With the goal of building tribes among our children’s families with shared values and intentionality, we’ve begun offering Parenting with a Purpose classes this school year. The 90-minute classes include a parenting hot-topic, some dessert, discussion time, and no judgment.  The first was Sharing Your Faith With Your Family where we shared practical ideas for holding sacred conversations, spiritual traditions, and sticky faith-formation memories for parents to initiate at home to live out Deuteronomy 6:4-9.

The second class entitled, Parenting Technology and Cell Phone Safety, invited parents, grandparents, and caregivers of children to a discussion of practical ideas to navigate parenting in a digital and electronic world as we lead families to live out Mark 12:30-31. Two hours before the event, I received a text. Our planned special guest was at Urgent Care diagnosed with strep throat. I had two hours to pull something together.

Once I caught my breath, I called on a prayer warrior to pray for me and with me. I had been reading several books on the very subject over the last several months and had just gotten one in the mail a couple of days before. I prepared a handout with a few of the items I’d underlined in each one. We opened with “What was your first experience with a cell phone?” and our discussions took over from there. These were the resources we spoke through:

• Collin Kartchner – TEDxTalk a social media activist, TEDx talk presenter, husband and dad who travels around the country speaking to parents and kids through the organization Save The Kids.
• The Screens and Teens by Dr.Kathy Koch
• Glow Kids by Dr. Nicholas Kardaras
• Viral Parenting by Mindy McKnight 
• Kirk Cameron – Right Now Media “Engage”; Netflix “Connect”
• Smart Phone Sanity by The Axis Team (newest book with practical exercises)

A few questions to ask to find out if your child is mature enough to figure out the best habits for themselves when it comes to Smartphone usage:

• Does my child proactively let me know where they are going and when they’ll be home?
  This is a great way to gauge their sense of responsibility and the respect they have for open communication.
• Does my child have a tendency to lose things?
  Phones are an expensive investment and showing a sense of care for their personal belongings means they’ll also show care for their phone.
• Does my child respect other rules like when to turn off the TV or computer?
  Knowing your child understands why boundaries are necessary can help quiet the fear of phone addiction and over exposure to radiation/blue light.
• Does my child show signs of empathy towards their siblings, animals and friends?
  While we all love our little darlings, it’s important to observe the way they treat others in real life. The hope is that they will carry empathy and kindness with them with their online activities.
• Does my child know that while most people are awesome, there are people with bad intentions that prey on the young online? 
  While this is a super scary and complicated topic, having open and honest conversation about these risks and how to spot red flags is the best way to prepare any child from online predators.
• Does my child know they can come talk to me about anything? 
  While there are years when teens and parents can feel the strain of communication we must let our children know and show them that we can be a safe space for them when they need us, to help or just to listen—even with the tricky and scary stuff.

Though not what I had planned, the event was fine. The goal of tribe-building without judgement was met. In complete transparency, this is the second time a special guest committed to me in the last six months, but was not able to follow through at the last minute. From this point on, I’ll prepare a backup program every time because my parents who have registered see these opportunities as a priority over all the other things they could choose. They deserve the best I have to offer and my job is to make sure they get it.

“You can make many plans, but the Lord’s purpose will prevail.” Proverbs 19:21

Each fall every church I’ve ever served has presented a teaching campaign for stewardship for the congregation. The campaign would have a theme, a date of commitment, mailings, emails, sometimes a book to read, perhaps testimonies to encourage folks to consider their obedience of regular giving to the local church according to the scriptures. I’ve learned that if we can teach the holy habit of generosity to children as part of their discipleship it follows the scripture, “Train up a child in the way he should go and when he is old, he will not depart from it.” (Proverbs 22:6) Teaching our children God’s way of handling money is a life skill taught best by the family, so let’s give our families the promptings and tools to do so.

