Thankful- Part 3

Happy week before Thanksgiving!  No, seriously... next week is Thanksgiving!  I can't believe it.  I am realizing more than ever this month how vast the things that I am thankful for are.  I can not put into words the gratitude and gratefulness that is in my heart this year.  Today, is my third post in my #KidsMin thankful series and I'm featuring Janelle from Well Equipped Volunteer.  

Janelle is a Children’s Ministry coach from Winnipeg, MB with over 17 years’ experience in children’s ministry. She has worked in both large and small churches, directed, designed and wrote VBS material, and served in almost every capacity in children’s ministry. Janelle specializes in empowering children’s ministry volunteers. Find free tips and resources, and sign up for the free newsletter at www.wellequippedvolunteer.com

Read about what she has to say about why she is thankful for #KidsMin and about who she is thankful for. 

Why I’m Thankful for Children’s Ministry

I grew up in the church. My parents were in ministry, which means that I was a student in children’s ministry. I attended Sunday School and children’s church and clubs. And I confess that as a student I took children’s ministry for granted. Then when I was older, I volunteered in children’s ministry. It was a natural progression from student to teacher, but I still didn’t fully appreciate the value of children’s ministry.

As I spent more time in children’s ministry, I began to appreciate its true value. Now after nearly 20 years of professional children’s ministry experience, I’m more passionate than ever about the importance of children’s ministry: we are raising up the next generation of the Church! Tomorrow’s pastors, leaders, missionaries, and prayer warriors are wiggling in your classroom today.

The Psalmist tells us, “We will not hide them from their descendants; we will tell the next generation the praiseworthy deeds of the Lord, his power, and the wonders he has done… so the next generation would know them, even the children yet to be born, and they in turn would tell their children. Then they would put their trust in God and would not forget his deeds but would keep his commands.” Psalm 78: 4&8 (NIV)

Therefore, I am most thankful for children’s ministry volunteers who faithfully show up each and every week, prepared to teach the next generation about our God and the things He has done. They sacrifice family time and sleep, their patience is tested, perhaps they even shed a few tears. They pray, they teach, they wipe noses, they discipline in love. It’s not easy work! It’s sometimes hard to immediately see the impact of their work in a child’s life.

That’s why I focus on equipping volunteers. Because what greater call is there than building up tomorrow’s church?

So here are three quick tips for all children’s ministry volunteers to make sure you are laying a strong foundation for tomorrow’s church:

·         Children love structure and routine! Create a structure in your classroom or program and stick with it every week. You will be amazed at how smoothly your classroom or program will run.

·        Identify your main point and teach that one thing during your lesson. Cut away all the extraneous material that distracts from that one thing.

            Resist the temptation to teach morals. Focus instead on teaching kids who God is and why we follow Jesus. Good morals will naturally follow.

Learn more about these tips and find many more free resources at my website, www.wellequippedvolunteer.com

Volunteers, I am so thankful for the work you’re doing! I know sometimes it’s hard and seems unrewarding, but your impact will be felt decades from now, so press on!

Thanksgiving Pie Night Recap

What's your favorite food at Thanksgiving?  That's the question I opened last night's AWANA list.  The answers were vast and varied.  Some kids said that there favorite was the Turkey, or corn, or stuffing.  After all those answers we finally got around to the answer that I was looking for... Pie!  And of course after one person said pie all of the other kids said pie as well as usually happens.  

After that I gave all of my little one's (I had about 45 preschoolers-4th graders) to a Thanksgiving challenge.  They were challenged to say 125 verses in our hour and a half time span.  At 7:30 we were at 97 verses total... Just 28 verses short of the goal.  By 7:50, just 20 minutes later, we had increased to a total of 167 verses!  

Their reward for blowing their challenge out of the water... Seeing Miss Mary get not one but two pies of whipped cream in my face.  I honestly couldn't tell you who loved it more... the kids or my volunteers.  Right before the whipped cream got me I looked up to see every volunteer in the room with their phones out to capture the moment on video.  It really was such a fun night! 

To all of my brave #KidsMin this is a great way to encourage your kids to say a lot of verses in one night!  Would I want to take a whipped cream pie in my face every Wednesday night... No!  But, in the spirit of Thanksgiving we had a great time last night!  It was a great way to end the night.  

What's the craziest incentive you have ever offered your kids to say their verses in AWANA?

