Latest / Kids Ministry Calling with Jana Magruder / 71. Dreaming Bigger About Preschool Ministry: Building a Foundation for Lifelong Faith with Todd Villemont & Renee Blaine

Transcript

71. Dreaming Bigger About Preschool Ministry: Building a Foundation for Lifelong Faith with Todd Villemont & Renee Blaine · Kids Ministry Calling with Jana Magruder

0:00
SPEAKER_02: Are you dedicated to working with kids and families in the local church?
0:03
SPEAKER_02: Well, clearly that's more than a career, that's a calling.
0:07
SPEAKER_02: I'm Jana Magruder and this is Kids Ministry Calling.
0:10
SPEAKER_02: Some of the biggest ministry impact of the church can happen with the littlest people.
0:15
SPEAKER_02: In today's episode, we're continuing our summer dreaming series by dreaming about something foundational to the future of the church.
0:23
SPEAKER_02: Preschool ministry.
0:25
SPEAKER_02: I'm joined today by Todd Villemont and Renee Blaine, two passionate preschool ministers at Brentwood Baptist, who remind us that these early years matter deeply.
0:35
SPEAKER_02: We talk about the incredible opportunity preschool ministry leaders have to shape a child's first understanding of God, church, worship, and belonging.
0:45
SPEAKER_02: This conversation is all about dreaming bigger, not just about programming, but about creating environments where preschoolers begin building a lifelong foundation of faith through biblical literacy, relationships, and consistent gospel truth.
1:01
SPEAKER_02: We also dive into the importance of partnering with parents, building strong church community, and helping families feel seen and supported in these formative years.
1:11
SPEAKER_02: And along the way, Todd and Renee share their own calling stories and the heart behind why they believe preschool ministry deserves our very best.
1:20
SPEAKER_02: So, wherever you're listening from this summer, take a moment to dream about what God could do through your preschool ministry.
1:27
SPEAKER_02: I know you'll be inspired by this chat with Todd and Renee.
1:34
SPEAKER_02: Well, hey everybody.
1:35
SPEAKER_02: So happy to see you.
1:36
SPEAKER_02: I'm back in the studio today with some friends that are just down the road here in Brentwood, Tennessee, at one of our favorite churches, Brentwood Baptists.
1:43
SPEAKER_02: I'm here with Todd Villemont and Renee Blaine.
1:46
SPEAKER_02: You guys are some of my favorite preschool ministers in the world.
1:51
SPEAKER_02: So it's amazing that you're just five minutes down the road because you can come and join us in person and talk to our watchers and listeners who um want to hear more about preschool ministry.
2:02
SPEAKER_02: So, first of all, before we get started, I have a lot that I want to ask you.
2:06
SPEAKER_02: Um, but let's just get to know, help our folks get to know you a little bit.
2:10
SPEAKER_02: So, Todd, we'll start with you.
2:11
SPEAKER_02: Tell us about who you are and what you do.
2:14
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I'm Todd Villemont, and I am the preschool minister at Brentwood Baptist Church at our uh Brentwood campus, and get to uh lead our preschool team for our weekend uh evening programming and our weekday programming.
2:28
SPEAKER_00: So weekday two.
2:29
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, weekday also.
2:31
SPEAKER_00: Awesome.
2:31
SPEAKER_03: Renee, I am Renee Blaine and I am the associate preschool minister.
2:35
SPEAKER_03: So Todd and I are a team, we work together on the Brentwood campus.
2:37
SPEAKER_03: I've been preschool ministry for 30 years, super passionate about it.
2:41
SPEAKER_03: Preschoolers are my favorite.
2:42
SPEAKER_03: Um, it's kind of like you push a play button on me, and I could talk about preschool and ministry for a long time.
2:47
SPEAKER_03: It's my favorite thing to talk about.
2:48
SPEAKER_03: Well, here you go.
2:49
SPEAKER_02: You're in the right place then.
2:50
SPEAKER_02: We're in for a treat.
2:52
SPEAKER_02: Well, okay, we've talked about some questions that I really want to use just to have a conversation and to help our audience learn as much as possible.
3:00
SPEAKER_02: And we really love to talk about preschool regularly on the podcast because we know that it is an important part of doing children's ministry in general.
3:10
SPEAKER_02: It's the first part of the pipeline, if you will.
3:14
SPEAKER_02: And for our our folks that are over, let's say, all age groups, they're having to um learn about all the different age groups.
3:22
SPEAKER_02: You guys have the benefit, because your ministry is so large, of specializing in preschool.
3:28
SPEAKER_02: So that's what I really want to talk about today.
3:30
SPEAKER_02: So uh one question that I want to start with is in your opinion, I want to talk first about spiritual development.
3:37
SPEAKER_02: Because sometimes people don't think of, let's say, early preschool ministry as being spiritual development.
3:44
SPEAKER_02: They're thinking, I've just got to get nursery workers in here.
3:48
SPEAKER_02: Um, help help us help set up the conversation by talking about the value of that.
3:53
SPEAKER_02: Renee, let's start with you.
3:54
SPEAKER_03: Well, I think I read the the Barna study recently um said that a biblical worldview begins at 18 months.
4:01
SPEAKER_03: There you go.
4:02
SPEAKER_03: So we are missing the mark if we're not going ahead and laying that foundation.
4:07
SPEAKER_03: One of the stories I tell often um in uh to parents or in my ministry time, um, when my I was pregnant, one of the things that was a big deal when I was pregnant was that your baby hears your voice and they hear what you're saying and they recognize your voice.
4:19
SPEAKER_03: And my husband was sick in my first trimester and had an emergency appendectomy with when I was pregnant with my oldest daughter.
4:27
SPEAKER_03: And I can remember on that night that um for some reason I kept singing over and over again.
4:32
SPEAKER_03: And I was singing out loud and I was singing an old, she was born in 2000.
4:36
SPEAKER_03: So it was an old praise chorus, the you are my all-in-all song.
4:40
SPEAKER_03: And um as an infant, that song was something that calmed her down because she had heard it in utero.
4:47
SPEAKER_03: And then I think, wow, all right, hold on.
4:49
SPEAKER_03: Like that became this like go-to for us as an infant for me to sing that song to her and it would calm her down.
4:55
SPEAKER_03: And it was all about finding strength in Jesus.
4:57
SPEAKER_03: And she knew that in her mom's moments of weakness, that's what she was doing.
5:01
SPEAKER_03: I mean, there was really a sense of peace that came over her for that.
5:03
SPEAKER_03: And I think about that when I talk to our workers who are working in nursery who are taking care of the littlest ones.
5:09
SPEAKER_03: Um, don't miss the opportunity to pray over them.
