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Helping Your Kids Be More Creative (with Joseph Roth) · The Daily Writer

• 0:01
  SPEAKER_00: Most of the time on this show, we focus on helping you be a better creative entrepreneur.
• 0:05
  SPEAKER_00: Today we're turning the tables and talking about how we can help our kids be more creative.
• 0:11
  SPEAKER_00: We have the privilege and the responsibility to help the next generation fulfill their God-given creative potential.
• 0:17
  SPEAKER_00: Whether you're a parent, pastor, teacher, or youth worker, today's amazing guest will share lots of practical tips for bringing out the best in kids.
• 0:26
  SPEAKER_00: So stay tuned.
• 0:30
  SPEAKER_00: Hey friends, welcome to the Born to Create Podcast.
• 0:33
  SPEAKER_00: My name is Ken Sanders, and I'm an author, professor, and creative coach.
• 0:38
  SPEAKER_00: This is the show where we explore the mindset, habits, and principles to help you make a bigger impact in your life and creative work.
• 0:46
  SPEAKER_00: When I launched this podcast a few months ago, one of my very first interviews I booked was with Joseph Roth.
• 0:52
  SPEAKER_00: I knew I wanted to explore how to help kids be more creative, and he was my number one choice for this topic.
• 0:57
  SPEAKER_00: Joseph is the elementary school pastor at Harvester Christian Church in St.
• 1:01
  SPEAKER_00: Charles, Missouri.
• 1:02
  SPEAKER_00: My family has been blessed by his ministry, and he brings a lot to our conversation as a pastor, a parent, and artist.
• 1:09
  SPEAKER_00: You'll learn why our words of affirmation are so important, practical ways to develop your kids' creativity, and a behind-the-scenes peek at what it takes to run a large children's ministry.
• 1:19
  SPEAKER_00: I hope you enjoyed this conversation as much as I did.
• 1:22
  SPEAKER_00: And if you want to take a deeper dive after the episode is over, be sure to check out our show notes at KentonSanders.net slash creative kids.
• 1:30
  SPEAKER_00: That's KentonSanders.net slash creative kids.
• 1:34
  SPEAKER_00: So let's get right into the interview.
• 1:38
  SPEAKER_00: I am here with my friend Joseph Roth, and uh excited to have you on the podcast today.
• 1:42
  SPEAKER_00: So Joseph, welcome to the show.
• 1:44
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you, Kent.
• 1:45
  SPEAKER_00: Appreciate a lot.
• 1:46
  SPEAKER_00: So today we're going to be talking about creativity as it applies to kids and parenting.
• 1:51
  SPEAKER_00: And we may dive off into a few different different we may dive off into a few different directions with this, but by and large, that's kind of the main topic we want to focus on.
• 2:00
  SPEAKER_00: So I've interviewed a few other people who are connected to Harvest Your Christian Church.
• 2:04
  SPEAKER_00: That's where you're the children's pastor.
• 2:06
  SPEAKER_00: Obviously, you're engaged in creativity every day of the week.
• 2:10
  SPEAKER_00: Well, except for your day off, of course, hopefully.
• 2:13
  SPEAKER_00: You're helping kids and their families express their creativity in a lot of different ways.
• 2:17
  SPEAKER_00: So, first of all, let us get to know you a little bit with this.
• 2:21
  SPEAKER_00: Can you take a few minutes and walk us on the journey from how you got involved in children's ministry and what about that is what about that drew you in?
• 2:30
  SPEAKER_00: How did you know you wanted to be a children's pastor?
• 2:32
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, um, I started out wanting to go into youth ministry, um, which I think is what a lot of people want to do when they're in high school.
• 2:38
  SPEAKER_01: They're like, I want to do this, this is what I want where I want to be.
• 2:40
  SPEAKER_01: So I went to college at Ozark Christian College and um pursued that, worked at some different places, got on camp teams and spent a lot of time with students until I kind of finally realized that students weren't my best area to work in at all.
• 2:56
  SPEAKER_01: Um But I mean I liked it, but I also um just didn't really know what I would do.
• 3:01
  SPEAKER_01: I just knew I needed to go to college, I would get into ministry somehow, I was gonna do it.
• 3:05
  SPEAKER_01: I knew I wasn't gonna be a preacher, so preaching is never uh something I want to do.
• 3:10
  SPEAKER_01: That actually scares me, and I failed preaching class one time.
• 3:14
  SPEAKER_01: It's okay.
• 3:14
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, one semester.
• 3:15
  SPEAKER_01: You take it, you can you can always get back in.
• 3:17
  SPEAKER_01: But uh one year uh I had a friend who was working at a crisis care home, so like an in-between foster care.
• 3:23
  SPEAKER_01: And so we would take uh they would take kids who um they're they're you know, in-between foster care or they're a single parent who has to go to the hospital, there's no family, no one takes care of them.
• 3:34
  SPEAKER_01: And they hired a bunch of college students from Ozark and from the surrounding area and some older adults as well to come and work there.
• 3:41
  SPEAKER_01: And so myself and three of my friends, we all worked at this place taking care of kids.
• 3:45
  SPEAKER_01: My first day there, they handed me a four-day-old baby, and I was like, what am I supposed to do, you know, with this?
• 3:51
  SPEAKER_01: And um, but throughout that process of being there with those kids and um it just me really made me want to want to be around kids and just I wanted to adopt everybody who was that came through there, but you know, that wasn't possible.
• 4:04
  SPEAKER_01: So I really kind of over that I think year and a half that I worked there, I just realized that kids was where I wanted to go.
• 4:12
  SPEAKER_01: And my interests are are are close to what kids enjoy, the the things that I like to do and the things I like to read and watch and and all that kind of stuff really match up with kids, and I and um I found out that I could do well even with kids that were in really hard circumstances.
• 4:30
  SPEAKER_01: So that's what really made me want to get into children's ministry.
• 4:32
  SPEAKER_01: So that was actually my end of my first senior year, and uh and then so I had a year left and I was like, okay, I want to go into children's ministry.
• 4:40
  SPEAKER_01: So I just had a normal degree just to learn the Bible, and but I had a lot of experience working with kids at camps and different things like that, and ended up getting an internship here at Harvester um with Becky Arthur, who was the children's my children's minister, who she said, uh do you do you even like kids?
• 4:57
  SPEAKER_01: Do you want to do this?
• 4:58
  SPEAKER_01: And I was like, well, no, no, this is what I want to do.
• 5:00
  SPEAKER_01: So I came in and got to do it, and then ended up in a church in Wisconsin and got to work with a guy named Jared Walker who just really taught me what children's ministry was and been in it ever since.
