Awana

Tuedays are my favorite day of the week for one reason and one reason only: AWANA! I've told you about it before. It's a Christian children's club that meets at our church from 7-8:30 p.m. on Tuesdays. I'm one of the leaders for the 5th, 6th and 7th grade girls. I LOVE that group! Even though they certainly have their times when I'd love to wrap them in ducktape and stick them in a closet :)

God has really given me so many opportunities in that group to be a light for him. Some of those girls live such sad lives. Awana is sometimes the only place where they will hear that they are loved and wanted. When you look at it from that perspective, you can't help but feel humbled and honored to be picked by God to be that one person in their life to speak those words of love and live out the way of light.

We have some funny moments too. On the way to Awana my dad was driving some little boys from our neighborhood. Their names are Freddy and Romeo, (ages 4 and 3) and they are two little rascals, let me tell you! Anyways, they found out from the rest of the boys about a place called Awana that was alot of fun, so of course the asked to come too. Well as my dad was driving them up he starts asking them, "So do you know who you're going to learn about at Awana?"

"Yeah, the teacher." Freddy yells.

"Well who are you going to learn about from the teacher?" My dad tries again.

"I dunno." Freddy shrugs and Romeo nods.

"Me neither, right Freddy? Me don't know either?"

"Well you're going to learn about Jesus."

"Oh! We know about him!" Freddy exclaims.

"Really?" My dad asks, somewhat surprised and pleased at the same time.

"Yeah! He lives three houses down from us! And he has Guitar Hero! Have you played with his guitar hero, Romeo?"

"Nuh uh." (My dad sighs and decides to pray for them more)

Another time in my brother's class the teacher was asking the kids who knew the story about Jonah. One of the boys waved his hand excitedly. "Oh! Oh! I know! I know! He's the guy with the pet whale!" At the teachers horrified face he quickly exclaimed, "No! Wait, I know! He RODE the whale! No! He WAS the whale?"

In Cubbies one time (the preschoolers) the teacher was telling the story of how God created man. "So then God took some dirt and he shaped it and formed it and blew into it and guess what he made?"

"A bagel." A little Cubbie answered matter of factly.

"There's also been those sad moments like the time I gave one of my girls a hug and she looked up and said, "I wish my mom hugged me like that."

Another time my dad asked one of the boys what life was like for him, he answered, "Life is pain ever since my mom died. I can barely remember her now. Sometimes I cry myself to sleep."

One of our Cubbies contacted cancer and lost all of her hair, but she wouldn't stop coming. It was one of the things she lived for. And when one of the kids found they had lice she was quick to smile and tell her mom, "Well I don't have to worry about that!"

Awana. It's more then just a club. It's a ministry. And I love it and the kids who attend it with all my heart. When you think about it, I've got 10 girls in my group. So those are 10 young woman who could also double as 10 potential wives who could have 10 potential families with children of their own. God has given me the opportunity to touch these girls now, while they're young, but he has only given them to me for a season. It's up to me to make the most of that small portion of time. Who knows what can be done in 1 school year, what changes done, what imprints formed, what memories made or what visions cast? We are all given these opportunities. We all have people who are placed in our lives but only for a season. We don't know for how long. And we don't need to. Our job is to simply be open to God and allow him to work.