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2020-02-26 to 28 Pictures: Charleston, South Carolina

One of the few upsides of having to cancel our Spring Break trip last March at the onset of the pandemic is that we are "stuck" with a rather large voucher from one of those discount airlines. Last autumn, Tricia and I spent a weekend in Savannah, Georgia and had a...

A John 3:16 Craft for Kids

John 3:16 is one of the most well known and reassuring verses in the Bible. For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.John 3:16 (NIV) The following is a little craft I threw...

2020-03-01 Pictures: Lyndsey’s College Signing Day

This afternoon Lyndsey made it official, signing her letter of intent to play college basketball for the Hiram College Terriers starting next year. While she made the decision and committed to Hiram before Christmas, she has been looking forward to this day since her...

2020-02-13 Pictures: Lyndsey’s 18th Birthday

I am little behind on posting photos. These are some of my favorites from a couple of weekends ago when we got a chance to celebrate Lyndsey's 18th birthday. It's hard to believe that my little girl is officially an adult. It was nice to have the family all back...

What is DOCTRINE?

Introduction I love working with kids, and I love teaching them hard concepts in ways they can understand. To that end, for years I have been working on a dictionary of theological terms for kids and teens. In sharing those definitions, there seemed no better place to...

If You Want It Done Right

In all likelihood, you know how the phrase ends: If you want it done right, DO IT YOURSELF! This is a bit of a mantra for me, and frankly, something that I struggle with daily both in leadership and in my Christian walk.  In theory, this is easy to accept. ...

What Does God Hate?

This is the little and humble post that started it all. I happened to be reading through my Bible, and this passage impacted me so much that I posted a little blurb about it on Facebook. That was July 28, 2008, and I've been writing and sharing ever since. (Maybe...

Is Your Ministry Cheating Your Employer?

focusOne of the problems that we often face as volunteers in children’s ministry is maintaining focus in our “day jobs.”  When you are passionate about something, it is hard not to focus on it and hard not to get sidetracked about it.  Think back to the first time you really fell in love.  How much time did you spend thinking about your new love?  How much of your day was consumed dreaming about what the future might hold?  If you are parent, do you remember the first days back to work after your child was born?  How often did you stare at their picture wishing you were home?  How much of your time was spent contemplating/worrying about their future?  How many times did you call home just to see how they were doing?  This tendency towards distraction is consistent in anything that we are passionate about.

When I am not very intentional about it, it is very easy for me to let my passion for children’s ministry distract me when I should be focusing on my day job.  Since I spend a chunk of my day working with computers, it would be quite easy to allow my mind to wander, to dream about children’s ministry, to think about the lesson for the coming weekend and more.  On a more concrete level, things like e-mail, conferences, online research and more can easily interfere with your “day job.”  Instead, I must be very intentional about focusing on what I should be doing at that particular moment.

When our passion does not align with our responsibilities, there is clearly a tendency to get distracted from our responsibilities.  Here are some of the things I do to help me maintain my focus:

  1. Meditate on scripture.  Specifically, memorize Colossians 3:24-24 which says, “Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ.” When we are doing ministry, we are clearly doing it for God, but the Bible tells us that God has put us where he wants us in terms of our day job.  We should work for him there just as hard as we should in ministry.
  2. Pray.  Pray that God would give you focus and perseverance to focus on your day job while you are there.
  3. Plan ahead.  Set aside specific nights and weekend hours and days for dreaming, strategizing and planning for ministry.  When you manage your time effectively and plan ahead, you won’t feel the need to focus on it while you should be working.
  4. Keep a list.  If an idea pops into your head during the day, write it down and come back to it later.  The simple process of writing it down, so you know you can come back to later, will help to keep you from letting your mind wander.
  5. Get help.  If you’re spending time when you should be working actually completing physical tasks for ministry (like getting crafts ready, printing handouts, etc.), find someone who can help you.  Spread the load as much as possible.
  6. Flag your e-mail and come back to it later.  Nothing says you have to respond to all e-mail immediately.  Mark the ones you need to respond to and get to them in the evening or on the weekend when you have some time.
  7. Network.  Talk to other volunteers and bi-vocational children’s ministers in similar positions.  Find out what they do.  Other people in similar position can offer support, encouragement and ideas.
  8. Don’t cheat.  Don’t cheat your employer.  If you know that you allowed your mind to wander or you got sidetracked during the day, make up that time to your employer.
  9. Remember that you are God’s light to a lost world.  You may justify your actions in your head by convincing yourself that you are working for God.  To your employer though, you are wasting their time and money doing something else.  In their eyes you are likely no different than the guy in the next cube who spends the whole afternoon surfing the internet.  What kind of witness is that?

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