Lessons in Nursery

Sometimes you get a calling that seems more like a sentence then a calling.

My last calling was the primary music leader- a calling I felt I was born to do. We had lots of fun and all the kids got their wiggles out. And then I was called from that to Nursery. I cornered the Primary President and asked her why she out me in there. She explained that she didn't want to move me from music, but that the nursery needed a strong leader who would be dependable. (ie, I actually show up, and often am prepared too).

So I have now served a year in nursery (I served many years in nursery before. I was called to nursery when I was 18, and kept getting that calling until my oldest was 4 years old and out of nursery himself.)

As much as I loved organizing the nursery, getting a good consistent program running and teaching to gospel to 6 open, innocent minds every week, I began to wonder why the Lord would put me there again. What am I to learn from this?

Well, when I got pregnant and began being bigger then normal earlier then normal, we began to wonder if we might be having more then 1 baby. Then I began to watch nursery and realize that the lesson I was looking for might be that I can handle an awful lot of little ones. How many babies could I be pregnant with? well, the 6 kids in nursery already counted 2 of my own. Is the Lord showing me that I could handle quadruplets?

That scared the pants off of us. 4 toddlers is a little different then 4 preemie newborns. (quads are almost always premature). Then I had a weird dream where a doctor told me that I had conceived 4, but only had 6 legs kicking me. So then we were wondering if there is any credence to this dream, and triplets had a chance of full term birth. Still scary, but I have known people who have had triplets and survived to be proud of them as young adults.

So, we were really looking forward, with some in trepidation, to our ultrasound last week. What would it show? What are we in for?

We were slightly shocked and pleasantly surprised to find out that instead of 2, 3, or 4. That my belly just had 1 big baby boy in it. He is so big that it could have easily been 2.

So besides a big sigh of relief, then I was still left wondering about what am I to learn from nursery?

Sometimes I wonder if it is the same lesson, but to be viewed over a longer time frame. Maybe it is the lesson that just showing up is 90% of the service. Show up and let the Lord work through you.