So, way back in the day when I was about 17 I was asked to work with kids in Sunday school and I was SO NOT inspired by that idea. So I didn't. To be honest I found kids annoying and out of control... Then when we went to YWAM in my early 20's I was specifically placed in the "Keiki Corner" with my mentor Barb who was highly trained to worked with preschoolers and had a unique ability to understand and draw out their spirituality. It was obvious that God was calling me into something and there's always the temptation to run the other way, but thankfully this time I didn't! By the end of my work time at YWAM I had a newfound passion and love for working with kids and the rest is history.
I didn't find it particularly easy to jump into any kinds of kids ministry as it required something from me - it pulled from my innermost being ideas and a need to call out to God for freshness and His ideas to keep things alive and real and TANGIBLE. I had been broken in some ways in my "efforts" to obey God... and with my personality it's really easy for things to become legalistic. Thankfully, right from 10 years of age where I gave my life to Jesus, He showed up for me in a tangible way, when I ran out the cabin door the next morning and all of nature had become new in a bright tangible way! There were lots of struggles along the way but I was determined not to give up! Years later I was set free from loads of legalism through a home study I did by MIke Bickle on the "Song of Songs" (of all things!) and finding out that I was the passion and desire and deep love of God's heart switched on all kinds of bulbs and there was a newfound delight in bypassing all the lies I had come to believe that I was not good enough, would never be enough, would always be stuck in judging others and being judged... I realized it was only by focusing my entire walk and life on the truth and beauty of how incredibly loved I was and that HE HAD ALREADY paid the whole price. I just needed to become ONE with Him, leaning into Him and onto Him with a beautiful constancy and therefore it truly is my desire that as I finish my race, I will be one of the ones who is coming out of the desert leaning on her Beloved... Oh the wonder and glory that He has made this all possible and I will truly DWELL in the house of the Lord (His presence and amazing world) forever and ever amen.
I ended up teaching Sunday school for years and had such sweet times with he kids, learning as much from them as they did from me. This was followed by years of teaching kids with dyslexia which was another really rich and beautiful experience of mostly working one on one with kids, having the opportunity to pray over them and speak truth into the places where they felt broken and not enough.
In a rare post I put on FB, I mentioned my illness just wanting people to be in the loop and to pray if they felt led. To my utter amazement and embarrassment, so very many people responded with so much kindness and love and encouragement. I have to just keep getting over the hurdle that when people say kind things about me, they are really speaking to the reflection of Christ they have somehow managed to see, despite how much of ME tends to keep popping up!!
There were so many precious responses, but these two speak to the glory of us picking up what can initially feel like a cross in our lives (because for real - the exhaustion you experience after teaching and the stress beforehand for me was not easy!) and watching God build and grow something beautiful out of our tiny sacrifice of love.
So if you're feeling nudged by God into an area that feels like it could be life-giving but is still a little scary, keep your radar up and don't shut the door too quick!! Someday, down the road lives will be changed for eternity... and that's really what it's all about...
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"Hi Mrs. Karen, my heart breaks with this news but at the same time my spirit is welling up with a deep hope and joy as I think about how your life has been and will continue to be a testimony of God's goodness and faithfulness, I have never met someone who is so in love with Jesus, and for that you have been so influential in my life. To see someone who suffers in a way I will never understand, trust and love Jesus and find hope in Him is truly only by the power of the Holy Spirit. When I was 8 years old, you planted seeds that have grown into a low for God's Word, a desire to encourage and speak truth over others, and a faith so fierce I could overcome anything. And the way you would be so excited to see me every time we crossed paths mean the world to a youngster like me. I will be praying that the hope of the resurrection and the life of the world to come would shine ever so bright in this time, and that you taste the glory that is coming as you suffer and that you would experience intimacy with Jesus like never before as you walk the path He walked so long ago, and will rise again with Him. How I cannot wait for us to be reunited again one day! Blessings to you (J)"
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"Thank you Mrs. Karen for installing in me an unshakable faith with deep roots. The Lord used you in such a tangible way to guide me as I built the foundation of my faith. You were there for the most formative time in my life when the seeds of my faith were planted. I still sing the songs you taught us and hear your sweet voice singing the tunes of "My Sheep listen to my voice, I know them and they follow me" or "your words have I hidden in my heart that I might not sin against you". You taught me to trust God and trust that I know when His voice is speaking. I can't put into words the impact you have had on my life and truly you are a major part of the reason I will follow the Lord all the days of my life.
💕Thank you , thank you, thank you! Your encouragement and love built the deep confidence in me saying I am loved by the Father and can love others freely. I hope to continue sharing what you taught me with others and love the way I saw you love. 💕 Thank you Lord for Mrs. Karen and will you welcome her with overwhelming joy. Until we hug again in heaven and it will be just like "my secret place: you taught me to imagine Heaven to be! I remember when you taught us to imagine our secret place to talk to God... Maybe you can go ahead of me and enjoy my secret place before I join you! (C)"
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