New Year's
Ecclesiastes 3 is one of my favorites. Do we teach this to kids? How do we do it? Probably mostly by example. There are parts of this passage that it's easy to have issues with ... even parts that break the commandments but we don't think of it that way. Take the 10 commandments and go through the stories of scripture and see how often the rules were broken and ponder. Who decides whether it's time for this or time for that? How do you decide?
Psalm 8
Revelation 21:1-6a So much of Revelation is worship!! That was once a revelation to me! This is a neat picture of Immanuel "God with us." Every time you wipe away tears remember His promise.
Matthew 25:31-46 Another powerful picture. Perhaps a picture of the kingdom of God coming to earth...perhaps a picture of the Holy City descending, the Bride, the New Heaven, the New Earth . . .God with us. . . My husband is very very good at this kind of giving so the kids grew up seeing this modeled often. Challenging to our faith and risky when kids want to do it, too...
Showing posts with label serving. Show all posts
Showing posts with label serving. Show all posts
Saturday, January 01, 2011
Saturday, July 17, 2010
so much for "good bye"
My sister sends me Charles Swindoll's Insight for Today. The Insight (July 17, 2010) this particular quote comes from is about helping. Here is the quote I like :
"I wholeheartedly agree with Philip Yancey, a man who models his own advice: 'C. S. Lewis once likened his role as a Christian writer to an adjective humbly striving to point others to the Noun of truth. For people to believe that Noun, we Christian writers must improve our adjectives.'"
writer or not .....what if each of our lives is an adjective pointing to the One Living Noun of Truth . . . I live with some people who are very very sensitive to the nuances of language. Lord help us improve our adjectives...
My sister sends me Charles Swindoll's Insight for Today. The Insight (July 17, 2010) this particular quote comes from is about helping. Here is the quote I like :
"I wholeheartedly agree with Philip Yancey, a man who models his own advice: 'C. S. Lewis once likened his role as a Christian writer to an adjective humbly striving to point others to the Noun of truth. For people to believe that Noun, we Christian writers must improve our adjectives.'"
writer or not .....what if each of our lives is an adjective pointing to the One Living Noun of Truth . . . I live with some people who are very very sensitive to the nuances of language. Lord help us improve our adjectives...
Friday, January 29, 2010
This is a really interesting website: DoSomething.org
The thing that's neat about it (if you explore the site) is that you can pick an issue, pick how much time (as little as 1 minute), pick who you want to work with (alone, a group of friends or church, an organization), pick where and they will give you ideas. ex. Preventing Bullying, 1 minute, Alone, here - Make a poster and hang it in your library.
Lots of ideas at many levels of involvement, information about different causes with the understanding that there may be different legitimate viewpoints and levels of passion. Check it out!
The thing that's neat about it (if you explore the site) is that you can pick an issue, pick how much time (as little as 1 minute), pick who you want to work with (alone, a group of friends or church, an organization), pick where and they will give you ideas. ex. Preventing Bullying, 1 minute, Alone, here - Make a poster and hang it in your library.
Lots of ideas at many levels of involvement, information about different causes with the understanding that there may be different legitimate viewpoints and levels of passion. Check it out!
Tuesday, December 29, 2009
Toddlers, Sharing, and the Christmas Story
The Christmas Story and sharing for toddlers...would it be theologically too-far-out-there to show God wrapping his baby son in a blanket from some high place in the clouds and handing it down to a young woman and her husband in a stable?
or....
the Inn Keeper sharing a place for a baby to stay...
the animals sharing their space with a baby ...
the angels sharing their song about a baby ...
the shepherds sharing their work time- taking time out from their sheep - to visit a baby...
the kings sharing their gifts with a baby ...
Joseph and Mary sharing their lives with a baby ...
We grownups know that baby today as the Son of God, "God with us," God's gift to us - Savior of the world, King of Kings, Lord of Lords ...
but children, especially little children, see a baby, a very special baby ...
Every Christmas we made things to give to people at Christmastime. I've been quite happy that for my kids (ages 20-29), Christmas is still a time for some very thoughtful personal creative giving.
Maybe giving isn't the same as sharing. Buying a loaf of bread for someone isn't the same as breaking your last loaf in half and giving half of it away...or all of it away...
. . .more to ponder ...
or....
the Inn Keeper sharing a place for a baby to stay...
the animals sharing their space with a baby ...
the angels sharing their song about a baby ...
the shepherds sharing their work time- taking time out from their sheep - to visit a baby...
the kings sharing their gifts with a baby ...
Joseph and Mary sharing their lives with a baby ...
We grownups know that baby today as the Son of God, "God with us," God's gift to us - Savior of the world, King of Kings, Lord of Lords ...
but children, especially little children, see a baby, a very special baby ...
