CPC: Putting Faces with E-mails

While the ministry of Kidology.org enables me to make many new friends from all over the world, often these are friends that I know primary through e-mail or a forum ID. CPC is a great place to get to put names with faces and meet people who are fans of the site.

cpcfans.jpg

Judy and Kenneth Davis of big Kidology fans who were eager to come get their free button. I’ll be seeing them again in April when I speak at the Huddle in Roanoke, VA.

cpckris.jpg

I first met Kris Smoll from Appleton Alliance Church in Wisconsin when we were fellow Moody students, but we didn’t cross paths again until she had me come speak at her church for their children’s ministry conference a few years ago. The following year, at CPC San Diego, she was asking me for recommendations for other childen’s ministry speakers and Kid U Appleton was born where we have done three Kidology Universities. Things just happen at CPC!

cpcparentseekr.jpg

It was at a CPC nearly ten years ago when I met Steve Fortner of Parent Seeker on a shuttle to pick up a rental car and we discovered we were both heading to CPC! We kept in touch year after year even though it wasn’t until 2005 that my church finally bought an AWESOME set of their pagers for our children’s ministry. They are the most innovative paging system company that exists. Not only can their pagers deliver custom messages and display special news items for parents, but their new system JUST OUT THIS WEEK allows a special base system in each room to notify staff when and where they are needed and why. In a security situation a message can be discreetly sent to the children’s pastor or to an entire security team with the push of a single button. Before you buy a pager system from anywhere, start by looking at Parent Seeker. You probably won’t need to look elsewhere. And Steve will personally guide you through the entire process. Just tell him Karl promised it to you!

cpclaflins.jpg

I met the amazing magical duo David and Teesha Laflin at CPC years ago and discovered their heart for not only peforming, but for reaching families for Christ. Too humble for their incredible talent, they are eager to serve and have been featured performers at several Kid U’s! They will not only amaze you, but bless you with thier sweet spirit. (and are willing to teach you their secrets on their DVDs)

cpclarry.jpg

Larry Crane is a Kidology friend who is always willing to share his ideas on the site and was pleased to see a quote of his from Kidology.org on a brochure in the Elevate booth! It’s always great to cross paths with Larry!

cpccharlie.jpg

Last year at CPC Charlie ended up next to me in the massive banquet room for a general session before she recognized me and literally yelled with joy since her daughter had said all she wanted her mom to bring back from Disney World was the ToyBox Tales guy’s autograph. (ahhhhhhh) I gladly sent her home with a signed copy of the Order of the Ancient. What Charlie didn’t know was just how much I needed some encouragement on that very day and on that very evening. It was a gift from the Lord that a young girl I’ve never met was blessed by my ministry during a time I was really missing being in ministry myself and missing all the kids at my previous church.

So what a surprise and joy to bump into Charlie again and receive a thank you card from her daughter Haley a year later. Charlie had told her daughter the story of how I started teaching kids when I was only a young boy and she wrote in the card, “Dear Pastor Carl, Thank you for the book. My mom said that I am turning in to be like you because I taught one her class when I am only 8 years old. Love Haley. I Love God.” There are few things greater than being used in the life of a child.

THANKS HADLEY, YOU MADE MY DAY!

cpcunclecharlie.jpg

Another Charlie that many of you know as Uncle Charlie dropped by today to the surprise and delight of many fans. Charlie was in a head on collison two months ago that should have given him a “Straight To Heaven” pass. An oncoming car going 65 miles an hour crossed the center line hit him head on as he was also going 65. Both cars were instantly crushed into each other and came to a halt only 8 feet from the point of collision. The couple in the other car perished instantly but God was not finished with Charlie yet and spared his life. You can read more detailed updates on his site, but he is a living breathing miracle! He showed me pictures of the wreck and there is no reason he should be here on earth other than God’s Hand of protection and a life purpose that is not yet completed! He is still scheduled to be the worship leader at Kid U 10th in October and is praying for his steady (but painful) recovery to continue. God is good and we are so glad to be celebrating His amazing power in saving Charlie in that wreck! I’m sure he’d appreciate you adding him to your regular prayer list!

cpcshelly3.jpg

Last but not least for today: I met Shelly at a CPC years ago and as we were talking a giant tower of decorative balloons started to move toward us all by itself! We kept moving over and the balloons would follow. I finally decided that there must be a person inside and this was some kind of practical joke – but there wasn’t! It was some fluke of the air conditioning and the buoyancy of the balloons. Anyway, one of many funny CPC stories. Shelly has since hosted a Kidology To Go (see pics) and been known as Kidology’s #1 fan and so it was no surprise when the random Kidology button she chose had “1” on the back side! She won a free copy of the Kidology Handbook! (she has also been known to stalk me)

cpcfeet.jpg

I have no idea who this is. You have to be careful who you give your camera to in order to get a picture! Oh, well. But I need to get to Pillow Creek (bed) so I will post some more pictures tomorrow!

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...

One Comment:

  1. Looks like a great time! Have fun not being in the -30 wind chills in the Chicago area well you can! All the kids and I at our church are counting down to Saturday when the cold is supposed to break!!

Comments are closed