Categories
children cartoons relationship cartoons technology cartoons

Do You Make the Best Use of Technology?

The boy in this cartoon found a solution to his problem. He knows that if there is any chance he will have a social life in the future, he needs to show evidence he can talk to individuals of the opposite gender. When I drew this, the only thing that came to mind about “social distancing,” would have been the plight of poor, nerdy boys.

Technology can help us if we are smart about it.

  • It can help us keep connected as we continue to practice social distancing
  • It can help us get work done at home
  • It can keep kids going to school even as the schools are closed

But technology can also cause problems.

  • It can distract us from work or school
  • It can fill us with anxiety when we hear the same doomsday scenario over and over
  • It can keep us from disconnecting and make us feel like we have to be always on

How have you used technology wisely? What are some tips for those who may struggle with using it wisely?

cartoon of girl and a boy with a web cam
Categories
motivation

Certainty Versus Infinity

As a boy, I learned there were infinite ways to annoy a girl. Many times, my discovery would be purely unintentional.

One afternoon, I was riding the bus home from school. There was a girl in front of me with golden curls. At the time, my sister was too young to have curls that big. For some reason, I was fascinated by them. My second-grade, male mind had no idea the time it to create those perfect curls. I found them fascinating. I was like a moth to a flame.

Cartoon of two boys walking. One says, "Today at school I discovered there are an infinite number of ways to annoy a girl."

I found myself wanting to touch them as if I wanted to confirm they were real. I thought I could do so without her noticing. I was wrong! She turned around, glared at me, and scolded me for being so rude.

Part of me was crushed. I had no intention of pestering her. But the other part was satisfied with my scientific experiment. Yes, they were real. Those golden curls somehow defied gravity and spiraled into infinity, but they were real.

I like to think I live in a certain world. If I do A, B will naturally follow.

  • If I keep my head down and do my work, I will never get laid off
  • If I am a safe driver, I will never be in an accident
  • If I eat my veggies and exercise, I will be the first nearly immortal guy to compete with Methuselah.
  • If I am good and never do rude things like touch the golden curls of that third-grader on the bus, my life will go smoothly

The truth is, we have far less control than we would like to believe. Life is uncertain. There are infinite ways our lives could go today.

There are infinite ways our day can go wrong today. However, there are also infinite ways our day can go right today.

Instead of attempting to control everything, I will do my best to live a life of faith, hope, and love today. It may not make things any more certain, but it can allow me to trust that things will turn out all right no matter what curveball may come my way today.

Categories
children's ministry cartoons creativity Kidzmatter Magazine Magazine

Creativity Can Get Noisy

Cartoon of two girls looking at two boisterous boys. One girl says, "When it comes to boys, it isn't creativity until they make some rude noises."
Copyright ©2017 Kevin Spear & Kidzmatter Magazine

Creativity can come unexpectedly and in some amazing varieties. Sometimes, it takes some cutting up and a little obnoxious behavior to get the creative juices flowing. 

When I saw my three-year-old niece the other day, she was expressing some “noisy boy” creativity in the form of some rude noises. Perhaps rude noises aren’t limited by gender anymore. And it may do us good to act as carefree as a preschooler or preteen friends when it comes to creativity. May we all have a chance to express a little creativity with some friends today.

I drew this for Kidzmatter Magazine.

Categories
webcomic

How to gross out the girls

Cartoon of two girls staring at a muddy boy

Cartoon of two girls staring at a muddy boy. One girl says, “If clothes make the man, then gross must make the boy!”

There is a mudathalon going on not too far from me. It would be a boy’s dream to compete in that. It makes me want to head out to a pig sty right now!