Wow! 57 entries. That officially makes this the biggest giveaway I’ve ever done. After spending hours entering everyone’s name into a random list generator, the winner of the free ticket to the 2012 Orange conference is:
Congratulations Jennifer, please e-mail me your e-mail address and mailing address to wayne@kidmin1124.com, and I will make sure that the fine folks at Orange get you hooked up.
Tony Kummer over at Ministry-to-Children.com has once again compiled his listing of the Top 100 children’s ministry blogs on the internet. Last year, it was exciting when Dad in the Middle came in 13th. I’ve always said that Dad in the Middle wasn’t about numbers, and I would be happy if one person was blessed by what I put out there. The inclusion in the Top 100 was edifying in knowing that God was working through the blog to reach other people. Frankly, there are lots of great kidmin blogs out there, and it was an honor to be listed among them. A portion of last year’s ranking was based on frequency of posts, and I was churning them out at Dad in the Middle with posts roughly six days a week (excluding Twitter digests and automatic posts).
This year, on January 18, I announced that I would be taking a break from regular blogging on the site in an article titled A Sabbath Rest and A Spiritual Battlefield (My Plans for the Future). At the time, I wasn’t sure how long that sabbatical would be, but I knew that I would not get back to a six post per week schedule anytime soon. Since January 18, I have published a grand total 36 posts (approximately 6 of which were related to Kidmin March madness, and four of which were for last week’s Orange Week). That’s less than 1 article per week, and frankly there were times where I published nothing for months at a time.
So, when Tony released the new list this year, I expected Dad in the Middle to drop significantly (perhaps even fall off the list). Instead, much to my surprise, Dad in the Middle was actually ranked:
So, last week I spent a lot of time asking for your vote to get through the first round of Kidmin Blog March Madness, and you guys made it happen. For that, I want to say thank you. We’re now in the second round with the top four blogs from each region. There are some real heavy hitters and networkers included in the field, so I need all the help I can get. It also turns out that the winner gets a new Ipad 2. There were clues and hints about it, but I wasn’t bright enough to figure it out myself. I was just shamelessly promoting the blog for the fun of it, but now it’s gotten serious.
Here is what I need from you. Round 2 runs all this week. Go right now to http://ministry-to-children.com/kids-ministry-bm2011-second/ and
Vote for Dad in the Middle (in the East) and Kidmin1124 (in the West).
Well, I spent a good portion of yesterday trying to encourage people to visit Kids Ministry Blog Madness 2011 over on Ministry-to-Children.com and vote for:
I’ve posted on facebook. I’ve written articles. I’ve commented on other people’s articles. I piggybacked on other people’s facebook posts. Then I learned something I wasn’t aware of. There is apparently a prize for this things, and it MIGHT be something nice. So, I feel the need to…..ramp up the shameless promotion (did you think I was going somewhere else with that?). I thought to myself, “Self, what would be so shameless yet so irresistible that people couldn’t help but vote for Dad in the Middle and Kidmin1124. So, I recorded Nathan (my three year old):
If you can resist that, you are clearly cold and heartless. You don’t want to be that, so go vote today! 
Love you guys! Thanks for the help!
It is that time again! Ministry-to-Children.com is running their annual children’s ministry March Madness competition! Last year, Dad in the Middle made it through the first round and actually finished second in our division in the sweet sixteen. It took a lot of shameless self-promotion, but I was pretty excited about it. So, the time has come again, and despite my sabbatical for the last couple of month, Dad in the Middle is part of the competition once again. This year we have some pretty steep competition. We are in the Third seed in the East Regional up against such great competition as Sam Luce, Matt McKee, Jamie Doyle, and many others. We’re also in the same division at huge publishers like Group’s Children’s Ministry Magazine and Lifeway. So, we’re going to need all the help we can get.
Go HERE and vote for Dad in the Middle (3rd Seed, Eastern Regional) NOW!
You won’t regret it. Oh, and since I won’t interrupt the mission of Kidmin1124.com to promote their inaugural appearance in the competition, make sure to vote for them too (7th Seed, Western Region). Let’s set up a showdown between Dad in the Middle and Kidmin1124 in the finals!
I am posting this article simultaneously on both Dad in the Middle and Kidmin1124 as this announcement affects both sites. It is with both a heavy heart and an excited anticipation for what God has next for me and my family that I make this announcement. After much reflection, even more prayers, and soliciting the advice of some godly men and women, I have come to conclusion that it is time for me to step away (or at least draw back significantly) for a season from my online ministry activities. Allow me first to explain why, secondly to explain what my new plan is and finally to explain what I intend to do with this season in my life.
Over the last year or so, I have been dealing with some health issues related to my back. While acknowledging my complicity in what led to the problems in the first place, numerous brothers and sisters in Christ have helped me to understand that these issues may very well have been some sort of spiritual attack resulting from my online ministry efforts to equip and encourage those who are dedicated to helping guide kids into the Kingdom of Christ. Thanks to God, our great and heavenly Physician, those issues have largely passed now with only minor lingering issues. Once those health issues were miraculously healed by God, I was able to spend more and more time with my wife and family, and God began to make something abundantly clear to me. Where I thought I had achieved balance in all of my activities, I found that my life was actually way out of balance, and my family was suffering for it. I began to sense/realize that my family was also likely under spiritual attack, and I had been largely ignorant of, and oblivious to, it. Over the last several weeks, I have wrestled with whether or not stepping away constitutes giving in and giving up in the spiritual battle. Through prayer and seeking the advice that I mentioned earlier, I am confident that stepping away, while not easy, is the right thing for this season of my life. God ordained the family as an important part of His plan, and my first priority must always be to protect my family and to find the balance that will allow me to effectively minister while not sacrificing the long-term health of my family. While I was initially hesitant about making this decision, God has through a series of events and circumstances made it abundantly clear to me that this is the appropriate, right and god-honoring decision for both me and my family at this time.
So, here is what I am planning to do and what you will see from me online. I have been contributing articles to Ministry-to-Children.com. Tony Kummer has been gracious in allowing me to reach a vast audience through his sight, and for that I am extremely grateful. For now though, unless clearly prompted otherwise by God to write something, those articles will stop. Dad in the Middle was where I first started writing online, and has really been the vehicle through which I have made a large number of great contacts in children’s ministry and otherwise. It is near and dear to my heart, and has been a vehicle to process my thoughts and share them with an audience of readers. I will miss is greatly, but my intention is to a break from writing there as well. Some articles are already scheduled and those will continue. If I feel prompted to write short articles from time to time about my kids or what is going on at church, I might do that depending on time availability – but you will not see new content very often on that site either – not nearly the 7+ articles per week that I have averaged for roughly the last couple of years. I have already promised some people that I would review their books and other products on the site, and I will keep those obligations. I may also post some additional reviews over time as I find it to be a great way to keep track of what I am reading. That said, you will likely not see the type of in depth articles that I have enjoyed posting for the last several years during this time of Sabbath. Most regrettably, I have decided to suspend the monthly Children’s Ministry Blog Patrol, which while it is one of my favorite features of the site, consumes an inordinate amount of time.
Each month here on Dad in the Middle, I publish a monthly compilation of the best of the best in children’s ministry blog articles from the preceding month. It is known as the The Children’s Ministry Blog Patrol, and it seemed appropriate to pick my ten favorite articles/series from those compilations for the prior year. One caveat, I tried not to pick more than one article/series from each author, and it was tough!
1. Andy Johnson did a series on children and the gospel message. If you teach children, you should read through these articles carefully!
