Brown Bear, Brown Bear, Who do you see?

As I was a child, I always liked the Brown Bear Brown Bear books, because each character on each page was always looking at someone else, and never just themselves. It seemed like everyone knew that everyone else was just as important. "You may see me, but really, I see Green Frog, and I think he's pretty cool. You should take a look..."



I know it's strange that I thought this way... but hey, I was a strange kid.


So...
I want to introduce you to some people.

15 different people/families, to be exact.

They probably don’t know you.

But you know every single one of them…

And you might not even be aware of it.

I am who I am today because of them.

When you see different parts of me, you actually see them.

This list isn’t as large as it could be.

There are so many others I need to add.

I won’t apologize for the length of this post, because it should be longer,
and it's missing people like my sister, Michele. And Nate Degner, my HS choir teacher.

So I encourage you to read it through.

Because you might learn something about yourself.

But even if you don’t, you’ll at least learn about some amazing people.

People who have been Jesus to me.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

1) Marshall and Leonia Bouchard are my parents. Thanks to cancer, you won’t meet Dad on this side of Heaven, but you can still see him in my drive to continuously create things, to teach the word of God, and in my ever-enlarging gut (coulda gone without getting THOSE genes, Dad). But my heart, my need to always question the status quo, and my kid-friendly “pied piper gene” comes from Mom. Seriously, she can step into a room full of strangers, and everyone under 18 will be somehow be surrounding her within minutes. So basically, whenever you see me doing anything, you actually see Dad and Mom.

2) Jim and Sandi Slaton and their kids showed the gift of hospitality when they invited me to live with them for two years when I was an intern. They showed me what a godly family looks like. They took me in at a time when I was still figuring out who I was, and who God wanted me to be. Oh, and they introduced me to Rita’s. ‘Nuff said. Anytime you see me investing in Family Ministry, or eating good ice cream, you actually see Jim, Sandi, Caleb, Savannah, and Parker.

3) Shanna Banks and I are opposites in every way. No joke. But when we first got put on the same team, that team became a force to be reckoned with. Not only is she my former classmate and co-worker, she’s also one of my best friends. And between us, we’ve just about seen it all in ministry. She’s the greatest leader I know under the age of 40. And she’s been that way since she was 19. Anytime you see me train others, and whenever you see me smiling in the middle of chaos, you actually see Shanna.

4) Steve Freakin’ Andrews is my pastor. No I’m not brown-nosing. The man doesn’t even know what Facebook is, so he'll never read this post. But this guy is the embodiment of what it means to have no agenda besides Jesus Christ. You’d never know the guy leads a church of 12,000, and that’s exactly how he wants it. He doesn’t hold on to power and authority, instead he gladly gives it away. Unlike the others in this list, you won’t see Steve in me… yet. When the time comes for me to help lead a church, that’s when you’ll see Steve.

5) Ellie Sharrow didn’t just teach kids about Journalism and Publications, she taught kids how to take a close look at life, and how to capture life and put it on a page in a way that can impact the life of others for the greater good. AND she was the first person to ever put me in charge of stuff. Anyone who knew me in high school knows that was risky. Thanks to her, I now can’t look at any kind of article, blog post, or newspaper without critiquing its grammar, content, and layout, which is both a blessing and a curse (local newspapers are NOTORIOUS for tombstone headlines, by the way). In every story and script I write, and every time I encourage kids and teens to do the same, you don’t see me, you actually see Ellie.

6) Joe McGinnis was the first Children’s Pastor I ever encountered. I didn’t know such positions even existed before meeting him. When I started volunteering at Far Hills 9 years ago, I served every Sunday in the Early Childhood wing, traveling from class to class with my guitar, singing the same 3 songs. One of which was about a man who got his arms eaten off by a shark. But he saw beyond the horrible songs, and my life took a 180 turn when he asked me to intern in kids/family ministry. Over the next two years, he took this (then) 21-year-old without a work ethic, and turned me into a leader. Anytime you see me leading any kind of team, you actually see Joe.

7) Lisa Doane is my partner in crime at Kensington, and one of the wisest leaders I know. She’s the powerhouse behind moving KKids to a volunteer-based model. When Lake Orion first launched 3 years ago, all eyes were on LO to see if it would work, and God used her to prove that it could. Anytime I do something that works, it’s probably because either A) Lisa made me do it, or B) Lisa took whatever my hairbrained idea was and showed me how to make it work. So anytime anything I’m in charge of manages to work, you actually see Lisa.

8) Abbey McCormack writes for 252 Basics (one of the BEST kids’ church curriculum ever written), and she was the only person in my 1st interview at Kensington that noticed that I accidentally wore my sweater vest inside-out. When I started at Kensington, I was a little bit of a mess. I liked teaching kids, but I had a lot to learn when it came to being a leader. Abbey kept me sane that first year(and quite often still does). She took me under her wing, showed me what artistic excellence and kids ministry looked like together, and constantly shoved me over the edge of my creative limits. She’s pretty cool, but watch out… she likes to kick people in the head while they’re driving. Anytime I come up with any illustration, picture, or video that’s out of the box, you actually see Abbey.

