I recently was blessed to spend a week with Pastor Todd McKeever, a true champion of children’s ministry, ministering at a kids crusade at his church in Arkansas.
I appreciate Todd for a variety of reasons, and not just because he has been a member and supporter of Kidology.org nearly since the beginning both as a member and Champion and CP Team Captain, but because he a great leader.
What makes Todd a great leader?
He always pushes for excellence. Nothing Todd does is half-baked and nothing frustrates him more than settling for the minimum. He is always asking how it can be done better, look sharper, and be more effective. After our first Sunday at his church his first questions were, “What was your experience? First impressions? What was difficult? What could we do better?” Next I found a survey in my email. Everything Todd touches can’t help but improve, and that is a mark of a leader.
He has an insatiable appetitive for learning and growing. Todd is the personification of “leaders are readers.” His idea of a family outing is a trip to Barnes and Noble to read together. The latest books are open on his desk with bookmarkers sticking out of the places he doesn’t want to forget and his twitter account flows with quotes he want to remember and share. Twice when I dropped by his office last week training recordings were playing on his computer. Here is a guy with a lot to offer who hasn’t stopped learning, and that is a mark of a leader.
He is humble. For Todd, it’s never about Todd. Eager to serve and sleeves rolled up, Todd is as likely to be the guy who helps clean up afterward as he is to be the guy who came up with the grand idea in the first place. Realizing that he is there to serve and not be served is a mark of a leader.
He pours into the lives of others. When Todd talks about the ministry, he talks about people. I talk to a lot of leaders who are eager to show me this program or this facility or that aspect of the ministry, but once I was coming to his church, Todd had people he was eager for me to meet. Realizing that the ministry is made up of people is a mark of a leader.
He encourages others to go to the next level. And this is probably what I appreciate the most about Todd. He isn’t just trying to build himself or his ministry, he desires to build into his friends and colleagues. He gently but persistently challenges those he knows to improve, to push ahead, to tackle that next thing. Knowing that we all rise best when we rise together is a mark of a leader.
Todd, me and Charley
(They want you to know I’m up on a step!)
Thanks, Todd, for a great week of ministry together, and for your encouragement and investment in me as a friend and brother. The world needs more friends like Todd McKeever!
I know I’m supposed to be taking it easy and recovering from near death and all that, but today we planned a whirlwind fun day that was relaxing and enjoyable – both because of the people we hooked up with and the sights we saw! We started out in Colorado Springs (where we are staying) and went up to Littleton to have breakfast with ToddLiebenow, the Top Puppeteer and El Presidente of One Way Street, and #1 puppet and creative ministry supplier in the world. (for real) I’ve long wanted to see the OWS headquarters, and finally got to!
Todd Liebenow and Karl
The extra treat was that I had Sara and Luke with me and my little boy (who adores all my puppets) got to see “where puppets come from” with a tour of the factory. I could not photograph much out of fear of compromising industry secrets, but here is Lukey with some eyeless lambs:
Luke among the Lambs
After One Way Street we headed up to Loveland to the Group Publishing headquarters where I had a meeting with Christine Yount who, besides being executive editor of CM Mag, has a new official title I love: Children’s Ministry Champion. (I guess there is room for another!)
Group’s Lobby has a TALKING moose head!
I also got to finally meet CM Mags managing editor, Jennifer Hooks who I’ve known only via e-mail as she has edited some of my writing for Group such as The New Deal article in the Jan/Feb ‘09 issue. Why was I meeting with these ladies? (I also met with a business guy about a deal on CM Mag for Kidology.org members that should be in place soon, just another perk for Kidology.org members!)
Ever wonder where the other end of the moose was?
ANYWAY, I was there to finalize the details for a column in Children’s Ministry Magazine. That’s all I can say at this time, but I’m very excited to be a regular contributor to the magazine now. More details soon! (I’m so sorry I forgot to get a picture with the Groupies – but I got the moose!)
After I left Group we headed to Rocky Mountain National Park hoping to see some live animals as well as some spectacular mountain scenes. I wasn’t disappointed! On the way out I caught this Mountain Goat on film:
It really is a mountain goat!
O.K., so that picture isn’t that great, but I had to turn on the camera and point fast! (And no, I was not driving, Sara was driving so I could enjoy the view and take pictures)
As you can see, the driving was a LOT of fun!
