Ninja's and Preteens?

Here is a short video I made when teaching a lesson about how God can use anything to His glory. I had a camera, an empty house and my little ninja! I challenged the preteens to seek God and see what God can do with what they already have (think moses' staff, cloak, and david's sling shot) 

The Psalm 25 Ninja

I hope you enjoy this video and feel free to use it for anything you like! Here's another link to it on youtube:

http://youtu.be/OTsHklTZR34

Be Blessed!

Preteen Newsletter

So this has been one of the best ways to communicate with our parents as well as showcase our preteens!
If you are looking for a way to update families about current events, and update them about different things throughout the month, I will say that using some form of a monthly newsletter is key to staying in touch.

Edited to respect privacy

I love to attend events our preteens are involved in. From piano to amateur go-kart racing, I have been to all sorts of things and I LOVE IT! What better way to get involved with their families than to be cheering alongside your preteen's parents. I will say though, it's during many of the musicals and plays that I have been known to get a little teary-eyed haha!

It has helped to have the right software to create a newsletter similar to the one I make each month, but even microsoft publisher is great! I usually make it two pages long with things such as:

• List of Birthdays
• Special Events
• Fun Trivia 
• Relevant Ministry Stuff
• Bible Verses 
• Lots of Pictures!

What is most important is being able to communicate monthly updates, reminders, and having a public way to spotlight your preteens!



I should probably use InDesign, but I'm a photographer and I love Photoshop!
If you have any questions or would like some advice on how to start your own newsletter please feel free to ask!

Be Blessed!

Preteen Apologetics!

If you have read my previous posts about these "preteen" apologetics go on and read ahead! If this is the first time you have seen these, then allow me to explain.

These preteen apologetics are more like short discussion questions. Each question can have numerous answers, but every answer given must be supported with a verse from the Bible. It amazes me how a 4th or 5th grader can look through the Bible and use a verse they know to support their decision about each question. I always try to find a few verses myself that I feel can support what God has led me to instruct as the correct answer, and if you use these questions feel free to use verses that may better suit your preteens!

And as always I remind everyone of this motto:

"There's what I think, what you think, and what God Knows."

1.) Could it be a sin to watch TV all day? 

-   John 15:8          -   Matthew 6:21 

2.) Should Christians try to work hard in their jobs?

-   Colossians 3:23

3.) What should a Christian leader act like?

-   Mark 10:42-45

4.) Should Christians ever hide their faith? (this is kind of tricky question)

-   Matthew 5:16 

5.) Should a Christian be willing to give away all their possessions for Christ? 

(yes, but we may not always have to)

-   Matthew 13:44

Bible Race: PART 1

Hey everybody! So I have been waiting on God to give me peace about what my next post would be and after what feels like forever--I feel like this is an awesome post to share with you!


"Bible Race" if you have never heard of it before, that is absolutely okay! Because I just made it up about two weeks ago. Here's a little background info:

One of our 4th grade preteens brought a new "gift Bible" to Sunday School and asked me if there was anything we could do with it. To me, this is one of the greatest miracles ever! God had moved on the heart of this 4th grader and when he approached me with his question what I heard was

"I want to be used by God, can we start with this Bible?"

If you ever get this opportunity be sure to cherish it! then stand back...because God will do something amazing! 

I prayed about how to use this Bible--and there it was! BIBLE RACE! God gave me these two words and I felt led to encourage the preteen ministry to gather a bunch of Bibles together to donate some place...I did not quite know where, but I told the preteens that God would provide us with those who are in need of our Bibles. 

As I told the preteens about this mission opportunity, I challenged them, questioned how many they thought they could bring. I heard shouts of 20! 25! 40! 50! 'Whoa, whoa' I thought to myself, I began to think something like 50, might be too many for our preteens. Even though we have a regular attendance of about 40-50 4th and 5th graders, that's still a lot for everyone to bring in only two weeks time! 

I interceded with the number 30, stating this would still be a challenging goal for us to collect in two weeks. And I honestly believed that, but...I also wanted to make sure their goal was achievable. 

But when you let God lead the way...you don't just meet your goals.

We got 56 Bibles on that first Sunday of the BIBLE RACE. 

I titled this post as "Bible Race: PART 1" because I could really use your prayers as we enter our last Sunday of the Bible Race this weekend. Our new goal is 100 Bibles and now that our church heard about what the preteens are doing, they have decided to donate some Bibles as well! 