Every Christmas we made things to give to people at Christmastime. I've been quite happy that for my kids (ages 20-29), Christmas is still a time for some very thoughtful personal creative giving.
Maybe giving isn't the same as sharing. Buying a loaf of bread for someone isn't the same as breaking your last loaf in half and giving half of it away...or all of it away...
. . .more to ponder ...
Friday, October 30, 2009
Thursday, October 15, 2009
more resources . . . but I regress...
Yes, and we love Bubbles, Rainbow, and Worms, too!
They used to have a Math book, One, Two Buckle My Shoe.
And if your kids are learning to read but hate reading and love Math check out the Step into Reading series and Hello, Reader - Math series.
And then there's the Brown Paper school book series.
But I regress...these days there are a multitude of math and science resources out there for young children and early readers that aren't just focused on creating "genius" but making learning fun and meaningful by creating opportunities for a child's whole being to interact with their world.
They used to have a Math book, One, Two Buckle My Shoe.
And if your kids are learning to read but hate reading and love Math check out the Step into Reading series and Hello, Reader - Math series.
And then there's the Brown Paper school book series.
But I regress...these days there are a multitude of math and science resources out there for young children and early readers that aren't just focused on creating "genius" but making learning fun and meaningful by creating opportunities for a child's whole being to interact with their world.
Thursday, August 06, 2009
more food!
You'll read the last post and think I planned this. I didn't. Saw these in my inbox from amazon this am. I've not read the books. But I was impressed by the growing variety of tools for CM out there.
The fact that there's a book of science devotions was what originally caught my eye.
Then I saw all these books using food, cooking, and tasting. You know how we talk about concrete learning and 6 senses with kids? Ok, five senses. (Maybe we are teaching with six senses but, ah, another blog post.)
Again, I haven't read them but check these out: 1, 2, 3, 4, and there are more on some of these pages.
Enjoy!
And remember when you're making something as a lesson or craft activity you can always make extra so you have something for kids to deliver to someone else. Not sure how copyright works with this but it might be fun to give the kids opportunity to take the recipe home if they want to share the food and the story with a family member or a friend.
The fact that there's a book of science devotions was what originally caught my eye.
Then I saw all these books using food, cooking, and tasting. You know how we talk about concrete learning and 6 senses with kids? Ok, five senses. (Maybe we are teaching with six senses but, ah, another blog post.)
Again, I haven't read them but check these out: 1, 2, 3, 4, and there are more on some of these pages.
Enjoy!
And remember when you're making something as a lesson or craft activity you can always make extra so you have something for kids to deliver to someone else. Not sure how copyright works with this but it might be fun to give the kids opportunity to take the recipe home if they want to share the food and the story with a family member or a friend.
Saturday, July 25, 2009
more thoughts about children and work
Many kids in my generation and more so in my parents and grandparents' generations grew up with real work to do. When my kids were little I was one of those people who was afraid of making my kids work "too hard." I didn't want to use them for "slave labor." I didn't want to make them do the things I didn't want to do so I didn't have to do them. Whatever...
At this point in my life I think that if you fall into that kind of thinking you miss the fact that God made us with plans for work*. Doing a good job has it's own intrinsic rewards. Being able to do something you love and get good at it, have others notice and ultimately have others ask you to do the job because you are so good at it is rewarding in itself with or without monetary compensation.
On the one hand you're trying to build a good work ethic in kids that will grow and carry them through adulthood (including doing a job just because it has to get done.) On the other had you're giving kids the privilege of work that can be just as meaningful for children at any age as it is for adults. Work grows self-confidence and self-worth. A child feels needed. They have an important job to do. They have a way to contribute to the good of their family unit.
Children can earn privilege. They can work to earn the privilege of more and more responsibility by remembering a chore, doing a good job, doing an extra good job. They earn trust.
If you have a group of kids working together you very quickly figure out who delegates, who manages, who manages shrewdly, lol! As kids grow, maybe they earn the privilege of doing the jobs they love most, and doing the things they're best at by doing the jobs they hate with a good attitude.
So what can toddlers do? Break down the jobs you do as a grown up.
Washing plastic dishes.
Folding towels and wash cloths.
Putting plates by each chair.
Putting napkins on a table.
Handing out programs.
Putting a Bible on each chair.
When I was old enough I sat by my mom when she played the organ and turned the pages. Even before I could read music she would nod and I would turn the page.
Picking wild flowers or garden flowers and bringing them to someone who is sick.
Running water in a plastic vase.
Spreading peanut butter or jelly on a piece of bread, though you may not want toddlers working with food for other people except in small family-type groups.
Picking fruit
Washing fruit
Passing out cookies.
Passing out paper cups.
Picking up empty communion cups and then washing hands.
Washing hands and putting out communion cups.
