Pastor Cara Shononom's Weekly Email - Shawnee Church of the Nazarene in Shawnee, Kansas, United States for Saturday, 17 March 2018
Every Saturday we take Kenzie, our 2 and 1/2 year old, to a little gymnastics class. Calling it gymnastics is giving it a lot of credit. It is more like learning to jump, balance, and follow directions. It’s a lot of fun and Kenzie loves it.
We noticed she loves doing somersaults and loves to jump off of things. So, we decided, “why not help her learn how to do those things well?”
I was watching her recently at one of her classes and realized something that is true to people of all ages. Here are my reflections:
The class begins with a warm up and then there are two circuits set up for the kids to go through. Each week the circuits are different, but they typically have some staple elements that are foundational for gymnastics. One of the stations is a bar that the toddlers have to hang from and lift their feet off the ground. Another station is a large pit filled with foam cubes that the kids get to jump into.
As you can imagine, Kenzie prefers to jump (with great enthusiasm I might add) into the foam pit over hanging from the bar. In fact I watched her as she would SKIP the bar and go to the next station in the circuit. I continued to watch and noticed that when her teacher was there to encourage her she would hang from the bar with ease and then move on to the next station.
This got me thinking that there are certain things that are good for us, but not always our favorite things to do and therefore we skip them some days. Yet, when we are in community and others are encouraging us then we tend to do the things that we don’t necessarily feel like doing.
Spending time in the Word is a commitment and to be honest I don’t always feel I have the time or energy (or QUIET) available to me to properly dig into the Word. Although those things may be factors in my daily life, I have decided to do my best to dig into the Word everyday. Not because I am a pastor, but because I am a follower of Christ.
I see my kids and they serve as encouragement for me because I want to create healthy habits that they will pick up on and ask me about in the future. Yes, it would be easier to skip them some days, but I want to do my best to set a foundation upon which I can continue to grow in relationship with Christ.
The same way that Kenzie is setting a foundation for gymnastics movements by hanging from bars and jumping into pits, I want to create a firm foundation to build upon as I seek to know God more and more each day.
Would you hold me accountable? Would you help me to be the best example I can for not only my kids, but for you as well? I want to promise you that I will do my best to set a firm foundation and not “skip” the things that are good and yet maybe I don’t feel like doing.
Thankful for you and blessed by you!
Grace and Peace,
Pastor Cara
Contact:
5539 Quivira Road
Shawnee, Kansas 66216, United States
(913) 631-5555
Shawnee Church of the Nazarene
5539 Quivira Road
Shawnee, Kansas 66216, United States
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