Hope in Times of Distress

I haven't blogged in awhile, and to be totally honest, I didn't plan on writing this blog either, however, I now know how Jeremiah felt when he said:

"But if I say, “I will not mention his word or speak anymore in his name,” his word is in my heart like a fire, a fire shut up in my bones. I am weary of holding it in; indeed, I cannot." Jeremiah 20:9

I spent the last week studying the Christmas story for the children's lesson at church. I ended up confused, however when the main passage I was dwelling on was Matthew 2: 16-18. This is not a passage that I would not typically use in a kids story, but I felt strangely drawn to this passage. 

When Herod realized that he had been outwitted by the Magi, he was furious, and he gave orders to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under, in accordance with the time he had learned from the Magi. Then what was said through the prophet Jeremiah was fulfilled:
“A voice is heard in Ramah,
weeping and great mourning,
Rachel weeping for her children
 and refusing to be comforted,
 because they are no more.”

Thursday night I found myself almost literally crying and asking God why He would allow innocent children to be killed as part of the birth story. It just doesn't make sense.

Then Friday came. I was in the middle of naptime at work, trying to get kids to sleep and checking my Facebook when I read the news about the Sandy Hook shooting. The news absolutely devastated me. I grew up in a generation where school shootings were common, and to a degree, I had become numb to this kind of news. However, in the past the shootings were mostly high schools; and although that is a tragedy that should never happen, and the thought of a shooting in an elementary school was beyond comprehension for me. Once again, I found myself questioning God (something that I believe is healthy as long as its done in the right manner).

I still don't have any answers as to why, but I felt God speaking to me at that moment. I felt like He was saying, "I understand. I get it perfectly. I watched my Son narrowly escape death as an infant only to be crucified as an adult. I know the pain these parents are dealing with."

I can't explain why God allows evil to exist in this world. However, I know He cares deeply and wants to offer hope in hopeless times.

It's Been Awhile...

It's been awhile since I've posted anything. There is a few reasons for this. First, I have re-entered the world of juggling a ministry, a job, and an education. I haven't taken the time to focus on blogging.

Secondly, and probably more importantly, this year I have transitioned into the role of a children's minister at a church plant, and not just any church plant, but a house church! This year has been a time of experimenting and reevaluating how to do ministry. I haven't had the experience in this new ministry to jump into the blogging world with both feet.

Here are some of the lesson's I've learned:

1. You better take every opportunity to share the gospel, because we have a lot of visitors, not a lot of people who stay and become involved. (Those who do stay have really grown in their faith, however!)

2. House church ministry doesn't look anything like "traditional church" ministry. I'm dreaming of the day when we expand into enough churches that I can justify a "children's ministry house." Until that happens, we are a motley crew of each age group together in one room. We have to be as quiet as possible because we share a wall with the "service."

3. Flexibility is key. One week we may have 20 people in the house, the next week we may have 8 (and my pastor's family is 4!).

4. Outreach events take so much more planning! Location, location, location! We have a massive yard for events, but its in a neighborhood where people don't come out and mingle much. I'm still trying to figure out where to have those big events.


As a side note, a few weeks ago, I was visiting my cousin who lives near the beach. Her daughter liked going and standing in the ocean while I was holding her. At one point I put her down a little too soon and she was knocked over by a wave. She panicked, yelled for mommy, and then 10 minutes later asked for us to go back in the water. What an example of faith like a child! She was scared, but after a few minutes, she was willing to go back in the water. Although it looked like I had failed her, she trusted me to pick her up and take care of her. Shouldn't we trust Christ in the same way? Sometimes He seems distant, but we need to trust him to carry us where we need to go.

Culture Shock (Stress) - Not Just For Living Internationally?

I have been incredibly fascinated with culture shock over the past 3 years. Why? Because I experienced it head-on in Reno. Now I'm in New Orleans and fully expect to deal with the ugly (and sometimes interesting) monster that is culture stress.

I realize that most of the time we expect to experience this with international living, but watch a person adjust from a small town to big city (or vice versa) or from region to region and you will notice what I'm talking about. Why did I put this on a kids ministry blog? At 24-27 I dealt with culture shock and for awhile it was ugly. Reno friends, I love you and would not change my experiences there for anything in the world; please forgive me for any wrong ways I dealt with culture shock. Although kids are known for bouncing back quickly, they also like stability, and a move can rock the need for stability.

I got my information on culture shock from a website that I thought did a great job of explaining the 4 stages of culture shock. You can find the link here.

As I talk I will be going back and forth between my own experiences and what you may want to be looking for in your classroom if you have a child new to the area.

1. The first stage of culture shock is excitement (or the honeymoon stage). This is a new experience and the excitement is great. You may have experienced this stage on vacation.

