Reward

Today I heard a 4th grader tell her small group leader, "You are the best teacher in the whole world!" I could see that the leader was touched. When I saw the girl later I told her that I often pray for God to give our volunteers a sense of reward for what they do. Her eyes lit up when I said, "Your kind words were an answer to my prayers!"

Also this morning a child brought me a drawing. She said, "This is for Mr. Mike." Mike isn't even her own leader, but he does teach large group occasionally. I told her that I would mail it to him on Monday. Later she returned to our area and asked for her picture back. She had seen Mr. Mike in the lobby and wanted to personally deliver her gift.

Thanks Lord for giving our leaders a sense of reward for what they are doing in the lives of kids! Ministry isn't easy or glamorous. It's a sacrifice as well as a privilege. I know we'll be rewarded in heaven for our work, but these earthly rewards from our kids mean a lot!

Thinking creatively at Mall of America

Our team has been STUCK for several months on the task of developing a new name and image for our ministry. The topic always seems to get tacked onto the end of an already too long meeting agenda. This week we devoted the entire meeting to the topic of renaming the ministry with a field trip to the Mall of America.

Our team of 10 paired off randomly. Each pair got twenty bucks and 45 minutes to wander the mall looking for inspiration. At 7:30 we met at Tucci Benucc for dinner and to share ideas, observations and purchases. Two and half hours later we left, having had a great discussion, a fun time of fellowship and most importantly WE CAME UP WITH A GREAT CONCEPT which everyone is excited about.

Getting out of the office made a huge difference for us. We had fun together and looked to the world-of-kids for inspiration and creativity. We need to do this more often!