Doing kid ministry has commonality wherever you do it. North, South, East or West; there are some things that never change. If you are a Children's Minister: you never have enough volunteers to serve in the nursery, you have too many volunteers to chaperone summer camp, you have at least one family that thinks rules are for others and the debate over wheter to have Children's Church or not comes up at least once a week.
With that being said, I could not imagine doing anything else. Last week I baptized a child and thisweek another comes to make her profession of faith public. Seeing young people realize their need for a Savior pumps me up like nothing else. I get very excited when these children trust me enough to be a part of this HUGE decision.
To have a family entrust their child's spiritual direction to you is and should be a big deal.
So, I ask this question to simply spark a thought. Have you ever created an environment that encouraged a child (or any person) to raise their hand or walk an aisle to "ask Jesus in their heart" that you did not have personal knowledge of their spiritual maturity, or have had a one on one conversation with them?
I have seen too many times where people want to pad their numbers or feel good about themselves and create a situation that Johnny goes down because Jimmy did. Or, Sally wants to beat Susue to the baptistry.
Be very careful how you do invitaions with kids. They are impressionable and will follow the crowd in a heartbeat.
I for one do not want a child growing up with a false sense of security because I did the wrong thing.
Sunday, June 12, 2011
Thursday, June 2, 2011
Summer Heat
As of May 16, I am 49 years old. Not ancient, but "experienced". While I watched the news this morning and read the weather report (on my phone) it says that today is going to hit the century mark. 100 degrees! It's only June 2! I can't wait for July and August.
I remember growing up in Northeast Alabama and sleeping with the windows cracked so that the window fan could pull some night air into the bedroom. We didn't think anything about the fact that we didn't have air conditioning. NOBODY HAD AIR CONDITIONING!
I vividly remember the day the window unit was installed. It was the size of a small country and was placed in the den window. Now that I think about it; it was suspiciously close to my dads chair. Hmm!
So often now, we think we have to have the latest techno gadget the day it comes out. Why? Is it to keep up with the proverbial Jones'? Maybe it's that you think the old way needs improvement. Whatever the cause, there are those who actually get sweaty and anxious if they are behind the rest of the world withtheir technology. There is a word for people like that. "Weird" I must admit; I am weird sometimes.
Convinced that we did not get that honkin' A/C to be hip or cool...well, actually we did get it to be cool, but that is not what I meant. OK, now I'm getting confused. Where was I? Oh yeah, Mom and Dad was simply trying to provide a comfortable life for us during the summer months. Otherwise, it was covered for about 8 months out of the year. Besides it sounded like a jet airplane when it was on.
Today (2011), most people n the good ol' USofA, wouldn't think of living without air conditioning. We have A/C at home, work, school and church. That's good huh?! Probably. The fact does present itself that now we have young atheletes collapsing at alarming rates during practice and games. Now, I am no physiologist genius, but I have a theory. Our young people are not conditioned to take the heat. If you sit in the A/C until time for practice and then work your body harder than it has ever been worked before on the 100 degree practice field...you may have a problem.
I don't write this to say I have an earth shattering solution, but simply to say be careful. DRINK, DRINK, DRINK!!! And water at that. Did you know that watering down your sports drink can render it ineffective? Go figure. Good ol' water is a huge factor in keeping people in the heat safe. Working in the yard, manning the construction site, atheletics...whatever has you in the heat, stay hydrated. Stay safe! Stay cool!
I remember growing up in Northeast Alabama and sleeping with the windows cracked so that the window fan could pull some night air into the bedroom. We didn't think anything about the fact that we didn't have air conditioning. NOBODY HAD AIR CONDITIONING!
I vividly remember the day the window unit was installed. It was the size of a small country and was placed in the den window. Now that I think about it; it was suspiciously close to my dads chair. Hmm!
So often now, we think we have to have the latest techno gadget the day it comes out. Why? Is it to keep up with the proverbial Jones'? Maybe it's that you think the old way needs improvement. Whatever the cause, there are those who actually get sweaty and anxious if they are behind the rest of the world withtheir technology. There is a word for people like that. "Weird" I must admit; I am weird sometimes.
Convinced that we did not get that honkin' A/C to be hip or cool...well, actually we did get it to be cool, but that is not what I meant. OK, now I'm getting confused. Where was I? Oh yeah, Mom and Dad was simply trying to provide a comfortable life for us during the summer months. Otherwise, it was covered for about 8 months out of the year. Besides it sounded like a jet airplane when it was on.
Today (2011), most people n the good ol' USofA, wouldn't think of living without air conditioning. We have A/C at home, work, school and church. That's good huh?! Probably. The fact does present itself that now we have young atheletes collapsing at alarming rates during practice and games. Now, I am no physiologist genius, but I have a theory. Our young people are not conditioned to take the heat. If you sit in the A/C until time for practice and then work your body harder than it has ever been worked before on the 100 degree practice field...you may have a problem.
I don't write this to say I have an earth shattering solution, but simply to say be careful. DRINK, DRINK, DRINK!!! And water at that. Did you know that watering down your sports drink can render it ineffective? Go figure. Good ol' water is a huge factor in keeping people in the heat safe. Working in the yard, manning the construction site, atheletics...whatever has you in the heat, stay hydrated. Stay safe! Stay cool!
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