Embarrassing or Just Right?

The odd part about my life is that I am able to see things from the front of the church that the rest of the congregation doesn't see.  Well, me the other worship leader and the choir.  We get to see out into the congregation and with our church, through the glass doors.  I really enjoy this gift and up until today had not processed how much I love the view.  Here is what I see...

• Children leaning on their parent's shoulders or drifting off to sleep in the lap of a loved one.
• Teens passing notes and giggling, but somehow paying attention as well.
• Little ones climbing up and over their parents as if the Sanctuary is part jungle gym.
• Young people drawing on the free space in the bulletin or working the puzzle from the children's bulletin.
• Groups of kids sitting on the edge of their seats waiting to be called forward for the Time with Children.
• Kids giving "high-5's" to their parents on the way out of church.
• The Children's Church crowd lining back up to come into worship, finding their place.

And today when the children came into worship looking for their parent(s) I lamented that I wasn't sitting in the pew.  I wouldn't get that hug from Macie with a grin and a whisper of what she had just learned.  Sitting where I do I realize the sacrifices made receiving and answering God's call at times.  God's grace and love is in abundance as always this morning and Macie walked straight down the aisle after not seeing her Dad...to me.  She walked up the steps and gave me the hug, smile and whisper and then seeing my husband waved as she found her seat in the pew. 

Embarrassed?  Never.  All of these acts of the young people in the church are just right.  They are the Body of Christ today.  We may have a teen passing notes or a toddler crawling on us as if we are the monkey bars, but they are in the right place at the right time.  Our God is indeed and awesome God.

Me? Teach Sunday School?

If you aren't on the committee, but maybe hear your ears burning it might be your name has been put on a "list" for possible teachers/leaders for Sunday School.  In all honesty the most popular reaction to this comment is "Me?"  The second reaction is "I just couldn't...." and then fill in the blank with a varied list.  I have been in your shoes friends and I've also been on the other side.  I mean who really wants to make those phone calls knowing what is happening on the other end?  Today a group of us was joking that people would start screening their phone calls this week knowing we had met!  The truth hurts.  So why not flip it around (not the truth) but the approach? 

Knowing that the call may come or even hoping the call may come, approach the invitation with "Here I am, send me".  Think of all the biblical greats...Abraham, Moses, Samuel, the Prophets, the Disciples, and even Paul were called in one way or another to do God's FORWARD moving work.  Being a Sunday School teacher is nothing like having to part the Red Sea, tell your best mentor his life is a mess, or getting swallowed up by a big fish.  We are talking what 50 minutes a week or even once a month if you teach with a team?  Big Fish...50 minutes on the first Sunday of the month.  Hard to say no huh?  Here's the other gem, Moses didn't get a curriculum.  Moses got told to take off his shoes and believe in a burning/non-burning bush.  For the most part curriculum these days is pretty much step-by-step.  You may have to collect 20 toilet paper rolls, but that is doable right?  Now you are getting pretty excited...I can feel it!

My prayers for all of us is that as we approach the fall and all that comes with the new school year we don't forget that we ARE equipped.  Sometimes being the teacher doesn't mean knowing everything, but willing to learn alongside.  Sometimes being the teacher means walking hand-in-hand with the class exploring and growing together.  It is also pretty fun.

So, don't wait for the call.  Call the church and offer up your heart and equipped self for the challenge.  Ask for help if you need it and don't hesitate to email me with questions.  If I can share my passion for teaching then you have just made my day!

Lissa

PS-Here's an idea I'm floating around...a Sunday School class for teachers and their spouses so when they aren't teaching, they have a class to "refresh and renew" with along the way.  Spouses invited, because attending a class with your spouse is great conversation makers and growing together as a couple.  Thoughts?

Surviving VBS and the first four letter word...

Last week was incredible!  We celebrated as a church Operation Overboard (as did most of the country this summer).  The kids did great learning to CLAIM JESUS and DEEPEN THEIR FAITH.  I know you are jumping up and down yelling "DIVE IN!"  My great role was to be the puppet Ocho the Octopus.  It was a great role for me because I could look out through my little puppet hole and see all the faces of the kids.  Mine was a hoot.  She rocked it and then made sure her new friends rocked it with her.  Which gets me to my favorite part of VBS...meeting new friends and having some quality time.

Due to our move to Palmetto for my part-time gig, Macie and Sumner's comfort level has been a focus for us.  They LOVED First Scots and we didn't want them to see the move as leaving as much as sharing church families.  With VBS, Macie had four nights in a row to eat a meal with new kids, have activities with new kids, play with new kids, and pray with new kids.  By the end of the week she was naming off her new friend's names and asking for play dates.  She verbalizes missing First Scots, but celebrates her "new" church.

Palmetto is also a New Church Development.  They are only a few years old as a congregation and getting to know themselves as well.  This is exciting stuff my friends!  While history is always in the making, this group of Presbyterians is charting what it means for them.  They have their first set of high schoolers!  Their first elementary kids are now in middle school.  The church is growing in many different ways and they are building relationships as a community called together by God.  As we join this community as a family it means we too are called to find our place.  We are called to step in, ask questions, and not be afraid to jump in.  The church is welcoming and loving up on us so much, but we as a family (together and individually) are finding ways we welcome and love back.  I bet that this is a similar feeling for all new members of churches whether the church is 5 years old or 205 years old.

