Posts

joy and listening

/0 Comments/in /by

 

For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. Matthew 6:21

To begin our entrepreneurial quest, the guides invited parent Mike Kalis to give a hero talk about marketing.  After an afternoon of selling bananas, building houses for special clients out of marshmallows and spaghetti as well as developing tools to convince parents about buying a pet, Mike reflected this with me out loud. “If they could walk away with two things I’d want them to think that business is joyful and it’s important to listen to people.”

The heroes found Mike persuasive as they built with joy and listened intently.

In the middle of the afternoon, Mike told the heroes, “You heard what Dr. T wants in a house.  He wants a huge dining room to have big dinner parties. He wants a porch for sitting.  And he threw in a request for a zip line and game room for his grandchildren.” You’ve got ten minutes to design it with the materials you’ve been given.” I was eventually persuaded by Carter’s group who came up with an innovative zip line and a multipurpose dining area.  They heard my heart’s value of innovation and multi-tasking.

Even with all of this collaboration, the vast majority of heroes are developing individual products for the Children’s Business Fair.  Conversations around slingshots, lemonade bombs, doll clothes, pillows and placemats have resounded during the week.  They have been bringing their initial plans and elevator pitches to colleague-heroes for feedback.

It’s this blend of personalized projects with social engagement that creates the dynamic flow of Journey Academy’s day.  The joy and the listening are at the heart of our endeavor.  And they will continue to accompany us for the rest of our journeys.

//Dr. T//

 

To subscribe to Dr. T’s blog, please signup here.

among us

/0 Comments/in /by

(by Carter, ELS hero)

 

The Word became flesh and dwelled among us.  (John 1:14)

 

The three weeks of this Quest flew by. It has been a time of learning about serving with heroes secretly serving each other and collectively serving Kids’ Food Basket. It has been a time of learning the intricacies of joyful rhythms as the heroes have innovated creative practices like gymnastic percussion (look in the videos). It has been a time of reading Isaiah 9, Luke 2 and John 1 to study the Christmas story. It has been a time of responding to musical worship through art.

And I think the John 1 passage where Jesus made his dwelling among us was an apt description for these three weeks. He came and made His dwelling among us as we served like He did. He came and made His dwelling among us as Ms. Jamie collaborated with heroes to arrange the worship songs. He came and made His dwelling among us as heroes explained to Ms. Kristin about how their art is a response to worship.

The Heroes are excited to share what they’ve learned with you. Check out their exhibition here. 

He is among us; and that’s why we worship.

//Dr. T//

To subscribe to Dr. T’s blog, please signup here.

rustling grass

/0 Comments/in /by

The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field. Matt 13:44

 

The heroes finished their third exhibition for Journey Quest called Field Study where they studied the thirty acres behind Journey.  They created an audio tour and website filled with their research content.

As parents, siblings, grandparents and friends were led by the heroes, the audio tour complemented the in-person guiding. At home we invited families to look over the website with the heroes and ask questions.  We invite you to do the same and consider the treasure we have found in our field.

As you consider, we invite you to listen to one of the worship songs the heroes learned during this session.  Appropriately named, This is My Father’s World

reminded us of who was passing by as we heard the rustling grass. May we all remember.

//Dr. T//

 

To receive Dr. T’s newsletter, please signup here.