Need More Men in Children's Ministry

On Wednesday, three from our staff here at Warner Press were privileged to attend a reVITAlize luncheon at Kidzmatter in Marion, IN. ReVITAlize was wonderful! For just $25 a person, we had lunch, laughed, had devotions in motion (modified Zumba), got lots of neat free stuff, and were blessed to hear Larry Fowler, from Awana Clubs International share his heart about children's ministry.

I don't want to bore you with statistics but I may anyway. In children's ministry, 91% of workers are women. YEAH for us women! In church attendance, 69% are female and 31% are male. More than 1/2 of kids in America will spend a significant part of their childhood WITHOUT a father. In our schools, 97% of teachers third grade and below are female, with just 3% of those teachers being males. So, if a single mom wants her kids to experience godly influence from a male, where does she go? (these statistics were shared by Larry Fowler). Kids need mothering and fathering—nurturing and admonition—balance in the home. It's not so much about parenting as it is about mothering and fathering. Here are two scriptures for you to look up, read, ponder, meditate over, and then ask the Holy Spirit to give you a new vision. 1 Thessalonians 2:7 ESV and 1 Thessalonians 2:11-12 ESV.

Kids need a positive godly male figure in their lives. I'm praying for some men at our church to step up and be that for our kids. (Oh, when the 85 people in attendance were poled, only about 10% of each children's ministry represented was made up of men.

Friends, this was an eye-opening seminar for me, enjoyable, engaging, convicting—all at once.

At Warner Press, we care about kids. We want them to learn about God and His love for them as early as possible. That's why we produce resources for those who work with/for kids. One of our authors, Tina Houser, has written 5 books for WP. Check them out at our web site: www.warnerpress.org. Then check out all the other resources available for teachers and kids.
God bless you as you minister for Him!

Just a Minute!

I'm reading Just a Minute by Wes Stafford, president & CEO of Compassion Int'l. I purchased the book on Kindle and have been reading it this morning. This quote has been going over and over in my mind and heart since I read it, and it doesn't just count for children but all who cross our paths.

"I have become convinced that if God stands a child before you, for even just a minute, it is a divine appointment."

That brings tears to my eyes and a jolt to my heart, just thinking of the many times I have let opportunities pass by because I was in a rush or too busy or too focused on me and mine. And I'm talking about times when my kids were little and I was too busy to stop, sit and listen to what they wanted to share with me. Thank God they turned out well and love the Lord—in spite of me!

I don't know why God brought this book to my attention. I don't even remember where I was introduced to it—I think through email, but don't know from where. But I believe it was a God-thing because He's been doing that to me more lately—surprising me with emails, blogs, etc. And I'm trying to stop. To listen. To read. To learn where He wants to lead me, and then follow Him. I don't know what that looks like or where it may lead; I just know I want to be obedient and follow Him.

Been a while...

I actually went on here yesterday and wrote a blog but I guess I forgot to save it, or something. I'm still too new to this business of blogging. I don't even know if anyone wants to read what I write, and if so why? Those are questions I ask myself when I do this. ha.

Our department, production and marketing is very busy right now since we have to have all new products completed by February 27—just 16 days from now. This is product that will be released at ICRS (International Christian Retailers' Show), I think. It used to be CBA (Christian Booksellers Association). Our product is generally sold through Christian bookstores, distributors, Barnes & Noble, Amazon, our Web site: www.warnerpress.org and through our individual authors' sites.

We love kids and love doing "stuff" for them, but our company also sells hundreds of thousands of bulletins, along with certificates, postcards, bookmarks and just about any other type of church resources you can think of. Check out our Web site at www.warnerpress.org! At the bottom of our front page you'll see "submission guidelines." If you think you'd like to write for us, check that out or shoot me an email if you have questions: krhodes@warnerpress.org.

In case I didn't mention it already, one of our kids' books just received a Moonbeam Award. We're excited about that! The book is Pete & Pillar and the Big Rain by Jeffrey Stoddard. We now have the sequel out too: This Is Skid. I LOVE SKID! He is so cute! Click on the WP Kids logo at the top of this page and you will be directed right to our Web site. Cool, huh?!

I had an embarrassing moment this week. Our company president sent out an email to those who were interested in being on a team to work on our Web site. He mentioned that I had a blog. Well, I had forgotten that I started this blog in November, right after my mother passed away. I thought to myself, "Karen, you need to go check that out and update it." But, when I started to do that I couldn't remember where I had done it or what I called it. I had to find the answer from a friend I had sent the original one to. DUH!

Well, it's time to go home and I'm going to close for now. Hope I remember how to save and post this one, unlike the blog I did yesterday but lost somewhere out in cyberspace.

Bye for now!
Katy

A little overwhelmed right now...

It happens every year about this same time. We're working on product that will be released at CBA in July and we have LOTS to get done by February 27--18 days from now! Yikes! It 's even worse since I just now wrote that out! I really love my job, but it's time like these that try men's & women's souls, bodies, minds, etc...ad nauseum.

I need a grande carmel macchiato from Starbucks right now (and I really am not that fond of Strabucks' coffee!) Sorry, friends, but that's the truth. It's just too bitter for me, but if I add some sweeterner to it, I can drink it down! And I desperately need one right now! Ha.

I just started editing our 2nd Hunter Brown book last week--333 pages of youth fantasy fiction. I tried to just read it through once before starting to edit, but I can't! It's like a curse! I see mistakes and I can't help myself!

Who am I?

I am a Christian, a wife, a mother, a mother-in-law and a daughter. I work as an editor for a small publishing house, Warner Press, which has been in existence for over 125 years, but I don't work at a job. It's a ministry. I love my job/ministry most days, except when the deadlines are looming and there doesn't seem to be enough time to accomplish everything that needs to be done. But God is faithful and He gives us the strength to persevere and to work overtime if we need to.

At WP we publish church resources, boxed greeting cards and kids' books—coloring books, activity books, storybooks and most recently we added volume 1 of a teen fantasy fiction entitled Hunter Brown and the Secret of the Shadow. One of our kids' storybooks, Pete & Pillar the Big Rain, just won a Moonbeam award! We're thrilled with the award, of course, but we're even more excited when we hear from kids or parents who have been encouraged, blessed, inspired or challenged by our books. You might have heard of Warner Press since we publish Egermeier's Bible Story Book, which has been around since 1929, and has sold over 6 million copies.

You might want to check out these two Web sites: www.warnerpress.org and codebearers.com to see some of what we do.

If you've read any of our kids' books, let me know what you think of them. I'd love to hear from you.

What have I done?!

I never thought about starting a blog until my mother became very ill and passed away last month. I thought I'd have several months to "journal"—put my thoughts and feelings during our journey with Hospice, and also use the blog as a way to keep friends and family updated daily. It was not to be, however, since Nana only lived only 3 weeks after entering Hospice.

So, here I am anyway—starting a blog because I love to read. I read kids' books, though I'm officially a senior citizen. I have always loved to read, even as a young girl, when I first started reading Grace Livingston Hill's novels. I still enjoy good fiction: suspense, romance, fantasy.

Right now I'm reading My Life Is in Your Hands by Kathy Troccoli, In a Pit with a Lion on a Snowy Day by Mark Batterson and a new book by Karen Kingsbury, the title of which just slipped my mind.

Okay, that's enough for now. Next? What I do for a living and why