A good weekend

Mini-road trip on Friday...so good to swap experiences, walk down familiar streets, hear the laughter, share in those lives again. I was deliberate about seeking out people to meet up with...I wasn't ready for a complete reunion with everyone. Some wounds still healing over...

Then a last-minute invitation to a great party. Old and new friends together, and I felt a little more at home in this place that is still so foreign in so many ways.

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This morning, a little girl gave me a card. Her family hadn't been to church in a couple years, and started coming back last week. It was homemade, and said "Thank you for the morning songs" with a picture of a piano (I play the piano for an opening music time we have with all the kids). Second week there, and she thought enough of me to make me a card. I almost cried. Then the kids in children's church made pictures of their favorite things about church, and another relatively new girl drew me as part of hers, along with music and something else. I was filling in on piano today, so I wasn't even down there with them. But she still thought of me.

It really impacted me. I don't know these girls very well (when you're trying to just contain the chaos, it's hard to build relationships!), but they know me. And I'm having some impact on their lives and their church experiences. Sweet gestures that remind me of how important my presence and participation is when I'm at work...ministering to them.

It's becoming less of a job and more of a ministry...