the one about children's ministry

"no matter how big you grow, never grow up so much that you lose your child's heart: full of trust in God.  Be like these children.  they are the most important in my kingdom."  -jesus story book bible

i'm sure that being a children's pastor for all of those long, glorious years plays a role in my bias toward working with kids as a ministry; as a sacrifice of worship, but i definitely believe that serving kiddos is where it's at.

one of the first jobs i ever had as an intern at vanguard was volunteer recruiting.

"here's a list of all of our families, " ellen said, handing me a document full of names and numbers. "just call and see if they'd be willing to serve once a month."

it was a grueling task.  it's awkward to ask people to do something.  especially when you don't even know them.  but i was a wide-eyed ministry major, i had just turned 21 and was eager to do anything that would help kiddos know of God's HUGE, EXTRAVAGANT love for them, and if that meant making some phone calls, then that is exactly what i would do.

getting volunteers would continue to be an ongoing battle for the 7 years i served as a children's pastor.  and honestly, it always kind of baffled me.

did people think that they couldn't do it?
did they feel like their gifts would be better used elsewhere?
did it feel unimportant in some way?

it's interesting to me how much easier it is to serve God in some BIG way, but how hard it is to serve Him in a small way.  serving in hidden places can often feel like a waste of time, maybe?  or not rewarding enough?  i'm not sure, but i do know this.  God is in the hidden places.  the things He can create in us when we bend low, when we make ourselves small, when we choose to use our very important time to serve the least of these, are beautiful, rare treasures.

i believe that in many cases, we become more like Jesus holding a baby of a young mother, or singing Jesus Loves Me to a four-year-old, or asking a 2nd grader about school, than we do participating in Big Church (as we call it back in kid min.).

because, you see, when we make ourselves small, we identify with Christ.

philippians 2:6
Who, being in very nature[a] God,
    did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage;
7 rather, he made himself nothing
    by taking the very nature[b] of a servant,
    being made in human likeness.
8 And being found in appearance as a man,
    he humbled himself
    by becoming obedient to death—
        even death on a cross!


and i can think of nothing more beautiful.