If I ever came to this park as a child, I don’t remember it, and I was very much impressed with how beautiful it is! Not quite Yosemite, but it’ll do!
Snow covered peaks above Rocky Mountain National Park
Lots of variety from the mountains to the landscapes and an abundance of roaming animals!
Unfortunately, Luke slept through most of the animal sightings – but we’ll be back! He just woke up when we got to Bear Lake and went for a short hike to see the snow covered frozen lake:
The Bastians on Bear Lake! (luckily, no bears!)
It was a short visit, but I considered it a teaser and plan to be back here many times in the not so distant future! I feel like I’m home here – as my earliest memories are from when I lived in Colorado as a boy.
Here’s a few more pictures from our special day (as we called it for Luke)
Mommy and Luke
Daddy and Luke
Sunset over the Rocky Mountains
Dusk in the Valley
Luke in his favorite spot – Dad in his.
I love Colorado. I am praying that God might enable me to raise my son here. I love the climate, the scenery, the culture, the people, the opportunities to explore God’s creation, and the presence of God I feel when I am here. Pray with me that my family might be able to call this home some day.
I’m writing this from a hospital bed in Aurora, IL after having a stent put into my heart that saved my life!
The full story is here if you missed all the updates on Twitter and Facebook!
Yes, I was twittering (which updated facebook) during the whole thing, and live blogged to give more detail than you can in status updates. It was really quite amazing that due to today’s technology I literally had more people praying for me probably than your average church prayer line – for those scratching their heads that I would twitter while having a heart attack, let me first say,
A) I didn’t technically have a heart attack (explained in blog post)
B) I was never in great pain, just enough pain in my chest to know something was wrong and decided the smart thing was to go straight to ER and
C) I really truly believe in the power of prayer and wanted to get the word out so that I’d have prayer for myself and family during the critical hours when it mattered most. I never really felt dread or fear, though I had a sober understanding that this was indeed serious – and yet really felt peace that I was in God’s hands and that He was walking me through the steps to address this.
Did you know if you hold your breath the
white line on the monitor will go flat?
If I were to add a D) it is that a big part of me is wired to want to encourage others and remind others that God is in control – thats easy to say when everything is going hunky dorey – (good) – but I wanted to show that even when our life is in danger (literally) there is always reason to laugh, enjoy life and savor the moments – even if our time to say so could be soon over. My twitter updates were intended to show that there can be moments of joy and reasons to smile even in the midst of hard times. You can’t say it if you don’t live it!
I asked not to be “put under” during the procedure because this is my LIFE and as long as I am alive – i want to LIVE every moment of it, even those moments that should be scary. I gotta tell you, its very sobering when they have you remove everything you own and you watch them put it all in plastic bags. (I hid my iPhone under my leg, I wanted to take it in with me – my link to all my friends and family!)
It was amazing to watch on a screen what the surgeon was doing inside my heart! The funny thing was later, even though I was never “out” or asleep, I couldn’t remember the journey from the surgery room to ICU. I finally asked my nurse if I had indeed been out because there were some details of the day I couldn’t remember and she said that they did give me a drug that caused short term memory loss! Wow! I asked if I can get that at Walgreens, that could come in handy in life! In fact, that might come in handy in pastoral counseling too! “Just take this, and soon you’ll forget all about it.” I’ll have to look into that. (My wife probably thinks I already take that it on a daily basis!)
One of the cool things was getting to meet a fellow Twittering in person, @scotthodge who I was hoping to meet today anyway, since I was doing the children’s services at this church at 3,5 and 7pm after the massive egg hunt this morning. Well, I did get to meet him, but not as I planned; he visited me in the hospital! It meant a lot since I was too far away for most friends/family to come visit, and I know he’s in the midst of Easter weekend! Even a pastor enjoys a pastoral visit! (Our pastor from our previous church did call too and offer to come, but we told him it was too far from Easter-eve, but that was very nice too!) Of course, my wife DID come while my awesome sister took Luke for the entire day!
I am now staying over night but it looks like I’ll get to go home tomorrow. Please pray for my sweet wife, I know this is harder on her than me!
I was able to get my friend, Jonny Magic, to take the shows I had the rest of today as he was in town to perform with me tomorrow, but pray for the church I was supposed to be at tomorrow – they’ve got a lot of entertainers, so they should be fine, but I was doing their preschool program so they’ve got to make adjustments. I have a pretty good excuse, but I still feel bad!