5:12
SPEAKER_03: Don't miss the opportunity to tell them about Jesus, to open the Bible, to show them the Bible, to let them touch the Bible.
5:18
SPEAKER_03: Absolutely.
5:19
SPEAKER_03: They're not saying words, they're not singing with you, they're recognizing what you're saying.
5:23
SPEAKER_03: And it's so foundational.
5:24
SPEAKER_03: Absolutely.
5:25
SPEAKER_03: And it if we would encourage our volunteers and the people who are working in the ministry, I think it just gives such a why.
5:31
SPEAKER_03: It's beyond just changing a diaper, it's beyond just rocking a baby.
5:35
SPEAKER_03: Like you are laying the foundation for a relationship with Jesus.
5:38
SPEAKER_03: I I can't say it enough how important it is.
5:41
SPEAKER_03: Wow.
5:42
SPEAKER_03: Okay, Todd, do you have something to add to that?
5:44
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, no, I just kind of go back to laying the foundation.
5:47
SPEAKER_00: It's so foundational.
5:48
SPEAKER_00: And uh growing up in Florida, uh, it's you know, hurricane state, right?
5:53
SPEAKER_00: And uh, and I I think of we built our homes with such uh intentionality, and we we take the time, we built a house in Florida, and when we built the foundation, in the foundation is rebar, so steel bars, and those bars are connected all the way up to the roof, and they're holding your roof down to withstand category three, category four hurricanes.
6:15
SPEAKER_00: And as we think about that and we apply that to our preschoolers, we're building a foundation that is rooted so when they the the storms of life come, when those winds and those waves come, they're they're grounded in the solid rock of Jesus, and their foundation is built there, like our homes.
6:31
SPEAKER_00: That found our roof is connected, our ceiling is connected to our foundation.
6:36
SPEAKER_00: We want that for the kids as they grow older, as they as they're building their lives, as they're going through that, everything is firmly rooted in the foundation of Jesus.
6:45
SPEAKER_02: I love that picture so much.
6:47
SPEAKER_02: Um, so what I think of um, well, I'm gonna share a story.
6:52
SPEAKER_02: When I first came to Lifeway 13 years ago, um I got my hands in some of the toddler and early childhood curriculum that we were looking at.
7:03
SPEAKER_02: And I uh with was working with some of our editors and I said the word nursery and they corrected me.
7:11
SPEAKER_02: First of all, no shame in using this word.
7:13
SPEAKER_02: This is just I I want to bring it up to you guys just to see if you've heard this before.
7:17
SPEAKER_02: They said it's the baby room.
7:19
SPEAKER_02: Like, what's wrong with nursery?
7:20
SPEAKER_02: I mean, I think we all they are saying the same thing.
7:23
SPEAKER_02: And they said, well, we don't want to give people the impression that a nursery would be just childcare.
7:29
SPEAKER_02: And so if we say baby room, maybe we can help frame their mind.
7:33
SPEAKER_02: And so I've caught and I've had to correct myself in front of certain audiences uh multiple times.
7:38
SPEAKER_02: But any thoughts on that?
7:39
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, so 30 years of ministry, we fall back on those words, those traditional words.
7:44
SPEAKER_03: Like absolutely, we would say nursery and just things we say.
7:47
SPEAKER_03: And I think what you're what they were telling you is so right.
7:50
SPEAKER_03: It's the connotation that comes with it.
7:51
SPEAKER_03: And here is what we need to recognize so much more is happening.
7:55
SPEAKER_03: We are not just making sure that the babies stay fed and well and all that stuff so that we can give them back to their parents.
8:02
SPEAKER_03: We have the opportunity to lay foundational truths.
8:05
SPEAKER_03: Like, and I think one of the things we've even recognized post-COVID, I think we recognize that most of our volunteers now need to recognize there's an importance in what they're doing.
8:15
SPEAKER_03: They need to see there's something that they're doing that matters.
8:18
SPEAKER_03: Yes.
8:18
SPEAKER_03: And I think if we can help them point them to, yeah, we want to, we want to keep them, we want the moms to feel like their child is safe.
8:26
SPEAKER_03: We want them to, if they're crying, we want to give them a bottle.
8:28
SPEAKER_03: Like there are some physical needs we are definitely meeting.
8:31
SPEAKER_03: One of the things Todd talks about all the time, though, is that if we don't meet those physical needs, then we can't meet those spiritual needs.
8:36
SPEAKER_03: And the spirit, because they don't trust us to meet those spiritual needs.
8:39
SPEAKER_03: The parents won't trust us to keep bringing them back.
8:42
SPEAKER_03: The kids won't trust us to listen to what we're saying.
8:44
SPEAKER_03: And so I think the the caution is to recognize like, don't just it's when we say the words child care, when we say the word nursery, it does sound like it's just like this obligatory thing.
8:55
SPEAKER_03: It doesn't, the the purpose, the intentionality that can be behind it, we lose it if we don't really think about what is behind it.
9:02
SPEAKER_03: And again, it's just a word, yeah, but it's the purpose, it's the connotation that comes along with a word.
9:07
SPEAKER_03: So again, no shame if you're using it.
9:09
SPEAKER_03: Right.
9:09
SPEAKER_03: Recognize no shame.
9:11
SPEAKER_03: Because I still I still go back to nursery.
9:13
SPEAKER_02: I use nursery and baby room interchangeably.
9:15
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
9:15
SPEAKER_03: And I just think the the reason the thing to think about is what's actually happening in that setting.
9:19
SPEAKER_03: That's what you need to be focused on.
9:22
SPEAKER_03: Right.
9:22
SPEAKER_02: Words matter.
9:24
SPEAKER_02: I mean, I and I hear childcare quite a bit used in um the reference point of like if there's a special event at church, child care provided.
9:34
SPEAKER_02: I like, yeah, that's okay.
9:36
SPEAKER_02: Like my church uses that.
9:37
SPEAKER_02: I see a lot of churches use that.
9:39
SPEAKER_00: Well, we've actually kind of changed that.
9:41
SPEAKER_02: Tell us how to do that.
9:42
SPEAKER_00: Well, I don't know if it's the right way.
9:44
SPEAKER_00: We're trying, but we fall back on words, just like you know, we still fall back on it.
9:49
SPEAKER_00: We we actually have changed, we're we're blessed at our church.
9:52
SPEAKER_00: We do have some uh ministry care workers.
9:56
SPEAKER_00: So um we don't call it child care, we've changed it.
10:00
SPEAKER_00: Um, you know, if if other ministries need our help uh offering care for kids, we call it ministry care instead of child care because we are offering uh care for kids while ministry is happening on campus.
