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.
Friday, May 2, 2008
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
Think Play Create
Saturday, April 26, 2008
Embracing Change
Last night during Ed's message he said leadership can be defined in one word- change. It's not for those refusing to move. He went on to say he believes Jesus was the greatest leader in history because he was always changing stuff and continues to change stuff. And then he had us ask ourselves where God might be asking us to embrace change in our life.
This was a great reminder for me not to be a coward when it comes to vision casting change and implementing change. In our area of ministry working with pre-schoolers this is so important. I'm not sure who wrote this but I recently read this about pre-schoolers:
"pre-schoolers are ready to expand their horizons and achievements, to seek out
information, explore new territory, and make sense of all they encounter. Play
along by providing lots of new experiences."
If we want to effectively reach this age group we need to constantly bring in new, changing experiences for the kids sake. How sad would it be if we as adults held back from change because we may not be comfortable with it at the expense of our kids.
I am commiting myself as a leader to embrace change.
This was a great reminder for me not to be a coward when it comes to vision casting change and implementing change. In our area of ministry working with pre-schoolers this is so important. I'm not sure who wrote this but I recently read this about pre-schoolers:
"pre-schoolers are ready to expand their horizons and achievements, to seek out
information, explore new territory, and make sense of all they encounter. Play
along by providing lots of new experiences."
If we want to effectively reach this age group we need to constantly bring in new, changing experiences for the kids sake. How sad would it be if we as adults held back from change because we may not be comfortable with it at the expense of our kids.
I am commiting myself as a leader to embrace change.
Saturday, April 19, 2008
Prayer Request
Two leaders in Noah's Club that have both been around for a long, long time could use some prayer.
Merlin Loch who is our toddler leader during first service will be having open heart surgery at the beginning of June. Depending on the severity of his condition he may or may not need a valve replaced. Please pray for him and his family over the next few months leading up to this. I will post later on when we know exactly when his surgery is.
Dee Dee Milot who is a teacher in our 4 & 5 yr. old class during second service is asking prayer for her son Michael. He was diagnosed with testicular cancer recently. He has had surgery but will also be needing chemo because the cancer has spread.
Whenever our health or sometimes worse our kids health is in jeopardy it can be a scary thing to walk through. Please pray that God will touch Merlin and Michael with his healing power and restore them to total health. Please also pray that they and their family will not be anxious but know the peace that passes all understanding during this time.
Thanks.
Merlin Loch who is our toddler leader during first service will be having open heart surgery at the beginning of June. Depending on the severity of his condition he may or may not need a valve replaced. Please pray for him and his family over the next few months leading up to this. I will post later on when we know exactly when his surgery is.
Dee Dee Milot who is a teacher in our 4 & 5 yr. old class during second service is asking prayer for her son Michael. He was diagnosed with testicular cancer recently. He has had surgery but will also be needing chemo because the cancer has spread.
Whenever our health or sometimes worse our kids health is in jeopardy it can be a scary thing to walk through. Please pray that God will touch Merlin and Michael with his healing power and restore them to total health. Please also pray that they and their family will not be anxious but know the peace that passes all understanding during this time.
Thanks.
Monday, April 7, 2008
Initiation by Fire
A few weeks before Easter I met a lady who was interested in serving during one of our Easter services. I had a hunch from the beginning she would be great. That and the fact that while showing her the classrooms my son LOVED her. I'm learning that kids can be a great judge of people who should be serving kids.
During our Easter services she volunteered in the toddler class for half a service and the nursery the other half of our 7:30 service. She also volunteered in the 3 yr. old class during our 9:00 service. I encouraged her to try out different spots to hopefully find a place that fit. The following Sunday she was willing to come back again this time trying out the 4 & 5 yr. old class. It seems after serving in that class she may have found a fit. We decided she would come back again the following week (this past week) and serve in the same class.
Our second service 4&5 yr. old class has two great regular leaders who have been serving in there for a long time. They work together as a team and balance eachother well. Both existing leaders agreed this new volunteer would be a great addition to the team. However this past week one of the regular leaders (who does the main teaching in the class) was out of town celebrating her 30th wedding anniversary with her husband. I spoke with our new volunteer and told her how we would be short on help but that I would step in after large group to help lead the lesson time knowing that's not the role our other regular leader plays and not wanting to force our new leader into it.
