New curriculum for Easter

It's the day after Easter. What a great day, week and month it was! We used a new curriculum resource called Truthopolis for the month of March. We were impressed with the content of the lessons as well as the "family study page" that was included for each lesson. We thought there were good visuals and object lessons, but it definitely stretched our kids who had just come off of a video series from Elevate.

We made an effort to have kids really use their Bibles in large group time. It was encouraging to see their eagerness to get their hands on God's Word. I was pleased with the skills that I saw as well as the attitudes the kids displayed.

We're going back to another video series from Elevate this week. The "hands-on Bible" stuff will move back to small group time. I hope that we modeled some good stuff for the small group leaders, so that they can continue to uphold our value of having kids reading the Bible for themselves.

Some new things I experienced this month:

1. With the help of this curriculum, we did a really thorough job of teaching about Christ's last week, his death and his resurrection. It was 5 weeks worth of material rather than just one. This was positive!

2. Having kids programming on Easter Sunday. For the past several years we haven't had classes for kids and have encouraged families to "worship together." Our kid numbers were down a bit, but we saw a lot of new faces and some that we hadn't seen in a long time. For the sake of those kids, I am glad that we had a great hour planned for them. They would have had a very different experience sitting in big church with mom and dad!

3. Teaching about Communion. After a huge, mind-stretching lesson on passover, Old Testament sacrifice and Christ's Last Supper, we taught about how our church celebrates communion. Then we brought the kids up to the worship center to observe it being served. This made a big impact on kids and adults! And I was thrilled to work in partnership with the worship staff so that it could happen.

4. The reality of spiritual warfare. Boy, were there times this month when I felt under attack. I'm not sure what to make of this and it surprises me. But I think there is a lot for me to process!

Easter Egg Hunt

I just got back from an Easter Egg Hunt at a friend's house. They invited their neighbors to a really great party with brunch, egg hunting, coloring, door prizes and the Easter story. It was so neat to see the effort they put into creating an event where they could build relationships with their neighbors and share the story of Jesus in a non-threatening way.

A lot of churches, ours included, do big Easter Egg Hunt events. They invite hundreds of church and community members to come out to do the same thing that we did at my friend's house. The church builds bridges to the community, and people hear the real Easter story of Christ's death and resurrection.

Both are good. Both serve their purposes. But I can't help but to wonder how much more effective we could be in ministering to others by taking these events back into our neighborhoods. What if churches trained and equipped people to do Easter Egg hunts on a small scale in their own neighborhoods? Through personal relationships and the intimacy a home provides, the gospel may be sown on more fertile ground.

Ditto for VBS and Fall/Halloween alternatives!

Something for Everyone

"Something for Everyone" was a trend that I noticed during our teams's fall visit to the Mall of America.

Many of the stores at the mall cater to the entire family. H&M, a trendy clothing retailer, has departments for men, women and children. This is nothing new for clothing retailers, but to see a store as hip as H&M doing it made me take another look.

The Apple Store had a little area in the back, just for kids. A kid sized table with funky little chairs and 6 computer stations with kids software. Something for mom, something for dad and something for junior!

Lego does this well too with toys for babies, toddlers, preschoolers, school agers, teenagers, my 35 year old husband, boys AND girls.

All of these places serve family units with their unique brand or product. They are creating generational layers of consumer loyalty which will keep them in business for years to come. The baby that wears GAP clothing grows into a child that wears GAP clothing which grows into a teen that wears GAP clothing which grows into an adult that wears GAP clothing which grows into a parent that buys GAP clothing for their baby.

I think kids ministry can learn a lot from this. It encourages me to think more about whether what I am doing with elementary kids has correlation to what the adults do in big church and to the larger church's vision. It makes me think about cooperating more with other age division within Kids Ministry to have more unity. It reminds me that some of the new initiatives (like ORANGE) to see birth through high school as one unit have a lot of validity. It causes me to consider the importance of creating loyalty in those who use our programs so that they will stick with the church over a long span of time.

Blog buzz about Easter lesson

In my blog reading tonight, I ran across this really interesting discussion about the way one curriculum company (First Look) is handling Easter with preschoolers. The comments that follow go into an interesting philosophical conversation about the validity of using secular cognitive psychology in Christian education. I sense that this blogger comes from a pretty conservative position, but it is an interesting discussion on many levels.