Going to sleep now – just wanted to let some friends and prayer partners know the scoop.
Just when I wonder if I spend too much time on Twitter or Facebook, I have an experience that makes me glad that I stay connected and accessible via the Internet. Case in point: Recently I traveled to California to speak at a Spanish conference and so I took the family along so we could introduce our son to Mickey Mouse in person while I was there. As I often do, I was posting my adventures (including my lost luggage!) via Twitter which auto-matically updates my Facebook status. Next thing I know, I hear from a Kidology user, Kristy, who’ve I met at CPC Kidology Gatherings:
Turns out, I am available on the 9th – and so got the privilege of heading up to beautiful Sierra Madre for an afternoon of teacher encouraging! Good thing I have good prayer support, as you can see, I was really suffering for Jesus that afternoon.
Notice the turtleneck! Funny thing was, it was in the 60’s and I was enjoying what I thought was a beautiful warm California day and yet the kids and some adults were commenting on how “cold it was.” Ha. These poor people don’t know what cold is!
The church has several building right in a nice downtown area with the community park across the street. I learned that the “Old North Church” is called old, because across the street is the “New South Church.”
It’s “new” because it was only built 100 years ago! Across the street next to the “old” church is a new children’s ministry building. Really, truly, it is new. In fact, they had only been in it for six weeks the Sunday I visited. Now what are they going to call the “New South Church?” The “Not As New, But Still Newer Than the Really Old Church.”
After seeing the view, I immediately wondered if Kristy should consider retiring and giving me her job! Such a beautiful area, and, oh yeah, so “cold.”
Inside the “Really New, Really” building, they had Easy Risers for their seating. (I love those!) and the rooms were all creatively decorated and kid-friendly. While they are new in the building, I like a clean, neat, attractive simple look that simply communicates that this area is for children.
One of the perks of being in “cold” California, you can meet outside in the frigid weather for class!
I love visiting churches and seeing what creative things different children’s pastors have come up with. And I LOVED this idea! All the students have a personal folder that they bring every week to church. Here is a close up:
They keep their notes inside, and on the outside they go home with the verse and a challenge. (These pockets are empty because this was taken before class.) They also earn “tallents” for various things, including bringinfg their folder back, which can be spent in the store that opens monthly, which happened to be the week I was visiting.
Some things never change – “stores” are a great incentive for kids to be engaged and work toward goals so they get some tangible benefit for thier hard work. While there is a popular trend agaist extrinsic motivators, until I meet an adult that is completely intrinsicly motivated, I think there is a place for rewarding children for hard work. And I’ve seen it work in both the long and the short term. Kids form habits while they are young that remain long after they outgrow the “store” or need for the simple toys and prizes.
Here is Jordan finding out how much he has to spend in the store. He was there early and ran to the store when it was time. After hanging out with him for awhile before church, I found myself thinking ee was one of those kids you say, “I hope my son turns out like him!”
Kristy has a lot of energy and does a great job not only relating to the kids, but equipping and encouraging her volunteers too. I lost track of how many times she said something postivie about a volunteer or expressed the potential in a young helper. They’ve be blessed to have her for eight years, and it doesn’t look like I’ll be getting her job anytime soon. Besides, it’s too “cold” there!
Besides being a wonderful CP, she is teachable and committed to encouraging and equipping her volunteers. She asked me to do my favorite workshop, “Kidology 101″ and I as she introduced me I got to hear a wonderful story of how it impacted her eight years ago at her first CPC when she was a brand new children’s pastor. That’s what it’s all about. You never know who you are impacting, and sometimes you don’t find out for years. Many times, you never find out. And that’s O.K. But thanks to Facebook, I got to find out this story, and minister to some kids in children’s church and volunteers over lunch. It was a great day!
And she wasn’t “late” with the Mountain Dew, but I was looking for some caffeine to combat the frigid temperatures! A Dew in need, is a Dew indeed!
Thanks, Kristy, for the update, for connecting with others who love kids, and for a great opportunity to minister to your kids and volunteers, it was a great day. (Oh, and for the Dew too!)
