Life can feel so busy at times, even as a stay at home mom it can be difficult to have the quality time one on one with God that you need. Between the dishes, the laundry, the child's needs and my own needs. During worship service at church I can feel his presence pretty heavily and it is an extremely emotional moment for me. I feel like I have no control over my emotions or my tears and they come down like waterfalls.
Back in the September/October time frame of last year, I started teaching Sunday school. It kept getting put in front of me so I took that as God communicating to me that he wanted me there. I hesitated because I wasn't really sure if I wanted to leave the services since I love listening to our pastor and having the fellowship. Well of course when God wants you to do something he takes away all the "problems" that are stopping you: the sermons got put on the internet so I could listen to them and more fellowship opportunities kept presenting themselves to me... now to the point that I'm probably overly involved. So I called the Sunday School organizer and told them I would be interested in helping out. My options were kindergarten or second grade. I chose second grade as my nephew was a kindergartner, I figured that would be the better option.
I was really nervous going in since I didn't have a lot of experience with children that are seven/eight years old. Then as I was waiting to get started and as I realized that most of my class was boys... that's where I really got nervous since I had zero experience with boys at all. So I prayed for God to calm my nerves and to take over. Then I watched something that was so simple but it was still quite amazing to me. I watched as another sunday school teacher had to talk one of the children into wanting to stay and that moment really pulled at my heart. Imagine the trust that little child had in this stranger, but in order for that child to have that kind of trust the woman would have had to express love in her face tot the child. I remember thinking, one day I'm going to have to do that. Now as one that wasn't too experienced with children that aren't teenagers nor infants, I was a little intimidated at that thought.
Last Sunday, another teacher came up to my side asked me what grade I taught and I told her I was the second grade teacher. She told me that we have a second grader over hear can you help us out. So I went up to the little girl and as I noticed the tears streaming down her face I felt it instantly. God knew that I was nervous about this situation and I felt him completely take over. I asked her what her name was and she told me. I told her that was a very beautiful name. I told her my name. Then I stretched out my hand and asked her if she would like to come sing some songs with us. She nodded and took my hand. As I stood to lead her into the worship area, it was all I could to keep myself together. The tears had welled up into my eyes and were begging to come down.
The rest of the time during sunday school, I felt like a completely different person. Normally, I try to keep as much structure as I can and don't let them get away with to much. Instead, this time, I didn't find myself feeling insecure about how they were acting, if they were understanding the lesson completely. I just fell in tune with them enjoying every ounce of their craving for the knowledge of Christ that was being given to them through me. I watched as a couple of them flipped through their bibles eager to be the first one to the passage. All I could do was watch them and enjoy the innocence they were shining.
Thank you Lord for pushing me into this position I really do enjoy every minute of being in that room with those children.
Showing posts with label Christ. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Christ. Show all posts
Tuesday, January 26, 2016
Saturday, October 24, 2015
Love Instead of Struggle
One of my favorite thing about my church is the women. I love how they long to come together to support and love on each other. Today was another perfect example of how the women in my church are spreading the love of Christ. The women's ministry hosted a generational event this morning, over 100 women from the ages to 13 to 99 came to listen to 5 different women talk about their life. 5 women were the focus but of course we all got to share our memories.
I sat there listening to the first lady talk. She talked about her time as a teenager, today she is 89 years old. One of my favorite memories she talked about was how much people had to ration in her day. One example she shared was shoes. The focus was on the Vietnam War and less on the citizens that were still living in the country, the shoe makers were so focused on making boots for the soldiers, the people at home were limited to 3 pairs of shoes a year. I thought to myself how easily I can access 3 pairs of shoes every other week if I really wanted to. This really made me think of the sacrifices that everyone had to make back in those days. In today's war, soldiers are leaving all the time, this doesn't really effect anyone anymore unless you are a loved one or friend of that soldier. The whole country no longer bans together to help and support the soldiers and their loved ones. Instead today, our veterans are neglected and the death's of the soldiers are no longer mentioned in the news.
One thing that was similar among all the generations was the need for friendship. The need to be accepted and not be an outcast was there in each of the ladies that shared their stories. How many times in the bible does Jesus instruct and demonstrate showing love to those who were outcasts in their time: the blind, the crippled, the leper, and the prostitute, just to name a few. One lady shared with me how, as a teenager, she would attend her school dances and if she saw a boy sitting on the side, then she would go to him and ask him to dance. She did this because she knew how it felt to be on the sidelines and didn't like how it felt. So she would go to them and make them feel included as well. Imagine the impact that she had on those young boys as they developed into men who would be leading households years later. She may have given them the confidence they never would have developed to run their household.
1 Corinthians 10:13 No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. and God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it.
I wish as a child my heart would have been filled with more compassion to others then focusing so much on myself. I was so focused on trying to grow up and fit in with the people around me that I don't look to my left or to my right to the person beside me that was struggling and may have needed my help. So my thoughts of today where to really think about what my own struggles where. I think its easy to give a lot of weight and energy to the things that are counted as struggles. But in Corinthians, we are told that each struggle has already been conquered by another person. I am not the first one to deal with whatever struggle I am currently going through. I think this is important to remember because I may be so focused on my little struggle that I'm not able to see the need that I can fulfill for God through the person that is to my right or to my left.
Ecclesiastes 1:9 What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun.
I sat there listening to the first lady talk. She talked about her time as a teenager, today she is 89 years old. One of my favorite memories she talked about was how much people had to ration in her day. One example she shared was shoes. The focus was on the Vietnam War and less on the citizens that were still living in the country, the shoe makers were so focused on making boots for the soldiers, the people at home were limited to 3 pairs of shoes a year. I thought to myself how easily I can access 3 pairs of shoes every other week if I really wanted to. This really made me think of the sacrifices that everyone had to make back in those days. In today's war, soldiers are leaving all the time, this doesn't really effect anyone anymore unless you are a loved one or friend of that soldier. The whole country no longer bans together to help and support the soldiers and their loved ones. Instead today, our veterans are neglected and the death's of the soldiers are no longer mentioned in the news.
One thing that was similar among all the generations was the need for friendship. The need to be accepted and not be an outcast was there in each of the ladies that shared their stories. How many times in the bible does Jesus instruct and demonstrate showing love to those who were outcasts in their time: the blind, the crippled, the leper, and the prostitute, just to name a few. One lady shared with me how, as a teenager, she would attend her school dances and if she saw a boy sitting on the side, then she would go to him and ask him to dance. She did this because she knew how it felt to be on the sidelines and didn't like how it felt. So she would go to them and make them feel included as well. Imagine the impact that she had on those young boys as they developed into men who would be leading households years later. She may have given them the confidence they never would have developed to run their household.
1 Corinthians 10:13 No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. and God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it.
I wish as a child my heart would have been filled with more compassion to others then focusing so much on myself. I was so focused on trying to grow up and fit in with the people around me that I don't look to my left or to my right to the person beside me that was struggling and may have needed my help. So my thoughts of today where to really think about what my own struggles where. I think its easy to give a lot of weight and energy to the things that are counted as struggles. But in Corinthians, we are told that each struggle has already been conquered by another person. I am not the first one to deal with whatever struggle I am currently going through. I think this is important to remember because I may be so focused on my little struggle that I'm not able to see the need that I can fulfill for God through the person that is to my right or to my left.
Ecclesiastes 1:9 What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun.
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