Childrens Ministry Online

Kidmin turns three!

Posted on 29. Jan, 2012 by Kenny.

Another year gone by already.

Last year I wrote this post a few days after the #kidmin twitter hashtag turned two. Apparently no one celebrated the first birthday either. What a shame.

So, being the infamous creator of #kidmin (I say this tongue in cheek only because I feel it was more of a group effort) I put this date on my calendar so that we won’t forget again. February 3rd. That means that this Friday, February 3rd… #Kidmin turns 3.

So, here’s how we celebrate. Sometime between now and February 3rd, write a post on your blog explaining how #kidmin has affected your life or ministry. (No, I’m not talking about kids ministry in general, but the twitter search term). Tell a story about someone you connected with, a blog post that revolutionized your ministry or the introduction of a new resource or event as a result of the #kidmin community on twitter. Once your post is live, link back to this post or even put a link in the comments. If you don’t have a blog, just write your story in the comments. On Friday, I’ll compose a post with links/portions of everyone’s tributes toward #kidmin celebrating the actual day.

No idea what I’m talking about? Never used twitter? Never searched #kidmin on twitter? Well, you’re in luck. This week I’ll be sharing more about the fusion of Children’s Ministry and Twitter into what we know today as #kidmin. Stay tuned!

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Happy Birthday once again CMO!

Posted on 04. Apr, 2010 by Kenny.

Yes, today is Easter. However, it’s a very special Easter because it’s also the day this website turned three years old. It’s a special birthday because I also hit a pretty huge milestone yesterday when I wrote my 1000th post. It almost feels like the odometer flipped and I’m starting back at #1 all over again. So, here’s my first post of the new millennium.

So, for the last two years, I’ve reviewed the previous year for this blog and then set goals for the coming year. So, let’s take a look at how I did. Here were the goals I set:

• 550 posts (that’s a post an a half every day… I want to hit 1000 posts by the end of year three)
• 1,500 comments (I had twice as many comments as posts last year, so let’s see if I can triple it this year)
• 50,000 Unique Visitor (This should be doable, but we’ll see)
• 100,000 Page Views (This will be a bit of a stretch, but very possible)
• Most popular post: Hmmm, I’m thinking about it right now…

And here is what I actually did.

• 551 posts. Not only did I meet my goal, I exceeded it by one post. Seriously, even though I met my goal of 550 posts, I’d totally be bummed for ending year 3 a 999 posts.
• 1,389 comments (Okay, I’m kinda bummed on this since I was so close. I think with another 2 weeks or so, I would have hit 1,500. Although I didn’t make the goal, I’m very satisfied with what I did.)
• 25,141 Unique Visitors (I think I just assumed that I’d be able to quadruple like I had from the year before. Guess I was being a bit too optimistic.
• 72,665Page Views (I knew this one was going to be a tough goal to hit. I’m satisfied with what I was able to hit though)
• Most popular post: This one. It doesn’t surprise me, seems like a lot of people really engaged in the conversation.

So, I hit one of my four goals. In some people’s books, that would be considered failure. One out of four is just 25%. However, these goals I set last year did actually drive me at a very intense pace this last three months. As a result of hitting the first goal, it enabled to get me pretty close to two of the other three goals. I’ve heard a saying all my life, “If you aim at nothing, you’ll hit it every time.” However, another quote I really like is, “Aim for the stars. If you miss, there’s still a great chance you’ll hit the moon.” I aimed for the starts and I’d recon I hit Saturn. I’m very satisfied with my trajectory.

So, what about year four? I hope this doesn’t disappoint, but I’m not going to lay out the goals like last year. To some degree, my goal-driven personality about got the better of me. I really didn’t need to hit 1000 yesterday, but since it was my goal, it would have been really hard not to hit it. I’ve also got some other projects I’m hoping to work on this year. I’d be surprised if I came anywhere close to 550 blog posts this year; however, I think I would like to hit around 300 for sure. Everything else is up for grabs. I have certain things I hope to develop and improve on when it comes to this blog an other ventures, but not really things that can be numerically tracked like visitors and page views.

So, thanks for sticking with me another year (or joining me this year). Here’s to one more!

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My staff loves me… I think

Posted on 10. Feb, 2010 by Kenny.

So the day after my birthday I come back to my office to find this:

But the real treat treat was this:

You see, my staff contacted my wife to find out what all my favorite candies are and they got me a basket full of movie-sized candies for my personal enjoyment. Isn’t that awesome?

Or is it? Right now I’m in the middle of a “Biggest Loser” competition of who can lose the most percentage weight in the next 3 months. I’ve got a feeling they want me to lose. What do you think? I think they like me, but the really don’t want me to win either.

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Children’s Ministry Online turns two! Happy Birthday!

Posted on 04. Apr, 2009 by Kenny.

Yes, today is my blog’s 2nd birthday. I thought I’d compare last year’s numbers to this year’s numbers. Let’s see what happened.

Last year:

• 119 Posts
• 119 Comments
• 2,428 Unique Visitors
• 10,368 Pageviews
• Most popular post
• Visitors from 56 countries
• Visitors from 48 states (where are you Vermont and Montana?

