Dear Volunteer...

Nothing you do for children is ever waisted. - Garrison Keillor

Dear Volunteer,

As I sit here this morning the successes and struggles of Sunday morning are still fresh in my mind. But the one thing that is true about every Sunday is how much you all care for the children in our ministry.

I think sometimes its easy to focus on the struggles of Sunday and we often forget about the successes. We focus on the fact that we didn't get all the way through the lesson, kids were having trouble focussing and that one kid was distracting everyone. We beat ourselves up because the service didn't go the way that we wanted it to go but I want us to look at things from a different light...

Ask yourself this question: Did you do your best? Did you give everything that God has equipped you to give? If the answer is yes...than Sunday was a success.

Yes, I know we had preschoolers trying to escape, babies that were inconsolable, and elementary age kids tearing apart the stage design, but we showed love. In Matthew 19:14 Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.” Every time we open the doors to E:KIDZ we are letting the little children come to Jesus. It might not look like how we imagined it, but every child in the room is sitting, squirming, running, rolling at the feet of Jesus.

As frustrating and discouraging that it might be some days when if feels like there isn't a child in the classroom who is listening or participating, take heart and know that you are leading them to the feet of Jesus and his word is being being written on their hearts and becoming a part of who they will forever be.

Dear Volunteer, when you are feeling discouraged I beg you to turn to Jesus. Everything you do, from teaching Bible lessons to 4th graders to preparing snacks for toddlers, should flow from your relationship with Jesus. Spending time in the Word, being a part of a small group, and attending “big” church are important for your spiritual walk. Many of you have heard us say "you can't pour from an empty cup". Let your relationship with Jesus overfill your cup and the children will drink from that overflow. If you want to learn more about how to have a growing and vibrant relationship with Jesus, please see me and I will be more than happy to serve you. In John 15:5 Jesus says; "I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing." Abide in Jesus for your strength and allow him to lead through you.

Dear Volunteer, I know sometimes it may feel like it, but you are so much more than a Sunday morning babysitter! As a Children’s Ministry volunteer, you are planting seeds of the gospel in the hearts and minds of children with every song you sing, game you play, and snack you give. Every gospel-centered conversation you have with a little one is bursting with opportunity to be used by God in the life of a child. Parents appreciate your service more than you can even imagine. The ability to attend a church service without distraction and with peace of mind that their child is well taken care of is a gift, and they are very thankful. In Proverbs 22:6 we are instructed to "Train up a child in the way they should go and when they are old they will not depart from it." Every single one of you from rocking babies in the nursery to desperately trying to hold the attention of 6th graders are part of the training that is leading every child to Jesus.

Dear Volunteer, thank you for your time and service to Children's Ministry. We want you to love volunteering at our church, and especially in Children’s Ministry! No matter what your spiritual gifts are, there is a place for you. No matter your passion or comfort level around kids, there is a place for you here. Wherever you serve, whether with the babies, tweens, or behind the scenes, we want you to love where you are serving. If you are already serving and think that there might be a better fit for your gifts in Children’s Ministry, please let me know and we can have a conversation about switching your area of service. The Bible says in Colossians 3:23-24, "Work willingly at whatever you do, as though you were working for the Lord rather than for people. Remember that the Lord will give you an inheritance as your reward, and that the Master you are serving is Christ." Every time you serve you serve Jesus and share his love with his children.

Dear Volunteer, please know that you are loved. The kids in your class talk with their parents about the Gospel lessons you teach them all week long. They look forward to your warm welcome, fun games, spirited songs, and life giving lessons each week. Be encouraged… you are loved! You are building lasting relationships with children and giving them one more person in their life who they can trust and that they know cares about them. Committing to serving when you are scheduled lets them know that they can count on you and that you care for them. I love what is written in Galatians 6:9; "So let’s not get tired of doing what is good. At just the right time we will reap a harvest of blessing if we don’t give up." There will be days that you want to give up, trust me, I've had them to; but it just about then when something clicks with a child, or a parent shares an encouraging word or story and we are reminded that what we are doing makes a difference.

