November 3, 2011 5:31 p.m.

We have gotten into a new groove at our church this year, as our children are getting older and aging out of (or in to) different ways of serving and being ministered to.

Our church has experienced a recent period of rapid growth in visitors and as a result, the nursery has had a surge of babies and toddlers.  I am scheduled to serve during the Sunday School hour, but our baby nursery attendance at this time has grown from around 5 children to upwards of 14!  So I have been needed to serve in the nursery far more often than I have been on the schedule.  They have to maintain a 4-to-1 ratio of babies to adults in the room.  Also, I have been serving quite often as a Sunday School helper for the 3rd and 4th grade class.  What a sweet class!  I love that age group.

On Wednesdays, I bring Sweet Girl to her Chorister’s group.  Chips is now too old for this (boo hoo from me) and he just brings along his violin and practices in the sanctuary while she is in chorus.  Then at 6 p.m., the children both get a pizza supper before Sweet Girl goes to Bible Memory Club and Chips goes to Youth Bible Study.  During that time, Self-Reliant Man and I are free to have a weekly date.  We meet in a fast food restaurant and enjoy each other’s company alone for over an hour each week before returning to the church to pick up the children.  We so seldom have had these opportunities.  It is great. 

Chips is really feeling involved this year in his church.  He is getting opportunities to plan his violin for a morning service, an evening service, and also for the children’s Christmas pageant.  He is also available to help with small service projects that come to pass while he is at weekly Youth Bible Study.  This is our church’s version of “Youth Group”.  I like the annual events that this group has.  It is like no other youth group I remember.  They try to ensure that the time together is truly God-centered, and I have observed several teenagers who obviously love Christ and are really trying to be obedient to him.  There is some real growth going on there.  I have already witnessed a remarkable transformation in one 14 year old boy so far in this past year.  I had approached Youth Group with some trepidation, but so far, it has been good for Chips and he has been happy there.

One of the first Youth events that Chips will participate in is a Progressive Dinner.  Three church members will open their homes to the Youth to each serve one course of the dinner.  Then they will be driven to the next home.  There are three homes (courses) in total.  The Youth are expected to dress nicely and to show forth good dinner manners throughout the evening.  My young man is growing up.

Sweet Girl has been memorizing her verses for Bible Memory Club.  For a few weeks, they were giving out points for trading in for small prizes, kind of like Awana.  But that feature is being abandoned, lest the children get distracted from the true reasons for the memory work.  Kudos to those who recently made this determination.  Sweet Girl is nurturing some newer friendships during the time she spends at Bible Memory Club.

I know, this hasn’t exactly been an exciting post, but it documents part of the transformation as the children in our family are getting older. 

p.s. Please take a moment to pray this evening for a special mother of eight children.   She has suffered a leukemia relapse, and received very discouraging news this afternoon.  She just came out of a round of chemo and was due to go in for a transplant in the next couple of days.  But unfortunately, the cancer returned already.  She really needs prayer.

Oops!  Almost forgot to mention that I had the pleasure of attending our church’s first women’s conference, and it was wonderful.  The speaker was Mrs. Martha Peace.  Her testimony was amazing, and she taught about becoming a Titus 2 woman.  I am so happy that I went to this conference.  It was very encouraging to me at a time when I really needed it.  I am now reading her book Attitudes of a Transformed Heart and it is excellent.

Next post is going to be …. On Health!