Ministry

Who teaches the 2- and 3-year-olds at your church? If you are a parent of a child in this class, you are thankful to have a teacher for your little one. If you are a superintendant or children's ministry coordinator, you know how hard it is to fill this teaching slot.

Well, for years and years and years, my mom was the 2- and 3-year-old teacher. If you popped your head in to her classroom, you would find her sitting on the floor telling a Bible story, or handing out snack and saying "Thank you God for graham crackers," or having all the children hold a knot in the rope so they could go for a nature walk. She treated the children gently, never forcing a child to participate, making them feel welcome, comfortable and secure with her regular presence.

I learned so much from Mom when I helped in her class. I figured everyone admired her for her gentle style and faithful service, but a few weeks ago, Mom told me she had been criticized for not presenting the gospel to the children. What??? She would not tell me who had proffered the criticism (perhaps concerned I would snatch the person baldheaded?), but it had clearly been hurtful to her.

I can't tell you how happy I was to get an e-mail from my sister with a copy of a Facebook message from an old friend of Mom's.

"...I just wanted you to know that I think so often of your mother! Many, many years ago (about 40, actually!) I was able to help her for a time as she taught a preschool Sunday School class at [name of church]. This was absolutely my first exposure to Bible stories and young children and I fell in love with both, largely due to your mom. When she moved away, she gave me a gift of a beautiful children's Bible, which I still have on my bookshelf. I am still very active teaching young children about the Lord and hope to do this for the rest of this life. While I'm certain that your mother would not remember me or letting me "help"in her classroom, I wanted you to know what a profound impact she had on my life!"

How perfect! How like God to send an encouragement for Mom as she questions the validity of one of her lifelong ministries. I shared this friend's words with Mom and it put a big smile of wonderment on her face. God is good.