30 Days of Thankfulness: Day 5

Today I am thankful for my church community.  Specifically, I'm thankful for the elementary ministry I have been volunteering with for the past 6 or 7 years.  Here are a few reasons why I love being involved with this ministry:


  * It is great to be able to work with younger kids.  I think elementary age kids are fantastic, but I like my little kid time in smaller doses.  I'll spend all day with high schoolers and hold on to my sanity most of the time, but I give props to elementary school teachers who spend 7 hours a day with the little balls of energy.  I will treasure my hour or two on a Sunday, but that's enough for now.


  * Not only do I get a chance to connect with kids, but being an elementary ministries volunteer has connected me with adults both in my and other generations who I probably would not have otherwise come to know.  But now because I do know them, when I am out and about in "big" church (aka, adult worship services), I have a much more diverse spectrum of people I call my friends.


  * I love worshiping with kids.  I personally am a kinesthetic person, and I enjoy activities most when I am moving.  When we worship with elementary age children, motions to go along with songs are a must.  I lead the worship songs once a month with 2nd and 3rd graders and I have a blast every time!  And it's not only fun, but because I get to move and am free to be the somewhat silly person I am, I also connect to God in a way I can't always recreate in "big" church or in my own quiet time.


  * Which brings me to my last point: I learn so much from going through the Bible with kids!  The lessons are always presented in a way to meet the kids where they are developmentally, but going through that "kid version" of a lesson never fails to reveal something about God I didn't know or had forgotten.  Or sometimes as I'm talking to the kids about what God desires for their lives, I am convicted that those truths apply to me as well, even if I am not focused enough to remember all the time.


Thank the Lord for kids and the blessings they bring!