• 5:10
  SPEAKER_00: So when people think of a children's pastor, the evidence that most people have is that here's somebody who's playing games with the kids, they're doing fun things, they're playing loud music, and those kind of things.
• 5:21
  SPEAKER_00: Can you kind of dispel that myth a little bit that children's ministry is about fun and games?
• 5:25
  SPEAKER_00: Because it actually is very serious business, despite the fun things that happen sort of on the the outer sense of it.
• 5:31
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, definitely.
• 5:31
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, children's ministry is actually um working with adults even more than it is with kids, and that was a really hard thing for me to learn of yeah, I'm great with kids and that's awesome, and I want to work with them, and that is the goal, but I can only work with so many kids at a time.
• 5:45
  SPEAKER_01: So my real goal is how many adults that are awesome, that I want to be in my kids' circle, that I want, you know, I I can say one thing, but if can if you say it to my kid as well, they're gonna actually listen, they're actually gonna pay attention.
• 5:57
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 5:58
  SPEAKER_01: So that was a big thing was realizing that parents and and other adults, we need to widen our circle and bring them in.
• 6:04
  SPEAKER_01: And so the main job of a children's minister is to create great programming for kids, but it's also to say, hey, you know, um, here's some amazing adults that can pour into you.
• 6:14
  SPEAKER_01: And so, because I can influence ten kids, but if I got ten leaders, we can influence a hundred, you know, and so that's that's kind of my main job is to create a great program for kids, but to have great leaders who can make that program happen.
• 6:26
  SPEAKER_00: So you probably you probably at this point you feel like your career in children's ministry is is kind of just getting started, you know.
• 6:35
  SPEAKER_00: Because obviously you've got some experience, but you've still got a long stretch ahead of you in your life where you could be doing all these things.
• 6:40
  SPEAKER_00: So I can imagine it probably has taken some time for this to really cement in your mind, and now you're kind of like, okay, it's all guns blazing, and and you're bringing all this experience to it, but you still have some, you know, obviously decades more left in your life to to serve in a vocational capacity in in some way.
• 6:57
  SPEAKER_00: So that's really cool.
• 6:58
  SPEAKER_01: Definitely, definitely.
• 6:58
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, it's uh it's one of those things that uh I've only done children's ministry, and people ask, so when are you gonna work with adults or what are you gonna do next?
• 7:06
  SPEAKER_01: Like it's some kind of stepping stone.
• 7:07
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, like some kind of stepping stone.
• 7:08
  SPEAKER_01: And to me, it's it's uh there's nowhere else I'd rather be.
• 7:10
  SPEAKER_01: I don't think there's anything else I I could do for right now.
• 7:14
  SPEAKER_01: And I and I love it, you know, it's fun.
• 7:16
  SPEAKER_01: Some moments I don't, but for the most part, like it is like there's nothing better than getting to be with a group of kids and to be able to help them know that they're actually important.
• 7:25
  SPEAKER_01: And like there was um like a couple years ago makes me think of one of the things is helping every kid know that they are made in the image of God.
• 7:34
  SPEAKER_01: Like they all have worth, you know, and so that's a big deal within our children's ministry is to help every kid know that they matter because they don't matter everywhere else.
• 7:44
  SPEAKER_00: So what do you what do you do with the kid who comes in?
• 7:47
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe they struggle with really low self-esteem, maybe they come from even an abusive situation or a situation where they're neglected.
• 7:54
  SPEAKER_00: How do you help that kid really uh build their self-esteem, help them to realize their potential, their creative gifts, and and do that?
• 8:03
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, um that that's that's really hard.
• 8:07
  SPEAKER_01: Um it's it's one of the first step is I think really just um being there for them and being there as a consistent part of their life because if that situation's been going on, um most likely their life just got really disrupted, and um there's not a lot of consistency uh within their life.
• 8:26
  SPEAKER_01: And like I there's a a kid right now that I'm really working with a lot um who just doesn't uh doesn't understand that people like her.
• 8:35
  SPEAKER_01: And so to be able to say, you know, we're we're friends, like we're actually friends, and even though you just treated me that way or showed this behavior, you know, it that doesn't matter.
• 8:46
  SPEAKER_01: Um, because I'm trying to show you Christ who gives grace and everything.
• 8:49
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, I don't use that language, of course, but like to to say, you know, I'm here no matter what, I love you, I care about you, and I I I actually like you.
• 8:58
  SPEAKER_01: Like I want to be your friend.
• 8:59
  SPEAKER_01: And one of the things that we like to do is that we we want to have fun with those guys.
• 9:04
  SPEAKER_01: So even the kids that are the driving you the most crazy uh as possible and just aren't paying attention, um, when you have fun with them, that that like fun equals you like me to a kid.
• 9:15
  SPEAKER_01: And so like that is part of the reason why we play crazy games and do all that stuff.
• 9:18
  SPEAKER_01: But like, I mean, even for us adults, the people that we enjoy.
• 9:21
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, the people that we enjoy are the people that that like us and have fun with us, and the kids are the same, like I like you, doesn't matter what you do while you're here, I'm gonna be consistently here for you, I'm gonna stick around with you, and also we're gonna have a good time.
• 9:33
  SPEAKER_01: You know, like we're gonna enjoy.
• 9:35
  SPEAKER_01: And when you if things go great, that's awesome.
• 9:38
  SPEAKER_01: Things go bad, well, I'm still gonna end the night saying, Hey, this was something we need to change, but I can't wait to see you next week.
• 9:44
  SPEAKER_01: And as soon as I show up next week, you're excited for them.
• 9:46
  SPEAKER_00: So is that something that we should do more as adults?
• 9:50
  SPEAKER_00: Probably.
• 9:50
  SPEAKER_00: You know, like like to fellow adults, with if somebody ticks us off or we have some kind of conflict with somebody, we tend to very passive aggressively diss them or sort of get them out of our circle in some way.
• 10:01
  SPEAKER_00: But maybe we should just go back to being kids, you know, as adults and put those things into practice that are just sort of like, hey, I know your behavior's bad, but I still love you.
• 10:12
  SPEAKER_00: You're still frowns.
• 10:13
  SPEAKER_00: There's a lot of merit to that.
• 10:14
  SPEAKER_01: Definitely.
• 10:15
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I and um yeah, I think you're right.
• 10:20
  SPEAKER_00: So one of the themes that uh that has been really interesting as I've done these interviews is I always like to ask people how they knew that they that they were going to be this thing or this thing, like for example, I was talking to a musician this morning for um for the show and they were talking about how much they loved their instrument.
• 10:41
  SPEAKER_00: And they made a statement that I thought was really insightful.
• 10:43
  SPEAKER_00: They said, in a sense, I didn't choose that path, or I didn't choose that particular expression of creativity, it chose me.