10:14
SPEAKER_03: And so um and we're ministering to the children that are in our care.
10:18
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
10:18
SPEAKER_00: And so we call our workers, ministry care workers now.
10:22
SPEAKER_00: Um we register for ministry care opportunities.
10:26
SPEAKER_00: Um, it's not child care anymore.
10:29
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
10:29
SPEAKER_00: Um we still say childcare every now and then.
10:32
SPEAKER_00: I'll admit it.
10:32
SPEAKER_00: It's a shift, it is, but it is just a shift, and it's it's helps us, like y'all said, frame up what's actually happening um while the kids are with us and under our care.
10:42
SPEAKER_02: Y'all didn't even know I was gonna bring this up.
10:44
SPEAKER_02: That is that is really interesting.
10:47
SPEAKER_02: Maybe it'll catch on because I really like that.
10:50
SPEAKER_02: I like I like the double meaning too of you're providing ministry for another ministry, you're providing the care that another ministry needs.
10:58
SPEAKER_02: And that helps your whole staff kind of understand what is happening.
11:03
SPEAKER_02: And yeah, so that's great.
11:04
SPEAKER_03: Well, and I think too, anytime we have the opportunity to have a child in our care, that's an opportunity to tell them about Jesus.
11:11
SPEAKER_03: That's right.
11:11
SPEAKER_03: And so that is ministering to them.
11:13
SPEAKER_03: And so don't miss the opportunity to spend that time and not just, you know, it's not babysitting, we're not just keeping them alive, like we're literally have an opportunity to point them to Jesus.
11:22
SPEAKER_02: And just so we're clear, we're talking about these paid events too, like where you're paying child care workers for like a tr a training is going on.
11:31
SPEAKER_02: You're providing, and you say ministry care.
11:34
SPEAKER_02: So even in that context.
11:35
SPEAKER_03: Our child care workers now say ministry care.
11:37
SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
11:37
SPEAKER_03: They are a ministry care team because we're trying to shift that that's a good thing.
11:41
SPEAKER_03: How long has this been going on?
11:42
SPEAKER_03: Within the last six months.
11:43
SPEAKER_03: So we're still working.
11:45
SPEAKER_03: Okay, report back.
11:47
SPEAKER_03: We'll keep you posted.
11:48
SPEAKER_02: Yes.
11:49
SPEAKER_02: Okay.
11:49
SPEAKER_02: All right, let's move on to talking about parents because we know that that's such a big deal, especially in preschool ministry, because you've got a lot of first-time parents.
12:00
SPEAKER_02: So you're ministering to them, uh, you're ministering to uh parents who might be going through um maybe something or the loss of a child or a child who has a diagonal a significant diagnosis at birth.
12:14
SPEAKER_02: So tell us how um just some practical advice for maybe someone who's listening that is new to preschool ministry, just to be looking out for and preparing for.
12:26
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I think one of the big shifts that I had in ministry uh come is was coming to Brentwood, serving under our next gen minister Link Taylor, and him helping us just frame ministry that all of next gen is not just the kids we care for.
12:43
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
12:43
SPEAKER_00: And I think a lot of times we get caught in the trap of that because Sunday's coming.
12:47
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
12:48
SPEAKER_00: That next event is coming and it's for the kids.
12:51
SPEAKER_00: But in that, really, we're ministering and we we have under our care um the kids, yes, our volunteers, which are all important, but then also our parents.
13:01
SPEAKER_00: And so, what are we doing as ministries to care for those parents?
13:05
SPEAKER_00: Um, and so that's been a challenge, but then also an exciting thing, and and what one of my favorite things that I get to do in my role at Brentwood is you know, getting to minister to parents and and have that that's part of what I do, you know.
13:19
SPEAKER_00: And so um the question of like how do we do that?
13:24
SPEAKER_00: Um for preschool, one of the hardest things is identifying those new parents.
13:29
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
13:30
SPEAKER_00: And a lot of times if they're having a child for the first time, um, you know, they've or they're coming to the church for the first time, they've never stepped foot in our area.
13:39
SPEAKER_00: We don't know them, yeah.
13:39
SPEAKER_00: We don't know how do you know they've been in adult groups, they've been a part of the church.
13:44
SPEAKER_00: Um, and so we started offering a new and expectant parent class.
13:47
SPEAKER_00: Okay.
13:48
SPEAKER_00: Um, and the new and expectant parent class uh is for that.
13:53
SPEAKER_00: You know, parents who are new, parents who are expecting, and it's been such a joy because it's very small.
13:59
SPEAKER_00: Um, we have it in our preschool area, we're able to give them a tour, share our heart, um, get to know the parents.
14:07
SPEAKER_00: Um, and it's so exciting because then once they have that child, we already have a relationship.
14:12
SPEAKER_00: Yes.
14:12
SPEAKER_00: So we're not, you know, showing up the stranger showing up to see our new baby, you know.
14:17
SPEAKER_00: Right.
14:18
SPEAKER_00: Um, we're we're someone who we already have a relationship established.
14:21
SPEAKER_00: And so that's been a huge shift for us seeing relationships built through the those small one-on-one um encounters.
14:29
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, I think relationships is your key.
14:31
SPEAKER_03: That is the key of what has to happen in in ministering to your parents.
14:35
SPEAKER_03: I think sometimes we on a Sunday morning, um, and years ago in ministry, I had um an older woman who had been a church secretary, she had been the pastor secretary on us, and she said, Can I give you the best Sunday morning piece of advice?
14:48
SPEAKER_03: And I was like, I'm ready.
14:50
SPEAKER_03: Like the wisdom that was gonna come for her.
14:52
SPEAKER_03: And Miss Shirley said, Here's what you need to know.
14:54
SPEAKER_03: Don't walk so fast on Sunday morning that you miss the people sitting around you that need you to look at them.
15:00
SPEAKER_03: And I thought that is so true because so many times on a Sunday morning, I'm going from point A to point B.
15:06
SPEAKER_03: You know, I know there's a room that needs me.
15:08
SPEAKER_03: I know I need to get down to do large group worship.
15:11
SPEAKER_03: There are all of these things.
15:11
SPEAKER_03: And so many times I could be going so quickly that I miss the opportunity of a parent with a child who's losing their mind walking in.
15:18
SPEAKER_03: Like I think I love the opportunity to look at that mama when there's a three-year-old that's losing it and having a meltdown.
15:24
SPEAKER_03: And I'm like, man, you know what?
15:26
SPEAKER_03: As adults, do you know how many times we would probably have meltdowns if it was socially acceptable?
