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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...

Why We Do What We Do (God’s Guidance in Little Voices)

Recently, I have been praying for God’s guidance related serving him in Children’s Ministry.  I know what I want his will to be, but I’m praying to make sure I’m in sync with his will before I make a final decision.  This morning when I was stretched thinnest, he made his will clear to me through some very little voices. Here’s the story:

Sometimes in Children’s Ministry, it is easy to get frustrated.  This morning was one of those mornings for me.  I moved offices this past week and hurt my back lifting an old printer I had no business trying to lift.  So, when I sat down in the little chairs in kid’s church this morning, I was already a little hurt, and a little distracted.  As the children started to file into the room, the first three or four to sit at my table were the most rambunctious kids in class who seem to feed off of one another.  One boy in particular was in rare form this morning and required way to many reminders and way to much retention.  Children’s Ministry requires a lot of patience, and this morning I found myself praying for more as the time ran on.

After the the large group teaching, we came back to our room for some small group time.  We were tealking about God’s gift of salvation.  The first game was akin to Hot Potato with a gift box with the child who got stuck with the potatoe opening up the box and pulling out a clue to what God’s gift was.  As the music ended, the first child pulled out a card that said “God Gave.”  I asked them what God gave, and one of the six year olds in the room started to quote John 3:16 – “his only begotten son.”  As the other cards came out of the box, this six year old started to “teach” the other kids at the table the Gospel based on John 3:16.  I had to help a little bit, but it reminded me why God says we have to have faith like a child to enter his kingdom.

So, things were looking up!  The second voice God talked to me through was a little boy in the class.  He’s been coming for four or five months now.  He saw me once at lunch after church and I said “hi” which he thought was really cool so we’ve developed quite a bit a rapport over the last several months.  He is always one of the last kids in the class to get picked up because his Mom volunteers elsewhere in the church.  That always gives us a little extra time just to chat.  This morning when his Mom picked him up, she asked if she could talk to us for just a second.  She wanted to let us know that starting on Friday he had started to pester her because he couldn’t wait to get to church.  She said that he looks forward to it every week!  Talk about encouragement from little voices.

We don’t ultimately serve in Children’s Ministry for recognition or accolades.  We serve bring and honor and glory to God.  That said, today was one of those moments that I knew that God was talking to me through the little voices of the kids in my class.  If I had any doubt about my decision before today, he worked through those kids to dispell that.

I’m reminded of Psalm 8:2: “From the lips of children and infants you have ordained praise.” Amen!

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