1 Thessalonians 3:9-10

Giving God Some Space

Hi, church family. My name is Mara Dolan, and I am the Director of Children’s Ministries.
I am currently sitting in a place that probably looks familiar to a lot of you. In case you’re not familiar, I am in the nursery area of our church, also known as the ARK. This place is not normally quiet on a Thursday. Children First, our Children’s Day Out & Preschool Program is on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 8:30 a.m. until 3:00 p.m. During the school year, there are usually over 110 children, ranging from age 6 months – Pre-K. In fact, on a “normal” week, we are blessed to hear the joyful sounds of children in the ARK on Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. As a person who absolutely loves working with children, not being able to hear or see kids in the ARK, Upstairs, and throughout the church, has been heartbreaking.
I really loved Kara’s quote during her devotional yesterday, “Vulnerability is a curious thing. We resist it, don’t like it, and yet there is actually a raw kind of beauty that is present in vulnerability.” So here I am being vulnerable. It’s hard to imagine that it’s been almost 3 weeks since the COVID-19 pandemic affected our community. I had many different reactions, but I vividly remember one. With tears in my eyes, I cried out, “God, how am I supposed to do ministry? Because right now, I just don’t know what to do.” I began praying for the strength and courage to give God the space, to do what only he can do. As I shared in the Staff Picks, Everything Belongs by Richard Rohr is one of my favorite books. It showed a new way of thinking about vulnerability. “I should always be ready to see things anew, and there is nothing wrong about saying “I don’t know” to God. I need to go to God with a heart and mind of a child.
I will begin closing with an excerpt from Everything Belongs. “It should be the work of Christians who believe in the paschal mystery to help people when they are being led into the darkness and the void. The believer has to tell those in pain that this is not forever; there is a light and you will see it. This isn’t all there is. Trust. Don’t try to rush through it; we can’t leap over our grief work. Nor can we skip over our despair work. We have to feel it. That means that in our life we will have some blue days or dark days. Historic cultures saw grief as a time of incubation, transformation, and necessary hibernation. Yet this sacred space is the very space we avoid. When we avoid darkness, we avoid tension, spiritual creativity, and finally transformation. We avoid God, who works in the darkness — where we are not in control! Maybe that is the secret: relinquishing control.”
As we look ahead to week 4 of this “new normal,” remember God is in control. During this time of continuous change, God has shown me “The Place.” The Place of peace instead of worry, trust instead of doubt, and hope instead of despair. Since then, there has been 4 different Children’s Ministry Zoom Bible Studies, 4 “Connect with Mrs. Mara,” Weekly Challenges, and upcoming Palm Sunday, Holy Week, and Easter surprises. God continues to show me ways to still do ministry because he is The Place!
 

Questions

1. Have you had a conversation with God about what you are noticing?
2. How are you becoming more authentic in the presence of God?

Prayer

Lord, I come to you for protection. (Psalm 71). Guard my heart and soul and protect me from evil. Lord, you go before me; I am not alone. Show me how to trust that you will never leave or forsake me. Thank you for letting me see things anew.
In Jesus Name, Amen!