This year Orange is going to offer a few breakouts covering a very practical topic. Ministering to kids with “special need.” For a lot of churches, there just isn’t a strong plan (or plan at all) for special needs. I have very little experience or knowledge in working with kids with special needs. However, over the years, I’ve been grateful to have people on my staff that knew and loved this area well. If you’re church doesn’t have a plan or needs to grow in this area, consider this a great bonus for attending Orange. I’m sure the breakouts will be amazing, but it should be a great place to network with others who are in the same process as you or a little further down the road.
You’ll get so much out of attending Orange. If you’re looking into Orange being an option, go ahead and give it a try. You won’t be disappointed. Just click on the badge to the left to register!
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Today’s my birthday, so I took the day off. My wife made plans to take me to do something on Friday, so I had the day to do whatever I wanted. I chose to do something I don’t really get to do nearly as often as I like. I went to see a movie. A month ago I saw Avatar in IMAX 3D and fell in love with the world and experience created by James Cameron. I figured that watching this on my TV on DVD can’t compare at all to the big screen experience, so I figured I’d see it one more time. Rarely do I see a movie twice in the theater. I saw all the Lord of the Rings movies more than once (that’s a no brainer) as well as the new Batman movies. It’s got to be a special.
I’m the same way with my books. I love books. I also have a lot of books. People often come into my office for the first time and say, “Wow, you’ve got a lot of books. Have you read them all?” “Most of them,” I usually reply. But what I don’t tell them is “you see that shelf, I’ve read those 2 or 3 or 4 times.”Every year I add 20-40 new books to my collection which causes a bit of a dilemma.
- Between my bookshelves at work and my bookshelves at home, my space is limited. Although the rule hasn’t been clearly defined, I know that there is a limit of how many books I’m allowed to own. So, when I put new books on my bookshelves, I’ve got to take some off as well.
- With all the new books to read, how do I make time to repeat my favorites?
It’s an interesting balance. I love new adventures! I’ll try just about anything once. If I’m sitting in a restaurant and they’ve got something like crickets on the menu, I’m getting the crickets (actually I won’t, because I got those last summer and they weren’t that good). My wife an I are always looking forward to visiting new parks, new restaurants and new places to experience (why we’re currently trying to knock off our list of best BBQ in TX and best swimming holes in TX). When it comes to books and movies, it’s the same. It seems like there’s an endless flow of “new” to try. But how do you balance new adventures with the comfort of old favorites?
When it comes to books, what are your favorites that you come back to time and time again? What about movies? Places or experiences? Here are mine:
Books: I read my Bible through yearly (right now). I’ve got a short list of leadership books that I’ll pick one each year and read it again. Two books I’ve read 4 or more times are a Tale of Three Kings or The Life You’ve Always Wanted. For fun, I’ll re-read any of my Stephen Lawhead books again… although he’s got many new books I haven’t touched yet. Also, I feel a Lord of the Rings re-read coming soon.
Movies: My wife and I will watch the Lord of the Rings movies once a year (did I just mention Lord of the Rings three times in one post? Have I just outed myself?). I’ll usually watch Tommy Boy and Goonies every year as well. Every few years I watch other favorites like Braveheart, the Never Ending Story or other favorites from the 80’s.
Places: At least every year to 18 months, I’ve got to get into the mountains. I either need to climb one or ski down one. At least every 2-4 years, I’ve got to get my Outback prime rib fix. Most importantly, if I don’t get a muchaco from Taco Bueno every 3-6 months, I’ll go nuts.
What about you?
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- CMO: #kidmin Twitter Weekly Updates for 2010-01-31 http://bit.ly/92Py7M #
- CMO: #kidmin Like the DVD Special features for conferences http://bit.ly/bXsPp6 #
- http://twitpic.com/10×8zx some exciting reading we're doing right now! #
- @jarrodbeckman me thinks the book is enough.
