Every year, in the spring, I notice it. The kids that used to be so enthusiastic in their singing start to stand or sit in stone silence. Fourth and fifth-grade boys are the hardest. They start to be very aware of others and have no desire to do anything “uncool.”
Sometimes, when I teach, I like to scan the audience while the kids sing during worship. Frequently, I will find kids that are getting into the music. But I also find the one or two faces that clearly do not have their “worship face” on.
Cartoon of a girl asking her teacher, “I heard you singing during worship. Why don’t you use Auto-Tune?
A similar incident happened to me once. A girl came up to me after I taught her class. She had helped me in worship. She informed me I made a better teacher than a singer. So I thanked her. What else could I do?
Sometimes in children’s ministry, you have to wear different hats. I used to fret about whether I was a good singer or a teacher. At least now I know I’m a better teacher than a singer. The only question remaining is, how bad of a singer am I?
Don’t answer that. I’ll let the kids critique me instead.
I drew this cartoon for K! Magazine.
Cartoon of a girl and a boy with a microphone. The boy says,”It’s not like I’m asking you on a date. I just want to know if you will sing a duet.”
I drew this for Illustration Friday. This week’s word is “duet.”
Cartoon of a group of Christmas carolers. They’re singing, “Deck the Halls With fiscal Slowness, fa-la-la-la-la-a-a, La-la-la-la! Please give us our Year End Bonus…”
I originally drew this a dozen years ago during another economic slow-down. These things happen in cycles.