Case in Point

At dinner the other night, my four year old asked me how old God was.  I, of course, launched into a theological discussion about the eternality of God and preexistence of Christ.  Upon further reflection though, I realize why Nathan was really asking.  We had spent the last weekend at a birthday party for my best friend who just turned 40.  I’m not far behind.  It turns out that Nathan wasn’t interested in the eternality of God so much as he was interested in figuring out who was older – God or Me.  Like I said, you gotta love kids!

Related posts:

1. 10 Things I Love About Being A Dad
2. When Love Came Down (December 16)

Friday evening started off well enough.  We were headed to Nathan’s favorite park to celebrate his fourth birthday.  We had a picnic dinner, the kids played in the sand, and Nathan rode his bike until darkness set it.  All in all, it was a fun night of celebration as a family.  When we got home that night, my wife was checking her e-mail (or maybe Facebook) and found out that a member of our church had been in an accident while in Costa Rica on a missions trip.  There was not much detail in the message except that an accident had happened in the water and that a member of our church, Dean Stoecklin, had been without air for several minutes and was, at that point, on life support.  I knew who Dean was mainly because his two older kids (they have four) have been in our children’s ministry for the last couple of years.  The oldest is going into 2nd grade this coming fall, and the second oldest into 1st grade.  They have two younger children as well. 

On Saturday, we had a family picnic/graduation party/birthday party out of town to go to.  While the day was fun (we played way too much volleyball), the Stoecklin family still weighed heavily in my mind.  I prayed for them often, and checked Facebook frequently for updates.  Each time that I checked, the news seemed to be more and more discouraging.  As I posted at some point during that day, I felt the weight of Romans 12:15 throughout the day.  Romans 12:15 says:

Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. [Romans 12:15 ESV]

I drove back late Saturday night to teach at church this morning in Kids Connection.  This morning we talked about God’s deliverance of Israel through the Red Sea as they fled Egypt.  We emphasized that, when it seems like we are backed up against a wall with know place to go that God helps us through.  We also talked about how God doesn’t always lead us on a path that makes sense to us, but that He always knows what is best for us.

As I was leaving church this morning, I got another update that Dean had passed on.  Fortunately, his wife had been able to get to Costa Rica before that happened.  So, why am I recounting this whole story?  Well, first because the family still needs your prayers.  Pray that God would comfort them through this time, and pray for wisdom for Dean’s wife as she tells the kids what is happening.  Secondly, because events like this make you reflect on many things.  Dean was close to my age.  he may have been a year or two older.  He has four kids like myself, several of whom are approximately the same age as my kids.  The whole series of events reminds me of the importance of treasuring every day God gives me with them and with my wife.  I need to be more patient and hold them a little bit longer each day.

That all said, I realized today why this whole situation has weighed so heavily on me.  Aside from the tragedy itself, and the relationship I have formed with the two older kids in the children’s ministry, the two older children are roughly the same age I was when I lost my mother.  I know the impact that has had on my life.  I understand the pain and the loneliness that it bring.  I have been on the receiving end of a conversation I couldn’t really understand the time but which became more and more real to me as time passed.  I have wrestled with the questions and dealt with the doubt.  I have spent the time wondering what things would be like and reflecting on what might have been.  I feel deeply for what the kids are about to go through and how it will impact them for the rest of their lives. 

I don’t want to leave there, because by God’s grace they do have one thing that I didn’t that I know will comfort them and help them through – and that is Jesus.  Each weekend, and through the week, children’s ministries around the world share the love of Jesus with kids.  We teach them that He is there for them, that He can comfort them, and that He will help them through tough times.  When those tough times come, we must encourage them to lean into to Jesus and rely on him when their lives are turned upside down. Through it all, we can pray for them, and with them, that God’s name would be glorified.

Related posts:

1. Changing Education Paradigms
2. The Porpoise Driven Life
3. Everyday Life

This coming Wednesday is my appointment with a neurosurgeon regarding my back pain.  I thank you all for your continued prayers and support.  I pray daily for God’s healing, but above that I pray that His will be done.  Thank you for your continued prayers for me and my family through this difficult time.

UPDATE: I wrote the paragraph above this past week.  This morning (Sunday) when I woke up, something felt different.  Usually, the early morning is a time of great pain with this particular back problem.  To compound the issue, I did not take pain medication before going to bed last night because of a prescription issue (long story, but I was trying to stretch them out).  Anyhow, I woke up and started moving around this morning expecting the pain to come back any time.  As the morning progressed, I tried to do some simple things (like sitting for more than 30 seconds) that I haven’t been able to do for the last five weeks.  As I have tried to go through my day doing more and more things and testing my back, I am amazed and awed at the grace of God.  There is still some pain, but the progression is nothing short of miraculous.  Part of me want to be cautiously optimistic, but the bigger part of me sees this as a miracle of God.

It’s funny how God works.  Just this morning, I posted an article about the situation on Dad in the Middle called A Thank You to the Kidmin Community all about the situation and asking for continued prayer.  Today is also the day I sent a letter to the kids in my class at church explaining where I’ve been and asking the kids to pray for me as well.  Finally, tonight is Nathan’s (my three year old) first Christmas program at his preschool.  I have missed my 7 & 9 year olds’ programs which was hard for me, but I have been praying that, if it was God’s will, he would heal the problem enough to let me see Nathan in his first program.  I am going to try to go tonight relying solely on the grace, strength and power of God. Isn’t it just like God to work his miracle today.  He is an awesome God, and I am not sure I have ever felt as undeserving of his grace as I do in this moment.  Thank you all for your prayers over these last weeks, and your continued prayers as I work through the remaining issues and pain continues to be appreciated!

I am still having some pain, but things have definitely gotten better (miraculously better) overnight.  I don’t know exactly what to make of all this except to say, “Praise God!”  I will continue to keep you all updated!

Related posts:

1. Where is God in the Pain?
2. Exciting New Resource For Kidmin
3. Update…Children Desiring God 2009 National Conference

When I first started blogging about my work in children’s ministry almost two years ago, I was amazed at how open and inviting the whole children’s ministry community was.  The camaraderie exhibited by the children’s ministry community, on and off line, is like nothing else I have ever come across.  Over the last couple of years, I have developed relationships with a number of kidmin people who, though I have never met them in person, I consider friends.  That said, I was not prepared for the outpouring of prayer of support that I have received from that community over the last several weeks.

You see, a couple of weeks before Thanksgiving, I started to have some back pains.  Having just gotten past a fairly long battle with a bulging disc and a pinched nerve, I was a little concerned, but I chalked it up to normal back pains and the physical therapy that I had been doing.  Unfortunately, the pain continued to get worse, and I have been pretty much flat on my back since then.  The point of this article is not to complain or whine though.  I am confident that God is control, and he knows what is best.  I serve the Creator of everything and a great physician who is capable of doing his will. 

No, I am not here to complain!  I am here to say thank you.  When I first “went down” again with these recent bout of back pain, there were a number of people from my local church who started to pray for me almost immediately, and I am so grateful for those prayers.  These are the people I serve with and the people I “do church” with, and I am in an awesome local body of Christ – there is no doubt in my mind about that. 

