Home Articles posted by kidologist (Page 83)

Mega-Saurus Dad

Recently while I was in Canada speaking at a conference my wife posted on facebook that the pressure was on her to be “as fun as daddy” while I was away. Well. She pulled out the stops and took Luke to a Monster Truck Rally! Something even I have never done, and it’s all Luke’s been talking about every ten minutes for days on end! I may have trouble getting back on the “funnest parent pedestal.” Go Mom! One of the highlights of the Monster Jam was the Mega-Saurus. This mechanical beast that came out breathing fire and literally chewed a car in half! It was almost more than my six year old’s brain could handle! He came home saying, “Daddy, I wish you had a Mega-Saurus for my toy cars.” So, I answered. “Why, of course I have a Mega-Saurus! Every self-respecting dad has a Mega-Saurus! What kind of father would I be, if I didn’t have a Mega-Saurus in the garage?” His eyes about popped out of his head! “YOU h-h-h-have a Mega-Saurus?” He stuttered? “Of course I have a Mega-Saurus. Do you have some cars you would like to cut in half?” (Perhaps I could regain my…

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Eat Chicken!

How do you know if someone is a fit for marriage? If they are willing to be the rear end of a cow with you! This is Sara and me practicing in my Cow Costume (which I still have 20 years later!) eight months before we were married. I got it for a Christmas Play where Hark, from the Herald, traveled through time to interview different characters from the Christmas Story (shepherds, wise men, innkeeper, etc.) in order to discover the “True Meaning of Christmas.” However, I thought it was too sacrilegious to have “Hark” interview Mary or Joseph in the Nativity, so I had him interview a cow off to the side instead. I was very excited when I got my two-man, er, one man – one fiance cow costume, and Sara was happy to help me figure it out and practice with it while were on a Thanksgiving retreat with my family that winter. Cow or no cow, we’ve made quite a team over the last twenty years!

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Sumu Kids!

Here’s a “Blast from the Past!” I recently had thousands of pictures scanned by ScanMyPhotos.com and am discovering some fun pictures from over twenty years of ministry as a children’s pastor (as well as lots of fun family pics). Several of these kids I still know and some I am friends with now on Facebook, even though this was 1993 at the Village Church of Lincolshire, IL. (Pictured here are David and Hannah Shaw, Tina Myers, Athena (Rebecca) Stephens, Tyler and Kelsey Hagen, Matt, Sam and Gab Fuqua, Jennelle, Jenene and Jenna Stanonik, Gina Geavaras, Amy Lane, and others I only remember first names. I am getting old!) Here is a fun game event I did in my Rookie Year as a full time children’s pastor that I called Sumu Kids: First, the TEAM PHOTOS: We did this at a “Sack Lunch Sunday.” Every first Sunday of the month, I let all the grade school kids stay at church for a themed afternoon of fun and games. Its purpose was simply to deepen my relationship with the kids as well as to give parents a nice Sunday afternoon off. (Parent Points!) There was always some spiritual teaching, yes, but that…

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Does Anyone Read Blogs Any More?

By friend Glen Woods asked this question over in the Kidology forums recently. And I think its a great question. Here was my answer: I think facebook has hurt blogs as I think people have gotten Internet-lazy. They just stay on facebook and don’t move around the web as much, however, I think a blog can still get traffic if done well. I read blogs, but focus on ones that are consistent (like yours, Glen) and solid content (also like yours). If you want to get FB readers, you MUST install a Facebook “like” button and ‘like’ your own posts so they will appear on your wall so people who follow you on Facebook will see you blogged and hop over and read your blog. RSS Readers (Like Bloglines/Google Reader) are less used today (I think) by the general public, as they were once how blogs were read. Tablet readers are now stronger, like Flipboard, and I read a lot of blogs that way, and through Twitter feeds, so be sure to Tweet your blog posts through hashtags like #kidmin #leadership etc. as that will drive traffic. Bottom line: Do people visit blogs directly today? No. Do they read them?…

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So What’s New?

It can be easy to get stuck in a rut. Routine can settle into our lives and we can find ourselves becoming creatures of habit. Life becomes a matter of daily survival instead of an Adventure. On my podcast today, Nicki Straza, my Canadian sister, joins me as we discuss how to discover NEW things, the importance of trying NEW things, and most importantly, allowing God to do a NEW thing in you. Let me encourage you to check it out!

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