When a kid surprises you

My nine year old son has been causing me a lot of worry and frustration this winter. He is negative, moody, emotional, and sensitive. He calls school "jail" and hates to have babysitters at home. Now this is also my oldest child, so I know that I tend to over react to everything that happens with him. Sometimes I see the same behaviors in my other kids and it doesn't concern me nearly as much!

Last night at bedtime we were doing devotions using a Holy Week devotional we had gotten at church. We were in the girls bedroom and my 7 year old (a spiritual champion already) was using her Bible. Justin surprised me by running to his room, grabbing his Bible and finding the passage. He said, "Emily, you read the first five verses and I'll read the last five." He followed along and jumped right in when it was his turn.

What's up with that? My sullen grumpy kid, who goofs off through Sunday School and refuses to go to midweek clubs, is choosing to participate and take leadership in family devotions? "There's hope," I whispered to my husband!

It's spring break this week. This morning we are watching some extra kids. Justin has gone out of his way to be sweet, helpful and kind to the visiting three year old. He helped her with the craft project we were working on. He helped her pick a Princess movie and put it in the dvd player. He's always been gentle and good with little ones, but to see it in action with someone outside of our family made me say, "There's hope!"

How many times do we feel like giving up on a kid in our ministry or in our family? A kid who is so tough to get through to, a kid who doesn't respond to anything we try? The lesson for me today is, "Keep trying. There's hope! God isn't done with this kid yet!"

Oh no, gotta go! He just hit his sister in the head...

A long break!

I've taken a long break from blogging. I think I'm back! I've had a several month stretch of burn-out, frustration and disillusionment with ministry. Surprisingly this has been a good thing. It caused me to step back and get things into better balance. I really had gotten to an unhealthy place of obsessing about my part time job in ministry. It had taken over in a way that was making me unhappy and making my family suffer a bit. I said "no" and "good enough" to a lot of things during this time. But now I'm ready to move forward. Thanks to all the bloggers in the kids ministry world and other areas of ministry who have helped to keep my head in the game!

Guest Blogger on Disney vacations and things spiritual

We just got back from a week in Florida with both sets of grandparents. My dad, who was with us for 2 days in Disney World, wrote this about our time there. He agreed to let me share it here! He writes a regular commentary for Moody radio in his position as VP for Broadcasting at Moody. Yep, I'm pretty proud of him!

My thoughts on vacationing with children and things spiritual later this week. But for now, here is good old Dad!

Moody Radio Commentary
1/30/08

Last week I joined our grandchildren (and their parents) at
Disneyworld. We had been in Florida on business. Our kids happened
to be at Disney at the same time and asked us to join them for a couple
days.

I’d been to Disney with our daughters when they were
little. After they grew up, my wife, Norma and I went as a couple: 2
adults. I’m sure our children thought we must be miserable there just the
two of us without our children. Not so much!

Being there with
grandkids was different. We helped with the little ones, but it was harder
to say no to the “I want that” statements from grandkids than it was years ago
to our own kids.

And, when there were meltdowns with the kids, we
had to quietly fade into the background while parents took the parental
discipline duties.

I got philosophical on this trip.
After one of the attractions, I browsed the ever-present gift shops and was
reading (not buying) inscriptions on some of the items.

For
example:

“There’s no journey like the journey into
imagination.” That made me think about my faith. And what the Bible
says that God is able to do immeasurably MORE than we can ask or
imagine.

Or take this one:

“Where dreams come
true” Disney is about dreams coming true and wishing upon a star. We
can wish all we want, but we know that not all dreams come true. However,
I do know that “with God, all things are possible to him who believes.”

And this one made me pause:

“Where everyone is happy,
no matter what your name.” Even with all the fun and amusements, even with
food and delights of every kind, I noticed not everyone is happy. Like the
mother at the cash register screaming loudly at her son who was running out the
door to the next adventure.

Or the dad saying, “We spend all this
money on you and all you do is complain.”

Or the little girl who
got frightened by an overly-aggressive Prince Charming

Or
the kid with a major melt-down from miles of walking, hours of attractions, and
a long day of stimulus overload.