What caught me more off guard though was the reaction of people I know (and many I don’t) from the online children’s ministry community.  As people started to find out about the problems I was having, the prayer support was overwhelming.  I can’t tell you the number of e-mails, message, tweets and everything else that I received from people just letting me know that they were praying for me and praying for healing.  Knowing that I was being covered by that kind of prayer was (and is) really a source of encouragement and hope for me.  To be honest, how God is in control of everything yet is still moved by the prayers of his creation is a bit of a mystery to me (one of the reasons I am grateful for verses like Deuteronomy 29:29).  Even though I don’t get it, I am glad that both are true.

Anyhow, I wanted to take just a second this Sunday to thank all of you who have, and are, lifting me up in prayer.  That you would take the time to talk to Almighty God about me really moves me.  I did not realize how much it really moved me until earlier this week when I was on Michael Chanley’s radio show.  When we started to talk about the kidmin community, and I talked about how grateful I was for all of the prayers, I got physically choked up.  At that moment, in that moment, I was really struck the power of all of you praying for me. So, I really want to thank you all for your continued prayers.  You have moved me, encouraged me, given me hope and blessed me more than I could ever express, and I am grateful to you all!

Related posts:

1. What Matters Now in Children’s Ministry – Community by Liz Perraud

• Late Saturday Night my wife needed help with work she does for the High School Sports program.  They were having a meeting Sunday afternoon, and she needed the accounts reconciled before then.  I had planned for everything I needed to do, but I didn’t plan for what my wife needed.  I had to turn my computer on for about a hour to help her with that.
• There was one day where I was expecting a personal e-mail, and I ended up checking my e-mail more often than I had laid out in my original plan.
• I didn’t remember what I said in my rules about text messaging, and frankly I haven’t gone back and looked.  I did send a handful of messages to my wife by text message during the week.

There, I feel better now having admitted that.  So, what did I do with my Dark Week?  I read! I read a lot.  Just for fun, here are the books I read:

1. Blue Like Jazz…Donald Miller
2. Parenting Beyond Your Capacity…Reggie Joiner & Carey Nieuwhof
3. To the Rising Generation: Addresses Given to Children and Young Adults…Jonathan Edwards
4. Turning Your Child’s Failures Into Success…Jim Wideman
5. The Ultimate Children’s Ministry Survival Guide…Ivy Beckwith
6. The Kidology Handbook…Karl Bastian (started)
7. Created to Learn…William Yount (started)
8. Rock Solid Teacher…Gregory C. Carlson (started)
9. Morning & Evening…C.H. Spurgeon – I did a lot of catching up in this one.  It’s a daily devotional.  I was doing well at the beginning of the year, but I fell behind and stopped reading sometime in May.  I got all but a couple of week caught up.

I did a lot of additional reading I had printed out – research, curriculum, etc. and caught up on some back issues of magazines I hadn’t read.

In addition to all that, I got a couple of months of lesson plans for Sunday morning at least preliminarily mapped out.  I got a lot of praying done too.  It’s amazing how easy it is to find time to talk to God without all the distractions and noise.

So, I mentioned that it was a lot different this year too.  Last year I was a little worried about whether or not I could stick to the plan.  This year I was really looking forward to the week as a means of winding down.  It wasn’t nearly as “hard” this year, but I think that had a lot do with knowing that I could get through it and knowing the benefits of unplugging.  By Friday night, I was ready to plug back in, but when I did I realized that it had definitely lost its pull.  I actually considered going two weeks this summer.

Anyhow, it was definitely a worthwhile week and something that I am planning on doing again next summer.  I know of a couple of people who were talking about going along with Go Dark week this summer.  If you did, leave a comment below and let us know how it went!

Related posts:

1. Going Dark – The Recap!
2. Orange Week 2.0 – Day #1 Recap
3. Orange Week 2.0 – Day #4 Recap

This week, as I was reflecting on those things, my mind started to wander to the book of Judges.  Now I have never stabbed a fat monarch through with a knife, killed 600 people with an ox goad, or driven a stake through a sleeping man’s head. I haven’t attacked an army of men with only torches and trumpets.  I’ve never promised to sacrifice my daughter in exchange for a victory in battle.  I don’t have long hair, and I’ve never chopped anything into 50 pieces and sent them as gifts to every state in the union.  That said, there is one verse that really resonates with me and my life from the Book of Judges (two verses really, but they say exactly the same thing).  Judges 17:6 and Judges 21:25 both read:

In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes.

The pattern followed by the Israelites through the book Judges is pretty pronounced.  They would go their own way and do their own thing until things got so bad that they cried out to God.  At that time, God would have mercy on them and save them – more often than not through the most unexpected means.  They would follow God for a while, but as the memory of the God’s prior acts of graciousness faded, the Israelites would fall back into the pattern of doing “what was right in their own eyes.”

I find that I follow this own roadmap in my own spiritual journey.  Now, I don’t generally devolve into immorality but the pattern is very similar.  I struggle with placing myself fully in the hands of God.  I work, and I prepare, and I plan, and I try my hardest to accomplish the goals I have for myself in my life.  When that doesn’t work, I reach a point where I realize that I need to give it over to God.  My prayer life gets more intense, and I “feel” closer to God.  He is faithful in answering those prayers, and my spiritual journey feels like I am on a mountaintop.  Like the Israelites though, as time passes and I get more comfortable with how things are going in life, I find myself drifting back to “doing what is right in my own eyes.”  In my life that is trying to fix things myself and relying on my own efforts rather than relying on God.  After a while, something happens that reinvigorates my relationship with God (usually some sort of trial).  I start praying more fervently once again and relying of God.  As I reflect back on my life with Christ over the last several of years, I see this pattern more often than I would like to admit.

My birthday prayer this year is that God would help me to rely on him more entirely and fully upon his provision and his grace.  I pray that he would help me to be more consistent in my relationship with him.  Mostly, though, I thank God for his grace and mercy.  No matter how much my devotion and consistency ebbs and flows, he is always faithful.  His love for me never changes, and he continues to rain down grace in my life.  Thank you God…for another year…for another day….for another minute….for another breath!

Related posts:

1. Happy Birthday to Me!
2. Happy Birthday Dr. Seuss!
3. #16 – Teach From the Book (Tips For Large Group Teaching)

I plan on writing more about my observations next week when I turn the computer back on.  Last year I posted a single post the Friday before Go Dark week and left up all week.  This year, I had some article I wanted to share, so I went ahead and wrote them ahead of time and scheduled them for this week.  Plus, Friday marks my 500th blog post here on Dad in the Middle, and that just seemed like something I should acknowledge.  That means that, even though you’re seeing new content each day, I actually haven’t visited this site in several days by the time you read this.  And, check back Friday for a very special episode of Blossom…errr Dad in the Middle.

So, in the words of Simon and Garfunkel:

Hello darkness, my old friend
I’ve come to talk with you again.