Dear Volunteer, if you are in the middle of a hard season, I want to know! I want to pray for you, minister to you, encourage you and be there for you. Please know that you are not in it alone. If life is going well for you, Praise God! I want to know that too. Our Children’s Ministry is a family, we bear each other’s burdens and rejoice in each other’s joys. But we can’t do that, if we don’t know what’s going on in your life. Please always feel welcome to send me a prayer request, a text in times of struggle or hardship, or a call if you just need someone to listen. I know I look busy on Sunday mornings, but I am never too busy for you. I may not be able to talk in the moment by I will connect with you during the week, every one of you is important to me. In Galatians 6:2 we are called to "carry one another's burdens" so please reach out, I'm here.

Dear Volunteer, do you have a question? Don't be afraid to ask. One of the most important parts of my job is to make sure that you have everything you need to serve well in our Children’s Ministry. If there is something you need to do your job better, please let me know. If you have a question about anything, or if you see something that you don’t understand, please feel comfortable talking with me. I want to be a resource for you as you carry out your ministry at this church. In Ecclesiastes 4:12 it says, "A person standing alone can be attacked and defeated, but two can stand back-to-back and conquer. Three are even better, for a triple-braided cord is not easily broken." You are not alone in children's ministry. I am here and we both have God. Together our ministry will be stronger. So don't be afraid to ask.

Dear Volunteer, you are so important. The love and care that you give as you minister to each child is so very important. This church could not fulfill its mission and vision without your sacrifice of time, energy and love that you pour into each child. You are the heart of this church. You allow parents to grow and receive the word of God without distraction, and you are raising up the next generation of believers. We have a pastor right here in our church who came up through our ministry and is now leading our youth, and you are leading his children. We are building the foundation of Christ's church one child, one family at a time. A foundation that will last for generations. What you do matters. Please know that the leadership of this church appreciates your service and so do I. From the word of God through the prophet Isaiah in Isaiah 43:4, "you are precious to me. You are honored, and I love you"

Dear Volunteer, I hope that as you have read this you have found encouragement. As I close I want to leave you with one last thought, but probably the one that matters most. God sees your acts of service. Hebrews 6:10 says, “God is not unjust; he will not forget your work and the love you have shown him as you have helped his people and continue to help them.” God sees your service in Children’s Ministry. He remembers it, and your service here is showing Him love.

PRAYER:

Father God,

I pray for every volunteer who is reading this today. I pray that you will lift them up, encourage their hearts and fill them with your spirit. God I pray that they will lean in closer to and find comfort in your word. God help us to lead your children well and fill our ministry with volunteers who have a vision and a passion for children and for you. God thank you for your faithfulness and the never-ending love that you show us. - Amen -

New Beginnings

Every end leads to a new beginning. - Unknown Author

This week marks all sorts of new beginnings in my life. As I opened up the app to write this post I realized that I haven't sat down and wrote in nearly 6 months. I could come up with a hundred excuses as to why; like I've been too busy, my family has kept me hopping, the holiday chaos, the children's ministry is in a crazy season, etc... But in all honesty, I have been avoiding anything that makes me feel venerable and writing opens my soul to the world.

So here I sit on January 7th, 3 days into the new work year, 3 days into the new role of leading our children's ministry for the unforeseen future and the 1,001st day of feeling like I am not equipped for this role the God has placed me in, and right on cue the tears are welling up in my eyes.

For weeks I have been battling with God. I was mad at the changes that were coming and I didn't want to accept them. Things finally seemed like they had found a normal rhythm. Most days felt like they were coming together like clockwork and everything seems great. At least that is what I told myself each day. But late at night when I was alone with my own thoughts without the distractions of the day, I knew that changes were coming. I knew deep down that God was preparing me for something new, that he was laying the groundwork for a new beginning, but I would quickly push those thoughts away, and pray that it wasn't true.

