Tonight's Super Sloppy Summers was picnic themed. We ate outside and then had a whipped cream pie eating contest where you had to find the cherry sour in a pie tin of whipped cream without using eyes or hands. We also played blanket volleyball with water balloons, which actually ended up being a very nice lesson in unity and cooperation because it was much more difficult than I thought it would be. We covered the parking lot in sidewalk chalk paint [I love the stuff]. And we played duck duck splash, which is like duck duck goose but with a splash ball--oh, and the mush pot was actually a giant rubbermaid container filled with instant mashed potatoes. That was awesome, and I am sure that you can guess what happened after we were done--mashed potato fight! I just found mashed potatoes near my armpit, actually.
Small group time involved discussing the feeding of the 5,000 and also what Jesus meant by the term bread of life.
So much fun, and parents are telling me that the kids countdown the days until the next one. That's cool to me.
Wednesday, June 27, 2007
Sunday, June 24, 2007
postsecret
I am a big fan of this site and am thinking of adapting it for use in children's ministry. I pray for each and every secret.
And in keeping with the theme of secrets and confessions, I have to admit that I would like to write on this blog a few more of my frustrations with ministry and even seek advice on what to do about situations at work, but I don't due to a fear of someone at work reading it or any other retribution of writing about them. I am a little more candid than most of my friends (I actually admitted that I hated VBS, and man, the negative feedback I got from that offline--seems you just can't be honest anymore, since being 'negative' is such a sin ). Still, there are things that come up that I just don't write about. Think, though, of the support and help we could give each other as ministry professionals if we could just be totally honest on a blog.
Am I the only one who holds back?
And in keeping with the theme of secrets and confessions, I have to admit that I would like to write on this blog a few more of my frustrations with ministry and even seek advice on what to do about situations at work, but I don't due to a fear of someone at work reading it or any other retribution of writing about them. I am a little more candid than most of my friends (I actually admitted that I hated VBS, and man, the negative feedback I got from that offline--seems you just can't be honest anymore, since being 'negative' is such a sin ). Still, there are things that come up that I just don't write about. Think, though, of the support and help we could give each other as ministry professionals if we could just be totally honest on a blog.
Am I the only one who holds back?
Friday, June 15, 2007
Random Shout Out
I just noticed that I have a lot of knitters who read my blog. Knitters, you have my utmost respect for the patience and artistry that comes with your talent. I sometimes just look at the pictures of the things you make, and it makes me smile.
Thursday, June 14, 2007
Note to Self
When having a fundraising hot dog dinner, remember to put a gigantic sign out front that reminds people to only get 2 hot dogs apiece to start. Otherwise, people think it is an all you can eat buffet and will pile 6 hotdogs on their plates.
And another weird question...if you buy an equal number of hot dogs and an equal number of buns (and you know this because you are meticulous about such things), how do you run out of buns and still have hot dogs? Do people just eat buns plain? Are they carb loading or on some anti atkins kick? Is there a bun gremlin just like the sock gremlins? Does it go into another dimension? I wonder these things.
And another weird question...if you buy an equal number of hot dogs and an equal number of buns (and you know this because you are meticulous about such things), how do you run out of buns and still have hot dogs? Do people just eat buns plain? Are they carb loading or on some anti atkins kick? Is there a bun gremlin just like the sock gremlins? Does it go into another dimension? I wonder these things.
Sunday, June 10, 2007
Pentecost
Our multigenerational Pentecost celebration was such a blessing. Everyone got into it, and I was very pleased. I planned it with the adult ed person who is really starting to get into reading about different generations, which is a great asset in an adult ed person.
We started out together and listened to the kids and youth read the Pentecost story, which was illustrated (and projected onto the screens) by the KidsInCers. Then we moved upstairs and rotated freely around to stations--making windsocks, making pinwheels, constructing balsa wood airplanes [a very cool station because it was led by an airplane enthusiast and a prominent NASA person], candle making, cupcake decorating [birthday of the church, you know], bubbles etc. We also had a missionary visiting who pilots planes to bring supplies to remote villages in Africa. I guess you can see that we were trying to emphasize the wind and fire imagery of the Holy Spirit. Anyway, it was the coolest thing to see the ages intermingle. At one point, I saw an elderly man in a wheelchair holding up his airplane with a smile that rivaled his neighboring 6 year old seatmate. From the smile, you couldn't tell who the 6 year old was, and the man began telling the boy about his plane, and soon, 2 girls came up, and then a huge crowd was gathered. In fact, the buildings and grounds people were counting to make sure we didn't bust fire code.
Then the crowd broke, and they all headed down the stairs and elevators with wind things in hand and filled the sky with their toys, smiles beaming brighter than the sun.
I stood there, red velvet cupcake in hand [cream cheese icing mustache atop my grin] thinking, yep, this is good. This is very, very good.
