my favorite part of church

well, ONE of my favorite parts of church, is the "kids corner." I know a lot of churches don't do this anymore, but during our service, before the message, our pastor asks all the kids to come up front. and then you know, he has a microphone and asks the kids a question and lets them say their answer into the microphone. i already have a little anxiety about what verity might say into a MICROPHONE in front of our whole church someday.

i've heard some funny stuff in the past few years. (yes i record these right along side my sermon notes) here's a taste:

pastor: what is a toy that you have that you used to really like to play with but now you're kind of bored with?
kid: my sister.

pastor: what are some things your mom doesn't like?
kid: my mom doesn't like coming to church

pastor: do you know of any sports that are in the bible? (he was looking for fishing by the way)
kid: golf
kid #2: lacrosse

pastor: (the week of Christmas) what's going on right now that you're probably excited about?
kids silent.
pastor: come on, what season is it? what time of year?
kid: winter!

but there are also some really good kid answers that make you realize kids are listening and they're understanding important concepts. like these:

pastor: what was the deal with the pharisees?
kid: they were hypocrites because they said they loved god but on the inside they really didn't. they were just pretending. (this was a 4-yr old).

pastor: when you sin, does god punish you?
kid: no, because he already punished us in jesus for all our sins (again, a 3 or 4-year old).

so "kids korner" is my favorite part of service b/c 1) it's funny, but because 2) it reminds me what a serious task we have in parenting and what sponges our kids are at ages 1, 2, 3, 4, etc. it reminds me that god has entrusts a child to me to shepherd, raise, parent and guide, and that it starts now.

FINAL thing- related to this, Mark and I are doing a parenting small group now, watching a video series and doing curriculum called "Getting to the Heart of Parenting" by Paul Tripp and it's really good. We recommend it. :)