Last week here on Dad in the Middle, we started two exciting giveaways. Today, it is time to announce the winner of the Parenting a New Generation Giveaway. Congratulations to:
Send me your mailing information, and I will make sure the curriculum is sent out to you!
There is still time to enter to Win a Free Ticket to Orange Conference 2012. That drawing will take place this Thursday. There are three ways to enter, so make sure to take advantage of all three options!
I’m sure it’s been on your calendar since last year, and the day had finally arrived. Today is the day! Registration for the 2012 Orange Conference officially opens today. Here is some more information about this year’s conference: Continue Reading…
In honor of the Orange Conference registration, which starts tomorrow, I am giving away a free copy of Parenting A New Generation by Chap Clark provided by the fine people at Orange. I was hoping to have a copy to review to go along with this giveaway, but it didn’t arrive in time. What I can tell you is a little about the product. According to the Orange website, Parenting A New Generation is:
A Tool for Parents and Student Pastors to Understand and Lead Today’s Students
The world is changing, and so are today’s teens. Any parents who feels unequipped to raise a teenager in today’s world, and any student pastor who has ever felt overwhelmed with the alarming statistics, both know parenting and leading this generation can be challenging.
That’s a fair question and one that deserves an answer. The truth is that, despite following it closely from afar for many years, I have never actually been to the Orange conference. So, why would I promote a conference that I have never been too?
1. Because it’s worth it
Not to me, but it’s worth it to you. This blog has always been about the readers, and I am comfortable that the Orange Conference is an experience that edify you in your work in children’s ministry. In the end, that is what Dad in the Middle is all about.
That’s right, the kids are back in school, the weather (at least where I am) is cooling off, ministry is heating up, and trees are changing color – WAIT! Did somebody say color? That’s exactly what I want to talk to you about this week. I am taking a sabbatical from my sabbatical this week to tell you, the readers of Dad in the Middle, about something very important.
This coming Thursday, September 22, 2011 is the first day to register for Orange Conference 2012. The Conference will be help April 25-27, 2012 in Duluth, GA and will feature an awesome lineup of speakers and great breakout sessions. As an added benefit (not really, but it sounds good), I am doing everything in my power to finally make it there this year! It’s hard to tell this far in advance, but I’d put my odds at about 80-90% that I’ll be able to pull it off this year. Much more to come throughout the week here about the Orange Conference, but this morning I just wanted to give you the heads up.
It’s been a busy week – a really busy week. Soccer practice in the rain on Monday, Meeting on Tuesday for a new ministry, Awana Wednesday night, and a starting a new ministry on Thursday all made for an exciting week. On top of that, I came down with the worst cold I’ve had in quite a while starting Tuesday morning and continuing through now. So, do I tell you all that to whine about my week – maybe a little bit. No, but I wanted to set the tone of my week so that God’s grace is sufficiently clear in the story I am about to tell.
Last night was my first night serving in a ministry called Divorce Care 4 Kids. If you haven’t noticed, I’ve been spending a lot of time recently on my newest ministry called Divorce Ministry 4 Kids. As part of that, I found a local church offering the Divorce Care 4 Kids curriculum on Thursday nights and asked if they would let me serve in their program. They were nice enough to allow it, and last night was our first of 13 weekly meetings. The leaders of the group are great, and the other volunteers are nice enough, but there was, of course, a bit of awkwardness as everyone gets used to each other.
The night went well. We had 12 kids, plus three more leader’s kids who have been through the program before. That alone is a gift from God because as of Tuesday we thought we had seven kids coming. Two of the first people to show up were sisters aged 11 and 9. Mom hung out for a while, and it seemed pretty clear that they didn’t want to be there. They weren’t causing any problems, but they were sticking to themselves and just had that “I don’t want to be here, and you can’t make me like it” air about them.
If you’ve read this blog for a while, it won’t come as any surprise that I am a big fan of Seeds Family Worship. We were honored to be a stop of the release tour of their most current album, and I’ve been a fan for a while now. Well, the guys at Seeds are “cooking up” something new and exciting, and they want to give you a chance to to get in on the action. From now through July 31, you have a chance to submit an idea or activity for the new Seeds Family Worship Cookbook.
The Cookbook will feature ideas, games, activities and lessons that you have used with your families to build Godly character at home. These could include ways to memorize scripture (can your two year old recite the entire book of Ephesians?), ideas on worshipping as a family (maybe you’ve created a Partridge Family type worship band and tour with the kids?), family activities or outings (did you and the kids uncover the lost tomb of Lazarus?), ways you’ve tackled difficult theological questions (did you figure out a way to explain the trinity to a five year old), or anything else you’ve done to instill God and the Bible into your kids. Seriously though, it doesn’t have to be earth shattering, if you have an idea that can help other parents, share it and let us learn from you. The best entries, along with your name, will be published in the Seeds Family Worship Cookbook similar to a church cookbook. If you have more than one idea, make sure you submit them all.