And, God provided us with a local church severely in need of Bibles, so now we have a place to donate them too. 

God is good, He always provides, He always loves. 

Be Blessed! 

Patience and Preteens

I think it's about time I simply share my thoughts and let you learn about some of my experiences in preteen ministry, especially my adventure with patience.

In 1 Corinthians we read that "love is patient" and therefore those we love we must also endeavor to offer patience. However, with preteens I have noticed within myself the pattern of focusing more on the goal of my lesson, or finishing my teaching than I am focused on offering patience with my preteens.

This lack of patience comes in many forms for me, such as continuing to speak when hands are raised in valiant participating effort, or lengthy irrelevant Bible verses that must linger on the tongues of eager preteens as I teach on. I want sooo badly to teach these young minds the truths of God's Word and

'I just know that my lesson is exactly what they need to hear!'

In effort to keep this post short, I'd like to say that since I have begun to offer more and more patience with the preteens during my lessons I have seen a slow, but beautiful growth of the Spirit in each one of the young boys and girls.
I am learning that even though the goal of my lesson may be to teach a certain point, or statement, I must never forget the goal of God, and that is to grow these preteens into disciples. The truth is simple,

Jesus is the only way to God, but I am not the only way to Jesus 

and I am humbled each time God reminds me of this when I see Him work in the heart of each preteen in a unique way that I could never do with my teaching alone.
Be blessed! 


What are some ways you have learned to show patience in your ministry?

Check Out Checkers for Preteens!

So I just had to share one of my favorite things I have been so blessed to have (and my fiancée in the middle is pretty amazing too!):

A GIANT CHECKERBOARD!

If you're looking for a fun, easy-to-make element for your preteen or children's ministry this is it! 

Here's what you need:

• Gotta be excited to make something awesome 
• Have another equally awesome person to help
• 64 squares of Vinyl Linoleum 
• Big sheets of card board 
• One of those squishy things people put under rugs 
• 2 different colors of duct tape 
• Upholstery foam 

It's actually incredibly simple to make. From the picture you can tell it's only 8x8 squares. I bought all the tiles from Big Lots for pretty cheap. Simply find the cardboard you need to lay down the linoleum tiles on top of and you're ready to go! 

Once you've taken your  time applying the self-adhereing tiles, find a 8 or 9 inch circle to use for cutting out the foam pieces. It is ridiculous to try to explain how to tape them, but my advice to you is to start with long pieces that criss-cross the circle, then use smaller pieces to fill in the gaps. 

Because preteens are preteens...

• Make sure you make the checkers out of something light-weight. I can assure you they will get thrown across the room at some point.
• It is important to secure the cardboard onto the floor with something otherwise someone might slip.
• Be careful with applying the linoleum straight onto the floor, I think it is more versatile to lay it on top of cardboard so you can move it if needed. 
• Watch out for heavy objects on tiny feet (desks, tables etc...) as they will likely puncture the checker board. 

Have fun! And as always, message me if you'd like more details. 

Be blessed! 

More Apologetics for Preteens!

If you read my last post about these "Preteen Apologetics" you might already understand how to use these questions, if you haven't--no worries! It's very easy to do!

Basically, you will want to challenge your class to answer each question with their own opinion, but they must support it with any Bible verse they think applies to that situation. It is super fun and be sure to encourage every answer (be weary of your reactions to their ideas, it is important to encourage and gently instruct each preteen toward what God has placed on your heart to teach) and find a way to make connections to the question, or just compliment them on their passion and enthusiasm to participate!

My favorite motto throughout these "apologetics" is this:

There's What I Think, there's What You Think, and there's What God Knows.


1.) As Christians, will everyone else want to hear about salvation through Jesus?
- Matthew 24:9     - 1 Peter 2:11     - Matthew 28:19

2.) What kind of things should a Christian think about?
- Philippians 2:17

3.)  What if you had a teacher that is a great person, knows the Bible very well, but does not choose to live out what they teach, what Bible verse could you use to explain if their behavior is good or bad?
- James 1:22

4.) Are Christians more righteous (better) than non-believers?
- Romans 3:9, 21-24     - Matthew 5:6

5.) Will God ever ask you to do something hard?
- Hebrews 11:7,17,23,29,30 (there's a lot of examples here!)

And of course there are probably many, many more answers to these questions (the preteens usually come up with many more verses than I think of). I hope this short lesson, is fun for you and your class (remember to bring some fun treats to pass out when they answer a question correctly!).
Be blessed!