Category: Family

10 Ways to Know You are the Parent of a Toddler

April 12, 2013

10. You can have an entire conversation with your spouse while spelling out all the key words. 9. Your trips to Lowe’s or the grocery store always begin with a choice between red race car cart or blue race car cart. 8. Your diaper-changing skills have immensely improved over the past two years: from 2-minute/5…
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How to Kick Off Easter Week

March 25, 2013

Despite the current weather conditions around here (SNOW, SNOW, SNOW), it is actually Easter week. I can’t remember the last time there was snow on Palm Sunday in Virginia (or any other state I’ve lived in for that matter). While snow may be a unique way to kick off Easter week, I found a more…
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The Best Family Ministry Event

February 26, 2013

In my opinion, the best family ministry event a church can host surprisingly doesn’t include the whole family. But in a way, it does. I’m talking about the Father/Daughter Banquet. Some churches call it the Daddy/Daughter Dance or some other similar title. My own church in Richmond, VA has been doing this for 3 years…
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Top 5 Games for Summer Camp

February 21, 2013

I travel to a lot of summer camps around the country each year. I have seen with my own eyes what games kids are drawn to the most throughout their given week of camp. And they are the same games no matter where you go. Kids are kids! Here are the 5 games that I…
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Children and Animals in Eternity

February 20, 2013

I am intrigued with the fascination that children have with animals. Is it because many domestic animals are more approachable and manageable (size-wise) for children? Is it because the animals are fuzzy and furry? Are there a variety of factors? Regardless, I think we all have a little kid in us when we interact with…
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Less is More

February 12, 2013

When I was in Port-au-Prince, Haiti last month, I had the privilege of visiting a children’s home/orphanage of about 30 kids between the ages of 10-17. My host, Scott, asked if I would be willing to teach the kids how to juggle. I was happy to do so. The only problem is that I did…
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This Is Why I Love My Job

January 14, 2013

Every so often I hear feedback from people who see my show. And over the years, I’ve heard the good, the bad, and the ugly. It’s amazing, though, just how powerful some stories can be in inspiring you to continue doing the job/ministry/vocation you do. This is one of those letters….. I recently got this…
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When Children Grieve: From Bethlehem to Newtown

December 21, 2012

On a mild autumn morning twelve years ago, I found myself in front of a primary school class full of grieving children. I was their entertainment for the day – a juggler from halfway across the world, doing whatever I could to bring a little joy to their lives. The children were Palestinian kids from…
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How to Win at Heads or Tails

December 3, 2012

I can teach you a secret to winning at heads or tails – every single time. You can flip the coin a thousand times and call the heads or tails to your friends before you all look at the coin. And this is all using a real quarter. There are a few conditions: This works…
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My Take: Dumb Ways to Die

November 29, 2012

This catchy and artsy music video will either make you laugh or make you a little creeped out, depending on your sense of humor. I thought it was hilarious, especially the character who “sold both kidneys on the internet.” Would you believe that this is a public service announcement from the rail Metro in Melbourne,…
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Risking My Life for Food

November 25, 2012

Join me this Wednesday night at the Robinson Theater in Richmond, VA (2903 Q St, Richmond, VA 23223) from 7pm to 8pm as I do my first indoor performance of the chainsaw juggling act. This is a comedy juggling show for all ages. Admission is one canned or non-perishable food OR $1. All the food…
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How to Save Three Dollars

November 20, 2012

So you want to learn how to juggle but you don’t quite have the budget to go out and buy $5 balls, $7 rings, and $30 clubs. I have the answer for you. You could just use anything currently lying around the house, like balled-up socks, tomatoes, or kittens. But if you use socks, you…
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Why It Helps for Children’s Church to Be Fun

November 4, 2012

Let me be clear: The message of the Gospel of Jesus Christ does not need a circus of pizazz to penetrate the heart of a child (or anyone for that matter). The love and grace of Jesus stands fine on its own to regenerate the hearts of children. But it sure does help to present…
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Captivating the Attention of Children

November 1, 2012

Anyone can captivate the attention of a child – or a group of children. All it takes is a smile and a little energy in your face. And those things come from a sincere heart to connect with the child/children. It helps to be able to perform some astonishing feat like a magic trick or…
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Every Child is a Winner by McCaslin and Biehl

October 30, 2012

Caz McCaslin runs Upward Sports, a global youth sports organization that promotes Biblical values, equal play time, and ultimately, the person and work of Jesus Christ. He wrote what he considers a “parent playbook” called Every Child is a Winner (Broadman and Holman: Nashville, 2002). My family and I got to visit the main headquarters…
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Faith Like a Child

October 25, 2012

My wife, Sarah, broke her pinky toe last week. Then she gouged the underside of her other foot on a broken piece of wood flooring (we have an old house – and I’m fixing the problem area today). So she’s limping around, ever-so-courageously, chasing our toddler and living normal life. Our toddler, Kezzie, has clearly…
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The Engage Children’s Ministry Conference

October 1, 2012

I was just invited to teach a workshop at The Engage Conference up in Pennsylvania in November. If you work in Children’s Ministry in any capacity (pastor, leader, volunteer, etc.), please see if you can make this great one-day conference. Its only twenty bucks! Click Here for all the info.
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Fall Festival Ideas

September 27, 2012

If you’re a Children’s Pastor or leader of a community program for families, you’re probably somewhere on the spectrum of planning for your annual Fall Festival. If you haven’t started planning for one, its still not too late, but you only have about a month left, depending on when you hold it. Before I list…
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Nine Reasons Why I Love My Wife

September 20, 2012

Sarah and I celebrate our 9th wedding anniversary today. When we were engaged, we somehow came up with a joke that we would be married for 60 years before one of us died. But when you do the math, that leaves us dead at 82 or 83 and I’d like to live at least 20…
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Including the Children

September 13, 2012

The battle of Jericho has been immortalized in the Judeo-Christian conscience as the epic moment when “the walls came tumblin’ down.” So why don’t we remember the dramatic battle after Jericho? It is known as the battle of Ai. Ai was a city further into the Promised Land from Jericho. Joshua tried sending a small force…
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God and Money

September 12, 2012

When I was in college, I remember having a cloud of worry parked over my psyche every single day because I knew that I was taking out a LOT of money for school and I was going to have to pay it back. And it was during college that I decided my life theme verse…
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3,470 Hours Per Year

September 11, 2012

3,470 hours. If you’re a parent, that’s about how many hours per year that your children are awake and not in school or church. Church-going kids spend anywhere from an hour to five hours a week in church or doing church-related activities. Another 50-100 hours is spent sleeping, depending on the age of the child.…
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The Princess Problem

September 7, 2012

Check out this article written by a professor at my alma mater, Taylor University. Her name is Amy Lepine Peterson and she offers a critique of Karen Kingsbury’s children’s books about princes and princesses. Here is the link to the article: http://tinyurl.com/9nbmofh Now that you’ve read it, here’s my thought: The character of a princess in…
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Be a Kid

May 18, 2012

In the words of my friend Dr. Richard Allen Farmer, try something bold and outrageous today. Hope this encourages you this weekend:
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Kids in Church: Children’s Service or Adult Service?

May 17, 2012

Think of all the “all-ages” events we go to in this life: baseball games, community festivals, museums, parks, shopping, concerts, movies, zoos, many restaurants, and volunteering in the community. Then there’s church – and in most churches, the first thing parents do when they arrive is check their kids into a parallel universe of Sunday…
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