Helping change the colors on an altar or helping set a communion table (standing on a chair)
Picking up old programs or papers and throwing them away.
Handing out pens or pencils
Holding a collection bag
Putting new candles in candle holders
Blowing out candles
Putting out music folders for musicians. Why not paste or draw a picture of the instrument on the front of the folder and let a toddler put it on the chair by the instrument. (Yes, you walk with them so they don't knock over the guitars. Maybe their reward is hitting the drum a couple of times when they finish. Why not?)
All of this - not alone but helping a grown up. Look at all the grownup jobs people do at home or at church. If you have a toddler, a pre-schooler, an elementary aged child, a pre-teen, or a teen by your side - what can they do to help?
Maybe they won't do it the way you do. If you're not hounding them all the time and you make sure you praise them for details well done, you can correct and adjust when you need to. Just don't discourage them. Be grateful.
Pair older people with younger people. What about pairing people who can't hear well with younger children - or children who like to talk loud. You'd have to train these young ear-pieces. (Not during worship but maybe for the before or after fellowshipping.) It can still be too loud but you get the idea. What do older people find hard that little people can do for them? Bending over? Picking things up off the floor?
As I say, you get the idea. Use your imagination!
* Interesting to read this passage in context, thinking about work. It seems a contradiction but apparently it isn't. And there's Romans 12:1. Again, go back and read the passage in context (the whole chapter) thinking, not just about spiritual gifts but about the physical work we do with our bodies - our spiritual service of worship. Then bring children into the picture and see what God will show you.
At this point in my life I think that if you fall into that kind of thinking you miss the fact that God made us with plans for work*. Doing a good job has it's own intrinsic rewards. Being able to do something you love and get good at it, have others notice and ultimately have others ask you to do the job because you are so good at it is rewarding in itself with or without monetary compensation.
On the one hand you're trying to build a good work ethic in kids that will grow and carry them through adulthood (including doing a job just because it has to get done.) On the other had you're giving kids the privilege of work that can be just as meaningful for children at any age as it is for adults. Work grows self-confidence and self-worth. A child feels needed. They have an important job to do. They have a way to contribute to the good of their family unit.
Children can earn privilege. They can work to earn the privilege of more and more responsibility by remembering a chore, doing a good job, doing an extra good job. They earn trust.
If you have a group of kids working together you very quickly figure out who delegates, who manages, who manages shrewdly, lol! As kids grow, maybe they earn the privilege of doing the jobs they love most, and doing the things they're best at by doing the jobs they hate with a good attitude.
So what can toddlers do? Break down the jobs you do as a grown up.
Washing plastic dishes.
Folding towels and wash cloths.
Putting plates by each chair.
Putting napkins on a table.
Handing out programs.
Putting a Bible on each chair.
When I was old enough I sat by my mom when she played the organ and turned the pages. Even before I could read music she would nod and I would turn the page.
Picking wild flowers or garden flowers and bringing them to someone who is sick.
Running water in a plastic vase.
Spreading peanut butter or jelly on a piece of bread, though you may not want toddlers working with food for other people except in small family-type groups.
Picking fruit
Washing fruit
Passing out cookies.
Passing out paper cups.
Picking up empty communion cups and then washing hands.
Washing hands and putting out communion cups.
Helping change the colors on an altar or helping set a communion table (standing on a chair)
Picking up old programs or papers and throwing them away.
Handing out pens or pencils
Holding a collection bag
Putting new candles in candle holders
Blowing out candles
Putting out music folders for musicians. Why not paste or draw a picture of the instrument on the front of the folder and let a toddler put it on the chair by the instrument. (Yes, you walk with them so they don't knock over the guitars. Maybe their reward is hitting the drum a couple of times when they finish. Why not?)
All of this - not alone but helping a grown up. Look at all the grownup jobs people do at home or at church. If you have a toddler, a pre-schooler, an elementary aged child, a pre-teen, or a teen by your side - what can they do to help?
Maybe they won't do it the way you do. If you're not hounding them all the time and you make sure you praise them for details well done, you can correct and adjust when you need to. Just don't discourage them. Be grateful.
Pair older people with younger people. What about pairing people who can't hear well with younger children - or children who like to talk loud. You'd have to train these young ear-pieces. (Not during worship but maybe for the before or after fellowshipping.) It can still be too loud but you get the idea. What do older people find hard that little people can do for them? Bending over? Picking things up off the floor?
As I say, you get the idea. Use your imagination!
* Interesting to read this passage in context, thinking about work. It seems a contradiction but apparently it isn't. And there's Romans 12:1. Again, go back and read the passage in context (the whole chapter) thinking, not just about spiritual gifts but about the physical work we do with our bodies - our spiritual service of worship. Then bring children into the picture and see what God will show you.
