5 Ways to Stay Motivated in Children's Ministry

7:50 AM  Dale Hudson  

Children's Ministry is a marathon...not a sprint.  In a marathon, it's pretty easy to be motivated for the first mile or so.  But with each passing mile, you have to be more intentional about staying motivated.  It's in mile 18...20...23...24...25...26  that you need the most motivation.

So how do you stay motivated in Children's Ministry for the long haul?  How do you keep your passion and dedication fresh and new?

Prayer.  Nothing will keep you motivated like spending time with Jesus.  When you feel your motivation waning, (which we all do at times) get alone with Jesus.  His presence will fill your motivation tank up.

Pause.  Many times our motivation wanes due to physical or mental tiredness.  Take time to pause and rest.  Pulling away for rest will renew your motivation.  You'll come back ready to conquer the world.

Praise.  When you get discouraged, you'll find your motivation dipping.  When that happens, start praising God for His blessings.  Think about all the good things He has given you.  Dwell on the victories.  I have a folder where I keep cards, notes, letters, and stories from people God has helped through my ministry.  When I get discouraged, I pull out that folder, start reading, and begin praising God.  It doesn't take long before my motivation returns. 

Positive people.  If you want to stay motivated, surround yourself with people who are motivated.  Negative people will slowly drain your motivation.  Be kind to them, but don't spend much time with them.  Your motivation level is directly tied to the motivation level of the people you spend the most time with.

Purpose.  Your ultimate motivation must come from the purpose God has for your life.  His calling on your life is what will keep you motivated through the ups and downs...the good times and the bad times...the happy times and the sad times.  Always remember why you are doing what you are doing.  It's the call God has placed on your life.

What are some other ways you stay motivated?  Share your thoughts with us in the comment section below.   
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Are You a Tweak Head?

9:42 AM  Dale Hudson  

Tweak Head: someone who consistently looks for ways to "tweak" or improve their ministry. 

Don't consider yourself a tweak head?  No worries...anyone can do it.  It just takes intentionality.  Here's some tips on how to be a tweak head.
  • Don't get comfortable.  It's easy to hit "cruise control."  Things are going okay.  No major issues.  The only problem...where you are today won't suffice for where you need to be six months from now. 
  • Evaluate everything you are doing every year.  How can you tweak it to make it better?  What needs to be added?  What should be changed or dropped?
  • Sit down after every event and tweak it.  What worked well?  What didn't work well?  What was broke?  What was confusing?  What can we add to improve it? 
  • Keep a tweak list.  Each week, walk around your ministry and look for things that need to be tweaked.  Keep a list.
Just think...if you tweak one thing a week...a year from now your ministry will be 52 times better!
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Winner of 100 Best Ideas for Preschool Ministry Book Announced

9:39 AM  Dale Hudson  

Congratulations to the winner...Cass Tompich.  Cass is the Children & Families Pastor at Christian Family Centre in Seaton, South Australia.  Cass, we appreciate your heart for reaching and discipling kids and families.

Next week, we'll be having another contest for a brand new resource I am really excited about.  Stay tuned for more details.
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D6 Days - Free Family Ministry Content Today

7:28 AM  Dale Hudson  


D6 Days is sponsored by the D6 conference and offers great family ministry content for free.  You can get free audio and video from speakers like David Platt, Ed Stetzer, Sean McDowell, and more.

Here's the link that will give you access.  You'll find family ministry content that is challenging and inspiring.

The content includes topics such as...

"The American Dream and the Gospel"
"What is Family Ministry?"
"Reaching the Heart of the Next Generation"
"Leaving a Legacy that Matters"
"Transforming Youth and Children's Ministry"
"Equipping Young People with a Biblical Worldview"   
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What Volunteers Really Want

7:06 AM  Dale Hudson  

What do volunteers really want?  A position?  Applause?  A place to connect?  

What volunteers really want is purpose.  They want to know what they are doing truly is significant.  They want to know what they do really does matter.      

Invite them to the purpose.  Move beyond just inviting them to a program...invite them to the purpose.  Before you invite them to a role, invite them to the purpose.  Precede the invite to a task with an invite to the purpose.

People are starving for a purpose.  Invite to the purpose and you will assemble a dynamic team fueled by the purpose.

Infuse the purpose continuously.  Put the purpose in writing so everyone can see it.  Talk about the purpose when you have training.  Keep the purpose at the forefront of everything you do.  Keep refilling the purpose tank...keep it topped off. 

