More on-line reading material (Revised)

Most of you don't have money to burn but here's another resource I found when I was (of course!) looking for something else - Beyond Play

More blogs:

Fresh Dirt - more focused on youth ministry than children. It may already be in the list. If not, it definately belongs on our list.

Odyssey and Next Reformation. (Shall I tell you how many times I've spelled Odyssey wrong?) We find both of these interesting reads. I haven't sorted out all the implications for kids, yet.

D Train, in the UK (or northern Wales?) this article is a must-read.

Late addition:
My sister sent this to me: The Amazing Grace Movie. Although I'd heard bits and pieces of the story before the most interesting part to me is the list when you click on Partnerships . The mix of organizations is quite facinating. You may find The Amazing Change Campaign interesting, too.

Images to Ponder:: Psalm 131 (two translations)

First think about who David was - not so much as boy, worshipping shepherd, outdooorsman, observant writer but as a king, a warrior, a busy, powerful, passionate man.

The second image is the image he describes in his Psalm.

1)A Song of the Ascents,
by David.

Jehovah, my heart hath not been haughty,
Nor have mine eyes been high,
Nor have I walked in great things,
And in things too wonderful for me.
Have I not compared, and kept silent my soul,
As a weaned one by its mother?
As a weaned one by me [is] my soul.
Israel doth wait on Jehovah,
From henceforth, and unto the age!

(Psalm 131 Youngs Literal Translation)

2)A song for those who go up to Jerusalem to worship the Lord.
A psalm of David.

Lord, my heart isn't proud.
My eyes aren't proud either.
I don't concern myself with important matters.
I don't concern myself with things that are too wonderful for me.
I have made myself calm and content
like a young child in its mother's arms.
Deep down inside me, I am as content as a young child.
Israel, put your hope in the Lord both now and forever.

(Psalm 131 NIrV)

[I used two translations just because they capture different parts of the picture.] The more detailed my image of David and the child, the harder it is to put the two images together which just makes for a more amazing image.

Whoever you are, imagine yourself there. Imagine yourself the child, not wanting or needing anything except to be right where you are, nestled in His mothering arms, perfectly content.

Observing moms and babies you can probably make your own observations and find lots to ponder.

Humor

This comes under "embracing people" and loving your neighbor as yourself. Otherwise it's totally random.

Humor is an interesting topic, especially working with kids. There's an age when your kids will bring home every bad joke in the book (4th grade?) and they're SO excited. It does eventually come to an end, though I probably won't be able to convince you until it's over. I don't know what developmental stage it is but it's significant.

I don't know what you think is funny and what not funny. Ran across this site reading the UltraRev. I don't remember how I came across UltraRev. ECC blogs - upstate NY? Don't know.

On one of his posts he refers to crummy church signs saying, "Messages on church signs aren't as cute or funny to the unchurched as churches think they are." True. I took a look. It ties into language and how people understand one another (connotation and denotation). A comment that comes across positive (or even funny) to one person might mean something really negative (even offensive) to the person listening. We won't always get it right and we'll never please everyone all the time or even anyone all the time. Years ago, we took our kids to a Christian Bible camp recommended to us. I was so appalled at the "humorous" skits we saw. I couldn't put my finger on why but I left offended. Maybe it's not caring that bothers me.

I do truly believe that out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks. I stick my foot down my heart often. An inevitable embarrassing wake up call.

The joy of the Lord is more than just humor, yet I believe that God has a wonderful intelligent sense of humor. I believe that laughter is good medicine. I doubt God's easily offended. Yet, the scriptures tell us that there are things that offend Him. The scriptures tell us He laughs and He gets angry. Are there things that make Him smile?

Sometimes we teach kids by example. Perhaps, more often without realizing, we teach them that something is ok because we don't do anything about it. My kids get upset when people poke fun at other people groups and "don't mean it." The question that came up was, "W0uld you still say that if they were sitting here?" When they speak up, it creates friction between them and their friends. But the only way anyone will know it matters to them is if they say something.

Talk to me about humor and working with kids and what you encourage and what you don't. Kids need to laugh and have fun. We all need to laugh and have fun. What's funny and what isn't?

Interesting!

This YWAM couple has a long list of resources for Children's Ministry, many seeming to center around traditional Children's ministry but among them music, plays, and musicals. They also include some links from Canada, South Africa, Austrailia, and the UK. You might find some interesting resouces mixed in. We've had a fair amount of respect for YWAM over the years. YWAM offered a summer Arts camp in Ithaca, NY for a while. Don't know if they still do.

This is the site for Children's Ministries Online University apparently affiliated with Valley Forge Christian College in Pennsylvania. Very reasonable cost but I don't know anything else about it.

Amazon Book Reviews?

A new resource!

Todd McKeever and Ken Johnson (alias "The Jaded CM") both have pertinent reviews on Amazon that you'd probably find useful.

If anyone else has reviews on Amazon that you want to share, you're welcome to leave the site address in a comment or send me the link and I'll try to list them all in one post that you can click on. A year ago I didn't even know how to do that! :)

Or better still, consider adding it as a link on your blogs!