Categories
children's ministry cartoons

Why We Need More Unorthodox Children’s Ministry Teachers

Close up of cartoon 1388

Cartoon of a man talking about a teacher. He says, “Mrs. Jones is an unorthodox Sunday school teacher, but the kids love her sword swallowing act."Standardized tests have become the bane of school teachers for a good reason. It’s difficult being creative when you are hammering your students with facts and figures for the next critical test.

Thankfully, standardized tests haven’t come to children’s ministry. Now there is a need for scripture memorization and biblical literacy. However, we must balance the need for knowledge with the need for creative storytelling.  Children’s ministry workers need to remember when we tell a story creatively, it can bring the lesson to life.

We are all wired to tell and hear stories. After all, Jesus taught in parables as he also taught the scriptures.

As I look my old cartoon, I’m wondering what Bible story would involve sword swallowing. I’m not encouraging any student or teacher to take up sword swallowing. I’ll leave that up the professionals like Mrs. Jones. All the same, if you had the opportunity to use a sword swallower, which Bible story would you think could fit the bill?

Categories
Parenting Cartoons

Searching for parenting cliches

Cartoon of a guy on the Parent's Cliche Hotline. He says on a phone, "Try this classic. 'You keep making this face, and it'll stay that way!'"

I drew this before the Internet was a staple. It is so much easier to Google a good clichĂ© now. A few that caught my eye were…

When I was a kid, I swore I would never use some of the clichĂ©s my parents used on me. That promise lasted until my first-born was old enough to talk. My favorite clichĂ© became, “Someday, when you’re older, you’ll understand.” The problem with that one is I’m still waiting to be old enough to understand what’s going on. Who wants to admit that to your child? Not me!

ClichĂ©s are so useful because they deal with universal problems. They’re just too easy to use. What are some clichĂ©s you’ve caught yourself saying?

Categories
sketch journal

We all have our struggles

Sketch notes of a sermon by Kyle Idleman on troubles and self absorption

Sketch notes of a sermon by Kyle Idleman on troubles and self absorption

Yes, we all have our struggles. No one is immune. We like to think that isn’t so. And we certainly aren’t going to make a practice of putting a less than flattering side of ourselves on social media, are we?

I drew this sketch when I listened to Kyle Idleman talk about how self-absorbed we have become. I would have to agree. It is far easier to display my successes than to announce my blunders.

Do we do ourselves any favors when we put only our best foot forward on Facebook?  In a Photoshopped world, do we make progress when we take out the blemishes? After all, in this original file, I misspelled Kyle’s name. It took a little layer work and a re-save to correct my mistake. I thought that was a good thing, since I was talking about the guy, but where should I draw the line?

Yes, this whole social media gig can make a guy self-absorbed about covering his blemishes!

Categories
illustration

Happy 18th Birthday to my daughter

Mariah birth announcementEighteen years ago, I drew a birth announcement. It was very risky since a cartoon version of a family member can come back to haunt you.
And that is exactly what happened last week! My mother-in-law printed some pictures to celebrate my daughter’s birthday. One of the prints was the birth announcement I drew to announce the big day. My daughter appeared amused. I had to clarify that no cartoon could ever be as cute as the real thing. To prove it, here is a photo of the two of us. We both looked much younger then than now!

Dad-Maria1996Heaven knows I’ve made my share of mistakes with my kids. Drawing cartoon versions of them is probably one of the least mistakes I’ve made. One of the worse mistakes was when I struggled between getting my freelance work done and spending time with my kids. As much as I loved illustrating for books and magazines,  it all seems to trivial now compared to the time I had with my them.

My dear daughter, you are now a young lady. You have brightened my world. And I have cherished every moment with you. Happy eighteenth birthday!

Categories
Babies

Can a baby be too happy?

Cartoon of a girl commenting on a happy baby. The girl says, "You have an attitude problem. You're just too happy!"
Cartoon of a girl commenting on a happy baby. The girl says, "You have an attitude problem. You're just too happy!"

When I’m not feeling in the best of moods, nothing can cheer me up like a smiling, laughing baby. Nobody ever wants to make a laughing baby settle down. After all, what are you going to do? Tell him to act his age?

I didn’t think it was possible for a baby to be too happy. Then I found this article from the 2010 Psychology Today that reported covered Angelman Syndrome.  This is a rare, neurological disorder that has continual laughter as one of its symptoms. My first thought was:

  1. Mom was right. No matter what it is, you CAN have too much of a good thing.
  2. Now parents have another thing to worry about.

Has someone told you to stop worrying about your child, only to discover later your suspicions were right? Or have you worried about something your child did only to find out everything was fine?