Categories: Blog

Use this Habit Tracker to identify, track, and solidify the habits you want to commit to each day, week, or month. When you complete the task or habit, color in the box. Choose 1 consistent time each day to update your habit tracker (when you get in bed, when you brush your teeth, right after dinner, etc.). Consider the questions and resources below to help jumpstart your habit evaluation and goals. Download the Habit Tracker Guide + Printable Here! Consider these questions: What habits do you want to form this year? What habits do you want to break this year? What habits do you want to see formed in the families you serve? What habits do you want to develop or encourage in your volunteers? What spiritual disciplines (holy habits) do you want to emphasize this year? Books I'm reading...

During naptime the other day, I heard a loud, crashing THUMP come from my 3.5-year-old's room. She's at the age where naptimes when she actually naps are few and far between, but she still takes time each afternoon to spend an hour or two in her room for quiet time. This day's "quiet time" had been anything but quiet. There was singing, playing her toy xylophone, shaking and banging on her tambourine, knocking on her window to wave at the people passing by on the sidewalk below, and general merriment. Sitting downstairs, I tried to focus on my work while (unsuccessfully) balancing tuning out the noise and keeping an ear out for her safety. When I heard the loud THUMP I decided it was time to investigate. I walked upstairs, opened her door, and saw the 75+ books in her room scattered all over the floor. There wasn't even a place to step...

There are a lot of things kids may know about Christmas and the Christmas story, but if you had to choose just 3 things, what would you choose? I'm excited to share this week's blog post from Dave Ray from Doorpost Songs that emphasizes three things every child needs to know about Christmas: Christmas isn’t a monolithic monument, standing alone on a pinnacle. It is a junction on the journey of God’s love for His people. A road runs into it. A road runs out of it. And each of us must walk this road in its fullness to understand God’s extraordinary love for ordinary people. In light of Christmas as more than just a season, here are three things we want every child to know about Christmas: Christmas Means God Keeps His Promises - The story of Christmas doesn’t begin with the words, “In those days, Caesar Augustus issued a...

As we begin this season of Advent, I'm excited to share this guest post from Christie Penner Worden at Raise Up Faith:  Hope has a name. I’ve seen this phrase a lot lately. Not nearly as often as I have seen evidence of hopelessness in this season, I’m afraid. But in our clamoring for what’s next, for change, even for what’s required to get through the day, hope can seem dim, faint, even fading. Hope has a name, and as followers of Jesus, we know it to be His. But in a recent deep dive into the book of Hebrews, I found that Hope is not only rightly named, it is so clearly defined that to miss it would be, well, hopeless. “Because God wanted to show his unchangeable purpose even more clearly to the heirs of the promise, he guaranteed it with an oath, so that through two unchangeable things, in which it is impossible for God to...

🎵 "Last Christmas, we shared these ideas & freebies, but some of you weren’t here. This year, to save you some time, I’m bringing them back in case you missed them." 🎵 Ok, so maybe those aren’t the lyrics, but it’s true! (And you already have my heart anyway, kidmin leader.) Here are our top posts and freebies from Last Christmas! Keeping Christ in Christmas (Without Overwhelming Families) I’m excited to share some thoughts from Christie Thomas, author and one of our DKM Vendors! Here’s what she has to say about keeping Christ in Christmas at Home (without overwhelming families). Help Families "Treasure These Things in Their Hearts" This Advent Season After Jesus was born, the Bible tells us Mary “treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart”...

It may only be October, but it's beginning to look a lot like Christmas! And with Advent only a month away, we're already thinking about counting down to Christmas. That's why I'm excited to share this week's guest blog post from Courtney Weaver at David C Cook all about 3 simple ways to focus on Advent in your children's ministry. P.S. Find all the Advent resources you'll need here!  As a children’s ministry leader, you know that the importance of the Christmas season can easily be drowned out by Christmas trees, presents, music, and other exciting indicators of the season. That’s why your children’s ministry and the curriculum you teach should prepare hearts for the holiday. We all need to be reminded of the gift of Jesus–kids, families, and leaders alike! Advent is simply a time of preparation for the celebration of Christmas,...

As children's ministry leaders, we know we're supposed to equip parents to build faith at home. But how do we actually do that? In this guest blog post from Vanessa Myers of Family Faith Builders, Vanessa shares her journey to make family discipleship a priority in her ministry, and she lays out the 3 goals she has when equipping families with at-home resources. Find all of Vanessa's resources on Deeper KidMin here.  "Building faith in families." That was a phrase that wasn’t on my radar when I first began serving in children’s ministry. I thought my focus was just on teaching kids God’s Word. I really didn’t think about helping parents build faith together at home with their children. Not that I didn’t see it as important, but I honestly just didn’t think it was something I needed to do. And then God spoke to me and helped...