We started out together and listened to the kids and youth read the Pentecost story, which was illustrated (and projected onto the screens) by the KidsInCers. Then we moved upstairs and rotated freely around to stations--making windsocks, making pinwheels, constructing balsa wood airplanes [a very cool station because it was led by an airplane enthusiast and a prominent NASA person], candle making, cupcake decorating [birthday of the church, you know], bubbles etc. We also had a missionary visiting who pilots planes to bring supplies to remote villages in Africa. I guess you can see that we were trying to emphasize the wind and fire imagery of the Holy Spirit. Anyway, it was the coolest thing to see the ages intermingle. At one point, I saw an elderly man in a wheelchair holding up his airplane with a smile that rivaled his neighboring 6 year old seatmate. From the smile, you couldn't tell who the 6 year old was, and the man began telling the boy about his plane, and soon, 2 girls came up, and then a huge crowd was gathered. In fact, the buildings and grounds people were counting to make sure we didn't bust fire code.
Then the crowd broke, and they all headed down the stairs and elevators with wind things in hand and filled the sky with their toys, smiles beaming brighter than the sun.
I stood there, red velvet cupcake in hand [cream cheese icing mustache atop my grin] thinking, yep, this is good. This is very, very good.
VBS and burgers
Ok, let me clarify why I hate VBS, but first I need to talk about my favorite burger place.
I don't eat many burgers, especially now that I'm training for a marathon, but when I do, I don't go for McDonalds or the higher class, Fuddruckers. I go to Lucky Burger. The building is shaped like a sombrero and serves up a nice 1/4 lb burger with a side of some of the best fried rice in town. When I go out of town, I search for these sort of places because I like the indigenous, the eclectic, the heterogeneous. I'm just not a happy meal kind of gal.
Now onto VBS. Many years ago, VBS was a different animal. It kind of had the feel of a backyard Bible camp, the closeness of small groups, a distinct personality, and just overall simplistic fun. Perhaps it is just my "neck of the woods," suburban, affluent Houston, TX, but things just aren't the same. Now, VBS is prepackaged, overpriced, and homogeneous to the point that aside from the theme, you can't tell the difference between publishers. One has a chipmunk and a buffalo telling about Jesus, and another has a mouse. It's all the same.
Now don't get me wrong--it runs like a well-oiled machine. When I started this job a year ago, I was told that I didn't have to do anything but walk around and smile, and they were right. Here it is, a year later, and aside from adding a rather large missions component to it, I'm the smiling poster queen, but I hate that. Why don't I do anything about it? It's because at this point, it runs smoothly, it's not broken, per se, and since I am a one staff member team, I've got to pick my battles.
Now to answer Trisha's question-- yes, I am ministering. If you read the rest of my blog, you can see the many, many areas in which we are ministering. I'm busy because I am constantly in prayer, constantly in motion, thinking of ways to minister inside and outside our community and doing all of them. The problem is that VBS is not a ministry to me, at least not in this area. The churches around here call each other in January to find out which publisher each church is using so that they don't duplicate. They also pull out their calendars and fight over weeks because down here, parents want cheap (yes, we charge for VBS down here because the curriculum is so expensive and so are the tshirts and all the little dodads that go with it) babysitting all summer--every week should be filled with a VBS from somewhere, and it is. June is the Baptists, us, the Church of Christ and the Methodists. July is taken by independence day, the Bible church, the other Baptist church, the nondenominational mega church, etc. It is sickening.
And because it is a well oiled machine, it is the most efficient choice to put a cap on the amount of kids who come--200. It means better security, better organization, better planning. It also means that once Suzie and her little friend Betsy and all their little goldilocks friends pay their tuition with checks clipped together to ensure that they are in groups together, the chairperson/s begins having to turn away neighborhood kids, last minute move ins, kids who are outside the flock and sometimes worse turn away reasons--I've seen it all from churches around here, not just ours. That's not ministry to me, but it's the obvious choice when you're doing one of these kits.
I have a volunteer crew of brilliant, creative women and men, and yes, they run the ship so well that it is flawless year after year, but to me, their brilliance and love of the Lord is lost in the midst of (forgive me using the phrase again) Chuck E Church, and the kids get lost in it, too. But my team is only so big, and we are planning unbelievable ministry opportunities all the time, so I can understand why doing something as simple as Group VBS sounds easy and wonderful.
Two years ago, I worked for a church in Bolingbrook, Il that didn't have the funds for one of these VBS to go boxes. We put our heads together and created our own VBS. It was called Bible stories come to life, and the kids became a part of the Bible stories. They crawled into an ark that we made of crates and pallets and heard the story while a friend of mine and I ran around outside holding up rainbows and blue streamers and spraying the window with water and making fake birds fly. Yeah, it was low budget, but the kids loved it, and every one of them could tell you the story afterward. "Yeah, but it's Noah, you say. " Ok, well we also made a life sized ark of the covenant, created a river in the church hallway with rocks and reeds on the side, had the kids carry the ark down the river and into the temple, etc. We had the kids blow trumpets to crumble the wall of Jericho and on another day, had them sit inside the dark well/pit while looking up at the tiny light in the ceiling and hearing the story of Joseph. This was ministry--this was VBS to me, and I even adapted the idea to create the Fear Not Festival last year, which was astounding because of my volunteers' brilliance and artistry. That is my idea of VBS.
