2014 in review, Part Three

In this final part of my reflection of our past year, I will focus on our ministry.  The year started with little to no defined ministry roles: not only were we were new at our church, but we also needed some time to just catch our breath, and said no to a few things we were asked to do early on.  But once we felt like we had our footing established, we started to take on a few roles.  Here is a sampling of some of the ministry we took on in the second half of 2014.

*Teaching four-year-old Sunday school.  Together, we teach the four-year-olds during the Sunday school hour, which we both love.  The kiddos are a lot of fun.  Alex enjoys being "on" for the kids and easily gets their attention with his energy and humor.  The curriculum we are using is wonderful, very God-centered.  Alex usually does the teaching while I lead singing and scripture memory, and occasionally put together a craft.  Not only is four a fun age, but an added benefit is that we are learning how to teach and interact with the age that Esther will be soon.

*Community Garden. Through a number of different factors, God gave us the desire to propose a community garden to our church.  This will be on our church's property, and will serve not only as a benefit to members of the church, but it will also be open to members of our community.  Our projection is that we will have more non-church members than members, which we are hoping will lead to stronger ties into our community. Alex has been putting together plans for a while, and formally proposed the plans in December.  The elder board approved the plans, and we are hoping to have it up and running by April 15th of this year! A lot has to happen between now and then, so please be in prayer for us.  This is the biggest step of faith we have taken in a while, and I am excited to see God answer our prayers and glorify His name through this ministry.

*BloomingMoms greeter. At the start of this school year, I began help with our church's moms group.  I like being a greeter because it helps me get to know the moms who come that aren't a part of our church.  It has helped me to stay outward focused when our group meets, rather than talking to people I already know and to remember who to pray for.  This has also been a great way to meet all of the new women who come.

In addition to what I mentioned above, Alex was in charge of the men's retreat at our church a couple months ago and I have been helping with nursery scheduling (a BIG undertaking at a church with over 100 kiddos under the age of 5).