Home Archive by category "Kidology" (Page 67)

Category: Kidology

24 Days of Thankfulness

Today I launched a little Thanksgiving Project over on Kidology.org called “24 Days of Thanks-Giving” – basically I am providing a simple Word doc you can download and every day from Nov. 1 until Thanksgiving add ONE thing you are thankful for. It’s really just something I need to DO MYSELF – but I thought maybe others might want to join me, and I’d enjoy reading/seeing what others are thankful for. So you are welcome to use the Word doc, or just post in the forum what YOU are thankful for! So let me begin today, with my first post. These are NOT going to be in priority order, otherwise I’d have to go God, Family, etc. and then later on, people might judge me for putting one thing “above” or “before” another – so right out of the gate let me say, these posts will be in RANDOM ORDER of things I am THANKFUL FOR! DAY 1 – Yosemite DAY 2 – God’s Word DAY 3 – My Mom DAY 4 – Photography DAY 5 – Pandora DAY 6 – George Lucas DAY 7 – Breckenridge DAY 8 – Barq’s DAY 9 – Mercy & Grace DAY 10 –…

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On the Passing of Steve Jobs

I’ve long said, there are three types of people in the world: Those who make things happen Those who watch things happen Those who say, “What just happened?” Steve Jobs was one of those who MADE things happen, and equipped others to make things happen too – which was why he was my hero. He enabled me to create. A lot of people spend their time talking about what others are doing, I prefer to DO. A lot of people spend their time talking about what others are writing, I prefer to WRITE. A lot of people spend their time talking about where others are going, I prefer to GO. A lot of people spend their time talking about what other people are creating, I prefer to CREATE. Steve Jobs was the man who taught me this. When IBM said “Think” – he said “Think Different.” He didn’t listen to conventional wisdom, he listened to his inner voice and went against the grain and did what his instincts told him. Often it led to mistakes. But he never let his mistakes stop him from pushing forward toward his dreams. He had a vision of what people needed and he was…

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Father Knows Best

How could my dad give MAGNIFIERS to my sisters?!?! It is one thing to talk about something in the abstract. Kids need real stories from real people they know. Have you ever had a bad attitude that cost you something? Too often we give the impression that we have always done everything right and it is only the children we teach who make mistakes. Telling our students real stories of times we have blown it can help encourage them in profound ways. I remember a time when my dad came home with a gift for all three of his children. To each of my sisters he gave a gift of a different type of magnifying lens. I was in shock! Didn’t my dad know, it was I who collected magnifying glasses?!?! My older sister got a magnifying sheet the size of a full page of paper! Then my younger sister was given a magnifying ruler. You could place it over what you were reading and as you moved it down the page the words would magically grow as it passed over them. I was so jealous! How could my father DO this to me? Again, didn’t he understand that it…

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The Training Cycle

When I was a young boy my dad had a framed sign in his office that he had made himself. It read: I do. You watch. I do. You help. You do. I help. You do. I watch. It summarizes the process of discipleship or training it a nutshell. This summer I volunteered at my church to teach the preschool Bible stories for our churches sports camp because my son was attending. (I knew that fit my skills better than volunteering to coach sports!) I used props and objects to illustrate the Bible stories. For my own self-training purposes I video taped the sessions with my flip camera. (I like to watch and learn to improve.) One of the leaders had to teach the same Bible stories a few weeks later for the second week of sports camp when I was off to teach at a camp and couldn’t volunteer. I boxed up all my props and spent a little time coaching her on how to do it and gave her copies of the flip videos to watch and study. She did great! This week she is on a mission trip to Nairobi and I just got this picture posted…

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You Don’t Have a Recruiting Problem

You Don’t Have a Recruiting Problem. You Have a Relationship Problem. I have some hard news for leaders. This may come as a shock to some. You may need to sit down. Get a coffee or tea or soda… whatever you enjoy. But you need to hear me on this. There is a Grand Canyon of perception between why you serve in children’s ministry and why most volunteers volunteer. You? You love kids! You knew long before Barna that there is a 32% greater chance of them coming to Christ if they are reached before the age of 12. You know Jesus said we ought to come as a child, not hinder the children, and blessed the children. You feel called to children’s ministry. You read Roger Field’s The Calling and it gives you goose bumps and you nearly cry because THAT’S YOU. You would serve if no one asked, no one noticed, and no one said thank you. Sure, you’d have your little pity party when no one was looking, and you’d whine to your spouse a little… but you’d never quit. Because, like Roger Field’s also said so well – You are a Special Ops Kidmin. The Few.…

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