• 10:50
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 10:50
  SPEAKER_00: Has that been the case in your life?
• 10:51
  SPEAKER_00: Do you think that in a way it wasn't necessarily a matter of, okay, I chose to be a children's pastor?
• 10:57
  SPEAKER_00: It was almost a sense of this chose me, and now my choice now is to then decide whether I'm going to obey this sort of calling or this sort of pathway that I feel pulled toward?
• 11:07
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I don't know.
• 11:08
  SPEAKER_01: Um I I mean I definitely think the way I was raised and the environment I was in, the parents I have, um, the people in my life definitely did push me into general ministry.
• 11:18
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but I do look back on the experience I've I've had with um all sorts of different groups and things that have pointed to working with children's ministry.
• 11:28
  SPEAKER_01: It does make sense.
• 11:29
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, just I mean I like comic books, video games, and young adult books.
• 11:33
  SPEAKER_01: So like Yeah, see the posters behind your Guardians of the Galaxy and all that kind of stuff.
• 11:38
  SPEAKER_01: And so like the things I there is a part of me that is, yeah, I'm I am a little bit made for this, so I've I've never thought of it that way.
• 11:45
  SPEAKER_01: I don't usually think about um my calling just because I go more general in the general call of leading people to Christ.
• 11:54
  SPEAKER_01: But but it yeah, it's definitely I've definitely been that led that way.
• 11:57
  SPEAKER_00: Do you think passion sometimes is overrated in the world of artist and creativity, in the in the idea of we always say follow your passion, do what you're passionate about, but on the other hand, do you really know what you're passionate about until you do it for a while and then discover whether or not you have some natural inclination toward an area or whether you're gifted or whether you even like it?
• 12:18
  SPEAKER_00: So is there a sense, like as you work with kids, that that you try to help them to discover their passion and discover their giftedness, but also to help them understand, well, sometimes you just have to stick with something for a while, or sometimes you just have to put forth some effort, and it's not really about liking or disliking something.
• 12:35
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, actually, um we we definitely are teaching that to our kids of uh there's certain things you just have to stick with and and work through.
• 12:44
  SPEAKER_01: Like right now, we just finished a series on contentment, and the contentment, the whole point of it was deciding to be okay with what you have.
• 12:51
  SPEAKER_01: And I kept telling the kids like the most important word in that whole statement is okay.
• 12:54
  SPEAKER_01: Like you can be okay with where you're at, and and that was the the whole deal.
• 13:00
  SPEAKER_01: And it was awesome to that same kid I was talking about earlier, um, it took six different lessons, but eventually, you know, they got it that um that that they can be okay with where they're at.
• 13:12
  SPEAKER_01: And yeah, passion is one of those things that um that's always been a weird word to me as well, because I've I more see it as this is the right thing to do, this is what I can do, and I enjoy it, but I don't see it as like, oh man, you know, like so passionate, right?
• 13:26
  SPEAKER_01: Right, right.
• 13:27
  SPEAKER_01: Passionate's never been a word for me.
• 13:28
  SPEAKER_01: But as I gotten older, I've realized the power of having passion for something.
• 13:32
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 13:32
  SPEAKER_01: Um but I think I relate it more to vision in a lot of ways.
• 13:36
  SPEAKER_01: That's great.
• 13:37
  SPEAKER_01: So that's that's kind of the thing for me.
• 13:38
  SPEAKER_01: But yeah, for kids, yeah, how how can we tell them that there's a bigger thing that they're a part of?
• 13:43
  SPEAKER_01: That's a big thing for me, is there's something so much more there that like this is so cool you enjoy this, but look how what this crazy thing is you're created for.
• 13:53
  SPEAKER_01: Like you're created for so much more, and this other thing is is good and and great, but that you can do this that's way high up here.
• 14:01
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 14:01
  SPEAKER_01: You know, we we we can still have this fun stuff, but like there's this thing that God's given us that's so much bigger.
• 14:07
  SPEAKER_01: So that's kind of the thing for me.
• 14:09
  SPEAKER_00: So a lot of times people who are creative entrepreneurs, they're so busy making their own things for their own sort of business or or organization that sometimes we can forget that we're all we also want to help our kids be creative.
• 14:23
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 14:23
  SPEAKER_00: So in your ministry, what have you seen in terms of things that parents can do to help their kids really recognize their creative potential and give them opportunities to be more creative?
• 14:35
  SPEAKER_00: And I guess what I'm asking is what's the difference between a parent who is impactful in their child's life and you see that parent making a difference, or parents who are sort of disengaged and and they're not really helping their kids to realize their gifts.
• 14:49
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I would um uh pretty much everything I have comes from somebody else.
• 14:54
  SPEAKER_01: And my favorite book I've ever read is called Playing for Keeps, and it's written by uh a guy named Reggie Joyner and uh someone else, I should know.
• 15:03
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but it's it's a book that the idea of as a parent is we're we're playing for keeps, and that idea is like you think of a countdown clock and you've got to throw in in basketball.
• 15:13
  SPEAKER_01: So you've got five seconds to throw the ball in, right?
• 15:15
  SPEAKER_01: Isn't it five seconds?
• 15:16
  SPEAKER_00: You know, I've been too long since I played.
• 15:18
  SPEAKER_00: I don't really follow sports that much.
• 15:19
  SPEAKER_00: We're gonna we're just gonna go with it.
• 15:21
  SPEAKER_00: We're just gonna go with it.
• 15:21
  SPEAKER_01: We're just gonna go with it.
• 15:22
  SPEAKER_01: So you've got five seconds to throw the ball in, and in that five seconds, it doesn't feel like not enough time.
• 15:28
  SPEAKER_01: The five seconds feels like plenty of time.
• 15:29
  SPEAKER_01: Like that's plenty of time to get the ball to throw it in, to get it to somebody before the ref calls you out and hands the ball to the other team.
• 15:38
  SPEAKER_01: And and but but sometimes we would look at something like that and parenting would be like, oh man, I only have this little bit of time.
• 15:45
  SPEAKER_01: There's no way I can do any good.
• 15:47
  SPEAKER_01: In fact, I've wasted so much time, I might as well just be done.
• 15:51
  SPEAKER_01: And uh there's no there's no way I can make it.
• 15:54
  SPEAKER_01: But but we don't get to do that.
• 15:56
  SPEAKER_01: We're playing for keeps and the idea of just like that basketball, they can get it in five seconds, that's no big deal.
• 16:01
  SPEAKER_01: They use the time they have, they can score, and it's good.
• 16:03
  SPEAKER_01: Whatever time we have left as a parent, whether it's they're just been born or they're 27, we still are playing for keeps in their lives, and we can affect with the time that we have left, and especially those first 18 years.
