busy weekend

This weekend is our church's annual Family Fun Festival (our outreach to the community). I also found out this week it's supply pick-up day for election officials, since Monday is set up for Tuesday's Election Day. (Wake County is having it's run-off then from the May primary.) I chose the last available pick-up time slot, so I'll only miss the last hour of the Family Fun Fest and should hopefully make it back in time to help clean up.

I'm excited and nervous about this year. Last year while working with the Gospel Bracelets, I was amazed at the varied reaction from parents. Some were appreciative, others hostile, a few really wanted their child/teen to talk to us but they child/teen wasn't ready/willing, and two women took me by surprise. They clearly wanted to know more about our beliefs, but they also wanted to share what they believed and why, and then for us to admit they were right (that there was no right way to God). I can understand if a person doesn't agree with our viewpoint or wanting to discuss it, but I honestly can't see myself taking advantage of a free event and then challenging the sponsors to change their viewpoints and telling them how wrong they are. I like to think that I was polite (I hope she thought so) while still maintaining my intregity. My favorites are the early elementary age kids who can't ready their cards and come back a second time with their bracelets because they want to hear the story "one more time 'cause I don't remember what this bead stands for and I want to tell Grandma..."

Our church re-arranges the wordless book and starts with yellow (heaven) instead of the black/sin bead. I think this is the same approach Child Evangelism  Fellowship uses (but don't quote me on that!) The above bracelet is an example (photo and instructions borrowed from this website). One of my favorite things about our group is that our group leader recognizes everyone has their own way of telling a story, and we don't have to memorize something. Every child is different, and you can usually tell from facial expressions whether they understand or like a certain point of if you need to explain a little more.

It's going to be hot tomorrow (though thankfully not as hot as last week!) so I don't know what type of crowd to expect. Regardless of numbers, each seed that is sown is still precious, whether we reap the results or someone else years from now will. And that excites me.