Help Me Love Them Like You Love Them!

Have you ever had that person in your life that was just difficult? Maybe it was a boss or co-worker? Maybe it was a neighbor or "friend"? I've had that person in my life and I'm sure I've been that person in others lives from time to time. At one time I had such a hard time with this and so I prayed that God would help me see this person the way He sees them. Then I started thinking; God sees us with all of our flaws, but still loves us unconditionally. I didn't want to see this person for all of their flaws. I was already having a hard time with this person, I didn't need anything else to be added onto how I felt about them. That's when I realized, I don't want to see people the way He sees them, I want to love people the way He loves them, flaws and all!
So now when I have a difficult person in my in my life instead of praying - God help me see them the way you see them, I have started praying, God help me LOVE them the way you love them.  It really works. Try it the next time you have to deal with that difficult person in your life.
Just a thought - hope you find a nugget in it!

Guest Post - It's Not What You Do, But Why You Do It!

Not sure if I mentioned it lately but I get to work with some amazing people here in Kidscoast! One of them is Lauren Crittenden. Lauren's been on staff with us in Kidscoast for what seems like an eternity...No really she's been on staff for six years. Lauren is one of our Elementary Director, she focuses on writing our creative scripts for the weekend as well as things like VBS and Christmas Programs. She is very creative when it comes to writing, I'm kind of afraid what goes on inside her head.  Anyway, Lauren sent the following to our elementary team and I asked her if I could post it as a guest post from her on my blog - so without further ado - here are THOUGHTS FROM LAUREN! I hope you find a nugget in it!

I felt very compelled to share something with all of you. A few days ago, my husband and I were listening to a motivational speaker and he said something several times that really stuck with me. He said, "People don't buy what you do, they buy why you do it." 

Because of you guys, we get to do a lot of amazing "whats" in Children's Ministry...life groups, worship team, stories, skits, etc. We are blessed to be able to do really cool things in our ministry. Those are our "whats". I am constantly thinking about our "whats" in Children's Ministry. We SHOULD focus on the "whats" because we want to represent Jesus with excellence, but as I was listening to the guy speak, I was overwhelmed with the desire to reevaluate my "why". 

If families are going to be more motivated by why we do Children's Ministry, rather than what we do in Children's Ministry, than it is extremely important for me, and for all of us, to know why we do it. 

I am going to share my "why" with you and I hope that you will Reply to All and share yours. I think it will encourage all of us, as a team, to know why we serve in Children's Ministry. It may even strengthen some members of our team who might be experiencing a season of weariness...as we all do sometimes.

So....here is my personal "why".

Growing up, I was raised in a very strict Baptist church. They inadvertently taught me that God is an angry God. I learned that if I wanted God to love me, I needed to behave perfectly. I struggled to live up to the standards I thought God had for me. I was a very stressed out little girl. Fortunately, God, in his mercy, rescued me from legalism and taught me that its all about His grace. I learned that I can never do anything to make God love me any more or any less. Now, I have a relationship with Jesus based on HIS goodness instead of mine. I choose to do Children's Ministry because my heart aches for our kids to know Jesus, to know that He is ALWAYS ready to open his arms to them, despite their mistakes and failures. I long for them to understand that He is our salvation, hope and joy, that a life with Jesus is a greater adventure than any we can have on Earth. That includes Disney World and summer vacation. =) During His time on Earth, Jesus was adamant that children be allowed to come to Him. He has a special place in His heart for kids, and so do I. I love to see them understand truth and I get excited watching the Holy Spirit transform their hearts and minds. They are NOT too young to do great things through the power of Christ.

That's my "why". What's yours?

I know I don't say this enough, but I love this team and I am overjoyed to serve with you.

Lauren Crittenden

Is it worth the time and energy...?