This year the children K5-5th grade received an offering folder with the following teaching attached:
“For God so loved the world that HE GAVE…” John 3:16
GOD GAVE his son Jesus for the forgiveness of our sins. JESUS GAVE his life so that when we believe and choose to follow him so closely we become more like him, we are better at life. It is wise to teach our children to be wise and generous. Teaching is best learned when practiced and shared with our families.
As the McEachern Memorial UMC family is asked to make a commitment (promise) financially to support the church each year, children are included. In its most simple form, stewardship is taking care of the world and the church on behalf of God.
Invite your kids to serve the family and their neighbors to earn dollar bills toward a $20 goal and return the folders by Sunday, November 10 or when your family is able.
Generosity Conversation Starters:
• How do you think God wants us to take care of the church?
• How are we ministers to others for Jesus?
• What are some ways the church can help take care of the world?
• What are some things you can do to help the church in its ministry?
• What can you do to help take care of God’s world?
• How can I be generous with my family?

The sense of belonging to a community is an important aspect of faith development for children (and all ages). This can be an asset in exploring how we use what God has given us to include creation, abilities & talents and resources (financial and relational).

Children need approval of family, friends and teachers and hands-on exploration of concepts, being able to relate Bible stories to their lives and the issues of today. It is important that we encourage questioning and exploration, while sharing our own faith and understanding of stewardship in an honest, open way.

One’s understanding of personal stewardship is a continuing journey that should begin in childhood. Most children already have a sense of wonder of how to respond with thanksgiving to God who created them and the world in which they live.

Generosity, charity, sharing, Thanksgiving and abundance are reinforced in many of the themes found in the gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. Be encouraged to think about how to use your gifts and how to be more generous as an example to our children. Because we serve a generous God, we should grow in our generosity.

How are the children involved in your local church’s stewardship campaign?

“Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.” 2 Corinthians 9:7

Yesterday was our monthly children’s ministry networking lunch. Two weeks ago, I and another kidmin champion drove an hour and a half to another district’s children’s ministry networking lunch. I learned and discovered several things that will be game-changing for me. I always do!

Two weeks ago… I learned how a QR code might be the answer to offering free registration links to VBS and other special events for our families who receive assistance through Backpack Blessings, Food Pantry, and other outreaches from our local church; Nerf Wars; planning scheduled 18 months out; low birth years; upcoming Children’s Ministry Institute dates for 2020.

Yesterday… We talked Christmas Eve family programs with silhouettes, cowbells, bags, headbands, musical dramas, and themes; Safe Sanctuary and updating staff policies for staff hired under the age of 21; fall festivals in October; Hoedowns in November; nursery staff; organizational science; job descriptions; recreation ministry; fall retreat registration hard deadlines; 2020 Wonderfully Made events where we can share the event with smaller churches and diverse locations; profiles for volunteers (in response to a speaker from Catalyst Conference); and so much more.

I can’t imagine having to come up with every new idea, re-inventing the wheel for every event, or doing ministry well without the input of other voices and experiences. These folks are the most creative people I know and I need face-time with them. Table life with them. We are better together! Just this last weekend, three of our churches gathered for the first annual Family Campout sharing kayaks, meal duties, tents, cabins, water, s’mores, communion on Sunday morning (clergy camped, too!), hikes, games, lingering beside a campfire or the lake.

There are several of us who share events like the Family Campout on a regular basis. What’s next? The Friday before Christmas is an early-release day from school so we’ve planned a Christmas Faith Field Trip. Five of us will take our 3rd-5th graders to meet up at Red Top Mountain for putt-putt golf, play, and some caroling practice. Then on to one church to prepare food boxes. We’ll all deliver food boxes to families in an area which receives summer lunches in a flash mob of Christmas carols. Then we’re off to pick up hot-dog or pizza-slice dinner at the local Costco to break out in song again. Really! Costco on the Friday night before Christmas! Next stop? Festival of lights in a town nearby. Afterwards we’ll all finish the night at another church for hot chocolate and reindeer games before each church heads home. We’ll basically be covering our entire district from 2-10pm. One of the kidmin leaders was even able to secure a grant to provide for the food items for the food boxes. Yeah, we’re better together.

Who are you sharing life and ministry with?

“One of the factors of the most resilient is meaningful relationships.” David Kinnaman, President of Barna Group, from a 2019 Catalyst talk, “Faith for Exiles”

Each quarter, I check to see who’s missing from recent Sunday mornings because Sunday morning is game day. Sunday morning is when the Body of Christ is the fullest it’s going to be all week in one place. Kids see people of all ages and all stages best on Sunday morning. They enjoy the rituals and regular practices from the Lord’s Prayer in the worship service to the greeters who hold the door open with a smile at their regular entrance after parent’s/caregiver’s park in their regular space. Sunday morning matters. If kids are missing on consecutive Sundays, it’s the perfect time to write post cards.