Thanks to one of my sweet volunteers for taking these pictures! 

Hopping on the Thankful Band Wagon (Plus a Link Up)

Next week is Thanksgiving.  Seriously?  What happened to the month of November?

I've been posting my days of thanks on my personal social media but wanted to challenge myself to come up with my days of thanks for #KidsMin Calling.  

Here are 26 things that I am thankful for in #KidsMin from A to Z! 

What would you add to the list?  

Link up your thankful posts below! 

I'll be sure to visit, comment & follow you. 

Hop around and see what everyone else is thankful for! 

Finding Balance in a Weighted World- 7 Ways I've Restored the Balance in my Life

My life is a juggling act.  No, seriously... It's a giant juggling act. 

I'm a:

Full-Time #KidsMin and Church Admin

Part-Time Retail Associate

Blogger

Daughter

Sister

Girlfriend

Best Friend

There are so many pieces to the puzzle called Mary.  I've struggled over the last two months with avoiding burn out and finding a sense of balance.  Over the last two months I have felt like I was holding my two arms outstretched and the weights were just being added on.  When one arm was too full weights were just added to the other side.  I struggled with finding balance and I began to feel the effects of burn out.

Burn out in the ministry is a very honest and real feeling.  We have all felt it at one point or another, and I'm admitting it to you right now.  I've struggled with burn out.  I like to keep my blog real and I want you to see what my life in full time ministry is really like.  I've struggled with finding the balance of everything that is required of me.  

How have I done it?  How do I maintain balance at crucial times in my life.  

According to the New York Times (2010 statistic) 1,500 Pastors leave their ministry each month due to burn out, conflict, or moral failure.  75% report suffering from severe stress and anxiety.  90% work more than 50 hours each week.  45% of Pastors say that they have experienced depression or burn out to the point that they have had to take a leave of absence from the ministry.  (Source)

Those are statistics from 2010.  Burn out and stress from the ministry is real.  

What have I done?  How have I found the balance between a full-time job, a part-time job, blogging, and being the person that everyone else needs me to be (daughter, friend, sister, girlfriend)?  

It hasn't been easy.  

1) I've prioritized- I truly feel like this is one of the most crucial things that I could ever do.  At the beginning of every week, on Monday morning at 9:00 AM, I look at my calendar for the entire week.  I look at my work schedules, special events throughout the week, blog posts I would like to write, and times that I know I need to commit to my friends and family and I prioritize.  As much as I would like to, there are some days that I just can not focus on my blog.  I can't write a post every day of every week.  I prioritize my time throughout the week on the things that are most important.  If it's something that can wait, or sit in the backseat for a week, it does.  One of the most important things I have had to learn is that I can not do it all.  I have to prioritize my time. 

2) I've committed to spending time with my family, my boyfriend, and my friends- These are the people who give me incredible joy in my life.  It's these people who know the right words to say at the right time to provide me with that little piece of encouragement.  I have found that I can't just give of myself and never have time to just let my guard down and allow others to pour back in to me.  Those phone calls to my mom every afternoon uplift my spirit.  My weekend visits with my best friends restore a sense of balance and normalcy to my life.  

3) I've learned that taking time for myself is not something to feel bad or guilty about-  I think that there are far too many times when I have felt bad for taking time for myself.  I struggled with thinking that if I wasn't on the go all of the time (at every event, every birthday party, every small group, etc...) than I couldn't possibly be doing everything that I could.  I've had to learn that it's ok to stay home on a Monday night to get caught up on laundry, read a book, have a long quiet time, and go to bed early.  There will be busy times in life and ministry where I may be out 6 of 7 nights of the week and I may only get 5 hours of sleep a night for those 6 days, but on the 7th day I'm going to make sure that I take time for myself and get 9 hours of sleep that night and take the time to rest.  Even Jesus rested- "By the 7th day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the 7th day He rested from all his work."  Genesis 2:2

4) I've learned to ask for help-  This goes back to me having to learn that I cannot possibly do everything on my own.  I've had to ask for help from trusted volunteers.  I've had to relinquish my control (which is extremely difficult for me to do) and say help me please.  

5) I've learned to say no-  This is the most important word that I have learned to say in my life, but one of the words that is the most difficult to say.  No.  It's such a little word but it can make or break you in your life.  This goes back to knowing where my priorities are.  I've also had to learn that saying no isn't the same thing as saying I don't care.  I've also learned that saying no to some requests gives other people the opportunity to plug in and find their strengths and receive blessings from the Lord for serving.  

