You are reading this on a Monday due to all that was packed into Sunday, and about which I’d like to report!
First- Morning church: –
Cousin Ron outdid himself by calling before 630am! Fortunately I was awake because both my furries had decided to lie on top of me, which was pretty uncomfortable, however they both moved off when I reached for the phone. Up extra early there was much to do since last evening the final load of curtain panels had been hung to dry so they were ready to take off the clotheslines. With the luxury of riding my bike to church (for the first time this year!) there was a bit more time to putter around and give Wil a good long walk before heading for St. Stephen’s.
Once there I set up our activities. Today’s Scripture focus was Acts 22:6-11 , the Road to Damascus. I had found a decent video of the story and Pippa and I had planned to have both groups watch it together, but when I got to church I discovered two other people hunched over their laptops unable to connect to the internet, so sadly, the children had to settle for my impromptu retelling of the story.
The little ones then headed off to their room and the over-fives made paper plate masks with “mean Saul” on one side and “St. Paul” on the other. We had three visitors this morning, Pastor Nick’s two grandsons who had come from Toronto with their parents for the weekend and a small Francophone boy whose parents were visiting our church. I think they all enjoyed drawing the villainous faces on their masks! After that we played Kim’s game and then it was time for closing prayer and heading down to join everyone else. It was a blessing that the Road to Damascus had also been one of the scenes in last Sunday’s “Stations of the Resurrection” so the children were really able to step into the story, particularly since Malachi and Seren’s dad is Paul and he had acted the part in that scene.
Cycling home I thought about how we had used all our senses to experience the Scripture and how much richer that was than simple passive listening. If we can make scripture come alive (not just for children but for everyone) the stories engrain themselves in our hearts and minds and we can replay them, making them our own in deeper ways.
Once home I dashed around and set to cleaning the bedroom and bathroom windows. Having biked home I was in the house by 245pm, even with eating my lunch at church so the extra time came in very handy and I had all ten windows done and the freshly washed curtains rehung before walking Wil and then prepping my picnic dinner and a fresh herb dip as part of the Crossroads snack. Luke (who leads the Worship Team) came by at 5pm to drive me down as I have the key and also had a pack basket full of all the snack components.
Once back at St. Stephen’s House, I quickly stashed the cold drinks materials in the fridge as the dancers arrived hot on our tail. It was super that eight young people showed up and worked really hard to learn the piece in only one hour so that Jillian had time to film them before the Service. This was really super as it means our instructional DVD is now on video so next Saturday we will be able to focus on doing crafts samples and not need to stop and learn the Day Camp Dance. Yahoo!
After the filming everyone sat around the dining room table and enjoyed a quick supper provided by Rev. Linda Faith then, as some of them washed the dishes I set the kitchen island for snack-Minted Limeade, Organic Potato Chips and Fresh Herb Dip. Everything was ready as we gathered to begin Crossroads. Our Speaker was Liz Johnstone (from St. Stephen’s!) and she spoke on “Water & Faith”
sharing many verses from the Scriptures where water is seen as vital to our physical life and analogous to our Spiritual wellbeing.
sharing many verses from the Scriptures where water is seen as vital to our physical life and analogous to our Spiritual wellbeing.
The band had selected a number of great songs drawing the same parallels, the dancers provided a lovely prayer offering and I think everyone came away renewed and feeling at peace.
Afterwards we all stood around in the kitchen drinking limeade and crunching chips. Several Team Members helped with clear up and Luke Kindly drove me home, where I received a joyful welcome from Wil before crashing into bed.
Another “action-packed” Sunday, but very fulfilling!