Dear Camp Staffer,

[I'm physically exhausted from our team reveal last night and all the hype surround the announcement. It got me thinking about how much I care for these staffers, and what a huge job they have this summer. So, I decided to try and share some wisdom with them, for what it's worth..]

Dear Camp Staffer, 

Congratulations! You are part of a very elite group of CentriKid staffers. But don't let that go to your head. God has called you to camp this summer, and it is hard work! Yes, even on a stationary team.

I pray that you sincerely love the kids you'll minister to this summer. You are a part of Kingdom work much bigger than just you, your team, or your locations. I hope that you come to camp wanting to know God more and to help kids understand what a BIG God we serve, and how incredible He really is!

Remember, it's not about you. It's not about you being the popular staffer on the team. It's not about meeting your spouse at camp. It's not about crossing this hurdle just so you can do something "bigger and better" in the future. It's not about your team being better than all the other CentriKid teams. It's really about God. Jesus. Holy Spirit. Kids. Salvation. Grace. Kingdom. Prayer. It's not about you -- it's about what God is doing in the lives of campers, leaders, and even staffers. It's about how GOD PROVIDES!

Be the glue on your team this summer, the one who holds the team together (not the scissors that cut it all apart). Resolve now to build God-honoring relationships with your brothers and sisters that you call teammates. Don't leave the summer with unresolved conflict, broken relationships, or hurt feelings (girls, that's you!) It's worth it to reconcile early and often. I promise. I speak from experience.

Respect your leaders. Love them and learn from them. Seek their wisdom. Value their feedback. They've been given the great challenge of leading you and helping you succeed this summer. Your leaders genuinely want to see you excel at camp! They are praying for you and your teammates as you prepare to serve, and they continue to pray for wisdom as they lead your team.

Come to camp as spiritually prepared as you know how. It's more important than any other preparation you can do. Be ready to have your world completely rocked... this summer will change your life. Never forget what a big God we serve!

Meredith

Thanks for reading. I'm beyond blessed to have been able to serve with this incredible ministry for so long! I'm very thankful for all my leaders who have helped me grow, given me great examples of Godly leadership, and given me a passion for what God is doing through camp! I welcome your camp wisdom... so comment and share.

Road Trippin'

Today I'm going on a road trip (for work) with my good friend and coworker, Jen.  Road trips are awesome, and here are a few reasons why:

1. Time to think and pray if you're road tripping alone. Driving down the interstate or through the country is a great time to think about lots of things.  It's also a great place to get in some good solid prayer time. Based on the history of our carpool, there may be time for this on my current road trip!
2. Time to talk. I love road trips because inevitably I seem to get to know the people traveling with me a little better. Our camp team comes up with lots of ideas on road trips.  Jen and I will probably spend some time talking through plans for the summer.
3. Time to ask lots of questions.  Nic and I made several road trips before we got married.  During one of them (a 12-hour one), we read/talked 101 Questions to Ask Before You Get Engaged. It was so helpful for our relationship!  I love to tell folks not only about this book, but also about how to use your time wisely while road tripping.
4. You get to see cool things.  Well, most of the time.  Good road trips usually include some awesome landmarks or historical sites.  Jen and I will be traveling to the town that's home to Stephen Foster-The Musical, and that served as inspiration for "My Old Kentucky Home." We won't be visiting, but you get the point... oh, and we'll probably get to see lots of gorgeous snow along the way!
5. There's no place like home.  A great road trip reminds you of how good it is to be home.  When the end is in sight, I'm always ready to be home, hug my husband's neck, sleep in my own bed, and pick back up with my routine.

