You just can’t turn the page on the calendar from October to November without getting in touch with all the many reasons I have to be thankful! I told boys and girls this my whole life if you can be thank-full you can also be thank-empty. My goal in life is to live every day full of thanks and to look for opportunities as I walk out my daily life o give thanks first to God and also all those He has placed around me.  I am so thankful for not only what God has done but also for what He is doing. 

November first marked a year of me being on staff at Northstar Church in Pryor Oklahoma and for him allowing me to serve Pastor Roy Evans (my dear friend) and the team their as Executive Pastor. November also marks a year of me getting to be a part of the Orange family and being an Orange Strategist for the reThink Group. Also October marked a year of me being full time with Jim Wideman Ministries which has been a dream I’ve had since I started JWM in 1983.  All I can say is God is faithful. He has taken such great care of me and has provided just like He said He would in His Word. I look back and am blown away with His goodness.

November also marks the nineteenth birthday of theClub Children’s Ministry Podcast. (This monthly audio resource started out as the Children’s Ministers’ Leadership Club on cassette.)

Back in August I changed the format where I am joined each month by some of the best #Kidmin leaders from around the #KIdmin universe. (For more information about theClub click here also if you are under 30 you can get theClub absolutely free!) Every chapter in every book, every article I’ve written and every lesson I’ve taught to leaders in conference and seminars has been from a club lesson. I like the new lessons better than anything I’ve ever done because of the freshness of the topics my guests have brought to the table.

I just got back from the Twin Cities Area where I got to connect with some old friends and also make some new ones. I’ve been doing events in Minneapolis since the eighties and it was so cool to be back. The first day there Julie and I got to reconnect with our dear friend Carl and Dee Lindelien. Carl has been deathly ill for over ten years and six months ago Jesus healed him. It was just amazing to hear what he had gone through and to see him up walking, eating and just being Carl. Carl was one of the most creative and innovative Children’s Pastors in the eighties and nineties. He was the creator of Charisma’s KIDS Church Curriculum as well as many other #kidmin resources. (I plan to write more about Carl’s story in the days ahead) I also got to hang with two of my Infuse Coaches and do a meet-up for some local #Kidmin. I was so blessed to get to see some more old friends and also make some new ones. What really blessed me the most was there were students from three area colleges who were studying to be Children’s Pastors. I also got to have some coffee with my lifetime friends Mark Harper and Randy Christensen.

After a quick night home I find myself on a plane writing this headed to Tampa for the last stop of the Orange Tour. One of my infusers is picking me up and we’ll have lunch with another #Kidmin I’ve never met before heading to the hotel and the church to get to see more #kidmin folks and also hang with more infusers from the area. (I also plan on writing about my Orange Tour experiences in upcoming post. So much blog material so little time to write)

On Wednesday I’ll go back to the airport but instead of me flying out Jason Martin one of my Infuse Coaches flies in and we will begin preparing for my 29th infuse retreat. Again I am blown away that I get to walk beside some incredible #kidmin leaders for six months of coaching and mentoring twice a year. (The next group will start in March 2015 and now is the time to get your infuse application in.)

Yesterday my family (both daughters, my son-in-law and my grandson) came over to see me and spend some time with me and my sweet wife which is the greatest honor and blessing a dad could have. My grandson looked at me and said come on G let’s go upstairs and me and you will have lots of fun. It just doesn’t get any better that that. 

 So now it’s the next Sunday, the retreat has come and gone so has Jason Martin (Thanks Jason for being a blessing to me!) and my oldest daughter and her family is coming over to eat lunch with us and I am truly thankful for all God has done for me!