One In Ministry
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I started this as a draft during lent. For whatever reason I never got a chance to finish it, so I’m just re-writing it. No biggie.
Sarah and I just got back from a whirlwind of a trip to Greensboro, NC to attend and work the Church of God of Prophecy International Assembly. That’s long-winded for we taught children at a convention. Specifically we taught children the importance of being devoted to God. It’s an awesome and important topic for old people as well, but I’m going to focus on the surrounding idea that Sarah and I teamed up for this.
We minister and teach children biblical principals regularly at our local church, Providence West Chester. But last week was a little bit more intense a schedule. So to the point, marriage and ministry, and what I think about it: it’s awesome, it’s fun, and for now, children’s ministry is a ministry that God has called and gifted Sarah and I both to do.
Ministering with Sarah is awesome! While we both have similar education backgrounds, we’re different people and think in different ways. So while I’m usually the more program-oriented person, we found that for the assembly I was more program-oriented in figuring out, how we would make it, and how we would fly it down to Greensboro. Sarah had to remind me regularly that what was important was the content of the lessons. I argued with her to the point that we could use the environment to harness the children’s fickle attentions and give depth and color to the lessons. But, Sarah is essentially right and we’re able to also use curricula and our own brains to develop engaging and meaningful classes for children together.
Ministering with Sarah is fun! I mean really, if you know our personalities you know we’re pretty bent on having a good time and enjoy ourselves. This applies especially when we work together on things we enjoy. Teaching and ministering to children is tough work, but it can be rewarding and even enjoyable. Being able to do this with Sarah really brings that home for me. We saw, appreciated, and responded to our differences during the classes last week. My favorite thing to do is characters, she is particularly gifted with the object lessons and the bible lessons. I love to watch her as she works with the kids in the ways that she is gifted.
Ministering with Sarah is what we’re called to do! At home, at Providence, Sarah actually directs the elementary ministry. I don’t know what that entails, and I don’t want to. I loathe admin stuff and recruiting volunteers etc. But we still teach the classes together. And while every Sunday we teach, we have to discipline ourselves to spend the time to make the lesson excellent, it is always a joy to finish a lesson and review it with Sarah. We trust God that His Spirit is speaking to the children, knowing that He has a purpose for them and we are a small, if tiny part of that plan.