15:30
SPEAKER_03: You know, like just to give the mom the time to take that breath and be like, oh, wait, you know, like it's okay that my kid is three and having a meltdown because that's what three-year-olds do.
15:39
SPEAKER_03: And like, I don't want to miss the opportunity to be that source of encouragement on a Sunday morning.
15:43
SPEAKER_03: And so I think that is, I can't say that I am great at it every Sunday.
15:47
SPEAKER_03: Probably some of my parents would laugh that this is one of some of our preschool parents would be like, Miss Renee moves from place to place so quick.
15:53
SPEAKER_03: But I do try to have my eyes open and around so that I can at least tell, like, oh, I saw that family and it looked like they were struggling.
16:00
SPEAKER_03: I saw that mama and she looked sad.
16:02
SPEAKER_03: I should follow up with her and be sure she's okay.
16:03
SPEAKER_03: Or, you know, it was that child's birthday.
16:05
SPEAKER_03: I need to be sure to say happy birthday.
16:07
SPEAKER_03: I think building relationships with your parents, and it's a challenge.
16:10
SPEAKER_03: It is a challenge, but it is the way you're gonna get them to trust you to come to you when they're in need.
16:15
SPEAKER_03: It's the way they're gonna keep bringing their kids because they're gonna trust that you love them and you care about them.
16:20
SPEAKER_03: It's so important that relationship status and building with them is so, so crucial.
16:25
SPEAKER_02: And that has to translate to your volunteers and workers to also show up, be consistent, um, because that consistency is what helps not just the child with separation anxiety, you know, when they see similar faces, but also the parents, the nervous moms and dads who um, you know, are anxious about dropping their child off or worried that they're going to be disruptive or you know, need them.
16:53
SPEAKER_02: The consistency matters, yeah, for sure.
16:55
SPEAKER_00: One of the things I love talking about relationship that Renee does is on Wednesday.
17:00
SPEAKER_00: So we have our weekday program.
17:01
SPEAKER_00: And our weekday program is not it's not just caring for kids and it's not just an educational program.
17:06
SPEAKER_00: It's a it's a way for us to engage our community and to have families come and be a part of our church who aren't normally a part of our church.
17:15
SPEAKER_00: And so we've seen families come and be a part of our weekday program and get connected to the community in there in the weekday program.
17:23
SPEAKER_00: And Renee and I got to baptize uh mom and dad who started coming to the church through weekday.
17:28
SPEAKER_00: And so we want that to happen.
17:31
SPEAKER_00: And so one of the things um Renee started when she came on staff was a mom's Bible study, and it happens during our weekday hours.
17:38
SPEAKER_00: So their care their kids are being cared for.
17:40
SPEAKER_00: Um, we have ministry care also for those that are younger.
17:44
SPEAKER_00: Um, and then um, but then also it happens while our embrace adult day programming is going on as well.
17:51
SPEAKER_00: Um, and so she's able to have this Bible study for moms, create relationships around a table.
17:57
SPEAKER_00: Um, and it's been something really big.
18:00
SPEAKER_00: It's seeing our moms get connected.
18:02
SPEAKER_00: And as they form those relationships, then they want to serve and they want to be a part of what's going on and be involved even more.
18:08
SPEAKER_00: It's it's been a really exciting thing.
18:10
SPEAKER_03: I think a cool part of that too has been the multi-generational aspect of that.
18:13
SPEAKER_03: Like we've got moms in different seasons coming and sitting at tables together who, and that those relationships, like when a mom of a college student can look at the mom of the infant and say, I promise you're gonna make it.
18:24
SPEAKER_03: Like this season is a challenging season, but you're gonna make it.
18:28
SPEAKER_03: Like it's just it's such a season of encouragement.
18:30
SPEAKER_03: So that's been a sweet way to just minister to the moms and open up to our community that way.
18:35
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
18:35
SPEAKER_02: I'm so glad y'all shared that because I talked to a lot of people in all different sizes of churches that have the responsibility of overseeing a day program alongside their ministry program too.
18:47
SPEAKER_02: And it's all ministry.
18:48
SPEAKER_02: But I love how you guys just very just with that one example showed how it can be very strategic for those two ministries to work together, which is why the church does what it does.
18:59
SPEAKER_02: But sometimes I think there there might be a little bit of tension or um stress about seeing kind of these two different sides of the of the ministry with the day program and then your week weekend programming.
19:15
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
19:16
SPEAKER_02: So any advice for people who are wrestling with that, or maybe they just got the assignment to do that?
19:21
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I think my advice would be um just view it as an arm of your ministry.
19:28
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
19:28
SPEAKER_00: Um, we have uh an amazing relationship with our weekday director and just how we we we work so well together.
19:36
SPEAKER_00: It's definitely God, you know, ordained and God given.
19:40
SPEAKER_00: We we I love getting to work alongside her and we share the same vision of the church, the mission of the church, it's all the same.
19:48
SPEAKER_00: Um, they aren't just renting with it's a it's our ministry, so they don't rent our building, right?
19:54
SPEAKER_00: You know, um, but they're not just using the space, um, they are ministry happening.
20:00
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
20:00
SPEAKER_00: Um, and so I think having that shared mission, having that shared vision and seeing yourselves working together as a team is key.
20:11
SPEAKER_00: Because a lot of times I think churches can work against each other in that aspect.
20:15
SPEAKER_00: Even churches who have schools that use their area, you know, they they work against each other, but find compromise, find ways to work together.
20:24
SPEAKER_00: Um I remember Renee and I, when Renee came, I was struggling with man, they there's so much stuff on the walls.
20:32
SPEAKER_00: And like I wish some of that stuff would come down because it's more educational, it's not like church.
20:37
SPEAKER_00: Right, it's like letters and numbers and Renee framed it up with, well, I mean, they still need to know their letters and still need to know their numbers, and just to have it as on the wall as decoration, it's not as sterile in the room on Sundays, but then also like they're gonna write their numbers, they're gonna write their letters and to have it there for that visual, you know, the you know, that aspect of it.
20:58
SPEAKER_00: And I was like, Oh, that's a just a different way to look at it in a good way.
21:02
SPEAKER_00: Um, and so that's helped even in that relationship.
21:04
SPEAKER_03: I think too, we have found ways and and it's a great relationship with that staff as well, but um interjecting ourselves, like they have invited us to be a part of that.
21:14
SPEAKER_03: So we stand at drop-off time, they see our faces, they invited us to help and be part of their orientation for parents.
21:20
SPEAKER_03: So the parents know that Todd and I are there so that if they come on Sunday, they're not surprised when they see us on Sunday or Wednesday night.
21:28
SPEAKER_03: Their kids, those the BYCS kids, they know that we're there.