• 16:15
  SPEAKER_01: That's great.
• 16:16
  SPEAKER_01: So, how can you use that that amount of time to really do something?
• 16:20
  SPEAKER_01: And you know, we really want to think about um what what we can do in in several different areas.
• 16:25
  SPEAKER_01: We have like five areas that we work through with our kids to talk or with our parents to talk about that.
• 16:29
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 16:30
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 16:30
  SPEAKER_01: So which I can tell you what they are.
• 16:32
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, that'd be great.
• 16:33
  SPEAKER_01: This actually isn't plan for keeps, but these are the things.
• 16:37
  SPEAKER_01: And there's there's five things, and then sometimes we add in one more.
• 16:40
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but it's the idea of that like the first thing is words over time.
• 16:44
  SPEAKER_01: So what kind of words are you sharing with your kids?
• 16:47
  SPEAKER_01: Because the things we say actually determine what our kids think about who they are.
• 16:52
  SPEAKER_01: So like I um example would be for my son, he's a little bit shy.
• 16:56
  SPEAKER_01: So I would, when he'd act shy, not say hi to Kent, I'd be like, oh hey, my son is shy.
• 17:02
  SPEAKER_01: Well, every time I say that he's shy, I'm re-emphasizing who he is.
• 17:05
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 17:05
  SPEAKER_01: And if I want him to be someone who is uh creative or outgoing, I probably should be speaking that word.
• 17:11
  SPEAKER_01: Like we don't even think about it, but those words that we say again and again and again, you know, hey, you are creative, you are um wow, that's so amazing you're able to build that or make that or do that.
• 17:21
  SPEAKER_01: Like you're sharing who they are with them.
• 17:23
  SPEAKER_01: And they listen to those, even when they're not listening, but it's saying it again and again and again.
• 17:28
  SPEAKER_01: The other ones were you know, the idea of love over time, the same idea.
• 17:32
  SPEAKER_01: You know, you show that love.
• 17:33
  SPEAKER_01: It's not just that special weekend, well, hey, if I just get them to Disney World and we just get to go right on this.
• 17:39
  SPEAKER_01: Once every five years, they're gonna know I love them.
• 17:41
  SPEAKER_01: But it's the you know, we're consistently there, the idea of um fun over time, same thing, you know.
• 17:46
  SPEAKER_01: If if you're not having fun with me, do you even like me?
• 17:49
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, tribes, like who is it that you've chosen to be in their circle?
• 17:53
  SPEAKER_01: Like, because we should choose who's in it and who isn't for our kids.
• 17:57
  SPEAKER_01: You know, who is the people that we want to influence and they're gonna say the same things of I want you to know this about you, this truth about you.
• 18:04
  SPEAKER_01: And so, you know, do I want Kent in my life or is Kent gonna be someone who's not gonna speak into that?
• 18:10
  SPEAKER_01: Um then the the other couple ones are stories, you know, what are the things that we want them to just get and understand, the things that are gonna impact them through stories, whether they're Harry Potter or whatever it is, but something that can help them.
• 18:21
  SPEAKER_01: And the idea of work, you know, how are they learning how to do work as well?
• 18:26
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so those are just kind of some, but that that idea of playing for keeps, that that influences everything I do in children's ministry for sure.
• 18:33
  SPEAKER_00: So those all come from the book playing for keeps?
• 18:36
  SPEAKER_01: Mm-hmm.
• 18:36
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, and there's also these really great resources that are um called phase guides that kind of delve into each of the age groups.
• 18:43
  SPEAKER_01: So you're actually it's baby all the way up to there's one even for 18 plus, so there's 19 of them.
• 18:49
  SPEAKER_01: So you go through and it has those six areas, and we talk about it and work through it as a parent of, hey, my kids at this phase right now, and how can I impact them right at this moment?
• 19:00
  SPEAKER_01: You know, what can I do to help raise them so they can be a great adult someday, but right now, you know?
• 19:06
  SPEAKER_01: Um and that that's kind of the big deal.
• 19:07
  SPEAKER_01: We got phase guides and playing for keeps are the two that I would definitely check out for any parent.
• 19:13
  SPEAKER_00: I'll have some links to those in the show notes and I'll have to get that information from you later.
• 19:17
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I want to put that in there.
• 19:18
  SPEAKER_00: I think that's such a great point of that five second.
• 19:22
  SPEAKER_00: It's not called the five second rule, is it?
• 19:24
  SPEAKER_00: But it's that's like when you drop something on the floor, then you're five seconds.
• 19:28
  SPEAKER_00: Five second rule.
• 19:29
  SPEAKER_00: But that idea of five seconds using the time that you have now to make an impact and not thinking, well, someday when all the planets align and I have three weeks of vacation, then we'll sort of fix all our relationship problems.
• 19:41
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I just love that doing it in the moment and realizing that very few moments are not perfect in your family life.
• 19:48
  SPEAKER_00: Right.
• 19:49
  SPEAKER_00: It's messy, somebody's arguing, sure, the dishes aren't done.
• 19:53
  SPEAKER_00: But still you can speak into your kid's identity with those words and realizing that's the time goes by fast.
• 19:59
  SPEAKER_01: Like I it that makes me cringe when I when I hear it in my own voice that I've just told my child who they are and it's not who I want them to be.
• 20:09
  SPEAKER_01: You know, or when I see someone else do it, um, you know, I I just think I can think of a sort of person right now, but every time they talk, I'm just like, you are feeding your child that.
• 20:20
  SPEAKER_01: Like they're that is all they think they are because you tell them and you're complaining about it.
• 20:25
  SPEAKER_01: And like you don't want them to do it anymore, but you keep telling them that they are that.
• 20:29
  SPEAKER_01: So, you know, and we we do it.
• 20:31
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, I do it, and I have to catch myself on it, but it's a it's a big deal.
• 20:35
  SPEAKER_00: And doesn't that also work with adults in our lives?
• 20:37
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, you know, it's like if you have a relative who and you have somebody else in your extended family who they always call that person a loser or they're this or they're that, some negative thing.
• 20:47
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, man, you hear that enough over your life and you start to kind of believe it.
• 20:52
  SPEAKER_01: Oh yeah, definitely.
• 20:53
  SPEAKER_01: Definitely.
• 20:54
  SPEAKER_01: It doesn't uh it doesn't matter who you are, it it affects us as well.
• 20:58
  SPEAKER_00: So again, maybe this this interview isn't so much about kids, maybe it's about adults too.
• 21:03
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, definitely because it's really all the same thing.
• 21:05
  SPEAKER_00: We all we all can impact people emotionally.
• 21:09
  SPEAKER_01: Definitely for sure.
• 21:10
  SPEAKER_00: And people have impacted us emotionally.
