If you read my Saturday post you will not be surprised that it proved completely impossible to fit in the writing of a Sunday Reflection yesterday, so here it is, a bit late, but maybe as I walked Wil and shovelled (AGAIN!) this morning, the Lord has given me a bit of time and space to focus on what to write!
Yesterday morning I was up early to be ready for a 9am lift with Nick. We also picked up Pippa and then headed down to church. After quickly setting up for Children’s Group I was able to help Pippa a bit with the final set up in preparation for the Toddler Room launch.
It looks SUPER! There are still a few more things we want to do-2 wall lights still need to be installed and I’m going to make some simple curtains or valances. We also need to order a few special toys and a set of felt puppets for story telling. But is launched, finally. Whew!
We had our first shared snack in the Children’s room and quickly discovered that the children are all about finishing snack and diving into activities while the toddlers would quite happily sit grazing!
Once we had shovelled them out, with their bowls of half-eaten snacks we launched into our story of Jesus calling His disciples-John 1 v.43-50 which we had a great time illustrating on the felt board. Next we each made a card game, placing the pre-printed name of a Disciple on one side of each card, with the children choosing to either draw a portrait of the Disciple on the other side, or to cut out a magazine picture of a man and to glue it on.
While we worked we talked about how, even though these 12 special friends of Jesus were all grown up men, that Jesus also had lots of women who helped and supported Him in his ministry. This also segued neatly into how God even calls children to serve Him as we talked about the Old Testament story of Eli and Samuel. As a special treat at the end we just had time, after closing prayers to watch this “Muppet-style” retelling of that story. Do check it out! After church people came upstairs to tour the new room, and I spent some time putting a first coat of white paint on the wood which surrounds the new glass panel inserts on the doors of both our groups’ rooms.Eventually I got a ride home again with Nick and flew in the door with just 1 hour in which to prepare for the CTM Board meeting. Within the hour Wil and I took a speedy walk, I made pots of tea and coffee, scraped ice off the front path, did some advance prep for the High Tea, which was to immediately follow the meeting and was just booting up the laptop to take the Minutes when the first people arrived!!
The meeting managed to be productive, long and chaotic, all at the same time! With the Huyers’ 2 dogs keeping warm in a kennel in the basement, Wil corralled in the kitchen Mandu hiding under a bed, the two little boys playing between the kitchen and the living room and the board members gathered around the dining room table, it was quite the afternoon!!At 6pm as I helped people leave the house (yes the front door knob has also fallen off, making what is normally a simple activity, now quite a struggle!!) I was also boiling water for more tea and literally laying a tablecloth as computers and papers were being picked up from the dining table. AGH!
We soon were able to sit down to High Tea, and everyone made a fairly decent meal. Then it was into pj’s for the little guys and the Huyers did a whirlwind clean up and car packing while I washed the dishes. By that time there was freezing rain falling so I asked Victoria to text me when they got home. They didn’t reach Ottawa until 11pm, a very long day for them, with Monday morning arriving only too soon.
While shovelling this morning I was led to consider whether this post would simply consist of a long list of activities, leaving readers to question if and where lies a Sunday Reflection or whether, hidden within the chaos, there is in fact a kernel of “Sabbath Grace” worth identifying.Despite being physically wiped by Sunday evening, upon looking back I can honestly say “yes”. Sabbath “rest” does not need to be physical rest as long as one’s mind and spirit receive a special infilling of Grace and as long as we pause to give the day totally to the Lord’s agenda and not our own.
So where was Grace for me? – in the smile of 1 year old Olivia as she sat eating her snack, in the conversation with the children as we made our Disciple cards, in a small sheet of paper I found on the kitchen counter Sunday morning, filled with such kind and thoughtful words of thanks from the SYC Staff, and lastly when my eldest Godson ran into the kitchen in his pyjamas and shouted “I LOVE you!!” What more tools did I need to be given yesterday to face the week ahead? Nothing more-
“ His Grace is sufficient to fill my needs”.