Related posts:

1. Listen to Your Wife
2. It’s Time Again – Announcing The 2nd Annual “Go Dark” Challenge
3. Going Dark – The Recap!

“Or what woman, having ten silver coins, if she loses one coin, does not light a lamp and sweep the house and seek diligently until she finds it? And when she has found it, she calls together her friends and neighbors, saying, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found the coin that I had lost.’ Just so, I tell you, there is joy before the angels of God over one sinner who repents.” [Luke 15: 8-10]

I have always enjoyed the images of Angels celebrating every time someone enters the kingdom of heaven. Every time I hear a story of salvation or a baptism testimony, I get a mental picture of angels in heaven celebrating. The verse doesn’t say so, but I wouldn’t be surprised to see the Father, Son and Holy Spirit right there along with them celebrating right along with them.  This Saturday night, that idea of celebration takes on a whole new meaning for me.  This Saturday, at around 7:00 PM or so, my seven year old daughter will be baptized, and I can’t wait to celebrate along with the angels.  Now, mind you, they’ve already had their big celebration, as did I on a Sunday afternoon in April.  Here’s what I wrote about that day (April 18, 2010) previously:

On the way to church yesterday my 8 year old son (nine today – Happy Birthday Jacob), my seven year old daughter (Lyndsey) and I were talking about the gospel and being saved. My son (who is saved and has been baptized) asked how you know for sure that you’ve been saved (this was after a lesson last week on Thomas and how doubts are normal in the Christian life). So, we talked about the prayer of salvation and then we talked about how being saved is much more than just that prayer. We talked about the outward and inward signs of being saved like changes in attitudes, regretting when you do bad things not just because of the thing itself but because it is something God wouldn’t want you to do, etc., and we talked about how God changes us from the inside out. When we got in the truck to come home from church Lyndsey was kind of quiet then she told me, “I don’t think I’ve ever said that prayer.” I asked her if she wanted to, and she said she did but not until we got home and her brother wasn’t in the truck.

Anyhow, when we got home we talked about how salvation was more than just a prayer, or words that you say, or an easy way to get to heaven, but rather a choice to make Jesus Lord of your life. She said that she understood and she still wanted to say the prayer so we did! Needless to say, it was an awesome moment – another glimpse for me into how God must feel when one of his kids comes home. I stand amazed as the awesomeness and goodness of God. When my kids were born, I never thought anything would top those moments. I was wrong! Yesterday, and the same event with Jacob have exceeded those moments.

Now, Lyndsey can’t wait to be baptized. That will be another moment to add to my list. Sometimes, in children’s ministry, it is easy to get caught up in other people’s kids. And, so much of what we do is the meticulous investment that yield future (but not immediate results). Yesterday, God graced me with a moment that reminded me what is truly important and put everything back into perspective for me in a moment, and I find myself repeating a refrain that permeates my life and my prayers, “Thanks you God!”

She couldn’t be at the baptism last time our church did them in June, but she (and I) are excited about this coming Saturday.  When I finally submitted to God’s will and got baptized myself, it was a moment I will never forget.  But to see my son, and now my daughter, follow me in that act of obedience has truly been a gift of God.

Related posts:

1. Monday Morning Prophecy #11 – Angels Would Praise Him
2. December 12 – Angels We Have Heard On High (A Christmas Carol Advent)
3. December 18 – Hark! The Herald Angels Sing (A Christmas Carol Advent)

So, what you might ask does talking have to do with horses and dogs?  Well, for roughly seven years now, I have listened to Jacob talk about how much he loves them both.  His obsession with horses was pretty easy to take care of.  Our house has a couple of acres of land, but we don’t have the facilities to have a horse, and Jacob accepted that pretty early in life.   So, every summer, he heads off to horse camp to renew his love for horses and riding and to get his “horse fix.”  Even when all his little friends decided that riding horses was for girls, he still held out and explained to them all about the cowboys and how he plans to move to Texas when he gets older and be a cowboy himself.  Like I said, horses were easy.

But, dogs, those infernal dogs kept coming up.  Every Christmas – every birthday – every time someone walked by outside with a furry canine, I heard about dogs.  I don’t dislike dogs.  I actually quite like them.  I tell people that, “I like dogs – other people’s dogs – a lot!”  But, I also enjoyed the fact that, at the moment, we were blissfully pet free.  No messes to clean up, no food to buy, no odd noises in the middle night – well at least none of the four legged variety.  I have a wife, four kids, a ministry, a job and a pretty busy life.  I struggle to find quiet time as it is, and the last thing I need to throw into that mix is a dog.  I’ve never actually owned a dog either, and I wasn’t entirely sure that I ever wanted to.  We grew up with cats, and I had a number of cats as an adult.  Cats are easy.  Give them a bowl of food, and let them think they own the place, and you’re pretty well set.  Other than changing the litter box once a week and feeding them, cats are pretty much self-sufficient.  Dogs on the other hand, oy-vey!

So, I’m certain you know where this is going!  There is something about looking into your child’s eyes for years and seeing disappointment and hurt that eventually trumps your own desires not to do something.  With some godly prompting from my wife, who is not a dog person herself, I finally realized that it was time to give in and start the process of looking for a dog.  Now, I waxed eloquently about how this was going to be a process, and how we were going to take our time and make sure we found the right dog, and how we were going to have everything prepared for a dog before we ever brought it home.  It was quite a speech if I do say so myself.  That was on Saturday afternoon.  On Sunday, I somewhat reluctantly agreed to go the animal shelter “just to look around.”  By the time we left, we had a 24 hour hold on the dog, and Monday afternoon, my wife went and picked him up.  That’s him in the picture at the beginning of this post.  His shelter name was Elvis, which lasted only long enough for me to announce that we should proclaim that:

Elvis has left the building!

as we picked him up at the shelter.  His name was quickly changed to Chance because, as my son explained, he never thought there was any chance he would actually get a dog.  I think it may have something to do with a movie he saw as well, but that isn’t nearly as interesting as stories go.

He’s a cute little guy.  He’s not mine!  Technically he belongs to Jacob which means Jacob gets to walk him, and clean up various messes, and shovel doggie by-products out of the back yard.  I just get to feed him and pay for a whole bunch of stuff.  Already, though, in the short time that he’s been home, he has brought me tremendous joy – not because I wanted a dog, but because I get to see the unmitigated joy and love in my son’s eyes when he runs and plays with that mutt.  And, I get to watch as Jacob (and his siblings) grow attached to Chance.  As I sat there watching tonight (last night as you read this), I began to think that this must be something like how God must feel when we finally get what we need most.  We don’t beg for it like Jacob did for this dog.  In fact, we tend to resist it as much as possible.  But, when we finally get what we need most – a relationship with our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ – and our eyes are opened to true love, I think God must experience a joy far greater than the one I did last night just sitting back and watching my kids play with their new dog.

Related posts:

1. Does Quality Time Always Have to Be Spiritual Time?
2. What Do You Want to Be Known For? (Another Jacob Moment)
3. Homework, A Devotional Time??

12:00 A.M. Saturday, August 14, 2010 through 11:59 P.M. the following Friday, August 20, 2010.

I hope you will join me in what has now become an annual event.  So, what is the Go Dark challenge you ask?  I’m glad you asked.   I started the Go Dark challenge last year as a kind of fast/break from the electronics which pervade our daily lives.  As I wrote last year,

I started to reflect on all the electronic gadgets that we fill our time up with every day.  We have TVs in every room, DVD players, IPods, Computers, the Internet, Blogs, Facebook, Twitter, Newsreaders, Radios.  The list goes on and on.

