The guest blogger this week is Kate Morris. Kate was the Children’s Pastor of my own children from the time they were in middle elementary. She serves today at Acworth United Methodist Church in Acworth Georgia as the Director of Family Ministry.

Growing up an ARMY brat I moved a lot: 4 elementary schools, 2 middle schools, 3 high schools. A LOT! Sadly, I don’t recall my favorite teacher’s names or even the names of my best friends. What I do remember is the events we shared: grilled cheese sandwiches and tomato soup, hide and seek with the neighborhood kids, roller skating for hours, racing on our bikes down the gravel street, riding the train to the beach, hours of laughter over ice cream sundaes. With each move, I made new friends with new shared experiences. For one goodbye gift my friends gave me a little pink care bear with a message of “sharing is caring.”

While the phrase may now be trite, it was a huge thing for me. As I was plucked from one environment to another I learned that sharing and caring go hand in hand.

Sharing your heart is caring. Sharing your toys is caring. Sharing your love is caring. Sharing your time is caring. Sharing your fun is caring. Sharing your homemade cookies is really caring!

As an adult, sharing truly makes me happy. The best way for me to climb out of a funk is to put together care packages to bless someone else. AND shared events with other Children’s Ministry leaders make my heart SOAR!

Paul writes in 1 Thessalonians 2:8 “Because we loved you so much, we were delighted to share with you not only the gospel of God but our lives as well.”

I SO get that! I love sharing the gospel and my faith but I am ABSOLUTLEY DELIGHTED to share my life with others in ministry that we might experience the Love of God together through experiences. Shared events allow for us to share AND care for one another.

I am so blessed to be a part of a networking group that meets regularly and plans experiences together. This fabulous group of Children’s Ministry leaders gathers around a table for an extended time for a KidMin Ninja Think Tank. We live out “sharing is caring.” We share laughter and joy, prayers and tears, heartache and celebrations, love and loss, resources and struggles.

We plan experiences where we share and care for one another. The church with a gym shares Winter Ball night where we play lots of ball games. The church with access to the lake hosts Splish Splash with water games galore. The church with a great art teacher hosts a Princess party. The church with green space hosts Messy Games with a 100 foot slip and slide. We gather at Camp Glisson for retreat to share cabins and leaders. We jump in our own vehicles to meet across town to share a fabulous Christmas experience with each other’s kids.

By sharing our resources, people and places, gifts and talents, we are caring for the body of Christ. We are showing the kids and leaders in our ministry their faith is not to be contained in one building with one set of people. Faith is meant to be shared; Faith is meant to care for others.

My little pink care bear was placed in a treasure box and accompanied me on every move. Recently my kids found it.  Since I don’t have many childhood moments and I have never been a pink girl type, they were a bit perplexed. But when I told them my story they understood why it is so important to me to work in tandem with other KidMin Ninjas to create shared events. Sharing is caring.

Kate is the wife of John and mom of four. Connect with Kate at kate@acworthumc.org. 

“I pray that your partnership with us in the faith may be effective in deepening your understanding of every good thing we share for the sake of  Christ.” Philemon 1:6