I’ve seen the Chicago Marathon out the windows of Moody Church for years, but this was my first time participating. No, not as a runner, but as an official volunteer! Why? Because my brother was running it as his first marathon and some friends from church were volunteering. I thought it would be cool to not just watch him run, but get to serve him and the other runners as well. It was a long but fulfilling day. I was up at 3:30 a.m. to begin my adventure! Check in downtown was at 5:30 a.m.
Me, Deb, Judd and Jason – friends from church.
Our job was to fill cups of water and then serve the runners at the first water station. Notice it is still dark out! We were set up by 7:00 a.m.
Here we are ready to serve! If that looks like a lot of water, it IS! over 1400 cups! Soon the runners would be arriving, and we were prepared! The race began at 8 a.m. Soon runners would be arriving!
Followed by the elite running women, who seemed to have more photographers for some reason.
And then the masses!
But finally MY BROTHER CAME BY! I was eager to get to hand him the water, but didn’t know when I’d see him. And I had to serve other runners too. I had my mini-video camera going and was hoping to get him coming, taking the water and passing, but he appeared just as I was grabbing another cup so I almost missed him, but I did get to give him water and catch this short video:
GIVING WATER TO MY BRO:
After he passed, I retired the camera just passed out water for over an hour – it is mind-numbing how many people ran by… over 40,000 runners one after another. I wondered if we’d have enough water, but as it turned out, we had MORE than enough!
In the 2007 marathon water ran out and it got serious for the runners. Volunteers were buying water in the stores to pass out… so this year (with Olympic aspirations no doubt) Chicago made sure there was plenty of water. Turns out, we only gave out the top level of cups as did all the other tables for two city blocks. What did they do with the extra water?
Watch this video to see:
Deb and Judd show how strong they are!
Now came the huge job of cleaning up more cups than runners in the race!
Official Trash Compactor of the Chicago Marathon!
Once we were all cleaned up (and that was a huge job) I was free to just be the official Jordan Bastian Photograher. So I hurried down a few blocks to get ahead of where all the runners I had served would be arriving around the 14th mile point. Now I was able to take more pictures. (see full gallery)
They came waving flags…
juggling… (there were two jugglers)
this guy had a cup on his head and my sister saw it still there 20 miles later!
George Washington must be in good shape!
But, of course, I was waiting to see my brother again. Let me just tell you, it is MENTALLY EXHAUSTING to be focusing on hundreds of people every minute looking for one person. I knew after the water station he was wearing a blue shirt… but so did a bunch of other guys! But finally, after about a 45 minute wait, I spotted him!
There he is, number 13572, and he hasn’t spotted me yet…
Then he sees me!
I was able to snap some shots as he zoomed by…
and then he was gone, back into the crowd. I studied the race map and figured out I could get to the finish line before him if I raced to Grant Park. It was a hike, but I got there well ahead of him and scoped out a place to spot him again.
I’d never SEEN so many bananas!
There was over a mile for the runners to walk after the finish line to cool off, filled with food and other stations related to the race. But as I got near the finish line I saw:
Thousands of medals just waiting to hang around the neck of the runners.
And then it hit me! I could actually present my brother with his medal!
By the way, having the official volunteer hat, jacket and volunteer badge got me access inside tall fences where the runners and volunteers were. Everyone else was packed outside trying to peer in. I enjoyed volunteering at the water station, but I had no idea how much it would help the rest of the day to have the “official” gear on! It streamlined my walk and I could go anywhere for pictures… and even to greet my brother and give him his medal.
But first, I had to spot him in this vast crowd. You can’t imagine how hard it is to look for someone in this throng! My text message updates sad he was estimated to arrive in the 3:55 crowd, but I knew it might be longer as he slowed toward the end. It was getting REALLY hot out, but then, maybe he’d get a burst at the end and come in early? So I ended up watching the crowd intently from 3:40 (in case he was early) to 4:30 when he arrived. I was starting to wonder if I’d missed him, which could have happened, but I didn’t want to give up, and I hadn’t gotten a text message yet that he was done. So I stood on a table and studied the 20,000+ faces that came before him… but FINALLY I saw him! I quickly jumped down, gave my camera to a complete stranger already recording a video and asked them to record me presenting Jordan with his medal, and here it is:
I know YouTube quality isn’t that great, you can download it here. (QT 15mb)
Here is the Champ reunited with his wife, Kelly. He chose Flat Top Grill as his celebration restaurant and Kelly’s family and our sister Melissa’s family and I enjoyed a post-marathon meal. I think we were as exhausted as him, well, ok, almost.
