Fail Forward

One of the slogans we use at New Hope is to "Fail Forward." I'm not sure if I coined it before John Maxwell, or he picked it up listening to me, but basically in the way we mean it, it is to learn from your mistakes and keep trying new things.

We will complete a learning experience this morning with the close of our Christmas Vacation VBS.

There were successes in the attempt and those may prove very valuable as God's will plays out.

The majority of kids weren't known to us previously, so we got some initial conversations with them and their parents, and the kids seemed to have a ball.

Our adults served others, which when you are trying to roll missionally, is the big deal. And again, they served strangers, which is also a big deal.

The youth that helped - helped. They served as the kitchen magicians, shepherds for the kids, and always presented smiling faces and willing hearts.

And of course, we had a ball.

But ( or however, if I'm channeling Paul) we didn't have many kids at all. So the expenditure in time, energy, and money was way over the top for the number of kids we received. This was after publicizing it through the school and with our Christmas float. We put hundreds of flyers in parents and kids hands.

So now I reflect and pray though it. There's no doubt we need to find a way to connect the networks we live in better. There's also probably a better way to get the word out. And it may be that we didn't sell the concept well enough to our own kids - our best ambassadors.

So we'll celebrate the successes this morning and keep moving.

Forward!