Thursday, July 23, 2009
Toddlers serving
Whether you support Heifer International or not, there is a tiny article in the most recent issue about 2 & 3 year olds in TX (and their parents) helping to dig up sweet potatoes for local food banks. Yes, the children have shovels in hand. They are doing the work of digging up the sweet potatoes.
I thought, what a great example of meaningful work, meaningful* service for some very little people. Not just meaningful for the recipients of the food but for the children and because they are working with their parents they are growing that relationship. Because they are working with other families they are growing friendships and a sense of community among themselves and a sense of giving to a much larger, even marginalized community beyond themselves. And hey, guess what! They are also growing a relationship with the natural God - created world: the outdoors, the ground, air & weather, plants, probably insects and animals, too. How cool is that?
And frankly, if you back up a little, children that small can help with planting, watering and weeding, too. Lots of experiential concrete learning going on digging in the dirt, lol!!
*Is this "meaningful" the same as what is meaningful to someone 20, 30, 40 or 50? No, but tiny meaning-filled seeds are growing.
I thought, what a great example of meaningful work, meaningful* service for some very little people. Not just meaningful for the recipients of the food but for the children and because they are working with their parents they are growing that relationship. Because they are working with other families they are growing friendships and a sense of community among themselves and a sense of giving to a much larger, even marginalized community beyond themselves. And hey, guess what! They are also growing a relationship with the natural God - created world: the outdoors, the ground, air & weather, plants, probably insects and animals, too. How cool is that?
And frankly, if you back up a little, children that small can help with planting, watering and weeding, too. Lots of experiential concrete learning going on digging in the dirt, lol!!
*Is this "meaningful" the same as what is meaningful to someone 20, 30, 40 or 50? No, but tiny meaning-filled seeds are growing.
Thursday, April 23, 2009
A Must Read Article + Children's Spirituality Conference
This article by Shelley Campagnola, chair of The Evangelical Fellowship of Canada’s (EFC) Children’s Ministry Partnership, (CMP) will speak for itself - a must read!
You'll also see some info here about the 2009 Children's Spirituality Conference in Chicago. It's in June. Check out the speakers!
You'll also see some info here about the 2009 Children's Spirituality Conference in Chicago. It's in June. Check out the speakers!
Wednesday, October 08, 2008
Anonymous
from Matthew 6:1-4
"Be careful not to do your 'acts of righteousness' before men, to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven.
"Be careful not to do your 'acts of righteousness' before men, to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven.
"So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you."
Some people I know who aren't part of a church, as far as I know, decided to go in together to shop and give Thanksgiving dinners to needy families this year. As a group we have no real identity.
So that got me thinking about this passage - anonymous, secret. If we give to people and make sure they know which church we come from or even who we are for that matter . . . If we give or do anything under our church logo or even "in the name of the Lord". . . (though, I understand. That's the ultimate goal) Have we done what this passage in Matthew tells us to do? Have we given in secret?
The child in me always liked the idea of God seeing and knowing in secret and knowing that He would reward me for the good things He saw me doing, especially if nobody else knew. Knowing He always knew the bad, and it wouldn't stay a secret, made me pretty careful about my choices.
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
Fun discovery!
I knew there are many many many kinds of service dogs and therapy dogs. I knew there are organizations training dogs for autistic children. There are dogs who warn children (and adults) of seizure and low blood sugar. I didn't know there are organizations training service dogs as "ministry dogs" - check this out! If you have a wonderfully obediant social dog and you take him/her literally everywhere you go, including worship services, even loud worship services, you are probably creating your own ministry dog.
Service dogs are social but one person dogs by necessity. Most therapy dogs love everyone. I met a staff member from a children's resident rehab facility a few months ago who has a dog who is both and she said it's unusual to find both qualities in the same dog as needed, intuitively and at her direction. Her dog is a dog like that.
If you live in the area where the [NEADS] Laura J. Niles Early Learning Center is located and you don't want a dog for yourself or your kids but you and your kids love dogs, check this out! They have a puppy petting program. Looks like you can go for an hour on a weekday afternoon and just pet and play with puppies! (You're actually helping the organization socialize their dogs. It's called puppy socialization - one of, if not the best thing, you can do for your dog.) How cool is that!
(see tags below - "local" to someone but not to me! kids in community as in "out in the community", serving? no! too much fun - this is a service to the people training service dogs and to those who will someday own and use these dogs, and random speaks for itself!)
Service dogs are social but one person dogs by necessity. Most therapy dogs love everyone. I met a staff member from a children's resident rehab facility a few months ago who has a dog who is both and she said it's unusual to find both qualities in the same dog as needed, intuitively and at her direction. Her dog is a dog like that.