WARNING: Sentimental content ahead.
I can’t end this post without saying how proud I am of my little brother. While he’s grown to be much stronger than me, he’ll always be my little brother. I was bursting with pride today to see how much my little bald buddy has grown. I was thirteen when two days after my birthday I got what is still the greatest birthday present I ever got: a brother. While much of his childhood Jordan can’t remember (just as we all lose much of it) it feels like I can remember all of it. Jordan was my best friend and only being a dad now comes close to how much I enjoyed our relationship during his childhood.
While his childhood is over, I love him as much now as then and am so proud of how he has grown up. When he was a little boy, he would often point to me and say to people, “He’s my Big Brother” as though Big Brother was a title of honor. Today, I couldn’t be prouder to instead point at him and say to people, “He’s my Little Brother.”
Here are some Time Management Tips from the designer of this blog, Sean Copley from Timbuktoons. (Don’t miss my Podcast interview with Timbuktoon founder Todd Hampson) Sean is a great guy and I know from personal experience, well organized. In their recent newsletter Sean gave away some of this secrets…
CREATIVE PROCRASTINATION
There are not enough hours in each day so you know you will always have to procrastinate on something. The trick is to force yourself to choose to procrastinate on the small things in order to get things done.
Keys:
Don’t clear up the small things first! Resist the temptation- we often underestimate how the small things add up and seemingly never end (especially e-mail)!
Choose to do the most valuable and important first. Place value on the items you need to accomplish each day. The 80/20 rule states that 80% of what you do is the least valuable, while 20% is the most valuable.
Do it tomorrow! Work on the e-mails and phone messages that came in yesterday and file today’s away for tomorrow. The benefit is that when your mailboxes are empty, you are done for the day regardless of what comes in! For example, I created a “Do Today” email box and a “Do Tomorrow” e-mail box and file e-mails accordingly. This helps limit expectations others have of you. It is way too easy to get in a trap of pleasing people immediately. The problem is that our own work piles up until we have to work many hard and late hours to catch up.
Learn to say “no.” Say no to the things that are not of high value to your goals. Look at your tasks as the following: Must, Should, Nice, Delegate, Eliminate.
Identify your constraints. One major cause of procrastination is a feeling of inadequacy and a lack of confidence. What is holding you back from achieving your purpose quickly and well done?
CREATIVE ORGANIZATION
“Creative Organization” might seem like an oxymoron since the stereotypical creative type lives and works in a clutter of chaos (whether on desktop actual or desktop virtual) only coming up for the occasional snack of hummus. But the truth is organization for the creative can be quite freeing and well…creative!
Keys:
Plan everyday in advance. Whether the night before or right before you dive in- planning out your day and working from that list can help you work on your own time versus being reactive to whatever daily interruptions you endure. When things come up- add it to the list and practice your creative procrastination skills! Also it would be good to work from multiple lists (in Basecamp, HighRise or BackPack) such as: Master List, Monthly List, Weekly List and Daily List.
Create imaginary deadlines. Deadlines are evil! Okay, maybe that is overreacting. But they are often used by creatives to procrastinate in a non-productive and non-creative way. How many times have you waited right up until a deadline is looming to finish something? Sure deadlines can motivate you like nothing else…but at what cost? They often cause unnecessary and self-created stress and mistakes. Try to think of work in this scenario often: “I just won a cruise to the Bahamas but I have to leave next week to claim it.” How would that change your pace and priorities?
Create a “Bucket List.” No not the kind of list made popular by a recent movie! Have a habit of writing all of your commitments in “buckets” or categories and review your them often. It doesn’t matter what kind of bucket it is…computer, paper, audio, video…whatever works for you. Make it fun! Some buckets might be home, work, a specific big project, etc.