Kids can’t get the online newsletter. Kids can’t scroll through Facebook to see what’s going on. Kids typically don’t listen to church podcasts or sermons online. Kids can’t drive themselves to church and frankly, most don’t know what’s going on from day to day unless they’re told ahead of time. So I send postcards. Handwritten postcards. Handwritten addresses and notes saying, “I miss you! Mrs. G is your Sunday school teacher this month and I know how much you really like her. Small groups start at 9:30am, but you can come early. I hope to see your awesome smile soon.” Then I print my name. Many kids are not taught cursive writing today, so I hand print everything.

Ordering the postcards from 123print.com or vistaprint.com, I make the postcard a solid color and our ministry logo in white. I change the solid color each year just for fun. I send postcards for a whole host of reasons, but quarterly, especially to those who’re missing.

Last week I mailed 20 postcards. On Sunday, I saw the awesome smiles of ten who received last week’s postcards. I only mentioned it to one parent, but I made a big deal out of them coming as I do for everyone else. Greeting matters.

One of the five pillars of our ministry is that kids know they belong. Letting them know they were missed tells them they belong. It’s an easily-accomplished level of extravagant hospitality. And kids love mail!

“And whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me.” Matthew 18:5

Glee Club and Cherub Choir are invited to sing in the last service on the fifth Sunday of a month. This opens an opportunity to engage in a family event to follow where new and connected families bump elbows and build relationships.

Using an abbreviated Messy Church model, we move to engaging station experiences in the gym after the first part of the general worship service in the sanctuary. We close the event with a simple meal at round tables sharing table life and great conversation. The Glee Club had been practicing two songs (a song must have the name of Jesus said at least three times to qualify to be sung in the sanctuary) and chose the one they wanted to present: Confidence by Sanctus Real. The Bible stories of Daniel, Moses, and David were the basis for our station experiences. Here’s what we did:

Schedule 11am Sanctuary service
11:15am Cherubs sing on front of stage
11:25am Glee Club sings CONFIDENCE by Sanctus Real
11:30am Instructions of stations
12:00noon Repeat after me prayer for lunch
12:30pm Family blessing
Dismiss & Cleanup

Stations set up on long tables along the 3 walls of the gym. (8 Stations below)

Round tables set up in the center for dining and setting down of family stuff. Tables assigned up to 8 members.
Repeat after me prayer……(DeDe)
Lunch…2 serving tables with 4 serving lines along long, narrow tables
Signups for: Spaghetti in crock pots, Rolls, Shake cheese, Iced water
Children’s Ministry provides: Paper products (forks, cups, plates, napkins)

Station #1 – Decorate bag to carry goodies home
Supplies: White paper bags, twistable crayons
Discussion: Tell me what you know about Daniel? About David? About Moses?
Try to get to all 8 stations, but take your time.

Station #2 – Decorate an altar cloth for the altar table in the Treehouse
Supplies: Table runner, Sharpies
Activity: Trace your feet with a sharpie and write “Hope” inside each foot.
Discussion: In Exodus 3, Moses faces the burning bush and the voice of God tells Moses to take off his sandals because Moses is on holy ground.” Take off your shoes and have a family member trace your foot on the cloth and write HOPE inside your tracing.
Just as God told Moses to GO and lead His people out of the Egypt to worship God in the desert, God tells us to GO and tell others about Jesus.
What do you know about Jesus?

Station #3 – Put together an Operation Christmas Child Shoebox
Supplies: Scotch tape
Activity: Put together two shoeboxes for Operation Christmas Child
Discussion: Have you started even thinking about Christmas?
Sharing with others takes planning and time to get ready especially at Christmas.
What three things can you plan to get for your Christmas Child?

Station #4 – Prayer Rocks
Supplies: Rocks, Sharpies
Activity: Write the names of your family on your prayer rock to prayer for each one.
Discussion: Daniel has a great FAITH because he learned to pray 3 times a day, every day, even when it was against the law. He even opened the windows and didn’t hide his prayer time. He was even thrown into a lions den for breaking the law, but GOD took care of him by closing the mouth of the lions. Do you pray 3 times a day, every day? Prayer rocks are a great reminder to pray for your family who loves you so. Where is your favorite place to pray? When do you like to pray? Where can you put your prayer rock to remind you to talk to Jesus in prayer for your family who loves you so?

