Known- Part 2

Yesterday, I shared with all of you my recap on what I experienced personally at the Catalyst conference.
You can read all about it here.
After that, I just have one question?  Did anyone dance yesterday?  Even now as I'm listening to Kari Jobe sing sweet worship songs through my speakers I have this overwhelming desire to get up and slow dance with Jesus.

Today, I'm going to be talking all about the message I heard that most impacted me as it relates to my ministry to kids.
While all of the speakers said things that can be applied to my kids ministry, only one speaker spent his entire session focusing on ministry to youth, children, and families.

Friday morning I had the opportunity to learn from Reggie Joiner who just so happens to be the founder and CEO of Orange.
To learn more about Orange and what it's all about feel free to visit here.

This was one of the most inspiring messages on the value of time that I've ever heard.  Time... this little something that we all need more of and before we know it our lives are here and gone.  Reggie put it this way, "When you see how much time you have left you tend to get serious about the time you have now."  We are all so incredibly guilty of this!  Myself included.  We are always looking out towards the next best thing.  What's the next event in my ministry?  Where am I supposed to be in the next service?  What am I teaching about on Wednesday?  I am always looking ahead in my ministry and I know that this isn't a bad thing.  What I'm wondering is if I look ahead so much that I forget what I'm doing right now in this very moment?

Reggie shared an illustration of something that he does in his children's ministry to remind his parents that their time with their children is valuable.  When a baby is born he gives the parents a jar of 936 marbles.  They get one marble in their jar for every week between when their precious bundle of joy is placed in their arms and when that precious bundle gets in the car at 18 and drives away.  Every week they take a marble out of their jar as a physical reminder that time is precious and that it is passing.  How much more so can this apply to our children's ministry?  The time that we have with each child is precious.  I get approximately 676 weeks with each child who comes into my ministry from the time they are born to the time they hit 7th grade and transition into our youth ministry.  After that, my time is gone and done.  How much more important is it for me to be fully present in everything that I'm doing when I'm with them.

Reggie Joiner shared it this way, "When you take love and put it over time it's believable.  Love over time gives someone a sense of worth."  My kids want my time right now.  That might involve me taking an extra 15 minutes to sit on the floor of the nursery and read a book or roll a ball back and forth.  Giving of my time might involve me taking the time to answer the questions of a curious 5th grader.  I don't know what this looks like, but I am determined that my kids know that they are valued to me because they are the one's that I pour my time into.

"I am not God.  I am not the Holy Spirit.  I can't change anyone, but I can love a few."  -Reggie Joiner

This is what it's all about.  I, in my power, cannot change anyone.  I can't make my kids love Jesus.  Yes, I can create a loving environment that helps nurture their love for Jesus, but I cannot change anyone.  All I can do is love.  All I can do is reach out with my time and with my life and invest it where it matters most.

Throughout the conference many speakers spoke on leaving a legacy.  What does a legacy look like?  How do we make that happen?  Reggie Joiner put it this way, "An inheritance is what you leave for someone.  A legacy is what you leave in them."  I don't want to just leave things for the kids that I spend my time with.  I want to leave a love of Jesus that is so great that is in them.  That is what I want my kids to think about 10 years from now when they are remembering Miss Mary.  I want them to think about how I showed them how to love Jesus with all of their hearts and all of their souls, and how that won't ever leave them.

I'm excited to read more on this from Reggie Joiner's book Losing Your Marbles/Playing For Keeps which has now moved to the very top of my nightstand reading list.

I'm challenging all of my readers today to be fully present in the lives of those you love.
Make a conscious effort to not merely leave an inheritance, but to leave a legacy.

How do you leave a legacy?  How do you make sure time doesn't slip away from you?
Let's talk about it!

*#KidsMin Calling is looking for guest bloggers for the month of November to write about reasons they are thankful for kids ministry.  If you are interested please e-mail kidsmincalling@gmail.com

Known- Part 1

Last week I had the incredible opportunity to attend Catalyst.

What is Catalyst?

Catalyst Atlanta is a powerful gathering of young leaders, a movement of influencers, and world changers who love Jesus, see things differently, and feel a burden for our generation.  We seek to learn, worship and create together with a momentous energy passionately pursuing God. 

Catalyst was the most amazing weekend.  

I had such a long and busy summer, and I have been swamped recently getting my Wednesday night programs up and running again.  I absolutely love what I do and I have such a passion for my ministry, but after weeks of long days and long nights I was running on empty.  Not only was I tired physically, but my spiritual and emotional tank was dangerously low.  