Now, I am not opposed to technology.  I rather enjoy it!  Sometime though, I wonder if I am letting it consume me to the detriment of other more important things in my life.  To me, those things that may be suffering are my relationship and quiet time with God including time in his word, my relationship with my wife, my relationship with my kids, and my other reading.

So, for one week last year, I turned it all off.  I unplugged just to remember what it was like and see what I could learn.  I learned quite a bit from the experience last year and decided to make it an annual event.  I have already had some people express some interest in joining with me for the Go Dark week this year, and I hope you will consider doing the same.  Let’s all grow together.  As with last year, I have a list of rule for myself for this week.  These rules reflect my own personal situation (for example, my job does not allow me to not use the computer there for the week, etc.)  If you decide to join us, you may have other “rules and exceptions” which will be necessary for your life.  The goal though should be to use technology as little as possible.  I also encourage you to post your rules somewhere (in the comments here, in your own blog, etc.) because I think if you write them down, you are more likely to follow them.  Here are my rules which are the same as last year with some minor exceptions:

1. My black out will commence precisely at 12:00 AM, Saturday, August 14, 2010 and run through 11:59 P.M., Friday, August 20, 2010.
2. I will turn off the following while I am at home: TVs, DVD Players, Game Systems, Computers, Radios, Cell Phones, Ipods, etc.
3. No Radio or Ipod in the Van or Truck when I am alone.  Last year, I said none at all, but I decided in hindsight that that was unfair to my family.  My kids love music, and we generally listen to worship music in the car anyhow.  If they are in the vehicle and want to listen to music, I am willing to allow that.
4. I will not access the internet for any reason for the entire week unless absolutely necessary for work.  Should I need to access it for work, I will limit my access to the immediate need only and finish as quickly as possible. (This means no blogging, twittering or facebook for the entire week).  My plan is to schedule a post to this blog for Monday morning of my Go Dark week announcing what I am doing.  If you follow me on twitter or facebook, you will likely see that post as it is set up to be automatically.  Any other article from me that you might see at Kidmin1124.com or Ministry-to-Children.com will have been scheduled in advance.
5. I will access e-mails at work for my work e-mail address only during working hours.
6. My work computer also checks my personal e-mail addresses.  I will turn off the automatic checking of this e-mail address.  I will check e-mails to my personal account once each day at work around 12:00-1:00.  I will only open e-mails from people which appear as though they may require some timely response.  I will not read automatically generated e-mails from the various groups which I participate in (facebook, my blog, etc.) during that time.  The purpose of these exceptions related to my personal e-mail is to allow me to avoid being rude by not responding to personal e-mails which are an integral part of the way people communicate today.  I will not be checking e-mail at all during the opening weekend of Go Dark week.
7. I also need access to my cell phone for work purposes (it is the number that shows up on my business card).  So, I will turn my cell phone on when I walk out the door in the morning to go to work and turn it off when I walk in the door in the evening.  I will only use my cell phone as a phone (novel idea) and not access the other features.
8. Computer use will also be restricted to work hours and for work purposes only.

I think that covers it.  I hope you will consider joining me in this chance to take a break from technology.  If you do, please let me know about it.  The more the merrier!  I promise you won’t regret it once you’ve done it.

Related posts:

1. I’m Going Dark! (Join the Challenge!)
2. Dark Week Recap
3. Going Dark – The Recap!

1. June 13 is promotion weekend. This weekend at New Life Church Gahanna, I get a whole new set of Kindergartners in my K-1 room, and I can’t wait.  We celebrated our new 2nd graders moving up last weekend, and we get a whole new crop to sow this weekend.  It’s always a fun time of the year!

2. June 14 is a significant day in the kidmin world.  That the day the free e-book What Matters Now in Children’s Ministry? is available in hard copy form.

3. June 16 is my son Joshua’s 17th birthday.  So it ain’t so Joe!  Can I really be the father of a 17 year old?  If nothing else, it has taught me a lot about prayer, and that is all I have to say about that!

4. June 18 is a big day.  That’s the Day Toy Story 3 comes out in theaters.  My kids will be out of town, so I may just have to go see it by myself!  You might be in children’s ministry if…

5. Week of June 21.  This is the week I am expecting to receive some materials from God’s Kids Worship.  I have researched this resource before, and I was ecstatic to be asked to review some of their materials and write about it on the blog.4. June 20 is Father’s Day.  My family will actually be out of town this weekend, but my wife reminds me that quiet time for an entire weekend is the best Father’s Day they could give me.  I’m not so sure about that.   We did get to celebrate Father day on June 6th instead though, and that was fun.

6. June 21 & 22 is the CM Tele Summit. I wrote about it here.  They have a top-notched lineup of speakers, and the conference is available for free.  I’m excited about listening to a number of the presentations without even having to leave the house!

7. July 2nd is my youngest son Nathan’s 3rd birthday.  My youngest is already three, and he is a riot!  That said, we are experiencing some of the “lasts.”  Some are great – like the “last” of diapers.  Some are a little bit sad – like the “last” of the crib.

8. July 4th is one of my favorite holidays.  Every year, we celebrate with my best friends at their annual Fourth of July BBQ and at Church with Food, Fun and Fireworks.  I am looking forward to both.

9. July 15 and 16 is the CM Expo in Lexington, NC.  I’ve written about that here on the blog as well.  I can’t wait to see some of the exhibitors and participate in the Scoops and Sit-In’s.  That said, I am most excited about meeting people who will be there like Jim Wideman, Tony Kummer, Yancy, Michael Chanley, Roger Fields, Amy Fenton Lee, Tamera Kraft, Bob Singleton and Wendy Douglas amongst others.  I am also excited because my wife and I are turning this into a four day weekend away from the house and should have some good quality time by ourselves.

10. Week of July 19.  I don’t know for certain, but based on past experiences, this is the week I will be receiving the July/August Issue K! Magazine.  That is a always a highlight, and I’m sure this one will be no exception.

11. July 25 is the weekend my seven year old daughter Lyndsey is getting baptized. Very little in life surpasses the feeling of watching our children walk in the path God has laid out for them.  Words can not adequately describe the feeling.

12. August 2 through 6 is VBS week at our church. I can’t wait!  Whether I run games again this year or serve in some other capacity, I can’t wait to spend five straight nights with the kids.

13. An as yet undisclosed (and undetermined) week in August. I haven’t decided which week for sure yet, but sometime during August I will do the 2nd annual “Go Dark” week in which I give up everything electronic for one week.  I learned a lot last year, and I hope to repeat that again this year.

14. August 26 is my 38th birthday.  It seems like I feel a year older each time it roles around, oh well!

Related posts:

1. How to Get Kids Excited About the Bible

As frequently happens with my kids, I was floored by his response.  After some reflection, I walked away with a couple of important reminders:

1. Kids are more perceptive than we give them credit for.  Nathan will be three in November.  I don’t often discuss my medical problems with him, but he understood that his Dad’s back hurt.  I had my final of three shots of steroids the Monday before, and he was legitimately concerned with how I was.  Now, I’m a bit partial and a bit biased when I say that Nathan is a smart kids, but I think we need to remember that kids of all ages are capable of much more than we give them credit for.  If a three year old is capable of comprehending a situation like this and wondering whether or not things were all better, imagine what even older kids are capable of.  We should never, ever, underestimate a child’s capacity for understanding or compassion.

