Stepping Down

For the few of you who actually take a look at this blog or still subscribe to something that hasn't been posted on in over a year: I haven't been blogging about Children's Ministries because I have found my part time hours so limited that I can only focus on getting my weekly tasks done. It doesn't mean the work hasn't been happening though. And for as much as I have LOVED my job, I have found myself loving the idea of being home all the time with my son even more. Here is the letter we sent out to the families of our church this evening:

Dear Parents,

I am writing to tell you that after much thought and prayer, I am stepping down as Morning Star’s Children’s Ministries Director in order to stay home and be a full time mom to Jace. This has been a hard decision to come to as I love my job at Morning Star, I love the staff, and I love you—our families. But I feel so confident in this choice and am excited to spend my time with Jace (and Nolan too!).

I am so thankful for my time on staff at Morning Star. I feel as if I truly “grew up” here, joining the staff just after graduating college. This is where I discovered who God called me to be, met my husband and dedicated my son. Our leadership has blessed me so much by giving me opportunities to use my gifts, encouraged my growth, and cared for my family. I respect our pastors so much and Nolan and I look forward to continuing to learn from them as we discover what it is like to simply be members of this church.

The transition ahead for Children’s Ministries has been prayed over and taken very seriously. You won’t notice any changes in the care and teaching your children receive each week—unless it is the continual growth and improvement we always strive for in our program. Lucy Younis, our Early Childhood Director, has agreed to step into the role of Interim Children’s Ministries Director for the next six months. During this time the leadership will continue to look at what the best plan for our program is and address any staffing needs. Jared Boltman continues to pastor our elementary students while Justine Sowers helps him lead Adventure Mountain. Lucy, Jared and I have always felt that we have an incredible team, and I know that their talents and strengths will continue to complement one another well.

I gave the reigns over to Lucy on November 1, but will continue to be around this month acting as a consultant/advisor; handing over my responsibilities, helping her understand the history of our program and wrapping up some of my ongoing projects. You’ll also still see me around at check in on the weekends for the rest of November—I’m not ready to say goodbye quite yet! And then, after that, Nolan, Jace and I will join your ranks as attendees of this church we love so much.

Thank you so much for allowing me to be a part of your family for these past several years. It has been a joy and a blessing to watch your kids grow spiritually and physically.

Love,

Jill

What's in the Bible--Using it for our Summer Program

I've been meaning for a long time to write about how much I LOVE Phil Vischer's "What's in the Bible." I got a sample copy of the first video a few months ago and my husband and I enjoyed one afternoon of my maternity leave watching it. He and I both laughed through the whole thing and were so impressed by how educational and entertaining it was at the same time. In fact, I was so impressed by it that I tucked it away as a summer time option for our elementary program.

In order to give our volunteers a bit of a break, and to make up for a lack of help, we simplify our summer program. In the past that's meant using Kidmo or Elevate video curriculum. Our kids have enjoyed them, but we've found that they just weren't as simple as we would have liked as far as small group time goes. And while a team is working on creating a curriculum to use in churches along with the What's in the Bible videos, that curriculum isn't available yet (and it sounds like it'll be amazing, but also not be quite as simple as we're looking for during the summer).

And then one night during my maternity leave, while feeding my son at 3 am, I had a thought. What if we used the What's in the Bible videos and wrote simple lessons to go with them that fit the exact needs of our program with a light volunteer staff? I started thinking about what a good job my husband always did with making the "games" in curriculum actually competitive (kindergarten boys quickly figure out that a game really isn't as fun unless there is a competitive element, and why is it that so many curriculum's games lack that element?). And I thought about how fun the challenges in "Minute to Win It" are. And I remembered how much I liked Willow Creek's Metamorphosis curriculum and how we were able to use so many of their activities as games using two teams instead of small groups with the right up front leaders a few years ago.

All those thoughts lead to what has been our best summer program yet. Each What's in the Bible video has two chapters to it, and we only show half of a chapter each week, meaning the three videos available are able to get us through 12 weeks of curriculum--our entire summer! We watch half a chapter (usually about 12 minutes long), have a large group facilitator intro and review a bit of what's in the video, and then divide the kids into teams. Typically, we have a girls team and a boys team (that way we have a variety of ages on each time), other times we've had as many groups as we have leaders that day. All but a few of the weeks have had a competitive element, yet we don't give out any prizes. The kids compete purely to compete. We've played a giant game of Connect Four, navigated mazes, filled in the blanks of a work book, assembled a giant puzzle, and all the while, answering questions about what was taught in the video.

Our kids LOVE watching the videos (just don't tell the 4th and 5th graders that they're watching the same thing as the first graders or else they might start acting too cool for it). When I ask kids who their favorite character is, the most common answer is, "The guy who likes ponies!" And better yet, my leaders are learning right alongside the kids. This past week, one of the high school leaders told our elementary pastor, "I don't think most high school kids would know what the canon is, yet our kids can tell you what it is and how it's used."