If you live in the area where the [NEADS] Laura J. Niles Early Learning Center is located and you don't want a dog for yourself or your kids but you and your kids love dogs, check this out! They have a puppy petting program. Looks like you can go for an hour on a weekday afternoon and just pet and play with puppies! (You're actually helping the organization socialize their dogs. It's called puppy socialization - one of, if not the best thing, you can do for your dog.) How cool is that!
(see tags below - "local" to someone but not to me! kids in community as in "out in the community", serving? no! too much fun - this is a service to the people training service dogs and to those who will someday own and use these dogs, and random speaks for itself!)
Monday, September 08, 2008
RCBF 2008
Rochester Children's Book Festival 2008
MCC
Save the date! Free unless you buy books but if you buy books and pick a time of day when the lines are short you can get them signed (for free) and meet. some fun people. Lots of presentations and workshops all day, including teen authors in the afternoon, and the activity room for kids. If your kids like art, there will be illustrators there, too.
I'm in charge of BBWP this year. Lots to do. Prayers would be nice!
MCC
Saturday, November 8, 2008
10 am to 4 pmSave the date! Free unless you buy books but if you buy books and pick a time of day when the lines are short you can get them signed (for free) and meet. some fun people. Lots of presentations and workshops all day, including teen authors in the afternoon, and the activity room for kids. If your kids like art, there will be illustrators there, too.
I'm in charge of BBWP this year. Lots to do. Prayers would be nice!
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
thoughts about leadership
Hi! Check out Jill's blog at Morningstarkids. She has some thoughtful posts about leadership.
Tags: "blog" for obvious reasons.
"serving" because we serve through our leadership and we lead through our service
"generations" because Jill's mom was a children's minister, too.
Tags: "blog" for obvious reasons.
"serving" because we serve through our leadership and we lead through our service
"generations" because Jill's mom was a children's minister, too.
Saturday, July 12, 2008
Pondering missional #3: Missional Kids
Missional kids....hm...what could that look like? I think there are past posts about this - maybe under "justice":
Children participating in the same activities their parents do, as appropriate.
giving, serving, loving friends, family, neighbors as opportunities present themselves
participating in well-supervised activities they're interested in (sports, clubs, band...) that aren't church related with or without friends from church
inviting families and friends over
raising money for causes, giving (and delivering) material donations
giving away things they don't want or need
creating websites, artwork, essays about issues that matter to them (there are magazines that publish the work of children
field trips or speakers to learn more about history and the world around them to become more aware of social issues
writing letters
visiting people they know who can't get out and friends who are sick or in the hospital (as appropriate)
volunteering with parents
for teenagers, at one point our city had a separate teen court where kids were judged by their peers. Not sure if it's still happening. peer mediation
hanging out at your local rec center
community service
befriending new refugees in your community
Add more to this list if you like.
Many will look and say but this isn't new. And they're probably right. All these things were happening all along but there were activities associated with church and activities not associated with church as opposed to the thinking that all that we do we do to the glory of God. We work and play in His presence, with His blessing. He walks and talks with us along the way. He teaches us along the way as we walk through our day to day activities. There are "new" terms for this but I can't recall what they are at this moment . . . I'm getting old.
An alternative to planning church group service activities might be creating a bulletin board or booklets or photo albums of the things we do away from church affirming that these activities are a legitimate expression of our faith- activities for home or church. These are people we love - not because we're targetting them for salvation. What? God only loves us so He can get us saved? Is that all there is?For some of us that means being born into a whole new kingdom, a whole new life. Transformation. But is that the only reason God loves us?
He made us. He made each of us unique. He loves us with all our quirks. I want to believe He loves the world that way too, each of us a special person to love. To my way of thinking, this is the world that God loves. Eternal life is to know God. To be saved/safe is to walk with God.
And I'm a firm believer that the things that are supposed to be left-hand activities, activities that the right hand doesn't know about, should remain so - the things done in secret that God rewards, not people. But use the word "secret" and parents and kids may conjure up the bad implications of the word "secret." A whole different discussion. Language again. Have fun with that.
But when it comes to children in emerging churches, how is "missional" different from what the church has always known?
Children participating in the same activities their parents do, as appropriate.
giving, serving, loving friends, family, neighbors as opportunities present themselves
participating in well-supervised activities they're interested in (sports, clubs, band...) that aren't church related with or without friends from church
inviting families and friends over
raising money for causes, giving (and delivering) material donations
giving away things they don't want or need
creating websites, artwork, essays about issues that matter to them (there are magazines that publish the work of children
field trips or speakers to learn more about history and the world around them to become more aware of social issues
writing letters
visiting people they know who can't get out and friends who are sick or in the hospital (as appropriate)
volunteering with parents
for teenagers, at one point our city had a separate teen court where kids were judged by their peers. Not sure if it's still happening. peer mediation
hanging out at your local rec center
community service
befriending new refugees in your community
Add more to this list if you like.
