Growing Up vs. Growing Old

There are so many things we can learn from kids. While growing up, adults tend to leave behind many traits of children that they would be wise to embrace. We can’t help growing older, but we can help growing up. Keeping a childlike heart and approach to life is not only healthy but also the secret to effective relational ministry. But when do we take it too far? Unfortunately, becoming more like kids can have a negative effect on adult relationships if we aren’t wise in how far we go to be more like children. Here are some things I have learned to help keep the balance and help prevent childlikeness from appearing as immaturity. Explain Your Philosophy of Ministry Every Chance You Get. Every chance I get, both in large groups and in one-on-one conversations, I explain why I am immersed in the world of children. If an adult comments on my Minecraft t-shirt, I explain, “Kids today love this game! By joining them in this interest I am able to build relationships and even make spiritual applications from Minecraft to the Christian life.” I’ll often say, “Don’t be fooled by all the fun and silliness you see. I…

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Discover the Power of “Imaginative Conversation”

Years ago when I was invited to speak at a church to train volunteers, I got picked up by a pastor who brought along his two boys who wanted to meet the man behind Toybox Tales. (ToyboxTales.com) The airport was several hours from the church, so we had lots of time to chat on the drive. At one point, we saw along the side of the road a Target store that was still under construction. The odd thing was, while the parking lot was complete with stripes and lights, and the store’s sign was up and brightly lit, the building itself still had no roof, and through the holes where windows and doors would go, we could see the floor was still dirt! These boys and I enjoyed a fun-filled conversation imagining what would happen if they stocked the store and opened but forget to put a floor down or a roof on. Space here does not allow the hysterical scenarios we described! The next day, after the training was done, the pastor told me that he owed me an apology. I was surprised. He explained that during our long conversation about the roof-less Target store he was frustrated and…

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The post that bugs me the most.

There is only one post on social media that annoys me every time I see it. I’m taking a risk telling you, as I fear one of my readers may have posted it! If so, I hope your toes will recover – my intention isn’t to step on them, but to encourage you. But you aren’t alone. I see the same post from different people, regularly, every few months. If you have posted this, take comfort in knowing I have no memory of who it was, so you remain anonymous to me. OK, here it goes. The post is something to this effect: “What are some of your best/favorite time-fillers for when the service goes over?” Why does this bug me? Mostly because it suggests that a service going over is a negative thing and/or that extra time is a crisis rather than an opportunity. Boy, oh Boy! I LOVE when the service goes over. If I could BRIBE my pastor to go over every Sunday, I would! There is a little sadness in my heart the moment the first parents show up. I love every moment I get to pour into the kids entrusted to me and my team.…

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Ikinagagalak akong makillala kayo! HUH!?

What if I said to you “Ikinagagalak akong makillala kayo! Would you know what I meant? Likely not! What if I said it more slowly, enunciating each syllable clearly? Or perhaps more loudly? Or I could have some dancing armless vegetables sing it to you in a clever rhyming song? No matter what I did, unless you were Filipino and spoke Tagalog, the native language of the Philippines, you’d have no idea that I just said, “Nice to meet you.” It wouldn’t be your fault. It would just be that I wasn’t speaking your language. I’ve been to Manila, Philippines a few times. In fact, it’s where I met my wife. She grew up there as a missionary kid. While I was there, I quickly discovered I had to adapt my American ways. Luckily for me, they spoke English, so I only learned a few phrases in Tagalog for fun, but I did have to learn some things about the culture in order to more effectively minister to the kids there. I had to change my humor because my jokes fell flat. I had to adjust my stories so they could relate to them. I had to eat some things that…

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The Laughing Classroom is the Learning Classroom

I once saw on a teacher’s bulletin board a poster that said, “The laughing classroom is the learning classroom.” That truism has always stuck with me, and I’ve aspired to make it true of my classroom ever since. It’s true! Kids who are laughing are learning. This sounds counter-intuitive. We think that if kids are laughing, they aren’t listening, but the opposite is true. They are engaged at the deepest level. How can this be? I remember, in my literature class in Bible college, my professor told the class we will learn more from our television viewing and leisure reading than we will from her class. I was stunned she would say such a thing, especially about her own class! She went on to explain that when we are taught something in a formal setting, we listen, but we evaluate. New information is passed through several grids where we decide whether we agree with the information. We evaluate the data against other information we have received, past experiences, and other sources, and a collective conclusion is made where we determine what we accept, and what we reject. It’s a healthy process, just as you are reading this and deciding whether…

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