Well, I've rambled on enough, and you hopefully understand my point of view now, and if you don't, well, I can't ramble on anymore. It's not that VBS is bad, it's just another happy meal, and next year, maybe we'll do something more.
I don't eat many burgers, especially now that I'm training for a marathon, but when I do, I don't go for McDonalds or the higher class, Fuddruckers. I go to Lucky Burger. The building is shaped like a sombrero and serves up a nice 1/4 lb burger with a side of some of the best fried rice in town. When I go out of town, I search for these sort of places because I like the indigenous, the eclectic, the heterogeneous. I'm just not a happy meal kind of gal.
Now onto VBS. Many years ago, VBS was a different animal. It kind of had the feel of a backyard Bible camp, the closeness of small groups, a distinct personality, and just overall simplistic fun. Perhaps it is just my "neck of the woods," suburban, affluent Houston, TX, but things just aren't the same. Now, VBS is prepackaged, overpriced, and homogeneous to the point that aside from the theme, you can't tell the difference between publishers. One has a chipmunk and a buffalo telling about Jesus, and another has a mouse. It's all the same.
Now don't get me wrong--it runs like a well-oiled machine. When I started this job a year ago, I was told that I didn't have to do anything but walk around and smile, and they were right. Here it is, a year later, and aside from adding a rather large missions component to it, I'm the smiling poster queen, but I hate that. Why don't I do anything about it? It's because at this point, it runs smoothly, it's not broken, per se, and since I am a one staff member team, I've got to pick my battles.
Now to answer Trisha's question-- yes, I am ministering. If you read the rest of my blog, you can see the many, many areas in which we are ministering. I'm busy because I am constantly in prayer, constantly in motion, thinking of ways to minister inside and outside our community and doing all of them. The problem is that VBS is not a ministry to me, at least not in this area. The churches around here call each other in January to find out which publisher each church is using so that they don't duplicate. They also pull out their calendars and fight over weeks because down here, parents want cheap (yes, we charge for VBS down here because the curriculum is so expensive and so are the tshirts and all the little dodads that go with it) babysitting all summer--every week should be filled with a VBS from somewhere, and it is. June is the Baptists, us, the Church of Christ and the Methodists. July is taken by independence day, the Bible church, the other Baptist church, the nondenominational mega church, etc. It is sickening.
And because it is a well oiled machine, it is the most efficient choice to put a cap on the amount of kids who come--200. It means better security, better organization, better planning. It also means that once Suzie and her little friend Betsy and all their little goldilocks friends pay their tuition with checks clipped together to ensure that they are in groups together, the chairperson/s begins having to turn away neighborhood kids, last minute move ins, kids who are outside the flock and sometimes worse turn away reasons--I've seen it all from churches around here, not just ours. That's not ministry to me, but it's the obvious choice when you're doing one of these kits.
I have a volunteer crew of brilliant, creative women and men, and yes, they run the ship so well that it is flawless year after year, but to me, their brilliance and love of the Lord is lost in the midst of (forgive me using the phrase again) Chuck E Church, and the kids get lost in it, too. But my team is only so big, and we are planning unbelievable ministry opportunities all the time, so I can understand why doing something as simple as Group VBS sounds easy and wonderful.
Two years ago, I worked for a church in Bolingbrook, Il that didn't have the funds for one of these VBS to go boxes. We put our heads together and created our own VBS. It was called Bible stories come to life, and the kids became a part of the Bible stories. They crawled into an ark that we made of crates and pallets and heard the story while a friend of mine and I ran around outside holding up rainbows and blue streamers and spraying the window with water and making fake birds fly. Yeah, it was low budget, but the kids loved it, and every one of them could tell you the story afterward. "Yeah, but it's Noah, you say. " Ok, well we also made a life sized ark of the covenant, created a river in the church hallway with rocks and reeds on the side, had the kids carry the ark down the river and into the temple, etc. We had the kids blow trumpets to crumble the wall of Jericho and on another day, had them sit inside the dark well/pit while looking up at the tiny light in the ceiling and hearing the story of Joseph. This was ministry--this was VBS to me, and I even adapted the idea to create the Fear Not Festival last year, which was astounding because of my volunteers' brilliance and artistry. That is my idea of VBS.
Well, I've rambled on enough, and you hopefully understand my point of view now, and if you don't, well, I can't ramble on anymore. It's not that VBS is bad, it's just another happy meal, and next year, maybe we'll do something more.
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