I have to admit I was a bit surprised when I walked into the class with 35+ kids, two leaders looking kind of frazzled and two junior helpers trying to lead simon says at the front of the class. We also had ladybugs who had escaped the nature center flying around and a flood of water on the floor starting to seep out into the hallway. I grabbed the microphone and tried to gain control. It was not easy but somehow with everyones help we made it through. After the kids were dismissed I stuck around to talk about the experience with the two leaders. When it was time to go our new volunteer went to grab her bag and realized it had been sitting in a pool of water that we missed during the clean up. Her bag which had her cell phone and other important things in it that should remain dry.
This was definitely not the serving experience I had planned for a new volunteer. I'm praying that God would still be putting the desire in her heart to serve and that the relationship already established with the other leader would help too. I have learned two important lessons from this experience.
The obvious one being you cannot control or project the attendence. One week a class may have 20 kids, another week 15 and another 35+. Even if we only have 10 kids we should be prepared for 40. After all isn't the point to grow anyways reaching more kids. All of a sudden Kevin Costner in the movie Field of Dreams is coming to mind, "if you build it they will come." I want this ministry to want to grow and be ready to reach out to as many kids as possible. How sad would it be if I put a cap on it and said we could only handle so much.
The second lesson may not be as obvious but just as important. No class should have only one teacher in it. When one of the teachers/leaders is out there should not be an obvious void because everyone (with the exception of jr. helpers and check in check out roles) should know how to teach and lead the class. I want every teacher to always be mentoring new volunteers who should be able to assume the role if needed.
Although I don't recommend the above scenario of what happened in our class yesterday to be used as a recruiting technique I'm thankful that if anything this new volunteer has already learned the above lessons with me.
Tania, welcome to Noah's Club!
During our Easter services she volunteered in the toddler class for half a service and the nursery the other half of our 7:30 service. She also volunteered in the 3 yr. old class during our 9:00 service. I encouraged her to try out different spots to hopefully find a place that fit. The following Sunday she was willing to come back again this time trying out the 4 & 5 yr. old class. It seems after serving in that class she may have found a fit. We decided she would come back again the following week (this past week) and serve in the same class.
Our second service 4&5 yr. old class has two great regular leaders who have been serving in there for a long time. They work together as a team and balance eachother well. Both existing leaders agreed this new volunteer would be a great addition to the team. However this past week one of the regular leaders (who does the main teaching in the class) was out of town celebrating her 30th wedding anniversary with her husband. I spoke with our new volunteer and told her how we would be short on help but that I would step in after large group to help lead the lesson time knowing that's not the role our other regular leader plays and not wanting to force our new leader into it.
I have to admit I was a bit surprised when I walked into the class with 35+ kids, two leaders looking kind of frazzled and two junior helpers trying to lead simon says at the front of the class. We also had ladybugs who had escaped the nature center flying around and a flood of water on the floor starting to seep out into the hallway. I grabbed the microphone and tried to gain control. It was not easy but somehow with everyones help we made it through. After the kids were dismissed I stuck around to talk about the experience with the two leaders. When it was time to go our new volunteer went to grab her bag and realized it had been sitting in a pool of water that we missed during the clean up. Her bag which had her cell phone and other important things in it that should remain dry.
This was definitely not the serving experience I had planned for a new volunteer. I'm praying that God would still be putting the desire in her heart to serve and that the relationship already established with the other leader would help too. I have learned two important lessons from this experience.
The obvious one being you cannot control or project the attendence. One week a class may have 20 kids, another week 15 and another 35+. Even if we only have 10 kids we should be prepared for 40. After all isn't the point to grow anyways reaching more kids. All of a sudden Kevin Costner in the movie Field of Dreams is coming to mind, "if you build it they will come." I want this ministry to want to grow and be ready to reach out to as many kids as possible. How sad would it be if I put a cap on it and said we could only handle so much.
The second lesson may not be as obvious but just as important. No class should have only one teacher in it. When one of the teachers/leaders is out there should not be an obvious void because everyone (with the exception of jr. helpers and check in check out roles) should know how to teach and lead the class. I want every teacher to always be mentoring new volunteers who should be able to assume the role if needed.
Although I don't recommend the above scenario of what happened in our class yesterday to be used as a recruiting technique I'm thankful that if anything this new volunteer has already learned the above lessons with me.
Tania, welcome to Noah's Club!
Tuesday, April 1, 2008
New Series Starting Up
We are starting a new eight week series this Sunday called "What's Bugging You."In addition to learning a new song this week they will be learning how to be prepared. They will find out how to look for ways to prepare their minds to make good decisions that will result in good actions.