• 21:11
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, probably all of us can think of things that we that were spoken to us as kids, and you think, man, I still remember that.
• 21:18
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, what that person said to me.
• 21:19
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I can think of like um right over in that building there in the classroom, I can think of Sterling Highland coming up to me and saying, You really need to go into ministry.
• 21:28
  SPEAKER_01: And and like that probably was the one big one that it was like someone who actually I knew cared about me, someone who actually influenced my life, someone in my circle, saying, This is what you should do.
• 21:39
  SPEAKER_01: And I was like, Huh you're you're really right, I should.
• 21:42
  SPEAKER_00: You know, and so I I think that's huge impact on And don't you think that's that's also a part of discovering our overall calling in life and purposes?
• 21:51
  SPEAKER_00: It's not just something we recognize ourselves, we have to have confirmation from other people.
• 21:55
  SPEAKER_01: Yes, definitely.
• 21:56
  SPEAKER_00: And as parents with the kids in our lives, man, that's such a key thing of yeah.
• 22:00
  SPEAKER_00: Speaking that affirmation into our kids' lives and the kids around us.
• 22:04
  SPEAKER_00: Right, yeah.
• 22:05
  SPEAKER_01: And seeing seeing also when it comes to the more fun and creative side of things, of this is something my child actually enjoys that I want to speak into and encourage and and push, you know.
• 22:15
  SPEAKER_01: So I mean silly things like I want my kids to like Star Wars.
• 22:18
  SPEAKER_01: So anytime they bring it up and they like it, I'm gonna bring it up, you know?
• 22:20
  SPEAKER_01: I'm gonna push them towards it.
• 22:21
  SPEAKER_00: So even episode eight?
• 22:23
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 22:23
  SPEAKER_00: Well, well, maybe not episode eight, but I somehow always interject Star Wars into As you should.
• 22:28
  SPEAKER_00: Rogue One.
• 22:29
  SPEAKER_00: That's my favorite.
• 22:30
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 22:30
  SPEAKER_00: Did you like the Han Solo movie?
• 22:32
  SPEAKER_00: I thought it was fun.
• 22:33
  SPEAKER_00: I did too.
• 22:33
  SPEAKER_00: It was fun.
• 22:34
  SPEAKER_00: I thought it was a good movie.
• 22:35
  SPEAKER_00: I don't know why it got so much negative press.
• 22:37
  SPEAKER_00: Well, they should have just waited and promoted it once.
• 22:39
  SPEAKER_00: They should have.
• 22:40
  SPEAKER_00: They really should have.
• 22:40
  SPEAKER_00: So it was still fun.
• 22:41
  SPEAKER_00: It was.
• 22:42
  SPEAKER_01: It was but I will do your uh why Star Wars movies are good or bad podcasts as well.
• 22:46
  SPEAKER_01: That would be just fine.
• 22:47
  SPEAKER_01: I'm up for that.
• 22:49
  SPEAKER_00: So you come from a ministry family.
• 22:51
  SPEAKER_00: Uh your dad, Doyle Roth, is the senior pastor here at Harvester and has been here uh how many years has he been here?
• 22:58
  SPEAKER_00: Um since the late 80s, is that right?
• 23:00
  SPEAKER_01: I think this is year 29.
• 23:02
  SPEAKER_01: Because we came in December of eighty-eight, so is that 30?
• 23:06
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, that's so thirty and yeah, so almost almost thirty in December.
• 23:11
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 23:11
  SPEAKER_00: So uh anybody who's been in a ministry environment, particularly coming from a pastor's family, knows that you know, time sometimes is very limited.
• 23:21
  SPEAKER_00: It's a very busy lifestyle, can be very compressed for time, and lots of things come up all the time.
• 23:27
  SPEAKER_00: So, what did your parents do to help you, uh, I guess for lack of a better term, recognize your creativity or unleash your own creative potential in your life?
• 23:36
  SPEAKER_00: How did they encourage that?
• 23:38
  SPEAKER_01: Um Well, they they encourage us to be creative for sure.
• 23:42
  SPEAKER_01: Um we if there was a chance, a time they would let us speak into things, I guess, would be a big thing.
• 23:48
  SPEAKER_01: Um they I I don't remember my parents ever saying uh if I had an idea for something, even at church, if something was going on, I don't remember them saying, Wow, what a terrible idea.
• 23:58
  SPEAKER_01: Wow.
• 23:59
  SPEAKER_01: Um even though they probably were terrible ideas, but it was usually uh, oh wow, that's yeah, okay.
• 24:03
  SPEAKER_01: Thanks for telling me that, you know, or um so they did that.
• 24:07
  SPEAKER_01: I know my mom uh actually is pretty good at art, but she hardly ever does it.
• 24:12
  SPEAKER_01: So every once in a while we'd be drawing, and uh she would, you know, we were always drawing and making stuff like that.
• 24:17
  SPEAKER_01: Or I was I like to draw a lot, not very good at it, but I like doing it.
• 24:20
  SPEAKER_00: Me neither.
• 24:21
  SPEAKER_01: But they they encouraged us to try things and to to do things we wanted.
• 24:25
  SPEAKER_01: But um as far as like time, it was very we my dad always had one day off, and so on Thursdays that was the day that you know you're not going to a friend's house, you're not gonna do anything else, we're just gonna hang out as a family.
• 24:36
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 24:36
  SPEAKER_01: And that was actually probably the best example I've had um of like, hey, that that time you have, you know, it's sacred and and make sure it's important.
• 24:45
  SPEAKER_01: And so uh it on Thursdays it was my dad's day off, and so we would be out helping him do whatever it was, and so maybe not be quite as creative, but uh be working with him and doing stuff with him, so that time was with them.
• 25:00
  SPEAKER_00: Well, the fact that you work here at the church where your dad is a senior pastor, and the fact that you're in vocational ministry speaks really, really highly of your parents.
• 25:07
  SPEAKER_00: Yes, yeah, because a lot of pastors' kids do the exact opposite.
• 25:11
  SPEAKER_00: Right.
• 25:11
  SPEAKER_00: And they want to run as far away from that as possible.
• 25:13
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 25:13
  SPEAKER_01: Well, this is uh this is not the place I expected to be working.
• 25:16
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, I'll tell that.
• 25:17
  SPEAKER_01: I bet it wasn't.
• 25:18
  SPEAKER_01: So, but um, but it you know, still it's a it is a cool experience.
• 25:21
  SPEAKER_01: But yeah, they they gave an example because it was again, it was there's so much more to it.
• 25:25
  SPEAKER_01: Like there's things that we didn't probably get to do that some other kids got to do, but um but but we knew there was something so much more.
