Can I phone a friend please?

Children's ministry is one of those vocations that is really hard to explain to someone that has never been in full time church work. People ask "well, exactly what is it that you do at the church?" It is hard not to give some tongue in cheek answer, like "you would not believe me if I told you anyway."

I could never begin to list on a job description, we have tried, all that we really do in a day. Each day can be so different. In a nut shell, it is being the wind underneath, and sometime behind to push or in front to slow down, the wings of precious people. Keeping the kingdom vision strong and straight, the fires burning, theirs and mine, the climb as easy and energetic as we humanly can. So that at the end of the day, maybe, just maybe, we have been the arms, legs and voice for Jesus. Gaining a child's heart for the kingdom. Maybe we helped point that heart towards Jesus or deepen their journey. Now that is cool.
All of us servants that are in this ministry know how much is poured into to it to get sometimes an ounce of what we can see as movement forward. But that is sooo OK....we do not mind.

Even after all these years, I never seemed to tire of that vision, investing in children. The junk around the sides, yes, that can be very tiring. But what is it that keeps us going? Yes, the Sunday School answer is Jesus, of course. But I do not care how long you have done ministry there are some things He gives us that can help keep you strong and keep you...well, from feeling crazy. Those things are straight from Jesus. One of the big ones for me is having those safe, strong in the Lord, friends that I can call at the drop of a hat. Having that life line of someone(s) that you can communicate with that listens can be the breath that fills your lungs again. Someone that is honest with you, loves you enough to tell you not what you want to hear, but what you need to hear. Someone that loves you no matter how whiney you are being. Someone that will NOT take on the emotion but yet at the same time will affirm your feelings. Those people are my angels from heaven that have been Jesus with skin on. They have kept my head above the waves. The other very exciting thing is I meet new people all the time that helps me and they may not even realize it. They are the extra joy in my days. I keep on gaining absolute treasures from these hearts.

I get to be that person for some too and it is genuinely a priveledge. Yes, there are rules. What is said behind closed doors, MUST and ALWAYS, stay behind closed doors. We all need to share our hearts in an open way that will not hurt anyone, but give us prospective and insight. Now I realize not everyone processes through talking through things, you need to write it, think about it, or sit on it for a long time. We all are not the same, thankgoodness. However, never underestimate the power of phoning a safe friend that you trust that can be there for you. WE all are God's gifts to someone. I do not have enough words to express my thankfulness for those people that have been and are now in my life and are my gifts. Some of them have been there since before I can remember and will always be as long as we are on this earth, some I have gained along the journey and will also never leave, others are there for a season, some appear like life lines just when I need them but do not stay, they all are from my Lord and I am truly grateful. I will be phoning you.

Sabbath for Ministry staff??

Yes, today I am taking a sabbath. I am not going into the church building though. I have already enjoyed the time with my Lord this morning, I was not even looking at the clock! I needed that so much!
But it is not over, I plan to take a quiet walk with my Lord on this cloudy spring day to continue our time together today. No phones, no email, no twittering, just Jesus. Sure, most days I spend some quiet time with Him and we talk all day, but I tend to fight the "got to get going" feeling. Today, I am thinking and worshiping Him without any time constraints. Awwwwww. Thank you Jesus.

This was an amazing week.
I had the priveledge to attend a real life changing conference for people that work in the ministry with kids of all ages simply called, The ORANGE Conference. In going to conferences and workshops over the last..... many years, they are always a great gage in seeing where our culture is and is not in kingdom work. We may agree that we do have a rough culture for our kids to grow up in these days. In fact, at times I feel like we have an emergency on our hands. But this week I found a place in all that is around us that is strong, energetic and boldly moving to continue the work of serving families. No matter what a family looks like or where they are in their journey in seeking the truth of Jesus, there is still an army of people committed to serve and support them. I love where our kingdom culture is going! Beside some very concrete ideas and information I can take back and use to continue to cast vision, I felt the presents of a very real spirit of no nonsense any more. We do not have time to step around elephants in the room! We have people in leadership places that are speaking words that cut through the darkness and get to the point, period. While having a blast of fun doing it and showing the real kind of Jesus love to everyone. Just being real. How sweet a spot is that?
For me, I will keep fighting for the hearts of children for Jesus and serve somehow, someway till I die, I love it and it is in me to not even be able to stop, however, I am even MORE excited to see all the incredible, yes most were younger souls, that has joined this mission in the last few years. They are smart, dedicated, really "get it". They energized me this week in such a short amount of time. They energize me with their blogs and tweets, and all the other stuff I do not know much about, but mostly their hearts. But they are making a huge difference in the thinking and way we go about this ministry. I love it.
I also hope that I can continue share all the learnings and wisdom from so many years of life and ministry so all those ups and downs do not go to waste. But the very cool treasure is I still get to learn and find new ways of serving! It aint over till its over.

The real deal

As I have watched many children grow into young adults the last 25 plus years, I have come to the conclusion that there is not one formula in getting them to fall in love with Jesus and not walk away as they get older. Although, there is one thing I have come to know. We have to continue to stand on solid ground with the Bible and make sure our own lives over flow with something that is so real and compelling they cannot help but want more for themselves. It starts with what they see in our hearts. Lots of words spoken at them does not seem to lure anyone, kids or adults, into something spiritual for themselves. I see them wanting Jesus because of how wonderful it seems as they see Him in others hearts. Some supernatual, somethng they know is not us.
My prayer is that the kids we have the priveledge of working with will be able to see the real deal in us.
Jesus help us let you be seen, experienced and felt.

2008

Well, here we are in 2008 blog mania. Who would have thought??? This will make it convient for the generation we are working with in Cross Street to communicate. This is second nature to that generation. My intensions are to build a stronger community among our volunteers, parents and of course the kids.
We have seen our children's ministry come a long way in the past 10-15 years. This is just one more step to being relevant and communicating in a way the speaks to most. We shall carry on upward for the Kingdom sake. Even if that means teaching an old dog new tricks. I can do that for our Jesus.

Pray that this will be benificial to us all,
Blessings,
Sandy