“Is this Event Worth It?”

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 every single detail planned, this was not easy.

I don’t typically consider events as successful based on whether or not I survived, but this one I did. I survived. And that’s what mattered on my end.

Because after I went home and into the next morning, I received text after text from parents saying this event was their child’s favorite they had ever attended at church. As I nursed my feet back to health after not sitting down for 6 hours, I knew that it was worth it because of that.

Part of my ministry philosophy is to let kids know that they are valued, loved, and important in God’s eyes and my eyes. And that involves coordinating events that they enjoy. This event was worth the craziness, hurdles, and even tears because at the end of the day, I survived, and I completed my goal: that kids would feel loved, valued, and important as a part of what we did at church that night. We didn’t have a Bible lesson; I even forgot to pray to bless the food. But the kids and parents know that our church values their children and their families and that opens the door for the gospel.

As you are evaluating whether or not the event that you are going to do is worth it, let me encourage you: it totally is. At the end of the day, we want to point kids towards Jesus. But we can’t do that unless they know that they are loved and valued and worth investing in. So do the fun, messy, chaotic thing. Even if it means your only goal is to survive.

And if you want to host a special event for your families this fall, check out any of Meghan’s Parents’ Night Out resources or any of these fall resources that take the headache away from planning a fall event!

Author Bio: Meghan Clayton is a Preschool & Children’s Minister in Manchester, Tennessee. She graduated from Carson-Newman University with a degree in Church Music and from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary with a degree in Christian Education. In her free time, you can find her with her two cats, Vera & Sophie, cross-stitching, and drinking coffee. Find more from Meghan on her blog at Meghan’s Ministry, and find all of Meghan’s resources on DKM here.