2. For me, Nathan’s inquiry was a physical example of the spiritual role kids play in our lives.  I know in my own life that my kids, and the kids in our children’s ministry, serve as a spiritual barometers for us as “adults.” I can’t count the number of times when something my kids said or did led me to reevaluate my current relationship with God. Based on my experience with kids, I am firmly convinced that God not only teaches us about him by placing kids in our lives, but also speaks directly to us through the words and actions of kids.

So, next time you’re hanging out talking to your kid or one of the kids in your ministry, remember that God put you in their life to teach them about him, but more importantly, he put that child in your life to teach you!

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This is not a post about the pain or the missed time, this is a post about going back.  You see, Sunday was my first real day back at church teaching God’s kids.  Of all the things I missed while I was laid up, teaching children’s ministry and running games in AWANA were at the top of my list, and I couldn’t wait to get back to doing both.  More than even that though, I was looking forward just to getting back into active community with those I minister alongside and those who are part of my local church.

But, something happened this weekend that really struck me.  I attend a fairly large church (around 2,000 people), and I was absolutely taken aback by the number of people who approached me to ask how I was doing and see if I was feeling better.  What astounded me even more than that was the number of them that I didn’t even really know personally.  Even more astounding yet were the number of kids (from Kindergarten through Fifth grade) who came up to me to tell me that they had missed me and that they were glad I was back.  Many even asked how my back was doing.  It really was heart warming for me to see and feel how God’s community works and cares for one another.

As I got past the initial shock and began to reflect on it more and more on Sunday afternoon, I realized that there were two possible reactions to the reception I had gotten at church the morning.  The first represents more of my natural bent, and that would be to react with a certain amount of pride.  Let’s face it – it is nice to be missed.  These people missed me, which means I must be important.  The teaching must not have been quite as good while I was gone.  Something must have just seemed like it was missing.  Obviously, these people recognized how important I was and how empty church was without me here!  Yes, one possible reaction to such a warm welcome is one of pride.  What a horrible affront to God such pride is.  Of course, I’ve overstated the prideful reaction a little bit, we might not think quite these thoughts, but when we start to think things like “its nice to be missed,” we open ourselves up to pride.

The second possible reaction is one of humility, and this is the one I couldn’t help but be overwhelmed with yesterday as people continued to express their concern and well-wishes.  Who am I that God would surround me with people who show a genuine interest in me?  Who am I that God would allow me to teach and impact his kids on a weekly basis?  Who am I that people would use there personal time with God to pray for me?  Through every trial, and every blessing, and every day, I stand amazed and humbled at the work on God.  I am glad to be back.  I am glad that my back is getting better day by day.  Most of all thought, I am glad to be part of God’s family, and there is nothing I have done to deserve that honor.

To all those who have prayed for me, and those who have wished me well, and those who have filled in and taken up the slack while I have been out of commission, I thank you, and I am glad to call you brother and sister!

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1. It will help me to organize my thoughts and have a plan for what I intend to read; and
2. I hope it will help to ease my wife’s concern that I continue to buy tons and tons of books and never read them.  See, honey, I have a plan!

So, here is what I plan to be reading in 2010:

Books Written to or for Children

• Letters to Children…by C.S. Lewis
• To the Rising Generation: Addresses Given to Children and Young Adults…By Jonathan Edwards
• A Good Start: A Book for Young Men and Women…by C.H. Spurgeon
• Jesus Is Alive! Evidence for the Resurrection, Children’s Edition…by Josh McDowell & Sean McDowell
• The Case for Faith for Kids…by Lee Strobel
• The Case for a Creator for Kids…by Lee Strobel
• 99 Questions God’s Answers For Kids

Books Related to Children’s and Family Ministry

• Shift: What it takes to finally reach families today…by Brian Haynes
• Formational Children’s Ministry: Shaping Children Using Story, Ritual, and Relationship…by Ivy Beckwith
• Comforting Children in Crisis…Group Publishing
• The Ultimate Survival Guide For Children’s Ministry Workers…by Ivy Beckwith
• What Every Sunday School Teacher Should Know…by Elmer Towns

Books About Teaching

• Rock Solid Teacher: Discover the Joy of Teaching Like Jesus…by Gregory C. Carlson
• Created to Learn…by William R. Yount
• Teaching Kids About God…by John Trent

Parenting

• Parenting With Love And Logic…by Foster Cline and Jim Fay
• Parenting Teens With Love And Logic…by Foster Cline and Jim Fay

Theology

• Systematic Theology: An Introduction to Biblical Doctrine…by Wayne Grudem
• The Prodigal God: Recovering the Heart of the Christian Faith…by Timothy Keller
• Your Own Jesus: A God Insistent on Making It Personal…by Mark Hall

Devotional

• Morning and Evening…by Charles H. Spurgeon
• Big Truths for Little Kids: Teaching Your Children to Live for God…by Susan Hunt

Biography

• Me, Myself & Bob: A True Story About Dreams, God, and Talking Vegetables…by Phil Vischer

Fiction

I don’t read a lot of fiction as a general rule, but this year I’ve already started reading the Chronicles of Narnia series to my kids.

• The Magician’s Nephew…by C.S. Lewis
• The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe…by C.S. Lewis
• The Horse and His Boy…by C.S. Lewis
• Prince Caspian…by C.S. Lewis
• The Voyage of the Dawn Treader…by C.S. Lewis
• The Silver Chair…by C.S. Lewis
• The Last Battle…by C.S. Lewis

So, there we have it – my planned reading list for 2010, and its only 30 books.  We’ll see how it goes!  For the record, and for my wife’s peace of mind, I only need to buy one of the books on this list.  That book is Me, Myself & Bob which I haven’t gotten around to buying yet.  If you have one laying around, feel free to mail it to me!  I already have all the others.  What are you reading this year?

Related posts:

1. #17 – Read About Teaching (Tips For Large Group Teaching)
2. #44 – Read To Them (Tips For Large Group Teaching)
3. Top Ten Christian Children’s Books

1. I will have been married 10 years this coming September.
2. Next year will be my 20^th High School reunion.
3. I graduated from The Ohio University 15 years ago this past June – Go Bobcats!
4. We are starting to experience the “lasts” in our family as my youngest son turned two this summer.
5. My oldest son reaching the legal driving age this past June – pray for us.
6. I have been part of God’s family for roughly 6 ½ years now and actively involved in a church for about five of those.

