EASTER IS COMING!!!

Easter is the most special holiday we celebrate during the year.  It is the time where we reflect and rejoice in the amazing gift of salvation that was purchased for us through the blood of Christ.  For weeks beforehand we prepare and plan for that celebration, both in our hearts and in our ministries.

But, if I am really honest, it is also one busiest times of year.  In fact, it can be so busy for those of us in Children's ministry that we can come near to dreading this special time of year instead of rejoicing in it.  After all, there are Egg Hunts to plan, Palm Sunday/Holy Week Activities, volunteers to recruit, prizes to purchase, decorations to prepare and let us not forget the actual Easter Sunday Service which needs to be hands down the best one of the year (no pressure).  Plus, at least for my District, it is also near the end of the church year (our new year starts in April) which means reports and budgets to present as well.  It can all be very overwhelming.

So, how can we keep the focus on the proper place during the busy and yet most sacred Easter Season?  Here are a couple tips that I hope you find as useful as I have over the years.

Don't compete!
When it comes to Easter Egg Hunts, don't try to compete with the church down the street.  Do your own thing, do it well and then be happy with the results.  In my area, there are churches near us who do egg hunts with more than 30,000 eggs...one even drops something like 50,000 eggs from a helicopter every year.  There is no way we are going to top that.  So we don't try.  We do our own thing.  We focus on an area where maybe others might miss.  For us, we make sure that we have an area for children with special needs and all our games are easily played by any child of any developmental level as well.  We have a great time and we get to love on our community, but we are not stressed about trying to be as big as anyone else.

Don't neglect your own time with the Lord
Make sure you are setting time aside for your own devotions.  All the preparations will wait while you do.  It's easy to let all the "stuff" that has to get done creep into your devotional time, but especially during busy times...don't let it.  If you are focused on the Savior first, then everything else will fall into place.  Keep your time with Him a top priority.

Start Planning Early 
Start preparing for your Easter activities no later than January and sooner is better.  If you know months early that you are going to need volunteers for your Egg Hunt, start thinking about who to ask way ahead of time.  Then when it gets a little closer ask them.  I will admit that this is where I have the most trouble because I don't want to ask so early that they forget that they said they would help, but I don't want to ask so late that they already have plans.  You may need to send out reminders if you ask too early (not a bad thing to do anyway), but earlier is always better than last minute.  Will you need a game created?  If so, start working on it right away.  The important thing is that you start planning well in advance so that you know exactly what you need and who you will need to help you.  

Don't try to do everything yourself
In nearly every church, there are people who are willing to help if you ask them...SO ASK THEM.  Don't try to do everything all on your own.  I know what you're thinking, because this is by far the hardest thing for me to do as well.  But the fact is, that trying to do it all is the quickest way to burn out emotionally, physically and spiritually.  Find a group of people who you can rely on to help you and then work together.  I know that sometimes it feels like it's just easier to do it yourself, but the old adage is indeed true...Many hands really do make for light work.  

There is no two ways about it...Easter is a very busy time of year, but if we will do a bit of planning, keep our time with the Lord, and don't focus on what others are doing, we can change our perspective from one of "busyness" to one that really can rejoice in the gift of salvation that Easter celebrates.

Until next week! 


  

 

Keeping the Main Thing the Main Thing.

All throughout the year, we all are planning events and programming for our department.  And as we do it is important that we do not let opportunities pass us by that we can use for ministry.  When I am planning an event, there is one very important question that I need to be able to answer:

 Does this event include an opportunity to draw people closer to the Lord?

The answer, must always be YES.  That doesn't mean that there has to be an altar call at the event, but what it does mean is that the event MUST be Christ Focused.  Sometimes that means giving people an opportunity to fellowship with other families in the church (like at a picnic), but most of the time, it means making sure that the focus of the event is on the Lord and not just on having the event.   This will always mean more work on your part, but it's worth it.

Let me give you two examples of what I mean.

1) Water Wednesdays
In the summer it is hot and kids want to be outside.  So every summer, we have Water Wednesday's at church.  The kids bring a towel and expect to play all sorts of water games.  But each week we also focus on a Bible Story where water is an important aspect of the story.  Part of the games are planned to bring attention to that focus as well.  For example, one week, when the story was focused on how God held back the water of the Red Sea, we had the kids try to build a wall with water balloons. Not an easy task.  Try it sometime and you will see.  After they tried with all their might and could not get the wall to be very tall at all (Usually not more than two or three balloons high) we were able to talk about how, while we could not make a wall of water even if it was in balloons, God was able to build a wall of water using nothing at all...except the water.  Of course, a water balloon fight was also on the agenda that evening as well, but game was able to point toward the Bible Story...even amidst the fun of the evening.

2) Trunk N' Treat
Every year, there is a Trunk N' Treat at my church around Halloween.  In case you have never been a part of such an event, basically the idea is that there would be cars with decorated trunks in the parking lot with people handing out candy to the kids and in the gym would have games and food for those who attend to enjoy.  Just doing that would have been easy.  Play some games, decorate some trunks.  Everyone has a great time.  But that would not necessarily have pointed people to God.  So we decided to do a bit more. 

Because we wanted to make sure the event had the proper focus, my Children's Council and I decided to give the event a theme:  God's Blessings.  We told the people who decorated their car that they could decorate it with whatever they felt was a blessing from the Lord for them.  This allowed for much diversity in decor' but also kept the focus where it needed to be.  Then in the gym, every game and every area had a blessing theme.  Below are a couple of the signs that accompanied two of the games.

This was a simple fishing game where the kids throw a fishing pole over a curtain and pull out a
prize.

We used the game to remind them that we have a job to do.  We are to be Fisher's of Men.

The Cake Walk is an easy game where they walk in a circle while music plays and when it stops the person on the winning spot get's a snack cake.  

 We used the Cake Walk to remind the children of the sweetness of God's Word. 












 Even the table area (where folks could sit and  wait or chat) was the "Blessing of Rest".   










In my opinion, it is important to take every opportunity to point people to the Lord.  And if we can do it using things that they see often, then perhaps the next time they see that thing (like a fishing pole or a snack cake) they will be reminded of the blessings associated with those things in our games.

Every event, program, or activity should point people toward the Father.  Does it take more work to do that?  Yes, indeed.  Does it make a bigger impact on those who attend.  That is our prayer.

How do you keep the Main Thing the Main Thing?  I'd love to hear your ideas!

Have a wonderful week!!!