21:31
SPEAKER_03: Um, it's I just show up in classrooms because I sure like to hang out with little children instead of sitting behind a computer all the time.
21:37
SPEAKER_03: And I'll just like stick my head and I'll be like, hi, it's lunchtime.
21:40
SPEAKER_03: Can I come have hi?
21:41
SPEAKER_03: Can Mr.
21:41
SPEAKER_03: Nate come say hi?
21:42
SPEAKER_03: And I get to go and sit and have lunch with the friends.
21:44
SPEAKER_03: So it's just a it, I think our presence helps that relationship be just a sweet one that works really well.
21:50
SPEAKER_03: And in all my years of ministry, this is the best I've seen at work because it is attention.
21:54
SPEAKER_03: There is tension.
21:56
SPEAKER_03: Um, and it's just it just takes work to make it happen.
21:59
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
22:00
SPEAKER_02: We didn't start with this, but let me just reframe our summer season theme.
22:06
SPEAKER_02: Okay.
22:06
SPEAKER_02: I don't know if y'all even know this, but we have a little bit of a theme going.
22:09
SPEAKER_02: So this is our summer dreaming series.
22:12
SPEAKER_02: Here's what I mean by that.
22:14
SPEAKER_02: In the summers, you all might laugh at me.
22:17
SPEAKER_02: After VBS, I know when y'all have your VBS.
22:20
SPEAKER_02: We're gonna get to VBS next minute.
22:21
SPEAKER_02: Um, maybe after if if uh you have a children's ministry camp, you know, after those big summer events are over, could there maybe be a little bit of time?
22:32
SPEAKER_02: Maybe you're by the pool or on a beach.
22:36
SPEAKER_02: Um and you might have a little bit of margin to do a little bit of dreaming about what's next in your ministry.
22:43
SPEAKER_02: It's it's in those times of rest and margin that maybe you do have the ability to dream about some intentional planning for what's next.
22:53
SPEAKER_02: And that's kind of what we're loosely trying to set up here is for our audience to think through, okay, for preschool, let me evaluate where we are with preschool.
23:01
SPEAKER_02: And here's some things that I would just love to see us going to the next level.
23:08
SPEAKER_02: And so what would you share about um what let me see how I want to frame this?
23:16
SPEAKER_02: What would you love every preschool ministry leader to dream bigger about?
23:22
SPEAKER_02: Who wants to take that?
23:24
SPEAKER_00: I think Renee's ready.
23:28
SPEAKER_03: Well, I'm super passionate about Bible literacy.
23:30
SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
23:30
SPEAKER_03: And I think um, I think in adults it's so important, but I think we have, we are, we're selling short our kiddos by not exposing them to some things about the Bible that we can easily teach them and we can lay some foundations for.
23:43
SPEAKER_03: Um, I am so, it is so important to me that the kids in the preschool ministry understand that the reason we're teaching them these stories, they're not, they're it's different than just a Cinderella storybook.
23:54
SPEAKER_03: Like we're teaching them from God's word and why that's important.
23:57
SPEAKER_03: Um, I love the opportunity to pass the Bible around and let the little ones, the infants, touch it, the toddlers touch it, the preschoolers I hide it and they find it because they recognize it's important and we want to find God's word and we want to search after God's word.
24:10
SPEAKER_03: Um it's just so important.
24:12
SPEAKER_03: And so if I could dream anything big for preschool ministry, I would love for preschool ministers to really be looking at ways to infuse um teaching the why behind what they're learning.
24:22
SPEAKER_03: Like, yes, you are learning about David and Goliath, but do you know why it's important?
24:26
SPEAKER_03: Like, because David was God's chosen person to be the king of God's chosen people, the Israelites, which are all part of his plan.
24:33
SPEAKER_03: Like, and um, it's super important to us.
24:35
SPEAKER_03: We're really big on teaching the Bible from beginning to end, and our kiddos know that in our preschool ministry.
24:40
SPEAKER_03: And so we always try to be sure that whatever story they're learning, whatever lesson we're teaching them, they understand how it's part of God's big story so that they know that we're in we really work with them to understand why they're learning the Bible.
24:52
SPEAKER_03: They do a really fun liturgy every time we do the Bible.
24:56
SPEAKER_03: Our 18 months old up, they will tell you that they know that the Bible is true with a capital T, and they know that all scriptures breathed out by God, and they know that the word of God comes from the mouth of God, and they know that the word of God is living and active and sharper than a two-edged sword.
25:10
SPEAKER_03: And they know that God's word is a lamp to our feet and a light to our path, and that the word of the Lord remains forever.
25:15
SPEAKER_03: And we really do say that every time before we say the Bible story.
25:19
SPEAKER_03: And to the emotions.
25:20
SPEAKER_03: And we do the emotions.
25:21
SPEAKER_03: And we do the motions.
25:22
SPEAKER_03: Yes.
25:22
SPEAKER_03: And from 18 months on, like we're noticing that.
25:25
SPEAKER_03: I mean, I love it when I can see the toddlers as soon as they see me, because they know that's how I teach it, they will definitely put their hands together to show me a T.
25:33
SPEAKER_03: And I think here's the key.
25:34
unknown: Yes.
25:35
SPEAKER_03: Do they understand the letter T and 18-month-old absolutely does not?
25:39
SPEAKER_03: However, we are laying foundations for biblical, for Bible literacy.
25:43
SPEAKER_03: Like when we think about even what we're teaching them in emergence, emerging literacy, I taught preschool for years.
25:48
SPEAKER_03: And I think we teach them the A, B's, and Cs, we teach them the letter sounds, we teach them the letter names, then we teach them how we put those letters together to make the words.
25:55
SPEAKER_03: And so again, we're doing some foundational truths so that by the time they're six and seven, they're understanding.
26:01
SPEAKER_03: I mean, our goal is by the time they leave us, they can tell you the story of the Bible from beginning to end, but they also can tell you that the Bible is true and that they're recognizing the absolute truth of that.
26:09
SPEAKER_03: So that when they get up to kids' ministry and they start talking about, hey, you know what?
26:13
SPEAKER_03: The people send.
26:14
SPEAKER_03: They're like, wait, wait, wait, I'm a people, I send.
26:17
SPEAKER_03: And they can make those connections to know why it's important for them to have the relationship with Jesus.
26:22
SPEAKER_03: Yes.
26:22
SPEAKER_03: My big joke is that we would never call priests, we very rarely would call preschoolers to make a big decision, like never, because they don't know if they want crust on their peanut butter and jelly sandwich.
26:32
SPEAKER_03: And as soon as they say please no crust, and we take the crust off, we put it in front of them, they're mad because there's no crust on their sandwich.