Angel Vega and I go way back. How far, I’m not even sure I remember. But I do know he was at one of the very first Kid U’s, and has been to several over the years and is a looooong time member of Kidology.org. Angel is the Children’s Ministries Director at Armitage Baptist Church in Chicago. But he’s a man of many talents and a man who has worn many hats in ministry who is recently back in children’s ministry, so when we ran into each other at the One Way Street festival and he asked if we could get togethe, I said “Of course” He said he’d drive anywhere to have lunch with me. It was a nice compliment, but I had no idea just how much it actually meant. Angel is a truly Chicago Man. His venture out to my suburban lair made him like a fish out of water. After calling several times for directions he laughed and said to me, “This is what happens when you put a Puerto Rican in the suburbs.” When he finally arrived at the Kidology Headquarters he said this was the farthest he had ever been from Chicago for a meeting. (Other than flying out of state for conferences.) I was truly honored he would make the trek to share a meal and “talk shop” with me. (And yes, I had his permission to tell his story of his getting lost out in this land of grass and trees which he humorously pointed out and asked, “what’s that?”)
Angel and Karl
I figured the best place to take him to lunch was Docks right on the lake in Waconda so he could get a little taste of our community. He came seeking advice about children’s ministry and some specific challenges, but I ended up learning a lot too. Turns out Angel is also a certified financial advisor, and I had some questions of my own in that arena of life. I ended up learning a lot and being challenged by Angel in some areas I had not considered in life planning. (He has his funeral planned down to the program and a burned CD so that should the Lord call him home, all his wife has to do is open a box and everything is ready. He calls it the Love drawer and says it is the best gift you can give your wife if you die. After dealing with people who had lost a loved one and trying to ask them what they wanted when they were grieving he decided he didn’t want his wife to have to go through that. I will probably write more about this in the future.)
But back to children’s ministry! We had a great time swapping CM stories (especially our goof ups!) I even showed him how to visually pass the salt saker straight through the solid table at the restaurant. Angel is a man who LOVES being with kids – can talk to kids – think like kids – creatively teach kids, and yet wants to grow in all the other areas that come with being a director of children’s ministry – volunteer management, team development, visionary leadership. Already he is doing a great job implementing new security measures at his church. Angel came wanting lots of advice, I hope he left encouraged – he is a GREAT children’s director and doing a fantastic job!
Karl and Angel?
He mentioned that he just started using a puppet after reading my article on solo puppeteering and reading that you don’t have to be a vent to be effective, and was nervous, but tried anyway – and the kids loved it. The only problem was, the puppet he found to use at the church was kind of ugly and old. So when we got back to the office, I gave Angel one of mine. I’d rather have my puppets in front of children every week than sitting in totes right now. Guess what he named the puppet? Yup, Karl. (blush) I hope that doesn’t mean I will be balding soon!
It was so great to connect with a Kidology member and someone who it is so obvious has benefited from the website and our conferences and who is implementing so much of what he has learned through Kidology and seeing great results. It is always a blessings as God transforms these people from e-mails, to acquaintances, to friends.
I’m looking forward to seeing Angel again. Next time, I’ll make the drive to his ‘hood!
Several years ago (before I blogged on an official “blog”) I created a page that showed me and my friend Ryan Yoder assembling my Lego Star Destroyer, which at the time, was the largest Lego kit that Lego had ever created up to that point.
I often am telling kids about it (as I was this weekend in Canada) and wishing it was posted on my blog, so I am posting a post about the post where I posted about it: For all the pictures step by step (and cool star background) SEE THE ORIGINAL LEGO STAR DESTROYER POST.
It took us two full days to assemble the 3000+ pieces of this Lego work of art! So now it is linked and searchable on my blog so I can just tell kids, search my blog for Lego Star Destroyer and you’ll find a link to it!
Today I got one of those calls none of us wants to get. When I saw “Dan Rase” on my phone it didn’t matter that I was about to go out the door with my little boy for a father-son evening, this was a good friend calling – even if it had to be short and offer to call back, I was so glad he was calling. Instead it was his wife, Joyce. As soon as I heard her voice I knew something was wrong, but I was not prepared for her to tell me that Dan had gone to meet the Lord early this morning due to a heart attack while he slept.
I had just seen Dan at the Kidology Gathering at CPC in San Diego. Afterward, even though it was nearly 11pm, we stood outside enjoying the cool evening California weather and talked until after midnight. We talked about life, our marriages, our ministries, our failures, our disappointments, our hopes and dreams… and our adopted children. It was one of those conversations that marks you and changes you. I was sick that whole week and running pretty weak, but knew that God had me there that week for that very conversation with Dan. We connected at a deep level as our friendship had grown over the years. His wife told me she had to call me today and let me know that Dan had passed away, but that something had happened out there at CPC and that he had come back somehow new and different. And that my friendship meant a lot to him. It was mutual. And I am going to miss him so much. He just celebrated his 43rd birthday last Thursday.