So, all that to say, I love What's in the Bible. The kids in my ministry love it. And I am so excited to think about how we can keep using the videos in the future.

Living as a Believer

I think Wednesday will be one of my favorite days of VBS. We'll be looking at what it means to live as a believer among other believers. I remember first falling in love with the Acts two church back in high school when I read the book, Rediscovering Church. I loved their example of learning and worshiping together, as well as the love that they showed in meeting the needs of their fellow believers. I love it when our weekend curriculum covers the early church, and the kids in our classes also love hearing about the way that the church supported each other in its early days. People loving people is easy to love.

On Wednesday, each child should walk away understanding that:
-When you are a believer, you share a special connection with other believers.
-We can look at the early church to see how believers should live with other believers.
-We see that we should have fellowship (time together as believers), we should listen to teaching from God’s Word, and we should worship God together.
-The people in the early church really cared about each other: they shared what they had, sold their property and possessions to help the new believers in the midst who had no where to go, and they praised God and enjoyed the goodwill of all the people.

Every year we challenge our kids to raise money for a special giving project. We've helped build a water tower in Tonga, rebuild a home for a family whose house burned down in Tonga, purchased supplies for a VBS in Hong Kong, supported a mission trip to Latvia and supported an outreach festival within our own town. Our kids typically bring in between $2000-3000. I love the enthusiasm they show in supporting a need--I've heard great stories from parents of their kids selling seashells to neighbors, doing extra projects around the house, even giving up money they'd been saving for a trip to Disney Land.

This year our giving project will be our church's benevolence fund. This fund meets the needs of those within our body on a daily basis--helping pay utility bills for people who have lost their jobs, buying groceries for a single mom, assisting with medical bills, the needs met range from large to small but are always great. Helping provide for these needs fits perfectly with the overall theme of our VBS in that we're wanting our kids to understand what it means to be a believer and be a part of the body of Christ. Wednesday's lesson goes hand in hand with meeting this need as our passage talks about how the church in Jerusalem was growing daily. Many of the numbers being added were from outer areas, but because of accepting Jesus as their Saviors, they would be unable to return home. They had great needs and their new family met those needs.

Wednesday’s teaching takes what we learned the day before about how to live personally as a believer and builds off it on how to live in community with other believers. We’ll use the church in Acts 2 as our example. In Acts 2 (but focusing on 2:37-47) we see that the people in the church had a special relationship with one another, and their church was growing! They devoted themselves to learning about Jesus, to fellowship, sharing meals, and prayer. They met together and shared what they had. Not only did they share, but they even sold their property and possessions to help other believers in need. The worshiped God, praised God, and enjoyed the goodwill of all the people. It was a special group of people, and we can learn from them, and learn to live like them.

In the skit, the toys will go on a mission to rescue a missing toy. They toys will have to work together, support each other and help each other on this mission.

As each day gets closer, I check more and more items off my list and get more and more excited! I can't wait to see what God will do!

Learning as a Believer

[Check out this post for an explanation of why we write our VBS curriculum.]

On Tuesday of VBS we'll be looking at how the Bible teaches us what it means to be a believer. Our key word is learning. Learning to live a life that honors God is not something that just happens over night or naturally. It takes work and practice, but thankfully, the Holy Spirit will help us. We hope that the kids will walk away from this day understanding that:
-We need to live in a way that honors God, and this way of living will make us stand out as believers. To know how to do that, we read the Bible.
-We need to let the Holy Spirit change us into a new person--put off the old self and put on the new.
-The Bible tells us specific things we should not do: lie, be controlled by anger, steal, use bad or mean words, be bitter or have rage.
-The Bible tells us specific things we should do: work hard, give generously, say good and helpful words, be encouraging, be kind, be tenderhearted, forgive.

In Tuesday’s teaching, we’ll be looking at Ephesians 4:17-32, but focusing in on 4:25-32. We’ll begin by building off of the point made the day before that we need to live in a way that shows we are different, that shows we are believers. But how do we know what that is? We look at the Bible. We’ll hear about how we need to put off the old self, and put on the new. We do that by letting the Holy Spirit transform us into people who do things that honor God. Things that honor God are: hard work, giving generously, saying good and helpful words, being encouraging, being kind, being tenderhearted, forgiving. The things that make God sad are when we: lie, are controlled by anger, steal, use bad or mean words, are bitter or have rage.

In the skit the GI Joe will be determined to teach the toys what it means to be a soldier. He’ll continually refer to his Army Manual, while the toys try to teach him what it means to be a toy by referring to their Toy Manual. At the end of the skit, they'll overhear Andy talking about how Slink is missing. Our soldier will leave to do some recon work.