• 25:34
  SPEAKER_01: I guess I remember my dad saying that when I had questions about uh something when I was really young, and he would just say, But there's something so much bigger.
• 25:42
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 25:43
  SPEAKER_01: And just that they definitely cast that vision of something so much bigger out there and so much bigger to be a part of than whatever everyone else was pursuing.
• 25:52
  SPEAKER_00: So as we start to wrap up here, let me throw a couple more questions your way.
• 25:55
  SPEAKER_00: Can you talk a little bit about your weekly rhythm in children's ministry and how do you inject creativity into your planning, even your curriculum, setup, all the things that are that are part of your week?
• 26:07
  SPEAKER_00: Because obviously it is a creative ministry.
• 26:10
  SPEAKER_00: Definitely.
• 26:10
  SPEAKER_00: You do an awesome job with it.
• 26:12
  SPEAKER_00: But kind of walk us through for for people who aren't familiar with how things work sort of behind the scenes in a children's ministry.
• 26:20
  SPEAKER_00: How do you inject creativity into your weekly rhythm as a children's pastor?
• 26:24
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 26:24
  SPEAKER_01: Um well, I mean, the the big job of being a children's minister is the programming of the children's ministry.
• 26:30
  SPEAKER_01: Um I'm not someone who can come up with stuff on my own, but if you give me something to start with, then I can change it and make it better all the time.
• 26:37
  SPEAKER_01: So big part of the job is is of course leaders, getting to know leaders, uh, recruiting leaders, training leaders.
• 26:43
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and you have to be creative with uh how you get people to come in.
• 26:47
  SPEAKER_01: We're about to do a big say yes campaign um in a couple weeks to just get people involved.
• 26:52
  SPEAKER_01: And so, like, even the smallest thing, I I really enjoy the creative side of how are we gonna make this display look so people actually want knockwalk right by it?
• 27:01
  SPEAKER_01: How are we actually gonna make it an attractive and a fun thing to be a part of?
• 27:04
  SPEAKER_01: Even from the smallest thing if I'm like I'm wearing a harvester kid's shirt right now, you know, what is an adult gonna be like?
• 27:09
  SPEAKER_01: This is this is awesome, and I I love that kind of stuff.
• 27:12
  SPEAKER_01: Um but the creative most creative stuff for me would be like right before you came, actually, we have a Thanksgiving handout that has like postcards on it that can mail out to families ideas for different stuff that we again got from curriculum, we didn't write it.
• 27:25
  SPEAKER_01: Um But like we had uh this week is all about thanking, or this month is about thanking the people that help you in our younger areas.
• 27:33
  SPEAKER_01: That's great.
• 27:33
  SPEAKER_01: And so we have the Happy Helpers Club.
• 27:35
  SPEAKER_01: And so um Angela, the early childhood director, brought in this card she'd found from another church where they had made like a little thing that they fill out.
• 27:43
  SPEAKER_01: Every time you say thank you, you know, we're gonna mark on here they did it.
• 27:46
  SPEAKER_01: And once they get eight uh thank yous in a row, then they're gonna have a special celebration, you know, as a family.
• 27:52
  SPEAKER_01: But as I saw that, I was like, oh, that's really fun, but I need to fit it on this card or on this form that already has stuff on one side completely full, the other half of the back side is completely full.
• 28:02
  SPEAKER_01: So I have about a fourth of a page, or a fourth of a half of a page.
• 28:07
  SPEAKER_01: So like a postcard size.
• 28:08
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 28:09
  SPEAKER_01: So we ended up changing it to being like the Happy Helpers Club membership card.
• 28:15
  SPEAKER_01: So like you know, you go to the to a restaurant and they give you the card and you stamp it ten times, then you get the prize.
• 28:20
  SPEAKER_01: So we actually were able to so I you know jumped into pages and switched it around and made it into like a membership card so these kids can cut it out and have their own little silly one.
• 28:29
  SPEAKER_01: If they bring it back, then they get the extra special happy helpers membership card, extra special prize, I think is what it says on there.
• 28:36
  SPEAKER_01: So like just gonna do small stuff like that.
• 28:38
  SPEAKER_01: I love editing stuff and putting it together and making it look a little more fun than it did.
• 28:43
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah.
• 28:44
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but that's a big part of it.
• 28:46
  SPEAKER_01: Um editing lessons and creating games and activities and things that are like what are you gonna do are a big part.
• 28:54
  SPEAKER_01: Like, I love getting the curriculum, reading through it, and seeing, okay, this is how they set up the lesson, this is how they're gonna get this bottom line across that's so important, and what are we doing like when they drop off, what's the activity the kids are gonna do so they can start thinking about what we're talking about this month?
• 29:10
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and so editing that, changing it, and getting some other people involved.
• 29:14
  SPEAKER_01: But I love getting in there that final edit and say, okay, I really think this would help point these guys to it.
• 29:19
  SPEAKER_01: So, like our kindergarten our first grade kids, we're talking about cooperation.
• 29:23
  SPEAKER_01: So this week when they come in, they're gonna build towers out of cups, which is something we do all the time.
• 29:28
  SPEAKER_01: Here's cup stacking, they love it.
• 29:30
  SPEAKER_00: It's fun.
• 29:30
  SPEAKER_00: It is who doesn't love stacking cups?
• 29:32
  SPEAKER_01: 300 solo cups make kids so happy.
• 29:34
  SPEAKER_01: But this time they can't do it by themselves.
• 29:37
  SPEAKER_01: They have to have another person help them lift the cup.
• 29:39
  SPEAKER_01: That's a great lesson.
• 29:40
  SPEAKER_01: So, yeah, just that simple thing that's gonna introduce it right away.
• 29:43
  SPEAKER_01: Then when they get into a large group, they're gonna sing a song.
• 29:46
  SPEAKER_01: But and this is from the curriculum, but like where they're gonna have to um actually sing it all together.
• 29:53
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, so every group has to do a different word, a twinkle, twinkle little star.
• 29:56
  SPEAKER_01: And so we're gonna go around, and so it's just another thing pointing to it.
• 29:59
  SPEAKER_01: Then we'll get to the lesson itself, which points to it, and we get the theme song, which points to it.
• 30:03
  SPEAKER_01: And then finally, when they get to their small group time, the leader will be able to say, Hey, here's our bottom line, and here's what we're talking about.
• 30:09
  SPEAKER_01: And so the best weekends are when we get to put all of that together.
• 30:13
  SPEAKER_01: That's cool.
• 30:13
  SPEAKER_01: Every single thing is pointing to one thing that we want them to go home with.
• 30:17
  SPEAKER_01: Because a lot of times in children's ministry, we're like, hey, you need to learn these 14 things about Jesus from Isaiah.
• 30:23
  SPEAKER_01: Today, you know, yeah, and memorize it.