Disney does a great job of
providing a day of Fantasy. But life goes on. Paying 72 dollar
admission doesn’t buy joy, peace, love and fulfillment of all your
dreams.

And then we have to adjust back to reality. After
Disney, our daughter’s family spent a couple days at the beach. She and
our 3 year old grandson were fascinated by the waves cascading on the
shore. She asked little Jacob “who made the waves?” Jacob responded:
“Mickey Mouse.” I guess they have a little theological re-adjusting
to do after the Magic Kingdom.

Year ago, Jay Kessler wrote a
Christian book he titled: “I Never Promised you a Disneyland.” The premise
of the book was that God never said all our dreams would come true. We
have no promise that life will be magical and fun. There’s no pixie dust
that will take us out of difficult situations.

In the real
adventureland of life, there are trials, disappointments, times of
unhappiness. But God promises to be there with us…with the result that we
will grow in patience and in virtue.

And it won’t cost you $74.00
to experience it.

For Moody Radio, I’m Wayne Pederson

When a lesson hits home

Our main point for this week's lessons was "Disciples of Jesus help others even if it costs them." The story was the Good Samaritan. The video skit from Elevate's Winter Extreme series illustrated the point really well. In small groups the kids made candy filled Valentine treat bags for area Children's Pastors who will be at our church this week for a network meeting. They weren't allowed to eat any of the candy as they worked in order to get across the point.

When I got home I started to think about the main point. Disciples of Jesus help others EVEN IF IT COSTS THEM. It was a good lesson for me. So much of my life right now is about parenting our young kids. They are an intensive, 24/7 kind of job. On Sunday morning in particular I was grumbling a bit because my 5 year old and 7 year old daughters were up at 6:30 am, ready to go in to church with me. They love to come with me at the early hour rather than coming in later with dad. My church job has in some ways been a break from the rest of my life. It gets me out of the house, thinking of things other than diapers and bottles and tying shoes and solving sibling conflicts. But now they want to go with me! Grumble I might, but today I heard that "Disciples of Jesus help others (even their own kids) even if it costs them." Even if there is no reward. Even if there is no thank you. Even if it is inconvenient. Even if it cuts into my "me-time."

The same thing can be said of the volunteers in our ministry. We do thank them often. I frequently pray that God will give them a sense of reward for their work. But showing up every week to work with kids COSTS them. They rearrange family schedules, they get up early, they may miss out on some adult education opportunities. They don't always see the difference they are making in the lives of their kids. They sometimes leave with a headache. But, they do it because they are disciples of Jesus. And Disciples of Jesus help others EVEN IF IT COSTS THEM.

It was a good attitude adjustment for me. So today when I am carrying a clinging, whining toddler through the grocery store I will remember that this is what disciples of Jesus do. They help, they love, they serve even when it isn't easy. I think that the teacher may have learned more than the students this week!

Ear to the ground

Over Christmas break I spent a lot of time in the van with my kids and their friends. These rides offered valuable glimpses into their worlds as I listened to their chatter.

One consistent undertone in their conversations was ONEUPMANSHIP. Maybe this was especially obvious because we just got done with the gift-giving frenzy that is Christmas. I heard it among 9 year old boys and 5 year old girls alike. Who got what, who has the better video game system, whose video game system cost the most, whose dad has the most money, whose grandpa has the biggest house, who is going on the best vacation, and on and on.

It hit me! By having my ear to the ground, I uncovered a real-life, relevant issue that kids are facing. How can we show kids what the Bible has to say about contentment, materialism, selfishness and bragging? How can we help them become more like Jesus by applying His teachings to a situation like this?

Keeping up on pop-culture and technology is important. But if we really want to affect kids in significant ways, we need to keep up with the issues that they are facing while they are driving in carpools, playing at recess and interacting with their siblings.

Do you have places where you can keep your ear to the ground to hear what kids are facing? Get yourself near a group of kids. Listen. Don't interrupt. Don't ask questions. Don't direct the conversation. Listen to their words and listen between the lines. You may just find that keeping your ear to the ground gives you some great teaching topics as well as lots to pray about!