in reply to jarrodbeckman # - CMO: #kidmin Hillsong Kids – Big: Follow You Promo http://bit.ly/doWf72 #
- CMO: #kidmin First four minutes of Lost season six http://bit.ly/dnB9ja #
- CMO: #kidmin Mechanisms for personal succees http://bit.ly/awADJh #
- CMO: #kidmin Outsource your printing http://bit.ly/bVY30A #
- CMO: #kidmin Why attend the Orange Conference 10: Reason #3 http://bit.ly/9EEmTx #
- LOST! Woo Hoo! #
- Spent some time tonight teaching Titus the difference between a crane and a cherry picker. Important stuff! #
- CMO: #kidmin Personal investment equals great influence http://bit.ly/cUmabx #
- Finally, we have a winner to the "guess Reggie's middle name" contest! http://tinyurl.com/yffqk9r #kidmin #orange10 #
- RT @dustinaagaard: Updated my blogroll #kidmin peeps 4 rockin it: @jonathancliff @mattmckee @samluce @kennyconley @mikefjohnson/ Thanks! #
- Going to #verge10 tomorrow. It's right around the corner for me. Woo hoo! #
- Any #kidmin people going to be at @vergeconference #verge10 I'd love to connect with any who are! #
- CMO: #kidmin Personal investment equals great influence: followup thoughts http://bit.ly/960q7m #
- CMO: #kidmin Why attend the Orange Conference 10: Reason #4 http://bit.ly/cR2cjn #
- Good morning! Breakfast with mr. Titus! #
- CMO: #kidmin New #kidmin book coming soon http://bit.ly/cOj3e6 #
- curious how many people will be whining about the new facebook layout. #
- RT @eltonlin: Haha! RT @jasongore: John Burke speaking at #Verge10 and looking strangely like Richard Alpert from Lost… That's awesome! #
- http://twitpic.com/11smvx does your state decorate food displays with cheese carved in it's own image? I think not. #Texas #
- Eye-Fi'd 24 photos to Picasa Web Albums. http://is.gd/7QIkc #
- Getting ready to sit down and read. Nice, huh? Exciting for a Saturday night. #
- @FreshHotCoffee I guess that's Colorado's claim to fame, huh? "grab me that box… the one in the shape of colorado!" Lame! in reply to FreshHotCoffee #
- There's a big football game tonight, right? Are the Longhorns playing in this one? Beat Alabama! Hook 'em!
# - CMO: #kidmin App of the week: Lose It! http://bit.ly/b6yBCk #
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Okay, so I’m starting a new little post series that I’m dedicating to my favorite little applications. Whether they’re apps for you phone or applications for your computer, I’ll share some of the new one’s I come across that I find valuable, cool or interesting. I’ll start with the one I’m using a lot right now. It’s an iPhone app called Loose It! About 6 months after getting to Austin, I set off to lose some weight. In 6 months I lost 20 pounds just by eating less and dropping the cokes. Then for a year I wasn’t very disciplined and gained about 10 of it back. Then just two weeks ago I started a biggest loser competition among my staff. There are two objectives.
- The person who loses 10% of their body weight first… and maintains it until the end of the competition.
- The person who loses the most percentage of their body weight at the end of 3 months.
The competition is fierce, but I’m setting my sites to win both objectives. I downloaded this application a year ago, but have been leaning on it heavily since starting this competition.
With Lose It!, you enter your goal weight and at one pace you hope to lose your weight. You enter your current weight every day and log in all the food you eat and your exercise. With both food and exercise, Lose It! has hundreds of pre-determined foods and exercises you can choose from as well as the ability to add your own. Lose it! has a beautiful interface that lets you know how you’re doing each day or week so you know where you have room to splurge or where you need to stay strong. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve wanted to eat something, so I’ve looked to see how much I’ll need to run to cancel the food out.
Also with Lose It! you can link it to twitter and facebook to share with others your progress (if you want that kind of accountability) and I get an email from Lose it! a few hours after every meal time to remind me to record my food.
Losing weight is hard, and this app is taking some of the labor out of the process. It’s a free app, so if you have an iPod or iPhone, download and see if it works for you.
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Hey kidmin peeps! In case you didn’t know, a new book is coming soon. I’m very excited about this book for multiple reason.
1. It’s about the church working with the family. It’s not just a hot topic in ministry today, it’s what’s most important in my ministry world right now.
2. It’s a collaborative project. I collaborate on a regular basis with other Kidmin leaders like Sam Luce, Matt McKee, Gina McClain and Jonathan Cliff. I wish I’d started collaborating like this years ago. So not only am I going to read about ministry to the family, but I get to read about it from the perspectives of some of biggest leaders in Children’s Ministry today.
3. I’m one of the authors. I’m so honored to have been asked to participate. I’m humbled to share in this project with several of my ministry heroes. But it’s also been a joy to share in this experience with good friends.
So, this book is in the final stages right now! It should be a great read and I’m sure it’s going to look great on your bookshelf.
Funny Story: Okay, so when asked to write a chapter, I was a little optimistic one when I could get it done. In the end, I was a week late. A few hours before sending my chapter to Michael Chanley, I sent it to Jonathan Cliff to read over. I was very excited about the topic. He replied with one brief sentence, “Kenny, did you read the instructions.” Crud! I totally did write off topic. So I spent the next two days (which happened to be my days off) rewriting. So, if anyone’s putting together another book, I’ve already got a chapter ready to submit.
Want to follow what’s happening with Collaborate?
Become a fan of the Collaborate page on Facebook: http://tinyurl.com/yajs8fo
It will be available from Amazon for pre-release on March 8th, and will officially release on Monday, April 26th (the first day of the Orange conference).
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