The two days I spent at Catalyst were exactly what my spirit doctor, also known as Jesus, ordered.  I was able to sit under the most amazing teachers who spoke to me not only about my ministry, but about my own personal walk with Jesus.  I was able to join in with 13,000 of my closest friends and family in raised hands, unashamed, and relentless worship.  As I sat in my car on Friday getting ready to begin the drive home I was overwhelmed with God's goodness.  My body was still tired, but my spirit and soul were more alive than they had ever been.  

I want to share with you some of the things that I learned last week over the next two days. 

I want to first share with you the things that spoke most to my spirit. 

Tomorrow, I'll share with you the things that will help shape my ministry over the next year. 

Wednesday, I'll give you all those little nuggets that made everyone sit up a little straighter and listen in a little closer. 

Why am I starting with my spirit and not with my ministry?  

When I'm empty, my ministry is the one that suffers. 

When I am full of Jesus, I truly believe that the ministry thrives.

Thursday night we were led straight to the feet of Jesus by Passion Worship band.  

You haven't experienced worship until you've been with 13,000 people and sang about God's never-failing love with arms raised high and voices raised strong.

After worship I heard a sermon by Pastor Judah Smith that I don't think I will ever forget.  

Over the two days there seemed to be an overwhelming theme on finding satisfaction in Jesus, but on Thursday night Judah Smith broke it down in such a way that I will be forever changed.  There were so many messages by great leaders like Andy Stanley, John Piper, and Lecrae but this was the one that spoke to me the most.

Using the stories of the prodigal son and the life of Peter our lives and walks with Jesus were related to a giant dance floor.  Yes, that's right... a dance floor.

Here is what we learned:
Jesus never promoted a childish life, but he did promote a child like faith of running into Daddy's arms.
Being a son or daughter is not about worth- it's about birth.
Don't ever be the older son scowling in the corner- Just Dance!

Despite everything that I've ever been through and anything that might ever be going on in my life or ministry finding complete and total satisfaction in joy is all that I ever need.  If life is a giant dance floor, I should be out there with Jesus breaking it down.

Judah Smith said that if you have nothing left to dance for that you have this one thing... Dance because all you have to dance for is the fact that Jesus is there and that He loves you in spite of everything that you have ever done.  The modern way that the prodigal son was explained took me to a place with Jesus that I desperately needed.  Hearing life explained as a modern dance floor put a joy in my heart that is still overflowing.

I was reminded that I always have something to be joyful over.  If everything else in my life were to fall apart.  If I was to have nothing else left in this world, I would have Jesus.  If no one else is out on the dance floor, I can be out on the dance floor with my Savior.  I can find complete and total satisfaction and love in Jesus.

Isn't that amazing?

When I left Catalyst I had slept a total of 15 hours in 3 days and my body was still physically tired, but my spirit... My spirit was more ALIVE than it has ever  been.

After Judah Smith's sermon we were again led in worship by Passion and hearing their new song, 'God's Great Dance Floor' was like having the proverbial icing on top of my chocolate cake.

"You'll never stop loving  us.  No matter how far we run.  You'll never give up on us.  All of heaven shouts, let the future begin... I feel ALIVE.  I am ALIVE.  I come ALIVE on God's great dance floor."

You see, this is what being Known is really all about.
It's about feeling ALIVE.
It's about experiencing the love of your Savior.
It's about knowing that Jesus knows my name and loves me in spite of anything that I've ever done.
To be known is to be loved by Jesus.
To be ALIVE in His love.

Are you Known?
Are you ALIVE?

 If you are, hit play and go dance with Jesus!

Reaching Milestones

Happy Saturday, Friends!

I hope that you had an absolutely fabulous week!

Mine was truly phenomenal for so many reasons.

Thank you to everyone who entered the October giveaway.
The winners have been notified by e-mail and have 48 hours to claim their prize.
If you entered the giveaway make sure to check your e-mail to see if you won.

This week #KidsMin Calling crossed a huge milestone.
We officially reached 5,000 pageviews.
I'm sure for many of you that might not seem like a lot, but for #KidsMin Calling it is huge!

Thank you to everyone who follows and keeps up with the blog!

Here are the Top 5 blog posts since #KidsMin Calling began:
1) AWANA Theme Nights
2) High Five For Friday
3) Team Spirit Night
4) Splash Night 2013
5) Reduce -> Reuse -> Recycle

Check this Out:

When #KidsMin Calling reaches 10,000 page views, 100 likes on Facebook, and 100 followers on Twitter I will host another giveaway for another awesome resource.

Be sure to like on Facebook, follow on Twitter, and share the blog and posts with your friends to reach those goals for another giveaway!

For your convenience there are icons at the bottom of every blog post to make for easier sharing to all your social media outlets.

