Last week we looked at getting your relationship with God in a good place because that is the most important part for a growing leader.  This week I want to talk about you again…isn’t this great?  We all love to talk about ourselves – so let’s talk about you.

If I were to ask you the following questions, what would you say?

• What are fix or six guiding principles and boundaries in your life?
• What words capture the heart, spirit, and essence of your life?
• What do you ultimately want to accomplish in your lifetime?
• If you were given 10 million dollars, what in your wildest imagination would you want to accomplish for God?
• What would you say are your points of greatness, uniqueness, and strength?

Those aren’t really light questions are they?  They take some deep thought – they deal with who you are and who you want to be.  The question I didn’t ask, but sums up all of the others in a single thought is this: What do you want said about you at your funeral? This can almost be cliche if it’s done in a wrong manner – but what do you want to be able to look back on when you get to the end of your life?

Life isn’t always about the major accomplishments – often it’s about the series of small goals you’ve reached along the way. Especially if those goals come from God and who he has created you to be.  A growing leader has a clearly defined vision.  Now, please understand I’m not saying you have to plan out each step and every action from now until you die – but you should think about who God has created you to be and how you can fulfill that call.

A personal vision should have five characteristics:

1. It should be clear. It may not start that way, but over time clarity should come through experience and prayer.
2. It should be challenging. Your vision should be big enough that it makes you get off the sidelines and so something.
3. It should paint a picture of your future life and ministry. Create a “snapshot” of your direction and put it in your back pocket – take it out periodically and look at it.
4. It’s about you. A personal vision should be about all your life and ministry can become.
5. It’s about what “must” be. Ever have those times when you feel life ‘If I don’t do this – I’m going to burst!” ?  If you can pinpoint those times and tie them into the current activity of God in your life – you’re heading in the right direction for finding your personal vision.

Over time your personal vision will grow and change – there are seasons in life when God gives us different assignments.  That’s what we continually evaluate or position in God’s vision.  When we can find that place and put words to the vision we can find ourselves propelled forward – because all the things that are not important to the vision can be set aside.  A growing leader learns who God has called them to be and focuses on fulfilling that call.  So – what do you feel the Holy Spirit stirring up in you?

CPC12 is over. I’ve had a chance to process a lot of what I learned and experienced. I haven’t been to CPC for a few years, and I was really glad I went. I wanted to take a minute to share with the highlights.

CPC was a wonderful networking opportunity. Somewhere around 1700-1800 Children’s Pastors and workers come to each location (San Diego and Orlando.) I’ve always loved connecting with other people in kidmin and INCM has made it easier with their networking lunches. On Thursday and Friday, there were specific tracks (leadership, elementary, preschool, special needs, etc) for the purpose of connecting people looking for others with the same interests. It was something new this year and it was a great idea. In addition to the intentional networking, the opportunities you had just walking the halls was great! It was a veritable who’s who of Kidmin leaders there.

The general sessions had a great feel to them. CPC brings a wide range of people – there are folks who have only been in kidmin for 13 days (I met one) and those that have been in it for 47 years (met her too.) So when planning a service they have to be sensitive to young and old. They did it very well. Worship was contemporary without being edgy. The speakers were phenomenal and the interview sessions with key leaders was a great way to bring intimacy to a large gathering.

The workshops were great. The resource center was awesome. The accommodations were amazing. And Disney’s service is something that only Disney can do!   I had a chance to talk a bit with Michael Chanley, INCM’s new Director, about CPC and he shared some things they have in the works to make CPC and INCM even better! I’m excited about the changes they made this year and the ones coming in the future. If you haven’t been to CPC before or haven’t been for a while, you should really think about it.

Here’s a quick video wrap up from CPC12 from INCM. It was a great time, I’ll post the rest of my thoughts tomorrow.

Justyn Smith taught this session this morning. I was really glad I went, there were several great nuggets that he shared.

Justyn shared how his church killed two birds with one stone, which is always fun. Family ministry is a big topic, appropriately so, in kidmin today. We’re all trying to figure out how to minister beyond just kids and reach their parents as well. But, with all the events, services, and programs it’s hard to think of doing another one for families! The solution Justyn and his church came up with is a great.

Instead of running a program on Wednesday nights, Justyn does a quarterly family service…once a quarter for 4 weeks! I know you’re all asking the question I did when I heard this – what does he do the other Wednesday nights? Ready for the answer? Nothing! Their church has small groups through out the week and he does provide childcare for those on Wednesdays, but no midweek club program or service for kids. He actually encourages his families to check out other churches that have midweek programs.

You may be shaking your head and saying “Yeah right, like my pastor would let me get away with that!” Justyn does have an incredibly supportive pastor (his pastor actually did the family service last week.) But they have created an experience for the families of their church that meets a need. They’ve seen a great response and continue to see the experience grow.

They write the services themselves, even creating their own theme song for each lesson. In order to reach the whole family, Justyn does something very intentional. In writing the material and planning the experiences, he aims for reaching dad. If dad enjoyed it, the families are going to stay. He also tries to keep the material geared for 5th grade.

Now, again, you may be saying I could never do that! You might be right – your church is unique and different than Justyn’s. But, I bet you could do a variation. What if, instead of doing 4 services once a quarter and nothing else, you cancelled your regular program and did 1 service a quarter? You don’t even have to write it yourself – there are services out there you can find (call Justyn, maybe he’s got something for you.) The thing you need to do is not look just at the reasons it wouldn’t work at your church, but find the ways you can take a concept and principle and apply it where you are. I know his workshop got me thinking – I hope it did for you also.