As You Are

I'm reading Brennan Manning's memoir All is Grace. He is known for saying, "God loves you as you are, not as you should be." What a great reminder for my people-pleasing, perfectionist, worry-wart self!

God loves Christy as she is! He won't love me MORE if I have a cleaner house, if I have better behaved children, if I lose 40 pounds, if I accomplish more at church, if I get my office decorated cute, if I make 12 different kinds of Christmas cookies, if I get my Christmas cards out on time, if I find the perfect gifts for everyone on my list and so on...

Oh how deep His love!

Helping Kids Say Wow to God

Receiving this message during VBS inspired me. What a perfect way to articulate our purpose in ministry!

My grandson loved being in the preschool group this morning. Music was a highlight, as was the playground. I'm not sure what the spiritual focus was, but when I was tucking him in for his nap he told me that Jesus just lives and lives and lives. Then he asked, "How many people are with God?" I told him lots and lots. He said "5?" I said, "No, hundreds and hundreds and thousands and millions." He was quiet for a moment, then in a hushed voice he said "wow." It doesn't get any better than that.

You've chosen well to devote your time and energy to helping little ones say "Wow."

It's VBS week. Before I left the house yesterday, I jotted down a few specific prayer requests to drop in the VBS Prayer Room. Not knowing what the day would hold, I wrote "Please pray for unity among the volunteers. Pray that we would be gracious to one another. Pray that any conflict would be resolved in a healthy way."

Once the day got started, I dealt with a series of mini-crises that didn't end. Many of them were interpersonal conflicts between volunteers. This is untypical for us, so I was perplexed as to why it would happen on a day that we specifically prayed in this way. Was this a case of "be careful what you pray for?"

Perhaps the conflicts would have been even more yucky without prayer. Perhaps the conflicts would not have come out in the open without prayer. Perhaps the issues would have remained internalized and the problems would have festered without prayer. Perhaps God was just growing me in an area that I need growth. Whatever the case, God certainly was at work!

And I definitely think that is worth noticing!

The Funny Thing About Blessings

A colleague of mine recently said, "You know the funny thing for me is that I go to church to be a blessing and I always leave blessed!" Last Wednesday night I was reminded of how true this is. The evening had an unusual amount of hugs and tears, but the highlight of the night was when a 4th grade girl told my red-headed self , "When you stand under the light, your hair looks like GOLD!"

I often pray that God will give our volunteers a sense of reward for what they are doing. That night, he answered the prayer for me!

The small group difference

In a classroom, students sit on folding chairs around tables.
In a small group, kids sit on rugs, beanbags, pillows, or comfy chairs.

In a classroom, the children are called "students."I
n a small group, the children are called "kids."

In a classroom, the adult is "the sage on the stage."
In a small group, the adult is "the guide on the side."

In a classroom, the teacher knows everything and passes that information to the students.
In a small group, the kids and leaders study and discuss the Bible, working together to discover the answers.

In a classroom, there is competition between students.
In a small group, there is cooperation, community and fellowship.

In a classroom, the teacher is concerned with controlling the behavior of the students.
In a small group, the leader is concerned about seeing the kids' lives transformed through their relationship with God and with others.

In a classroom, the teacher talks and the students listen.
In a small group, everyone has opportunity to speak, listen and be heard.

Sadness to Joy

At the end of tonight's club program, I noticed a first grade girl was crying. Her small group had held a gift exchange and she ended up with a giant candy cane. She sobbed, "There was something else that I wanted, and my mom doesn't let me eat candy so she'll just throw this away!" She was so sad!

Thanks to some quick thinking, I ran to our prize stash and pulled out a few Beanie Babies. I told her that I'd trade her candy cane for a stuffed animal of her choice. She picked a cute little kitty cat and then gave me the tightest squeeze of a hug I have ever gotten from a kid.

I wanted to say to the girl, "Oh honey, this was nothing! You should see the way that Jesus turns sadness to joy. Follow Him and He will!" This is one simple way we can be like Jesus - by bringing some joy to those who are sad. And if we turn to Jesus, He will give us joy too. Are you willing to let Him turn your sadness to joy?

Thanking volunteers at Christmas

We have traditionally done our volunteer appreciation gift at Christmas. This year our budget is very tight, so we had to be creative. Tomorrow our team is meeting to make cocoa cones for our volunteers. The cost is a very budget friendly forty cents per gift! These cute little concoctions sell for five or six dollars at gift shops. Our volunteers have responded very positively in the past to our gifts, but they especially seem to appreciate the homemade gifts! I look forward to a fun evening with my co-workers assembling these little cuties.

The cone bags were purchased in bulk at a local cake and candy supply store. Each bag gets 1/2 cup of cocoa mix, 1/4 cup of marshmallows, and 1/4 cup of chocolate chips. We'll tie the bags with raffia and attach a card with a greeting and instructions for "cocoa for 2."

Worship anywhere!

Today was a holiday weekend, so we took a planned pause in our elementary kids programming. Many of our volunteers are out of town, as are our kids and their families. I took the opportunity to sleep late on this Sunday morning - it was heavenly! Then, because one of the kids had a birthday party to attend at 11, we had church at home. It was a first for us, so I wasn't sure how it would go.

I asked each kid to choose something from the Bible to share. All of them went off on their own to select their reading. We alternated their readings with some worship from the Hillsong Kids DVD. We ended by writing prayer requests on slips of paper. We spread the slips of paper on the floor and did "popcorn" prayers.

Some highlights of the morning:

1. Justin, our soon-to-be 10 year old, read John 3:16.
2. Emily, our 8 year old, asked where to find the story of the plagues. I told her that was a really long story, and probably too long for our purposes. She said, "I'll just choose my favorite plague!" Again, I wasn't sure how that would go. When she finished, we asked, "What can we learn about God from that story?" Right away, the kids started talking about God's power and how He uses people to do His work.
3. Lindsey, our first grader, did a nice job reading the Creation story from a Bible story book.
4. Praying together for a neighbor with cancer, our missionary friends, homeless people and an upcoming birthday.
5. Our new puppy, Ginger, got to go to church this week! She nibbled on the Bible storybook when we weren't paying attention.
6. The kids saw that we can worship anywhere.

I'm just waiting for next Sunday morning, wondering if the kids will say, "Can we PLEASE do church at home again today?" We won't be dropping out of church anytime soon, but this just might be the start of a new family experience for us!

This week I learned that a former 3rd grade student of mine had been killed by her boyfriend. I was shocked and saddened. Then I got to thinking... would I have interacted with her differently if I had known she was going to be murdered at age 19? How would I have interacted with her parents?

I'm not limited to my role as a Children's ministry person or a former teacher in this thinking. As a human being who comes into contact with other human beings on a daily basis, it causes me to think about how I interact with those I meet. A long life isn't promised to any of us. Is my interaction with others life-giving? Do my interactions with others point them to Jesus?

It's a good lesson to learn from a tragic, painful situation.