• 30:26
  SPEAKER_01: And um, but but there's been a big shift in the last few years of what's the one thing we want you to go home with?
• 30:31
  SPEAKER_01: We want you to know this one truth about God or something that he wants you to have in your life that's an aspect of him.
• 30:37
  SPEAKER_01: So that's a that's a big deal.
• 30:39
  SPEAKER_01: But I I love getting to do that kind of editing, and um one of my favorite things is every month we do a new stage design.
• 30:46
  SPEAKER_01: So, and that's something again from our curriculum to give ideas, but it's always a different monthly theme.
• 30:51
  SPEAKER_01: So, like last month was um contentment, and so our stage was actually a game show.
• 30:58
  SPEAKER_01: So we got out old pipe and drape that's maroon, put some gold tablecloths on the wall, made it look like price is the right, price is right, you know, kind of a thing in the room.
• 31:08
  SPEAKER_01: Um, or this month is about cooperation, and so we're doing jam session is our theme.
• 31:13
  SPEAKER_01: So it's all about kind of music, and so on the back wall, um, we're actually gonna I'm redoing my favorite stage I've ever done before, which is we have these old trusses from our our old auditorium.
• 31:25
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, you remember those?
• 31:26
  SPEAKER_01: Those big silver ones?
• 31:27
  SPEAKER_01: So we put them all over the stage, and then we take just normal paper that's in uh blue, red, and yellow, and we're gonna make a giant equalizer behind the room.
• 31:36
  SPEAKER_01: So that's neat.
• 31:37
  SPEAKER_01: So we just do paper on the wall, staple to the wall, and then put um just really cheap LED lights but have a sound sensor in them.
• 31:45
  SPEAKER_01: And so when the music plays, it'll make them all move at different times, and it'll look like an equalizer is going up and down the wall.
• 31:53
  SPEAKER_01: That is really cool.
• 31:54
  SPEAKER_01: But it's not hard and I yeah, it's it's awesome looking.
• 31:57
  SPEAKER_01: And so like that kind of stuff I love every month this stage, like, okay, what can I do?
• 32:01
  SPEAKER_01: And that that is one of those things I should be bringing more people in on to help, but it's my favorite thing to be creative with.
• 32:07
  SPEAKER_01: So that's probably my favorite.
• 32:09
  SPEAKER_00: Now, what about personally?
• 32:10
  SPEAKER_00: Are there any specific um habits, traditions, rituals that you integrate into your own life uh on a weekly basis or daily basis that really help you to be more creative on a personal level?
• 32:22
  SPEAKER_00: And even any specific books that you really love or that have really helped you in your own personal creative life?
• 32:28
  SPEAKER_01: Um yeah, I just like to sit down and do stuff with my kids, is probably my most enjoyable creative thing because they still think I'm an amazing drawer.
• 32:36
  SPEAKER_01: And uh so just to sit down and draw, or you know, to be able to take um on vacation, we were we were at a beach house, which you shouldn't be doing anything but going to the beach, but our nephew loves um Ghostbusters all of a sudden.
• 32:50
  SPEAKER_01: Really?
• 32:50
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, like the old 80s cartoon show.
• 32:53
  SPEAKER_01: That's his favorite all of sudden.
• 32:55
  SPEAKER_01: And uh and I love to just take whatever I can find to kind of make something out of.
• 32:58
  SPEAKER_01: So we made him uh a backpack and the blaster, I can't remember what it's called now.
• 33:03
  SPEAKER_00: The ecto something something plasm blaster.
• 33:07
  SPEAKER_00: That sounds real something like that.
• 33:10
  SPEAKER_01: But like to just take some things and just get to make it.
• 33:12
  SPEAKER_01: So getting boxes of duct tape and random sticks and whatever we could find and just put it together.
• 33:17
  SPEAKER_01: But that's I just like taking some stuff.
• 33:19
  SPEAKER_01: My kids say, let's do this, and I don't say yes enough.
• 33:23
  SPEAKER_01: And so when I can say yes, that's a great point.
• 33:25
  SPEAKER_01: And um be like, okay, you wanna make a castle out of boxes, okay, let's we're gonna make a castle out of boxes.
• 33:30
  SPEAKER_01: You want every pillow for a pillow for it?
• 33:32
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, let's go for it.
• 33:33
  SPEAKER_01: You know, you want to be a Ghostbuster guy like Egon, then we're gonna we're gonna make it happen.
• 33:38
  SPEAKER_01: And especially when you keep complaining about we're still gonna keep making it and working on it.
• 33:41
  SPEAKER_01: And but that's uh I just like getting to to make stuff and and do things.
• 33:46
  SPEAKER_01: So um I even find creativity and the smallest thing of uh you know, getting to work on the outside of your house and putting mulch in and and stuff like that.
• 33:56
  SPEAKER_00: So I've always found that stuff in my yard is very relaxing to me because you know I'm a college teacher, so everything I do is very sort of uh not abstract, but it's intellectual, you know.
• 34:07
  SPEAKER_00: It's it's grading, it's reading, it's that kind of stuff.
• 34:10
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 34:10
  SPEAKER_00: Same is true in a ministry, you know.
• 34:13
  SPEAKER_00: So it's really refreshing to just go out in your yard and cut grass or do something that's tangible, you can see the result of it.
• 34:19
  SPEAKER_01: Which is probably why I like the stage design stuff so much, because it's instant um to get to see.
• 34:25
  SPEAKER_01: But I I yeah, I really enjoy that kind of stuff.
• 34:28
  SPEAKER_01: Just gonna do, I would say some big influences for me are like I said, um I honestly the stuff from Orange, which is like the rethink group, that they're who they're the people who do our curriculum different stuff.
• 34:41
  SPEAKER_01: They just know how to design stuff, and so getting to look at that kind of thing and examine it, and anytime I'm anywhere, like I grab the kids' menu from a restaurant, I'm checking it out, and and I am always thinking about children's ministry.
• 34:54
  SPEAKER_01: So like it's always going through my head.
• 34:55
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, I'm at Walmart and I see something like, oh, that would make a perfect stage if we ever do this theme, you know, or something like that.
• 35:00
  SPEAKER_01: I've like we bought a lamp at Goodwill the other day that looks like a uh pot that you would like, like like almost like a like an old watering can, but it's a lamp.
• 35:10
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 35:10
  SPEAKER_01: It's awful, but it was perfect for our preteen room.
• 35:13
  SPEAKER_01: But like just getting to find stuff like that is fun.
• 35:15
  SPEAKER_01: That's awesome.
• 35:16
  SPEAKER_01: So yeah.
• 35:17
  SPEAKER_00: Well, Joseph, thanks so much for doing this show today.
