"Actually, I'm scared of a lot of things... like bears, and tigers, and iguanas..."-Seth
"My mom said once that the great thing about legos is if you break them you can just put them back together!"-Patrick, always the optimist
Showing posts with label church. Show all posts
Showing posts with label church. Show all posts
Monday, January 30, 2012
Sunday, December 4, 2011
Unexpected blessings
In September, I received a great opportunity to work with Connexion. The timing was pretty much perfect; I had more free time on my hands than usual since I didn't have any classes this semester and wasn't in charge of leading a small group. My job title is administrator so I basically do administrative assistant type tasks for Connexion. Going into it I had certain expectations of myself and the experience and while some things turned out just how I expected, I was totally surprised by others... hence the blog post...
I'm a three, so organization and efficiency happen to be some of my strong points. Within days of beginning this job I had a new file folder, multiple spreadsheets and a shortcut on my desktop. All of that I can control; I can organize to my heart's content. But then comes the unpredictable, trying to recruit new volunteers for sound and slides was the first challenge. I began the semester with a list of 2 sound and 2 slide techs, 3/4 of whom were graduating at semester. For about a month, we announced and begged for new techs. I was beginning to become anxious to say the least... I can run a microscope like nobody's business, but if we don't have a sound tech we're going to have to go acoustic cause a sound board is totally foreign to me. It's in those moments that I had to remember to pray... isn't it ridiculous that it tends to be my last resort when I've exhausted all I can do, when it really should be my first? Anyway, after close to 6 wks of begging the volunteers came in a torrent and I have at least 5 new volunteers for each position. God comes through. Every time.
I was also excited to be working with the staff at ECC, because as much as they will deny that they're anything special, the truth is they're great and we're blessed to have them. Our pastors are real people... I don't really know how to describe this except to say that they live in the same world we live in. They're transparent about life and don't shirk tough or unpopular teaching even when it's hard to think about and come to grips with. I was expecting to enjoy being at Connexion again--another chance to worship on Sundays, great music, etc. But I wasn't expecting for the sermon series to hit me as much as it did. This semester, more than any other including undergrad, the messages at Connexion have been things that I needed to hear and be reminded of. Part of it was the message content and part, I think, was the delivery--Bob and Dan are particularly raw and honest during Connexion in a way that reaches beyond the formalities of Sunday morning services. It's refreshing, it's compelling, and it had me on the verge of tears (in a good way) at least a handful of times this semester... and I'm not typically one to cry in church. The Spirit was there.
The undergrad students have been great to be around as well. I'm not that far removed from undergrad life, but life at 25 is significantly different than it was at 18. I remember how easy it is to be totally distracted by classes, the college life, new-found independence, and to not have following Christ at the top of the priority list during undergrad, so it's just great to see their faith, their love and support for their friends, and their commitment to Christ and the church. I especially see it in the band and cgroup leaders that I've talked with more, but also in groups of students hanging around after Connexion praying for each other, etc.
So really, all that to say that I was excited about working with Connexion again and being able to use organizational skills that come naturally to me to serve the church and college students, but I completely underestimated the blessings that would come from the experience and the other people involved. It's been a great semester... definitely looking forward to the next.
I'm a three, so organization and efficiency happen to be some of my strong points. Within days of beginning this job I had a new file folder, multiple spreadsheets and a shortcut on my desktop. All of that I can control; I can organize to my heart's content. But then comes the unpredictable, trying to recruit new volunteers for sound and slides was the first challenge. I began the semester with a list of 2 sound and 2 slide techs, 3/4 of whom were graduating at semester. For about a month, we announced and begged for new techs. I was beginning to become anxious to say the least... I can run a microscope like nobody's business, but if we don't have a sound tech we're going to have to go acoustic cause a sound board is totally foreign to me. It's in those moments that I had to remember to pray... isn't it ridiculous that it tends to be my last resort when I've exhausted all I can do, when it really should be my first? Anyway, after close to 6 wks of begging the volunteers came in a torrent and I have at least 5 new volunteers for each position. God comes through. Every time.
