Blessed by Service

God has presented me with an opportunity to serve. That, I think, will be a good thing for me. It is nice to feel needed while filling a need.

I accepted a Nursery Coordinator position for our church's addiction recovery program on Friday nights. I decided to take the position for a variety of reasons, and the more I think about it, the more excited I am.

I have that latent teacher part of me that wants to express itself in a productive way, and there are a few elementary schoolers that come to the program. I am thinking of some fun activities to plan for different times of the year. All of the things you want to do when you are teaching, but important things, like curriculum, get in the way. The things that let kids create and be children. And I am glad that it doesn't come with a ton of expectation except for consistency, because then there isn't the stress and pressure of having to be creative and prepared. There is no set program per se. So I can do it when I have time and the desire, otherwise, we can have a popcorn and movie night. :)

I like hanging out with kids, and since Nehemiah can be with me, I think it will be a good deal. :) Wish me luck, and if you find any cool kid's projects that aren't too involved, pass them my way!

Code talker

This morning Ben and I had every intention of waking up early (6:30am) to get ready for the early service at church. One "snooze" later, and it was 7:10--Ben had mistakenly turned off the alarm in his groggy stumbling. I would never have been the one to wake up first if my "Mommy radar" hadn't sounded. Nehemiah was stirring in his room, and when I saw the clock, I kicked it into high gear. We had about 40 minutes to get ready--so I went to church with greasy hair and static cling, but sometimes you just have to get your priorities right!

Anyway, we went into church and sat near the back. Personally, I love to sit up front. I can see the song lyrics well, and it helps me stay alert during the rest of the service, but those days are officially over for now, and besides, my little alarm clock ensures that I don't get drowsy! I particularly enjoy church services during the advent season, because I LOVE to sing, and I adore Christmas songs. There is something about them that encapsulate the miracle of Christ's coming and wrap me up in warm memories all at once. So, I belted out the songs while Nehemiah flirted with the couple behind us. I suppose I don't need to tell you this, but they were enamored. I mean check this kid out in his church clothes...who wouldn't be?
That is until our pastor said the code words. Yeah, you know the ones...pray and sermon. Those are Nehemiah code for impersonate the Tasmanian Devil as loudly as possible. I swear anytime it got quite in the church, Nehemiah filled it up with joyful noise! A few weeks ago, Daddy taught him the "raspberry" sound. So it went something like this..."WA-A-A *raspberrry* YAAA-A-A *raspberrry* YEE-AA-AAA WOO-WA-A-A MAA GOOOO *raspberrry*" Now, I am all for joyful noise, but it can be a little distracting! So Ben and I took turns walking him around the rest of the church. He got to see the mailboxes, the coat racks, the missionary support board, the shiny Christmas tree, and all kinds of other interesting things. We each caught about half of the sermon, which makes a whole, right? I feel bad for the other people around us.

For those of you who read this blog, what do you think the most appropriate thing to do is? I would love to sit and listen to the whole sermon with my son and husband, but I don't want to detract from my community's worship experience? And yet, I don't feel comfortable leaving my kiddo in the nursery yet. What are your ideas? I'm eager to know! Help a sister out!