at the kids’ table
Did you have a Kids’ Table at family gatherings?
We did when I was growing up.
I was the oldest kid in my small family, and the only girl.
Just me, my little brothers and my younger cousin.
Did I mention they were all boys?
I COULD NOT WAIT
to graduate to the Grown-Ups’ Table!
At the Grown-Ups’ table I got to hear stories
and the Grown-Ups listened to mine.
I think that’s where I learned all about big belly laughs that leave you crying:
I learned what made me laugh that hard
I learned how to make the Grown-Ups laugh that hard.
I learned what made grown-ups happy and what made them sad.
Most of all, I learned how I fit into our family story.
And how deeply I’m loved.
These days I LOVE sitting at the Kids’ Table at family gatherings.
I love hearing the Kids’ stories and telling them mine.
I love laughing with the kids and I love making them laugh.
Most of all, I love learning how I fit in their story,
and helping them learn how they fit in a story so much bigger than they can imagine.
And that they are loved beyond their wildest expectations.
That story part….
that story so big that they can’t imagine….
That’s God’s story.
They have such an important part in it!
And the way they learn that best
is sort of like how they learn while they’re
sitting at the Grown-Ups’ table
and listening
and telling
and laughing
and taking in all that it means to be part of the family story.
to be so loved…
We might say that worship is kind of like the Grown-Up’s table.
Usually our kids only get to stay for just a little while.
They have to leave before the stories really get started.
It’s hard to get to know their place in our family story that way.
So this August we’re planning something really special.
An extended time at the Grown-Ups’ table,
if you will, for all kids and youth.
On August 7th we’ll kick off a 6 week intergenerational worship series called
“God’s House Party: Everyone’s Invited”
So save the date!
Because we look forward to seeing your whole family then and there!
(if not before).