How can I help?

I listened to Andy Stanley at the Orange Conference last week and loved every minute of his presentation! Although his primary focus was "staff culture" his message easily translates for volunteer teams as well! Some of my favorite quotes are;

"How can I serve the people that work for me?"

"Do for one what you wish you could do for all"

"When you can say yes, say yes"

"Do not be fair, be engaged"

"Create & maintain a sustainable pace"

"If your pace is too fast, you don't have time to serve others."

"What's rewarded is repeated, what's punished is avoided, what's neither punished or rewarded is neglected"

I'm sure as you read those quotes you were thinking of stories where you have seen this in action! I know my head is full of "Yes's" "Amen's" and "So true's!!"

I want to watch my pace, be engaged, so I can say yes to one volunteer on my team and reward them for their awesomeness!

Yeah, that sounds so easy, but is it? I say yes! If we remember the one question Andy Stanley ends every meeting with I think we could be well on our way in creating a serving culture on our teams! The question is; "How can I help?" The simplicity overwhelms me! You are communicating so much in four little words!

Today, I am going to focus on ending each conversation I have with staff and volunteers with those four little words!!

Big S helmet

A few years ago my daughter started playing softball. It was about that time during the elementary years when kids are warned not to share helmets, hats, brushes, etc. with other children because they could come in contact with lice. So you know what we did, we bought her a helmet. I don’t know if you have ever been to a sporting goods store for a softball helmet, but let me tell you, the basic ones are all blue and they all look the same. My husband is extremely creative and he decided it would be easy to for her to find her helmet if we put a giant “S” sticker on it. Worked for me and for our daughter!

Time for the first game! We were in the field first and away we go! First three girls up, three outs, time for us to bat. My daughter batted fourth which allowed plenty of time for all spectators to arrive before it was her turn. The coach tells her to get her helmet and of course, she can’t find it. She looks up in the stands and finds my hubby and I and says at the top of her lungs; “Mom, where’s my big S helmet? Where’s my big S helmet?” Say that a couple of times out loud…

Now you know my pain. Parents are all looking at me like I taught her to call her softball helmet that! They jumped to their own conclusions without asking any questions, they just stared at me with that disapproving glare. The nasty stares continued until they saw the real thing, a helmet with a big S sticker on it. Big learning experience for me!

If people do not understand you or where you are coming from, they jump to conclusions. This is the same thing that happens in ministry! As a leader, you must paint a picture of the vision over and over again so that your team does not connect the dots their own way and jump to a wrong conclusion. It’s easy to do! Be real, we all do this! We would rather connect our own dots instead of asking a question. It’s not something new, but since we know it happens, let’s do something about it! Communicate the vision to your team as often as possible! Write it down, share it at orientation, share it during one on one conversations, send it out in a weekly email and ask your coaches to communicate it during your gathering time before heading out to serve! We call our gathering time our VIP time, Vision, Information, and Prayer. I saw this example at Willow Creek and it works perfectly! It gives purpose to the gathering time! Every team member knows what VIP stands for and they know what they are going to get!

People follow a leader with a compelling God given vision who empowers them to help bring the vision alive! Not all people will ask questions, you need to answer those questions by connecting the dots every chance you get!! You might avoid the nasty glares, but more importantly you will glorify God as His vision comes to pass!

Secure kidmin environment, what do you need?

Where do you start if you want to implement a secured children's area? Here are some basic steps to take to start the process;

Volunteer Screening

1. Formal Application
2. Background Check
3. Reference Checks
4. Volunteer Orientation

Guidelines and Procedures for your ministry

1. Write them all down.
2. Train all of your volunteers; give them a copy.
3. Review and edit to keep current.

Limit access to your children’s area.

1. Know who is there and why.
2. Only let in those people who need to be there.

If you would like an example of anything mentioned, just leave a comment and I would be happy to send you what we use. You can also network with other churches and ask them what they use and what their procedures are!

Stop, Drop and Roll

One of our values in children's ministry is SAFETY! Why do we want safety as a value?

1. To protect the children in our ministry.
2. To protect the volunteers in our church.
3. To protect the church.

How and where do we start?

1. Pray

2. Evaluate

• Where are you weak? Can just anyone enter the children's area, or do you have a secured children's area?
• Where are you strong? Do you already have a number system in place so kids and parents numbers match for pick up?

