I thought that this past weekend, I would spend Saturday evening at home while Dave was at church, then join him for the first service on Sunday morning. But wouldn't you know, my plans were changed when Dave asked me to pinch hit for some volunteers who couldn't lead small group in the kids' ministry. Because Dave works with the elementary-age kids, that meant I was assigned to lead second and third graders. If you know me, you know that I love working with preschoolers. Ever since I started volunteering in children's ministry, I've only worked with kindergartners and younger. Saturday night's task was, strange as it may seem, a bit intimidating for me. (I know--who's afraid of second and third graders?)
Although I was dreading it, I walked into the classroom and headed to a table full of boys and one girl playing with Legos. We started talking about school, and after one boy said he wished he could be finished with school already, we chatted about what they wanted to do when they grew up. Before we knew it, we were headed to large group, and then it was time for small group.
Because we had so many kids in the class (I think the count was 44) and only 3 small group leaders, my small group was actually quite large. We went through the questions, including one that really struck me: How does following God sometimes take you out of your comfort zone?
Immediately, I thought of where I was in that moment--teaching elementary-age children. I never would have chosen on my own to work with that age group, but I knew that God wanted me to. The result was an incredible time connecting with the kids over Legos and talking about standing up to bullies at school and encouraging girls that they were beautiful and that they don't need to worry about looking dumb. (As a new mom to a daughter, that last part really got me.)
Saturday evening definitely took me out of my comfort zone, but as I reflect on this past weekend at church, I learned the most from my time teaching those "scary" older kids.
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