wonder and awe

“Everyone was gripped with great wonder and awe. And they praised God, saying over and over again, ‘We have seen amazing things today.’” –Luke 5:26 NLT

“Have you ever seen the face of a child when she received a present she wasn’t expecting? Have you ever seen the face of a child when she receives a present she was expecting? It’s the same face: bright eyes, bubbly smile, slight gasps of oohs and aahs, surprise, astonishment, and amazement.

Children teach us mischief and fun. They teach us to appreciate even the tiniest miracles around us. They refuse to allow complacency. They approach every part of life with wonder. I don’t think Jesus ever wants us to lose that way of engaging the world. Have you ever lost your sense of wonder and awe? Misplaced your sense of amazement and surprise? Have you drifted into a rut or redundant routine? Many of us have. The good news is that we’re serving children, and children are the best teachers about wonder and awe in the universe. Learn from your kids this week!”

What a great reminder for me as a volunteer and also as a mom of three amazing children. I need to always be mindful of the wonder and awe God places right before our eyes every day!

Thanks so much for serving God by serving His church, and don't forget to learn from your kids this week!!

love is the same in all languages

I recently read a post I had written while on a mission trip to Kazakhstan and it was a great reminder that what all children want more than anything is love. That's true for all God's children, birth to 128, we all crave the same, love.

I feel so blessed to have the opportunity to be the craft guru of this amazing Kazakhstan journey. Today was the first day we were able to spend extended time with the children at the orphanages, and yep, you guessed it, my job was craft girl.

At the first orphanage we encountered children with different learning disabilities. I don't know why I am so amazed that we packed the appropriate crafts and activities for just the occasion. (Can you say "thank you Jesus!"????) Bubbles were perfect! From four years up to seventeen years, they loved blowing bubbles and catching them all at once, it was a beautiful sight to see. Next, scratch crosses. As I would show them how to scratch the paper with the wooden stick I would make a heart and scratch off the center and the beautiful colors would show through. Well, they liked the colors so much they just scratched the black wax off the entire cross and held it up for me to take a picture of them with their new creation! Again, it was a beautiful sight to see. Then, it was time for me to switch hats and become parachute girl. Aiman taught me how to tell the children to raise the parachute up and then down in Kazak. I already have forgotten how to say it, but I must have been saying it correctly at the time because they would raise it on my command and then lower it when I spoke again. There was one little guy who stood next to me but wouldn't grab the parachute. He was four and he would belly laugh each time the parachute would rise above his head. The joy on this sweet boy's face was priceless. Even his eyes were smiling! After the crafts were finished and the parachute was put away, it was time to hand out tennis shoes. The children were thrilled to say the least! Only one problem, we didn't have enough!! So it was time to go to the "Bazaar." (How bizarre, how bizarre...)

We walked through this maze of a market until we were deep into the area where the cheese is hidden....oops, I mean until we found the tennis shoes at a decent price. Aiman talked the man down from 2900 tenge per pair to 850 tenge. Just trust me when I tell you that is a very good deal, especially when we needed to purchase 30 more pairs!! We returned to the orphanage and handed out the new shoes. Then, we headed to orphanage number 2!

The second orphanage did not have special needs children. We decided to pull out the slap bracelets and markers for a little do it yourself slap bracelet artwork, then, the "God is Love" crosses were handed out for some gluing fun. Next, the ultimate craft......God's Eyes! Who would have ever thought yarn and popsicle sticks could be so fun?!!?!?! I would show the kids how to do the craft and I would say; "over, and around.....over, and around....over, and around" until they started saying it, in ENGLISH! Some of the kids would repeat everything I said and mimic my hand motions, they even mimicked my laugh! It was comical! It reminds me that love is simply the same in any language!

I pray that you will enjoy showing God's love to the children He brings your way this weekend!

Faith, Hope & Love

wanted: awesome small group leaders

I am so blown away by small group leaders. There are so many different leadership styles associated with small group leaders, but their passion is always the same, for kids to love and follow Jesus with all they've got!

Watching a small group leader recently, I noticed two students who tested this leader and they passed with flying colors! In just less than an hour, this leader impacted two students' lives in a huge way!!

Student 1

This student found five dollars at the bus stop and was thinking about what to buy with it. This awesome leader took the time to talk to him about what is important to him. Games? Fast food? Clothes? God? The student then began to ask questions like "What could I give this money to that would help someone?" The questions continued for about 5 minutes with the leader constantly putting the decision back on the student. How easy it is to just tell kids what they "should" do instead of leading them to think about their priorities and values. Several more questions later, the student decided to give it all to God. The student felt that he had everything he needed and because there are people out there who don't, maybe the church could help them. The win here is not that the student gave the money to the church to help others, the win here is that the student thought about what matters to him and to God. His decision was based on his faith in God and his priorities.

