Thursdays are crunch days for me. This is the day where I print, cut, sort, vacuum, declutter classrooms, and make sure every detail is attended to before Sunday. This week is “missions Sunday” for our church, and both campuses (Towncenter and Oceanfront) will be joining at our Oceanfront campus. So we are preparing for a big turnout, God willing!
I am always on the look out for ways to step up our kid’s program, which is called SHRED. One challenge that I face is that we rent our space from First Baptist of Virginia Beach, so our building is very old and very traditional. That means that, for some reason, people find it really hard to keep the space clean and decluttered. That is why I spend so much of my time cleaning up! I know that, although subtle, the difference between a bookshelf littered with craft supplies and topsy turvy Bibles, and a shelf that is clean and neat, is very important and can affect the comfort level of a child when they come in on Sunday.
I am always implementing small upgrades that are easy to neglect. For example: I recently had nametags on lanyards printed up for all the volunteers – but because they are not used to wearing them, it is a painstaking task to get them around the necks of all the adults on Sundays! Once again, I think this is a subtle change that can impact the quality of our program – when parents see teachers with uniform nametags, there is a higher confidence in our safety-awareness.
Although the relationships between staff and congregation members can be challenging, I believe that God is slowly growing in me an ability to navigate those difficult relational waters. I pray for grace and humility to love His people in the best way possible!
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