Sonshine Park

We are so thankful for our wonderful children's ministry. They seriously go above and beyond and not only take such great care of my girls but are genuinely interested in how they are doing and do a great job of partnering with us to teach them about Jesus! We love all the girls' teachers, the other volunteers, the curriculum they choose and the activities they do. The girls have had great teachers this year and we will miss them when they promote in August. We are excited to get to know their new teachers  though!

All of that being said, we struggle with Kendall going to her class e.v.e.r.y. Sunday. It is just crazy. She cries and throws herself on the floor or runs away from me every single time I take her to her class. She is in love with her teacher, she has great friends in her class, and she always tells us she has tons of fun each week, but every time - for two whole years - she has done this. It's just beyond what we can even figure out. We've tried everything. And she's fine 1 minute after I walk out the door, but dropping her off each week is just something that's not fun for me.

This week our children's minister and good friend Kathy went in after I left while she was still throwing a fit. She pulled Kendall aside and talked to her about how Mommy does a job every Sunday, Daddy does a job every Sunday and how her job, the way she can serve, is to go to class happy and smiling. She talked to her about how the other kids will be happy when they see her happy and how they will be upset if they see her sad. This seemed to click, at least for that day, and we're hoping it helps in the weeks to come!

I don't like to write about hard things like this, but even though they are hard, I want to remember them in the future. I want to remember how hard it is for me to drop her off every week - because I think it gives me good perspective for how hard it can be for some parents to drop their kids in class on Sundays. I also want to remember how helpful and patient Kendall's teachers and our children's ministry staff have been. In taking care of Kendall gently they have ministered to her mom and dad and we are so thankful!

So I don't have any pictures of all that, but I do have some pictures of Cooper playing in her class this past week. Every time I peek in I see her playing in this box they built to look like a castle. She's so funny. This is her friend Eli.

 This summer all of Sonshine Park has been learning about creation and what God made on each day of creation. Last week was Day 7 when God rested.  After church, Kendall said, "Mom, Dad, what did you learn in church today?" Cracked us up - we normally ask her that but she asked us first this time. :) We told her what we learned and then we asked her what she learned. She said, "I learned that God rested." We talked about this for a minute and then Kendall said, "Cooper, what did you learn?" Cooper looked at her and plain as day said, "Jesus." So cute!! Then she said, "My bed. Sleep." We're not sure exactly what she was saying, but we think she was either talking about how God rested or she just heard what Kendall said about God resting and she knew that must have meant that he slept in his bed. Either way it was pretty sweet. "Jesus." :)

We're so thankful for our children's ministry - on good days and on bad days!