Last Tuesday, exactly one week after the girls started school, we got the dreaded call that 6-year old Hope had been in close contact with someone at school who tested positive for COVID.
Because of the close contact, Hope had to quarantine for...
“You guys are making me not even want to go to church anymore!” shouted Hope, my six-year old daughter, from the backseat of our van as we headed home from our first day of church shopping.
We began church shopping at a local church that’s part...
I’ve seen several recent posts in various online youth ministry discussion forums about how we can get kids and tweens to read Scripture.
Several people have suggested instituting a “Bible Bucks” program. The idea is that when young people read ...
NBC news has recently been airing a series of reports about the mental health toll of the pandemic on young people. As a youth pastor, I’m well aware of these. I’ve seen the toll this pandemic has taken on the young people in my ministry. I’ve...
It’s school enrollment season and as the parent of a kindergartener, I’ve been thinking about education a lot.
A few weeks ago, I listened to a podcast by The Mom Hour in which they reflected on their school priorities. That got me thinking about...
I have fond memories from my childhood of curling up in my mom’s lap, in her big (ugly) green recliner and reading the Berenstain Bears’ books. They were classics that every kid my age loved.
I’ve loved introducing these books to my own girls,...
I’m an introverted youth pastor who has, for years, considered myself to be a pretty good listener. Sadly, I fear that I sometimes listen BETTER to other people’s kids than I do my own. Having recognized this in myself, I was excited to read Becky...
In the doctor’s office, when Hope writhed in pain,
God was with us.
Through Hope’s pediatrician, who called ahead to the ER to pave the way,
God was with us.
In the emergency room, when we waited for answers,
God was with us.
Through the Linus...
I am extraordinarily thankful for the work I get to do with young people.
Even so, I wholeheartedly believe that the primary spiritual influencer in a young person’s life is their parents. As Kenda Creasy Dean says in Almost Christian, “When it...
As a children and youth minister, I’m often sought as the “expert” on parenting. I lead the classes, refer parents to other professionals in times of crisis, and share parenting stories in my sermons. As much as I try to share parenting failures,...