I'm going to hit the road, but what do you love about road trips?

reflections on CPC

I'm in Orlando, at the Children's Pastors Conference (that's CPC for short or #CPC11 on twitter). My experience has been quite interesting.  Here are a few observations about exhibitors, myself, and #kidmin (that's Children's Ministers or Kids Ministry Leaders) from the Exhibit Hall, or Resource Center at CPC:

• People don't like to make eye contact...unless they want to talk about the resources you have to offer at your booth.
• I am not a salesman, at least deep down in my heart.  I'd rather just talk to you. 
• #kidmin people need time AWAY!  It is great for them!
• Many are looking for solutions.
• They have a BIG job!!! Most of them don't get paid enough for it.
• They enjoy talking with other #kidmins who can share in their pain... like having volunteers not show up, or being understaffed at their church, or having too many chiefs in their ministry and not enough servants. 
• They want free stuff.  They'll take anything... a button, a silly band, you name it!
• Deep down, they REALLY just want their kids to be taught well with solid biblical truths.  
• It's awesome to LOVE where I work and to talk to folks about the Bible content in what we do!
• I love camp ministry. I want to tell everyone about CentriKid, even though that's not what our booth is designed to do. 
• #kidmins expect to see the same thing every year.  I know, you're thinking, "No way!" but the #1 topic of conversation is how our size/type of booth changed from last year, and how they want the old one back!
• Exhibitors at conferences can really become great friends.  Our "neighbor" exhibitors did card tricks from some folks in our group today - like, legit card tricks that even adults can't figure out!  How cool is that?!?!
• The GOSPEL is way more important than my method or your method, our curriculum or your curriculum... I pray that more than anything, we would develop a true passion for seeing kids "get it!"
• Within #kidmin culture, it's a SMALL world... there are tons of connections!

Phone Interview Tips, Part 2

This is the sequel to Phone Interview Tips, Part 1.

If your interviewer doesn’t share, it’s good to ask who all is present in the interview.  This will help you know who your audience is, and may affect some of your answers.  It’s good to know if you’re speaking with one person or 5. 

Remind yourself that there are absolutely no non-verbals in a phone interview.  You can’t expect a reassuring nod or eye contact. Be confident, even without these things!

When you’re finished answering a question, stop talking.  We tend to ramble on phone interviews because the silence feels weird.  You may not hear, “Good job!” or “that sounds great.”  Regardless, you must be confident in your answers.  Silence is inevitable on a phone interview.

Keep a pen and paper close by.  Jot down notes, questions that come up, or even questions being asked.  These things may help you focus on your answers.

Come with a couple of questions.  This certainly isn’t required.  It usually won’t make or break the interview, but it helps to show that you’re thinking in the right direction.  Don’t ask how you did, and don’t say, “I know I’m supposed to have questions, but I don’t.”  It is okay to ask what they process looks like from here, or when you might hear something.

Use a phone interview to your advantage.  Use your words wisely, listen carefully, and hopefully score the job you want... even over the phone!

Phone Interview Tips, Part 1

Interviewing for a new job? Have a phone interview that's scaring you to death?
I've been a part of quite a few phone interviews, as interviewee and also as interviewer.  Here are a few tips that were passed down to me, and some I've picked up along the way.

Treat it like a face-to-face interview… be ready early, have your notes together, smile, etc. Keep your scheduled appointment and try to avoid having to call the interviewer back later because something came up.

Dress the part. Seriously.  If you look professional and take time to prepare, it’ll change your perspective.  Dressing professionally will help you feel more confident about the interview.

Find a quiet, comfortable place to be during the interview.  Make sure there are no distractions.  This will help you focus.  It also helps the interviewer when there’s no background noise. If you’re walking, it’s harder to talk without become winded.  If you’re in a loud place, it’s just annoying.

Before the interview, brainstorm potential questions.  Write them down, along with your answers to those questions.  Why do you want the job?  What do you have to offer?  What are your greatest strengths and areas of growth/improvement?  What concerns do you have?  What experiences from your past have helped prepare you for this job? 

Print out and keep in sight those questions and answers. They may never come up, but they also might help you  in the interview.   You'd be surprised how much this will equip you to talk about what you bring to the table!

Come back tomorrow for Phone Interview Tips, Part 2!

Five Benefits of Moving

My Old Office... I'm back but with a NEW name!

So we moved this week... no, not Nic and me.  My office team had to move offices again.  While I kinda liked my old office and had gotten quite settled into a good work space and routine, I discovered this past week that there are at least 5 benefits to an office move.  

