Random – NewSpring Childrens Ministry

Ok I’ve had some random thoughts on my mind lately about NewSpring children’s ministry.
Summer Blockbuster is coming up and we’re volunteering for it again this year. The only difference is I’ve had to make it known my gift is not patience with a group of 10 or so eight-year-old boys. Last year I had a small group of such boys and it was the longest week of the whole year. Therefore, this year I’m doing something hospitality something something. I’m glad to serve where there is a need but I’m not trying to pull the wool over anybody’s eyes. I don’t want to hurt some random kid’s feelings when he gets on my last nerve and doesn’t listen to me.
Speaking of volunteering to help with kids. Shawna and I volunteer in the kids area every Sunday (basically serving the other volunteers – not working with kids unless we have to – I can handle wild kids when it is only occasionally for short periods of time).
Anyway, I’d just like to make a couple of observations from my point of view. The mostly women and handful of men who volunteer in those kids rooms are the most over-worked and under-appreciated volunteers in the whole building on Sunday. They have to be in those rooms 30-45 minutes before church starts (as opposed to lounging in volunteer headquarters around the food), they get the leftover food from volunteer headquarters that somebody like me and Shawna might be able to bring them if we’re lucky enough to get to it before random grazers eat it all, they have to listen to and deal with all the screaming children, they have to change diapers and clean up spills, they have to stay in the rooms until the last parent picks up their child, and they have to do all of this with too few people because there aren’t enough people volunteering to work in the kids area.
It is very frustrating to watch and I am probably venting about something that isn’t my business, but I hate to see staff people getting stressed because there aren’t enough volunteers. More importantly I hate to see volunteers getting beat up and burnt out over it because if that keeps up there won’t be ANY volunteers in the kids area. Ok that’s all I’m going to say about that.
God bless the people who work with the children. They deserve it.