In yesterday’s Children’s Moment I showed the children a picture of my Dad in full Coast Guard regalia. Sharing a picture of someone who had done so many things for me, it was a call to the children to remember special people who are no longer living. These special people are friends, loved ones, and soldiers who have given their lives for our country.

My Dad taught me to tie my shoes and to ride a bike. My Dad introduced me to Jesus and taught me how to love like Him. Daddy is in heaven now and I am so grateful for the lessons he taught me.  It’s probably the first time I spoke of Daddy in public without getting the chin quiver.

Then I got an email early in the afternoon.

My colleague and my greatest Weekday Preschool mentor passed way earlier on Sunday morning. The fact that her Assistant Director saw fit to notify me and so many others so soon after her passing reminded me of just how much we all meant to her.

She was 5’4 with an 8′ personality. She challenged me in so many ways: to honor and protect my staff at all costs, to be creative in showing love and faith in the character of every little person (especially those sent to my office), to never stop learning, and to include as many people as possible on the journey of our personal and professional calling.

My heart is breaking at her passing for the many up and coming preschool professionals who will never have known the road she prepared for us all. Her reputation was impeccable, her resolve for the underdog sure, and her encouragement to me was priceless.

As a certified preschool program of excellence through the North Ga UMC Conference, we are subject to on-site inspection.  She was part of the inspection team at every preschool I served.  She engaged in a conversation with a 3 year old at our last inspection as the preschooler asked, “Are you an old lady?”  She replied, “Yes.”  His face lit up and responded with glee, “Then, you must be a Grandma.”

She authored the letter commending us for our efforts and achievement at applying for certification through the North Ga UMC Conference.  I ripped open the envelope to find that we had earned that precious designation, only after enduring an opening paragraph where she took liberties to keep me on the edge of my seat since it was dated April Fool’s Day.  Along the bottom of such a serious letter, she handwrote, “Hang the banners, you’ve earned it!”

We had lunch just a few short weeks ago. She had called this luncheon for several of us to specifically address the safety of our staff and children. The guest of honor was the architect of Safe Sanctuary. I sat to her left and heard this great woman grumble that she couldn’t eat fresh fruit because of the medication she was on. She laughed. I smiled.

May that banquet table she is sitting at this morning with our Jesus be filled with the freshest of fruit. Linda, you will be missed and your legacy will continue until we join you at that table.

This afternoon, my fellow staff members and I will be meeting the newly appointed senior pastor who will officially begin serving at the end of July. The itinerant and appointment system of the United Methodist Church is a tradition filled with honor, covered in prayer, and anxiously exciting, all at the same time.

I have experienced pastoral changes, yet only as a layperson, never as a staff person. Sweet memories of hauling youth to clean bathrooms for the incoming, and helping pack up kitchens for the outgoing warm my heart. Transitional face-to-face meetings filled with moments of shared prayer time as we begin new adventures remind me of the power of prayer.

That said, I have a problem.

My hands are blue.

Seriously, my hands look like a Smurf (that’ll tell you my age).

I was moving wet laundry from the washer to the dryer and a new blue sundress got tied up in the agitator. After wrestling with the machine and freeing my new blue sundress, I looked down and discovered my hands are blue.

I have tried soap, baking soda, toothpaste, and all the other home remedies that #1 son researched to no avail.

I hope the new pastor has a good sense of humor. I now have to go through my closet and instead of finding shoes to match my outfit to make a good first impression, I will be trying to find an outfit to match my hands.

Been reading “Rock Solid Volunteers” by Larry Fowler – FINALLY, a book that shares the importance of equipping people of faith for work AND war . . .

Putting on the belt of truth (knowing God’s truth better and better)

Putting on the breastplate of righteousness (personal integrity and personal holiness)

Putting on the sandals of peace (provide an environment of peaceful service)

Putting on the shield of faith (keep faith in God, not my own giftedness or the giftedness of others)

Putting on the helmet of salvation (keeping an eternal perspective is the key to helping servants deal with frustrations of ministry)

Putting on the sword of the Spirit (know God’s Word for ourselves)

Ephesians 6:13-17

It’s been my experience that the war IN the church is what will defeat the work OF the church.

May I not be found a spiritual streaker today, wearing only the helmet of my salvation – ugly visual, indeed.

Over the years of serving children in the local church, you would think I’d become more mature in the things that make me chuckle. Not so much. Maybe because I grew up with 4 brothers, bodily functions remain a top laugh-getter.

Anyway, I have collected over the years some bible passages that have caused me to fall in the floor laughing:

Luke 12:35 “Be dressed and ready for service.” (a permanent post-it-note on #1 son’s XBox during high school)

John 12:7a “Leave her alone,” Jesus replied. (my all-time personal favorite)

Jeremiah 1:17 “Get yourself ready!  Stand up and say to them whatever I command you.  Do not be terrified by them, or I will terrify you before them.”