Many will look and say but this isn't new. And they're probably right. All these things were happening all along but there were activities associated with church and activities not associated with church as opposed to the thinking that all that we do we do to the glory of God. We work and play in His presence, with His blessing. He walks and talks with us along the way. He teaches us along the way as we walk through our day to day activities. There are "new" terms for this but I can't recall what they are at this moment . . . I'm getting old.
An alternative to planning church group service activities might be creating a bulletin board or booklets or photo albums of the things we do away from church affirming that these activities are a legitimate expression of our faith- activities for home or church. These are people we love - not because we're targetting them for salvation. What? God only loves us so He can get us saved? Is that all there is?For some of us that means being born into a whole new kingdom, a whole new life. Transformation. But is that the only reason God loves us?
He made us. He made each of us unique. He loves us with all our quirks. I want to believe He loves the world that way too, each of us a special person to love. To my way of thinking, this is the world that God loves. Eternal life is to know God. To be saved/safe is to walk with God.
And I'm a firm believer that the things that are supposed to be left-hand activities, activities that the right hand doesn't know about, should remain so - the things done in secret that God rewards, not people. But use the word "secret" and parents and kids may conjure up the bad implications of the word "secret." A whole different discussion. Language again. Have fun with that.
But when it comes to children in emerging churches, how is "missional" different from what the church has always known?
Monday, July 07, 2008
missional discussion
Brother Maynard at Subversive Influence has a serious series of posts exploring the idea of "missional". I came across it this morning looking for something else of course. He calls this his appendix. Coming in at the tail end maybe I'm living backwards.
I haven't really read through all the links, yet, but it made me ask myself how I define "missional". In it's simplist form I define it as living with a sense of purpose - to love the Lord my God with all my heart, mind, soul, strength and to love my neighbor as myself whatever I'm doing, wherever I find them. Not talking about it, just doing it. "Living" suggesting a flesh and blood expression as someone else mentions - Sonja, I think.
So then I asked myself, how does "missional" translate for children?
Children learn through the actions, ideas, and attitudes they see and experience. They learn to think, respond, act in ways that we encourage and reinforce. This includes not only the things we encourage and do with them but also behaviors and attitudes that we allow without correction. Not correcting bad behaviors and attitudes says "that's ok." Making excuses for bad behavior sends the same message.
The alternative? How do you want them to behave? "You can have fun [or] you can be confident [or] you can be flat-out-honest, but what you're doing - that's not how we treat people."
Step 2 , you have to teach them a different way to react and respond in that same situation. What is appropriate? Give them an alternative. "You're being sarcastic. Find another way to say that."
Step 3 Catch them doing it "right." And tell them. "I know ____ upset you but I saw how you handled that. Great job!" "I know you don't like ____ but that was a really kind thing to say."
This is the passage that sums up "missional" for me. It's not that the big social justice projects (giving to the poor, sending $, building houses, etc) aren't important but if I'm not learning to treat every person who crosses the paths of my life with love, dignity, and respect, I don't really understand what Jesus did.
These are just extras:
I Cor 8:1-3(NIV)
I Cor 13:3 (NIV)
Gal. 5:22-26
2 Pet 1:3-11
I haven't really read through all the links, yet, but it made me ask myself how I define "missional". In it's simplist form I define it as living with a sense of purpose - to love the Lord my God with all my heart, mind, soul, strength and to love my neighbor as myself whatever I'm doing, wherever I find them. Not talking about it, just doing it. "Living" suggesting a flesh and blood expression as someone else mentions - Sonja, I think.
So then I asked myself, how does "missional" translate for children?
Children learn through the actions, ideas, and attitudes they see and experience. They learn to think, respond, act in ways that we encourage and reinforce. This includes not only the things we encourage and do with them but also behaviors and attitudes that we allow without correction. Not correcting bad behaviors and attitudes says "that's ok." Making excuses for bad behavior sends the same message.
The alternative? How do you want them to behave? "You can have fun [or] you can be confident [or] you can be flat-out-honest, but what you're doing - that's not how we treat people."
Step 2 , you have to teach them a different way to react and respond in that same situation. What is appropriate? Give them an alternative. "You're being sarcastic. Find another way to say that."
Step 3 Catch them doing it "right." And tell them. "I know ____ upset you but I saw how you handled that. Great job!" "I know you don't like ____ but that was a really kind thing to say."
This is the passage that sums up "missional" for me. It's not that the big social justice projects (giving to the poor, sending $, building houses, etc) aren't important but if I'm not learning to treat every person who crosses the paths of my life with love, dignity, and respect, I don't really understand what Jesus did.