Station #5 – Family of God Photo Station
Supplies: Backdrop for a photo station (frame, fall decorations, etc.), Insta Camera, Film
Activity: Take a picture with your family.
Discussion: Moses, Daniel, and David were prepared as kids to lead others to know our great God. God is preparing YOU to lead others to know our great God. God first gave us the family we live with, and then gave us a church family who loves us, leads us to remember Jesus, and teach us how to love and live with others. Tell me about how you first came to church? What is your favorite thing about church? Who are some of your church friends?

Station #6 – I Can Face My Giants with Confidence
Supplies: Giant in boxes, Catapults with balls (borrowed from another church…the blessings of being part of a regular networking group!)
Activity: Knock down the giant
Discussion: We all have to face hard stuff every day: fear, anxiety, getting in trouble, unkindness, grades, teachers, coaches, games. We can call these giants because they can take up giant spaces in our minds and hearts=worry. God is with us and He ‘turns all things GOOD for those who love Him.’ What are ways God gives us to deal with our giants so we don’t worry? (read your Bible, talk with your parents, talk with someone who can help (not just anybody), pray…)

Station #7 – Heart Like David
Supplies: Wooden heart shapes, Magnets on sticky tape, Glue dots
Activity: Decorate heart and stick on magnet
Discussion: In the Bible God calls David ‘a man after God’s own heart’. Even as a kid, David trusted God to make the best decisions for David and to ‘work all things for GOOD’ for David. We can get so overwhelmed and anxious that we forget to have a heart like David to trust God. We just stay overwhelmed and anxious. Even as a kid David faced a bear, a lion, and even the giant, Goliath and God showed up and showed off. Put this heart somewhere at your house to remind you to have a heart like David and let the Lord be your defense. What do you think about that?

Station #8 – Prayer Station
Supplies: Paper heart shapes, Clothes pins, ink pens, Prayer frame
Activity: Write a prayer and clip it to the frame
Discussion: God hears the prayers of His children! Sometimes God answers, “Yes.” Sometimes God answers, “No”. Sometimes God answers “Not now.” Do you have something really big you’d like to ask God in prayer? Something you pray about over and over and often? Write it on the paper heart (fold it over if you want) and clip it to the frame and we will pray it with you. Did you know your church loves you so much we want to pray with you, too? David prayed. Moses prayed. Daniel prayed. And they started as kids. What is your biggest, hairiest, most audacious, most outrageous prayer?

“Give me faith like Daniel in the lion’s den. Give me hope like Moses in the wilderness. Give me a heart like David. Lord be my defense, so I can face my giants with confidence.” Sanctus Real

A Children’s Ministry colleague working on her masters in ministry contacted me last week inviting me to answer several questions for her Family Ministry class. I was honored. She was patient to give me a couple of days so I thought I’d share my responses here:

1. How do you/your church support families today?
• We use a closed Facebook group to offer daily interaction for encouragement, resource, and information such as #mondaymantra (related to christian life) #tuesdaytruth (scripture) #wednesdaywisdom (Godly parenting) #thursdaythoughts (family blog about challenges & Sunday school lesson from previous week) #familyfriday (positive message/practical ideas of spending time together as a family to start the weekend) #saturdaysmiles (encouragement to gather together for church) #welovesundays (list of what’s happening all day and when at church).
• Parenting With A Purpose initiative – 1.5 hour dessert events for parents or parents & kids with the goal of providing practical tools as well as building tribes among our families to travel through life
* Sharing Your Faith With Your Family – practical ideas to live out Deuteronomy 6:4-9 (I facilitate) with book takeaway
* Parenting Technology & Cell Phone Safety – invited outside facilitator with book takeaway ‘Screens and Teens’ by Kathy Koch, PhD
* Parenting Relationships & Friendships – invite pastoral and counseling staff to facilitate practical communication tools and actions for critical and crucial conversations within the family using Holy Listening Stones, Counseling Center-led conversational role-play, and book takeaway Power of a Praying Parent by Stormie Omartian
• Faith Milestones for students and parents
*Kindergarten I Can Go To Sunday school on Sunday 7/28
*K5 & 1st Grade Bread & Juice Class 5:45-6:30pm on Wednesday 11/6
*1st & 2nd Grades I Can Pray on Wednesday 5:45-6:30pm on Wednesday 2/12
*2nd & 3rd Grades I Love My Church 5:45-6:30pm on Wednesday 3/18
*4th-5th Grades Camp Glisson Fall Retreat 9/6-8
*Ambassadors 5:45-6:30pm on Wednesday 10/9
*5th Grade Rock Solid Retreat 1/25-26, 2020
*5th & 6th Grades Wonderfully Made 2/27-29, 2020
• Weekly devotion emailed to all families involved in our Recreation Ministry. When kids tell the ‘Bible point of the week’ to the concession stand, kids receive a small treat or discount on concessions like popcorn or beverages