1. Its an excuse to rearrange furniture.  If you like to switch things up, being forced to move is a great chance to move furniture around and hang pictures at different places on the wall.

2. You get to purge!  I threw away about 5-10 pounds of paper this week as I went through my files.  I also got to give hand-me-down treasures to new office friends... you know, those things that someone else gave you that you don't really need.  I may or may not have been a "secret santa" to some folks on my team this week!

3. Organization ramps up.  When you rearrange the furniture and throw out the stuff you don't need, you automatically get more organized.  I got to put my stationary in the drawer just like I wanted it and neatly line up all my favorite pens.  I also got to re-alphabetize my reference files in the file cabinet.  Fun times.

4. The view is better.  In my case, we moved from 2nd floor to 5th floor, and while I don't have a window, I work directly across from a window office.  The view of Nashville from the 5th floor is much better than before!

5. Its a rare chance to meet new people.  Let's be honest, it can sometimes (most of the time) be just plain awkward to introduce yourself to people you don't know at the company you've both been working at for some time now.  But you are, for some reason, supposed to know all the people on your floor.  When you move to a new floor, it's a great chance to say hi in the copy room and put a name with a face... and it'll save 78 more awkward passings in the hallway in the months to come.

5 signs of a great team

I work on a great team. Really, they are incredible people. After long hours of doing manual labor together this week, I realized that they genuinely embody characteristics of a great team.

1. They are willing to do hard work. Nobody would say that manual labor, moving boxes, or sorting broken flag poles is their favorite job in the world, but there's no question that they'll be there. No one bows out for "more important work," or disappears to never be seen again. They are there to work hard.

2. There's no such thing as "That's not my job!" This team will do anything. Surplus day and flag sorting might not be found in their job descriptions, but no complaints are heard. The job needs to get done and we're a team.

3. They have unique gifts but a shared vision. The team knows what success looks like, and we work toward success using our unique gifts... we aren't all doing the same job, and we each have a different viewpoint for finding solutions to problems.

4. They communicate well. Nobody's perfect, but these folks are great at staying "in the know." We ask questions, try to stay on the same page, and value having the team in the loop as much as possible.

5. They keep it fun. Don't get me wrong, we all take hard work seriously... but jokes, laughter, and general funniness are a big part of our time together. This team loves to laugh, and we try not to take ourselves too seriously!

This Summer...

This summer I learned, and experienced first hand, that God CAN use even our mistakes and mess-ups for His glory... and He WILL!
Its week 4 and we know the plan, right? right. Or at least we think we do. Every night before worship, as kids are finding their seats, we play a 3-minute staff testimony video. On this particular night, at about 1:15 into the video, someone accidentally hits the space bar on our computer... which Pro Presenter interprets as, "Go to the next thing!" So the video stops, and like anyone would, we start it again. After all, it'd be more awkward to only hear the first minute of Nic's story than it would to hear it twice, right? right.
At this point, I'm hiding behind the back row of seats in the fetal position, screaming on the inside because I can't believe this just happened!

After a few seconds, I compose myself and we keep going like nothing happened. Worship went smoothly, and we went about our day.

The next evening, an adult sponsors finds me and asks where she can find Nic so her daughter could get a picture with him. I told her where I thought he'd be, and she said, "before we go, I wanted to thank you for all you guys do." She proceeds to tell me that her daughter had become a follower of Christ the night before, during church group time.

Wait, it gets better.

When mom asked her daughter what made her start thinking about that, she shared that it was Nic's testimony before worship. Yes, the very one that replayed the night before... by mistake! After hearing his story, she started to take a look at her own life, and realized her need for a Savior.
This summer I learned, thru this and many other mistakes, that God will use ANYTHING, even the stuff we beat ourselves up about, to bring kids to know Him... which is far more important than our own peace of mind in production.
Keep telling YOUR story, even if you get half-way through and start over from the beginning! Check out the video, courtesy of Ashley Abell: