Is This Thing On?

I feel like I've been going through the motions of Children's Ministries but not really feeling the heart behind it. Going into Easter weekend, my prayer was that it wouldn't be my biggest work weekend of the year, but instead, that I'd get to actually enjoy and feel that it was Easter. I had the joy of teaching the elementary kids Saturday night. I loved the way our curriculum wrote out the lesson. The kids were attentive, and I really felt like the message was communicated. After telling kids how they can accept Christ as their forever friend, I invited to the kids to come talk to me or another teacher afterwards if they wanted to know more about making that step. Later, two fifth grade girls approached me. "We want to do what you were talking about!" Both these girls have been at our church for quite some time. I was surprised they'd never asked Jesus in their hearts. So I verified that they hadn't done it before. "No, we haven't, that's why we want to now!" So I talked about what it meant, asked if they believed Jesus died for them, etc. and then lead them through the prayer. I was on the verge of tears at what a blessing this was! We chatted about how we're now sisters in Christ. I told them I was three when I first asked Jesus in my heart. One of them slipped and said, "So was I!"

Both the girls had accepted Christ before. One was even baptized. Why lie? Because they thought it would be fun to spend some one-on-one time with me. I love that they wanted that time... but really? Lie about asking Jesus in your heart?

Sunday went smoothly. I was disappointed by how many families weren't there because of Spring break. And while I loved being in "big church" for one service and watching a wonderful large group teacher during the other, I didn't really feel Easter.

But then, on Tuesday, I heard a wonderful story. One of our kindergarten boys comes from a sad home. His grandma loves him dearly and brings him each week to both services. I guess on the way home from church, he couldn't stop talking about the Easter story. He told his mom and grandma all about what Jesus did for him, how much Jesus loves him, and through the entire story, he was full of joy. Grandma said that they've been trying to get him to understand Christ's sacrifice, but it didn't click until this week. He's a changed person.

And yesterday, I got a sweet picture (the purple one in this post) from the mom of one of our 4-year-olds. Her daughter wanted to write out the Easter story. Mom helped spell the words, but Maile chose exactly what was said. If you can't read it, it says, "Do you know that Jesus was dead on the cross and 2 other cosses? Then Jesus was out of the cave and the big rock rolled away. Then Jesus visited His friends before He was in Heaven with God."

While I felt like Saturday and Sunday were spent tapping a microphone, asking, "Is this thing on?" Easter came on Tuesday and Thursday for me. Jesus died for my sins and rose again. It's the reason for all I do. An unresponsive audience doesn't change the story. He is risen, He is risen indeed!