As many of you know, I work at a church as the Director of Preschool. "Preschool" encompasses everything from newborn through Kindergarten. I also oversee able::life, our Special Needs ministry, as well as a newly developing "Buddies" program. This isn't a job for me... It's a ministry, a mission, something I know God has called me to be doing. In the last several years, God has shaped me to be in this moment, this place. And, let me tell you, it has been one wild and amazing ride!
On a Sunday, I am blessed to lead an amazing team of men, women, and teens who all love God and love the children they are serving. During the week, I work alongside dedicated leaders who all have the same vision: that the children and families at our church (and outside our church) experience God's love and live for Him.
Our Children's Ministry is rather large, and we see a lot of families each week. Every family has their own story, their own journey, just as each person who serves has their own joys and struggles. In the hubbub of a Sunday morning it is so easy to lose sight of that. It is so easy for all of us to lose sight of the wonderful God moments... the "WINS" as we call them at work. These aren't my wins... They are God's wins. I know I struggle often to take a breath and truly look at how God is working and moving in the day to day things. SO, I wanted to spend just a few moments to share just a couple WINS our ministry has seen.
In our able::life ministry, we have a teenage guy who has been coming for at least a year. He loves to joke around and have a good time laughing. He has spent the year doing what was expected and participating when necessary. But, there was never a spark in his eye. Never a true excitement for being there. That is until 3 weeks ago. A new male Ministry Partner joined our able::life team who has never served with children with Special Needs. He came because his wife wanted to serve and he wanted to serve with her. The new Ministry Partner was paired up with the teen guy, and they did quite well together. The following week, the Ministry Partner came in to serve (even though it wasn't his week) and again paired up with the teen guy. By the end of that service, there was a look on the teen guy's face I had never seen before... It was pure joy. He was smiling and joking around and just enjoying himself. This man who had never served with someone with Special Needs connected with this teen in a way no one else was able to do. (On a side note, this teen came in that morning extremely angry and was being rude to his family. His family was bracing for a tough morning, but God placed the right person and the right time and softened his heart!)
In Preschool, we had our typical big "move up" at the beginning of the school year. Almost every child moved up into a new classroom. It was also a time of new Ministry Partners joining the team. In one of our classrooms, one of the new Ministry Partners (who just oozes God's love) connected with one of the little girls. The little girl loved spending time with the new Ministry Partner. It was already a "win"! But what made this even more of a win was that the Ministry Partner ran into the little girl's mom and told her how much she loves being with her daughter in the room. The mom couldn't have been happier to hear how much her daughter is loved and cared for.
The win in both situations wasn't just in the fact that a mom was happy or that the child was happy or that the Ministry Partner was happy (however, that is definitely a perk!). Rather, the bigger win was that it was exactly how God wants ministry to be. For people to serve where they are meant to serve, where God has created them to serve, where they are following God's lead. Nothing beats seeing people shine for God. And the cherry on top is seeing the children and families experience God's love in a very special way.
It is SO very easy for me to miss the wins... It is easy for all of us. The fast paced life makes it difficult to see those moments. Often times there are louder, annoying fails that keep us focused on the wrong things. But, when we take the time and slow down, we can see the wins. We can see where God's hand has played a part in something wonderful. There are wins all around us. It's just a matter of making a point to see them.
