September 1st, 2010
Disneyland Paris did a survey of parents and kids focused on the time they spend playing games with one another. (For some reason – the French survey was done with British parents.)
They discovered that 20 percent of parents don’t know how to play with their kids.
They also discovered that 30 percent of parents get bored playing with their kids.
Even sadder was the discovery that kids KNEW when their parents were bored.
Fifty-five percent wish that their parents would spend more time with them.
Why were the parents apathetic toward playing with their kids?
* Some said other siblings interfered. (Is there not something a parent could do about that?)
*Others said that they had too much work or too many household chores.
*30 percent of the parents said that they would enjoy playing computer games with their kids – but kids (89%) would rather play board games or other non-technology activities. (Maybe because you interact more.) Yes, the kids do like computer games, but would rather play those themselves.
One mom stated that playing with her kids seemed like work, just one more thing to do during the day.
The entire survey is rather sad. Bored playing with your child? What a great opportunity to talk about all areas of life – including the spiritual! What a great opportunity to teach sportsmanship! What a great opportunity to laugh together and have fun! What a great opportunity to let your child know how much you enjoy being his parent!
God’s Word tells us in Ecclesiastes 9:10 that whatever we find to do, we are to do it with all our might. In other words, we are to give 100%.
Think about that the next time your child asks you to play still another game of checkers or asks you to go on a bike ride.
Be a “do-it-with-all-my-might” parent.
Please, please don’t be bored!
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August 30th, 2010
Since a good portion of my time is spent working on Awana stuff – and making materials that help leaders answer those deep, theological questions that kids ask, I thought I would list the questions I was asked during an actual Sparks club meeting.
So, one night, whenever a Sparkie asked me something I wrote it down for future reference. Just call it work research.
1. What do you call those people that are in those shirts? (T&T clubbers)
2. T&T is hard, isn’t it?
3. Is today Sunday?
4. Can I go to the bathroom?
5. Is it treasure box day tonight?
6. We need some wheels over here. Do you have wheels?
7. Can I go to the bathroom?
8. Am I a WingRunner? I’m in the blue book.
9. Can you tie my shoe?
10. Are we playing this game again?
11. Can I go to the bathroom?
I’m sure doing this real-life research will help me do my job so very much better in the future. 
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August 30th, 2010
I’ve heard – and you’ve probably heard too that young adults come back to church once they have kids.
Barna has done some research to see if that’s true. Here’s what he discovered.
Just five percent say they’re back in church solely because of the kids.
Forty-seven percent said kids made no difference in their church involvement.
Twenty percent said they did become more active in their churches after they had kids.
Seventeen percent said kids helped them reconnect with the church after not attending for awhile.
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August 26th, 2010
One of the new T&T products this year is the Service Passport. This is an optional activity for clubs – a passport book for kids to keep track of the service projects they have done either as a group, a family or an individual.
Why not take it a step further in your home? Have your kids design a food passport? Each time they eat a meal representing a different country, they can design a page in the book for that country. You might even be able to find a related stamp (look in the scrapbook section of a store) and stamp the page after the meal is eaten. As you talk about each country, pray for the children living there.
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August 26th, 2010
Our lives are saturated with training opportunities.
The mail includes advertising brochures on conferences and seminars offering training on every subject from “Cooking an Italian Dinner” to “Getting Along with Difficult People” (a seminar they seem to put on every six months or so).
Work, too, has training. Training on new programs, training on new computer software, training on time management, training on instigating interesting conversations with your carpool (OK. Just kidding on the last one.)
The point is, “training” is a buzzword of our culture.
But “training” has been a buzzword for a long time.
Solomon wrote: Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old, he will not depart from it. (Proverbs 22:6) And whether you prefer NIV, KJV or NKJV – the word is train.
“Train” in the Bible is from the Hebrew word chanak which means to initiate or discipline. (Discipline, by the way, does not mean “punishment,” but rather comes from the word “disciple.” )
Let’s say you decided to attend a workshop on a new software program. You walk into the room and the instructor comes in carrying a TV. He nods to you, sits down at the front of the room and starts watching a football game. (GO STEELERS!) Some of you in the class begin to chat and he stops watching long enough to yell at you to be quiet.