Include stories.  Share stories that demonstrate the purpose is being accomplished.  Celebrate evidence of the purpose being fulfilled.
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20 Must-Have iPad Apps for Your Ministry

8:00 AM  Dale Hudson  

If you use an iPad for your ministry work, here's 20 apps recommended by Time Tech that can be very beneficial. Most of these are free. Links to the apps are included.

Calculator for Ipad Free
Because math is hard and the iPad doesn’t include a built-in calculator, there’s Calculator for iPad Free. Like its name suggests, the app is free and includes both a standard and a scientific calculator; a $2 upgrade gives you several color schemes to choose from.
If you find yourself in a pinch needing to work with Microsoft Office files, the free CloudOn app might be just what you’re looking for. You’ll have access to Word, Excel and PowerPoint, along with the ability to open documents straight from popular online file-storage services.
Access important files anywhere with this cloud-storage service. Save a file to the Dropbox folder on your computer and it’ll be available from the Dropbox iPad app. Automatically save photos and videos from your iPad to your Dropbox account to access them from other devices as well.

TED
Riveting talks by remarkable people, free to the world.

Evernote
Sometimes you find yourself collecting so much digital stuff that you need a place to keep it all. For that, there’s Evernote. This free app lets you store your notes, ideas, to-do lists and much more — all synchronized for access from other devices as well.
Khan Academy allows you to learn almost anything for free with a library of over 3,500 educational videos.

Flipboard
Flipboard bills itself as “your personal magazine.” Browse handpicked articles on various topics and pipe in updates from your Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and Tumblr accounts for a one-stop shop that caters to your interests.
Of all the things to shrink down so it fits inside an iPad, a world-class education might top the list. Apple’s iTunes U app features over half a million lectures, videos and books from some of the top learning institutions around the globe — all for free.

There are several worthwhile e-book reading apps to choose from, but Amazon’s Kindle platform gets the nod thanks to its availability on just about every other device on the market. If it’s connected, you can probably use it to read a Kindle book.
Murphy’s law: You’ll forget something important on your computer and won’t realize it until it’s almost too late. The free LogMeIn app lets you connect to your home computer (make sure to leave it turned on) and control it remotely as though you were sitting in front of it.

Paper is a free iPad app with a simple interface that lets you write, sketch and paint in virtual notebooks. It may not seem like rocket science, but realistically replicating the feel of various writing and art utensils on a tablet screen is a complicated feat that Paper pulls off with style.

For a free image editor, this app from Aviary features a wealth of features. Aside from being able to crop and rotate your photos, there’s red-eye reduction, blemish removal, teeth whitening and more. You can add doodles, text and stickers to liven up your images as well.

Pinnacle Studio
Believe it or not, editing videos on an iPad isn’t quite as cumbersome as you might think. Case in point: the $13 Pinnacle Studio app, which sports an easy-to-use interface and powerful editing features. After your masterpiece is complete, use the built-in uploader to share it with others.
It took Pinterest, the Web’s most popular pin board, until last August to roll out an iPad app. Better late than never, as the free app makes for a great couch companion. Pass the time browsing your friends’ pins, or pin things from around the Web that you’d like to revisit later.

Pocket lets you grab various bits from around the Web — articles, videos, images and more — and save them for later perusal. The free app takes text articles and takes out all the ads, buttons and other digital items to present a clean, easy-on-the-eyes reading experience.
The iPad’s built-in FaceTime feature makes it a snap to video-chat with other Apple owners, but — surprise! — not everyone owns Apple products. Skype makes video chatting a bit more universal, with apps for just about every platform and tons of active users.

For $10 a month, Spotify acts like a giant music store where you can listen to as much music as you want. You can create playlists of your favorite tunes and download songs for offline playback. There’s also a streaming radio option, which is free for U.S. users.

Titan Downloader
The free Titan Downloader app features a built-in Web browser that lets you save video files you find on various sites for playback at a later time. You can queue up multiple videos to play one after another and set a pass-code lock to prevent others from accessing your collection.

Think of the free TuneIn app as being able to turn your iPad into a radio capable of pulling in just about any station from just about anywhere in the world. The service boasts 70,000 live radio-station feeds and 2 million podcasts to choose from.
Previewing e-mailed PDF files is built in to the iPad’s Mail app, but Adobe’s free Reader app includes advanced functions such as annotations, text search, highlighting, online synchronization and the ability to fill out form fields. If you work with PDF files a lot, this one’s a must.

What other apps do you recommend?  Share with us in the comment section below.
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