Categories
children's ministry cartoons Easter holiday Kidzmatter Magazine Magazine

West Palm, Spring Break, and Palm Sunday

Cartoon of two children with palm branches
Last month, I got to spend spring break in Florida with my wife and daughter. Each time I’ve gone down for spring break, palm branches would be on my mind. For a kid from Indiana, they are exotic. But in Florida, they are as common as Indiana maple leaves. 

When something is common to us, it loses its meaning. To the disciples, that Sunday when Jesus entered Jerusalem could have been just another amazing day with their teacher. They had three years of amazing days. It may have felt common. But soon, they would realize how amazing that event was. In less than a week, the crowd would turn on the one they praised with “Hosannas.”

I drew this in 2010 for Kidzmatter Magazine. 

Categories
Easter holiday sketch diary

It’s Saturday, and Palm Sunday is Coming!

Boy holding palm branch. The text reads, "Palm Sunday is Coming!"
Copyright 2017, Kevin H. Spear

Tomorrow will be a day that makes full use of the palm branch industry across the country. Many churches will have kids marching into big church with palm branches held high.

I love Palm Sunday because it is a time of celebration before the drama of Passion Week. We go from the high of Palm Sunday to the low of Good Friday, and back to the high of Easter Sunday. Life is that way. We have highs and lows. Sometimes there are in the course of a day. Take time to celebrate the high points in your life. And when the low points come, remember that things are cyclical. Eventually, a high point will come again. 

I drew this in the Adobe Illustrator Draw app. It was a quick sketch on my iPhone. 

Categories
motivation sketch journal

Sketch: Taking the Bad Days with the Good

Sketch of a windy, cold day on April 6, 2017
Copyright 2017 Kevin Spear

Today was a day filled with blustery wind, ominous clouds, and spitting rain. Really! The rain felt like the world was spitting on me. I know a little about that. I went to middle school after all!

There are days that just seem they weren’t made for anyone. Then there are days that feel they were custom made for just me. We can persevere when we remember both kinds of days are coming. 

On this cold, windy day, I discovered how nice it was to sketch in the iPad Moleskine app. A miserable weather day became a nice discovery day. Now that’s a way to turn lemons into lemonade!

Categories
baby children cartoons children's ministry cartoons

When is too Early for Traveling Sports Teams?

Cartoon of two babies. One says, “As soon as I can walk, my parents want me on a traveling soccer team.”
Copyright © Kidzmatter and Kevin Spear
Cartoon of two babies. One says, “As soon as I can walk, my parents want me on a traveling soccer team.”
Copyright © Kidzmatter and Kevin Spear

 When I drew this cartoon I was thinking about the pressure to perform that some kids face. I am not from a sports-minded family and I probably passed that same lack of interest on to my kids. It’s not that I wasn’t interested in competition. It’s just that there weren’t very many traveling art competitions and ultra competitive writing conferences at my elementary school. (sure, there were spelling bees. I never made it past “pneumonia.”)

Continue reading “When is too Early for Traveling Sports Teams?”
Categories
pride Religion Cartoons

Whiteboard Presentation: Pride and Humility

White board drawing of a prideful person and a humble person
Copyright 2017 Kevin Spear

This morning, I got to illustrate a talk my wife was presenting to an elementary chapel on pride and humility. She did a great job talking about King Nebuchadnezzar and his fall due to pride.

Continue reading “Whiteboard Presentation: Pride and Humility”