I don’t mind getting older – really!  I figure age is a sign of experience and maturity, and I have the grey hair to prove it these days.  I actually got a hair cut on my birthday, and I was struck by exactly how much gray hair fell to the ground during that process. Anyhow, when I started to look back on where I’ve come from and where I am these days, a couple of birthday observations came to mind which I thought I would share with you all:

1. I am old enough now and know enough to know that I still have a lot to learn.
2. Other than the Bible, I have found that God teaches me more about himself and my relationship with him through my children and the children I work with at church than in any other way.
3. I used to focus on my kids to the detriment of my marriage.  Now I realize that focusing on my marriage in the greatest gift that I can give my kids.
4. 37 Candles creates quite a light and a fire hazard!
5. When I first started to investigate Christianity, God put me in a great Bible believing and teaching church which didn’t have all the trapping I associated with what I would have called “blind sheep” at the time.  There was no worship music (rarely anyhow), there was no formal membership, and the teachings were done more in the form of lectures than preaching.  It was exactly what I needed at the time.  I think anything else would have scared me away.  We have since left that church and are now part of another Bible believing and teaching church.  This one, however, is a little bit different.  There is worship music before every celebration, and it is one of the most edifying things I do every week.  We also recently became members of the church – the first time in my life I have ever been a member of a church.  As I look back, I am amazed at how God works in the little things and the details.  The things I now cherish as a maturing Christian probably would have scared me a way in the beginning, and God put me in exactly the right place at the right time!
6. Now that I have four kids of my own, I have a deeper appreciation for what my Dad had to do to raise me and my three brothers by himself for years.
7. Kids have a way of keeping you humble.  It’s hard to be proud when you’re wiping a poopy butt.
8. When things don’t turn out the way we want them to, we should accept that God knows what is best for us and look forward to what he has planned.
9. Loving our kids means that they will not always be happy with us.
10. The saying “it is more blessed to give than receive” applies to a lot more than Christmastime and a lot more than presents.
11. Time is precious, and we should be careful not to waste a second.
12. I used to live by the mantra that “You can do anything you put your mind to.”  Now I live by Matthew 19:26 – “With God all things are possible.”  He has a lot better track record than I do!
13. I don’t mind being 37, but I find that I don’t really think of myself as being that old.  Somehow, in my own mind, I’m still 26 or 27.
14. I am still divesting myself of boxes full of stuff from back when I tried to find happiness in things rather than in God.
15. As a parent, one of the most satisfying moments in life comes when your kids are getting along and helping one another.
16. Every breath and every birthday is given to us by the grace of God!

There you go – 15 random thoughts for my birthday!  I wonder what I’ll learn this year!

Related posts:

1. Happy Birthday Dr. Seuss!
2. Happy Birthday America
3. My Birthday and the Book of Judges

Thank you Jesus for this day.  Amen. You Rock. Amen.

I don’t specifically remember teaching it to him.  I may have at some point, but he has adopted it as his standard way of ending prayers.  And, when he says it, it is always with a smile and a giggle.  “You Rock, Amen!”  We were saying prayers last night, I was struck by how simple and profound those three words are!  How often in our prayers as adults do we focus on the problems of our lives and our day to the exclusion of the glory of God?  How often do we plead with God for those things we want in our lives without stopping to reflect on hoe great the God is that we serve?  How often do we pray just because we feel like we should rather and not realize that prayer is a gift given to us by the grace of God?  How often do we miss out on the joy of prayer because of our misperception of God?

Yes, God – YOU DO ROCK!  And, I pray that we would never forget it!

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1. Esther and Freddie Mercury (aka Purim Will Rock You!)

I was reading a blog article recently from one of my favorite blogs on the ABC’s of salvation.  The inspired me to put together this ABC’s of Children’s Ministry.  I had to resist the urge to write more for each letter, so you may see future posts about some of these! J

A is for ACTIVE.  Many kids learn best when they are ACTIVE.

B is for BOYS.  BOYS present some of the greatest challenges and some of the greatest rewards.

C is for CREATIVE.  God created us in his image.  So, even those of us who are “craft-challenged” are CREATIVE on some level.  Take advantage of that creativity in your Children’s Ministry.

D is for DEDICATION. A good Children’s Ministry volunteer must be DEDICATED to the greater goal.

E is for EXPECTATIONS.  We must have high EXPECTATIONS for our kids.  To have anything less sells them short.

F is for FUN.  Our time with kids must be FUN to keep them wanting more.

G is for GIRLS.  GIRLS may be easier as a general rule, but there are always exceptions.

H is for HUMOR.  Kids like to laugh.  Engage them in age appropriate HUMOR.

I is for INTELLIGENT.  Just because they’re kids doesn’t mean they are not INTELLIGENT.  Never underestimate the kids in your room.

J is for JESUS. At the center of any successful Children’s Ministry is CHRIST.

K is for KIDS.  The reason we do what we do is because of KIDS, and we should never forget that they belong to God.

L is for LOVE.  Without LOVE all work on behalf of God is useless (1 Corinthians 13).

M is for MEN.  It’s time MEN stood up as role models in Children’s Ministry – especially for the boys.

N is for NEW.  Kids get bored easily.  It’s important to be constantly keeping up and changing in Children’s Ministry.  Keep things fresh and NEW.

O is for ORGANIZATION.  Show up for Children’s Ministry UNORGANIZED or underprepared and your message will be lost.

P is for PREPARATION.  It is an insult to the kids and God to go into class Sunday morning without adequate PREPARATION.  God partners with us to teach his kids, and we must do our part to be prepared.

Q is for QUALITY.  The QUALITY in Children’s Ministry should be as high as anywhere else in the church.

R is for RELATIONSHIP.  Children’s Ministry is all about building disciple type RELATIONSHIPS with the kids.

S is for SILLY. Never get so full of yourself or your image that you are afraid to be SILLY with kids.

T is for TEACHING.  Children’s Ministry is not about filling the time or baby-sitting.  It is about TEACHING the Word of God.

U is for UNDERSTANDING.  We must have an UNDERSTANDING that all kids learn differently and ensure that our lessons include something for everyone.

V is for VESSEL.  God loves KIDS, and we are his VESSEL to show it.

W is for WACKY.  Kids like WACKY.  Don’t be afraid to let the kids see you being silly.

X is for XENIAL.  XENIAL means hospitable and Children’s Ministry should always be a place where the kids feel welcome.

Y is for YUMMY.  When all else fails, something YUMMY is a sure fire motivator.

Z is for ZEAL.  In order to infuse kids with excitement, they must see us live out our ZEAL for Christ.

Image courtesy of: http://www.flickr.com/photos/michaelgoodin/ / CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

Related posts:

1. The Children's Ministry Blog Patrol (September 2009)
2. Little Mouth…Deep Truth (Children's Ministry Moment #2)
3. 5 Things Kids Must Know About Sin (Children’s Ministry Think Tank)

Someday

God was around before the start of days.
And he created man on the sixth day.
Man sinned and fell on a fateful day.
Then man rejected God for a lot of days.
So, God dwelt amongst them for a few days.
Jesus died on the cross on a bad day.
He rose and conquered death on the third day.
And he went back up to heaven after forty days.
Now, we still sin against him every day,
But he’ll be coming back again someday.
So, it’s time to get right with him today.
So we can live with him past the end of days.

If you haven’t yet, make the choice today to allow Jesus Christ to be your Lord and Savior.  Admit your sin and that you need him, and ask him to apply the payment he made on the cross to your life.  If you are a Christian, make sure that you are living your life to his glory.  God Bless!