3. Investigate

• Network with other churches! What are they doing that works? Never be afraid to ask other children's pastors, we are talking Big C church stuff here!!

4. Communicate

• Leadership - make sure your leadership knows the why behind the plan. Create a plan and get it "approved" before you move on.
• Parents - don't forget to communicate to parents! Parents want to make sure their children are safe, let them know the steps you take and they will be your biggest supporters!!

5. Initiate

• Put your plan in action. You will have people (volunteers and parents) who did not engage in the preplan conversation, be prepared to have a couple of one on ones with them, it will be time WELL spent!

When it comes to safety, there are plenty of examples out there to give us reason to take action. We need to be proactive in the church, not reactive because something has happened. The following quote really spurs me on to always evaluate and reevaluate our security procedures;

"We react when we are forced out of neutrality. We act when we refuse to stay there. If there is one secret to seizing divine moments, it is that you must take initiative." - Erwin Raphael McManus

Why "Stop, Drop & Roll" you ask? My clever and intelligent daughter came up with the title, she said parents should stop at church, drop off their kids and roll into service!! Amen!

Kidmin Genius

I just read an article at Business Insider about Apple's Genius Bars. The article says;

"Apple's "Geniuses" can tackle almost any problem you throw at them. But most people don't realize Geniuses can do more than troubleshoot technical problems. They have a great deal of power to act on their own."

How cool would it be if people talked about your kidmin first impressions check-in/information area that way? Could we actually call the team members geniuses? If we translate this for first impression team members, it might read something like this;

"Kidmin "Geniuses" can tackle almost any problem you throw at them. But most parents don't realize Geniuses can do more than troubleshoot classroom issues. They have been empowerment to leave their post, go the extra mile and walk with parents to make sure their experience is the best!"

I would like to think that we already have empowered them to be just that! Our first impression check-in/information area is called the Help Center. We felt that was a better representation of what we are trying to do. Helping families get their children registered and checked-in to kids ministry and then taking that extra step of giving the parents a short tour of the facility ending at the doors of the Worship Center.

It's the little things that make a little difference that make a big difference!! In my mind they are geniuses, I'm just not sure that verbiage would fly!

Be Strong...Joshua 1:9

This morning I found myself singing a kidmin song from years ago! I'm sure its because a friend of mine is having surgery to remove a cancerous tumor today. The song's lyrics are simple; "Be strong and courageous, do not be terrified, do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go!" Joshua 1:9, duh!!

As I think about this day through my friends eyes, it must be overwhelmingly scary! The great news is that they can be strong because He is with them!

Are you facing something scary in your life? What about your ministry life? Although we can't compare cancer surgery with not having enough volunteers this weekend, the sentiment is the same. You don't have to be scared or discouraged! You are not in this alone, especially in ministry! Although there are so many times you feel like you are, take heart, the Lord your God is with you!!

Today I will pray for my friend, if you would like prayer as well, just leave a comment and I will pray for you too!!

Be Strong...Joshua 1:9

no money for kids camp

I met an amazing guest services volunteer at kids camp this week! He is actually the Children's Pastor at another church in the area that just didn't have the budget this year to put on a summer children's event and didn't want to stress families out to pay for camp, so what did he do? He volunteered at our kids camp and invited all of his students to attend the camp.

Say what?? I know, right! It's so awesome to hear about churches partnering with each other, it's not as common as it could be.

In this difficult economy this leader chose the best thing for his students, an inexpensive ($15.00) kids camp close to home where he could volunteer and still pour into their lives! He shared with me that his church is in a area hard hit by job loss and to ask parents to pay for their children to go to kids camp would be a hardship. Not wanting to stress out the families in his church he found a great inexpensive camp within driving distance for the children in his ministry!!!

Thank you for being a humble and resourceful servant! You are a Godly example to everyone you came in contact with!!

Review: Spiritual Parenting DVD Series

Spiritual Parenting is a DVD series produced by David C. Cook and written by Michelle Anthony. Dr. Michelle Anthony is Pastor of Family Ministries at ROCKHARBOR Church in Costa Mesa, California. A former professor at Biola University and Talbot School of Theology, Dr. Anthony has written over a dozen resources for Christian Education and Family/Youth Ministries. She is also the Family Ministry Architect for David C. Cook.

The approach to teaching in this series is very well done. The length is hard for me because the target audience has to think about kid's activities as well as paying for a babysitter. Two hours of incredible information and experiential learning activities is awesome, if you have the time to invest.