2. Families are busier than ever these days and find less time to come to church? Are you able to bring church outside the walls of the physical building?
• Closed Facebook Groups lets us reach out to families online daily (notes above) for Kids and Recreation Ministries
• Lead chapel assemblies to local home school co-ops.
• Backpack blessings of food for weekends with local Elementary School and Middle School with printed material through out Missions Team.
• Tutoring ministries with local Elementary School and Middle School.
• Postcards and note writing each week
• Ministry of presence to show up at their game, play, performance, concert, goes to the movies, activities in the community, etc.

3. What is the most successful thing or program that you have done in family ministry? Faith Field Trips and annual Promotion Sundays

4. Have you tried anything that was not successful? Oh yeah…movie nights. I’ve learned that if families can do things at home, they typically don’t want to go through the trouble of coming to church to do it.

5. Any insights or advice?
• Ask a lot of questions before trying things of the connectors in your church and those who are just as involved in the community as they are at church. Many years ago, I offered an Angel Breakfast on the first Saturday in Advent promoting it for two months ahead of time among our families and no one thought to tell me the local elementary school was doing the same thing on the same day at the same time. Ugh!
• Have lots of side conversations with parents all the time at events, meals (never plan to eat…work the room!), even Christmas Caroling: When do your kids have to get up in the morning to get on the bus? What time do your kids have to go to bed during the school year? What do y’all do in the summer? When do you have nothing going on in your calendar? How far do you live from the church? What do your family traditions looks like for Christmas? Easter? Thanksgiving? Mother’s Day? Father’s Day?
• Write 5 notes each week: 3 kids, 2 volunteers…and make 3 phone calls each week: 2 volunteers, 1 family or 2 families & 1 volunteer to check in and see how they’re doing in life. Build relationships and share life.

This was a good exercise to get my thoughts together on paper, and do some evaluating. What would your answers look like?

“Without a good question, a good answer has no place to go.” Clayton Christensen

Collin Kartchner is a social media activist, TEDx talk presenter, husband and dad who travels around the country speaking to parents and kids through the organization Save The Kids. This generation of parents are dealing with a resource which no other generation has dealt with. The boundaries, the communication, the cell phone companies, the urgency to empower parents to be parents while dealing with social media is new, necessary, and frightening all at the same time. I remember having to purchase our daughter’s first cellphone when her high school removed all the pay phones on campus, but it was different. It was just a phone, not the world at her fingertips. How does the local church help parents navigate this entity that makes them the first parents to ever…..

The week our community struggled through another teen suicide, Collin came to speak at a local church youth group on Wednesday night, a local high school on Thursday morning, and with parents at a community event on Thursday evening. I discovered Collin’s TED talk in January and was thrilled he’d planned to come to our community. Several of the moms who serve in our children’s ministry joined me as well as two middle schoolers attended the parent event on Thursday evening. Another mom attended the youth group gathering on Wednesday evening and offered these notes as her take-aways. With her permission, these are her notes:

TAKE A BREAK FROM FAKE event by Collin Kartchner, notes by Cheryl Kischuk

The number of cases of teen suicide, self-harm, depression & anxiety has gone up in multiples since 2010… the same year social media was invented.

There are businesses that make money from making technology as addictive as possible. There are other companies that build secret apps into programs like YouTube to draw a user (child or adult) to other websites with adult content. We MUST be vigilant.

