FIRST DAY IN CHILDREN'S CHURCH

This morning was my first morning helping in the children's church. Four adults ministered to eighteen four- and five-year-olds.

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Robin, the man who leads our class, was both teacher and songleader. Donna was a helper who also had the duty of checking in the kids. Ashley, my daughter, was another helper in our class who had the additional duty of "Potty Princess". Due to our current cultural climate, men are not allowed to change diapers or take children to the bathroom. Only ministering women are allowed to minister in this specific way of ministering.

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Discriminatory? Perhaps. But I have chosen to be strong and to accept the discrimination.

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One thing I learned today was that I am still capable of sitting on the floor and getting up again about a dozen times per hour. I had to use proper body mechanics in doing so, but I pulled it off and I didn't need to take Ibuprofen when I got home.

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Another thing I learned today was that I am a faster learner than I previously thought. I picked up all the hand motions to all the songs almost immediately.

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Robin used a flannel board to teach the kids about the miraculous crossing of the Jordan River. Once the story ended, we had a craft to reinforce the lesson. Using clay, each child formed twelve small stones and placed them on a colorful background, which included a text from Joshua 4.

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Only one boy in the group was high maintenance. He didn't want his parents to leave him in the classroom in the first place. Then he continually went for the door to try to leave and had to be stopped. He spent the entire time interrupting, speaking out of turn, hogging the toys, disregarding instructions and disrupting the class.

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I unofficially appointed myself to watch over him and it pretty much turned out to be a full-time job for the entire an hour-and-a-half we were together.

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But I kinda like that kid and I hope he comes back.