26:38
SPEAKER_03: So we're not calling them to make a decision.
26:40
SPEAKER_03: Like we're not saying, hey, as a four-year-old, we're ready for you to become a Christ follower because we recognize that's a big decision, but we sure are giving them the tools in their toolbox so that when it's time for them to make that decision, they've had that foundation laid.
26:51
SPEAKER_03: I'm the big dreamer about Bible literacy and super passionate for me.
26:55
SPEAKER_03: You found my hot button.
26:57
SPEAKER_03: Like I literally can talk about this.
26:58
SPEAKER_02: Definitely worth dreaming about how to continually evaluate that and see what else could we do?
27:05
SPEAKER_02: How could we tweak this to make it stronger or get more creative with how to um help our volunteers get there as well?
27:12
SPEAKER_02: Um, because we know it's God's word that transforms hearts and it's in his timing.
27:16
SPEAKER_02: And so we lay those foundational truths, and then in the Holy Spirit's timing, that's when it happens.
27:22
SPEAKER_02: And so whether that's younger or a little bit down the road, uh it's it's God's word that he uses to do that, to accomplish that.
27:29
SPEAKER_02: And that starts very young.
27:31
SPEAKER_02: So what else would you add to?
27:33
SPEAKER_00: I think for me, dreaming right now in the season I'm in is how we can help parents be who God has called them to be as the parent.
27:42
SPEAKER_00: Um, you know, resourcing them, giving them opportunities in the church to to serve with their kids, um, to walk alongside their kids and and do ministry with their kids.
27:56
SPEAKER_00: Um, you know, uh we tell in our parent child dedication class that we do, I I say this and Renee's laughing already because she knows it's more caught than taught.
28:06
SPEAKER_03: It's more caught than taught, you know.
28:08
SPEAKER_00: And so we can we can drill our kids on um knowing what the Bible says.
28:16
SPEAKER_00: Um and we can tell them what the Bible says, and we can quiz them on it, and they can answer every question.
28:23
SPEAKER_00: They can tell you the books of the Bible from beginning to end, and those are all good things.
28:28
SPEAKER_00: But we want it to be on their heart, not just you know, in the in their mind.
28:33
SPEAKER_00: And so, in that, you know, I think as helping parents live their faith out in front of their kids.
28:39
SPEAKER_00: I think parents are scared to do it because they're scared to make mistakes and then be called out because our kids call out our mistakes.
28:45
SPEAKER_02: Yes, they do.
28:46
SPEAKER_00: Um keep us humble.
28:47
SPEAKER_00: But but in that, helping parents realize it's okay to make mistakes and then apologize on those mistakes and and and practice and show them what grace looks like.
28:56
SPEAKER_00: And but I'm I'm gonna start preaching here, but um, but go to the preach camp.
29:02
SPEAKER_00: No, um but it but in that uh you know, helping parents realize, you know, you don't have to do anything magical.
29:11
SPEAKER_00: It it's your day-to-day, and I don't know how to help parents with that.
29:16
SPEAKER_00: I guess that's where the dreaming comes in.
29:18
SPEAKER_00: Um and so maybe this summer I'll get some time to dream on that.
29:21
SPEAKER_00: But um but but no, helping them understand it's it's nothing magical.
29:27
SPEAKER_00: Start where you are, do what you do every day, and and and using that uh and helping parents do that.
29:33
SPEAKER_00: Um I I don't know if I'm making sense of it.
29:35
SPEAKER_03: Well, no, and I think the cool thing though is the dreams align because the dream that like what the dream of Bible literacy, like we want these kids to know it, we want them to have the foundation, but then we want them to see it lived out.
29:46
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, and when you see those two things together, and we in preschool ministry have the opportunity to do both things equip the parents and teach the children to where then it shows together, it just bridges it and it shows it in such a it's it's a it's a unique opportunity we have in preschool ministry.
30:00
SPEAKER_02: And I have found that preschool parents are more dialed in and and eager to learn and try new things and tell me what to do.
30:09
SPEAKER_02: Oh, you're giving me a resource, I'm gonna really read it, and I'm going to do my best to to um use it at home.
30:16
SPEAKER_02: Uh once they get a little bit older and the third child comes along, and they're in baseball, and you know, you're trying to get a new resource or training in front of them, there's there seems to be less time or interest or eagerness.
30:29
SPEAKER_02: I'm not saying always, but I think that's an advantage and a really sweet opportunity that our preschool leaders have is to invest in the parents.
30:38
SPEAKER_00: In our new and expectant parent class, that's one of the things we stop and we say, okay, hey, here are your rhythms right now as a family.
30:44
SPEAKER_00: Your rhythms are getting ready to change.
30:46
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
30:47
SPEAKER_00: But it's so important that when you're when your rhythms change, you don't forget about these things.
30:53
SPEAKER_00: And and creating those rhythms early, creating routine early is huge.
30:58
SPEAKER_01: Yes.
30:58
SPEAKER_00: Not just in their sleep pattern, but also the the way you walk, you're talking as you go, using that early, starting early with your kids, because your kids come to expect it.
31:11
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
31:12
SPEAKER_00: My my daughter, she's uh nine years old, she'll be ten um next month.
31:17
SPEAKER_00: If we're it's a late night, it's been a long day, we're showering, we're getting ready for bed, we're brushing our teeth, and we're going to bed and we forgot to pray.
31:26
SPEAKER_00: She'll call you out.
31:27
SPEAKER_00: She calls you out.
31:28
SPEAKER_00: Oh, I love that.
31:29
SPEAKER_00: Well, it's because it's a routine we created.
31:32
SPEAKER_00: And those routines are things that are helping build their faith, building their foundation, building who God has created them to be and how they're going to live out their faith when they're out of your house.
31:43
SPEAKER_02: Oh, I love that.
31:45
SPEAKER_02: Wow.
31:46
SPEAKER_02: Well, okay, let's see.
31:48
SPEAKER_02: Have we covered everything?
31:49
SPEAKER_02: No, we haven't.
31:50
SPEAKER_02: So we'll have to have you back at some point.
31:52
SPEAKER_00: Let's go.
31:52
SPEAKER_00: We're five minutes down the road.
31:54
SPEAKER_02: That's right.
31:54
SPEAKER_02: That's right.
31:54
SPEAKER_02: We'll have to we'll have to have you back.
31:56
SPEAKER_02: So we've got just a few minutes left, and I didn't tell you guys that I was gonna ask you this, but um, for people who haven't been on the podcast yet, I love for leaders to share their calling stories because it's called Kids Ministry Calling.