Why are we so afraid of change?

Why are we so afraid to go where God is leading us?

Doesn't he promise us over and over that he will protect us and that he has what is best for us, if we would just trust him?

But trust is such a scary thing. Trust means that we have to let go of our control and place it in the hands of someone else. Now I’m going to admit something that I believe a lot of us feel but are afraid to admit...trusting God means placing our lives in his hands and not our own. That we have to allow him to be the one who is in control. He is in the driver’s seat and we are not.

For someone who has a hard time trusting anyone with anything, most days this is a monumental struggle of wills. God keeps asking for control and I often give a little, then steal it right back.

So here it is a brand new year, a time where we make resolutions and commit to doing things different. But most of the time we only commit for a few weeks and then we revert to our old bad habits and hope that it will work out next time.

I refuse to make a resolution that I will break in a few weeks, this is my life and I want to be the one in control, so... I choose to trust. Trust is a choice, and I choose to trust God with all of it. With my doubts, with my fears, with my sometimes erratic emotions, with my therapy journey and most of all with our Children’s Ministry.

God has placed me in this role for this season and I will lead well until I am no longer asked to. Each day I will remind myself of the words in Psalms 56:3 “When I am afraid, I put my trust in you”. I will not be afraid because my trust is in God. I will trust that he knows what is best. I will trust because he promises that his plans are for good. I will trust because he is the one who gives hope.

I will trust because he has never given me a reason not to. He has never left me or forsaken me, so I will trust.

As you start this new year, I invite you to join me in the choice to trust God.

Prayer:

Father God,

You know every person who is reading this today. You know their fears and their personal struggles. You know how fearful we are to trust. So God today I boldly ask that you give each one of us the courage to make the choice to trust you in all of it. With the best and especially with the worst. To trust you with the parts of our lives that we are so desperate to cling to. God fill us with peace as we let go of control and choose to trust you. God thank you for new beginnings and the constant reminder that we are not alone. We love you and give you praise. - Amen.

Discovering A Childlike Faith

"I realized that my life was to be one of simple, childlike faith, and that my part was to trust, not to do. I was to trust in Him and He would work in me to do His good pleasure. From that time my life was different." ~ Charles Studd

Working in Children's Ministry has given me a front row seat when it comes to experiencing childlike faith. Teaching our 2 & 3 year old preschoolers, I am blessed to experience the simple, yet fearlessly faithful prayers of a child. I have a hundred cute and silly stories of what our youngest believers pray for, and honestly it is so hard to pick just one to share, but here it goes.

A few months ago, as class was coming to an end, I gathered the kids and asked each one what they would like to pray for. One little girl who's birthday was coming that next week boldly professed "I want to pray for a Barbie house with furniture! If I pray God will make sure I get it." I giggled at the thought of praying for a Barbie house, but as she sat next to me hands folded and eyes squeezed tightly together, I could see how deep her belief was that God would ensure that she got her Barbie house.

Now before I go any further, I do not want anyone to think that I am saying that God is like a fairy godmother and that whatever we wish for will appear. I want to focus on how deep the faith and belief that this little girl had that God would answer her prayers.

I have to admit that I wish I had the faith of a 4 year old. There are way to many times that I pray and I;

1) don't want to bother God with the little stuff, because He's too busy or I can handle it myself.

Or

2) I pray for the big bold things, but in the back of my mind I doubt that God can answer my prayers.

In Galatians 3:26 the Apostle Paul tells us that "we are all children of God, through faith in Jesus Christ." But this makes me ask the question "what does it mean to live as God's child?

We have each had different childhoods. Few of us have had the ideal picture-perfect childhoods that are seen on T.V.. Many of us have experienced hardships, divorces and loses that have resulted in us having to grow up too fast, mature too early and our ability to be a "child" is foreign to us.

For others our childhoods were filled with painful experiences, abuse or neglect and events that have left us doing everything in our power to forget and run away from our childhoods.

