faith

A Surefire Way to Get Parent’s Attention—-No, Really!

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Last fall, I found myself at a HUGE Children’s Ministry conference, with close to 2000 participants.  I was leading workshops, and several times landed in packed elevators amid multiple conversations between enthusiastic groups of Children’s ministers.  In some ways, I felt as if I had walked into a machine. WOW, it was all about organization and how to’s, and publicity and curriculum. WHEW.  But one thing I distinctly remember overhearing in those conversations again and again was some version of the question, “how do we get parents’ attention?”

It is a huge problem for people who are working so hard to share Jesus with children. Because of course, we what we really mean by “getting their attention” is getting them to attend whatever we are offering—that’s what we are getting paid to do, right?   

But I really do think we can get their attention. I’ve tried this and it works.  

When I was full-time parenting, it was really hard to see my kids clearly.  And I don’t know anyone who really does.  Because you can see your children’s gifts and especially their character flaws (SIN) better than anyone.  And as a parent, you are so invested between shaping them and helping what God created to unfold in them.  At the same time, you can’t help but mess it up, because you aren’t perfect either.  There you have it. It is really one of those ultimate struggles.  It’s very hard to see when you are in the middle of that.   

I was always so grateful for people who could see things in my children that I didn’t or couldn’t—either the positive or the negative.  

So that’s where I focus my energy with anyone I’m around who is currently parenting.  But my goal isn’t just to help them see how to raise a “better” child.  I want to help them to see and name the movement of God in their child.  Where the Spirit seems to be taking over.  Where their child is naturally connecting (or not) to the ways of God and the character of God.  I encourage them to help their children to recognize that too.   These are almost always great, engaging conversations.  

You can do that, and you can help other leaders learn to do that too.  Here are a couple of questions to get you started:  

  • Where do you see your child really connecting (paying attention, perking up etc.) in worship?
  • Where do you see God currently working in and through your child in your family life?

There aren’t many (if any) other people in their lives who will talk about the spirituality of their children with them, are there? 

It can’t help but get their attention.  

Nancy Going~~Nancy Going

Milestone Blessing Bowl {blogger feature}

Today we welcome Aurie from Our Good Life to the blog! Aurie has been a VFM fan for a while now (we met on Twitter), and we appreciate her insight, enthusiasm, and love for Christ and family.
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As we gather around the table for mealtime my husband starts our conversation off with a simple question:

“What are you thankful to God for?”

Even though our girls are four and three, we think it’s very important for them to be able to think about how God has blessed them and to verbally thank Him multiple times during the day.

Sometimes the answers are simple…a toy, a game, a craft. 

Sometimes the answers are more complex…our house, family, friends.

Whatever their answer, we affirm their blessing and give praise to God as a family.

One clever tool that we came across is the Milestone Blessing Bowl from Vibrant Faith Ministries.  It is a shallow bowl, a mat and 10 stones meant to symbolize life events.  We used to Blessing Bowl at Thanksgiving with our extended family and even the teenagers  picked up a stone that represented what they were thankful for and dropped it in the bowl.

I could see this as a conversation starter too! The bowl is simple and the stones are so colorful and unique that they tend to grab your attention even just sitting on the counter.

I’d love to hear how you would use this ministry tool!

Aurie Good is a pastor’s wife, a homeschool momma to 2 girls, and foster momma to medically fragile infants striving to see the good in everything and praise Him continually!  You can follow her journey at her blog, Our Good Life, or on Twitter.

God Bless Fantasy Football

As I write this, my fantasy football team is losing by 58 points. For those not up on the world of fantasy sports, that’s a lot. Basically, I need Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rogers to throw 7 touchdowns in the next 30 minutes. While he’s good, that’s not likely. My wife loves the fall because of changing leaf colors and pumpkin spice lattes. I love fall because of a silly game where I get to guess who will play well or not. It’s become something of a tradition that I get child-like excited for. It’s also a way for me to stay connected to my friends that live 7 hours away.game day crazies Those friends are good ones. One of them I met during my first summer working at Park River Bible Camp in northeastern North Dakota. Another was the guy who taught me to play volleyball and inadvertently taught me how to coach it, something that is a big part of my life now. Yes, we get on the phone every once in a while and pick up where we left off, but for a few months we talk two or three times a week. This seemingly meaningless tradition has helped me keep my friendships alive.
When I think about it, that happens quite a bit. Some of our best friends are relationships that formed because we decided that one thing we would do together as regularly as possible is go to church. The annual Boundary Waters Canoe Area trip is a key experience for me to reconnect with my closest friends and mentors, and with God.

Maybe there’s something to that, something special that happens when we experience life with other people in repeated ways, at some sort of regular interval – a tradition. That’s been true for experiencing life with God too. As a man, trying to figure out what it means to follow Him, apparently I need some tradition to guide me.

God bless the traditions that bring me back to good places in my head and heart. God bless the people that I experience them with. God bless fantasy football.

Post by Jared Rendell.

These thoughts were inspired by a dive into comparing sports rituals and traditions with faith rituals and traditions in the “Give Me a ‘J’” activity on Vibrant Faith at Home. It also brought on some good memories of living across the street from the school hockey arena and seeing “the crazies” before home games.