Student 2

This student keeps to himself. He never misses a week but he sits hunched over in the back of the room during the initial small group time trying to be invisible. This same volunteer strikes up a conversation with him. Shows Christ's love by accepting him and engaging him. The student responds with a slight smile and eventually decides to sit next to the leader during large group time. That is huge!! There are so many students we see each week that want to hide and sometimes we let them!! Not this leader! There was no way he was going to let him fade into the woodwork, he was going to do whatever he could to get him connected and on this day all it took was a conversation filled with love! I noticed that when this student sat in large group next to his leader, he sat up a little straighter and looked a little more at ease. It was a beautiful thing to witness.

Thank you small group leaders for your heart and passion for kids to love and follow Jesus!! You are AWESOME!

repeat after me, people before task

I have heard a lot of leaders share their struggle with people vs. tasks. I know there is tension there, but you will never go wrong putting people before any task.

There are lots of ministries that look like they've got it all together. You walk in and are blown away by the decor. You talk to the leader who shares with you how awesome the ministry is, everyone knows the 5 core values and the curriculum they use is just amazing. From the outside looking in you might be thinking it's the perfect ministry! Because you are visiting or evaluating you get a lot of smiles and everything looks like a well oiled machine, but is it? Unfortunately, sometimes it's just a facade.

After digging a little bit deeper you find out that although everything looks great, the picture painted is awesome alright, it's just a little out of focus. The people who were smiling at you are the same people who feel uncared for, misunderstood or not empowered. They are filling a hole because their children are in that room, or because they have always served in children's ministry!! How does this happen?

It's simple, the task can seem so exciting that we forget about the people who carryout the week to week ministry. As a big vision leader, I can see what can be and it's so tempting to focus on getting the tasks done. The problem is that the people come second, this should not be! There is balance to every tension, we must navigate that tension and if we fall too hard on one side or the other, it must be the people side. I recently listed to a brief John Maxwell talk from Catalyst. He was asked to share one thing about leadership. Of all the things he considered he landed on this; "Intentionally add value to people every day." If you constantly sow, the reaping will happen. Pour into your leaders, care for them, understand them, empower them! The tasks are the easy part, but not at your leaders expense. If you value your team, they will gladly help with the tasks!

Repeat after me, people before task.....

never underestimate the kingdom difference

Wow, I am always in awe of God. He is always at work, sometimes I think we just aren’t looking for the “life change,” but I am convinced it is all around us all the time! Please enjoy this story of life change from a small group leader....

“One of the kids was telling me that she had a friend that had never been to church and that his dad had a picture of the devil in his house. She was really amazed at that. I told her that she needed to pray even harder for that kid. I also told her I had witnessed a father accepting Jesus and getting baptized all because the son when to church and talked his dad into coming.

She handed me the prayer request and I put it in my folder and didn't really look at it until yesterday. Anyway when I opened it, my heart just stopped. I really did get through to her. She had written “Please God let my friends Dad believe in you and your son."

Doesn't that send chills down your spine and tears to you eyes? It sure did to mine, then and now again as I write this. NEVER UNDERESTIMATE THE KINGDOM DIFFERENCE YOU ARE MAKING IN THE LIVES OF THE KIDS YOU SERVE!”

So, you ready to serve? Bring on the weekend!!

Faith, Hope & Love,

heroes, enter here

Every kids ministry volunteer lives out the description of Christian service found in 1 Corinthians 15:58:

“Stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.”

Holding a baby, singing a song, telling a story, listening to a child, recruiting volunteers, praying for coworkers—none of these are a waste of time because God understands that all of it is done for Him. Every weekend, volunteers (or heroes if you ask me) inconspicuously walk through the doors. Each volunteer does what they do because of a conviction that drives them without any expectation of honor. In today’s world, it’s easy to be too busy to volunteer or too distracted by a career to answer God’s call into children’s ministry. Thanks for saying yes to serving kids! You willingly traded the easy way for an exciting journey. As God watches you, know that he promises your award waits for at the end of your ministry adventure! You truly are a hero!

Faith, Hope & Love

how lucky are you?

It’s not even St. Patrick’s Day, but I am feeling lucky!! I know, there's no such thing as luck, maybe luck isn't the right word, maybe it's actually blessed! I feel blessed (lucky) that I have the sheer privilege of serving God’s leaders and His children. This weekend, you get to serve God by serving His kids. You get to help shape a young life into a future Godly leader. Yes………….YOU!!! It’s true and Paul’s words ring so loudly in my ears today…..

"By God's grace and mighty power, I have been given the privilege of serving him by spreading this Good News. Though I am the least deserving of all God's people, he graciously gave me the privilege of telling the Gentiles about the endless treasures available to them in Christ. I was chosen to explain to everyone this mysterious plan that God, the Creator of all things, had kept secret from the beginning." Eph 3:7-9

I was struck by Paul's gratitude. He felt it an absolute privilege to be given the responsibility of ministry (and keep in mind he was in jail as he wrote). Can’t you hear Paul saying; "Can you believe I get to do this?!? How blessed (lucky) am I!?!"

Serving….it’s just that cool!!

Faith, Hope & Love