I heard a statistic once concerning Vacation Bible School that said, less than 4% of the kids who attend Vacation Bible School are unchurched. Less that 4% - that is not a lot of kids for the time and energy it takes to pull off a VBS. So as a team we started brainstorming how to reach more unchurched kids with the gospel. The idea was a Backyard Bible Club. Parents took on the responsibility to pull of a VBS in their own backyard. Invite the neighbor kids over and do VBS that way - we (the children's ministry) would provide them with all the materials they needed to pull it off; Invitations, Lessons, Craft supplies and Snack Supplies - but it never really got off the ground. Not sure if we were ahead of our time, parents just didn't have the time, or if people just really didn't care about reaching the kids in their neighborhoods - but whatever the case, it just didn't work at that time. So we put our heads together again and decided to do a program that was invented by our campus pastor at the time, Mac Lake, and it was called Nic at Nite - a messy fun time for kids and parents to come together for interactive games, worship and bible stories.  Everyone who attend seemed to enjoy it - however the team pulling it off felt it was a lot of work, for a very little win! So we decided to take a few years off from any type of Summer VBS type activities.
We decided to try something really different next, we called it Worship Week. Parents signed their kids up for different ways to worship God through the arts. We had photography, painting, singing, drama and dance. These were all taught by folks in the church that would be considered professionals in their fields. And since we had professionals teaching the kids we had to limit the number of kids who could attend. That's where we ran into some problems! So as successful as the program was, it limited the number of kids we could reach in one week.
So back to the drawing board. The leadership in the church asked if we could go back to a more traditional VBS style. We agreed, but the thought of the "less than 4%" statistic kept popping up in the back of mind.  We successfully pulled off a VBS of 800 kids, workers and staff members. Everyone loved it - we had fun doing it but it was a lot of work. Still from the stories we heard, the statistic stood true.
So here we are another year and we are staring VBS in the face - time for a bigger and better VBS. (Side Note - I am so blessed to work with some of the most amazing and talented people. This year's VBS is going to be hard to top! If I do say so myself). We are hoping for 1000 kids at our Elementary VBS this year, which I think is really do able - but the 4% starts to ring in my ear. Then one day while praying for VBS God revealed something to me.  4% may be unchurched but my purpose of VBS is not solely to bring in the unchurched. If they come that is wonderful, but my purpose is to bring the gospel to the unsaved! Not all the children in our children's ministry who attend regularly on the weekend have accepted Jesus Christ as their personal savior.  So by putting on a VBS this gives us as Children's Ministers another chance to share the gospel and see children come to Christ during that week. And if one comes to know Jesus Christ as their personal Lord and savior then yes all the time and energy that goes into putting on a VBS - no matter what size, is worth it. Because from that one - many may come to know Jesus, you just never know.
So Children's workers as you prepare for Vacation Bible School this year remember, its not just the unchurched we are trying to reach, but the unsaved - and yes there are still some of those attending your church today!
Just my thoughts - hope you get a nugget out of it!

More than a story, it's Truth!

It's Holy Week one of my most favorite times of the year. The events that happened in the life of Christ during the week leading up to His Resurrection are moving and powerful. His Triumphal Entry into Jeruslem, the last supper, the betrayal of Judas, his prayer in the garden, the trial, sentence and execution were all part of God's plan. It had to happen so we could be free from the chains of sin. So we could one day be with the Father. 

It's an emotional week just thinking of what Jesus did for me by taking my sin and shame and paying my debt overwhelms me.  As I watched the Thorn last week in Sacramento I was reminded once again how much God loves me. I was reminded of why Jesus came. I often wonder what it would have been like to live when Jesus lived, to walk with God in the flesh. How would I have responded? Would I believe he was God's son sent to save the world? Or would I have betrayed him or denied him? I don't know how I would have responded then but now I say loud and strong, JESUS CHRIST IS KING! 

I really do get very emotional this time of year. Just reading the scriptures of this week I tear up. Hearing people talk about the story of Christ, listening to songs tell the story, watching the story of what God did for you and me brings me to tears. But I will not apologize for it. I never want to lose this feeling. 

I will admit some of the tears shed during this week are because of finishing up with the Thorn and missing my Thorn Family. And I miss them because we are all passionate about the same thing, sharing the story of Christ for the Glory of God. But I really am moved by the thought of John 3:16 "For God so LOVED the world, that he GAVE his only son, that whoever BELIEVES in him shall not die,but will RECEIVE everlasting life! God Loved, God Gave, We Believe, We Receive!  

It's more than just a story, it's True and it happened for me and you! Enjoy Holy Week!

The Beach!

If you spend any time with me you know that I really do not like the beach! Yes I live near the beach, yes I post pictures of Family Fun days on the beach, but I really do not like the beach. I don't like to go in the ocean. I guess it would not bother me if I went into the ocean where I could see what is swimming around my legs, but then again maybe I'm better off not knowing. I don't like the sand on the beach. I like to make sand castles with my kids, but I don't like getting sand on me.  I know, I'm a mess - but here is why I love going to the beach. I love that when I'm at the beach I see beauty. No not people in swimsuits, most of them are not looking as good as they think in their swimsuit. I find the view of the ocean extremely beautiful. The span of the ocean, the thought of the size of the ocean is overwhelming. The depth of the ocean and how most of the ocean will probably never be explored. The thought of what was written in Micah 7:19 where he talks about how our sins are cast into the depths of the ocean, never to be remembered again. Totally forgive and gone! I love looking at the ocean and remembering my sins are forgiven!
When I see the beach and look at the tiny grains of sand I am reminded of Psalm 139:17 & 18. "How precious are your thoughts about me, O God. They cannot be numbered! I can't even count them; they outnumber the grains of sand!" Amazing and overwhelming amount of Love we have from God the Creator.

Some other reason I like to go to the beach is because my Family loves the beach! Tradd loves using his casting net and seine net and I love using them with him and seeing all the amazing creatures of the sea he catches. Cooper and Drayton love swimming and riding waves. Coleman loves to eat the sand - I know gross but it is what she does. Meghan loves all of that and the sun! And because I love my family, I like to go to the beach with them. As a matter of fact we have been spending the week on Edisto Island at a beautiful beach house that sits right on the beach! One of the first things I do when I wake up in the morning is open the door and look at the ocean, and listen to the waves crashing. I love to see the sun rising out of ocean and reminded that God has given us a new day - and His mercies are new every morning!
So as much as I don't like the beach, there are things about it that I love!  Just my thoughts for today - hope it blessed you!

The Church inside the church!

So I have been thinking a lot about what I do for a living. If you read my profile you will know that I am a Children's Pastor! I love what I do. I love the staff I get to work with week after week. They are crazy, talented, and amazing on so many levels. I love the team of workers (we don't like to use the term volunteers for our adult workers in Kidscoast) that serve with us week after week. But I wanted to take a few minutes to describe what goes into a weekend service in Kidscoast and why I continue to do it week after week.
First of all I want everyone to realize that children's ministry is NOT CHILD CARE! And if done well, Children's Ministry is a church inside a church or in most churches it is many churches inside one church.

All the same elements and volunteer needs of a Big Church service go into making a successful Children's Church service. For us here at Seacoast we do lessons starting in our 2 year old department and go up to 5th Grade. We have five different teaching areas on the weekend. Each area needs a Storyteller just like the speaking pastor in big church. We also have greeters at the doors welcoming kids into the classroom, but unlike big church each of our attendees receive a name tag and security number. Also unlike big church we require one leader to every eight to ten kids in the classrooms. Another way we are like big church we do message series too. Currently in our elementary department we us reThink's curriculum, 252Basics. One major Myth in children's ministry, you don't just print out a curriculum and hand it to a team member. We tweak the living day lights out of it, and not because we don't like it but we tweak it to make it more applicable to the group of children in our services. We also add a cast of characters to our lessons who introduce the topic of discussion for the week. I was talking with a group of Children's Ministry Directors and pastors this week and they said the same thing; there is no one curriculum that you can purchase and just print out and use. You buy the one that fits your needs best and tweak from there.

Another way we are like big church is that we also have worship leaders in each of our areas. But unlike big church we have to have motions to our worship songs to keep the kids engaged. Of course we have to have many different song lists for the many different age groups.  Side note: Its funny how the songs have changed over the years, yet the God we teach the kids to worship remains the same!

It takes a lot of work to pull off weekend services in Children's Ministry and I am so blessed to work for a church that sees the importance of a strong children's staff and team. My heart breaks for churches that spend more time focusing on the adults in their services than the children in their church.  I recently heard a talk by Willie George, pastor of Church on the Move in Tulsa, OK. He talked about Jesus' forgotten ministry. The ministry he was referring to was Children's Ministry.  As a Children's Pastor it was a powerful message, reminding me why I do what I do.  Willie (using his first name like we're best friends) made a statement about how Jesus told his disciples on more than one occasion that they needed to become like little children to enter the kingdom of heaven. Jesus never told a child to act like an adult.  The churches that put all their focus on the adults will one day find that their church doesn't have a new generation to raise up, and sadly the church will die.
When I think about these things, I realize how important Children's Ministry is and I am honored that God has called me to serve these Children and to teach them who God is and that God is so that they can know who they are in HIM!

So the next time you drop your child off in Children's Church - take a moment to say thank you to the Children's workers for raising up the next generation, heck why not serve in the Children's church and be blessed as you watch the next generation grow in their relationship and understanding of who God is!

It's just my thoughts and I hope you are blessed by them!

Happy Birthday Cooper!

So today is Cooper's Birthday! I love how the boys birthdays are a couple days apart! So I thought it only fair to post some information about my Coop! I don't remember much about his birth, other than Meghan was again two weeks overdue and had to be induced. I asked the midwife if we could have him on the 25th of February then he and his brother would share a birthday, but she was going to be out of town so we decided to have him on the first! I don't remember much about his birth but prior to his birth we decided to remodel our kitchen so, 9 months pregnant Meghan ripped out walls. We brought Cooper home to all our kitchen furnishings in our living room.
I don't remember much about his birth, but I love the young man he is growing into.  Here are some highlights of Coop...

• He LOVES Lego's and is very creative with them.
• He is our sport's player - great at every sport he plays (didn't get that from his dad)
• He LOVES JESUS! And especially worshiping the Lord. He helps lead worship every weekend in Kidscoast.
• He loves being a part of the Thorn! He plays the music in his room and helps direct his sisters in the show.
• He is an animal lover - especially cats and rabbits
• He enjoys watching movies
• He has a great imagination. (now this he gets from his dad)
• In the summertime you can't keep him out of water. When we get the beach, the pool or the lake he jumps right in and stays there till it is time to go home.
• He loves his daily peanut butter sandwich
• He is just so darn cute!
• He has about 100 stuffed animals, most of them are cats. They all have names and are real to him.
• He loves his brother and sisters but he will never admit it

He is such a great kid! Love being his dad and watching him grow up! Where has the time gone?