Proverbs 10:19 “Where there are many words, Sin is not absent.” (aka “shut thee up”)

Leviticus 13:40 “When a man has lost his hair and is bald, he is clean.”

Exodus 32:24 (Aaron speaking to Moses) “So I told them, ‘Whoever has any gold jewelry, take it off.’ Then they gave me the gold, and I threw it into the fire, and out came this calf!”

Proverbs 26:17 “Like one who seizes a dog by its ears is a passer-by who meddles in a quarrel not his own.”  (nothing like a bite in the face to keep you in your own business)

Proverbs 25:24 “Better to live on a corner of the roof than to share a house with a quarrelsome wife.”  (self-explanatory, and said again in Proverbs 21:9)

Nehemiah 6:3 “I am carrying on a great project and cannot go down.”  (a Mama’s mantra through middle school)

2 Timothy 4:11b “Take Mark, and bring him with thee:  for he is profitable to me for the ministry” (Baby Girl found this when she and Mark began getting serious)

Psalm 119:139a “My zeal wears me out.”

Ezekiel 44:18b “They must not wear anything that makes them sweat.” (Can I get an “AMEN!”?)

A clergy friend of mine has begun to get in on my collection and has added some of her own:

Jeremiah 49:32 “Their camels shall become booty, their herds of cattle a spoil.”

Ecclesiastes 10:1 “Dead flies make the perfumer’s ointment give off a foul odor.”

Ecclesiastes 10:11 “If the snake bites before it is charmed, there is no advantage to the charmer.” (duh)

Yep, “She is clothed in strength and dignity; she can laugh at the days to come.”  Proverbs 31:25

Got any you are willing to share?

Children’s Council last Wednesday evening was a thrill as we looked at the summer programming AND the last month of “the good, the bad, the ugly, and stuff we gotta look at next month.” Made me laugh. Only a few things were tabled and we have begun our summer reading of Rick Chromey’s “Energizing Children’s Ministry in the Smaller Church.” When Rick signed my copy a few years ago, he wrote, “Dare to be a David.”

“David wasn’t concerned about what other people thought or what he couldn’t do. Instead he concentrated on what God could do through Him.” (page 60) We serve a can-do-through-you kinda God and when it comes to kids, He shows up and shows off all the time.

Our 2nd Fantastic Friday/Parent’s Night Out was themed “Noodle Night.” Dinner was multishaped pasta, butter, parmesan cheese, carrots, and watermelon. The children played a game where they had to “use their noodle” to figure out what their back-tags said they were, noodle baseball, and other pool noodle games. Then off to the sanctuary to watch “Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs.” We will take a break for the summer and use “our noodles” in July to plan for the next school year.

Summer Jubilee is planned for the regular Sunday School and Children’s Church servants. We already have June covered; now to prayerfully recruit for July and August.

Servant-Leadership applications are out for folks 7th grade through adult to serve with children, 3 Safe Sanctuary trainings on calendar, mass emails to winter basketball leagues about Art Camp and Puppet Camps for June & July, and VBS volunteer signup boards in the narthex are now sitting on the floor in my office.

Scripture claimed for the summer . . . “SO, whether you eat or drink, or WHATEVER you do, do it all for the glory of God.” 1 Corinthians 10:31 Keep a lookout for the tshirts to come.

It’s been a while since I posted because I have been preparing and experiencing a service opportunity within the Body of Christ, yet outside of the house where I serve on staff. It’s become so important to intentionally take on 2 service opportunities and 2 professional and spiritual growth opportunities each and every year. It keeps me balanced, encouraged, and lets me be like everybody else – a follower and a servant of Christ.

I love serving in the local church day in and day out, week in and week out. It is thrilling to be on the front lines sharing the love of Christ and the good news – no, GREAT NEWS, of God’s plan for His people. But it is also a thrill to spend time being the hands and feet of Jesus (or maybe even the tail or the ear) for folks outside your own house for a short period of time that enables someone else to see Jesus afresh.

I remember inviting our daughter, the summer between her junior and senior year in high school, to participate in a movement for Christian leaders for the sole purpose of introducing her to a group of folks on fire for the Lord outside of our own home church. We kept seeing too many youth drop off the face of the church-earth once they left youth group and saw this as a great opportunity to gather some insurance. Boy, were we right.

Going to Children’s Pastor’s Conference and Catalyst Conference annually provide intentional spiritual and professional growth. I bring back lots of good ideas and resources that help in my service to the local church.  But the time I get to spend with people whose sole purpose is to take on the role of servant, whatever that may look like, in submission to the God-ordained leaders to help others see Christ in a fresh new way; now that’s a service that feeds my soul and reminds me that we are meant to be in service in the world, not just in the church.