Being a Believer

Our Elementary Pastor, Jared, describes what we're learning this week at VBS best in his letter to the volunteers in our leader's guide.

“We are going to explore “Your Story” as we see what it means to be a believer, learn how to follow God, live a life devoted to God, reach out to others with the Good News of Jesus, and celebrate our lives lived for Him. We want everyone to see that God's story didn't end when the book of Revelation was written over 1900 years ago. God's story continues today, it is ongoing and includes each of us who know Him.”

On Monday our key work is being. In our elementary program, we'll learn about what it means to be a believer and what our identity is as one. Each child should walk away understanding that:
• God chose each of them before the world began, which shows that He loves us all very much.
• You become a believer when you believe that Jesus is God’s Son and that He saved you from your sins. You have faith, or believe, and put your hope in Him.
• God does not have favorites—He loves us all, but also judges us all equally, so we need to live in a way that shows we are different and believe in Him.

In the large group teaching, we'll look at 1 Peter 1:17-21 and what it says about what it means to be a believer. We will talk about how you become saved as well as about how special each child is to God. The kids will hear that being a believer means you are a child of God--chosen by Him and precious to Him. We will also look at how this passage tells us to live in a way that shows that we are different because we believe in Jesus.

Our ministry is blessed to have Rocky Wing be a part of our skits. Rocky is a phenomenal actor and two of his greatest strengths are becoming a character and doing improvisation. Each year we create a general outline for what needs to happen/be said at some point in the skit, and then Rocky leads the show while the rest of our actors follow his lead. You might remember his acting skills from the video in which he played Lord Maestro Alfanzo Caballero III. In Monday's skit, we'll meet the characters (all familiar to anyone who has seen Toy Story): Buzz, Woody, Jane, and Mr. Potato Head. A new toy will arrive, a GI Joe who doesn't realize he's a toy and thinks his purpose is to whip his new troops into shape. The concept of a misunderstood identity will be introduced.

I can't wait for the start of VBS. After a bit of a melt down with my husband over everything I need to get done, I've made my to-do lists, started checking items off, and now am feeling like we'll get there without too many troubles! We already have all of our adult and high school volunteer holes filled (Wow!), so any others who sign up will be extra support, and only need about 10 more middle school volunteers to sign up (normally we have too many to know what to do with). I'm so excited for the Monday of VBS when the first song starts and all the excitement fills the room!

VBS is 2 Weeks Away!

VBS starts two weeks from today! I am so excited about this year's them, "Your Story: The Adventure of a Lifetime." We came up with it when we realized Toy Story 3 hits theaters the Friday before VBS starts. We figured that common Toy Story themes are identity and teamwork, so we will be teaching the kids about what it means to be a believer. We'll be learning about being a believer, learning as a believer, living as a believer, reaching as a believer, and celebrating as a believer. I can't wait, and I know the kids can't either! This week I'll be doing posts about what specifically we'll be learning about each day.

And if you're visiting this blog looking for information about signing your kids up for VBS, here's what you need to know:

• VBS is June 21-25, 9 am - noon.
• It's for kids 4-years-old through those entering 5th grade in the fall.
• Price is $20/each for the first two kids per family, $15/each after that.
• We'd love to have your family join us at the theater watching Toy Story 3 on June 25. Tickets are $8/each and will be for sale through the Monday of VBS. We'll be attending the showing in the 6 pm hour, but won't know the specific time until the week of VBS.
• Registration forms are available during the week at the church offices or in the south lobby during weekend services.
  
• Questions? Call 503.581.2477.
  

Happy Birthday CPR

This week is the anniversary of the CPR method, so The Red Cross is doing all sorts of training events to help people become more aware and to be equipped to even just do chest compressions should an emergency happen. Hearing about this made me thankful for the training we are able to provide our volunteers. A man in our church is a certified trainer in CPR, AED, and First Aid. He provides multiple trainings each year at no cost to any of our Children's, Youth, or Safety and Security volunteers and staff. I'd say at least 90% of our elementary volunteers are certified, and several of our early childhood volunteers are as well.

While we haven't needed to use CPR or an AED in the six years that I've been on staff, an incident in our Saturday evening elementary class made me thankful for the repeated First Aid training our volunteers have received. During activity station time, a few girls were doing ballerina twirls in an open area of the room. What they were doing wasn't rowdy or rambunctious. But one of the girls tripped on her own feet mid twirl, fell, and naturally put her arms out to catch herself. She happened to land just right and broke her arm. The girl was amazingly calm. She looked up at her leader and said, "I think I broke my arm." It was evident in the awkward bend in her forearm that the bone was broken. Our leaders didn't panic. One went for help from a staff member, another kept kids away from the injured girl, while the third leader kept the rest of the group distracted and having [safe] fun. I should note that most of the kids in the room (including the girl's brother) weren't even aware anything happened.

