WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?

CONFESSION. Right off the bat.

I did not go into kids ministry because I felt called to minister to kids. Nor did I have a desire to be around other people's kids. Which probably has you asking...

What are you doing here?

Sometimes I think it's a stumbling block to see where someone is today and think they were just born with it. Truth is where I am today, was one unexpected step of faith at a time.

IN THE BEGINNING

I had just started attending a new church. The Word alone was changing me, but one thing impacted me more ways than I could have imagined.

And it was simply God dropping a desire in my heart one Sunday.

The first Sunday of every month was Family Sunday, where kids sat in "Big Church" with their parents.

Just as we were sitting down after praise and worship, the kids pastors burst into the sanctuary in full costume to do a skit. The doctor asked his nurse to send in his next patient and in comes two men carrying a gurney with a patient underneath a sheet.

After a crazy set of tests, procedures, and a loud power drill, they diagnosed the patient with a stony heart, which the doctor pretended to surgically remove with a saw. The congregation was rolling with laughter! But me?

I was totally HOOKED!

I wanted to be a part of what they were doing. Not the teaching part. I just wanted to do that! Dress up in a costume and do that!

Then one Sunday, opportunity knocked.

Let me add this plug: Don't wait for opportunity to knock. You knock first. I promise, there is always a place to serve in Kids Ministry.

Anyway, I kept pushing the desire aside because I was clearly not qualified. But every time I watched them do a skit, inner turmoil was going on between my spirit, soul, and body.

It went something like this:

Me: I want to do that!

Soul: You expect us to get up in front of people and talk? You have lost your mind!

Body: I think I'm going to pass out!

A few months later, they announced that the kids pastors were leaving for Bible school and they needed help in kids church. My heart was pounding so hard I thought it would fall in my lap! I had to act fast or I'd talk myself out of it. Again.

After service, I told the pastor's wife that if they ever needed my help, to let me know.

I was expecting a nice, "Thank you, we'll let you know," but she grabbed me by the arm. I know now it was so I wouldn't get away! She yelled across the room to the new kids pastor.

"SHE WANTS TO HELP!"

Right there on the spot, I was scheduled for the next Sunday.

And I was in my first skit.

Wearing a long black hooded cloak, I waited for my cue to enter and shoot Nerf darts at the teacher during a lesson on the shield of faith. With my heart pounding out of my chest, I leaned against a desk, praying with everything in me not to pass out from fear and the radiating heat underneath the thick black double-knit fabric.

"I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me."

"God has not given me a spirit of fear, but of power, love, and a sound mind."

I slipped in the back door, fired the darts, and ran back out as the Word of God was hurled back at me.

Relieved and excited that I had actually done it but even more so that I had found my place.

Not long after, I was asked to help with short object lessons. And to be perfectly honest, those lessons were the reason I came so close to quitting over the next months years. Many times! Even asking God, "What am I doing here?"

Talking in front of the kids near impossible for me. The words wouldn't come out right, and the kids pastor would have to step in to bail me out.

But skits?

Skits were my thing!

There was just something about putting on a wig and a costume. I was no longer shy and reserved. I stepped completely into character, teaching and speaking with ease.

I found out God has a very creative way of teaching you things without letting on that He's doing it. I had spent my whole life avoiding public speaking, and He taught me Public Speaking 101 in a costume.

And so began my kids ministry career of creating character after character, rewriting lessons into skits. And in turn, learning to create my own object lessons.

Then one day I realized that I didn't need the costume as a crutch anymore. Of course, that didn't stop me because let's be honest, it's way more fun with one!

So what am I doing here?

Sharing what I've learned in kids church. As a grownup.

Curriculum. Skits. Resources. Tips. Stories. Experiences. Encouragement.

I'd love for you to join me inside Kingdom Story Kids.