I usually don't like to share about individual series, but this fall we did an amazing series that I briefly wanted to share about! This fall we did a 4 week evangelism series called "Don't Freak Out". This series was partly adapted and inspired by the book "Sharing Jesus (without freaking out)" by Alvin Reid. In this series, we showed out students what it means to share your story and what that actually mean, how to share their story, and then encouraged our students to go out and share their story with their friends, and then invite them out for our "Freak Out Night" for the last week of the series. This is where we shared the gospel with a room full of first time guests and friends of our brave students who were able to bring their pals! We saw a 13% increase in attendance this night and saw 3 decisions made for Jesus! It was an incredible night and I am so proud of our middle schoolers for being bold in their faith!

This event was the most fun to follow up an awesome Girls Weekend! This girls night was focused on bringing the girls together and teaching them to bring what they already had to the Lord! Our lobby was filled with all things FALL! Fall-themed food, an adorable photo booth, fall-themed games, and more! This night was a blast, and again, a perfect follow up for what we spoke about to them at Girls Weekend!

There are not many things I love more than Girls Weekends! It's such a sweet time for our lady students to get together, learn, grow, and just feel special and loved on. I'm going to share what we did and some elements we had that really made our Girls Weekend super special!

- After Service, they went into small groups to process what they had heard.
- By the time everyone got done with small groups, it was time for bed! 
- Our girls had to wake up early Sunday morning to eat breakfast, get their t-shirts, and get the busses loaded in time to be at church for Sunday AM small groups!

It's your first time serving in Middle School. Middle schoolers are smaller than you, but they are still kind of (somehow) intimidating. What to do now?! I got chu, boo! Here are some of my fool-proof ways to talk to middle schoolers, in a none-small-group setting. 

I'm not going to lie... this one hurts (my ego) just a little bit to write right now. But I think it's going to help in the future/long run, so I am going to suck it up & tell you the tips I learned from the mistakes I made when it comes to promoting an event for your ministry. (Yes, I have given myself grace... don't worry about me) Here are my tips to help with promotion.

-- Hit Them From All Sides // There's more than one form of communication when it comes to promoting an event. All forms of social media; church slides; video announcements; word of mouth (on stage and going classroom to classroom); emails; handouts; mailers; etc. HIT THEM ALL to ensure you've contacted everyone.
-- Communicate // This goes with the advice above. Let them know what you're about to tell them. Then tell them. Then tell them what you told them. Then repeat that process about 4 more times. If you think you communicated, you didn't. If you think you might need to communicate more, do it. If you think you're being obnoxious with all the communication, you should probably send out one more email the day before... just in case. You can never over communicate when it comes to getting event information out there to students and their families.
-- Event Graphics Matter // I have always thought this was important, but it has been ingrained in me. If your graphic designer is not making you happy and you're *this* close (cue fingers very close together*) to just settling with a design you know is no good. Go. With. Your. Gut. & don't settle. Event Graphics can sometimes make or break your event. People say "don't judge a book by it's cover", but they don't follow their own advice... so just be sure the graphic is dope as heck!
​-- *Eye Emoji Here* // Videos help build anticipation!! Whether it's a 15 second bumper or a 2 minute video explaining the event -- videos can be the visual push you need to get those students signed up!
-- School Promotion // If you live in a city/state where you are still able to go into school lunches & clubs to promote your event... take advantage of it! Bring registration forms to schools, put up posters, pitch the event to a class... do whatever it takes! If you do not have access to schools, it is vital to tap into your key students in leadership. Give them registration forms to hand out, invite cards to shove in lockers, posters to hang up, food items that have a stick with the event info to give to other students, etc. 
-- SWAG // As Michael Scott would put it, "Stuff We All Get". Or, in this case, stuff we all get when we sign up for this event! Having a promo item with your logo on it to give away upon completion of registration is such a smart move, if you have money for it. Whether it's a t-shirt, pop-socket, or just a pen... people love free stuff! Use this fact to your advantage to promo your next big event!

Second Sunday's have been the most fun and they are definitely something I think other ministries might want to implement! Here's a little bit about it!

I contemplated putting this under the "Ministry" tab, but I 1.) thought it was very important 2.) figured it was vital for someone in ministry. Let's address the first thing you might be thinking... NO, SELF CARE IS NOT SELFISH. In fact, if you want your ministry to succeed, and if you want to be a great leader -- this is a key component to your underlying success in ministry.
Now, when I say "self care", it's very easy to think of a SPA day or a day of Netflix-ing. Although these things might be wonderful and fun (and sometime expensive), self care is different than just being lazy. Self care involves something(s) you do to take care of your mind, body, and spirit. As someone who struggles with giving herself non-lazy, self-care, I comprised a quick list of things you can (and should) do when you're looking for quick, easy, and *affordable* ways to self-care on the daily... or at least weekly.

SO, it's nearing the end of March. Spring breaks are finishing and you and the student ministry team are gearing up for sweet, sweet Summer time! Not gonna lie, I LOVE the hustle and bustle of Summer! Camps, VBS, and mission trips are coming in strong with full force. Since there's so much happening in the Summer, it's so important to plan for all these awesome events earlier in the year! But one overlooked, yet equally important, thing that happens in summer, which tends to be forgotten until usually the end of July is TRANSITIONING! The time when everything shifts and when it comes to middle and high school ministry, some of the most important shifts include, when 5th graders move up to 6th grade, and when 8th graders move up to 9th grade. 
SO, why am I writing this in March? BECAUSE YOU NEEDED TO START EASING INTO TRANSITIONS BEFORE MARCH, SO I'M HERE TO SAVE THE DAY IF YOU HAVEN'T STARTED ALREADY... that's why (& you're welcome :)!) 
Here's a few helpful options for easing into the next level, instead of diving headfirst...
1. Rotate Speakers // Have the MS pastor, or 6th grade teachers down to teach a 5th grade class. Have the HS pastor teach the Middle Schoolers on a Wednesday Night. The more familiar the guy on stage is, the more comfortable everyone will be.
2. Built-In View Time // Have a Wednesday Night or Sunday Morning where the grade coming up visits the area they'll be in next year! This builds anticipation and again, gets them a little more familiar with the area so they are less nervous and more excited than anything!
3. Parent Meetings // I believe that some parents take these transitions harder than some students, and that is not a bad thing, it's just reality! As a student ministry worker, it is our job to make sure the parent feels comfortable, prepared, and informed. Host a couple meetings with upcoming parents --> talk through different weekly programs you have, describe the events your ministry has throughout the year, let them know your communication plan, and tell them how they can be involved (yay for future volunteers)!

New Years Eve is such an amazing time! Anticipation for the New Year has grown the whole month of December and is finally here! This year, I am in a new place! Knoxville, Tennessee is where I call home! And even though I'm in a new state, New Years is still one of the best times of the year! For anyone serving in student ministry, I would tell you it's so important to take advantage of this awesome time! Whether you're throwing a classy New Year's Party or you're starting a new student ministry vision and values series... it's important to invest some time and money into your first official mid week service in the new year! 
This year, since I've only been at my new middle school girls' associate job for less than a month, but I still wanted to contribute to our service! Our team put me in charge of decor along with a couple other things for the night. My job was to provide decorations for 3 main areas including the entrance hallway, the entire (large) lobby, and the large group room inside. My goal down the long hallway was to have lights leading up to the lobby area. In the lobby area, I wanted the students to be entertained with elements (along with food) such as a "wishing tree", a photobooth, "guess how many" jar, and more! Even though I don't have my own pictures from the event, below are the inspiration pictures I used for the night!