The leader who went for help immediately got the first aid kit out when the staff member joined her, and was able to help fashion a sling and a brace for the broken arm. The girl's parents were surprised by how calm everyone was. I really think the calmness of the leaders helped the girl not react as badly as she could have.

While you would hope that any situation would be handled this well, what makes it even more impressive to me is the age of our leaders--we only had one adult in the room when it happened, and she's only 18 years old. The other two leaders were 17 and 14. They all responded with maturity, and I know the regular training they've all undergone was a huge contributor to that fact.

I think it essential that churches have CPR and first aid trained leaders throughout their ministry programs. And not just leaders who have had one time training, but regular training. My elementary pastor keeps an updated list of which of his volunteers are trained and when their certification expires. This list helps him not only know who to call on in case of emergency, but also who he should emphasize upcoming trainings to.

What are you doing to ensure that your volunteers are prepared should a medical emergency occur?

What Matters Now?

I'm excited to tell you about an exciting, new, FREE, Children's Ministries resource that is now available, and e-book called, "What Matters Now in Children's Ministry." I was asked a while back to write about one word that I think is what matters now in ministry to children. Oh, and I had to say it in 200 words or less. I think it only took about 5 different drafts, passing my laptop back and forth to my husband to see if he thought I was really making a point, and several different words before I settled on my word: evaluation. Now that the e-book is out, I am so excited about the variety of words and authors! 33 different people contributed, and I love the different aspects of reaching children they all touched on. I'm honored to have my name listed alongside so many of the authors and bloggers I've respected for so long! Not to mention, I now have several new people to follow as each article links to the author's blog.

If you're wanting some fresh inspiration, to learn something new, have your ministry affirmed, or just want to be able to start reading something you can actually start and finish (again, each essay is 200 words or less), you should check out this resource!

I should also comment on how great it looks! While we've all heard the saying, "You can't judge a book by its cover," we all know that people do judge a book by its look. Knowing that, this will be judged well! Imago was generous and donated their resources and designed all of the graphics you see in What Matters Now. I looked forward to seeing what graphic was paired with each word just as much as I enjoyed reading what was written on the next page.

If you want to be a part of the discussion surrounding this resource and further improving the way we reach kids for Christ, follow it on Twitter here or Facebook here.

So all in all, should you check out this e-book? Yes! And if you're someone who'd rather hold a book in your hand than read it on a screen (and don't want to use all of your ink in printing it), a print version will be released on June 14. So go on already, check it out!

Farewell to a Volunteer

I met Bill and Corriene Thompson in 2005 when they registered their granddaughter, Leah, in the kindergarten/first grade class that I oversaw at the time. They had just moved to Salem from California in an effort to breathe some cleaner air. I didn't know much about Bill and Corriene's background, but they soon became involved in Children's Ministries. Bill responded to our request for help in setting up the rooms each Saturday (he joined another grandpa in our ministry in this task) and Corriene came in to the church offices once a month to help take care of small group prep. It wasn't long until they both offered to oversee check-in every other month for their Leah's class.

Bill and Corriene both told me at different times that they wanted to make sure that even though Leah was being raised by her grandparents, they didn't want her to feel like she missed out on any exciting kid activities. I can still picture a Friday afternoon when Bill and Leah stopped in at the office to drop something off, dressed in snow pants. "We're headed to the mountain to ski!" Bill excitedly told me as Leah grinned next to him. "But we're starting to think maybe we should have waited until we got there to put on the snow pants."

Despite struggling with emphysema, Bill was faithful in helping with the weekly set up up. One of the times I was checking in with him and Bob (the other grandpa), Bill was hauling stacks of chairs and wheezing along the way. When I asked if he needed me to help, he said he was happy to do it and would take it at a pace he could handle. He was worried the chairs might fall and hurt me if I tried to move them.

It wasn't until a conversation with Corriene a few years later that I found out how specifically God designed their move to Oregon. Corriene was not a believer when they moved here, and Bill hadn't grown in his walk since he was young. But they knew they wanted to try to do things right in raising Leah, so they brought her to church. It was at one of our women's Bible studies that Corriene accepted the Lord, and Bill rededicated his life soon after.

This past summer, Bill was diagnosed with lung cancer, and a mighty battle began. I loved the joy and peace he showed, and he joked about how much he missed his hair (which I'm sure had already thinned years before). He still came to help with check in the weeks he wasn't suffering too much from the chemo and radiation treatments. Corriene came faithfully to help with prep. And then in September, Bill chose to be baptized again (he had done it 55 years before, but felt he needed to show his re-commitment). I watched in tears as he shared his testimony, and his wife watched with proud tears streaming down her face.

