We’re taking a break from blogging to focus on family and other commitments.  We’ll see you in February.

In the meantime, are there any topics, issues or questions you’d like to see addressed here?  Just leave a comment in the box below.  See you in 2012!

Although Thanksgiving is traditionally family-oriented and a time to reunite with loved ones and gather around a roast turkey the size of Rhode Island, that’s not how our Thanksgivings typically run.  Parents on both sides have gone on to glory.  We live more than 1,000 miles from our nearest family members.  The rest are flung to the four winds, spread out across the country.  So weren’t not able to get together as often as we’d like, and almost never on Thanksgiving.   Since  my husband is in retail, Thanksgiving weekend is just another work weekend as the store struggles to stay in the black and hopes for a bang-up Christmas season.

So our Thanksgivings are a little… shall we say, “non-Norman Rockwellish”?   (After dinner, our immediate family usually gathers in the living room with pie and hot chocolate  and watches either A Day for Thanks on Walton’s Mountain or It’s A Wonderful Life.  Sometimes both.)

A quick look around “Thanksgiving” in the blogosphere usually brings up something like: “What are you doing for Thanksgiving?” Or “How many people are you having over?”  “Are you traveling this Thanksgiving?”  “Who’s going to win the football game?” Or the well-worn classic, “What are you thankful for?”

Not to reiterate the obvious, but Thanksgiving is a holiday set aside to, uh… “give thanks.”  Count our blessings.  Lift our eyes off our self-soaked lives and look up to the Father of every good gift.  All well and good.

So why did I resist taking that route this year?  That route is easy.  Comfortable.  Expected.  It’s also a little … canned.  Predictable.  Rote?  Is that what Thanksgiving has turned into – “giving thanks” by rote - because we’re supposed to?

Lord, have mercy.

So this Thanksgiving, when some of us are still working off that third slice of pumpkin pie or that extra serving of gravy and mashed potatoes that we needed like a hole in the head, how ’bout launching into “thanksgiving mode” year-round instead of just the last part of November?  Rather than relegating thanks-giving to one season or weekend a year, what if we took the first five minutes of each day to lift our hearts to God in honest thanks?  What if we went through each twenty-hour stretch looking for at least one thing, person, or event for which we can be grateful? I don’t mean Pollyanna or pie-in-the-sky bye-and-bye syrupy stuff.  I mean something that requires alertness, deliberation, and exercising our “thankfulness muscles.”  Examples:

- “Lord, thank you for the 39th straight day of rain, a roof that doesn’t leak and the promise of an extra-green spring.”

- “Thank you for my boon canine companion (or feline),” as the case may be.

- “I’m grateful for hot showers and soap after an afternoon on the trail or in the garden!”

- “Thank you for this morning’s sunrise.”

- “Thank you for Corn Flakes and a bowl to eat them out of.”

- “Thank you that although Chris is working today, he had yesterday off to spend with the fam.”

Thanks also for:

Puccini arias, truth, faithfulness, libraries, friends and family, mercy, raspberry white chocolate cheesecake, poetry, lilacs, a good night’s sleep, divine guidance and providence, ice cream and…  what else?

If we develop the daily discipline of deliberate thankfulness, I’m willing to bet we’ll discover whole new horizons of  wonder and beauty that were there all along.  We didn’t see them because we weren’t looking for them. We’ll probably find answers to prayers that we may have forgotten about, splashes of grace and  delight that we somehow overlook in our every day busyness.  We may even experience God in a whole new way as we become intentional about acknowledging Him for Who He is and thanking Him for all He’s done for us.

Norman Rockwell or not, does that sound like an “exercise program” you can sign on to?  Who’s with me?

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By Mimi Bullock

Volunteers are needed! How many times have we seen this sign or posted it ourselves? Too many! We lose good volunteers and sadly ministry helpers do come and go. Sometimes the volunteers quit for reasons we could have prevented. While that is not always the case, leaders should know the five reasons why this most commonly occurs. Retain one of the most important elements of your ministry, the volunteers, and build a stronger team and reach all the children in your community.

Continue reading here.

1. Children are the ripest spiritual field in the Kingdom. This was God’s design. Even adults, Jesus said, ought to “come as children.” It was God’s plan that faith begin as a child. When it doesn’t, there is always a high price to pay.

2. The ripest field is being harvested by the least equipped and trained. While there is a growing number of professionally trained children’s ministry leaders, the VAST majority of those who minister to children are parents and volunteers thrust into that role with little or no training and with meager resources.

