Take a look around and let us know if you like what you see!  Older posts will be broken for a while as we transition to the new site, but we’ll be working on them.  Don’t worry!

I had originally filmed and edited this video as a proud dad. The camera focuses quite a bit on my daughters, Autumn and Cynthia, in the following footage. Seeing them lead those little ones in worship really touched me deep on the inside. I’m such a blessed father! My girls are so special and dear to me.

Anyhow, as I was tagging this same video in Facebook earlier today, I was noticing how many STUDENTS were serving at the event. It definitely was not limited to just my girls. I’m so excited to see that so many of you answered to call to serve the children of our neighborhood and Destiny. Great job guys! You are my heroes…

Video enclosure: “Vacation Bible School 2009″

This post was originally posted at YouthSpecialties.com; follow the discussion there or start a new one here.

That’s a pic of myself and my youngest daughter, Kella. We shared a rough night together a few nights ago.

If I went into details, I’d lose readers for the rest of this post, so I’ll spare you. The short of it was that her tummy was not feeling good and we had to do a lot of laundry after this night: her clothes, her bedding, her replacement clothes, her replacement sheets, my shirt, etc. You get the drift.

I love my baby-girl and it pains me to see her in that condition. There were lots of tears that night and I could hardly bare it. I wanted to hold her, to comfort her, and to “make it better”.

After going through a few sets of clothes and sheets we decided she needed to be near the bathroom for any other late-night emergencies. We laid a few blankets on our wooden floor, a few pillows, and I cradled her in my arms for the rest of the night. She fell promptly to sleep and I… well… I stayed pretty uncomfortable and sore on the hard floor, but incredibly content, happy, and even proud to be sharing this daddy/daughter moment with my little girl.

This last week, I had another proud daddy moment. I have four daughters, so I have them frequently. (grin)

My two oldest daughters led worship for our church’s vacation Bible school. I absolutely loved to see my daughters not only worshiping, but leading others into the presence of God. I was tearing up… having a moment… so I updated my Twitter/Facebook status, like any proud daddy would do.

Anyhow, later that day, my friend Lion commented on that status. He told me that it was wonderful meeting my family earlier this summer, that I had a great family, and to enjoy my moment. After that he added, “…kind of how I bet Daddy [God] has many proud dad moments as your Heavenly Father.”

It made me think of this video that our senior pastor, Tani, shared with us earlier this year on a Sunday morning service…

Isn’t it amazing to think of God’s love for us? I know I need to be reminded of this and I’m guessing that some of your students probably need to hear this, too: God is more than likely having a proud daddy moment thinking about you right now.

(“Father’s Love Letter” video courtesy of fathersloveletter.com)

This post was originally posted at YouthMinBlog.com; follow the discussion there or start a new one here.

I first heard about Twitter two years ago when I was researching for a parent Internet workshop I was preparing to teach. When I found out that the purpose of Twitter was to supposedly answer the question, “What are you doing now?”, I actually laughed about it. I made fun of it in front of my class! But then I signed up for an account and tried it out. The rest — as they say — is history.

You can now follow me at http://twitter.com/shawnmichael. As you can see, I’m pretty much fully immersed in the “NOW” culture that is Twitter.

If you need a little help with how Twitter functions, take a second and watch this…

HOW HAS TWITTER BEEN A RESOURCE AND A TOOL FOR ME IN YOUTH MINISTRY?

* It has helped me network with youth workers locally. I can keep in touch with what local youth workers are doing outside of our monthly network meetings. Depending on what they are tweeting, I can find out what they are teaching, what they are struggling with, how I can pray for them, and — yes — what they are eating for lunch and other trivial things that people tweet about. But I see value in ALL of it. I like getting to know people outside of their youth-ministry-world, too.

* I can also follow leaders in the field of youth ministry. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve gleaned some of my best ministry ideas in the past couple of years from my Twitter stream. In addition, I’ve even been able to send short comments to them and, in some cases, hear back! What fun!

* Lots of great student ministry sites utilize Twitter. Be the first to hear about new content, prizes, and youth ministry ideas that they have to offer.

* Keep parents/guardians informed and updated on student trips. Parents can now get updates from camp, youth convention, weekend retreats, etc. in real time and it is as easy as sending a text from your phone.

* Students ministry pics and video are also easy to publish… through services like TwitPic and 12Seconds.tv or even simply posting links to Flickr, YouTube, or any other media site.

* Stay current on just about any topic. Twitter is a great way to keep up-to-date on youth culture, local news, youth training events, etc.

* Get quick answers to general questions. Sometimes if you post a question, you’ll get answers within minutes. For example:“Does anyone have a good resource for teen counseling in the event of a family loss?” “Looking for an extra pop-up tent that I can borrow for camp next month. Any ideas?” “Is there a good online resource for junior high small group curriculum?”

* Get travel help when trouble arises. True life example… I texted the following: “The interstate is shut down due to snow. Anyone want some surprise overnight visitors on the eastern side of South Dakota?” I had about six invites to stay overnight within a couple of hours. Not bad at all!

I could keep going… Twitter has opened up a whole new world of resources for me. I hope I’ve encouraged some of you to, at least, give it a try. If so, let me know! I’d be glad to help you get started.

I love the quirkiness that is John Reuben… and his creativity in video never ceases to amaze me…

video enclosure: “John Reuben’s ‘Town Folk’”