Ladybugs & Stinkbugs

Granny had a special event yesterday - she taught the children's sermon at church! Our normal MO is to have all the children come up to the front right before Raymond preaches, for about 3-5 minutes. Raymond usually does this, and speaks just to the kids for a few minutes. Not abnormal, many churches do it. And, as you know, it's taking a risk each and every time.

So yesterday, the job fell to mom. She had prepared a very cute (and short) lesson on obedience. She also included a song from our "old days":

Obedience is the very best way to show that you believe
Doing exactly what the Lord commands
Doing it happily
Action is the key
Do it immediately
And joy you will receive
Obedience is the very best way to show that you believe

And you spell it
O
B
E
D
IENCE
Obedience is the very best way to show that you believe

Just right for that age right before text messaging and MySpace become all the rage, right...?





If you'll notice, in the picture, the majority of the kids up there are related to Granny!! =) Well, that may not be accurate, but there were a significant number of kids that were hers.

This day also happened to mark another very special occasion: Madelyn's first time in "Big Church".

Can you guess what comes next?

As Granny introduced the song, she said, "I want to teach you a song to help you remember to obey." Maddie, very into what Granny was saying, says (out loud) "I know a song we can sing!"

"That's great, Maddie," Granny says back. "Let's sing this song right now." And she begins to sing.

Maddie interrupts - "When you're done singing your song, can I sing mine? I want to sing 'Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star'"!

Granny just laughs and keeps on going. Maddie was fine...until she got up to go back to her seat. She started to go the wrong way, so Granny grabs her hand. As she does, Maddie falls...on the floor...in the middle of the service. Maddie yells, "Granny, you made me fall!" and starts sobbing her way back to her seat. She gets settled in my lap, but not before yelling - to the whole church - "Granny, you are NOT making me happy!!"

Of course, as you can guess, everyone is laughing hysterically at this point. But it's not just because Maddie's making a scene. No, it's because it reminds them of what it reminds all of us: the spontaneity of children. What is it that Forrest Gump says: "You never know what you're gonna get"? That's exactly the way it is with these precious children. The laughter and surprise that they bring to our lives is priceless, and this is just one among countless examples of that.

As Raymond got up to preach, he addressed Maddie: "Maddie, you are a precious little girl. We are glad to have you here." And so we could say to all our precious little ones.

We are glad to have you here.