This year:

• 330 Posts
• 651 Comments
• 10,566 Unique Visitors
• 28,851 Pageview
• Most popular post (funny thought, this post doesn’t have any comments)
  
• Visitors from 129 countries
• Visitors from all 50 states (Last year I hadn’t reached Vermont or Montana. Now I hit about all 50 states every month)

Yeah, year number two has been a big year for Children’s Ministry Online. Year three is going to be even bigger. Why? Well, I think it’s being consistant. I’d say that more of my posts are duds than hits. However, the more often I write, the more often I’ll come up with a good post. In addition, every post is another door to your site. The more decent content you can get on your site, the more opportunities you create to enter your site. This last year, I quadrupled the opportunity for people to enter Children’s Ministry Online, so it’s no wonder I saw so many more people come and visit. Blog growth can easily be exponential if the author is consistant.

So, I thought I’d add an interesting element for next year:

Year Three Predictions:

• 550 posts (that’s a post an a half every day… I wnat to hit 1000 posts by the end of year three)
• 1,500 comments (I had twice as many comments as posts last year, so let’s see if I can triple it this year)
• 50,000 Unique Visitor (This should be doable, but we’ll see)
• 100,000 Page Views (This will be a bit of a stretch, but very possible)
• Most popular post: Hmmm, I’m thinking about it right now…

Thanks for participating in this community. Although the numbers are fun to look at, the best part of Children’s Ministry Online has been connecting with other Children’s Pastors. I’ve made many new friends this year as a result of this blog. This year specifically, I’ve connected with a handful of other Childrne’s Pastors who I feel I’ll have life-long friendships with. This blog and network has become something that I’m passionate about and I feel that I’m a better person now becasue of it. So, thank you everyone for being a part of my life through this little blog!

Here’s to year three!

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Today was my birthday… and it was awesome!

Posted on 08. Feb, 2009 by Kenny.

Usually I don’t like it when a birthday falls on a busy work day, and Sunday’s for me is one of the busiest. Crazy busy. However, today’s birthday was so incredible!

I got a good night sleeps and jumped out of bed ready to go after it. Sara hadn’t told me what she had planned for the day, so I was just anticipating whatever she had planned. She’s usually pretty good at this kind of stuff. last night she mentioned us needing to leave about 15 minutes early than I had planned. However, this morning Titus was really sleeping hard, so she decided to stay home. Fine with me. I asked her why we had planned to leave 15 minutes early. She said it was to stop by Krispy Kream to pick up some donuts. I decided that I should honor her and get the donuts anyway… so I did. I also picked up a dozen for my team and whatever volunteers wanted a fat, juicy donuts.

I got to church and my team all wished me a happy birthday. It was very sweet of them to remember. My new elementary director was hiding behind a half wall on all fours and barked at me when I passed. I just about peed in my pants, so funny!

Okay, day was going great. All of my small group leaders showed up for 9:30 expect for one who called in sick. Just as I found out I’d be short, the wife of another small group leader who’d offered to help when I was in a jam walked right by me. Ha! Now I had all my small group leaders. During the larger group time of the elementary service, the production team called me on stage and had the kids sing happy birthday. Just at that moment, I was attacked with 8-10 cans of silly string. Ha! It was so much fun.

Then the 11:00 service rolled around. I had three small group leaders who hadn’t shown up yet and hadn’t called in sick. Just before I had the chance to get worried, they all showed up. I was two for two. Then my wife called. She said that the check-in area in our building had called her cell phone looking for me, some kind of emergency. So, I ran downstairs and as I got to the first floor, I saw my friends JD and Shelby. JD and Shelby attended our church in Keller, TX and lived two houses down from us. They recently moved to Waco and are very close friends to Sarah and I. My heart skipped a beat. Seeing old friends in your new home is a wonderful feeling! Sara was there with them… that little sneak. She was pretty good.

During the 11:00 service we had several new small group leaders observing and starting new small groups. In addition, I was meeting with three ladies who were helping me start a volunteer admin team, something I’ve never had before. How awesome is that? They’re going to do data entry, communications and various other admin tasks.

Then 12:30 came and passed and I had a boatload of small group leaders at that service as well. It was a great Sunday when everything came together so perfectly. I went home and hung out with Sara and my good friends and opened some presents. I got a lot of really cools stuff including money (I’m saving up for various “toys for older boys.” However, I did get a Nintendo Game Cube. Someone was shopping my wish list. So cool!

Then we all took off for Outback. Yeah, I know. I live in Austin, TX (Keep Austin Weird). With all the great food, why got to Outback? Well, Outback used to be my favorite restaurant. I would take Sara there when we were dating in college (where I taught Sara to appreciate a good steak), and for special dates, like my 21st birthday, she’d take me to Outback. So, we went and it was great! Totally great!

Titus actually had a blast too. At the end of the night, he decided to fill up both his diaper and pants with a little surprise. Ha. Sara brought him out of the Outback bathroom in nothing but a diaper.

So, it was a great day.

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Did you wish the US Constitution a Happy Birthday?

Posted on 17. Sep, 2007 by Kenny.

In case you forgot, the US Constitution turned 220 today. Unfortunately, most people forgot. The only reason I knew was because my wife and I had a very random discussion a few weeks ago and I looked it up. For all of us fellow Americans, we should remember this day. July 4th was a huge defining moment. That was when we decided to throw off the chains of tyranny and we decided who we no longer wanted to be. However, September 17 too was a defining moment. On this day we as a nation decided who we wanted to be. Yeah, it isn’t perfect… but it’s better than a lot of other places. [...]

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