I'm excited about the bug stuff! My preschooler son always seems more open to learning while exploring God's vast creation. We will be bringing a part of his creation into our large group classroom through our very own nature center complete with ladybugs and various other critters.
To find out what other cool things are going on you will have to bee there. If you're five and under or you love working with five and unders hope to see you!
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
The High's Outweigh the Low's
This past Sunday night after returning from our family Easter dinner my husband congratulated me for surviving my first Easter as a staff ministry worker. I said, "uh, thanks." I was not really sure how to respond. I knew Easter was going to be a bit more challenging than an average Sunday and would need a bit more preparation. I didn't realize however the stress I would be under. Part of it was due to my poor planning in deciding to have a birthday party for my daughter the day before. In the twenty four hour period before Easter I had lost my keys three times and probably yelled at my children at least twice that number.
When I accepted the position of director my first Sunday was about one month out from Easter. We had a going away party for the previous director that day and during the meeting I was already trying to recruit volunteers to help on Easter. I was determined to be prepared and ready. Every week I seem to learn new things about this ministry. One thing I'm reminded of each week is no matter how prepared I am there will always be at least one or two glitches. This past week my Easter glitches were the following:
-I ordered sticker sheets from Oriental Trading Company to use as a craft and for the kids to take home. They came in and I didn't think to count them until the Saturday before Easter. Not only were there not enough for the three classrooms I needed them for they turned out to be boring for the kids and not enough of a craft by themselves.
-Because of the sticker sheet fiasco I decided to make up a new craft at the last minute for the four and five year olds.....rock art. I found a bucket of rocks in our resource room and thought the kids could decorate them to symbolize the stone that was rolled away from Jesus tomb. In addition I thought what four year old would not want to take a rock home. Turns out some four year olds don't like rocks and the ones that do like to hit other four year olds in the head with them. Probably a better craft for on older age group.
-I wanted the toddler class to have something special to do for Easter. Because of this age group they don't have as much structure as the other classes so we had an Easter Egg hunt for them. I figured toddlers would love plasic Easter eggs with an animal cracker inside. Well, some of them did but most of them were screaming too much to notice. Key learning for next year is to be sensitive to the fact that kids will be more upset than usual because they might have a different person taking care of them, will have more kids than ususal in their class and more kids they don't know.
-I bought pots of real flowers for our large group stage. In my mind I was thinking Easter, spring, colors, what we would do in adult church for the stage etc. Yes they added some nice color but I highly doubt the kids cared about it. For the expense I could have found something much better. Now I'm stuck watering these things at church every week so we can continue to use them to get my money's worth. Oh and then there is the poisonous factor. Note to self, let go of my own interests of hating fake flowers for the best interest of the kids were trying to serve.
There may have even been a few more here and there but these are the first that come to mind. After taking some notes on what I would do differently I wanted to make sure to evaluate what went well if anything at all (I am new at this.) Turns out there was a few things.
-Our Good Friday services had the highest attendance ever and although we did not have childcare during the 5:30 service our 7:00 kids service was great. My job does not include overseeing Friday night services but knowing there would be more kids in there than usual and more families visiting I felt compelled to help. We set up the time just like we do on Sunday mornings. They were able to do a craft that we had leftover supplies for and they watched a video from the current curriculum we are using. Mrs. Nancy from the Sunday 10:30 four year old class was in there helping out which blessed me that she would step up in an area she does not usually serve in. The kids that knew her from Sunday loved seeing her there and she really made a huge difference in the evening.
-Speaking of Good Friday at the end of the services four college students came up to me and enthusiastically told me they wanted to serve on Easter morning. I did nothing to recruit them they just came out of the blue. Each of them showed up on Sunday with the same enthusiasm and helped the classrooms go from being adequately covered to more than adequately covered.
-Cristen Reber who has been serving in Noah's Club for the past few years off and on did an outstanding job leading large group during the 7:30 service. That girl definitely has some talent that I do not possess. Hopefully she will be in there at least once a month to connect with the kids.
-On a personal note one of my prayers was that I could attend the Good Friday service and one of the Easter services. I was able to attend the entire 7:00 Good Friday service and thanks to Leah taking over I was able to sit in a majority of the 9:00 Easter service.
-Lastly but most importantly THE VOLUNTEERS SHOWED UP AND SHOWED UP BIG! Like the Good Friday services our Easter services had the highest attendence ever. During the last service they had to bring in extra chairs to the worship center and divert many people to our video venue. How this translates for Noah's Club is LOTS OF KIDS. Even with the high attendence the classrooms were more than adequately covered. Some teachers like Mr. Chip and Mrs. Leah served during two services. We even had a "first serve" lady named Tania who served joyfully during two services. I was so proud of our amazing leaders for being there early and helping these kids.