Related posts:

1. I’m Going Dark! (Join the Challenge!)
2. Going Dark – The Recap!
3. Monday Morning Prophecy #9 – The Messiah’s Place of Birth

In case you didn’t read my article (Http://waynestocks.com/2009/07/13/im-going-dark-join-the-challenge/), I decided to turn off all my electronic gadgets for a week (except during work and for work).  I started last Saturday at midnight and finished this morning at midnight.

As I said in my original article, I am not adverse to technology.  It is a wonderful tool and offers limitless possibility.  The problem seems to be when, instead of using technology, we allow it to master us.   When technology starts to dictate that which I do and that which I do not do, that’s a problem.  When technology robs me of time with my God and with my family, that’s a problem.  When checking facebook or looking at the stats for my blog becomes an obsession, that’s a problem!  I’m not sure I was at that point, but I decided to do this little experiment to make sure that I was still in control rather than the technology being in control.  So, the plan was it would all go off for a week, and we would see what happened.

In short, I did pretty well.  I noticed some things I had never noticed before.  I spent more time with my kids.  I spent more time with my God.  I got more sleep every night, and I caught up on an awful lot of reading.  Along the way, I learned some things about myself and about the lure of technology that I had never noticed while embroiled in the middle of it.  That is why I am writing this article.  I want to share what I found out.

I will say that I found it to be a positive enough experience that I’m planning on making it at least an annual event.  Next year, I am hoping to get more people to join in so that other can remember, or perhaps experience for the first time, the pleasure of Psalm 46:10 – “Be still and know that I am God.”

So, I kept a journal (more like a list) for the week.  My goal was to write down two things 1) those things that I got accomplished which I felt I would not have gotten accomplished if all the electronics had stayed on; and 2) any observations.  At the risk of boring you, here’s what I wrote:

Friday night (technically Saturday because it was after midnight):

• Finished the book Think Orange by Reggie Joiner.  Great book! You’ll see more about it later on this blog.
• Continued reading The Fabulous Reinvention of Sunday School by Aaron Reynolds.  Another great book that you will see more about in this blog in future posts.
• I didn’t really miss technology tonight, but then this is just the beginning.

Saturday:

• We had to pick Jacob up at horse camp in the morning.
• It was nice not having to grab my cell phone.  I can’t remember the last time I purposely left my cell phone at home.
• I cheated already.  Tricia handed me the cell phone when her mother couldn’t find the place.  I started to justify why I had to cheat, but then I realized it was better just to admit it and move on.
• Had a great conversation with the kids on the way home – before everyone else in the car fell asleep that is.
• We stopped at Boston’s Pizza for lunch.  I purposely sat where it would be hard to watch one of the TV’s, but I still found myself gazing from time to time and having to force myself not to watch.  Weird!
• On the way home I wanted to stop at a bookstore I had never been to.  I missed having the GPS in my phone to look it up.  I drove all over the small town looking for a phone booth that would have a phone book with a yellow pages.  We never did find one.  I guess I never noticed that pay phones are going extinct.
• Went to Saturday night service at church.  Our old worship leader was back.  I forgot how gifted he was.  It was a great service, but it really drove home that the one thing I would miss most this week was listening to worship music.
• Continued reading The Fabulous Reinvention of Sunday School. Without the television and computer to distract me, I read almost the entire book today.

Sunday:

• Up bright and early and off to church for baptism class this morning.  I took Lyndsey with me.  It was odd not to have the music on in the truck, but Lyndsey and I had a great chat.
• Great prayer time on the way to church without the music or IPod on.
• Served in the K-1 room during the 2^nd service.  Again, I was struck by how big the impact music has on my worship experience.  I wonder if not listening to it all the time has made it seem more precious to me.
• Had a meeting after the 2^nd service about the upcoming VBS.  I’m helping with games this week.  Noticed how easily we ended with “Let’s just communicate by e-mail.”  Good thing I made that once-a-day exception for personal e-mails. J
• Finished the last couple of pages of The Fabulous Reinvention of Sunday School.
• Spent some time planning for VBS games.
• Went to a membership class at church for most of the evening, so no problem avoiding technology for that time period.  I enjoyed spending time with my wife too – even If we were listening to other people speak most of the time!
• My wife and kids expressed their first bit of disappointment that we wouldn’t get to watch our normal Sunday night program together.
• Realized again how important technology is for some things.  I had to have Tricia check our bank balance online to make sure we didn’t need to transfer some money.  I suppose technically this might have been cheating by proxy.

Monday:

• Didn’t check my e-mail, facebook or my blog in the morning.  I didn’t even realize that this had become a bit of a routine for me.  I got to work 20 minutes earlier though.
• I had great prayer time in the quiet truck again on the way to work that actually brought me to tears at one point.  Here I thought all the sermons I usually listen to on the way to work were helping me to grow spiritually (I’m sure they actually are), and it took only one day without them to experience a closeness to God that I haven’t felt in a while.
• Wrote a poem – not a good one mind you, but a poem none the less.  I used to write a lot.  I may share it on here sometime if I work up the courage.
• I turned my cell phone on when I got to work for the first time since Friday night.
• I actually checked my personal e-mail twice on Monday rather than only once.  I checked it sometime during the morning to make sure there was nothing from the weekend that I needed to respond to and once later in the day.  I also sent my first personal e-mail of the week (one of two) to get organized for VBS games.
• Monday night was the first night of Jacob’s karate.  I usually sit in the car and work on the computer (generally my blog or some other Bible study).  This Monday, I read my Bible and worked on organizing my teachings for the K-1 room in September.  Time well spent!
• Read some more in Transforming Children into Spiritual Champions by George Barna.

Tuesday:

• I had another great prayer time on my ride to work this morning.
• I started to notice how many people seem permanently attached to their electronic devices.  I counted the number of people walking downtown either talking on their phone, sending text messages or listening to their IPods – astounding!
• Finished reading Transforming Children into Spiritual Champions.
• Tricia called today at work. She thought she might have lost her credit card.   I realized how easy it is when you can just hop on the internet and check to see if there has been any activity on your card.  I almost forgot there was a number on the back where you can do the same thing.  I went that route instead.  Fortunately she found the card before I cancelled it!
• Started reading Turbocharged!: 100 Simple Secrets to Successful Children’s Ministry by Dale Hudson and Scott Werner.  Found another good one!  I’m loving this.
• Tonight was another karate night for Jacob.  We always spend some time together on Tuesday nights between his classes.  There’s an hour between classes which gives us just enough time to go across the street and eat.  This week, without the interruption of the phone or IPods or anything else.  I noticed again at the restaurant how instinctive it is to watch the televisions while you’re eating.
• Worked some more tonight on the teaching for September.  Came up with a new character idea.  We’ll see if it pans out.

Wednesday:

• Continued reading Turbocharged!: 100 Simple Secrets to Successful Children’s Ministry.
• Starting to miss the computer less and less.  It’s rather liberating not feeling like I need to check my e-mail all the time!
• Used my drive time in the morning to work on one of the teachings I am preparing and to have some quiet time with God.  I’m thinking I might limit the number of podcasts so that I can spend more time with God.
• I even found some projects that needed done at work that kept me off the computer.
• Worked some more on my study of the teaching methods of Jesus.  I have a lot of the leg work done, and I’m excited about pulling it all together!
• Rearranged my bookshelves to organize my library and make room for some new books.