3. The Internet is the most strategic and cost-effective way to bridge this gap. We can impact an unlimited number of those who reach and teach children 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. And we are!

4. Because Jesus Loves Children and those on the front lines reaching them.

By Tony Kummer

If people really understood the spiritual blessings of serving God’s kids, we would have to start a volunteer waiting list. Children’s Ministry is one of the most important things your church will ever do. Here’s why:

6 Reasons Why You Should Serve in Children’s Ministry.

“Mildred”

Take Mildred.  She’s been teaching third and fourth grade SS  since just after the discovery of fire.  She’s not about to give up up her Mayflower-vintage “teaching” techniques, curricula, attitudes or approaches for some new-fangled paradigm or “radical” modern stuff, no siree, Bob! “But we’ve always done it this way” is her favorite refrain, and the bored-out-of-their-gourds kids in her class aren’t exactly tapping their toes in time.

“Joe”

Joe rushes into his class well after the kids arrive each week, dropping papers and splashing coffee on the table.  His idea of “lesson prep” is reviewing the weekly lesson five minutes before class starts instead of three.  Joe looks like an unmade bed and couldn’t “teach” his way out of a paper bag if the instructions were printed on the reverse side.  When you suggest he might consider “other avenues and opportunities that may be better suited to your special gifts and skills,” and offer additional training and helps, Joe shrugs it off, claiming teaching kids “is my ministry” and that “the Holy Spirit is my guide” and therefore he doesn’t need any help.

“Penny”

Your fifth grade children’s church teacher, Penny, “has other plans” half the time and calls in as “unavailable” because “something came up” most of the rest.  The kids see subs more often than they see the “teacher” who’s on the schedule.  You’ve asked if Penny would like a break, maybe she’s burnt out or over-committed?  She doesn’t return phone calls, reply to email or attend your monthly teacher meetings.  But she adamantly refuses your offer to replace her.

You don’t want to offend anyone.  You certainly don’t want to create a “tempest in a teapot.”  You could ignore the issues, hoping they just magically disappear or take care of themselves. But that’s unlikely.  And children’s ministries is suffering in the meantime.  So, what do you do?

Tip #1: Tread lightly.

Tip #2: Bathe everything and everyone in prayer.  Also consider:

It’s probably safe to say that most Children’s Pastors strive to ensure individual and team success in kid min.  However, when someone is unable or unwilling to meet the obligations related to their commitment, you need a Policy for Unmet Expectations, and everyone needs to be aware of it up-front.  Whether you come up with your policy yourself, in conjunction with a ministry committee, input from other seasoned kid min veterans, your leadership team or whatever, the goal of such a “policy” is to be specific and firm, but gracious.  It should be based on the Matthew 18 model.  Here are some suggestions:

1. Pray before doing or saying anything.
2. Treat people with respect and sensitivity.  They are your most valuable assets.
3. If problems arises, use a verbal reminder regarding expectations.  State the problem clearly.  Solicit honest feedback.
4. Inquire about latent causes of an inability to meet expectations (illness, injury, work schedule, family issues, overslept, etc.).  Don’t assume.  Don’t jump to conclusions.  Get the full story directly from the source.  ASK.  Then listen.
5. If problems persist and do not involve a safety issue, send two written reminders regarding expectations and whatever else is appropriate, two weeks apart, usually by email.  (If a safety issue involved, IMMEDIATE action is required.)
6. Offer support.  Ask: “What do you need to be successful in this area?  How can I help?  What can I pray about?”
7. If a ministry worker is repeatedly unresponsive, suggest they “step aside” for a season, such as taking the summer off.
8. If the worker does not step aside voluntarily, you plus a deacon or other designee (1 + witness) urge stepping aside.  This should be done face-to-face, and in a spirit of gentleness.
9. If the problem persists, determine the necessity of worker removal with your leadership for a reasonable amount of time (two weeks – one month or longer as deemed appropriate and necessary).
10. Worker permitted to resume commitment if problem is adequately addressed.  (This requires effective follow-up.)  If the problem/issue persists, remove the worker for the rest of the teaching term.  They may return to service at your discretion the following term if sufficient amelioration  is evident and progress is being made.

The goal of this process should be to improve, enhance and support, not to browbeat or “power-trip.”  Be sure to maintain appropriate documentation, and trust God to work in you and your worker to turn “dead wood” into something new, fresh, and vibrant!