• 35:19
  SPEAKER_00: I really appreciate your time.
• 35:20
  SPEAKER_00: How can people get in touch with you if they want to learn more about anything that we've talked about today?
• 35:24
  SPEAKER_00: Your ministry, uh, the resources and curriculum that you talked about, or just ask you some questions.
• 35:29
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, definitely.
• 35:30
  SPEAKER_01: Um if you want to get a hold of me, then just uh call the church office or send me an email, and you can find that information on harvesterchristian.org.
• 35:39
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and then my email is jroth at harvesterchristian.org as well.
• 35:44
  SPEAKER_01: So, but yeah, I love talking about children's ministry.
• 35:46
  SPEAKER_01: I don't know everything, but I know a little bit, so it's fun.
• 35:48
  SPEAKER_00: Well, you know a lot more than I do, and uh that's why I had you on the show.
• 35:52
  SPEAKER_00: Awesome.
• 35:52
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you, Kent.
• 35:53
  SPEAKER_00: Appreciate it a lot.
• 35:54
  SPEAKER_00: Absolutely.
• 35:54
  SPEAKER_00: Thanks.
• 35:58
  SPEAKER_00: Well, I hope you enjoyed my conversation with Joseph Roth.
• 36:01
  SPEAKER_00: I want to share three takeaways that I learned from this interview, and these are three action steps that you can put into practice right away to start making a bigger impact in your life and creative work.
• 36:12
  SPEAKER_00: So let's dive in.
• 36:13
  SPEAKER_00: Number one, be active and present in the moment.
• 36:17
  SPEAKER_00: Joseph made a great point about being present in your kids' lives because the time goes by so quickly.
• 36:23
  SPEAKER_00: It's easy to believe the myth that we can be sort of present most of the time, but we're gonna be totally present whenever we take that vacation or set aside that other special time to be with our kids.
• 36:33
  SPEAKER_00: You know, in the midst of dirty dishes, chores, homework, arguments, and the general push and pull of everyday life at home, we can take those small moments to be really present with our kids and make a huge impact over time.
• 36:46
  SPEAKER_00: So I'm challenging myself, I'm challenging all of us who are listening to this to be active and present in the moment with our kids and not be tuned out and always on our phones and always just sort of distracted.
• 36:57
  SPEAKER_00: Be present and active in the moment.
• 37:01
  SPEAKER_00: Number two, use words of affirmation to speak into a child's identity.
• 37:07
  SPEAKER_00: We can all remember harsh or hurtful things that were said to us as kids.
• 37:12
  SPEAKER_00: And as adults, sometimes we forget that our words have a massive impact on kids since we are in a position of power in relationship to them.
• 37:20
  SPEAKER_00: So I challenge all of us to be more mindful and intentional in the words that we speak to kids.
• 37:24
  SPEAKER_00: And not just our own kids, but to all kids.
• 37:27
  SPEAKER_00: We've got to be positive, we've got to be affirming, we've got to be encouraging.
• 37:31
  SPEAKER_00: And you know, come to think of it, this doesn't just apply to kids.
• 37:34
  SPEAKER_00: It's people in general.
• 37:36
  SPEAKER_00: After all, all of us are just kids who are grown up.
• 37:39
  SPEAKER_00: Some kids are seven, some kids are fourteen, some kids are eighteen, some kids are seventy-two.
• 37:45
  SPEAKER_00: I'm a kid who's 75.
• 37:47
  SPEAKER_00: 75.
• 37:48
  SPEAKER_00: I'm not 75.
• 37:49
  SPEAKER_00: I'm 45.
• 37:50
  SPEAKER_00: I have no idea why I said that.
• 37:51
  SPEAKER_00: At any rate, we're all just kids who are grown up.
• 37:55
  SPEAKER_00: And we never outgrow the need to have encouraging and positive affirmation spoken into our lives.
• 38:00
  SPEAKER_00: The words that we speak into other people's lives can help shape their identity in radical ways.
• 38:04
  SPEAKER_00: If a kid constantly hears that they're stupid or ugly or dumb, then they're going to start to believe it.
• 38:11
  SPEAKER_00: If they're constantly told that they're smart, creative, or valuable, they're going to believe that as well, and those words are going to shape their identity.
• 38:19
  SPEAKER_00: So, in short, we should never ever underestimate the power that our words have to shape the identity and self-esteem of others, especially kids.
• 38:29
  SPEAKER_00: And finally, number three, say yes to your kids more often.
• 38:33
  SPEAKER_00: I really resonated with Joseph's point about the need to say yes to our kids.
• 38:38
  SPEAKER_00: And I get it, I totally relate as a parent.
• 38:40
  SPEAKER_00: Sometimes we're just tired and we're out of gas mentally and emotionally after a long day of work or other kinds of things that are happening.
• 38:47
  SPEAKER_00: We don't feel like truly engaging with our kids or investing a lot of emotional energy, so we just say no for whatever their request is.
• 38:56
  SPEAKER_00: So the next time that we're tempted to say no to our kids or our grandkids, let's examine why.
• 39:01
  SPEAKER_00: Are we saying no because we don't want the hassle of doing what they're asking or of engaging with them?
• 39:06
  SPEAKER_00: Or are we saying no because their request legitimately deserves a no response?
• 39:11
  SPEAKER_00: Well, I want to thank Joseph for taking the time out of his busy schedule to share this amazing conversation.
• 39:16
  SPEAKER_00: In addition, I encourage everybody to tell your children's ministry team at church how much you appreciate and support them because I guarantee they could really use those words of encouragement.
• 39:26
  SPEAKER_00: Well, friends, that wraps up this episode of the Born to Create podcast.
• 39:30
  SPEAKER_00: You can find the show notes at KentSanders.net slash creative kids.
• 39:35
  SPEAKER_00: If you'd like a great free resource to help you save time and be more productive, you can download my guide called 21 Time Hacks for Writers by visiting KentSanders.net slash subscribe.
• 39:47
  SPEAKER_00: If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe and leave a rating and a review on Apple Podcasts.
• 39:52
  SPEAKER_00: It only takes a second and it helps other people to discover the show.
• 39:56
  SPEAKER_00: You can subscribe as well as leave a rating and a review by visiting KentStanders.net slash Apple, and that'll take you directly to iTunes so you can leave a rating and a review.
• 40:06
  SPEAKER_00: Finally, if you enjoyed this episode, please consider sharing it with a friend or a family member who you think would benefit from it.
• 40:12
  SPEAKER_00: But you can find lots more resources to help you unlock your creative potential at KentSanders.net.
• 40:18
  SPEAKER_00: Until next time, remember that you were born to create and design to make a difference.
• 40:23
  SPEAKER_00: Now go create something awesome.