Christmas Time

Thursday, March 1, 2007

children's pastor conference...

alright, so i said you'd find something new on this blog this morning...hmm...how's afternoon sound to you?

well let me just first say that if you have never been to san diego then you are totally missing out!! if it weren't ridiculously expensive to live there, we would move in a heartbeat. you can't beat the amazing weather and the beautiful beaches.

so here's what went down. five of us (plus anna and emmie) from our church flew out last saturday and landed in beautiful san diego where the weather was a cool 60 something...just right for capris, flip flops and a light jacket. after getting our stuff loaded in the rental van we went over to coronado island to a little restaurant overlooking the bay for lunch. i had a calamari sandwich that was fantastic and i can't wait for ross to go there with me. coronado island is picturesque. people rent suris and ride along the shore line with white sail boats on the water behind them!

after lunch we headed over to the hotel/conference center. the place was nice. we never left there again until time to fly home. though sad because there was no beach time, the conference proved to be a wonderful refreshing time!

i want to share some highlights from the sessions i attended:
  • worship is when we give to God. the only part of a church service that God gets anything out of is our worship. when there is a great sermon, He isn't sitting up there going "oh wow that's a great point, hadn't thought of that"- He is God- He thought of everything.
  • to teach our children how to worship we must live lives of worship, we must model it for them.
  • Psalm 8:2 says, "out of the mouths of babes; You have ordained praise." worship is not something we do...it's who we ought to be. it is what we were created to do.
  • infants and toddlers are not too young to understand. when mary, pregnant with jesus, visited elizabeth, pregnant with john, elizabeth's baby lept in her womb. jacob & esau were at odds in the womb. babies can comprehend spiritual things and so when our hearts are worshipping God and we are rocking them or telling them a story they can learn.
  • we, as parents, are responsible for the spiritual health and growth of our children. are we who are in leadership in the church equipping families with the tools to help them raise spiritual champions?
  • family ministry begins with men's ministry. Psalm 78:1-8
  • be intentional in everything in our departments- books, puzzles, toys
  • we who are ministering to children can facilitate the laying of spiritual foundations in the children we serve.
  • if someone asks "where do you see yourself in 5 years?" our desire should simply be "wherever God wants me".
so those are just a few of the encouraging things that God showed me this past week. we heard some great speakers like latika garth, phil vischer (creator and voice of veggie tales) and the guys who stayed through monday night also heard max lucado.

the conference was a great time to refocus on the role i play in our church. what a blessing it was to be there and hear from the Lord.

Lord, i pray that you might reveal Yourself in a fresh way to the families that come into our nursery at catalina. i pray that i would be a worshiper not just a bystander. let the words of my mouth and meditations of my heart be pleasing to You. use me Lord, in the lives of the children and families i see each week.

2 comments:

Elizabeth said...

Wow! That sounded like an amazing conference. I love the thought that infants and toddlers are not too young to understand worship. I wonder what this means for us and Catherine. How do we teach her to worship? And I often feel weird because I want to bring her in the service, but a lot of people believe she should be in the nursery. I can understand that she is distracting. Hmmm . . .so much to think about. I can't wait to see you and hear more about it!

Beach Local said...

Glad you enjoyed Coronado. It's one of my favorite places.

http://www.eCoronado.com