The content is challenging and applicable and points you to God at every turn! I love that part! Here are my top 5 highlights from the series:

1. God is the #1 parent.
2. There are teachable moments around you at all times, take advantage of those!
3. Parent with an eternal prospective.
4. How you are raised impacts how you parent.
5. As a parent, our goal is transforming lives. That comes from allowing children to flex their spiritual muscles and declare with their lives that God is real.

This series is worth your investment of time.

You can win a free copy on David C. Cook's FB page tomorrow, May 6, 2011 or you can purchase the series at Amazon, Christianbook, or David C. Cook.

You can follow Michelle Anthony or David C. Cook on Twitter.

What's that? Jesse and Prospector are trapped in the old abandoned mine?

We have two golden retrievers at my house that are loved and very well trained. So much so, that when they bark, we all know they need something urgently. This morning, my husband and I were enjoying our morning cup of Land of 1000 Hills coffee when one of our dogs barked several times by the door. Immediately my husband says; "What's that? Jesse and Prospector are trapped in the old abandoned mine and Prospector just lit a stick of dynamite thinking it was a candle and now they're about to be blown to smithereens?" I could not stop laughing! I just figured she needed to go outside, two totally different interpretations!

I know you have seen this happen in ministry, especially with vision! I have found these things to be helpful in communicating clear vision;

• Constantly casting vision using the same language. Repetition is a good thing! It keeps all leaders on the same page. For example, if your vision is to "Love God. Love Kids." then that is what you say. Saying anything else muddy's up the water.
• Owning the vision is another huge step in clear communication. Always saying we and us instead of them or they. This says loud and clear that you personally support the vision.

These are just two things that help me, how do you avoid misinterpretation as you cast vision?

lasting impression

This morning I got into my daughter's Easter basket and took out the colored bubbles. I was too curious and wanted to see if the bubbles really were pink like the container said they would be. Guess what? They are!! Then, the wind blew and the bubbles popped on the siding of the house. They left an impression. Unfortunately it's a pink impression!

After cleaning it off I started to think about you, the amazing children's ministry team! Each week you leave an impression! Each parent you come in contact with as they register for the first time or sign their child in, each child you minister to throughout the morning is left with an impression of our awesome God by watching you!! The best part is that you rise to the occasion each and every week! I believe you are a sweet aroma to our Lord!

I'm glad your impression is not a pink circle like the ones on my house, your impression can't be wiped away, it's eternal!!

See you this weekend! I will leave the bubbles at home, I promise!

Faith, Hope & Love

9 Things They Didn't Teach Me in College about Children's Ministry

9 Things They Didn't Teach Me in College about Children's Ministry reads like a children's ministry survival guide! It's something you could keep in your back pocket (literally, because of it's size) and refer to as questions come up in your mind about leading a healthy children's ministry.

After reading this short and insightful book chock full of leadership insights, I felt like I just left a one day children's ministry basics conference! What I found to be most powerful about this quick and easy read is the way Ryan Frank prioritizes and presents his thoughts. He takes a new leader down a path that creates a firm foundation and a seasoned veteran on a journey of reflection and evaluation that includes a little head nodding and amen!

My top five 9 Things insights:

• The million-dollar question in children's ministry leadership is not about a program, model, or leadership style. It's about this: are kids being changed to become like Jesus?
• Effective leaders do everything possible to make volunteers feel valued and appreciated.
• Get your senior pastor on your team, and be on his team.
• Before the close of each week, ask yourself: With whom did I connect this week to expand my network? Whom did I encourage? With whom did I share some creative ideas?
• Get a prayer team together and ask God to show you what he wants to do in your church. After all, you work for him.

So, are you now ready to read this book? Standard Publishing blessed me with two copies, one to review and one to give away. To win your copy, leave a comment or Tweet this; "Check out @kidminupdate's review of @r_frank's new book and win a copy for yourself here http://bit.ly/iejuY0"

I will pick a winner on Monday.

Thanks for stopping by!!

Awkward...

I recently had one of those tough and awkward conversations with a parent, one that you never actually think you will have and then, bam!!

As this parent was picking up her preschooler, she overheard the kidmin team member singing "Jesus loves the little children" and she was offended.

Offended? Why?

