A new day ....

If you have been reading this blog for any time now - you would know that I have been hanging on to a few things and letting you know that I would fill you in on some things.
Today is that day.
I am pretty excited about it and also unsure of it... meaning I don't know how it will turn out, what I will be learning, will I be any good at it, what if I fail, why did God call me to do this, so many questions. But I do know God is the answer to all of them so it is with Him I will leave it all. Scared, not really - excited yes. But I am willing to get out of the boat ......
Last night in our leadership meeting, it was made public that I was stepping down as Ministry Team Leader for our Setup and Breakdown ministry. It has been 2 1/2 years leading this ministry and I have learned so much from it. I have also given up so much with the loss of part of my weekend, sleep, family time, serving when not feeling good, coming back from the cabin or rearranging vacations - but its a sacrifice that I am and will continue to make. God has my heart that much and it is an honor to be serving Him, serving His local church, His people and the people I love dearly. I love being in the game and part of the team. I am so much a team player ..... and love doing life with the people God has called me to reach out to.
My next steps are already in the works and in many ways I am already doing this new ministry role. I will be serving more of my time in our K-5 (KidZrock) ministry as well as serving in a pastoral care role to the kids and families there. I will be under a great spiritual leader in our church and I am so looking forward to learning and absorbing what he has to teach me. Many months ago I wrote about the relationship of Paul and Timothy. In many ways, he is my Paul and I am his Timothy. I was to study what he has to teach me. I want to be successful in the next role that God has called me to in serving the kids and families at church. Paul downloaded his life into Timothy. He taught him everything about life, ministry, leading people, difficult situations .... in preparation to one day be a Paul to someone else that he can pour into and invest in to. We all have a Paul in our lives and we for sure all have Timothy's in our lives.
I look at the big picture and it scares me. I see people struggling with many difficult things and I want to have some real answers for them and I have to focus on Jesus - He is the real answers to our problems. I have a love for people, some compassion for them and a great deal of passion for the kids. I want them to see Jesus in every aspect of their lives.
I have been reading a lot of book on relationships, daughters and sons, I have been on a great children's ministry website -http://www.cmconnect.org - and find it invaluable for ideas and such from other children's pastors and children's ministry volunteers. There is just SO much we can do to reach kids for Jesus. This is not in anyway shape or form a babysitting service while mom and dad sits and listens to the message from the lead pastor. We are not there to just pass the time but to teach the practical love of Jesus to them. Teach them and show them who Jesus is and where He fits into their young lives. We are potentially changing the paths of these children's futures by introducing them to Jesus!! We have to be fired up about this .... We have to pull out all the good stuff to make this happen and the reality of it boils down to this:
They don't have to be there. If the child (children) are not having fun at church - then chances are good mom and dad won't be coming back. The kids make or break the deal when a family visits a church. The music might be great, greeting and the feeling of being welcome and comfortable is top notch, the message might speak right to the parents hearts but if the kids are not happy, if they are not having fun, then they probably won't be back.
We need to engage our kids, we have to compete with the Disney Channel, MTV, sporting events, weekends at the beach - we have to have the tools and the "FUN" to pull these kids in and make them want to come back. High energy - laser focus on Jesus - up and moving - things they don't get to do in a school classroom setting ....to be effective. Kids are made to sit in their seats all week at school - they get in trouble for talking - they get in trouble for laughing when they are not supposed to- they get in trouble for being loud in the halls and walking in non-conforming straight lines .... this is the way it is in a school setting as it fully should be ... but not for children's ministry.
We can't stifle the creativity tools in reaching these kids. We can't take them to the playground and tell them they can't play, don't touch or stop having fun. If you do - you are taking the ministry to new low levels.
When kids can be comfortable, have fun, learn some new things, have their friends around them, act silly and have a chance to be heard because they all want to talk and be heard .... they will keep coming back and the best part is ... they will bring their parents with them. Kids have a voice in the home today. They can work those deals - you know parents ...the sleep overs and other such things just so they can do things together with their friends. Parents listen .... and church is part of that! The best part of all this while these great things are happening .... is they are being taught about Jesus on a level they can understand.
What does the road look like ahead...? I don't know but I am sure fire - ready to dirty what God has to teach me through it.
Looking forward to Sunday already - teaching the 5th graders about "Ethics - Code of Conduct" which is basically - their Character ....... "Who are they when no one is looking."
Looking forward to the next chapter in "My Walk".......
In Christ,
Lonnie~