Collin’s THREE Goals For Tweens & Teens:

• Bring back all the self-love you might be giving away to a tiny machine in your pocket.
• Stop letting Satan use your phone to steal your happiness
• Get off screens. Get off social media a bit. Go be a kid and be free.

The “Collin Challenge” for the children with social media:

• 8 Hugs Every Day For 8 Seconds. Minimum.
• Start sharing more authenticity & positivity. Show others it’s okay to be real.
• Guess What? Earth already hit it’s quota of mean people. We don’t need anymore. Be cool to each other.
• Do something awesome, and DON’T SHARE IT.
• Fail at something, and SHARE IT. Proudly.
• ALL SOCIAL MEDIA – unfollow EVERY person or account that doesn’t make you happy. Cut the joy thieves out.

Challenge to the Parents:

• Absolutely no phones in the bedrooms at night. Children need unhindered sleep.
• Buy a central “command” charging station and ALL electronics get charged there at night.
• Predators LOVE apps like SnapChat, Fortnite, Instagram, TikTok, etc. They build in secret accounts to pull your child or adult into more explicit content sites (like Kik, Omegle, Yubo, and Live.Me).
• Make sure your kids get 8 hugs every day for 8 seconds. Minimum.
• Evaluate your own digital behaviors and make necessary changes. Grandparents – you too.
• Create a Family Tech Contract, signed and posted on the fridge by the end of the month. (Ask Google for a family tech contract. Sit together as a family to discuss it and sign it together.)
• No more phones out when you are dropping off or picking up kids from school.
• One night a week, commit to no phones out from 5pm – 9pm.
• Children who do play video games off the internet can play up to an hour a day.

What to say when your child comes and tells you they have seen or done something inappropriate…

• Say, “I am so sorry.” and give an 8 second hug.
• Say, “What can I do to help you?”
• Say “Tell me more.” and then BE QUIET and listen to them.

Your phone won’t feel bad if you don’t pay attention to it. It won’t care if you haven’t played with it in a while. It won’t mind if you don’t hold it.

Your cell phone will be small forever. Your children will not.

We have scheduled a Parenting With a Purpose dessert event entitled Parenting Technology & Cell Phone Safety next month. The goal is to facilitate conversations while building relationships among our parents as we lead families to love the Lord our God with all our heart, soul, mind, strength AND love our neighbors as ourselves. How are you resourcing your families?

“Follow God’s example, therefore, as dearly loved children.” Ephesians 5:1

Without a vocal nap or recovery time, my voice only lasts so long. This last weekend was the perfectly awesome and glorious storm: 3rd-5th grade SPARK retreat at Camp Glisson shared with 350 of our North Georgia best friends laughing, singing, talking, and more; CLUB345 gathering two hours after our return from retreat; Acolyte Training class for the fabulous 3rd graders who want to serve in worship. Our leaders are amazing and they do most of the talking, driving, small-grouping, game-coaching, retrieving flashlights and all. I just can’t be quiet and I LOVE their company. So I woke up on Monday with absolutely no voice. Nothing. Nada. With only a whisper, I spent the day online and texting. I missed my small group as well as our monthly children’s ministry networking lunch on Monday because I didn’t have the self-control to stay quiet.

So the day was filled with random thoughts and sweet memories like these:

Borrowing two catapults and a 10-foot-tall cardboard Goliath, both girls and boys are all-in to try new things. We are better together to share ministry tools and hearts partnering with other churches. The catapults and slingshots shooting dog food in the parking lot are sticky memories when teaching the life of David and how God can and will use a kid if that kid is willing and all-in. So grateful we tell kids, “Your home church wants to help you GROW in your all-in-faith.”

Acolyte training has been led by this amazing couple for more than 15 years and they are still at it. Giving fire to little people to carry in and fire to little people to carry out of worship takes huge levels of trust. It tells our kids, “Your church trusts you. Your church believes in you. Your church invites you to be an active part of the Body of Christ here in your home church.” So grateful we tell kids, “Your home church invites you to SERVE.”