This past Tuesday, March 10, 2010, Bill went home to be with Jesus. I know I will miss him, and I can't imagine the loss Corriene and Leah are feeling. But I can only think with joy about the life this man ended with--what a testimony he lived before his granddaughter.

View his obituary (which he wrote) here.

Ah...

Tonight I asked Jared (our Elementary Pastor) if he needs me to do anything on Easter in Adventure Mountain (K-3rd class). He said "no, we have it all covered."

Why is this so great? Maybe because my first weekend back after 2 months off happens to be Easter weekend. I haven't done much more than slow walking since January, and leading active motions for worship would be quite the wake up call. Or maybe the biggest reason this is great is because it means he's doing a good job!

So that means Easter weekend I'll be hanging out at the check-in station for three of the four services, greeting families and enjoying being back. And that fourth service I'll be attending with my husband. Ah...

Finally Transitioning!

January 1, 2010 marked the day that I was no longer a full time employee of Morning Star Community church. I had been looking forward to that day long before I started the job. The hope of that day went as far back as my dream of becoming a mom. It was a beautiful day! I went from working four full days in the office to working three, three hour mornings.

The first week brought slightly longer days than intended, but I expected that to happen. It wasn't for a lack of planning or productivity with my time. It was simply adjusting all of our thinking toward when to have conversations and what to cover as soon as I got to work rather than putting it off in the day.

I loved being able to focus my time on the big picture and not having the small tasks that had filled my time before. It was amazing how much my desire and passion for working increased. In a time that I thought I'd be anxious to be done, I found my love for my job renewed. I was also blessed by watching Jared step right into his role of being the full time, elementary pastor. Little issues that would have been mine to deal with were handled smoothly by him. The volunteer who was taking care of all of our elementary prep needed to step down because of an upcoming move, so she trained someone else to take over her role. But that person ended up falling through and we had to find someone new to fill the role and train them as well. And know what? I didn't have to do a thing!

Lucy also was quick to make sure anything I was doing wasn't something that could be handled by her. I left masters to be copied on her desk, and the number of fliers needed would be there on the weekend. Jan, my assistant, trained with me on setting up and running our check-in system on Sunday mornings. After one week of showing her what to do, I arrived at church and found her in the process of setting everything up. It was wonderful to not need to bend over with my big belly to get cords and computers out of a box!

My team repeatedly proved why I knew twelve months before that this transition would be a smooth one. And when February 2 (the first day after my due date that would have been a work day) brought labor pains, I was able to focus completely on welcoming my son knowing there wasn't anything else I needed to do at the office.

We're just over half way through my maternity leave, and my team has made me so proud. This past month hasn't been without its out of the ordinary circumstances and stressful situations. But with every update or conversation to get my feedback, I have been left with even more confidence in how they're running things in my absence. It makes me look forward to going back!

Transitioning: Working Ahead

Wow! This post comes three months after the last! And as much as I'd like to blame it on the baby, two of those months were before he was born. Our transition has happened, and I'm slightly past the halfway point of my maternity leave, so it's about time I conclude this series.

My white board is a staple in my office. I don't think many of the dreams I've had over the past four years could have been thought through without it. Key events couldn't have happened without this board helping organize me. Many creative sessions have been charted out on this board. Visitors to my office are always surprised by how much they can find written there. It was only fitting that the white board be key in helping with our staffing transition.

Three months before my schedule change and four months before maternity leave, I charted out everything that needed to be done and everything I wanted to do over the upcoming months. I first divided it into four columns--October, November, December and January. At the top of each column I listed every event (aside from usual weekend services) happening in that month--family movie nights, volunteer bunko games, volunteer training events, baby dedications, Christmas, etc. In the box below the calender events, I listed each event and what needed to be done for it--purchase requisitions, room requisitions, publicity, etc. as well as time-lined out when I needed to train my team on duties they'd cover for me in my absence, or permanently. And finally, the box below that held goals I had of what I'd like to get accomplished for the future--VBS planning, room decorating, etc. These items were non-essentials.

The month of January was different from the others in that it contained only a few items and none of them depended on me (aside from training my assistant in running check in on Sunday mornings). The idea was that I could go into labor on any day and just not show up to work and everything would continue without a hitch.

Our team has a weekly meeting where we go over highlights from the weekend and plan ahead for future events. These meetings became a time to check in on the white board and check off items we'd accomplished and look at what we needed to plan for. It helped my team understand what all I was thinking of and kept us on the same page as we moved forward. It also let them know what goals I was setting for myself. Even though I didn't come close to accomplishing all of them, it held me accountable to making efforts to achieve them.

By the time January 1 arrived, and my hours reduced dramatically, it was easy to make the change. Which leads me to my next post... Finally Transitioning!

We Have a Baby!

