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Thanks!

I am a full time worship/children's pastor at our church of about 150. My husband is also the youth and family minister. For the past three years, my husband and I have been struggling with infertility. I remember having to lead worship on stage two years ago on Mother's Day. We cried the entire way to church-it was a 50-minute drive-and all we wanted was to stay home and avoid everyone. Being on stage was the last thing I felt like doing. Last year I decided to make a change- I read the poem "The Wide Spectrum of Mothering" by Amy Young from stage. I'll post it below. After the service, several women came up to me and said, "I've never heard anyone talk about my story on stage during Mother's Day." Before this, my husband and I had shared with our congregation about our infertility journey, which opened the door for us to collectively celebrate, grieve, and discuss the complex emotions that come with Mother's Day. Thank you for creating this podcast and addressing these topics. I listen every week and am grateful for what you share. I once listened to a podcast hosted entirely by men discussing Mother's Day, and one of their suggestions was to have a "Look-Alike" contest for parents and their kids. I couldn't believe it. My husband and I are currently in the process of adopting, and even when we're blessed with a child, we could never participate in a "Look-Alike" contest! It’s such an outdated idea and can be really insensitive to many families. I know this is a long message, but I just wanted to express my thanks again. To those who gave birth this year to their first child-we celebrate with you To those who lost a child this year-we mourn with you To those who are in the trenches with little ones every day and wear the badge of food stain-we appreciate you To those who experienced loss through miscarriage, failed adoptions, or running away-we mourn with you To those who walk the hard path of infertility, fraught with pokes, prods, tears, and disappointment-we walk with you. Forgive us when we say foolish things. We don’t mean to make this harder than it is To those who are foster moms, mentor moms, and spiritual moms-we need you To those who have warm and close relationships with your children-we celebrate with you To those who have disappointment, heart ache, and distance with your children-we sit with you To those who lost their mothers this year-we grieve with you To those who experienced abuse at the hands of your own mother-we acknowledge your experience To those who lived through driving tests, medical tests, and the overall testing of motherhood-we are better for having you in our midst To those who have aborted children-we remember them and you on this day To those who are single and long to be married and moth ering your own children-we mourn that life has not turned out the way you longed for it to be To those who stepparent-we walk with you on these complex paths To those who envisioned lavishing love on grandchildren, yet that dream is not to be-we grieve with you To those who will have emptier nests in the upcoming year-we grieve and rejoice with you To those who placed children up for adoption-we commend you for your selflessness and remember how you hold that child in your heart And to those who are pregnant with new life, both expected and surprising-we anticipate with you This Mother’s Day, we walk with you. Mothering is not for the faint of heart and we have real warriors in our midst. We remember you.

Thank you!

What is the name of the planner app that you use? There are so many!!

Where should I send you a message if I am looking for help with my classrooms :) ?

New kidmin (at a bigger church) here and your information has been so helpful. Thank you!

Any draft that could be shared with us new directors

Merry Christmas, ladies! Thank you so much for your ministry this year through the podcast. It has been SO beneficial to my ministry and I can't wait to see what God does in 2024 through you! I appreciate you both.

These thoughts hit so many of our trouble spots. We have a unique space sharing situation that is majorly struggling. Do you ever do consultation calls? I’d love someone who is experienced in this field to talk through our situation with.

Hello Drs, Thank you for your podcast and this episode. What curriculum would you recommend? We currently use Dig In.

Thank you so much! You are so encouraging!

I am so excited about what's to come in season 2! I am an avid listener in calendar year 3 of children's ministry and I'm falling more and more in love with kid's min every day! Big congrats on the breakout session, too. :)

This was so helpful. Thank you so much.

Hey, ladies! I just wanted to leave a comment and let you know how much I truly appreciate the heart and work behind this podcast! I am about 2.5 years into my vocational children's ministry calling and your podcast is a part of my weekly routine! It is so refreshing to listen to real people talk about real ministry scenarios and I have learned so much from you both. I wanted to make sure you felt seen and valued for all you do. From one children's minister to another... thank you!

Thank you for the great thoughts on working together and communicating responsibilities! We have a school here at church, so our Kids Church uses the school rooms, which are set up very much like school rooms. I would love to see us move towards classes also being able to have the feel of Kids Church for the kids.

This was so good. Thank you so much for your heart to serve and help other leaders find ways to bring VBS to our community. God bless you

Can you share the link for the article you were referring to in this podcast? Thanks!

You have no idea how much I needed to hear this information. ❤

This was SUCH a great watch, ladies! From one Kid's Ministry Director to another... thank you!!!

Thank you so much for this. I just took at position at my church as the Children’s and Youth director. So, learning tips is crucial for my success.

Love that scripture ❤

is there a good place to buy her book?

Thank you! Very helpful, and so encouraging that we are on the same page. We went from a large paid staff, to now all volunteers after COVID, and yes it was super hard. We lost all our staff and only 10% of volunteers returned. But God is faithful and building up our volunteer base. Need lots more bodies though, because volunteers do tend to take a lot of time off. Have you seen that priorities of commitment seem to have changed? Or did I not notice before because we had so many paid staff? Trying to adapt and pivot with this culture of busyness in people’s lives and how to get all our classes covered. We no longer have the luxury of midweek and special event paid staff and sometimes cannot be available for all the gatherings and special events, but we do the best we can. We have the same policies for youth and I’ve had eyes roll and the “you’re kidding me” that one adult can’t be with one teen. I’m very fortunate that church leadership is on board with strict policies, so if someone complains, they’ve got our back. I’m sure you do this too, but because we cannot do a background check on youth, I rely on references; Youth Pastor or leader, school teachers, coaches, neighbors, but no relatives. Often the parent stays in the interview which is great, but there are those who want to answers the questions for their kid, so I do my best to get the youth talking. Surprisingly quite often find it’s the parents who want them to serve. Any tips on tactfully asking parents to let their child talk? I can usually pick up pretty quick on the ones who really want to serve in Kids Church, but it would be good to hear it from them. Love our youth volunteers and actually have a few that are now adults and leading a class! It’s been a tough and challenging 2 year as I know it has been for many, but in those tough times we have seen God do His amazing work in kids and families and we know that in our limitations all the good thing were of Him. Looking forward to listening to more of your talks and gleaning from you!

I stumbled onto this podcast this evening. I’ve been serving on church staff for 23 years. As I am approaching retirement age, i will be looking for and training my replacement. I am enjoying these words of wisdom.

Do you have a recommendation for a different resource than the, "Growing in God's Word: Levels of Biblical Learning Birth-High School" by Lifeway? They are no longer producing it and I would love to find something similar.

This is so great! Sharing with our leaders!

Our kids attend service with their parents we only have nursery during service, but Sunday School should also have a check in / out. The thing is their parents let them roam free after SS class is over and I am not ok for that