Her concern was the use of colors in the song to represent different ethnicities; "red and yellow, black and white." Her explanation was valid. She is raising her child to view everyone as equal and this song represents a negative connotation to a persons heritage.

Well then, okay! Although I have not been presented with this view before, it gave me something to think about. I assured her that the point of the song goes along her thought pattern that everyone is equal, or "precious in His sight." I also told her that as a leadership team we would discuss her concerns.

My personal thought is that the song itself is just fine, it's simple, straight forward, and has a positive point. It's unfortunate that there is extra baggage added to the words used.

Your thoughts?

Go ahead, ask!

We just recently sold our house, praise the Lord! All the paperwork is so foreign to me, it's overwhelming! I don't sell a house everyday you know! :) We had several people involved to help us through the process. This made me start thinking about people who have never volunteered in children's ministry before. I wonder if serving kids seems foreign to them? If the thought of serving makes them feel overwhelmed because they don't know where to start, or "how to fill out the paperwork."

Do you know people like that? What about your friends who aren't serving, have you ever considered inviting them to watch what you do? I am thinking it might not seem so overwhelming to minister to three year olds if there are people there to help them through the process.

I know you are thinking of someone right now, give them a call! Ask them to shadow you as you serve this weekend! Most people are very willing to help, it's just hard to get started sometimes. Go ahead, ASK!!

Can't wait to see you (and your friends) this weekend!

Faith, Hope and Love

moment of truth

How often do you train your kidmin leaders?

I like to think of it as a "every time I see them" sort of thing. My cup is definitely half full, so I encourage leaders every chance I get. As I encourage them, I try to train them as well. This past weekend, I watched a leader check a family in and immediately after the family walked towards the children's area I said, "Great job greeting the "Smiths" I loved the way you gave them directions, feel free to take them to their classroom as well!" His response was such a blessing!! "I didn't know I could do that!" Viola! He didn't know he could leave his post (so to say) to help a family and now he does, I would consider that part of our training.

When you uphold your values, policies and procedures as you interact with volunteers, it's contagious! As we know, people are busy and it's tough to get everyone to a monthly/quarterly training, we have to take advantage of the time we do have them in front of us!

As we think about how to train leaders a comment one my amazing team members said keeps coming to mind. He said; "Each time we volunteer, it's a moment of truth for the church." Wow, does that hit me right between the eyes! We represent our Savior each time we serve, with that in mind, I am challenged to make sure equipping every leader is my highest priority!

music to my ears and my heart

This past weekend my husband and I were sitting in service listening to a great message about embracing grace. One of the verses used was Ephesians 2:8. Almost immediately my husband looked at me and said "Isn't this on one of the Seeds CD's?" This made my heart leap and then of course I started singing the song! Seed's CD's are found at your local christian book store or you can buy them online at www.seedsmusicstore.com.

They describe their music like this;

It's a Scripture-memory tool -- It's a CD full of fabulous music. It's both! Seeds combines songs that use Scripture for lyrics with strongly produced music that is varied in style to create a sound the whole family will love. Each song helps a child (and any adults in the vicinity) memorize one or more Bible verses from the NIV.

I totally dig these CD's, they are a great tool!!

Music is one of those amazingly powerful resources for children's ministry!

What great music have you found for kidmin??

a weapon in church?

A couple of weeks ago, the kids created a "mold" of their face with aluminum foil. There were specific instructions about reaffirming children that they are fearfully and wonderfully made, in fact the instructions were so specific they even said to remind the children not to fold up the aluminum foil into a weapon. Wow, that's pretty detailed!

In one small group though, the aluminum foil was not the weapon.....

As the kids were making face molds with their foil, one first grader struggled to get the foil around his glasses. He tried and tried and tried, and then, the unthinkable happened! A leader from another grade saw him looking at his attempt at a mold and snatched it from his hands saying, "We told you not to create a weapon." The little boy was crushed! His small group leader was crushed, but tried very hard to salvage the situation by telling the little one the other leader just made a mistake, and all people make mistakes right?!?

Our words are so powerful! This little one was convinced he should cover his face, he thought it was a weapon, all because of the powerful words one assuming leader spoke. This is nothing new, Proverbs 12:18 says; "The words of the reckless pierce like swords, but the tongue of the wise brings healing."

I pray that this weekend we all choose to leave our weapons at home as we minister to His children. Let's all be wise and use our words for healing!

Faith, Hope & Love

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.....