These are just extras:
I Cor 8:1-3(NIV)
I Cor 13:3 (NIV)
Gal. 5:22-26
2 Pet 1:3-11
Sunday, June 22, 2008
rewards
I probably never made it clear that when I talk about puppies and kids and rewards that affirmation and getting excited about success is at the heart of the reward. In dog training the food goes away. The praise stays. My observations say (though I'm not there, yet) that many dogs eventually just do it without reward and even without praise just because it's the right thing to do. Ok, they're just well trained dogs. It's pretty special when you have a pet that wants to please you. Though we're a little careful about teaching children a "living to please" mentality, it's special when you have a child that wants to please you, too.
But kids are different. Even if you take away the rewards whether self-centered, motivational, or fun, there are times in everybody's life when you just have to do "it" because it's the the right thing to do whether you want to or not, whether you get approval and affirmation or not, whether you get rewarded or not. Doing the right thing isn't always the thing everyone praises you for, or even the thing your favorite grown-up or your favorite person praises you for. Sometimes peer groups and communities encourage and support a kid doing the right thing. Sometimes they discourage it or even encourage doing the wrong thing. Which is why kids need to learn to think for themselves and trust their gut feelings, especially when those feelings are on the mark but everything around them is telling them "no".
God makes promises and He keeps them. We believe there are rewards in life. We also believe that there are rewards we won't see in this life. There are times in life when we feel gipped, even though we believe we did the right thing ... and life goes on. We walk on with our kids, and we all learn something. We don't live for the rewards, or maybe we do. Maybe we live with hope for the reward that someday we'll hear God say, "Well done, good and faithful servant. Enter into the joy of your Master!" In my mind, that's the ultimate reward - an unseen, unrealized reward. Sometimes just the anticipation of that reward is enough. Maybe that kind of thinking is easier for kids than for adults because adulthood hasn't yet stolen their imagination and optimism. Maybe they're not as dependent on external rewards as we think they are, unless we've made kids that way. Maybe we need to be careful.
John 20:29 " . . . Jesus told him, 'Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.'"
But kids are different. Even if you take away the rewards whether self-centered, motivational, or fun, there are times in everybody's life when you just have to do "it" because it's the the right thing to do whether you want to or not, whether you get approval and affirmation or not, whether you get rewarded or not. Doing the right thing isn't always the thing everyone praises you for, or even the thing your favorite grown-up or your favorite person praises you for. Sometimes peer groups and communities encourage and support a kid doing the right thing. Sometimes they discourage it or even encourage doing the wrong thing. Which is why kids need to learn to think for themselves and trust their gut feelings, especially when those feelings are on the mark but everything around them is telling them "no".
God makes promises and He keeps them. We believe there are rewards in life. We also believe that there are rewards we won't see in this life. There are times in life when we feel gipped, even though we believe we did the right thing ... and life goes on. We walk on with our kids, and we all learn something. We don't live for the rewards, or maybe we do. Maybe we live with hope for the reward that someday we'll hear God say, "Well done, good and faithful servant. Enter into the joy of your Master!" In my mind, that's the ultimate reward - an unseen, unrealized reward. Sometimes just the anticipation of that reward is enough. Maybe that kind of thinking is easier for kids than for adults because adulthood hasn't yet stolen their imagination and optimism. Maybe they're not as dependent on external rewards as we think they are, unless we've made kids that way. Maybe we need to be careful.
John 20:29 " . . . Jesus told him, 'Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.'"
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
more . . .
The underlying unspoken side of the last post is relational.
Are we afraid of older children and younger children growing relationships? Is our culture so saturated with bizarre crime stories and inappropriate sexual relationships that we and our children with us have lost the ability to love one another without all that cultural baggage? When we live in fear we serve an impotent god. We make God very small and powerless. I'm not talking about being irresponsible and stupid - we also serve a God whose depths of wisdom the most ancient human being will never fathom.
Yes, we're fallible human beings but if any community of people should be working hard to learn to love one another with a pure heart, shouldn't the church? The church - the Bride and Lover of Christ, children of the living God who's name is Father, Love, Truth, Judge, Shepherd, Counselor, Shield, Refuge - go through the names of the God of the scriptures. That's who He is. That's Who we represent - every part of Him. Oh yeah, He's God. Maybe that's why it takes generations to express who He is and why God is so patient with us!
We represent Him to our children, to one another, to the world around us. We stand in His presence and He decides whether or not we're doing a good job representing Him. Didn't Jesus come saying, "that which I see the Father do, I do" - (present tense)? Ok. Not an exact quote. Here's the exact quote. As always, read it in context. Maybe it's out of context here. But I still think it's relational and I still think it applies.
If we succeed, we will see the way we represent Christ Jesus reflected in our children - the way they interact with us, the way they interact with one another, the way they interact with any age, ethnicity, creed, socio-economic or educationally different, the way they interact with and love the world. It isn't memorizing the scriptures that count, it's the way we live them. That's what it's all about.
