As I continue my adventure in children's ministry, I am so excited to lead the 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade girls in KidzPlayce at The Gathering.
These Thursday posts are part of my journey along the way.
You can't plan conversations in children's ministry small groups. You can come prepared with a general outline of discussion questions, but be ready for those Spirit led moments that may lead you to the unexpected. That happened with my 345 girls this past Sunday. The topic I was all ready to discuss was about how we need to treat others with kindness as they all belong to God. I had my discussion questions all ready and felt completely prepared.
The Holy Spirit definitely had something else in mind.
To start the chat off, I asked the girls if they have someone in their lives that is hard to be kind to. This question led to a heartbreaking conversation about a few of the girls having trouble with the "mean girls" at school and wondering how people can be that way. A few others talked about having friends that just can't get along and feeling so caught in the middle wanting so much for everyone to just get along.
This turn in conversation not only gave me an opportunity to speak into their lives about what they are experiencing right now, but I was blown away by the girls speaking into each others lives. Talking to each other about that hurt and trying to come up with ways of dealing with it. One of the girls hit the nail on the head when she said that the best thing we could do in these situations is pray for these people and love them. One even said that you really have to wonder if people who are mean have a broken heart and that's why they hurt others and how sad that is.
Did I mention my list of discussion questions? Well I gladly put them aside for another time. God was all over this chat as I watched my 345 girls love on each other and want so much to love on others who are hurting. I'll take a moment like that over my plan any day.
You can't plan conversations in children's ministry small groups. You can come prepared with a general outline of discussion questions, but be ready for those Spirit led moments that may lead you to the unexpected. That happened with my 345 girls this past Sunday. The topic I was all ready to discuss was about how we need to treat others with kindness as they all belong to God. I had my discussion questions all ready and felt completely prepared.
The Holy Spirit definitely had something else in mind.
To start the chat off, I asked the girls if they have someone in their lives that is hard to be kind to. This question led to a heartbreaking conversation about a few of the girls having trouble with the "mean girls" at school and wondering how people can be that way. A few others talked about having friends that just can't get along and feeling so caught in the middle wanting so much for everyone to just get along.
This turn in conversation not only gave me an opportunity to speak into their lives about what they are experiencing right now, but I was blown away by the girls speaking into each others lives. Talking to each other about that hurt and trying to come up with ways of dealing with it. One of the girls hit the nail on the head when she said that the best thing we could do in these situations is pray for these people and love them. One even said that you really have to wonder if people who are mean have a broken heart and that's why they hurt others and how sad that is.
Did I mention my list of discussion questions? Well I gladly put them aside for another time. God was all over this chat as I watched my 345 girls love on each other and want so much to love on others who are hurting. I'll take a moment like that over my plan any day.
Brought tears to my eyes - this is certainly what it is all about. May the Lord bless you as you minister to these girls.
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