Trying to do ministry alone is kind of like trying to play on a seesaw by yourself. It may sort of work for a little while, but eventually, your thighs are burning and there’s not much payoff. Just like a seesaw, when you do ministry alone… You burn out! I know “with God all things are possible” (Matthew 19:26) but it’s just not healthy for you or your ministry. Carrying the weight of every responsibility will leave you feeling worn out, overworked, and constantly behind. You’ll be jumping as hard as you can on that seesaw but will only go so high, wasting a lot of energy in the process and not getting much accomplished. Before long, you won’t be able to keep up the pace you’ve set, and everything (your family, your ministry, your sanity) suffers. You leave out! Maybe there’s someone else on the playground who wants to...

As we head into the time for planning your fall fest, Trunk or Treat, and general fall season, you may be wondering if all the time, energy, and money you spend on your special fall events are worth it. Here's some encouragement from one of our DKM Vendors, Meghan Clayton from Meghan's Ministry:  Recently, I coordinated an event that was an absolute disaster on my end. But the kids had the most fun they have ever had. When I arrived at the church three hours prior to the event, everything went wrong. All of my setup took ten times longer than planned. Items I had set out were stolen, my technology did not work, and I was an absolute mess. I closed all my activity rings on my watch before the event even started because I was running around the church trying to troubleshoot everything that went wrong. As a type A personality who typically has...

As kids get into the groove of the school year with new classes, friends, sports teams, and more, they will probably come up against questions - asked in their own minds and by those around them - about their identity. Who are they? WHOSE are they? Where do they belong? I'm excited to share this week's guest blog post from Christie Penner Worden from Raise Up Faith about helping define identity with kids:  How do we help kids truly know who they are, rooted in identity, and confident children of God? How do we tell them the truth without pretending the world around them won’t answer what we struggle to talk about? The word “identity” has caused confusion over the last number of years. And I wonder if we have been part of the problem, as the Church, misusing or abusing the word, from a place of misunderstanding, fear, or even bias?...

Are all the kids in your ministry perfect angels who sit quietly for the lesson and immediately obey any instructions? No, doesn't like your Sunday morning? You're not alone. (And honestly, if you did have perfectly behaved children 100% of the time, I'd think something was wrong.) We all have behavior issues that arise in our ministries, especially as we enter back-to-school season and return to routines after the summer. If you haven't yet, at some point you'll have to talk with parents about a child's misbehavior. That can be an intimidating and uncomfortable task, but you don't have to go in unprepared.  Check out this guest blog post from David Rausch, creator of Go! Curriculum and a DKM Vendor, with 6 tips for talking with parents about their child's misbehavior: "Yay! I get to tell a parent about their child's misbehavior," said no...

What comes to mind when you hear "digital discipleship"? When I asked this question in a few different Facebook groups, most of the answers mentioned Zoom, online classes, or YouTube channels. But digital discipleship is so much MORE than live-streaming your children's ministry. So what exactly IS digital discipleship? Here's an excerpt from my new book Time to Update that defines digital discipleship and why it's something every kidmin leader needs to integrate digital discipleship into their children's ministry strategy: We update everything in our lives and ministries. We regularly update our phones and computers to keep them running correctly. We update the worship songs we use and the curriculum we teach. Even when transitioning from one teaching series to another, we often update the physical environment of the children’s ministry...

This week, I'm excited to share a guest post from Jason Noble, a team member over at Twelve Thirty Media. With my book, Time to Update, releasing next week, this post about creative ways to use media in your children's worship experiences was perfect! Learn more about my new book here, and keep reading to learn how to effectively utilize media with kids.  We live in a media-driven world. The children in your kid’s ministry are surrounded by media everywhere they look. The question is how do we effectively use media in our kid’s ministry experiences? Media cannot and should not ever replace leaders, or just be turned on to babysit children. A phrase that literally drives me crazy in the church world is “childcare”. Daycares do “childcare"; churches do “ministry to children.” Effective ministry to children must be...

"Now let's build something new!" says my toddler after we just completed the coolest freeform Lego treehouse that ever existed. "Don't you want to play with this awesome treehouse we just made?" I ask, not sure we'll ever be able to top the masterpiece in front of us. (It even had a garage.) "No Mommy, let's build something new!" Toddler responds. It's a true test of my creativity to come up with varying Lego layouts of a treehouse. But because my daughter loves building with Legos and enjoys the times we get to build together, I take a deep breath and we tear down our Lego masterpiece to start all over again. Leading children's ministry presents a similar challenge. We may be comfortable sticking with what we've got, doing what we've always done, and hosting the same events year after year in the name of tradition and comfort. But...

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Praying for the kids we lead is one of the most important things we can do as children's ministry leaders, especially during seasons of transition like back-to-school time. So mark off time on your calendar or to-do list this week, and spend at least 5 minutes a day praying these 10 scriptures over the kids you lead. Ephesians 4:32 – Ask God to help them be kind. Joshua 1:9 – Praise God for always being with them. Proverbs 10:9 – Ask God to help them walk in integrity this year. Psalm 56:3 – Ask God to help them put their trust in Him. Philippians 4:6-7 – Ask God to help them not worry. Luke 2:52 – Ask God to help them grow this year. Proverbs 17:17 – Pray for their friends. Colossians 3:23 – Ask God to help them work hard. James 1:5 – Ask God to give them wisdom. ...