See you next week for a recap of Catalyst!

High Five For Friday

Happy Friday, #KidsMin Calling!

Hello to all of my visitors this week!
I was overwhelmed with seeing the many people who stopped by for a visit this week!

This week, I had the amazing opportunity to go to Catalyst Leadership Conference so my top 5 this week are all revolved around them.  Be sure to visit the blog next week for recap posts on what I learned.

1) Having Uncle Si be Friday's surprise guest at the conference.
You haven't lived until you've sang 'Take Me Out to the Ball Game' with Uncle Si and 15,000 of your closest friends and family!

Uncle Si at Catalyst!

This was after waiting in line to get a book signed for half an hour. 

Sadly, with close to 1,500 people in line I didn't get my book signed but I still snagged this awesome shot! 

2) Getting to worship with Passion live!  Oh my goodness can you say AMAZING.  Despite the 3 hours of sleep I got on Wednesday night waiting to see Passion at 7:30 on Thursday night was totally worth it.  They were the most genuine worship team that I have ever seen and they led me straight to the feet of Jesus.

His love never fails.

It never gives up. 

It never runs out on me! 

Speechless after Passion. 

3) Hearing Judah Smith preach!  His sermon... Life changing!  I'll be blogging the specifics next week, but to sum it up in a tweet... Dance because the only thing worth dancing about in your life is that God loves you in spite of what you've done.

4) Listening to Reggie Joiner talk about children and family's ministry.  "I can't change anyone, but I can love a few."

Welcome to Catalyst! 

I love seeing all of the extra touches.  

This year they offered hot air balloon rides! 

5) Getting to worship Jesus with 15,000 of my closest friends.  There is absolutely nothing like hearing 15,000 voices and seeing 30,000 hands raised up to Jesus.  I truly believe that it was as close to heaven as you can get on earth.

Those are my top 5 this week!  Was anyone else at Catalyst?
Sound off below with your highlights!

Music Night

"Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth, burst into jubilant song with music."  

Psalm 98:4

Yesterday was the most glorious day!  

I absolutely love music.

I've been singing since I can remember, I play the violin, and I am actually self-teaching myself piano.
I've been in choirs, and led and sang on more praise teams than I can remember.
It's only natural that I incorporate music into as much as my #kidsmin as I can.  

In planning this year's themes I absolutely knew that I had to put music night on the calendar and I am so glad that I did. 

I sent home a postcard the week before as usual and encouraged all of my kids to get creative in coming up with their instruments and get creative they did!  I saw all of the most interesting and unique instruments last night. 

I set up a music station for our pre-service activity where all of the kids had the opportunity to make their own tambourines.  All I put out were plastic plates (paper works too) and markers.  I had one of my volunteers responsible for gluing the tambourines together and filling them with a mix of rice and beans.  We used hot glue because we used plastic plates and they were too thick to staple like you could a paper plate.  

Here's a look at what our table's looked like. 

After the kids made their tambourines they moved to their seats where Miss Mary helped lead them in lots of exciting music for Jesus while the rest of the kids were coming in and making their tambourines.  

We said our opening pledges and I gave a brief (3 minute) lesson on why we worship Jesus.  We talked about how the Bible says to shout to the Lord all the earth and how it doesn't matter how talented of a singer we are or how old we are.  We can all worship Jesus and it is exciting for all of us!

Here's a look at my tambourine!  Yes, it has bling on it!  Being the lady in charge has to have its perks somewhere.
Can you guys & gals keep a secret?
People think I plan theme nights for the kids... 
I really plan them so I can sit in my office and craft during the day without people looking at me like I'm weird.  

The most glorious thing that I've seen in my whole life happened after that.  All of the kids got their instruments and we worshiped Jesus together.  It was the best worship experience that I've ever had in my entire life.  There was truly something jubilant about worshiping Jesus with 50 of my littlest and closest friends. 

We sang "Shout" by Yancy and boy did my kids shout!
They loved it so much that we sang it again at the end of our club time.

If you don't have a music night planned already put it on your calendar... yesterday!

It's such an easy and again low-cost night!  This night cost me less than $25 dollars because I pulled together almost all of my supplies from what I already had in my resource room.  My biggest expense was my glue gun sticks to glue my plates together.

I truly believe that it is so important for kids to learn how to worship Jesus at a young age, and I'm looking forward to seeing all of my kids worshiping Jesus in church on Sunday.

Have you ever had a music night?  Share your thoughts below in the comments!

Don't forget to enter the October giveaway below!
Today is the last day to enter!

I'm giving away a copy of the Big Book of Bible Games & the Big Book of Bible Crafts.