So in the whole process of doing this Easter thing for preschoolers I learned a lot. Lot's of things I would do differently next year. But for this year I'm celebrating the good and how it outweighs (to a certain degree) some of the challenges.
When I accepted the position of director my first Sunday was about one month out from Easter. We had a going away party for the previous director that day and during the meeting I was already trying to recruit volunteers to help on Easter. I was determined to be prepared and ready. Every week I seem to learn new things about this ministry. One thing I'm reminded of each week is no matter how prepared I am there will always be at least one or two glitches. This past week my Easter glitches were the following:
-I ordered sticker sheets from Oriental Trading Company to use as a craft and for the kids to take home. They came in and I didn't think to count them until the Saturday before Easter. Not only were there not enough for the three classrooms I needed them for they turned out to be boring for the kids and not enough of a craft by themselves.
-Because of the sticker sheet fiasco I decided to make up a new craft at the last minute for the four and five year olds.....rock art. I found a bucket of rocks in our resource room and thought the kids could decorate them to symbolize the stone that was rolled away from Jesus tomb. In addition I thought what four year old would not want to take a rock home. Turns out some four year olds don't like rocks and the ones that do like to hit other four year olds in the head with them. Probably a better craft for on older age group.
-I wanted the toddler class to have something special to do for Easter. Because of this age group they don't have as much structure as the other classes so we had an Easter Egg hunt for them. I figured toddlers would love plasic Easter eggs with an animal cracker inside. Well, some of them did but most of them were screaming too much to notice. Key learning for next year is to be sensitive to the fact that kids will be more upset than usual because they might have a different person taking care of them, will have more kids than ususal in their class and more kids they don't know.
-I bought pots of real flowers for our large group stage. In my mind I was thinking Easter, spring, colors, what we would do in adult church for the stage etc. Yes they added some nice color but I highly doubt the kids cared about it. For the expense I could have found something much better. Now I'm stuck watering these things at church every week so we can continue to use them to get my money's worth. Oh and then there is the poisonous factor. Note to self, let go of my own interests of hating fake flowers for the best interest of the kids were trying to serve.
There may have even been a few more here and there but these are the first that come to mind. After taking some notes on what I would do differently I wanted to make sure to evaluate what went well if anything at all (I am new at this.) Turns out there was a few things.
-Our Good Friday services had the highest attendance ever and although we did not have childcare during the 5:30 service our 7:00 kids service was great. My job does not include overseeing Friday night services but knowing there would be more kids in there than usual and more families visiting I felt compelled to help. We set up the time just like we do on Sunday mornings. They were able to do a craft that we had leftover supplies for and they watched a video from the current curriculum we are using. Mrs. Nancy from the Sunday 10:30 four year old class was in there helping out which blessed me that she would step up in an area she does not usually serve in. The kids that knew her from Sunday loved seeing her there and she really made a huge difference in the evening.
-Speaking of Good Friday at the end of the services four college students came up to me and enthusiastically told me they wanted to serve on Easter morning. I did nothing to recruit them they just came out of the blue. Each of them showed up on Sunday with the same enthusiasm and helped the classrooms go from being adequately covered to more than adequately covered.
-Cristen Reber who has been serving in Noah's Club for the past few years off and on did an outstanding job leading large group during the 7:30 service. That girl definitely has some talent that I do not possess. Hopefully she will be in there at least once a month to connect with the kids.
-On a personal note one of my prayers was that I could attend the Good Friday service and one of the Easter services. I was able to attend the entire 7:00 Good Friday service and thanks to Leah taking over I was able to sit in a majority of the 9:00 Easter service.
-Lastly but most importantly THE VOLUNTEERS SHOWED UP AND SHOWED UP BIG! Like the Good Friday services our Easter services had the highest attendence ever. During the last service they had to bring in extra chairs to the worship center and divert many people to our video venue. How this translates for Noah's Club is LOTS OF KIDS. Even with the high attendence the classrooms were more than adequately covered. Some teachers like Mr. Chip and Mrs. Leah served during two services. We even had a "first serve" lady named Tania who served joyfully during two services. I was so proud of our amazing leaders for being there early and helping these kids.
So in the whole process of doing this Easter thing for preschoolers I learned a lot. Lot's of things I would do differently next year. But for this year I'm celebrating the good and how it outweighs (to a certain degree) some of the challenges.
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