We also had our first four letter word by our 5 year old this week.  What to do?  I wish I could claim that my husband and I are those perfect folks who don't let a word fly every so often, but I would be lying.  We aim not to not use "bad" words and believe that there are so many other words to use why not be creative?  This creativity has not been seen by our 5 year old though.  She has paid attention to the weaknesses.

So how have you handled your first word?  How do we handle it as Christian parents?  Yes, we can highlight the Commandments "Thou shall not use my name in vain", but if the word isn't in that category, just a society "bad" word what do you say to the 5 year old?  How do you make it a teachable moment?

Here's what we did...good/bad...we had a little family meeting where we spoke about glorifying God with our words.  We used some examples of better ways to express our frustrations.  Emotions are real and okay, but "what might be a better way to express anger"?  Then we all apologized to each other for using poor choices for words.  I think the next level (if we run into this again) will be time out for anyone (kids and adults) who uses a poor choice of a word to express themselves.

The conversation was guided and grace-filled.  We shall see! My prayer Proverb is below:

"Start children off on the way they should go, and even when they are old they will not turn from it." -Proverbs 22:6

Looking ahead, this week brings an exciting new element to life-Ministry, Family and being On-Call for work...now that is a tap dance of a weekend.  Should be big fun!

Love to all!
Lissa

Lifting up prayers for stay-at-home parents.  While I'm a working mom, I celebrate the call of parents who stay-at-home and manage all that they do.

Teachable Moments

Worship is a great time to share and listen to your child(ren).  Just like is the rest of life there is no telling what our kiddos will do, but what we do with the moment that matters.  Let's take today which seemed for our family to be FILLED with these kinds of nuggets!

First, we try to encourage Macie (5 1/2) to be quiet in the sanctuary in preparation for worship.  She colors, looks around, etc. as she sets herself "ready".  Sometimes this works great, sometimes not-so-much.  Sometimes she has questions, concerns and ah-ha moments.  These tend to be less quiet and require great patience with a lot of whispering.

Today Macie first noticed the Acolyte who brought in the Light for worship.  She thought this was especially cool because the kid got to wear a special robe and carry fire.  I see her point.  While she pointed her finger and aimed for a better seat, I whispered into her ear "I am the light of the world..." and she whispered back, "whosoever believes in me shall have eternal life".  Not sure who learned more in that moment.  Then she reminded me that to live in heaven we have to remember that Jesus is the way.  Ready for a really cool conversation I was cut-off by a worship coloring sheet.

Then it was time for a Baptism.  There was a mom, a dad, a brother, a sister and the baby.  Macie watched the brother with great intent.  He was about 4 years old and not so focused on the Baptism, but on the baskets with bread in them.  Today was not only a day for celebrating Baptism, but Communion Sunday.  Now, if you were 4 and all the attention was on your little brother what would you do?  This is what Macie saw...snack time.  She leaned over and with some amount of horror stated, "MOM!  That's for Communion!".  This was great!  While my husband was only slightly embarrassed by the gusto to which Macie made this announcement, it opened up the door for a whispering dialogue about Communion and all being welcomed to the table.  Macie stated the little boy was just curious and a bit early.  I went and thanked the mom of the little boy for the moment.  Without it Macie and I wouldn't have had that teachable opportunity.

Life with kids is never perfect and I'm sorry to say if someone says it is, I would remember the advice from my high school English teacher to watch life's absolutes.  It's rolling with life and realizing that if we swallow our own embarrassment, take the time to listen and then respond we may have hit the mark that day. 

Have a blessed week my friends!  This is our week for VBS so between work, camp, life and VBS I'm sure I'll miss the mark some...I often do.  I pray though that I pause enough to have those little teachable moments like today.

Peace and God's Blessings,
Lissa

Reflections...

We had a great Sunday with Palmetto Presbyterian today!  Everyone got out the door and on the road on time dressed in our patriotic colors.  The learning curve for the Long family was two fold:

-I couldn't find my husband and daughter in the Sanctuary because they were sitting on the right front and we have typically sat in the back left.
-Thought going to lunch after church would be a neat tradition to start.  Not-so-much today.  Perhaps we just need to re-think that one for a couple weeks.

Here are some things that did work and I thought others may want to try!

• Packed a lunch cooler with snacks for car, between Sunday School, and while we waited for lunch to arrive (part of the problem...lunch took forever).  I packed some dry cereal, a gogurt, raisens, and milk for Sumner.  My kids are hungry hippos so the regular Sunday School snack wouldn't get them through.
• Talked with Macie for a little bit the last few days about the schedule and what would be happening.  She had time to ask questions and by today she was ready to rock.
• Prayed as a family for the celebrations of joining PPC and looking forward to seeing old and new friends.
• I let it go...all the control stuff of letting your toddler in the nursery.  This helped by having a few other folks check on her for me so she wouldn't see me and I wouldn't make things worse.

Again, it was a great day and we are charged for the week!  Peace to all of you!

Lissa