openswitch

Today was pretty eventful. I held a children’s event at church, a birthday party for Jesus. Kinda corny, I know, but the kids eat that stuff up. We went all out with decorations, cake, ice cream and games. The cake said “Happy Birthday Jesus” and had seven candles on it, I think I was the only one who got a kick out of the fact that in the Bible the number seven is used many times as the “perfect” number. Though the cake may not have been perfect, it was delicious! Someone was disappointed that there weren’t 2,000 candles on the cake so I said that each candle stood for about 285 years. That seemed to satiate their desire for exactitude. The only part that was a little awkward was after lighting the candles and singing Happy Birthday to Jesus someone had to blow out the candles and it obviously wasn’t going to be the risen Lord. So I had to blow them out. It felt like I was praying. I didn’t expect it to feel that way.

In the pre-planning we tossed around several ideas for what games we could play at the party. We decided to go with a version of “pin the tail on the donkey” that we called “put baby Jesus in the manger.” At first we semi-seriously thought about making it a game of “put Jesus on the cross” but in the end we decided that it was a bit too morbid for a celebration of His birth. Also, I think there were some theological objections that were raised, such as the fact that in reality we already had put Jesus on the cross 2,000 years ago. The children liked “put Jesus in the manger” well enough. Note to self: next year remember to bring a blindfold. Children tend to peek at this game if they’re not wearing one.

After the food and games we went to the Fire Station to drop off the toys that each child brought with them. I invited each child to bring an unwrapped Christmas present to donate to the Salvation Army and each child brought one. They absolutely loved the idea that they could give a toy to another child this season. The fire fighters were nice enough to give us a tour of the fire station as well. The kids got to ring the bell on the fire truck and see where the fire fighters ride when they’re on their way to a fire. What friendly guys! My respect for them went up one full notch, if that’s even possible after 9/11.

All in all, a great event. I made sure to include a story of the first Christmas. I used a manger scene to illustrate. Yeah, all the kids had heard it before but does that really matter? I don’t think so. It’s part of our heritage, we should tell it every year (at least.)

I LOVE ministry. I can’t imagine doing anything else. The pay may stink, the hours may be insane, but the rewards are other-worldly. “Hark the herald angels sing, Glory to the new born King…”