6) I cherish the moments of joy-  Those little moments of joy far outweigh the moments of stress that I experience.  There are so many joyful moments in the ministry that touch my heart.  Those moments when I see the light bulb go off in someone heads.  That moment when a small child raises their hand to say that they've accepted Jesus into their heart.  The feel of a small hand in mine walking to the playground.  Those moments of joy touch my heart and encourage me in a way that more than makes up for the moment of stress.  I've learned that in those moments I have to be fully present and full in tune to the encouragement that Jesus is providing to me naturally right in that moment. 

7) I've found my anchor in Jesus- This is the thing that ultimately keeps me in balance no matter what.  When life gets rough, when the winds are blowing 100 miles an hour, when the storm is rough, I have learned that Jesus is my ultimate anchor.  And with Jesus as my anchor I cannot be moved despite the storm.  I have found my complete love, my complete satisfaction, my complete life in my Savior.

Burn out is very real and is very dangerous.  But, it doesn't have to be.  

If we take care of ourselves, if we learn to rest in the arms of Jesus, if we learn to say no and to ask for help we can maintain the balance in our life and not feel weighted down by our responsibilities.

How do you maintain balance in your life?

Let's talk about it below! 

Ask Mary

Hi Everyone! 

I'm really interested in putting together an #AskMary blog post for you guys and gals. 

I want to answer your questions on kids ministry, blogging, relationships, my childhood, family, parenting, or even something personal. 

If you have a question that you'd like me to answer leave me a blog comment below with your question or e-mail me at: kidsmincalling@gmail.com.

If there is enough response and interest I'll put together an #AskMary post for next Monday, November 25.  

Don't be shy... Leave your questions below! 

Happy GiveAway!

I'm so excited to be participating in this giveaway this month! 

Check it out below!

My three bittles    A complete waste of makeup   venus trapped in mars   reagan's toy chest

Tawny's tid bits    a dose of Paige    My so called chaos   sparkling with sneakers

Pink heels pink truck   A step in the right direction   #KidsMin calling   Something about you and me

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Thankful- Part 2

Happy Sunday, Everyone!

I hope you all had a blessed morning in your #KidsMin and with your families!  

Today, I asked my sweet friend Marytere to guest blog for me.  Marytere and I have been best friends since literally our second day of college 6 years ago (my goodness!).  Her and her husband serve as the College Pastors at a church here in town where I live and they do a fabulous job!  Her heart and passion for college kids equals the calling that I have for kids.  I asked her to share the reasons that she is thankful for #KidsMin.  

Check it out below! 

I always knew that children ministry was not my calling. Every year I am asked to help with VBS at my church and every year I turn it down. Don’t get me wrong I think children are cute, but I prefer them in small “packs.”  My husband is a pastor on staff for college aged young adults at our church. So, it is impossible to escape the grip and presence of children ministry. It finally got me!

I would like to share with you my tiny experience with children ministry that I had about a year and a half ago. The church was in the process of finding a transition for the children who had already been to children’s church during the first service but whose parents had stayed for Sunday School during the Second Service time period. So, they asked the college ministry to help out…and we did.

The first time I helped I thought I was going to have a panic attack! So many children in one room!  I mean they were everywhere. I vividly remember a child sneezing and snot going everywhere! Ew!  But little did I know that the Lord was going to teach me how precious His children are. Their sweet little voices asking me to play with them slowly begin to melt me within. I played “don’t touch the lava” by jumping on ONLY the black tiles. I played board games breaking all the rules because the children had their own idea on how to play the game. But what I loved most was what they would share with me about what they had learned in children’s church that day. I heard children say they had given their lives to Christ and children that were excited to retell the Bible stories they had just heard as well as the many crafts that taught them the love of Christ. I began to understand why children ministry is so awesome! I am thankful that there are people called to children’s ministry to teach them the love of Christ. These children are our future and with people like Mary who are willing to clean up snotty noses, heal “BooBoos” and hurt feelings, not to mention passing out snacks, all while teaching these children the knowledge and love of Christ, there is hope. I mean, I have even heard she prays for imaginary friends, now that shows children that God cares!

Though Young adult ministry has its own set of challenges, I am so thankful college aged kids don’t have runny noses that I have to wipe up; I am glad someone else has that calling.