9) Mike and Sharon Eckstein occupied my Mondays every single week for the 2 years I worked at Grace Baptist. I spent every Monday lunch at Subway with Mike, and every Monday evening at the Ecksteins’ for an excellent dinner (Sharon’s cooking is to die for), followed by a living-room wrestling match with their kids. Then Mike would end the night by catching me up on all the “manly” movies I missed out on as a kid. Most importantly, Mike was the first father IN MY ENTIRE LIFE that I saw actually apologize to his kid if he ever did/said something wrong. The first time he did that, it completely rocked my world. Whenever I pray about my future family, I ALWAYS pray that my household will resemble Mike and Sharon’s. So you may not see them now, but be on the lookout for them when I’m a husband and father. You’ll see them then.

10) “PJ” John Scally was the last youth pastor I had (in the traditional Baptist Church fashion, we went through 3 in my 4 highschool years). Of everyone in this list, he’s the one you see most. You see him every time I teach. You see him when I shoot you and your kids with my air cannon in the halls between services and completely mess your hair up. Your kids see him when I visit them at their schools for lunch. Your teens see him when I crash the all-nighters, taunt and slaughter them at laser tag, do impromptu hand-checks on the bus, and soak them with giant water guns at the Squirt Gun Jam while covered in war paint and screaming “FREEDOM!” You also see his wife Tami when I put up with kids who burp in my face, just like I did to her (don’t ask me why… teens rarely know why they do what they do).

11) Dan Sadlier and I went on a mission trip together, but we haven't ever actually worked together on any projects. But Dan has still been, and continues to be a big influence in my life as a leader. Goes to show that you don’t have to actually oversee someone to have an impact on them. You see Dan anytime I cast vision for the future. You see Dan whenever we have a Family Fun Night at Orion. You also see Dan whenever I take time to invest in the next generation leaders of this world.

12) Tammie Sparkman is my older niece but we were raised as siblings (just go with it, it’ll take too long to explain). Growing up, we experienced every aspect of sibling rivalry. But now, she and her awesome husband, Nick Sparkman, are my best friends. They’ve been through Hell and back, and have relied on God in situations when some of the world's bravest would have given up. They continually serve as a great example of marriage to me. Their son Collin is the cutest kid in the galaxy, and I can’t wait for them to spoil my kids one day. You see them every time you see me, because I’m always thinking of them, and I talk to them every single day.

13) Lois Henderson was the first person in my life to empower me to be a teacher. Even as a 1st grader, I had a desire to help others learn. As my teacher, she saw that, and encouraged me to help the other students in my class. I got hooked on helping others, and the teaching passion has followed me ever since. Anytime I bring a kid on stage to help me out, you actually see Lois.

14) Stephanie (Bagby) Wright was my Sunday School teacher for almost 14 years. If she were at Kensington, we'd call her a small group leader. I’m sure it’s no surprise for you to hear that I was quite a rambunctious kid. In fact, every time it was time for me to move to the next age group, the teacher I was supposed to have would “retire.” No joke. Probably because they knew I was coming. So because there was a always hole, Stephanie would always move up too. She knew I was a handful, but she found creative ways of including me and using me as a helper. I don’t remember many specific things that she taught, but even when I was young, I always thought that she reminded me of Jesus; choosing to be surrounded by kids that adults might shoo away. On top of that, outside of church, Stephanie came to any activity I had that she could. Concerts, plays, birthdays, you name it. She even took me to work with her for “bring your kid to work day” since she didn't have any kids of her own yet. So you see Stephanie every time I go to a kid’s game or concert. And when I pick the kid(s) that others might be bugged by, and I don't get irritated when they do whatever it is they do, just know that it's not me doing it, it’s actually Steph.

15) Caleb Livengood goes by Caleb to everyone else, but to me, he’ll always be Stinky. He’s also the only person on this list that hasn’t even hit his teenage years yet. On the day that his parents, Kevin and Tisha, came walking down the hall of the day care I worked at, with their little blonde-headed crew trailing behind them, I had no idea my life was about to change. Kevin and Tisha were the only parents there that were my age, and we all became instant best friends. I have a special place in my heart for every kid I’ve ever taught. But with Caleb, I’ve never seen a kid that young with a heart that big before. Even as a kindergartener, he strived to make sure every person around him felt valued and important. With his deep faith, rockin’ parents and equally awesome siblings like Ethan and Selah, I cannot wait to see what God is going to do with/in Caleb. Anytime you hear me ask kids to unleash every single detail about whatever story it is they want to share, you don’t see me, you actually see Caleb.

So then the question arises… when people see you… who else do they actually see?