Each time we succeed, imagine God's joy!
Are we afraid of older children and younger children growing relationships? Is our culture so saturated with bizarre crime stories and inappropriate sexual relationships that we and our children with us have lost the ability to love one another without all that cultural baggage? When we live in fear we serve an impotent god. We make God very small and powerless. I'm not talking about being irresponsible and stupid - we also serve a God whose depths of wisdom the most ancient human being will never fathom.
Yes, we're fallible human beings but if any community of people should be working hard to learn to love one another with a pure heart, shouldn't the church? The church - the Bride and Lover of Christ, children of the living God who's name is Father, Love, Truth, Judge, Shepherd, Counselor, Shield, Refuge - go through the names of the God of the scriptures. That's who He is. That's Who we represent - every part of Him. Oh yeah, He's God. Maybe that's why it takes generations to express who He is and why God is so patient with us!
We represent Him to our children, to one another, to the world around us. We stand in His presence and He decides whether or not we're doing a good job representing Him. Didn't Jesus come saying, "that which I see the Father do, I do" - (present tense)? Ok. Not an exact quote. Here's the exact quote. As always, read it in context. Maybe it's out of context here. But I still think it's relational and I still think it applies.
If we succeed, we will see the way we represent Christ Jesus reflected in our children - the way they interact with us, the way they interact with one another, the way they interact with any age, ethnicity, creed, socio-economic or educationally different, the way they interact with and love the world. It isn't memorizing the scriptures that count, it's the way we live them. That's what it's all about.
Each time we succeed, imagine God's joy!
Monday, June 09, 2008
Older children ministering to younger children
A couple days ago I read a plea written in 2006 - encouraging churches to adopt a minimum age of 16-18 yrs for volunteers ministering to children. If they had said, minimum age of 16 yrs or 18 yrs for someone responsible for groups [insert a responsible # of] children . That would make sense to me but help me here I'm a little out of the loop.
Questioning the safety of allowing older children to work with and interact with younger children (assuming responsible older children and responsible adult supervision) - is this an issue for most church communities? Is it common policy to keep older children from interacting with or helping minister to younger children?
Off the top of my head, it seems that to create a policy like that we risk losing the valuable resource and the teaching and learning that occurs from older children giving to younger children and visa versa. We risk losing the valuable socialization of older learning to care for those who are younger like siblings and younger children learning to respect whoever they're learning from. It seems this would be especially important for children who don't have siblings. It seems that a policy like that would just reinforce society's compartmentalization of age groups and limited interaction between old and young.
I definately favor giving older children appropriate opportunities to work with younger children. I say this assuming that the responsible adults in charge have the authority to say, "my previous experience with [older child] says this isn't a good idea," or "this isn't working, maybe we can find some other way for [older child] to help," or "allowing these two older children to serve together isn't a good idea." I'm also assuming that 16-18 year olds (or adults for that matter) aren't left responsible for children that he/she can't manage safely.
Again, I'm out of the loop right now. Is it common practice for different age groups to be kept from ministering to one another? Or is it the exception?
I understand where the fears come from but is it our job to respond to fear and reinforce the fear or is it our job to respond to the fear and help people wrestle with what wisdom means and teach them how to overcome their fears and make wise choices?
And these questions don't even begin to address underlying social roots.
Questioning the safety of allowing older children to work with and interact with younger children (assuming responsible older children and responsible adult supervision) - is this an issue for most church communities? Is it common policy to keep older children from interacting with or helping minister to younger children?
Off the top of my head, it seems that to create a policy like that we risk losing the valuable resource and the teaching and learning that occurs from older children giving to younger children and visa versa. We risk losing the valuable socialization of older learning to care for those who are younger like siblings and younger children learning to respect whoever they're learning from. It seems this would be especially important for children who don't have siblings. It seems that a policy like that would just reinforce society's compartmentalization of age groups and limited interaction between old and young.
I definately favor giving older children appropriate opportunities to work with younger children. I say this assuming that the responsible adults in charge have the authority to say, "my previous experience with [older child] says this isn't a good idea," or "this isn't working, maybe we can find some other way for [older child] to help," or "allowing these two older children to serve together isn't a good idea." I'm also assuming that 16-18 year olds (or adults for that matter) aren't left responsible for children that he/she can't manage safely.
Again, I'm out of the loop right now. Is it common practice for different age groups to be kept from ministering to one another? Or is it the exception?
I understand where the fears come from but is it our job to respond to fear and reinforce the fear or is it our job to respond to the fear and help people wrestle with what wisdom means and teach them how to overcome their fears and make wise choices?
And these questions don't even begin to address underlying social roots.
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