When I first moved to Reno, my church was coming on a mission trip and I had a great time with them, but I have to admit I was an emotional wreck while they were there. The main reason...they were on a mission trip, I was staying. This terrified me. However, after they left I cried a last tear and jumped into learning my new strange culture. Sometimes I felt like I was in a different culture. I had gone from the south to the west, from a small town to a pretty good sized city. The first thing that I discovered was that southerners are not assertive at all-and I was now working in an office at a church with possibly the most assertive woman I had ever met! It was exciting to get to know the people and explore the places. I loved being able to find my way around! My birthday came during the excitement phase, and everyone was so friendly it didn't really bother me being away from home. Christmas was coming and I was going home, so I invited a new friend from Reno to come with me. I think this was because my new culture felt so exciting and strange that going into my home culture didn't feel real. It was (for the most part) a great experience for both of us, and I learned a lot about my new culture from watching her interact. In the meantime, she fell in love with my old culture.

You may notice that after a new child in your class gets comfortable, they start exploring the classroom and what you do. They are in a fun and exciting time in their life.

2. Stage 2 is withdrawal. The honeymoon stage is over and the person has realized that this strange place is where they are going to be for quite awhile. Suddenly the differences in the culture are strange and frustrating. At this point the culture becomes very frustrating and the person may act out through withdrawal or through anger towards the new culture.

Stage 2 hit me hard around summer. VBS has started, and although it was a fun experience, I was realizing that I was not in the south anymore! I was the VBS director at church that year, and things weren't going as "southern" as I wanted! Changes in plans and things not going my way really frustrated me! The same mission team was in town that week too, and being able to vent to one sympathetic ear was a lifesaver! The summer went on and I continued to see that I really had moved out of my comfort zone. I withdrew quite a bit, but I also got a little too "assertive" when dealing with at least one of the VBS's that summer. I'm human, I wish I hadn't, but I feel that I have to be honest with you.

The child experiencing stage 2 may get very quiet and talk about missing home. Encourage him and try to be understanding. He may also begin to act out and start telling you your doing it wrong because his other teacher didn't do it that. Please have grace with this child, I promise it will get better!

Stage 3 is adjustment. The person has begun to understand the culture and accepts it. The person no longer feels isolated.

This was a great time for me. I had really taken an interest in getting to know people better. I didn't quite think like a westerner, but I understood how they were thinking and could relate better with them. At the end of my adjustment time I went home for Christmas. Home felt strange. I loved spending time with my family, but being surrounded by southern accents felt very weird to me. After 2 weeks I was ready to get back to Nevada.

Be sure to affirm the student as he deals with adjustment. He will be more open to you and the way you do things.

Stage 4 is enthusiasm. The person is now comfortable in the culture and is at home. The person probably will have accepted certain culture traits and maybe prefer those traits to their home culture. The person may have even adopted many of their cultural traits.

Stage 4 wasn't a stage I noticed much, except that I found myself relaxing. I didn't have to think so much about how to deal with people in my environment. Introducing people to my home was a great time! I had figured out assertiveness and could use it pretty well. When I left Nevada it was really a sad time. I was going to miss this culture and as I dealt with the excitement of being home for a few months, I found myself longing for aspects of that "once strange culture" that had now become a huge part of me, and in many ways, "home".

I know over the next few months and years I will probably experience the same emotions as I learn this new culture in New Orleans. I look forward to the adventure.

I hope this was helpful and would love for you to comment and give me some of your own "culture shock" stories, but internationally and domestically.

My Story Is Just a Little Different

Last year I was at a church VBS where the teens had been prepped to share their testimonies. One by one girls got up and tearfully talked about all the things they had done in their young lives, but then someone invited them to church, and Jesus changed their lives. Then they shared how great life was now that they knew Jesus.

Then the VBS Director asked me to share my testimony with the kids. This doesn't happen very often. And honestly, my story was very different than the stories told before.

You see, I was a pretty good kid. I hadn't done drugs or any of the other things that often creep into testimonies. Then one day my pastor's daughter, Joy, told me I couldn't take communion if I wasn't saved. I think I took it anyway. But then my Granddad asked Jesus into his life and I saw a change.

As best as I remember, I was laying in the roll away bed at my grandparents when I began to feel strongly that I needed to ask Jesus into my life. It became very obvious to me that I had done things that displeased God, called sin. I knew the penalty of sin was death from a verse I had read in the Bible. I had also heard from another verse that if I asked Jesus to forgive me and come into my life, He would. So, I asked Jesus to come into my life. There were no people there. No one knew, it was just me and God.

Most people share how much better life gets when they ask Jesus into their lives. My story is different.You see, a week before I was suppose to be be baptized, my dad went camping. He never came home. He passed away that weekend. (I wasn't that detailed with the kids, I just told them that my dad died shortly after I asked Jesus into my life.) You see, when I asked Jesus to come into my life in a lot of ways my life got worse.