Plus, I shuffle around my own house with a silly grin on my face as I recall comments such as, “Does this go together?” and “Just sayin’.”

On April 1st, I jumped on a freight train and have been holding on for dear life. The church calendar brings with it many celebrations which involves the planning, the meeting, the gathering, the shopping, the emailing, and the phone calling that leads up an event or special day. Then there’s the follow up which is just as important, because folks need to know that their participation matters.  Because it does.  When you only know a handful of people, the freight train can feel like it’s headed downhill, picking up speed at every turn.

Yesterday, I felt that train headed uphill and I felt like I belonged for the first time.

Maybe it was because so many greeted me with a smile and called me by my name before and between services.

Maybe it was because someone asked me about my Mother since it was Mother’s Day.

Maybe it was because someone came up and said they would have liked to be a part of VBS, but that safety and security training was not for them. (Safe Sanctuary training)

Maybe it was because one of the young men in youth said, “Sure” when I asked for help with Children’s Church. (He was fantastic as we sat around a table of little people chit-chatting, tracing and cutting handprints for Mother’s Day cards, talking about the latest Lego movie.)

Maybe it was because longtime members chose to sit beside me at both services and offered words of affirmation after the Children’s Moment.  (Now we all know that we don’t do what we do for the words of affirmation, but when you start something new, it let’s you know you’re in the ballpark.)

Maybe it was because there were two handwritten notes left on the desk in my office.  One with a bag of sunflower seeds and words of encouragement.  Another a list of supplies that are needed.

Maybe it was because I was introduced to someone’s sweet thing.

Maybe it was because someone kind remembered that baby girl is coming into town on Fantastic Friday “Noodle Night” and mentioned trying to relieve me early so I can spend a few precious moments with her.

Maybe it was because all these and more were like a big, sloppy kiss on the cheek from the LORD whom I adore and desire to please with all my being.

Mother’s Day is supposed to be one of the top 5 attended worship services in the church year. As a Mom of children who are now adults, it’s a precious gift to have your children come to church with you. I so get the draw.

Research also tells us that Father’s Day is one of the low Sundays, along with the Sunday following Easter and Christmas. Sad, but true.

At my home church, Mother’s Day is also Confirmation Sunday. It’s resembles a “Homecoming Sunday” because of the return of mentors and the family of faith that becomes so extended in doing faithful work for the cause of Christ. They come home to celebrate the personal commitment of faith that these students claim on this day. More than 100 students made that claim and began their own intentional walk of faith with the words spoken individually, “Jesus is LORD,” at my home church yesterday and my heart was in my throat.

When a church, led even by a couple of brave and faithful adults, take on a season of intentional “sharing of faith life,” it sparks this proven claim for each child: “I am a part of something bigger than myself that would not be complete without me.” The research tells us that the driving force for people of all ages to actively participate in anything is because we want a place to belong.

When the church surrounds a group of kids with one goal in mind, their and our worlds are rocked. That goal? To equip and prepare a life to take the Creator and Savior as constant companions and His Word as filter in all decisions.

Oh, and know what it feels like, smells like, tastes like, sounds like, looks like to be surrounded by a cloud of witnesses.

Mother’s Day is for those who give physical birth AND for those who offer spiritual birth. For what the church has done for me and mine, could I do no less?

This is a GREAT idea that was birthed in the parking lot. Many new Moms have been visiting the church over the last several months. And realizing that you can’t build relationships passing through the worship doors, an hour of dessert, coffee (that’ll be a hot tea for me), and some good conversation, just might begin some new friendships.

But there’s a catch.

In order for this to work and build some new friendships, some hard habits have to be set aside for the evening. We can’t sit by someone we already know, we can’t talk with someone we already have a relationship with, we can’t share a huge slice of cake with someone we already hang out with, and we can’t talk church. Without these ground rules, a new friend can’t possibly cross the threshhold of old friendships.

I recall attending a Ladies Night Out at a large, local church alone. I heard about the event in the free church news section of the newspaper. I entered and paid my money at the table that was already covered in name tags. There was no name tag for me and they had no extras. Shrugging it off as not important I passed through a gauntlet of more than 20 women speaking one to another in groups as small as 2 and as great as 4. Too involved in their own conversations, no one noticed me. I walked into a room filled with some 20-25 round tables. Round tables are great for conversation. Walking to the stage, I discovered the first 2 rows of tables were empty of ladies, although every chair was tilted forward on the table signifying that all of the best seats in the house were “saved.” I walked aimlessly alone among all the tables until a woman made eye contact with me. She invited me to sit with her. Before dinner was served, we discovered that we had shared many of the same bible studies and she, too, was a lone visitor.

I made a new friend, and realized that just because the door is open, doesn’t mean the door is open.

Carrot cake anyone? It’s a vegetable, right?