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I have been married for 9-years now and would have thought that I would have "matured" beyond some of the silly stuff.  I mean, I am this "oh-so-good" Christian wife and all, right?  As my friend would say to me, "blah, blah, blah."  Whatever!  I would think that after almost 10-years of marriage I wouldn't have certain things rise up in me anymore, but alas, it's obvious that I still have some growing to do.  Here's how I know.

In my work with Children's Ministries, I have both written/authored curriculum and used purchased curriculum from other companies.  Do I think one is better than the other?  Well, it really all depends.  Some ministries write their own curriculum because they cannot find one to purchase that fits their ministry needs or maybe even one that is Biblically strong or sound.  This, however, takes a LOT of time when you want to do it right.  Still, I have seen many a Children's Ministry Director battle with the decision of whether to purchase

Nineteen months ago from the day I am writing this article, my daughter Kendall was born. She was six weeks premature and weighed only 3.7 pounds. She was a little runt! She had a non-eventful 10-day stay in the NICU before she was sent home. After being home for two weeks, she became very ill and was readmitted into the hospital – this time in the PICU. The doctors prepared me for the possibility that she may stop breathing and had a ventilator standing by. Needless to say, this was a very nerve-wrecking time for my family and I.

“Your job is to speak out on the things that make for solid doctrine. Guide older men into lives of temperance, dignity, and wisdom, into healthy faith, love, and endurance. Guide older women into lives of reverence so they end up as neither gossips nor drunks, but models of goodness. By looking at them, the younger women will know how to love their husbands and children, be virtuous and pure, keep a good house, be good wives. We don't want anyone looking down on God's Message because of their behavior. Also, guide the young men to live disciplined lives.

Recently I went on a field trip with my son Quad and his pre-school class to the pumpkin patch. Just to give you some sort of an idea of what this trip was like; it had rained almost every day the prior 16 days…so to describe that place as muddy is a vast understatement. It was sooooo MUDDY! There was not one place we could step without our feet sinking into squishy, mushy grass and mud. I honestly don’t think I have ever been somewhere (on purpose) that had that much mud. LOL!

Well, I am reading this book called Grace Based Parenting by Dr. Tim Kimmel and it’s ministering to my soul right now. If you don’t know, I am a parent of a four year old boy Eddie, IV (or “Quad”) and a two year old daughter Kendall. Quad has been my “easy” kid for almost all of his life; very laid back, very low key, easy going like his dad, sweet, gentle and loving. Recently, however, he went through a stage that I was unfamiliar with.

Luke 2: 1 – 7 (AMP)

I have worked with Children’s Ministry (CM) in a few different settings. The largest CM that I have worked with had somewhere from 300 – 400 children. The smallest that I have worked with had about 30 children – all with children with ages ranging from infant age to 5th grade. No matter the size one of the biggest challenges for us was the obtaining and maintaining of volunteers.  There is an “art” with managing volunteers in CM.