If you have experienced any of these things, when you hear "childlike faith" it is either difficult to understand or something that you want to avoid all together. Think back to when you were a child, or if you are a parent think about your own children...As a child we are completely at the will of the adults around us. We have to trust them to make the decision that affect our lives, and really we don't have much say in what happens. But on the flip side of the coin, children have a God-given devotion and love for their parents. Even children who have been abused or mistreated, still desperately love their parents and they long for that love to be returned.

But as we become adults, and we take on the responsibilities of this life we forget how to be childlike. We struggle to trust with our whole hearts, to find comfort in the arms of our loving Father, and to share all that we are with Him. We often feel like "childlike" means "childish" and we fail to understand that to be childlike means to trust our Heavenly Father the same way that a child trusts their own parent.

You can learn a lot of things about childlike faith if you just spend a day with a preschooler. Over the past few years of teaching in our 2 & 3 year olds I have built some strong relationships with the kids and they can't wait to tell me all about their week as soon as they come through the classroom door. Their joy and excitement to share their stories and events of their week have taught me a lot about my own relationship with God.

God is our Heavenly Father! He wants to hear all about our day! Just as a child is filled with excitement to share their stories, we should be the same way with God. In Philippians 4:4 it says "Always be full of joy in the Lord, and again I say rejoice!" Do you rejoice in the Lord? Are you excited and eager to share your day with Him?

I have also learned a lot about comfort from our 2 & 3 year olds. Toddlers have reckless energy. They run and play and throw caution to the wind, often ignoring the warnings of those caring for them. But if they trip and fall they instantly seek comfort in the arms of someone they trust. As I was preparing this post I thought about how reckless I can be at times in my own life. When life is going good and there are no dangers in sight, I often throw caution to the wind myself and I forget to heed the warnings that God has given me. But as soon as I mess up, I fall and it feels like the world is crumbling around me, I run to God for comfort crying my eyes out asking Him to make it all better.

God wants us to come to Him in the moments that we need comfort. But if you are seeking a deeper more connected, SUPERADDED life with God your Father; then you have to share the good things too. Share your day, the little things that you feel like you can do yourself. Share the joys and the sorrows, and share them like you can't wait to tell Him all about it.

As we seek to discover our childlike faith choose to focus on these things:

1) Childlike faith asks honest questions: Kids say the craziest things, but they are always curious and always seeking knowledge. If you have spent more then 20 minutes with a kid, then you have experienced the big "WHY?" question at least half a dozen times. So just like a child, ask God the honest questions of your heart.

2) Childlike faith asks without hesitation: Kids don't worry if they are asking a dumb question. They just ask it! Don't worry about what others think or what God is going to think. If you have the question, He already knows. So just ask!

3) Childlike faith is venerable and expectant: Kids think adults know everything. They ask questions because they don't know the answer, but they know the adult does. When we question or ask God for something, we have to have the faith of a child and know that He has the answers we are looking for. It's okay to be venerable and expectant with God.

4) Childlike faith trusts: Kids rarely know what is best for them, but they trust that their parents do. Just like a child we have to trust in God's plan for our lives. I don't know about you, but I usually make the wrong choices when I depend on my own understanding instead of God's.

5). Childlike faith find satisfaction: Even when kids get in trouble, they find comfort in knowing that their parent cares for them and loves them. Even when things don't go the way that we think they should go, we can find comfort and satisfaction in just being in the presence of God and in His love for us.

Don't let your own pride and self-importance stand in the way of humbling yourself before God. When Jesus said "let the little children come to me" he wasn't just talking about the little ones, we are all God's children and He so desperately wants to be our Father.

Prayer:

Father God,

Help us to learn how to be your children. God help us to be venerable with You, to share our days, our ups & downs, our struggles and our tears with You. God help us to recklessly trust in you and in your design for our lives. Help us to have the courage to embrace a childlike faith in you. God you are so good to us. Thank you for allowing us to be venerable and to share all that we are with you. Amen.