Watching our students carry yellow fabric up to the stage area on the first night of worship at retreat (provided by our Tucker First UMC friends’ church closet), they walked and worked together to accomplish a task with no other direction than, “Take this upfront together and set it as an offering to the space.” I also saw them dance, sign language, pray, cheer, motions, sing, jump, “AMEN” the speaker, all in full-participation-worship. So grateful we let our kids WORSHIP the God of all creation in developmentally appropriate ways.

On the ride home from retreat, the children wrote down on paper and role-played how they would answer their parents when asked, “How was the retreat?” I got a glimpse of what they were thinking and what they took away from their experiences. Their response to share with their parents should include (1) Who did you meet and what did you learn about them? (2) What did you do that you’ve never done before? (3) What did you learn? So grateful we let our kids TELL their stories.

Walks through the creek, scones and devotions at the falls (provided by our Acworth UMC friends), platform jumps into the lake, flashlight-sharing, star-gazing, hikes to the cabin, stories read at night (girls cabin), talks through the first-night-home-sickness (boys cabin), seat mates, bunk mates, family style meals, and cheering one another on and overcoming our fears at the big swing make for deeper friendships, shared sacred memories, and tons of stories. So grateful these friendships impress on the hearts of our kids, “We are family and we are in this life together, fearfully and wonderfully made. This is where you BELONG.”

Lord, let me always look for ways to intentionally invite your kids to grow, serve, worship, tell, and belong. Thank you for the memories filled with YOUR voice and not my own. Thank you, Lord!

Last summer I attended a parenting class offered by a church down the street. The free class was led by one of my favorite youtube-kidmin-leaders and he did not disappoint. At the intermission, I was approached by the Children’s Ministry lead. We chatted for a bit in small talk, then she asked me who I was and what I did. She was a delight! Before we returned to the program, we made plans to meet for lunch at a nearby restaurant in the next couple of weeks.

When we met at the restaurant we chatted how we came to be at our local churches, how we came to be on staff, and how we can partner in the community. I brought my calendar and she checked her calendar so we wouldn’t have VBS on the same week nor plan our fall festivals at the same time. We planned to share a cemetery tour in October with our 3rd-5th graders. I invited her 3rd-5th graders to come to the Winter Ball Invitational in January and I will wait for her to invite us to something they are doing.

We share a common goal that every single child in our community has a growing and personal relationship with Jesus and belongs to a family of faith. My local church teaches children to love Jesus. Her local church teaches children to love Jesus. Together we can share our resources, our passions, and our Jesus in community with one another.  We are indeed better together!

Have you met your ministry counterparts at the local church down the street? How can you partner with other local churches in your community to more effectively make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world? Who will you call this week to share some chips & salsa, have a cup of coffee/tea, make an invitation?

“As God’s co-workers we urge you not to receive God’s grace in vain. For he says, “In the time of my favor I heard you, and in the day of salvation I helped you.'” 2 Corinthians 6:1-2 NIV

Each of my children’s birthdays involves the typical cake, gift, and balloons. I also story tell recalling the day each was born. Their birth is such a part of my life story, my faith story, and my family story that I’m thrilled to stroll down those memory lanes. Even our grandchildren love hearing the stories of the day they were born because their mothers are warriors, their dads are super heroes, and one was born on the side of the road during rush hour traffic making international news.

My friend Glenys Nellist has actually published a children’s book celebrating the birth of her eldest child entitled The Wonder That Is You, illustrated by Aurelie Blanz. This book is beautiful and a wonderful gift for any new mom or grandmother. The rhyme is tender and the images are delightfully soft, diverse, and colorful.

One of my favorite things to do with the grands is to read aloud. Thankfully, Glenys has also just published Snuggle Time Fall Blessings. Her rhyming is simple and oh so playful for little ones. I read aloud to our Children’s Church students at the end of each Sunday and her prayer books are some of our favorites. Glenys has written five board books of rhyming Snuggle Time Blessings.

Fall Fun!
On a windy, crisp fall day,
Leaves race down the street.
Orange, red, and yellow,
Falling at my feet.
We stomp and crunch and kick them
And swish them as we run.
Thank you, God, for autumn.
It’s really so much fun!

Reading children’s books in church is a favorite time of each Sunday with our students. Thank you, Glenys, for continuing to pen some delightful ones.

What are you reading?

“Let the redeemed of the Lord tell their story.” Psalm 107:2