Thursday:

• Finished reading Turbocharged!: 100 Simple Secrets to Successful Children’s Ministry.
• Played a game with my two year old and six year old tonight.  The game was annoying as humanly possible and involved pounding a very loud giraffe over top of other animals (don’t ask), but I had fun spending time with the kids.
• The kids had a friend over for the evening, so we spent some time outside playing.  He asked me if I had ever read all the way through my Bible.  We had a nice talk about how important it is to read the Bible and listen to God.  I love those opportunities!  On the other hand, he told me that his family was just way too busy to read the Bible, so we’ll see how it turns out.
• I sent my second (and last) personal e-mail of the week again related to planning for Vacation Bible School games.
• I spent some more on my study of the teaching methods of Jesus.
• Started reading Making Your Children’s Ministry the Best Hour of Every Kid’s Week by Sue Miller.  This is another really good book.  I’ve been on a role this week.  I would recommend everything I read.

Friday:

• Finished reading Making Your Children’s Ministry the Best Hour of Every Kid’s Week.
• Went to dinner with the family at Dickey’s BBQ (one of my favorites).  It’s full of TV’s.  It’s wasn’t nearly as hard not to watch them at the end of the week as it was at the beginning of the week!
• Started reading Children’s Ministry in the 21st Century. So far, so good!
• Was planning on staying up until Midnight to check e-mail, etc., but I got tired and ended up falling asleep at 10 so electronics had to wait until Saturday morning.

There you have it – some insight into my week without gadgets!  If I had to summarize what I’ve learned I would say:

1. It is possible, even liberating, to live without all the noise caused by electronics.
2. The thing I missed the most was worship music.
3. Gadgets are so consuming in our culture that it is easy to miss just how pervasive they are.
4. There are some things where technology is very helpful, but it is possible to find ways around the technology when you are creative.
5. Technology is fun, but it is easy to let the technology rule our lives rather than ruling it.

If any of you are intrigued by the idea of going dark for the week, let me know.  I would love to hear about your experiences!

Related posts:

1. I’m Going Dark! (Join the Challenge!)
2. This Month In The Middle (August 2009)
3. This Month in the Middle (September 2009)

Now, I am not opposed to technology.  I rather enjoy it!  Sometime though, I wonder if I am letting it consume me to the detriment of other more important things in my life.  To me, those things that may be suffering are my relationship and quiet time with God including time in his word, my relationship with my wife, my relationship with my kids, and my other reading.

So, I made a decision.  It is something I have been thinking about for a little over a year, and I think it’s finally time to do it.  Starting this coming Saturday at 12:00, I am eliminating electronics from life (mostly).  In essence, this is an exercise in self-control.

I am posting about this here for four reasons.

1. I am wondering if, and hoping that, some other people might choose to join me in this learning experience.
2. I am certain that the more people who know about my plan and are involved in it, the more likely I am to not give and follow through with my plan.
3. A lot of the communication I get these days is electronic.  I have numerous e-mail accounts, facebook, a blog, a twitter account and more.  I won’t be using these things for a week, and it seemed like the civil thing to do to let people know that.  As for this blog, I am breaking with my regular schedule.  I am posting this article on Monday night.  I intend to leave it up all this week (I am hoping more people will see it that way).  I am also pushing back all of the regular entries for next week so that this article will remain posted through the time of the blackout!  I am sure that I will keep writing during that time which should give me plenty of material for when the lights come back on!
4. I plan on keeping a journal of what I experience and learn through this process (I hope it will be something), and I plan to post some articles about that – hopefully the following week.

So, here are the ground rules I am laying out for myself. Unfortunately, my job will not allow me to turn off the technology there for a week (I wish I could).  So, many of my “rules” relate to that.

1. My black out will commence precisely at 12:00 AM, Saturday, July 18, 2009 and run through 11:59, Friday, July 24, 2009.
2. I will turn off the following while I am at home: TVs, DVD Players, Game Systems, Computers, Radios, Cell Phones, Ipods, etc.
3. No Radio or Ipod in the Van or Truck.  Sorry kids!
4. I will not access the internet for any reason for the entire week unless absolutely necessary for work.  Should I need to access it for work, I will limit my access to the immediate need only and finish as quickly as possible. (This means no blog or facebook entries for the entire week).
5. I will access e-mails at work from my work e-mail address only during working hours.
6. My work computer also checks my personal e-mail addresses.  I will turn off the automatic checking of this e-mail address.  I will check e-mails to my personal account once each day at work around 12:00-1:00.  I will only open e-mails from people which appear as though they may require some timely response.  I will not read automatically generated e-mails from the various groups which I participate in (facebook, my blog, etc.) during that time.  The purpose of these exceptions related to my personal e-mail is to allow me to avoid being rude by not responding to personal e-mails which are an integral part of the way people communicate today.
7. I also need access to my cell phone for work purposes (it is the number that shows up on my business card).  So, I will turn my cell phone when I walk out the door to go to work in the morning and turn it off when I walk in the door in the evening.
8. Computer use will also be restricted to work hours and only for work purposes.

So, that’s the plan!  I think you get the idea.  In short, the only electronics I plan on using are for work and only during work hours.  I thought about forcing my kids to do the same for a week, but I suppose it is my duty to try it out first and demonstrate for them that it possible. Maybe the whole family will get on board, and we’ll have another “dark week” later this summer.

As I was pondering this idea and listening to my Ipod on the drive home (after I was done checking my e-mail and facebook on my cell phone), I heard the confirmation from God for this plan in the following song.  It came on the Ipod just as I was wavering over whether this was a good idea or not.  The song is “Stop the World” by Matthew West, and it’s one of my favorites.  I always find it amazing how God can speak to you circumstanced through worship music.  I think giving up music on the radio may actually be the hardest part of this challenge for me, but that is another post for another day.  Below is a video and lyrics of that song.

So, here’s my questions and my challenge for you.  Are you willing to join me in going dark?  Can you turn it all off for a week?  If you’re interested, leave a comment here (before Friday night of course).  I’m breaking with my regular article posting schedule this week as well.  I am posting this Monday night, and I intend to leave it up through next week.  I’d love to know that other people are joining in this experience.  I can’t wait to see what it teaches me about life.

Stop the World…Matthew West

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Ehm4T3QtMw

Here are the lyrics:

The TV is talking
The telephone’s ringing
The lights are all on
And the radio’s screaming
A million distractions are stealing my heart from You
I’m tired and empty
This life is relentless
It weakens my knees
And breaks my defenses
It’s wearing me down and I’m desperate to hear from You

Stop the world I wanna get out
I need an escape away from this crowd
Just to hear You speak to me

I need to be still before I make a move
I need to be humble with nothing to prove
I need Your Word to show me the truth
And I need time, precious time

Stop the world I wanna get out
I need an escape away from this crowd
Just to hear You speak to me
Stop the world I’m ready to listen
Show me sign, give me a vision of heaven
I can hold on to
Stop the world I need some time with You

Before I can find my voice
I need to hear Your voice
Above all the senseless noise

Related posts:

1. Going Dark – The Recap!
2. This Month In The Middle (August 2009)
3. This Month in the Middle (September 2009)