its all about the kids man
I found myself doing something yesterday (Sunday 11/18/07) that I did not believe I would ever do again in my life. Yesterday I was sitting in a chair way to small for me with a bunch of 3-5 year old kids using safety scissors to cut out hearts from construction paper and I was having a great time.
So why was I sitting in a very small chair cutting out paper hearts? Believe it or not it started last year in my leadership course at FSM (Forerunner School of Ministry). Lenny LaGuardia who is the head of the CEC (Children’s Equipping Center) taught the class and in the process convinced me to sign up to apply be a councilor at the Signs and Wonders Conference.
You see I spent most of my life not really liking children all that much. I really did not want them around me as I saw most of them as brats and did not want to deal with someone else’s problem. So spending a week in a tent with 8 boys was the last thing that I ever wanted to do. For part of the Signs and Wonders Conference entails a camp out for the week of the conference.
Yet as I sat in that class listening to Lenny speak each day on the importance of raising up the next generation did something to me For one thing it made me come to grips with the issue of children. I knew if I was going to go into ministry I would sooner or later have to deal with kids, well either that or a spirit of stupor came over me. Either way I now needed to know and not being someone who does something half way I decided to sign up for the camp.
Now I could have tried working a Sunday service here and there to see if I could deal with kids, but this really would not have given me the answer I needed. I wanted to KNOW and I figured the only real way to find out was to do the camp. Jesus would either move….or it would be the worst thing I ever did and they would have to take me away in a straight jacket.
So here I was filling in the application to be a camp councilor and I remember praying the whole time against it. You know small prayers like; “Lord this is crazy please do not let them allow me to be a councilor, I just know it will be horrible”. When asked on the form if I had any experience with children I put down that I thought I was a kid once. I was absolutely trying to sabotage myself. I did not even request any time off from work convinced that God was not going to allow this to happen, but I could then at least say I tried. “Yup did everything I could, but God saw better so I guess I do not need to worry about this as my ministry must not have anything to do with kids….”
Of course God had other ideas and my application was accepted and I had to quickly get some time off from work so that I could do the conference. My boss at the time fortunately was very understanding and allowed me to take the week off and so that I could be a councilor.
The day of the conference comes and I remember arriving at the conference scared out of my mind. I was just convinced that this was the worst idea ever and that it was going to send me over the edge. Yet I got out of my car and heading in to meet the kids I was going to be responsible for over the next week.
Now if you recall all the way back at the beginning of this story I was spending my Sunday cutting out paper hearts and enjoying it. Jesus did show up that week and I had the one of the greatest of my life with the kids (I actually live with 2 of the boys now, but that is another story) that week and I am forever grateful to Jesus that He asked me to do this and that I was actually smart enough to say yes.
My life has been forever change by that week. I now have a love for children and a desire to see them live their lives walking with Jesus Christ. I have the great honor to be able to minister to the 6-12 year olds on Sunday morning during the early service and best yet I am now starting to minister with the 3-5 year olds in the second service. My roll is small, but I am so blessed just to be in the room and learning from such anointed people that God has already put into place and next week I may even get to use the glue!
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