We have noticed for the last two weeks that they have been appealing for help with the toddler group.
Even though I felt this was a perfect opportunity for her, Mrs has been reluctant to get involved. Having been hurt by the previous church, its once bitten twice shy. Also, it is very inconvenient to get there: being arthritic she’s not going to walk the 10 miles. She does not drive and there is no direct rail or bus route.
But eventually she agreed to go, just as one of the mums rather than as a helper, because she wanted to see what it is before committing herself too deeply to withdraw if she doesn’t like it.
So I took a detour on my usual commuting trip to drop her off. The car park was jammed full, and women with pushchairs were converging from all directions – a good sign!
She seemed quiet and tense when I got home, and wouldn’t say anything till the kids had gone to bed, so I feared the worst.
But she had had a fantastic time. The entire set up was exactly aligned with her own approach to running a children’s work. Bright colours, good quality toys laid out in planned areas. Refreshments provided for young and old, but children kept away from hot coffees. It was right up her street. Everything organised, but not rigid. It is a popular toddler group – apparently they had 90 children last week! The only thing was that she saw no craft activity, but that is one of her strong points where she can make a contribution. So she was very happy about it, and will certainly go again and see if she can make herself available as a helper in some capacity. It was a complete contrast to our old church, whose toddler group [which Mrs was not part of the team running it] charges twice as much but only has dingy second hand toys, no refreshments, etc etc, -and dwindling attendance.
Even though I felt this was a perfect opportunity for her, Mrs has been reluctant to get involved. Having been hurt by the previous church, its once bitten twice shy. Also, it is very inconvenient to get there: being arthritic she’s not going to walk the 10 miles. She does not drive and there is no direct rail or bus route.
But eventually she agreed to go, just as one of the mums rather than as a helper, because she wanted to see what it is before committing herself too deeply to withdraw if she doesn’t like it.
So I took a detour on my usual commuting trip to drop her off. The car park was jammed full, and women with pushchairs were converging from all directions – a good sign!
She seemed quiet and tense when I got home, and wouldn’t say anything till the kids had gone to bed, so I feared the worst.
But she had had a fantastic time. The entire set up was exactly aligned with her own approach to running a children’s work. Bright colours, good quality toys laid out in planned areas. Refreshments provided for young and old, but children kept away from hot coffees. It was right up her street. Everything organised, but not rigid. It is a popular toddler group – apparently they had 90 children last week! The only thing was that she saw no craft activity, but that is one of her strong points where she can make a contribution. So she was very happy about it, and will certainly go again and see if she can make herself available as a helper in some capacity. It was a complete contrast to our old church, whose toddler group [which Mrs was not part of the team running it] charges twice as much but only has dingy second hand toys, no refreshments, etc etc, -and dwindling attendance.
Her tension arose from her return trip. She had to walk 20 minutes to the town centre, which was harder on her arthritis than she expected (There is no such thing as a folding push chair that is easy to push). She had lunch at MacDonald’s and took the baby to the toilet there, and then went to the bus station. There, the baby – who is very well toilet trained – grunted and filled her pants with poo. Mrs had to use the bus station toilet to clean her up. She would struggle with this kind of thing at home, but in a public toilet with a dirty floor and a struggling toddler – it was a complete nightmare. Stressed from that, she came out to find the bus about to go. And then she couldn’t get the pushchair to fold up and the bus driver was shouting at her to hurry up. In the end she carried it o unfolded and lifted it onto the luggage tray, overstressing her joints in the process. The bus lurched as it started before she had sat down. There were no seats together. The one good thing was a teenager who gave up his seat for her to sit with her baby – so credit to him. And of course we have recently stopped the toddler form having a dummy so it was “I want my dummy!” loudly up and down the bus for half the journey.
Conclusion:
God definitely wants us to go to this new church. He saw the way she was treated at the old church, and has taken her out of the place where her skills and philosophy are not wanted and put her in a place where she fits.
The devil does not want us at this church, and will do what he can to discourage and make it seem impractical.
God definitely wants us to go to this new church. He saw the way she was treated at the old church, and has taken her out of the place where her skills and philosophy are not wanted and put her in a place where she fits.
The devil does not want us at this church, and will do what he can to discourage and make it seem impractical.
No comments:
Post a Comment