(Kim Preuitt Wallace, a Just Jump Ministries, Inc. Board member,
attends LifePointe Church in Sedalia, MO.)
How do you best connect with the Lord? Perhaps you turn up the gospel jams on your drive to work. Maybe it’s a meditative walk in nature while you converse in prayer. For me, I need peace and quiet to reflect, repent, and listen for God’s still, small voice.
Any parent of young children will tell you that peace in the house is a rarity. Remember those beautiful Christmas lyrics: “Silent night, Holy night; all is calm, all is bright.” Having a quiet moment to regain some sanity, let alone for prayer or worship, is a peace that parents can only dream of.
The truth is, when we try to tune into the Lord, each day presents its challenges: deadlines at work, stress, health issues, relationship problems, and the list goes on. Now imagine (or remember) an additional distraction - your restless toddler crawling in your lap, under your seat, and running the aisle in church. Or a fussy infant in your arms who seems to wail during the most intense part of the sermon. Yes, it is important to raise our kids in church. My pastor reminds our church that kids “ain’t church-broke yet,” so we need to keep bringing them. Often, wrestling children during worship is one more hurdle to connecting with our Creator. So when we arrived at our partner church in Puerto Rico, we were asked to transform a storage room into a church nursery.
First, let me tell you about the people of Puerto Rico. Despite being a US territory, Puerto Rico definitely has its own unique culture. The people predominantly speak Spanish. I was able to understand the main idea of conversations, thanks to my Spanish minor of long ago. Homes are surrounded by tall fences (due to crime and a large stray-dog population), and families don’t have much money to live on, let alone to give to their church. But the people give with joy. Not solely tithing - their time and talents, their connections to resources, their affection.
Neighbors greet each other with a hug and kiss. Even in the middle of Wal-Mart or Lowes? You bet. Be willing to wait or go around. And the prayer, oh my! Remembering the soulful praying of these people causes the Holy Spirit within me to long for worship. Prayer was a deep connection to the Father, spoken with reverence and thanks and worship. Prayer was not a ritualistic reciting of words. It was an outpouring of the soul with one hand on the heart and the other raised. It was one of the most beautiful and fulfilling worship experiences in Puerto Rico.
To sustain the worship atmosphere, these people needed a church nursery. It would also be a place where kids could worship through songs, stories, and play. A nursery could make church an experience parents and young children could look forward to.
Our team emptied the storage room, cleaned toys, painted cribs, applied drywall and mud, built a closet, painted walls, and arranged furniture to create a usable room for kids. Our 11-person crew worked through the hot afternoons and long into the night to finish on time. Through our hard work, we strengthened our relationships as a team and looked forward to blessing the Puerto Rican church as much as they had blessed us.
The congregation was so thrilled to have a place for their children to wiggle, giggle, sing, and most importantly, learn about Jesus. Several teenagers were lining up to play with children in the nursery, and tired parents were looking forward to handing their kids off for a while.
Now parents can focus on worshipping God, on their relationship with Him, on fellowship with others while the distraction of child-rearing is taken off their shoulders for a while. Even if it’s only for an hour or so, parents can have peace. And despite the stress of any job or circumstance, their relationship with Jesus will bring them peace like nothing in this world can.
As we approach this Christmas season, are you in need of some peace? Are you struggling with distractions? I pray that reconnecting with the Lord will bring you peace. As we celebrate our Savior’s birth, may the true peace of that Silent and Holy Night fill your heart.
Before Pictures:
