My Cup Runneth Over..

So today was one of those days that was just crazy...Meghan is out of town and I am being a stay-at-home dad. (not really my calling but you do what you have to). Anyway, the morning started off crazy with the kids wanting different things to eat for breakfast. That's not the crazy part - the crazy part was one of them didn't like anything I was making for them. Everything tasted "weird" to them so they didn't eat anything. The toast didn't taste good. (bought a different type of bread) - the french toast tasted "weird" - again, different type of bread. The strawberry smoothie popsicle was too cold...Just crazy! Did two math assignments each with the boys - not too bad, but took some time. Then we had a party to go to at 1pm in the park - did I mention it was 105 degrees today and we were in a park. At the party the boys got into a fight because Cooper knocked Tradd off his Rip-Stick (two wheeled skateboard) - which then caused Tradd to be mean to his brother and get his friends to be mean to him too....It was a hot mess - literally because it was 105 degrees outside. Left the park, got stuck in traffic - got home, cooked supper and again got complaints because they didn't want "that" for supper!!!! You get the picture - a typical day, nothing unusual, but craziness! 

However tonight my heart is bursting with Joy and Love for and from my children. Tomorrow is my birthday and in our house we have a tradition of decorating the bedroom door for the birthday person! We do cake and gifts - birthdays to us are a big deal! Well Meghan is out of town like I said so Tradd has taken on the responsibility of making sure this happens for me! He had all the kids make cards - hung streamers... and is wrapping my gifts! MY CUP OF JOY AND BLESSING IS OVERFLOWING BIG TIME TONIGHT! They drive me cray-cray, but I would not trade them for the world! 

"The only thing we have to fear, is fear itself!" FDR

I thought this would be a great title for this post. It is something that I have struggled with most of my life; FEAR. Not so much the fear of snakes, or the fear of rodents, although I do fear them, but I consider that a healthy fear. The fear I am referring to is the fear of failure. I have always been the kind of person that if I don't think I will succeed at doing it, I just won't do it. I know that might sound weird to some of you, but it is how I have been most of my life. And it is something that I have only realized about myself.

Let me explain my fear, especially for my Christian friends who are thinking about 2Timothy 1:7. I understand what the Bible says, and I try not to have this fear, but it is still something I struggle with on a regular basis.For example, Meghan's family has a cabin on North Lake in Michigan. We go there vacationing with the family. They love water skiing. They have asked if I wanted to try it - Yes I want to try it, but no I'm not going to because I don't think I can do it and if I I can't do it I don't want to try. So then you say, "how will you know if you never try?" Great point, but if I try and fail I'm upset with myself and I feel like a failure, Fear of Failing! It all goes back to my subject line. "You have nothing to fear but fear itself." The sad thing is I'm just starting to realize this about myself at age 44! Well, maybe I realized it sooner but never wanted to admit it.

Here is how I have started to see it playing out in my life lately. I feel like God has given me two big visions for my future. One is a farm/camp that would be a non profit where Meghan and I run a farm and camp for underprivileged children, Special needs children and their families and so much more. I won't get into all the details in this post but I will explain more in the future. The other is a business idea - to open a Christian Arts Center where Christian Artist can come and have studios to create in. Be it, dance, painting, pottery, singing, musical instruments... the arts you know are limitless. There would also be a Theater in the middle of the whole thing where Christian playwrights can have their shows performed as well as other clean productions. These two things are burning in my heart every day, but because of my recent discovery of myself, I have really not done anything with them, other than write the ideas down on paper.

At first I said I hadn't done anything with it because I am a visionary; I can see the final product, but I don't know how to take that first step. Well to be honest, that is not true. I do know how to take that first step, the problem is; I'm afraid to take that first step because; What if I fail? I know, "So what if you fail?" - Learn from your mistakes and move on. The problem is, my mistake isn't just my mistake anymore. If I fail, my family fails with me. As the head of the household and the main bread winner, I am responsible for paying the bills, putting food on the table all the things the dad is supposed to be responsible for, if I fail it will affect more than just me!

I am working on praying through these fears and I'm going to ask those of you who read this to join me in praying. And I would love to hear from you - do any of you struggle with this kind of fear? If so have you been able to over come it, and how! Please share your stories with me by commenting below I would love to hear your stories.

Well, that is my thought for today - I hope you have been able to get a small nugget out of it and we can learn to conquer this things called fear together!

Would you do it for free?

So I had a realization this morning. Not sure if it is true for everyone but I know it is true for me and I wanted to share it with you. This came to me as I was thinking about being on tour with the Thorn.  I love working with these talented amazing people! These folks are amazing in the area God gifted them in and also amazing in being servants. They work hard all day long in so many areas and they do it with a joyful heart. Don't get me wrong as the weeks go on people get grumpy and tired but for the most part everyone loves what they are doing and they show love to everyone they meet. (at least that has been my experience)

The realization I had started out thinking about how wonderful these folks are, how much I have loved working with them this week, how much I'm going to miss them when I leave and more so how much I'm going to miss doing something I love to do - Telling God's story in such a creative way! I continued to think about how I wish I could this full time - and that's when it hit me. When you volunteer to do something and you are willing to do it for free then this is what you are called to do. (SIDE NOTE - please don't read into this that I'm quitting my job and going on tour full time with Thorn Productions - that is one of the things I love about being a Children's Pastor as well, using my gift of Creative Communication to tell God's Story) What I realized is why I love doing the Thorn, paid or unpaid is because I get to use my gifts and talents that God has instilled in me with people of like minds.  When you do what you love it really isn't work.

My encouragement for you is find something you love to do and do it. It may not end up being your full time job, but it could be a volunteer position or just a hobby.  These were just my thoughts, hope it blesses someone and you find a nugget in it!

How to do a conference...

Are you attending the Orange Conference 2015? Here are some of my suggestions on making the most of the conference! (In no particular order)

• Arrive early - don't arrive right as the conference is starting especially if you are traveling any distance. Take time to check into your hotel, maybe get a little rest or something to eat.
• Take time to meet other folks at the conference. Networking with others who are churches your size can help you with ideas and give encouragement. 
• Be Real! Don't try and cover up your failures in ministry. Your failures can help someone keep from making the same mistake.
• Take good notes - in large group sessions and break outs always take good notes. But don't just take the notes be sure to review them when you get back to your hotel room. I like to highlight the things that really stood out to me so I can do something with it when I get home.
• In my opinion you should not do all the things happening at the conference - it will wear you out and overload your brain. Or maybe that is just me!
• Talk over what you learned with others, either your folks you came to the conference with or others at the conference. 
• Be sure to get the names, emails address and phone numbers of the folks you meet. You'll want to connect with them again in the future.
• Don't forget to check out the Resource area! Buy some to take home and share with others.

These are just some of my ideas - I would love to hear what you do at a conference to get the most out of everything. 

My thoughts on Conferences

I love conferences, probably because I'm an extrovert and enjoy being around a large crowd of people. But I love them for other reasons too. I love hearing good speakers share and fill up my spiritual tank. As pastors we tend to give and give and don't always take the time to be filled up.  Listening to speakers at a conference always gets me fired up and ready to take on another six months in ministry. The other reason I love conferences is because I love to network with people. I like to here what they are doing in ministry and share ideas, hear their successes as well as woes. I have met some wonderful people (Cathy Harwick and Chris Boz to name drop) at conference and thanks to Facebook I am still friends with them.

If you are in Children's Ministry, especially children's pastors and ministers who are running the ministry I highly recommend you attending at least one conference a year. And this year I would love to invite you to the Orange Conference 2015 in Atlanta, GA. It is going to be a great time of filling up your spiritual tank when you hear from the line up of amazing speakers. Hearing from Reggie Joiner and Sue Miller alone is worth the time to attend the conference, at least in my opinion. But there are many more great speakers who will be at OC15. Check out the list of speakers here - OC15

But don't forget about all the new friendships you are going to create! And seeing old friends.(looking forward to seeing Chara Robinson at OC15 this year) I'm hoping to make lots of new friends at OC15 this year and I hope you will be one of them. Maybe we can sit and chat over coffee - Let me know if you will be there, would love to meet you and hear what God is doing in and through you!

See ya at OC15!

Thorn Tour 2015

It is that time once again...Thorn Time!!!! What is the Thorn you ask, well I'll tell you; 
The Thorn is a visually dynamic and heart-stirring theatrical portrayal of the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Not your average Passion play, The Thorn combines martial arts, aerial acrobatics and emotionally powerful performances that have been engaging audiences across the US for almost 20 years. You can find out more about Thorn Productions by visiting The Thorn 


Over the past several years I have had the joy of stage managing and producing the Thorn in Charleston, SC, Austin, TX and Nashville, TN, Sacramento, CA. This year I will be traveling with the Thorn Tour Staff back to Texas to the Dallas/Fort Worth Area.  Being able to share the gospel of Jesus Christ through a theatrical performance is right up my alley.  I love telling the story of Christ and I enjoy the theater, the two combined makes for a happy me!  


This year the Thorn will be in 6 different cities across the US. Check out the website to see if there is one playing near you. I promise you it is worth the money to see this show. It is so life changing, even for a believer.
If you get the chance you should check out one of these performances, and bring a friend with you - it is a powerful and amazing story come to life through music, dance, acrobats and drama.

Here's another way you can help out - you can support me as I prepare to travel with the Thorn. You can support me through prayer or financially. Please check out my fund raising page.

Who's job is it anyway?

Our mission statement here in Kidscoast is to partner with parents in raising their children to be fully devoted followers of Christ. Notice it doesn't say to raise children to be fully devoted followers of Christ, but to partner with parents...This is key to me. Over the years I have had lots of parents ask me to sit down and talk to their children about becoming a Christ follower, but that really isn't my job. I mean I love to share Christ with kids, and I love when a child makes a decision to follow Christ but it is not what I'm here to do. No, my job is to equip, encourage and assist the parents in leading their child to Christ.  As excited as I would be if a Children's Ministry worker came to me and said that one of my children made a decision to follow Christ in class, I would be disappointed if I wasn't there to lead them. As a matter of fact, both my boys asked Jesus into their heart during Bible Class with their mom. (we home school so Bible class is allowed). As excited as I was to hear the news, I have to admit I was a little disappointed that I wasn't there to pray with them. I was however the one who got to baptize them and that made up for it.
Sometimes I think parents either don't realize their responsibility or don't feel adequate to do the job. When we do our Family Baptism Celebrations at the church I always encourage the parents to baptize their own children. Not because I don't want to do it, and not just because I know the awesome feeling it is to baptize your own children. I encourage them because it is their job, their responsibility.
In Deuteronomy 6 it clearly give the command for parents to teach their children. I joke with parents all the time reminding them that it does not say "Parents take your kids to church so the Children's Ministry workers can get your kids saved..." No it clearly is talking to parents. My job as a Children's Pastor is not to get your child saved, my job is to partner with you in getting your child into a relationship with Christ and to help you grow your child in that relationship. One ways the church does that is by providing age appropriate classrooms and teachings for children on the weekend and during the week. I have one homeschooling friend who tells her kids every weekend that if they learn something new about the Bible in Children's Church she will do their chores for them for a week. She feels so strongly that it is her job as a parent to teach them about the Bible and who God is and that it is the churches job to reinforce what the kids are learning at home.  I love this!
Now I understand that this is not for everyone and that everyone is not a bible scholar. However, I do feel that if the parents are not expecting the church to reinforce what the kids are learning at home, then it is important for the parents to reinforce at home what the kids are learning in church.
Mind if I get on my soapbox for a minute...I believe that sports and the arts are important, but if they are pulling your child away from the church then you need to realign your priorities. (remember these are my thoughts and opinions that is why it is my blog, you don't have to agree with me). I just hate to see kids miss weekend services week after week only to find out it was because of a sport they were playing or a show they were in or whatever the excuse. I won't lie I'm not a sports fan, but I am a big fan and supporter of the arts but I won't let my kids miss church week after week because of one of these things going on. Church is a priority, not because I'm a children's pastor but because in our house, God is a priority. (okay off my box for now).
My point on all this is that Children's Ministry is not supposed to be the one who gets your child into a relationship with Christ, that is the your job, the parents, you are the spiritual leaders of your family. My job is to equip, encourage and assist parents, to partner with them, come alongside and to reinforce the biblical principles you are teaching them at home. So how can I do that for you, please let me know.
Just a thought, hope you found a nugget in that somewhere!