Today was an awesome, amazing day!  The weekends are my favorite days of the week… they are the days I get to connect with kids and their parents!  When we get to dance and sing praises with unabandonment, celebrate WIN’s and welcome new faces!

So what does Disney, Starbuck’s and KidMin all have in common?  Or maybe the question should be, what should they have in common?

The way people feel when they enter!

You walk through the gates at Disney and it doesn’t matter if you’ve been there 1000 times or if it is your first visit to the magical land of Mickey, people are soooo excited to see you and make sure you know it!  Open the door to any Starbuck’s, in any city and someone behind the counter is going to smile at you and ask how you’re doing, treat you with a genuine attitude and a great greeting of welcome!  This is such an important part of the Starbuck’s Experience that they have named it as one of their core values!

How do you greet and welcome the faces that you see every weekend as they enter your church or ministry?  Do you position yourself in such a place so that you can welcome people, assist new families and dole out the hugs and high-fives?!  One of the hottest topics for Children’s Ministry is partnering with parents~ are you taking the first step to partner with the parents of your ministry by taking the initiative and saying “hello” and letting them know how excited you are to see them?  Do they genuinely feel welcomed and wanted or can they quietly slip in through the side door without ever receiving a warm hello?

The faces today were awesome!  The smiles that a simple hello created were priceless!  Can’t wait for next week!