But, it also got better. You see, although the pain from my dad passing away was very real and hurt, a lot. Yet, in some way, I knew that even in my pain God still cared for me and loved me. He really did help me get through that time. Over the years, God has also made it very clear that He is the Everlasting Father who will never leave me.

My story was different from the youth that day, and that's okay. We all have different stories. The truth is God has given us all a unique story so that we can share with others. My story may relate with some people, and yours may relate with others. The important thing is that we share.

Confessions of an Insomniac

I'm not usually an insomniac, but for whatever reason, I've been trying to go to bed for 2 hours and it hasn't worked.
Maybe its because of the high amount of caffeine I've had today (although I've had none since 4:00).
Maybe it's that our family dog of 17 years is acting funky and I'm a little worried about her.
Maybe I went to bed too early.
Maybe Grandpa's still watching TV and because he's hard of hearing the sound is distracting me.
Maybe it's that the Grandparents don't believe in AC overnight and I'm a little hot.
Maybe I shouldn't have sent that text message right before I laid down.
Maybe it's all of these things.

I don't know, but I like to think I've been making good use of the time while I've tried to sleep.
First I tossed and turned and decided to go over my children's church lesson in my head.
That was great except I remembered a great memory verse trick to help my youngest class members (putting shapes on the bottom of the words so they can connect a "puzzle" and then we can go over the verse. eg. a heart on both the word and the word after it, then a square on the next two cards and keep going until you get to the end.)
And when I remembered the game my brain wouldn't stop until I prepared the game.
So then I reread the lesson plan.
Then I turned off the light and laid back down, hoping that with my lesson more than ready I would get sleep.
As I tossed and turned I decided to pray for people. As I was praying I looked out my window. Right between the two trees was the moon, whose beams look like a perfect cross. I thanked God for the cross.
Then I decided to try to get a picture of the cross. My cell was right by the bed so I tried camera phone. I got a very little white dot. I turned on the light and looked for my camera. As I almost had the perfect angle, the battery died. And the very bright moon is still shining in my room, a mixed blessing.

Apparently, I wasn't suppose to get a picture of the cross. However, after a day that left me longing for whatever is next, the cross was a great reminder that God still knows what is next and He's got it covered. I needed that, so once again I say, "Thank you, God!"

Now, as I add blogging to my list of things I'm doing because I can't sleep, hopefully sleep will find me so I can be rested for class in the morning.

Happy 4th of July

Happy 4th of July!

I hope you will take advantage of this holiday being on a Monday by using Sunday to encourage your kids to pray for our country. Suggest that your kids pray for national, state, and local government leaders. You may need to print pictures of some of the leaders if you are praying specifically.  Explain that all of our leaders need wisdom from God to do their jobs well.

I realize that we all have political preferences. Please be careful to keep these out of your children's ministry. You aren't there to talk politics, but to encourage prayer for our leaders (whether we like them or not).

I admit, I don't pray for our leaders nearly as much as I should, but I do try to pray when I think about it. Perhaps I am also challenging myself in this respect.

VBS/Sports Camp

Last week was incredibly busy for me. Three churches partnered together to offer Vacation Bible School in the morning and Sports Camp in the afternoon. We had the kids for 8 hours!

The week had its challenges and its blessings!

My VBS class of Kindergartners had 5 children most of the week. J, our lone girl did a great job of keeping a good attitude and was relieved when another girl showed up on Friday. We had 4 boys, one who was almost autistic, two who have some behavioral issues, and M, whose older brother was never far enough away to keep him out of trouble.

For Sports Camp I made sure the Pre-K and Kindergarten boys all made it from rotation to rotation. Between 4 and 7 boys were at Sports Camp every day. They kept us busy, but it was a great time for them to experience basketball and soccer. Some were really good!

I have to say something about the youth volunteers who helped. They were amazing! Their focus on the kids and the tasks they were given was amazing! Teaching children who are too young even for Rec leagues can be difficult, but they did an amazing job!

I won't bore you with all my VBS stories, but I will share two. The kids watched the mission video about "Proof" a missionary dog who works in the New York City. The kids got that Proof was a dog, and that "he read to the kids who had trouble reading." In reality, the kids read to Proof. As I was talking to the kids about Proof, I mentioned that Proof had recently had surgery. The kids finally realized that missions was more than just a made up story!

Before lunch on Friday I was reviewing Bible stories and memory verses with the kids. M, who I had affectionately nicknamed in my head "M Come Back!," told me all the Bible stories. I was glad the stories got through to this boy who is very smart.

I would love to hear some of your favorite VBS stories as the summer progresses.