You have a question about the subject and you attempt to get the instructor’s attention, but he is focused on the screen and doesn’t even hear you. After the class is over, you go out “into the world,” try to use the software, but totally mess up. The instructor is devastated. What did he do wrong?
Yet, sometimes we as parents do this very thing. We focus on everything but “training” our children, hoping that the children will turn out OK and learn everything they have to learn on their own.
Doesn’t work that way.
We need to be intentional with our kid-training.
And kid-training is not limited to a weekend seminar, but a 24/7 ongoing instruction curriculum.
In fact, the Lord is so adamant about that, He even gives us an outline of what we’re supposed to teach. (See Titus 2.)
Let’s get serious about training our kids in the way they should go.
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August 24th, 2010
As our kids start school this fall, we need to pray for them. We need to pray that they will have the wisdom and courage to stand up for what is right – because there is a lot of stuff out there that’s not right.
One of the things that has hit the world of kids’ news these past couple weeks – are dance studios that are offering classes on pole dancing for 9yos or if you want to pay for private lessons, you can enroll your 5yo. Yes, you got that right. The parents of the kids enrolled in these classes and the teachers involved say that “it’s just exercise.” However, classes have suggestive titles (such as promiscuous) that are very much not JUST exercise.
As one mom said, “If it’s just exercise, then send them to gymnastics and let them learn a routine on the parallel bars.”
We shake our heads and wonder how adults could even think about offering such things to kids – but obviously a lot of adults have no problem with it.
We need to be alert. We need to teach our kids how to make choices between right and wrong. We need to pray for ourselves as parents, too – that we have the wisdom and courage to be aware of wrong influences on our kids. When it comes to parenting, we don’t get vacation days – every day is a work day.
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August 23rd, 2010
Click on the link to see some interesting survey results by Youth Specialties.
Poll Results: What Bible translation do you use in youth group? | Youth Specialties.
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August 20th, 2010
By now, most kids are back to school or getting ready to go back.
Why not plan a special Family Night to celebrate (or mourn) the end of summer? Get out the barbecue, cut the watermelon and have some fun.
Look at the pictures from summer vacation. Allow each family member to share their favorite summer memory.
Together, choose a family verse for the school year. (You might want to choose one that encourages us to do our best at whatever we’re doing.)
Give each family member (including Dad and Mom) a piece of paper and an envelope. Each person writes down five goals for the year. (You may have to help younger kids write down their goals.) Put the goals in an envelope to be opened at the end of the school year to see how many goals were accomplished. You might want to make a duplicate list to hang on a bedroom mirror so kids can keep their goals in mind!
We’ll even provide one goal for children and one goal for parents.
For kids – I will finish my Awana handbook.
For parents – Each week I will set aside time to help my child with his handbook verses.
Have fun and start the New Year School Year with enthusiasm!
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August 17th, 2010
I had quite a bit of reaction to this when I first posted it last fall. Some leaders printed it off to give to their parents. So, I thought I’d post it again.
Since it’s the beginning of a new school year, I’ve been noticing lists of things teachers wish they could discuss with parents. So, I thought I’d do a list of things Awana leaders wish they could tell dads and moms.
1. We love your kids – a LOT. We’re at Awana because we know that teaching kids the Word of God is absolutely the most valuable thing we can do with our time.
2. Yes, we get tired. Most of us have full time jobs at an office or factory somewhere or spend our days with our own kids. We don’t get paid for being Awana leaders (and no, we don’t live at church). Yet again, we know that the privilege of working with YOUR children is a responsibility that can’t even be compared to most of the things we do.
3. Because we often come to Awana straight from cooking supper or getting home from work, we need a little time to set up. When you drop your kids off at the door a half hour early and then leave – that means we are now responsible for your children and miss some of that time we need to prepare. Please don’t drop your child off more than ten or fifteen minutes before club. (We know there are special circumstances – and we’re willing to work with you.)
4. Likewise, we need to get a good night’s sleep, too — and still have things to do at home like get our clothes ready for the next day, make lunches for our own kids, etc… Please don’t come for your child a half hour after everyone else is gone. (Again, we understand that things happen that occasionally cause you to be a little late.)