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Ministry is a Privilege

Wednesdays tend to be pretty quiet around #KidsMin Calling.
I spend most of my day running around like a chicken with my head cut off getting ready for AWANA and Transit.
This doesn't leave a lot of time for blogging, unless I've written a blog post the night before.
While I am getting better at scheduling posts in advance it just doesn't always happen.
Besides, sometimes I think less is more.

I want to just give you a small nugget today from a wonderful gem that I found floating around on Pinterest.

The reminder that what I do is a privilege.

The reminder that what we do as servants of Jesus is a privilege.    

The fact that Jesus chose me and is using me will never cease to leave me speechless.  

Source

I'll see you tomorrow for a recap of this week's AWANA theme: Music night! 

For more quick nuggets throughout the day be sure to follow #KidsMin Calling on Twitter.  

Don't forget to enter the October giveaway below!

I'm giving away a copy of the Big Book of Bible Games & the Big Book of Bible Crafts.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

What Love Really Means

He cries in the corner where nobody sees.

He's the kid with the story no one would believe.

He prays every night, "Dear God won't you please, could you send someone here who will love me?"

Who will love me for me?

Not for what I have done or what I will become. 

Who will love me for me?

'Cause nobody has shown me what love

What love really means. 

"What Love Really Means"  -JJ Heller

Hit play and keep reading. 

I'm constantly listening to music.  I'm the person in the office that always has my Pandora playing and am constantly changing stations and artists.  I'm the person who gets hung up on one song and I literally hit replay every time it goes off.
Yesterday afternoon I was sitting in my office quietly working when this beautiful song by JJ Heller starts playing softly through my speakers.  I'm the person who gets spoken to through music and when I heard this song I just knew that it was going to be the inspiration for my next post.

What does love really mean?

Sadly, the first verse of this song is what we all face in children's ministry every day.  There are kids all over the world who have stories that many of us sadly wouldn't believe.  Their stories are so heartbreaking that there's no way they could possibly be true.

I want to tell you something.  Those stories, the one's that you think couldn't possibly be true.  Their true.  Don't be unaware of what's going on in the world around you.  Don't be blinded by the darkness of so many things in this world.  The enemy comes in looking for anything and anyone that he can devour.

There are kids all over the world who are asking these questions every day.  Who will love me for me?

What does love really mean in children's ministry?

Love means...

Giving a child an extra snack because you know they might not have eaten all morning.
Giving a hug to a child even though their clothes are dirty and you know that you'll smell like them the rest of the day.
Taking an extra breath and not yelling at a child for the 10th time.
Turning no child away.  No one.
Reaching out into the community to those who no one else is reaching for.
Looking down and asking that seven year old how their day was and caring about the answer.
Pushing a toddler on the swing set because just maybe no one has ever pushed them on the swings before.
Praying over the babies who you hold in your arms in the nursery.
Reading the same book for the fifth time.
Letting a child win whose never won before, because maybe they've never won anything.
Knowing the names of every child who comes in your doors.  We don't know what they get called elsewhere.
Taking those extra five minutes to pray with your pre-teens for courage and strength because of what they face everyday at school.
Providing a safe and nurturing environment full of hope and peace.
Praying for their sick pets, grandmas and grandpas, and imaginary friends.
Holding the hand of a scared 4 year old whose just been dropped off for your kids program.
Dressing up in silly costumes just to get a laugh or smile out of kids who never laugh or smile.
Looking down when you feel that tug on your shirt.
Cleaning up scraped knees and elbows.
Wiping away tears.
Having a smile on your face even though your feeling frustrated and stressed.
Singing 'Jesus Loves Me' for the 4th time to the crying 3 year old that's in your arms.

Love means all of this and so much more...

Love is unconditional.  It's not limited in any way.  It's steady.  It's true.  It's strong.

This is the kind of love that Jesus had for us.  The kind of love that left Him dying a horrific death for you and for me.  Jesus loves us despite everything we are.  He loves us despite all of our mistakes.  He loves us through our heartbreak, through our triumphs, and through our failures.  Jesus loves us for who we are.  He loves us because we are His creation.
The love that He has for us is absolutely unconditional.

Source

It's my job to stand in the gap for the kids who walk in my door.
It's my job to be their anchor in life's storms and to point them to the ultimate anchor of Jesus.
It's my job to be their friend, their encourager, their biggest cheerleader, and their number one fan.
It's my job to love them like Jesus would.  Unconditionally.  Strong.  Absolute.

"We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure."  

Hebrews 6:19

This is what love really means.

Don't forget to enter the October giveaway below!
I'm giving away a copy of the Big Book of Bible Games & the Big Book of Bible Crafts.

a Rafflecopter giveaway