32:08
SPEAKER_02: And I think it just helps all of us hear, you know, your story of how the Lord called you into ministry.
32:15
SPEAKER_02: Yours, Renee, how are they, you know, um, what what do they share in common?
32:19
SPEAKER_02: How are they different?
32:20
SPEAKER_02: Because it helps remind us uh that there was a time where we felt drawn into this, and um, and the Lord calls us and equips us.
32:31
SPEAKER_02: And there will be days, uh, maybe it's during uh this summer, you know, after VBS, or I don't know if I can keep doing this, but that we can remind one another, we can spur one another on to continue in our calling.
32:44
SPEAKER_02: So um, Todd, why don't we start with you and just take a couple minutes?
32:48
SPEAKER_02: It doesn't have to be your entire testimony, but just give us a little snapshot.
32:51
SPEAKER_00: No, I think um originally I felt called into student ministry.
32:54
SPEAKER_00: Okay, but God rescued me from that.
32:56
SPEAKER_00: No, um no, I originally felt called into student ministry and kind of started pursuing that just through being an intern at my local church and walking through what that would look like.
33:06
SPEAKER_00: Um, and the door never opened.
33:08
SPEAKER_00: Um so went into uh kind of the the business world and started working and just I said, God, whatever you would have for me, uh I feel called into ministry and um at the church um that my wife and I were serving at and and were attending, our our children's minister left and I told our pastor, I was like, hey, I'll fill in and get some ministry experience because I feel called to this.
33:32
SPEAKER_00: And um a few months later he called me in and said, Man, I really think you're called to this.
33:37
SPEAKER_00: Like kids ministry, you're doing such a you're doing a great job.
33:40
SPEAKER_00: The kids love you.
33:42
SPEAKER_00: Um, and so would you think about coming and being a kids minister?
33:45
SPEAKER_00: I was like, Oh, I don't know, because I'm called to pseudo ministry, you know, and so prayed through that and um God opened that door for us to for us to be on staff there at that church, which was really a blessing, and um moved to a church down in South Florida, Southwest Florida.
34:01
SPEAKER_00: That's where I met Renee.
34:03
SPEAKER_00: She was on staff there already.
34:04
SPEAKER_00: Um she was the preschool director, and I went to be uh the kids uh pastor there, and so uh she'll probably tell a little bit of this story, but um she left to go take care of her daughter and and uh be a mom for a season, and I was given preschool and kids ministry.
34:26
SPEAKER_00: And it's such a gift, it was a gift, it was, and I I fell in love kind of with that preschool uh ministry, just being in it and the foundations of it, and God allowed me to come up to Brentwood to be just preschool minister and struggled that with that a little bit, I'm not gonna lie at first, um, and reached out to Phil Hoyt, a good friend.
34:45
SPEAKER_02: Oh, yes, and one of the best in the booth.
34:47
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, because he's so good, and he just had a lot of words of wisdom and just encouragement um as I was praying through it in that season, and uh God's allowed me to be preschool minister at Brentwood for now five years, and it's been uh just such a blessing and such an exciting thing.
35:02
SPEAKER_00: I don't take it for granted.
35:04
SPEAKER_00: Um, I'm so grateful that I get to do it.
35:07
SPEAKER_00: Um it's it's it's really awesome.
35:10
SPEAKER_02: Thanks for sharing that.
35:11
SPEAKER_02: I love hearing about just saying yes to the next thing and what the Lord has put in front of you, the just faithfulness and obedience to say yes to um serving first and then yes to let's try kids' ministry, yes to let's try preschool and um just see you thriving in that.
35:29
SPEAKER_02: So love that.
35:31
SPEAKER_02: Okay, I gotta hear about how all this works together.
35:33
SPEAKER_02: I did not know that you guys were in Florida together.
35:38
SPEAKER_03: It's a fun, it's a fun story, it's a fun God story.
35:40
SPEAKER_03: Um, so I actually was raised in Florida, and my um when I was in high school, I definitely felt a calling into ministry pretty, pretty strongly.
35:49
SPEAKER_03: Felt, but I didn't know what that was gonna look like.
35:51
SPEAKER_03: Um, first off, I was a girl, so that was a little hard to figure out what that meant in that season, um, because it was a lot of years ago when things were a little bit different.
36:00
SPEAKER_03: And so I wasn't sure what does that look like?
36:02
SPEAKER_03: What am I, what is God calling me to?
36:04
SPEAKER_03: Um, maybe it's just vocal, maybe it's like bi vocational.
36:07
SPEAKER_03: Like maybe I'm supposed to do something, but I'm also supposed to just be a really good volunteer in a church or maybe part-time.
36:11
SPEAKER_03: I wasn't sure.
36:12
SPEAKER_03: Um, went to college, thought my degree was going to be in education, changed my degree midway through, got a degree in human resource management, which sounds so crazy in this season, but here I did.
36:22
SPEAKER_03: I have my degree's in human resources and worked for a year in the business world and really knew that was not what God had called me to.
36:28
SPEAKER_03: Um, my strongest spiritual gift is mercy.
36:31
SPEAKER_03: And so being in the business world was just not really, I wasn't making a lot of sales because I was not as cutthroat as I needed to be.
36:39
SPEAKER_03: Um, but out of that also, I just realized I still had this passion for little kids.
36:44
SPEAKER_03: Like I just didn't understand, you know, what the I just felt like the Lord was calling me to still be with kids.
36:49
SPEAKER_03: And the Lord opened a sweet door for me to be um an I was a preschool assistant because I did not have my degree in education.
36:55
SPEAKER_03: And so I was an assistant in preschool class at our church.
36:58
SPEAKER_03: Um and I had a director and assistant director that believed in me, saw the passion within me.
37:02
SPEAKER_03: I got my associate level degree so that I could teach preschool and taught preschool for about maybe six or seven years before.
37:09
SPEAKER_03: So I had my babies was being a mom, and our youngest daughter, when she was three years old, was diagnosed with a bleeding disorder.
37:16
SPEAKER_03: And that kind of turned our whole world upside down, which kind of pushed the pause button for me.
37:20
SPEAKER_03: We had to pull her out of school.
37:22
SPEAKER_03: Um, a new passion for three-year-old mama, for mamas of three-year-olds with children with special needs and diagnoses that they would be.
37:29
SPEAKER_03: It was just a different world that the Lord gave me eyes to see.
37:32
SPEAKER_03: Um, and so we kind of pushed the pause button and I stayed at home with her for a couple of years.
37:37
SPEAKER_03: Um, and then the Lord opened the door for her to, she was at school.
37:41
SPEAKER_03: I had some time that I could come back.
37:43
SPEAKER_03: So I was gonna teach again, but our church needed uh someone to run their preschool ministry.
