Taking A Break

I am just letting you know loyal readers and commenters that I am intending taking a week’s sabbatical this week and will not be blogging until next weekend.

There is nothing wrong, it’s just that after fifteen months of continuous posting I feel I need a bit of a break. I am in the middle of a 30 day challenge, but I’m happy to let that wait for a few days to give me time to refresh and regather myself and to spend this week reading and creating things away from the computer.

However, before I go, I must share with you my experiences today.

It was my turn to lead the Sunday School session at church this morning, and as it was only the second time of me doing it I was rather nervous to say the least. Nervous to the point of being awake at 4am this morning and going downstairs to go through my notes again to make sure I’d got everything sorted for the session. It was only an hour’s worth of Sunday School, but it means the absolute world to me and I just wanted to get it right. Not that I would do a good job necessarily but that I wouldn’t tell the kids something that they would carry right through their lives thinking something wrong about God. Big responsibility!

As it turned out, it was absolutely FANTASTIC and we had a ball. Loved it loved it loved it. The kids were with me, we had a good laugh singing Climb Up Sunshine Mountain and then we did some cutting out, storytelling, glueing and colouring in. Brilliant. Loved it and can’t wait to do the next one.

Straight after that I had two families making enquiries about having their children baptised, which is another of my church “duties” that I love doing. Great families, lovely kids and I can’t wait to them welcomed into the family.

And then, the biggie: Ethan was playing with the music centre this evening at the Royal Northern College of Music and I was so proud of him. He plays in the entry level concert band and we heard them perform as well as the middle level and the senior level band. Oh my word. I was so choked up at times this evening I felt a bit of a berk really. When they played Highland Cathedral I think I made it as far as the second bar before the lump in the throat turned to tears streaming down the face….sob!

I was having a conversation with my friend Cassie yesterday about my role in children’s ministry and I said to her that it didn’t feel quite right to me. I said that I loved doing it and I enjoyed it, but it didn’t feel just absolutely right for me and I wasn’t sure I wanted to pursue it any further than I’m doing at the moment.

How the Holy Spirit works eh? Not only did I have a great session this morning which went like a dream but then this evening, listening to those young people playing music with such enthusiasm and passion, it struck me that I do have a role to play and that working with young people is absolutely my path forward. I can’t really explain the feeling of certainty that washed over me, but the closest I can come to it is with an analogy:

As adults, we have a duty and a responsibility to pass the baton onto the next generation in whatever field we are in. It just isn’t good enough to throw it down on the floor for them to pick up for themselves and run with it. We absolutely have to teach them first of all what the baton is, and then how to hold it, then how to run with it and eventually let them take it from our hand. Whether it is as a Sunday School leader, teaching music, drama, art, football, athletics, or any number of other things, we have to do something about handing on to the next generation, and doing it properly.

I am so glad that I didn’t back out of my turn this morning and I thank God for the experience I have had tonight with the musical young people at Bury Music Service.

To finish on a funny note, let me share with you something that happened this morning. You will see why I had such a good time…

We were sat round the tables and the children were colouring in some pictures that we had just played a game with (we matched up the words to pictures about 4 people in the Bible who had trusted God and God hadn’t let them down – Noah, Hannah, David and Elijah). As they were finishing off their colouring I started to read them the story about David and Goliath, trying to keep things moving a bit. They did very well considering that the age range was about 4 to 7 years old. I had the book open and was showing the pictures as I read out loud and we hadn’t got very far into the story when the noise level started to get a bit much and was on the verge of getting too loud, so I threw in a question: “David was a shepherd. Who can tell me what a shepherd does?” A couple of the kids shouted out and a few put hands in the air, and we generally got the idea that a shepherd looks after sheep.

I carried on with the story, and the noise went up again so I asked another question: “Why did David lead his sheep to find new juicy grass?” Again, the shout outs and the hands up in the air and they had a little discussion amongst themselves and generally agreed that they needed grass to eat because they were HUNGRY…tsk Pam, didn’t you know?!

Me, being a bit daft and loving the way little minds work, asked “and why do they just eat grass when they’re hungry?”…and a little voice from the corner of the table….”Because they don’t like McDonalds…?”

Brilliant!

I love kids and I’m not so sure that my assertion to Cassie yesterday about it not feeling quite right is, well, quite right actually.

Time will tell!

Right, that’s me off now for a bit.

Enjoy the next few days and I will see you all refreshed, renewed and revitalised in a week.

Best wishes, Pam