medical procedure away from “OH NO!”  Like Dave Ramsey says, “We didn’t have an expense problem, we had an income problem.”  The planning freaks that we are, we started praying about it, waiting in anxious expectation for God to answer those prayers.

Sitting on the back porch with Mr. Bob after an amazing retreat weekend surrounded by the greatest servants on the planet, he suggested I apply for the Church Administrator and Financial Secretary job…..wait for it…in addition to serving as the Director of Children’s Ministry.  I worked my way through college by running the customer service desk at the local A&P grocery store and as a bank teller.  Before going into ministry and raising our family, I was an Assistant Vice President of Investments at a huge clearing house bank in south Louisiana.  I fully understood debits, credits, deposits, expenses, assets, and numbers.

Not one to leave any stone unturned, we put together a proposal to submit to the Staff Parish Relations Committee.  I asked for prayer from a couple of friends who serve on my personal board of directors.

The SPR Committee accepted our proposal and I started both positions…wait for it… the week before Vacation Bible School.

I’ve been at the full time position since June 15th.  I’ve had to learn a few new things like the church ledger system, ACS, and the proper protocal for a whole host of situations.  But I didn’t have to learn the faces, the hearts, the storage cabinets, the building, the dna of a new organization.  I love the folks who call this church ‘home’ and I am committed to the staff who serve here.  We already know each other.  I did have to adjust my schedule to be ‘in the office’ Sunday through Thursday, but the blessings have been profound.  I resigned a few of the organizations where I was volunteering and reset some time priorities to make it work. SPR agreed to let me continue my speaking engagements and we have precious volunteers to cover the office when I am out.

My greatest challenge: I have to adjust my ‘girlfriend-in-the-Lord’ time and bible study may be for a party of one until I get my schedule to operate most efficiently.  I chose the audio cds for the study I just started so I can continue to use the commute time even when I’ve finished the study.  I’ll be making more phone calls, writing more notes, having afternoon tea instead of lunch, and really guarding my Mr. Bob time on Saturdays since it’s our only day off together.  Priorities.

God answers our prayers that continue to put Him first.  Everything is for a season and a reason.  We didn’t want a season to just happen for us, but rather we chose to be intentional about beginning a new season. We covered it in prayer and left no stone unturned, no opportunity was labeled with “I don’t think so,” or “I can’t.”  This is my new season.  What does your new season hold?

“There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens.” Ecclesiastes 3:1

Football season is my favorite season of the year. If you call my cellphone, you’ll hear the Louisiana State University Fight Song as you wait for me to answer it. I have friends, faithful to other college football teams, who accuse me of lingering before   answering just so the caller has to hear the tunes of my alma mater. So when I was invited to attend a preview of the upcoming Affirm Films movie, When the Game Stands Tall, to use the words of a football coach of fellow SEC team Auburn, I was “all in.”

The movie is based on the true story of Coach Bob Ladouceur who led the football team of De La Salle High School located in northern California to the most wins in history. I was thrilled to see Jim Caviezel (Passion of the Christ and TV’s Person of Interest) plays the coach, Laura Dern plays his wife, and Michael Chiklis plays his coaching partner of more than 30 years.

Although the movie is not a ‘faith-based’ movie, it is about how the faith of these young men and the ones who lead them are challenged and held accountable to give their perfect effort.  Their perfect effort in practice, on the field, and especially in life.  AND how they are better together.

The movie is written well to include the remarkable moments in the lives of the players and their families.  They walk onto the field to play, holding hands, two by two to show their love for one another…and wig out the opposing team.  The players are given opportunities to share what’s going on in their lives and how they pledge to support the team in all they are with great transparency the evening before the games.  They share the challenges and goals each player has set for himself, written on an index card, and hands the index card to another player, to be read aloud, and for accountability.  These scenes offer great examples of healthy small group.

Although all the game scenes rock this southern gal’s world with fantastic photography and sound, my favorite part of the film is when the coach takes the team to spend the day at the local VA hospital.  When a football player paces a veteran running on a treadmill with prosthetic legs, the energy in the theater is palpable.  I could hear the audience around me shifting in their seats to lean forward.  When a football player gives a wounded warrior a bath and the most egotistical of the players has a run-in with a urine bag, the laughter is big and real.

With my limited vocabulary, I think the movie was great.   I really enjoyed it.  I’ll be talking about it when it comes to theaters on August 22nd.  I’ll be telling Mamas and Dads to take their kids.  I’ll be throwing some footballs in our CLUB345 to share that it’s a great movie to see.  And I’ll be hanging up some posters on a few bulletin boards throughout the church to promote this really good family movie.  It’s clean, courageous, inspiring, and a great film for teams, youth groups, teachers, coaches, parents, tweeners, everyone.  You’ll laugh, you’ll cry, you’ll feel proud and there’s never a dull moment. 

If you really pay attention to the coaching team along the sidelines, you’ll see cameo appearances of the ‘real’ Coach Lad.  There were even a couple of cameos of LSU’s head coach, Les Miles, in the opening game scenes.  I was downright giddy!

“Winning is just a way of keeping score for the days when opportunity and perfect effort meet. …..Winning a lot of football games is doable.  Teaching kids there’s more to life?  That’s hard.“- Coach Bob Lad, from the movie When the Game Stands Tall.