Want the full story? Check out our family blog at lifewiththenelsons.blogspot.com!

Transitioning: Steps Taken--Handing Things Off

There have been two types of steps I've taken in order to prepare for going part time, as well as for being gone for two months: handing projects off to others and getting projects done myself. This post will be about some of the projects and duties I've handed off to others.

Over the past several months, I've been giving many of my daily and weekly tasks to other members of our team. One way that I've helped support Jared (Elementary Director) because of his limited time in the office was overseeing the prep work for the elementary classes. I didn't do much of the prep work myself--I have an AMAZING volunteer named Mary who spends about 20 hours a week in the office helping Children's and Women's Ministries. Mary oversees a team of volunteers who come in and take care of the copying and cutting and tub stocking from week to week (each of these volunteers only do this once a month, and Mary oversees their rotation). Mary's job is to make sure they have everything they need to prep fully, and when they aren't able to make it, she takes care of it herself. Up until this fall, I was the one Mary asked questions to, made sure it all made sense, etc. But now, Mary meets with Jared each Tuesday to make sure she fully understands all the prep that's needed for the weekend. There have been many times where I haven't even known what the lesson would be about going into the weekend!

Another task I've handed off was the planning of our Family Movie Nights. For the first six months to a year of having them, I took care of making sure we had the money, the publicity, etc, and Jared took care of getting the food (food service is his thing--he's done catering in the past). But then Jared offered to take over the events (seeing as he is also really into movie stuff, he used to manage a movie theater). Since then, he's been making sure the fliers and announcements are out two weeks before an event, and that everything gets managed with money, etc. He's even recruited more volunteer help.

The most difficult task to hand off has been my role of leading worship in our kindergarten-third grade class during second service. We've been recruiting and praying, and finally had someone express an interest! She'll start training this week and hopefully be ready before this baby comes! (Now we're just praying for a guy who will step up to take my husband's place as a kindergarten boys small group leader.)

My biggest responsibility on Sundays that would be too much to hand off to a volunteer or Jared and Lucy while I'm gone for two months is managing our check in team and system. My volunteers are amazing at welcoming families and checking them in (they show true hospitality), but it's common to have a glitch with either the computer system or a family, and that's where I come in. My boss agreed to having Jan, my assistant who runs the behind the scenes work with our check in system mid week, add a few hours to her week and be present on Sunday mornings. It'll be such a relief to know she'll be there to make sure everything runs smoothly. She'll join me the first two weeks of January to be trained on all I do. She'll take over the first Sunday I can't be at church, and will go back to her normal hours the first Sunday I'm back after maternity leave.

As our transition dates gets closer and closer, it's so wonderful to not be stressed by it! We've been working toward this goal for so long that I'm confident things will go smoothly. I've handed so many duties off that I'm almost struggling to fill my time here at the office. Which will lead to my next post about the projects I've been working ahead on.

Transitioning: A Staffing Plan

I mentioned in my last post that I created a staffing proposal for my Executive Pastor prior to getting his approval for my going part time. This proposal has been slightly modified over the past 7 months, but the core of it has stayed the same. To understand where we're going, though, you need to understand where we've been.

Our staffing structure has been:
Position: Children's Ministries Director (Myself)
Hours: Full Time, Tuesday-Friday 9-5, Saturday and Sunday services
Job Description
-Oversee the vision and direction of Morning Star’s children’s ministries.
-Meet weekly with the team to go over what’s happening in the ministry, assure that the departments are fitting together, give direction, budget needs and planning for future events.
-Stay updated on what’s happening nationally in Children’s Ministries to make sure our ministry stays current.
-Report to the church leadership on what’s happening in Children’s Ministries.
-Be present for weekend services to interact with families, volunteers, etc.
-Assist with the planning and implementation of curriculum as needed in the Elementary program.
-Plan and implement special events.

Position: Early Childhood Director (Lucy)
Hours: 30/week
Schedule: Monday-Thursday 8-3 pm, 5 hours +/- on weekends
Job Description
-Oversee nursery, toddler and 2’s & 3’s classes
-Schedule and train volunteers
-Ensure cleanliness of classrooms
-Oversee weekend preschool classes.
-Schedule and train volunteers.
-Select, oversee and adapt curriculum for weekend classes.
-Plan and create additional programs for preschool aged students.

Position: Elementary Director (Jared)
Hours: 20-25/week
Schedule: Generally in on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Fridays (hours vary), 5 hours +/- on weekends
Job Description
-Oversee the weekend elementary classes.
-Schedule and train volunteers.
-Oversee volunteers to ensure proper prep is done for weekend classes.
-Select, oversee and adapt curriculum for weekend classes.

