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children's ministry

Why I am in Children’s Ministry: A Video Interview

self caricature of The Yellow Kevins

This is a bittersweet time for me. My church has a monthly video about volunteers who serve in children’s and youth ministry. They interviewed me about my role in children’s ministry. Here’s the video:

Within the video, I explain the strange story of The Yellow Kevins. Thanks to the wit of a kindergartner and fourth-grader, I got to draw a jaundice version of myself.

I also explain what has kept me going in children’s ministry for over twenty-five years. I have loved working with the kids. But I found the bigger reason in a passage found in Psalm 78.

It is a bittersweet moment because my wife will be exiting Salemkids, the children’s ministry, at our church, to pursue what God is calling her to next. It is an exciting, scary and meaningful journey all wrapped up. We’ll see what the next chapter holds.

Categories
motivation

The Challenge of Waiting

Cartoon of people waiting in line. One man says, "I don't normally expect long, Christmas-shopping lines at a convenience store."

Yesterday, I had an appointment. We were making good time on the freeway. the GPS app showed an accident was ahead, but it would only delay us four minutes. Then we slowed down. and we waited….

  • And we waited…
  • And we waited…
  • And we waited more…

Traffic was at a standstill for two hours. We had to cancel the first appointment. Did my wife and me waist our afternoon? It felt as pointless as the couple waiting in my cartoon.

Cartoon of people waiting in line. One man says, "I don't normally expect long, Christmas-shopping lines at a convenience store."

When traffic finally moved again, we decided to keep our dinner appointment with friends. After all, we came this far! It ended up being a pleasant evening. The memory of the two-hour standstill faded. Eventually, the wait did feel worth it! It reminded me of this verse:

Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.

Romans 12:12 NIV

It resonates with me because my wife and I have been in a period of waiting. We know things are about to change in our life, but we don’t know how or when. We only know it begins when she resigns from her position as a children’s pastor at the end of the year.

We are all forced to wait once in a while. I didn’t feel joyful, patient or faithful in the traffic jam. But how I waited ended up mattering more and led to an enjoyable evening.

Sometimes, how we wait during this time of year is more important than the event we are anticipating.

Categories
motivation

Constraints Can Make You More Creative

Cartoon of two boys at a painting. One boy says, "It's my finest work. I call it, 'Clean Your Room!'"

From Fast Company:Brainstorming, thinking outside the box, working with free reign on a project–they’re old creativity maxims, but how well do they really work?

— Read on www.fastcompany.com/3027379/the-psychology-of-limitations-how-and-why-constraints-can-make-you-more-creative

Last night, I had a cartoon to draw. My old laptop is showing it’s age. It’s slow. I upgraded the system software and now it won’t play nice with my old drawing tablet. I may have chucked it all in if I didn’t need to send a cartoon out.

Cartoon of two boys at a painting. One boy says, "It's my finest work. I call it, 'Clean Your Room!'"

Then I remembered the article from Fast Company. I smiled when I read it because my high school graphic design teacher always proclaimed to the class, Limitation is the Basis of all Creativity! It’s the constraints that cause us to think in creative ways.

Of course, that doesn’t work if you see constraints as obstacles that cannot be overcome. Each time we face a problem, we can rationalize why things won’t work, or we can get creative and find a solution perhaps no one has thought of before.

Every challenge, every constraint gives us an opportunity to think creatively. Look at those limitations as an opportunity to think outside of the box.

Categories
Sketch notes

A Christmas Story Sermon Sketchnotes

Yesterday, my pastor delivered a sermon based on A Christmas Story. I love the film partly because it’s based in Indiana and the school Ralphie goes to looks just like the elementary school I went to as a child.

I drew my notes for this session. I just had to! I had to get Fleck at the flagpole and the leg lamp in a sermon sketch note! Yes, I know Fleck had an aviator’s cap on and my sketch doesn’t. But I am pulling out my creative license for this violation.

Sketch ©2019 Kevin Spear | Sermon © 2019 Steve Southards

I resonated with the sermon of what to do when you’re stuck. We all get stuck from time to time. This time of year, we can feel like we’re stuck in the same Christmas traditions that used to mean something but no one can remember the why. We can begin to think about regrets over the year and start to think about new year’s resolutions.

Regardless, if you are a person of faith, there is always a way to get unstuck! Romans 7:15-25 has it all set up for us. There is hope for the person who feels stuck… even to a frozen flag pole!

Categories
motivation

Why it Never Makes Sense to Give Up

Soccer stadium

American football tackleWe turned off the TV at the half. We would have loved to watch it until the end, but we had church tomorrow and the boss needs to be in the children’s area bright and early.

Ohio State hadn’t scored until the the final minutes of the first half. Then Wisconsin scored again. It was 7-21 in favor of the Wisconsin Badgers when we shut off the TV. It looked like the Buckeye’s fate was sealed.

But when we woke up this morning, we discovered that wasn’t the case. The Buckeyes came back and won 34-21. They didn’t let the Badgers score in the second half and the offense made a major push.

Ohio State could have given up at halftime.

  • They could have said this was a bad day and accept fate
  • They could have convinced themselves Wisconsin was the better team last night
  • They could have let the score determine their outcome. After all, Ohio State was shutout. They couldn’t score in the first half until the final minutes.

But the coaches and team must have had other ideas. They regrouped and played a totally different game in the second half. That is the mark of true winners.

It may appear to make sense to give up.

  • Things are stacked against us
  • We can’t seem to score, let alone win
  • That business seems destined to fail
  • It may appear your health will never improve so why bother?
  • It may seem you can never make enough to pay your bills.

But it never makes sense to give up! As long as you are in the game, you can readjust, you can plan for the future. You can thank God for what you have, where you are and where you are going.

  • Always strive
  • Always persevere
  • Always keep in the game
  • Never give up!