Musings on Sloan

So...as much as I enjoyed the freedom of having Kate in the nursery...here is the dilemma according to how (our family)believes...Only speaking for US here....lol

Sloan LOVED working in the nursery..
She loved, loved, loved it. (immediate red flag)
"I think it is my gift!" (nope and yep all at once)
"I am GREAT with kids!" (Yes, of COURSE you are.)

So we had to have a long talk about this...and while I know these are different beliefs than others, this is just what we believe to be the Truth in our family.Of course she loved working in the nursery...she is a natural born MOTHER. Most women are because it is built in since before the foundation of the world. She is growing up and moving toward motherhood quicker than we all know. Caring for children is a natural satisfaction in women if they have not been warped by the world. It is her gift because women need that in order not to murder their little angels. But it is NOT a gift meant for skipping church to care for other's little ones. At the VERY least, not for a fifteen year old...it reminds me of something someone much wiser than me once said: Just because you do something well, does NOT mean you are supposed to do it".
WOW.
That is SO true. Our gifts can become our weaknesses if we use them wrongly. Check out Sampson for that one. Her ability to care for children is meant for HER children (and others of course in the course of different ministry applications) but NOT for a Sunday morning when she should be in the sermon. Sigh. I am not expressing well. Not that she shouldn't help. Not that we will forbid it. Just that it is SO IMPORTANT to not let her get confused with the idea that children's ministry is what she is feeling.
It is not.
It is her maternal instinct that she is feeling.
Setting a teen up in the busy-ness of church is a mistake we do not want to make. It is easy to serve your life away and miss Jesus the whole way through. Easy to get validation from doing a job well (all the while missing the refining power of the Word through your pastor's sermon) Easy to be a Martha when you should be a Mary. Easy to let ministry block your view of Jesus Christ.
From nursery to an office to your own children in daycare to: What happened to our generational training up of Christians???
Think it can't happen? Ha. We haven't come this far to throw it all away now.So we will continue to rotate and put Kate on super advanced training to get her in with us. But it may still be a year. I mean, I enjoyed serving in the nursery as well, a LOT actually, but I am old enough to know that my personal relationship with Christ needs to be all consuming. She is not there yet and is actively seeking many things in her life....a parent needs to be careful..guiding and giving and FORgiving...it may sound a little micro-managerial, especially if you BELIEVE in children's programs but cut us reformers some slack. We are just trying to raise up women (the best we can) who Glorify the Lord by being busy AT HOME so that the Word of got is not maligned (Titus 2), lovers of their HUSBANDS but who PUT JESUS FIRST in their lives. Women can be so easily derailed into service without substance.
So that was a scary little derailing of thought...I hope we caught it. We will continue to watch!