I’ve been volunteering at my church for the past 12 years. When we first began attending in 2006 both Denis and I volunteered in the children’s area. Since our church met in a movie theater, it meant unpacking all the toys each week, cleaning them when the service was done, packing them back up and loading them onto the trailer. Our kids were toddlers, so it was nice to be able to be with them on the Sundays we volunteered.
Then I auditioned for and joined the band, where I sang/played keyboard for a few years. Then I moved to the production side and helped with the sound mixing and video tech (running lyrics). Once our church got its own building I continued on the production team but did producing, running lyrics and even worked behind the cameras a few times.
But a couple months ago, I’d see commercials that included babies and thought, “You know, I wouldn’t mind holding some babies every now and again at church.” I contacted the woman in charge of the children’s ministry, and after filling out the now-required paperwork, I was called in to sub for another nursery worker who couldn’t make it this past weekend.
Instead of being with the babies, however, I was with toddlers. Specifically, 2-3 year olds. Oh my, I love that age. That is a FUN FUN age. And during the two services I served last week, they did NOT disappoint.
“Who are you?” one boy asked me.
“I’m Jaynee.”
“What’s that?” he asked, pointing at the mole on my neck.
“It’s a big freckle,” I responded.
“Okay. Come read to me.” And with that he dragged me over to the bookshelf, grabbed a book, gestured toward the floor, and upon my sitting down he hopped on my lap and demanded I read a book about Christmas.
Clearly a kid after my own heart.
During the next service, a boy asked me my name, which I told him. What astonished me was that almost an hour later this boy remembered my name. He also dismissed me when I attempted to play with him. He was messing around with something and I approached him and asked him a couple questions about the toy. “No,” he said, before pointing to the other side of the room. “You go over there and I’ll stay here and play.”
Um. Okay.
All of the kids were precious and fun, and each one had their own personality. Some were shy and spent a lot of time just watching the other kids play. Others were rarin’ to go and ready for playtime. A couple kids cried when they first arrived but within moments had settled in well and were perfectly content to stay and play. All in all, it was a very fun morning serving in the nursery and I look forward to the next time, which won’t be until August.
The only negative – somehow, *I* ended up being the person that changed all the messy diapers in both services. I tell you – I don’t miss THAT task one bit. Ugh.
