There is a secret issue just under the surface in the ministry lives of many children’s ministers. The issue is the feeling of a lack of respect from others about what we do. We work with children and are separated from the main service. It’s easy for us to feel removed, forgotten, taken for granted and disrespected. Continue reading
Have you ever had a “Full Moon Sunday”? That’s what I call those Sunday morning services where everything should have gone perfectly… but for some random reason the kids are totally wound up. You feel like every bit of your preparation was pointless. And for me it always seems to be a service topic that I really thought would otherwise have made a huge impact. We’re not talking about a few kids causing problems. It’s more of a general restless din of noise and movement. It’s most frustrating because since it’s everyone and it’s nothing you can exactly put your finger on it’s all but impossible to change the behavior. Short of putting the entire group in time-out or marching them all in to their parents you just have to put your head down and just charge through. It’ll be 1pm soon.
I call these happenings “Full-Moon Sundays” because I’ve had friends who are nurses tell me that every full moon all kinds of crazy things start going down at the hospitals. Tons of extra babies are born and lots or weird injuries come walking into the emergency rooms. There seems to be no other explanation other than the phase of the moon. So when I have a weird Sunday where everything goes right but the kids, I have to blame something… so I blame the moon. I know the moon has no inherent power. I know it’s not really its fault. But it gets the blame anyway. As Milli Vanilli once said, “You gotta blame it on something”.
I don’t know that I have any advice or tips for this particular situation. I mostly just want to know if anyone else experiences this and if you do that you’re not alone. Here are a few thoughts on Full-Moon Sundays.
1. Don’t take it personally. If you were properly prepared you can’t blame yourself.
2. Don’t change anything. You’ll be tempted to rewrite policy or at very least change your program. Don’t ever make a permanent decision to fix a temporary problem.
3. Put your head down and charge through. Honestly, I believe the more potential your service has to change a life, the more your enemy will attempt to cause problems in your service. So don’t quit! Keep speaking, keep following that schedule! Sure, be open to what God may want to do, but don’t make a change based on how you feel in the moment.
Am I the only one who has “Full-Moon Sundays”? Maybe so. Either way I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments. Both your experiences and tips for dealing and getting through are welcomed.
Thought I’ve done a clean comedy podcast called Nobody’s Listening and a marriage and family podcast called Geek Loves Nerd and finally this here children’s ministry podcast called Children’s Ministry Monthly… I’ve always wanted to do a show for kids.
Jenna and I have been doing little shows here and there over the past couple of years called JennaCasts… but they were just bonus shows added to the Geek Loves Nerd podcast feed. Recently we’ve decided to split off and combine my daughter’s love of talking with my desire to produce a podcast for children.
Podcast Kid is a podcast for kids that focuses on topics that matter to kids ages 3-8. It’s a weekly half-hour show that features conversations, advice, silly songs and stories from Jenna, her Dad and Mom and a silly clown called JoJo.
Go check out Podcast Kid and if you like it, share it with some kids you know!
Kids, in a nutshell, are potential. An oversimplification yes… but still true. Everything a child does prepares them for their future. Even play is working to that end. My 4 year old daughter works harder at playing than I do at working sometimes.
When I look out at my group every Sunday morning I can’t help but see two future potentials for every child: The one God has planned and the version that Satan would have happen. With some children the God Version is easer to imagine. They seem like they’re going to end up that way almost automatically, though inside I know that is often far from true. Then there are kids who’s current behavior and/or situation make it easier to see the Fallen Version. They seem destined to become the back-row kid in the Youth Group.. mocking the kids who regularly fill the altar area during worship. Or even worse… they become involved in gangs, drugs, alcohol and start having destructive relationships with everyone they meet.
I value both of these views because both have value. One is a goal, the other is something to be avoided. Part of my job is to help one Version to win and the other to fail. If I can see each child through the eyes of my enemy, I can start to minister in a way that will minimize the chances of the Fallen Version to become reality.
If a child deals with anger chances are Satan plans to turn that child into a hateful, spiteful adult with a short fuse. The jails are full of men who were once children with attitudes and issues. But God has a different plan. A plan to help that child work through the anger, heal that heart, and help other people heal after being abused, injured or neglected. No jail time for helping others!
Same goes for kids who are the ‘good’ ones. We children’s workers can get a pretty twisted view of who’s ‘good’ and ‘bad’ because we typically only see them in the context of a large group… for only a couple of hours. We have no idea how they are at home, at school… and how they are inside their thought life where nobody sees them at all. The ‘good’ kids are just as much at risk as anyone. Even the ones who really are good… if you were the enemy of humanity… who would you go after the most? The kids who are already halfway there themselves or the kids who are truly pure in heart? Darn straight… I’d be going for the goodie-goodies. Those kids need you to see both sides of their potential as well.
I could keep going with this all day. Ask God to give you a dual view of your kids. Then ask him to help you minister to them and their families in a way that will draw them toward what He has for them. It’s not our job to do it all… but we can do our part better when we see our kid’s potential. Both potentials.
Reminds me of my own kids.
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