Sunday

Sarah loves her children's class at church. She's always excited to go there and play with her friends. She has two wonderful teachers, a husband and wife team, whom she adores as well. Yesterday as we got ready to leave she chattered happily about how she was going to dress up as a pirate and play with the other girls. She also reminded me that God made the world! :) Alas, however, when we got to church, there were no children's classes. Kid's Community had been cancelled in honor of Thanksgiving weekend. Sarah would have to attend the worship service with us.

I must confess I experienced a moment of panic. Sarah is fairly well-behaved, but she is also an active three-year-old. Because I had forgotten that there were no children's classes, I had not come prepared with books, or paper and pens, or ANYthing. Oops! How were we going to make it through the sermon?

Ah, but it's the beloved Sunday School teachers to the rescue! Sarah decided she wanted to sit with Mr. Kirk and Ms. Heidi and their daughters. (One daughter, Lydia, is in Sarah's class). And Ms. Heidi HAD come prepared--books, coloring books, crayons, and Apple Jacks! Sarah danced enthusiastically to the music during the singing portion of the service, then colored and ate Apple Jacks through the sermon. She did a fantastic job, thanks to Ms. Heidi's foresight. :) Whew! And to be fair, ALL of the kids in the service did great. I don't think most of the adults in attendance were even aware of the fact that all the children were present.

Moving on now, I HAVE to tell this story from yesterday evening. However, I feel it will lose its impact, being told via text. You just won't get the full effect without hearing Sarah's voice. But unfortunately, it was one of those spontaneous moments that no one ever knows to record, so I'll just do the best I can here. Use your imagination, and hopefully you'll be able to see the humor.

We were getting Sarah ready for her bath last night. Sarah was not happy at the prospect of bathtime; she had other things she wanted to do. She got quite defiant in her resistance, even covering her ears with her hands so that she couldn't "hear" what Daddy was telling her to do. A quick swat to the rear, and Sarah tearfully put her clothes into the laundry basket and headed toward the bathroom. Discipline over, Nelson switched to "comfort the crying child" mode. Sarah, however, continued to sob miserably. Nelson did a game that my dad used to do with me and "shook the meanness out." (Please don't get upset; of course the shaking is very, very gentle--it won't hurt her). Sarah cracked a small smile, but didn't stop crying. Giving up, Nelson started running the bathwater. Once the water was run, he realized that Sarah was trying to tell him something through her tears. He asked her what was wrong. And here is where it gets hard to adequately describe, but here goes. In the most pathetic, tearful voice you can imagine, Sarah whimpered, "I need you to shake the meanness out of me again!" I still laugh thinking about it!