I was also excited to be working with the staff at ECC, because as much as they will deny that they're anything special, the truth is they're great and we're blessed to have them. Our pastors are real people... I don't really know how to describe this except to say that they live in the same world we live in. They're transparent about life and don't shirk tough or unpopular teaching even when it's hard to think about and come to grips with. I was expecting to enjoy being at Connexion again--another chance to worship on Sundays, great music, etc. But I wasn't expecting for the sermon series to hit me as much as it did. This semester, more than any other including undergrad, the messages at Connexion have been things that I needed to hear and be reminded of. Part of it was the message content and part, I think, was the delivery--Bob and Dan are particularly raw and honest during Connexion in a way that reaches beyond the formalities of Sunday morning services. It's refreshing, it's compelling, and it had me on the verge of tears (in a good way) at least a handful of times this semester... and I'm not typically one to cry in church. The Spirit was there.
The undergrad students have been great to be around as well. I'm not that far removed from undergrad life, but life at 25 is significantly different than it was at 18. I remember how easy it is to be totally distracted by classes, the college life, new-found independence, and to not have following Christ at the top of the priority list during undergrad, so it's just great to see their faith, their love and support for their friends, and their commitment to Christ and the church. I especially see it in the band and cgroup leaders that I've talked with more, but also in groups of students hanging around after Connexion praying for each other, etc.
So really, all that to say that I was excited about working with Connexion again and being able to use organizational skills that come naturally to me to serve the church and college students, but I completely underestimated the blessings that would come from the experience and the other people involved. It's been a great semester... definitely looking forward to the next.
Sunday, July 31, 2011
The Servant King
The kids in the 4s&5s class drew these on the chalk board wall today during the first service. I forgot to take a picture until after the second service kids had colored over and around it, but I think you can still see most of it. The person on the left is the "traditional" view of a king. The kids drew a crown, purple robes, a sack of gold coins (rich), a sword, and muscles (strong.) On the right is Jesus... a different kind of king. No crown (although the kids took creative license and decided that he had blue spikey hair), plain robes, no money, and a hammer (carpenter) although I think that got erased. Our story was about Jesus washing the disciples feet before the Last Supper; it's titled "The Servant King" in our kids Bible. Big props to Eliza, Kate, Gunnar, and James; they all did a great job with the drawings and thinking about what makes Jesus a different kind of king and why that's important.
Also, without any prompting, the 4 of them spent the last 5 minutes of story time telling me about how Jesus loves them, and God is with them all the time even though they can't see him, and He lives in their hearts. :) It's so awesome that these kids understand these truths at such a young age.
Sunday, September 26, 2010
4s&5s and Abraham
Tomorrow morning I am back in the beloved 4 & 5 yr olds class at ECC after a summer-long stint in the 2 yr olds room. Have I mentioned how much I love the 4 and 5 yr olds? I love them. I love all kids, but particularly the 4 and 5 yr olds. They're at the age where they're just starting to figure things out and ask questions that stump you and say profound and funny and sincere things like thanking God for butterflies and dolphins during prayer and yelling "YAY GOD!" after hearing the story of the parting of the Red Sea. (Both unprompted, true stories from our own ECC kiddos). I love them.
I was just reading through the lesson plan for tomorrow since I'm on schedule to teach. I love The Jesus Storybook Bible that we use in the 4s & 5s. So much so that I bought my own copy and I wrote a post about it. We're talking about Abraham this week and God's promise to make his family a HUGE blessing to all nations.
In the lesson plans it also mentions singing songs. Most of the time I don't do this with them because I can usually only get a few of the kids to actually do it. [this puzzles me. i always loved the song portion of kids' church growing up.] But this week Father Abraham is listed as a possibility. What 4 yr old doesn't love Father Abraham?! And I realized that it only has two chords in it so I'm totally taking my guitar. I figure participation odds are better with a guitar. :)
So I'm a tad bit excited for tomorrow morning with the 4s & 5s. Can you tell? :)
I was just reading through the lesson plan for tomorrow since I'm on schedule to teach. I love The Jesus Storybook Bible that we use in the 4s & 5s. So much so that I bought my own copy and I wrote a post about it. We're talking about Abraham this week and God's promise to make his family a HUGE blessing to all nations.
So I'm a tad bit excited for tomorrow morning with the 4s & 5s. Can you tell? :)
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