Position: Children’s Ministries Assistant (Jan)
Hours: 12/week
Schedule: Flexible throughout the week—Monday, Wednesday and Thursday
Job Description
-Maintain and update database/registration system
-Assist the directors and pastor as needed

Jared, our Elementary Director, joined our team first as a volunteer (about 4 years ago), then became an intern, and was then moved into the role of Elementary Director. He's always been part time, and was working on getting his MDiv at the same time. He graduated this past June, which was key in the implementation of this plan. We knew that he'd be wanting a full time position, and that with me going part time, that position would open up! On January first, his title will change to Elementary Pastor and his hours will increase to full time. He will still just be in charge of the Elementary program, but many of his responsibilities will increase, not to mention he'll be utilized more as a pastor on staff--for pastoral care, etc. Since Jared has just been part time running a large program, I've been very involved in helping where needed with the elementary classes. This included overseeing prep work (until recently), being involved in selecting curriculum, teaching, leading worship, etc. Jared was the one responsible for everything pertaining to volunteers and running things on the weekends. This involvement will completely change come January 1.

My new job description is:
Children’s Ministries Director
Hours: 12-15/week
Schedule: 6 hours/weekend, 9 hours to be spent during the week (three mornings)
Job Description
-Oversee the vision and direction of Morning Star’s children’s ministries.
-Meet weekly as a team as well as individually to go over what’s happening in the ministry, assure that the departments are fitting together, give direction, budget needs and planning for future events.
-Stay updated on what’s happening nationally in Children’s Ministries to make sure our ministry stays current.
-Report to the church leadership on what’s happening in Children’s Ministries.
-Be present for weekend services to interact with families, volunteers, etc.

Jared's new job description is:
Elementary Pastor
Hours: Full Time
Schedule: 5 hours +/- on weekends, four 9-5 office days
Job Description
-Oversee the weekend elementary classes.
-Schedule and train volunteers.
-Meet with and direct interns.
-Select, oversee and adapt curriculum for weekend classes.
-Plan and create additional programs for elementary-aged students (i.e.: VBS, Family Movie Nights).
-Be available for families who need advice/direction.
-Check on elementary-aged children who may have difficult situations in their lives.
-Help create curriculum/classes for baby dedications, etc.

Lucy (our Early Childhood Director) and Jan (our assistant) will continue with their roles as before.

In my next post, I'll talk about the steps we took between July and November to make sure we'd be ready for this transition in January.

Getting Ready to Transition

When I took over Children's Ministries at Morning Star three and a half years ago, my goal had been to develop my team to the point of me stepping back to part time to start a family in three years. I think the reality of reaching that goal still hasn't struck me. There were several times over these past few years that I didn't think we'd make it. The thought that I'd never be able to have kids crossed my mind a few times. But now, I'm just two months away from working only 12-15 hours a week (and then one more month until I take a two month maternity leave). Wow.

While the official transition has just begun, we've really been transitioning for three years. In that time, we've had four different staffing combinations. But each change has moved us closer to our next transition. My team is amazing, and I fully trust their abilities to run their programs. But no matter how great Lucy, Jared, Jan and Mackenzie are, our change would be impossible without the support of my Executive Pastor.

In January, I brought up that Nolan and I would like to start a family, but needed to know if I'd have a job after having a baby. Ken wanted to know how soon I was talking about. The next week, I brought it up again, asking if he'd thought about it at all. The response was, "Wait, you're meaning you want to do this soon?" The next week his answer was, "Why are you in such a hurry? You just got a dog, enjoy some kid-free married life a little longer. You're young." (All this was said in a lighthearted tone. I could tell Ken liked things the way they were.) The next week I provided him with a staffing proposal that lined out what each of our current salaries are, what they would be after the change, and what our job descriptions would be. And the week after that, Ken told me he was ok with my plan, but he wanted me to do research on how other Children's Ministries directors have transitioned from being a kidless director to a director and a mom.

As I looked around online (Kidology, google searches, blogs, etc.) I found that there are very few things written about this kind of transition in Children's Ministries leadership. So, either most women in my role began it after having babies, stopped working when they had babies, or just haven't posted their experience online.

Our transition is obviously very unique to Morning Star, but I think I've learned some valuable lessons along the way, and maybe someone else can benefit from them. My next few posts will be about how we're transitioning. And oh, does it excite me to be writing these! It's all a testimony to what God has provided for us.

Baby Update!

Our ultrasound went well yesterday--Jace was very cooperative and didn't cover his face at all! The tech was able to point out to us that Jace's lip was complete and showed us how there would be a black line if Jace had cleft lip. And then we just got the call from our doctor that after looking at three different angles, it looks like Jace's palate is complete as well! So, unless there's a surprise when he's born, it looks like he doesn't have any clefting.

We're praising God for it. I'd rather give God the glory and say He healed my child than blame it on a faulty first ultrasound. And I know that God is going to use all this knowledge we've gained about it for a reason.