(click image for larger view)
I met Dan several years ago at a Kid U in Columbus, Ohio. He was the children’s pastor at Temple Baptist Church in Portsmouth, Ohio. Later, his wife and daughter came to a Kidology seminar in Crystal Lake, IL. That was when I really got to know them. When I heard the miracle story of how Dan and Joyce got their little girl – it was a turning point in Sara and my life in our journey toward adoption. They visited our church the Sunday after the conference and we went out to my favorite restaurant for lunch to get to know each other better.
Here we are at church with Dan, Joyce and McKayla, though they called her Kaylee.
Kaylee wants my Portillo’s hat!
She got my hat!
It looked better on her anyway. (See her proud dad behind her)
When I tell our story of how we ended up adopting, I have often began with the day I met Dan and Joyce and little Kaylee. It was a turning point for me. When adoption finally didn’t feel like a “Plan B” after not having any children of my own, and instead I began to pray that if God wanted us to adopt, that he might drop a child into our life like He did for Dan and Joyce. Five months later, that’s exactly what God did.
My friendship with Dan continued to grow. We crossed paths again at the Kid U in Columbus in 2006 where he and Joyce got to meet Luke. (We still have the little toy they brought him as a gift.) In 2007 Dan served on the Kidology CP Team and through the application process for that I got know him even better.
When asked how he came to know Christ, Dan wrote:
I was blessed to grow up in a Christian home where both of my parents not only professed faith in Christ but lived it out in their daily lives. In December of 1973, my home church was conducting a Revival Meeting with Evangelist Ron Comfort. As he spoke during the Thursday evening service the Lord began to work in my life and for the first time I realized that my godly heritage was not enough, that I was lost and needed to be saved. I did not do anything about it that evening. However the Lord continued to convict me of my need, and that next day, at the age of eight, I curled up behind a chair in my grandma’s house and asked Christ to save me.
While a youth pastor in title, Dan explained his journey into children’s ministry:
When I came to Temple my job description stated that my primary responsibility was to head up the youth ministry and my secondary responsibility would be to “oversee and administer” age three through college. This worked fairly well for a couple of years until I found myself in a predicament, an overseer with no one to oversee. After endless efforts to recruit volunteers and many hours of prayer it seemed that God was leading me to take an active role in our children’s ministry. So I entered into the world of children’s ministry. I can’t say the transition was smooth. There were a lot of doubts and fears I had to overcome. For some reason speaking to younger kids intimidated me. I was very comfortable speaking to teens and adults, but I was afraid I could not put the truths of God’s Word on their level. I later found out that I was selling them short when it came to their ability to grasp spiritual truths. It is hard to believe, but this fall was the beginning of my sixth year of active involvement in children’s ministry. As they say time flies when you’re having fun. I use to say that youth ministry was my real passion, but that has really changed in the last several years. I love children’s ministry, and have found it to be a place where my creativity can really flourish. I continue to head our student ministry and still enjoy it, but the scales of my passion continue to tip more and more to the side of children’s ministry.
Dan was such a thoughtful man. He had that gentle and quiet spirit that I seem to always be working on. He was humble and focused on encouraging others. As a follower of my blog, he was aware of some of the trials I’ve been through and the lessons I’ve been learning in life and occasionally write about and so he brought a book to CPC to give me that had meant a lot to him. The book is WHAT MATTERS MOST (When NO is better than YES) by Doug Fields. One of the joys of large conferences is that I get to meet a lot of Kidology members or people who have appreciated my ministry, but no one has ever brought me a book before. I was taken aback by the simple thoughtful gesture to invest in me as a friend.
Dan, I am sure going to miss you. I feel like I was just at the beginning of a life-long friendship – but at least I’ll have all of eternity to make up the missed time here, because I’m not really ready to say good bye, but I thank you for being a friend to me. I needed it. Luke thanks you too for helping prepare his daddy to be ready the day the phone rang and he needed a home.