37:47
SPEAKER_03: And they said, Hey, what about you?
37:50
SPEAKER_03: And I was like, I mean, sure.
37:51
SPEAKER_03: And it was part-time, but if you know anything about me, I don't do anything part-time and preschool ministry part-time.
37:57
SPEAKER_03: It's hard to, that's hard to do.
37:58
SPEAKER_00: No such thing.
37:59
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, it's just not.
38:00
SPEAKER_03: So, anyways, I jumped into that.
38:01
SPEAKER_03: Um, so so blessed to be a one, and I remember like finally being like, wait, this is this is it.
38:07
SPEAKER_03: This is what that call has been.
38:09
SPEAKER_03: This is what that tug has been for so long.
38:11
SPEAKER_03: Um, just it just met, it just checked all the boxes, and I really felt like the Lord was really and then the Lord had just even given me the timing of being a mom to preschoolers, the time timing of being a mom to a preschooler that had a special need, that had a significant diagnosis that happened in preschool years, just gave me a different perspective to even love on preschool mamas in different stages, which was a great thing for me.
38:31
SPEAKER_03: So when um Todd and I served together in Southwest Florida, and there was a season when my youngest was in high school that I just needed to kind of take a break from being on church staff and just being a mom.
38:41
SPEAKER_03: Um, that just was important to me, which those of us who are on church staff know that sometimes those lines get blurred between the family commitments and the church commitments.
38:49
SPEAKER_03: I mean, that's just reality.
38:50
SPEAKER_03: Um, and the Lord, one of the things that I tell preschool mamas all the time is sometimes there are seasons in your life that are gonna look different.
38:57
SPEAKER_03: It may not be when you have a three-year-old, may not be the season you can drop everything and go have coffee with a friend, or you may not be in a season where people can just come over to your house and it's always gonna be clean and wonderful.
39:07
SPEAKER_03: But you need to just trust God in that season, even though it looks different and know that there may be a different season soon that comes.
39:12
SPEAKER_03: And I had given that little pep talk to a group of moms one night in Southwest Florida, got in the car and literally it was like the Lord said, Did you hear what you just said?
39:20
SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
39:21
SPEAKER_03: Because sometimes seasons look different, right?
39:23
SPEAKER_03: And sometimes you need to just be a mom.
39:26
SPEAKER_03: And so without knowing where we were going or what we were doing, I said, All right, I'm in this season I'm gonna be a mom.
39:32
SPEAKER_03: Walked away from ministry and thought, I don't think I'm gonna like this.
39:35
SPEAKER_03: I love being a mom.
39:36
SPEAKER_03: It was great, but I really missed preschool ministry.
39:39
SPEAKER_03: Um, the Lord is really faithful when my youngest graduated from high school is when the need arose at Brentwood for there to be.
39:44
SPEAKER_03: I mean, literally the timing was perfect.
39:46
SPEAKER_03: We dropped her off for her freshman year in college, and I came here for my in-person interview.
39:51
SPEAKER_03: Really?
39:51
SPEAKER_03: And we moved in October.
39:52
SPEAKER_03: So it was like the Lord just, it was such a gift for the Lord to say, you were faithful and you you chose, you, you followed what I told you to do.
39:59
SPEAKER_03: You were the mom in the season that you needed to be, and now I'm gonna give it back to you.
40:02
SPEAKER_03: And I have had the sweetest five years of ministry here in preschool ministry.
40:06
SPEAKER_03: Getting Todd and I are really good friends, so serving together is a blessing.
40:09
SPEAKER_03: But just I love preschool ministry.
40:12
SPEAKER_03: I'm so passionate about it, and the Lord has been so gracious to allow me to serve and where he's gifted and called me to serve.
40:18
SPEAKER_03: Wow.
40:18
SPEAKER_03: It's my favorite.
40:19
SPEAKER_03: Wow.
40:20
SPEAKER_02: Well, thank you for sharing that.
40:21
SPEAKER_02: Both of you, seriously, thank you.
40:23
SPEAKER_02: I think um I relate so much, especially to your story.
40:27
SPEAKER_02: We all have different stories.
40:28
SPEAKER_02: Um, but I relate to um just saying yes to having that calling in your in your heart, but maybe it's not it doesn't look like what's right in front of you, but being faithful to say, okay, this is what I'm called to do right now, whether that's going to, you know, the the workforce and work for HR for a while.
40:47
SPEAKER_02: And it's in those experiences that that starts to line up, you know, maybe a ministry calling later in life.
40:54
SPEAKER_02: Um, and then to also just be observant of when is the right time to pause and and do something else, you know, for a season.
41:03
SPEAKER_02: And then, but the faithfulness of God to say, okay, here's another opportunity.
41:08
SPEAKER_02: So um I know you who are listening and watching out there are are like me and really benefit from hearing these stories.
41:17
SPEAKER_02: So thank y'all both so much.
41:18
SPEAKER_02: And I love getting to see the partnership that you have in serving together.
41:23
SPEAKER_02: And um I think it's always neat to see how the Lord builds teams and uses our strengths to work with one another.
41:30
SPEAKER_02: And um, y'all are doing such a wonderful job at Brentwood.
41:33
SPEAKER_02: I've gotten to have a front row seat of uh your church and multiple ministries there.
41:39
SPEAKER_02: And um, I love your enthusiasm and the way that um uh you work with your teams and your volunteers.
41:46
SPEAKER_02: So uh we'll be praying for you uh the summer for your giant VBS that is coming really, really soon.
41:54
SPEAKER_00: But we have a great team.
41:56
SPEAKER_00: Yes, you do.
41:57
SPEAKER_02: You do.
41:57
SPEAKER_02: It's fun, and there's so much enthusiasm um for it.
42:00
SPEAKER_02: So uh Illumination Station for preschoolers.
42:03
SPEAKER_03: Illumination station.
42:05
SPEAKER_03: Let's do it.
42:06
SPEAKER_02: All right, well, we'll close it there.
42:08
SPEAKER_02: Thank you everybody for joining us today here in the studio, and we'll meet you back here for the next episode of Kids Ministry Calling.
42:32
SPEAKER_02: This episode of Kids Ministry Calling Podcast was brought to you by our amazing team, including executive producer Angie Elkins, producer Nikki Ogden, edited by Trey Garza, and recorded in the Lifeweight Podcast Studio in Brentwood, Tennessee, with Sound Engineer Donnie Gordon, and artwork by Cameron Wilson.
42:51
SPEAKER_02: And I'm your host, Janet McGruder.
42:54
SPEAKER_02: Thanks for listening to Kids Ministry Calling.