It's actually kind of strange to think of Jace as not having a cleft now. For the past four weeks, the entire time I've been able to identify him as a boy and with his name, I've envisioned him with cleft lip and palate. My looking forward to the future with him always involved a cleft. When I looked at pictures of babies, my mind would then imagine that same child with a cleft lip. I embraced the cleft possibility, knowing it would be better for me to be ready for that result rather than so hopeful that it wouldn't be there that the news of a cleft would be devastating. So now, it's almost like there's a different child inside of me. I am thrilled his lip and palate are complete. I am so thankful that he won't have to have the surgeries. But I would have loved him just the same regardless of the outcome from this ultrasound.

I've already been asked if we're still keeping the name Jace, and the answer is yes. We chose that name because it meant healer, and I know that God healed him. I've been so blessed by all the notes of encouragement from our friends and family. This experience has meant my child has been lifted up in prayer more than he would have been otherwise. I'm just sure God has great plans for his life, and if it's to be a healer in relationships with other people, then this name must stay. And who knows, maybe he'll be a very rough and tumble little boy who gets hurt a lot!

Thank you for all your prayers! God is good!

Let's Get a Little Personal

As I've posted before, I'm pregnant and due February 1. Nolan and I are so excited to welcome our little boy into this world in just 4 months! We went in on September 9 for the ultrasound to find out his gender and make sure he's growing properly. Our doctor called the day after the ultrasound saying that when she took a look at it, they saw that he might have a small cleft lip/cleft palate, if one at all. So we're going back in for another ultrasound on October 5 to hopefully get a better look. She's thinking that a month of growth between ultrasounds will help them see clearly if he has it or not. We're glad to hear that it isn't distinct enough or big enough for her to be conclusive at this time (from what I've read online, you can spot cleft lip as early as 16 weeks, and this ultrasound happened at 19 weeks). So we're hoping and praying that 1) if he has it, God might heal it before the next ultrasound or by time he's born, 2) he doesn't have it, or 3) if he does have it, we're praising God for medical advances and what they're able to do for this these days!

Cleft Lip/Cleft Palate is most common in boys, and 1 in 700 babies born in the US has it. So it's much more common than we thought it was. This in itself is a testimony to what a great job doctors are doing with it, in that you'd never realize how many people have had it.

If he does have it, we'll get set up with a team from Dornbechers up in Portland. Cleft lip is typically repaired when they are 10 weeks to 3 months old, and cleft palate repaired around 9 months. So while it's so treatable, he could still have quite a first year of surgeries in store for him (and potentially many more surgeries ahead of him if it’s cleft palate).

All this made me REALLY want him to have a name already--to give him more of an identity. And I wanted his name to mean something, since he'll have so much to face at first. I started looking through names that meant things like strong, God heals, etc. Finally, we decided on "Jace" (which comes from Jason, but that won't be his name). Jace means healer, and on some websites, it also meant God is my refuge. Both fit well we thought. Plus, Nolan loved that it's unique, since he likes names that he hasn't really heard before. So as of now, baby's name will be Jace John Nelson (Nolan’s middle name is John, it’s also his father and grandfather’s and great grandfather's name).

We really have an incredible peace about the whole thing. I’m so thankful for a doctor who’s thorough and spotted this. From what I’ve read, not all doctor’s catch it. What a blessing to be able to know what we’re heading into and to be prepared for it! We're sad for the pain he could potentially face at such a young age, but at least he won't remember it as he gets older.

He'll be beautiful no matter what. And I'm just sure, if he does have cleft palate/lip, he'll be a much stronger person because of it. Please be praying with us as we go in on Monday. We are confident that God's plan for our baby is perfect, so cleft or no cleft, we're content. Our biggest concern at this time is that he actually let us see his face during the ultrasound. Please pray that his face will be easily seen and that the doctor and technician will be able to correctly diagnose him.

Bridge 45 is Still Alive and Well

I haven't posted anything on our blog about Bridge 45 and what we're learning in 4th & 5th grade ministry for a long time... but it's still running and doing well, and we're still learning. Hop on over to that blog so read about an encouraging conversation I had today!

One Downfall to being a Children's Ministries Director

I don't think I've mentioned it here yet, but Nolan and I are expecting our first child on February 1! We find out tomorrow morning (Wednesday) whether we're having a boy or a girl *hopefully*. Ever since we found out that we'd be having a little one, I've been pouring over baby names, making my lists, and then having Nolan go through and pick his top 5. The biggest problem I've run into, though, is how many kids I already know with different names. Working with about 300 kids a week really limits my possibilities! While a name my sound great or have a wonderful meaning, I just can't help but place faces (or personalities, or behavioral flaws) with the names!

But--if that's one of the only downfalls to being a Children's Ministries Director, I guess I can deal with it!