I still went on my daddy-son evening tonight. Mom had plans with a friend, so I took Luke out for some fun running around Best Buy and then we headed over to the nearest fast food place for dinner. We stopped at the door. And my heart went out to Kaylee who doesn’t have her daddy and won’t get those daddy-daughter nights. We turned and walked over to Appleby’s instead and I treated Luke the best I could and cherished every moment. He could see that I was sad and the occasional tears, even though I kept my tone and words light and positive for him. Yet he sensed something was wrong, and kept hugging me and kissing me throughout the meal. (He’d been watching with his coat on when I took the phone call and patiently waited through that phone call and the tearful explanation to Sara.)
Early today I was pretty stressed about a lot of “to do’s” that I am behind on. After Joyce called, it all evaporated. Oh, sure, I still have to do them… but they only need doing because I’m here to do them. Dan’s life will be the reminder to me to focus on WHAT MATTERS MOST because when our time on earth is over, it is all that we truly will leave behind.
Please pray for Joyce and Kaylee and for the kids at Temple Baptist Church Wednesday is the big Easter Extravaganza that Dan has been planning. May the Lord make Easter extra special as they realize that the same Jesus who rose from the dead has also raised Pastor Dan and together they are celebrating Easter where the Son never sets.
One of the greatest things about the Children’s Pastor’s Conference is the friends you make and the fun of getting to cross paths with them again. I’ve lost track, but this is somewhere near my 30th CPC in a row. (I can’t tell for sure because while I’ve been to every one since 1995, I don’t remember which years have had 2 or 3 of them) It truly is a blessing to be here!
It is a lot of fun to meet people who share your passion for children’s ministry, and to reconnect with them over the years. Many of the friends I reconnect with at CPC, I first met at a CPC in the years past, and I look forward to continuing to connect and make new friends in the years ahead.
People like:
Byron Ragains who runs the Chicago Children’s Ministry Network, a Church Consultant for David C. Cook, and Larry Fowler, Awana’s Vice President and author of one of my favorite CM Books, Rock Solid Kids. Bryon played a large part in the very first Kid U and has been a great friend over the years since I was in my first ministry at Moody Church, waaaaaay back as a green thumb in children’s ministry. Larry has also been a wise mentor and trusted counselor for me especially in times of need.
Or Joe and Scott from Harvest Publications, the #1 Place you should use to purchase curriculum and nearly any Christian books you need to find and buy. They don’t have a website, but you can call 800-323-3885 for the best service possible. They have great discounts and the personal attention they give their customers is a rare thing indeed now adays where the web has at times seemed to replace that personal touch we once took for granted. Harvest has sponsored a Kid U conference for each and every of our nine years and will again for the 10th Anniversary Celebration in October!
As you can see, Roger Fields is a nut! He was one of the first CPC workshop presenters who had a huge impact on my leadership and recruiting philosophy. He is best known for his Kidz Blitz outreaches which now are seen in over 150 churches a year around the country. Many also appreciate his wacky, but encouraging humor found in the online Cold Water Cafe. My favorite is his piece The Calling which I have heard quoted many times in my travels. Recently, at one of Byron’s networks, the speaker said she reads it every morning when she wakes up to start her day. He also publishes a pretty cool movie-making themed children’s church curriculum called Big City Studio.
I first met Jim Wideman on Roger’s Children’s Ministry Cruise in 2002. Jim has been the children’s pastor at one of the largest churches in the country, but has never gotten so “up there” that he didn’t have time to equip and encourage the little guys like me. In fact, in the past few years I started to notice that there was a guy in the Kidology Forum giving great advice and encouragement known only as “oldgreycp.” Using my administrative powers I poked into the membership database and discovered this anonymous encourager was Jim Wideman himself! Discovering his heart to equip and encourage young children’s pastors we set the the Leadership Forum on Kidology.org and also twisted his arm to give a discount to Kidolgy folks on his MP3 training ministry known as The Club.
Who’s that other guy? Only the graphic designer of the new and improved Kidology Handbook and THIS WEBSITE. Yes, Timbuktoon’s other talented dude, Sean Copley designed my business cards, brochure, letterhead and stationery that all match the ‘look’ of the new Kidologist.com. (his wife Jennifer edited the massive revision of the Kidology Handbook, so I’ll give credit there as well!)
What a team! And another great reason to go to CPC to meet guys like this! I took a bunch of other pictures today, but I gotta quit and get some sleep tonight. So more pictures tomorrow!
If you are at CPC, be sure to drop by the DiscipleLand booth were I’m serving to get your FREEKidology Button like Brother Jim and Todd are wearing in their pics above!
