Last week at Journey we had 16 families participate in baby dedications during the services. I was able to pop in during the dedication part of the service and thought Journey did a great job making a group dedication personal and impactful for each family and those watching. Because of this our toddler class second service really felt the impact in attendance.
We had several toddlers walking around with teary eyes and dirty diapers. I was afraid the volunteers serving in there were going to have teary eyes as well before the service was over. Fortunately those serving, Kara and Briana had great attitudes and managed to stay gentle and calm for the kids. Our junior volunteers also helped with lots of hugs and playing with the children.
After reading an article in the magazine K by Michelle Triplett I have decided to change things up a bit to see if we can create a more peaceful atmosphere for the kids and volunteers without adding anything new to the room but rather just working with what we already have.
First things first. The room has to smell good. Rather than putting stinky diapers in the trash can in the room, (with no windows) this week we are going to take dirty diapers to an outside trash can after each and every one. I'm also planning on cleaning the room tomorrow with my favorite organic cleaner Mrs. Meyers geranium scent.
Second today as I was looking around the room I realized we have lots of different kinds of things for the kids to play with but no organization to the room. It's an open, fairly large room where kids have just roamed freely from one toy to the next. I brought in a divider and sectioned off a part of the room for "quiet space." This area has rocking chairs, books, big comfy seats for the kids and a tv. I'm planning on having one volunteer stay in this area to help the fussy children who may need a break from the rest of the room where the kids are playing louder. The divider also helps create a block so the children won't have to constantly watch the door hoping mom or dad will be coming back soon.
The rest of the room is divided up into three other spaces; snack tables, play kitchen and other activity toys and the last one is climbing center where we have two slides, a bin of balls and other things for kids to climb on.
I'm hoping with this new arrangement the kids can become more absorbed in their play. We will see how it goes on Sunday. I'll let you know.
Thursday, May 15, 2008
Sunday, May 4, 2008
A Colorful Craft
Butterflies from our 4&5 yr. old class second service. Mrs. Nancy does such a nice job organizing the craft each week for the parents to pick up. Not only were these lined up and ready to go but the names were in alphabetical order.
Friday, May 2, 2008
Service
I had three encounters today that made me stop and think about service. One was at a large furniture store. My co-worker and I asked a man for some help and he turned the other way and ignored us. A few minutes later we asked for help again inquiring about a desk unit and he said in an irritated tone, "that's out of stock." I replied "ok but we could always buy it for later on" he didn't really respond. Each time we asked him a question he sounded rude and annoyed. He never gave us the info. we needed.
Later on that afternoon I was in another store and purchased two items. One of those items was a pack of gum. Once back in my car (running late of coarse) I realized the gum was not in my bag but it was paid for on my receipt. I pulled my car up to the front and ran back in to get my gum. Now I understand when most people purchase gum they take it right at the cash register rather than bagging it however I didn't ask to do this and the sales clerk never asked me about it. After running inside to pick it up the clerk said, "oh, here YOU forgot this" in a tired tone. Funny I don't remember forgetting anything. Would it have killed her to apologize for my inconveience to have to run back into the store.
My third encounter was shortly after the first at the same furniture store. Because the first clerk was so rude we were afraid to ask him anymore questions so we asked another clerk. This clerk went out of his way to walk us over to a different department to show us what we were asking for because his department did not carry it. Our experience with this person renewed my faith in this establishment that I usually shop at without problems. On our way out we made sure to give the manager a little bit of feedback.......the good and the bad.
All three of these experiences got me thinking about service and how one feels when they receive good service or bad service. I think depending on our upbringing most of us know the proper way to talk to others. Most of us probably also know the difference between good and bad service. We know it when we experience it. Patrons expect good service. Good service is greeting people (by name if you know it) smiling, directly helping people or finding the help they need. Bad service is inexcusable. Everyone has a bad day. Everyone needs to vent once in awhile. Whenever you are in a place serving someone else this is not the place to be doing that. Of coarse we should be authentic in our service, but if we have to fake it one out of fifty times no one is going to know the difference and maybe just maybe a forced smile will soon turn into a real one. Sometimes we have to push ourselves through the motions before we feel the joy in serving.
