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cartoon children cartoons Christmas holiday

Naughty, Nice or Gross?

Cartoon of a boy and girl. The boy asks, "I can't be naughty during Christmas? What about gross? Can I be that?"
When people talk about doing something they know is wrong, they frequently describe it as feeling dirty and want to get clean. Boys, on the other hand, love to play in the mud. They jump at the chance to get messy and gross. If they can get Mom, a sister, or a friend that is a girl to be repulsed by their condition, so much the better!

This Christmas, maybe the best gift would be to let a boy get messy without getting on Santa’s naughty list. There has to be a place in the garage or in the basement you can spread out some paper and let the kids get a little creative and messy this holiday season. Just watch out for glitter. Once that is out of the container, that stuff shows up everywhere!

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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.

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Mother's Day

Mothers Day and Determination

This morning at church, we will celebrate Mother’s Day. It’s the third highest attended Sunday in the year with Easter and Christmas in the top two positions. This Sunday, I will be helping kids get from their classes to big church so they can sing and warm their mother’s hearts. It should make for some moist eyes and wonderful photo opportunities.

Meanwhile, I will be teaching the elementary kids about determination. I like that because it reminds me of my mother. She has taught me determination and to keep going when things get hard.

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creativity

Michael Hyatt | 7 Ways Successful Creatives Think Differently than Unsuccessful Ones

Today, I got a great reminder from Michael Hyatt on the keys to being a successful creative.

7 WAYS SUCCESSFUL CREATIVES THINK DIFFERENTLY THAN UNSUCCESSFUL ONES It Takes More Than Talent

It’s definitely worth reading. Too often, creative people rely on talent. It also takes the right attitude, the ability to work with teams and do the hard work. It’s a great reminder that talented people don’t get a free pass to be difficult geniuses.

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creativity

New experiences and the weather

I wrote this last year when I was living in Arizona. As I review this, it’s a rainy, August day in Ohio. Things change quickly!

One of the great things about moving to a new area is seeing the weather through new eyes. Weather is something we all like to complain about.

When I lived in Indiana, I was always looking forward to the next season. Is it too hot? Don’t complain too much because in six months it will be too cold? Is it too wet? Watch out! A drought could be just around the corner. Do you think the weather is perfect? Uh oh! next week it will be totally different. Sorry about that, buddy!