Home Articles posted by kidologist (Page 79)

To Build a House, To Build a Kid

The ground next door has finally been broken! It has been the last lot in our neighborhood and my six year old son, Luke, has been beside himself waiting for the last house to go up! Today, a bunch of workers showed up to set forms for the foundation. It took them all day. But by standing on our back deck we can begin to see the size and shape of the house. Luke is already comparing their house to ours and commenting on how small their back yard will be. Already, he knows, the foundation will determine the house. As soon as the workers were gone, we went exploring! I explained how as early as tomorrow, perhaps, wet concrete will be poured between these molds and become the foundation of the house. I held him up to look down between them and explained what the re-bar was that later would be invisible, but would give strength to these walls – much of which would be under the dirt. As he walked and climbed around under my nervous but watchful eye, I couldn’t help but think that this was exactly what I was in the process of doing with my…

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Back from Yosemite Summit 2012

We are back from Yosemite Summit 2012! I’ll be posting pictures and a full report soon. Thank you everyone who prayed for us while we were were away, God showed up in many big and little ways and I’m eager to share the stories!  

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Goodbye World

Goodbye World! No worries, this isn’t some final post as I depart to my final destination… just as I head off to Yosemite Summit for a week of 100% complete and total disconnect from work, e-mail, Twitter, Facebook and anything that distracts me from my relationship with God. The 5th Annual Summit is Complete: Meet: Tom, Travis, Alan, Johnny and Tim. The gang has met up in Sacramento and fellowshiped at the Official California #Kidmin Hangout: The super observant notice my Panda Express, I already had In-N-Out twice as guys arrived, and the Holy Spirit (or my cardiologist) would not allow me to eat it three meals in a row! Two of them had their FIRST In-N-Out Burger: We have shopped till we dropped, chilled in the hot tub, and eaten out at the mall, but in the morning, all the tweeting and facebooking and crazy pole pics come to an end. (See more pics on the my Twitpic Page) WHY? Yosemite Summit is not a conference. It is the UNconference for men in ministry because it is a break from ministry. As it’s description says, there is: No Workshops – Just Worship No Resources – Just Relationships No Networking…

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A Rough First Week in Kids Church

Someone posted in the Kidology.org Forums about a really tough first Sunday as kids pastor with discipline in their first Sunday’s Kids Church. We’ve all been there, haven’t we? I wanted to blog my answer here, and encourage others to jump on over and share their words of advice and encouragement as well: Their Post: I just accepted a children’s pastorate at a good sized church.  Today was the first Sunday.  I have lots of cm experience and have never had discipline issues with kids.  These kids walked in and read to tear the person leading limb by limb.  I didn’t know the names so I could call their names (even though we made name tag), and I was fully prepared.  I am going to find a smaller venue to hold kid’s church.  Seems that the larger room (gym) kids just want to run loose.  I asked what they really liked to do in kid’s church for future planning and they said playing games in the back (foosball, etc) They are only in kids church maybe 30 min.  It was a rough first Sunday.  Any feedback? My Answer: [Edited down] First of all, (I hate sounding like a sales plug,…

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Blessing Faith Remembered, 31 Years Later

I’ve been going through some childhood papers, sorting, filing, (pitching!) and it’s been very special (and funny) to get these glimpses into the “young Karl.”  Many things I remember, others come as a surprise to me. I was very touched to discover a very simple piece of paper that I had written and colored just a year after my little sister, Blessing Faith, was born…and died. I didn’t want to forget her. She lived only 5 days due to a very rare birth condition where her brain did not finish developing. I got to hold her, and my parents later told me that my strength and trust in the Lord at age 12 helped them through it. It was something amazing for me to grasp at that time, not understanding the simple faith of children and how it can often help us more complicated adults! Anyway, here is a close-up of what I wrote, and a PDF of the entire sheet is linked below. I wanted to make sure I never forgot that day, and here, 30 years after making this simple piece of paper on Blessing’s birthday, I am getting my wish. I am remembering. Some might ask why…

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