Maddux's Heart for Service

I honestly wonder how many times I've blogged about this... I do know that whatever the number, it pales in comparison to the amount of times I take note of it, which is likely a fraction of the number of examples in each day. I know this sounds braggy, but for the oh so many times I get it wrong, especially with Maddux, by pointing out the ways she doesn't do what I think she should do with her time and energy, I want to be sure and document how much right I see in her heart.

I have to remind myself that what I think I want for her might not line up with what God has planned for her.

My girl...she loves, she loves kids, she loves serving kids. Since leaving Kids' Ministry, as a participant, last May, she has probably only attending the 'big' service with us 2 or 3 times, one of those being the Sunday that she was baptized. Every week she volunteers in the Preschool Ministry, willingly. She is now a volunteer that gets signed up about once/month, but whether signed up or not, Maddux reports to the coordinator when we arrive each Sunday and she has never been turned away.

It's not just that she volunteers though. Anyone can do that...even I even do that. But my heart is not in it even half as much as Maddux's is. She loves working with those kids, and not just the fun parts. She will crawl on the ground to pick up goldfish, usher kids to the restroom, pick up mini crayon bits off of the table again and again and again...none of it phases her. I've seen her patiently cutting out a craft for the kids, while carrying on a conversation with one kid to her side, while another sits on her lap, hugging her for comfort. All the while, she is calm as a cucumber and so in her element. And she seeks out the ones who need the most, whether it's manifesting in tears or acting out, she's usually right on it.
I want to be her when I grow up.

About once a month I am approached by an adult at church that works with her for the first time, or maybe just talks to me about it for the first time, and they 'just have to tell' me how awesome she is or what a good worker she is or how great she is with the kids. Sometimes they'll ask me what I did to help her be so great. This is the part where I seriously laugh out loud because I had nothing to do with it. Seriously - she is the nurturer I never was (even at my best). This is all God, growing her gift for nurturing and serving, and it brings me so so SO much joy to be able to watch.