5. Part of what we do at Awana is play games. Please make sure your child is dressed appropriately. Kids usually find it difficult to run around the circle in flip-flops or shoes with two-inch heels. Oh, and you might want to make sure your child is wearing a belt if his pants are too big. We’ve seen more than one child have to hold up his pants as he runs.
6. We know that some of you haven’t attended church very much and might have questions about your child’s verses. Please ask. That’s why we’re here.
7. Yes, we know that sometimes we forget to give a child an award. Trust us. We don’t forget on purpose just to give your child a hard time. But we’re human and sometimes something gets lost in communication and we miss something. Just tell us or have your child tell us and we’ll check it out – really, we will. We promise.
8. Our leaders have been through our church’s child protection classes. We’re real sorry we didn’t let your child go home with your sister, but we’ve never seen her before and her name isn’t on your child’s approved list. We want to keep your child safe, so if someone we don’t know is picking her up, please contact us before hand.
9. Yes, we know your child is busy with school, gymnastics, drama, art, computer games and tv watching, but simply spending five or ten minutes a day would probably be enough for him to do two sections a week. And, if you helped him study, he might even be able to do more than two sections. What better way to get into discussions about the good things God says to us in His Word than talking about the verses he learns?
10. A lot goes on during the time your child is at Awana. We might have a clubber trip over a chair and hurt her foot, we might have a boy angry that he didn’t win a contest, we might spend ten minutes working with a child on a verse (that he should’ve learned at home) and we might have had the privilege of leading a young life to the Lord. We need your pr
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August 17th, 2010
Church lets out at 12:00. At 12:20, Dad and Mom are standing in the corner of the lobby (where they’ve been for the past 20 minutes) chatting with some friends about the new golf course out on the West Side of town.
The entire time they’ve been standing there, Dad has been holding Junior by the hand. At first, Junior was content watching the people walk by. (And Mrs. Elderly even stops to give him candy.)
But now he’s getting restless. He starts hopping up and down, but Dad tells him to be still. Junior quiets, but then sees his friend by the information table. With a quick yank, he frees his hand from Dad’s hand and is across the lobby to see his Friend. The Friend giggles and starts chasing Junior. The two weave in and out of several people, almost knocking down Mr. Elderly who is shuffling along with his walker.
Surprisingly, Dad actually sees this. He dashes around some people and grabs Junior by the arm. “Stop! Do you know what Pastor does to kids who run in the lobby? He doesn’t like it when kids run in his church.’ He drags Junior back to the corner and continues his discussion of the 18th hole.
Junior thinks about what Dad has said.
Junior once again yanks his hand free and heads for his friend. This time they see a pile of worship folders on the info desk. They blow at them, seeing how many they can blow to the floor. Next time Dad notices, Junior and Friend are sitting in a pile of folders, throwing them into the air.
Now, Dad is angry. Once again he grabs Junior and drags him back to the corner and the golf-course conversation. “What do you think you’re doing? Don’t you know this is God’s house? Show some respect. I thought you loved Jesus.”
Junior thinks about that a moment, too.
His thoughts aren’t complicated thoughts. In fact, neither Dad, Mom or Junior even realized the messages taught after church superseded the messages taught during church.
Here’s what Junior learned.
1. The pastor is a mean guy who doesn’t like kids.
2. The pastor owns the church.
3. The church is God’s house. (Our bodies are the temple of the Holy Spirit – not the walls of a church. 1 Corithians 6:19)
4. God doesn’t much like kids either.
Here’s what Dad and Mom could do.
1. Teach Junior that the church lobby is not the place to run because there are older people who can easily be knocked over and we need to be respectful of that.
2. Teach Junior that the church belongs to all of them (not just the pastor) and therefore, they all need to treat it respectfully.
3. Bring a special coloring book and crayons or small cars along after church, so Junior and Friend can happily color or play together while waiting for their parents. (Yes, this takes some extra time, but we should want our kids to make friends at church and should be willing to put forth an effort to make that happen.)
Any comments?
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