How does this translate to serving in Noah's Club. Simple. If parents in Noah's Club expect good service at the places they transact business with during the week than of coarse the minimum standard for us should be good service. But is that really enough? Is good service enough to gain the trust of parents in watching their kids? Is good service enough to build relationships with kids so they will listen and trust us when we try to teach them about how God loves them? We have to go above and beyond.
Good service: "Hi Jane, come on in."
Above and Beyond: Kneeling down to greet Jane at her level, "hi Jane, I'm so glad you're here today. Come on in. We are going to make some really cool butterflies and have a lot of fun." walks WITH Jane to the craft table.
Good service: telling John happy birthday when he comes to class
Above and Beyond: sending John a birthday card in the mail
Good service: praying with the kids in class and teaching them how to pray
Above and beyond: Asking the kids how we can pray for them, write it down and pray for them during the week. Asking them the following week about the thing we prayed for.
The truth is above and beyond is much easier than we think. Making ourselves available to help someone so their life in that moment is a little bit easier and doing so with a smile and a pleasant tone of voice. If we do this in Noah's Club I think we will make huge strides for the kingdom.
Later on that afternoon I was in another store and purchased two items. One of those items was a pack of gum. Once back in my car (running late of coarse) I realized the gum was not in my bag but it was paid for on my receipt. I pulled my car up to the front and ran back in to get my gum. Now I understand when most people purchase gum they take it right at the cash register rather than bagging it however I didn't ask to do this and the sales clerk never asked me about it. After running inside to pick it up the clerk said, "oh, here YOU forgot this" in a tired tone. Funny I don't remember forgetting anything. Would it have killed her to apologize for my inconveience to have to run back into the store.
My third encounter was shortly after the first at the same furniture store. Because the first clerk was so rude we were afraid to ask him anymore questions so we asked another clerk. This clerk went out of his way to walk us over to a different department to show us what we were asking for because his department did not carry it. Our experience with this person renewed my faith in this establishment that I usually shop at without problems. On our way out we made sure to give the manager a little bit of feedback.......the good and the bad.
All three of these experiences got me thinking about service and how one feels when they receive good service or bad service. I think depending on our upbringing most of us know the proper way to talk to others. Most of us probably also know the difference between good and bad service. We know it when we experience it. Patrons expect good service. Good service is greeting people (by name if you know it) smiling, directly helping people or finding the help they need. Bad service is inexcusable. Everyone has a bad day. Everyone needs to vent once in awhile. Whenever you are in a place serving someone else this is not the place to be doing that. Of coarse we should be authentic in our service, but if we have to fake it one out of fifty times no one is going to know the difference and maybe just maybe a forced smile will soon turn into a real one. Sometimes we have to push ourselves through the motions before we feel the joy in serving.
How does this translate to serving in Noah's Club. Simple. If parents in Noah's Club expect good service at the places they transact business with during the week than of coarse the minimum standard for us should be good service. But is that really enough? Is good service enough to gain the trust of parents in watching their kids? Is good service enough to build relationships with kids so they will listen and trust us when we try to teach them about how God loves them? We have to go above and beyond.
Good service: "Hi Jane, come on in."
Above and Beyond: Kneeling down to greet Jane at her level, "hi Jane, I'm so glad you're here today. Come on in. We are going to make some really cool butterflies and have a lot of fun." walks WITH Jane to the craft table.
Good service: telling John happy birthday when he comes to class
Above and Beyond: sending John a birthday card in the mail
Good service: praying with the kids in class and teaching them how to pray
Above and beyond: Asking the kids how we can pray for them, write it down and pray for them during the week. Asking them the following week about the thing we prayed for.
The truth is above and beyond is much easier than we think. Making ourselves available to help someone so their life in that moment is a little bit easier and doing so with a smile and a pleasant tone of voice. If we do this in Noah's Club I think we will make huge strides for the kingdom.
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