Today was an especially joyful day for me, because it was the first day of the Children’s Ministry program I’ve been planning at Marsh Chapel all semester. The morning started a little hectic; I woke up early, registered for classes for next semester, and made sure to get to Marsh extra early to set up my classroom space. I was definitely nervous. Questions rushed through my mind: would any kids actually show up? Did I remember to order all the right supplies? Are the kids going to like my crafts? Then of course to my delight, I started to see children show up. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 they kept coming in. Then I started to panic that I wouldn’t have enough supplies for all the children. I sat through the service, splitting my focus between the impassioned sermon and my worries about my new program.
I really shouldn’t have worried. At the end of the offering, I collected the children and we went down to our classroom. I had five kids, plus two older helpers, and just enough craft supplies for everyone. We prayed together, we learned a story from the bible, and heard a little bit about the origin of the advent wreath. Then we constructed advent wreaths of our own. The theme of class this week was waiting. I told the children about Zechariah and Elizabeth waiting for their son John to be born. I feel like I have been waiting all semester for this week. Waiting to see if my curriculum would work well. Waiting to see if the children would have a good time. Waiting to see if I could handle running a religious education class. As I told the kids this week, during advent we wait, because something wonderful is going to happen soon. For me that wonderful something is happening now. It is such a blessing to be able to work with the youngest members of our community. Now I can’t wait for next week!