I have a love-hate relationship with the church nursery. Way back when I was a wee one, I probably didn't like it so much. Being in the nursery meant being away from Mom and Dad - which I was never a big fan of. Later on in life, I enjoyed nursery duty with Mom. It meant skipping the worship service, playing with babies, and best of all, wearing pants to church in the morning.
The church nursery slipped off my radar for several years until last year - when Samara was born. Suddenly, the nursery became a place of renewed interest.
Samara hasn't actually spent much time in the nusery. While on chemo we kept her quite clear of it - it is after all, a place full of festering germs. Now that her immune system is back on track, I've thought about putting her in the nursery, but lately, her morning feeding is right at 10:00 (smack dab in the middle of morning worship) and her bedtime is between 6:30 and 7:00 (right in the middle of the evening service). In other words, her schedule doesn't lend itself to me putting her in the nursery. And frankly, I'd rather Samara be in the worship service - as long as she's not being too disruptive. She seems to enjoy church: she watches the light coming through the stained glass windows, the banners floating above her, the people singing in the row behind her. She listens intently to the music and takes a cat-nap during the sermon. Even if she doesn't know what's going on - I'm a big fan of children being in the worship service as much as possible.
All that to say that I haven't much felt like putting her in the nursery - and one of the times I did she had a huge screaming fit...
But yesterday morning, after her 10am feeding, I plopped her in an exersaucer in the infant nursery and joined Tim to listen to the end of our pastor's sermon on marriage and to celebrate the Lord's Supper. When we came back to the nursery 45 minutes later, Samara hardly looked at us - she was totally fixated on some huge nursery toy with chutes and balls and turrets and ramps.
So we'll be using the nursery more often.
AND... (here's the main reason I'm writing this post)...
I am now Faith Church's new nursery coordinator. The plea has been going out for months... we've needed a new nursery coordinator. I kept thinking - that job is not for me. I have gifts for singing and worship leading and playing piano... preaching... administering the sacraments. I don't belong in the nursery!
But the need was there and part of our calling to service in God's world is discerned through recognizing the needs of the world... and this little corner of the kingdom desperately needed a nursery coordinator.
And I'm it.
I'll be wiping down changing pads, sanitizing toys, removing choking hazards, replacing pager batteries, making sure the nursery is staffed 20 minutes before each service, tweaking Samara's nap and bedtime routine more than I would rather...
...and wearing pants to church more often than not.
Wait, I do that anyway...
Stay tuned: Tulip Time pictures of Samara in her borrowed Dutch costume are forthcoming!
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5 comments:
Found you! I'm glad I'll be able to keep up with you this way.
Heids-
This post made me smile! Don't love when you get "called" to do something you didn't think was for you? I am constantly reminded of God's sense of humor too. You will be great at your new role. And, I am sure Samara will grow to love the nursery too...because you and your pants will be there! :)
OK, here's my big nursery thing (I'm not the coordinator, but I'm in charge of the coordinators!):
We have a decent nursery. But, honestly, if I walk in there with the eyes of a suburban mom (oh, wait, I don't need to borrow those eyes...I am a suburban mom...sometimes I forget...) Anyway, if I think about that way my suburban-mom-peers screen their daycare, nursery schools, the care they put into their kids rooms (and, yes, I think they might go a little overboard on this!!) etc. I wonder if they would really put their kids in our nursery. And new families that are checking out our church honestly DO make decisions partly based on the nursery.
We're clean, and decent, but the stuff in there is old, the lighting is awful, the paint needs a new coat...
Then again, Zora, when her Dad lets her hang in the nursery, is a big fan of all the equipment we don't have. Exersaucer, swing, other kids to watch...
And we LOVE the fact that it's two free hours of babysitting.
Two hours of free babysitting... oh man... I hadn't even thought about that! They don't do babysitting in Japan, and I've been trying to figure out how to get a night away from the baby for, say, our anniversary...
Our church here in Japan is teeny-tiny, and there's no nursery. Mike and I spent several weeks wondering why we trekked 45 minutes across town to worship when we ended up sitting in the fellowship room with a bored/grumpy baby for the whole service. She's been making it through better lately, but the option of a nursery sounds heavenly!
Yay pants! I remember those days! :)
Sorry to miss you today, Heidi! I look forward to having a good lunch after MN though. Hope all is happy with your family!
Betsy
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