My kids won't sing. Like literally won't open their mouths during worship songs.
Standing there with a ukulele I bought for eight dollars at a garage sale. Eighteen kids staring at me like I asked them to perform surgery.
One kid's picking dried glue off his fingers. Another's counting ceiling tiles. Announces "forty-two!" in the middle of Jesus Loves Me.
My voice cracks on the word Bible. Shouldn't even be a hard word but I made it hard.
This is worship now apparently.
Sitting Still Was A Mistake
Spent three years making kids sit criss-cross applesauce during worship.
Hands in laps. No wiggling. Why? No idea. That's just what I thought church looked like.
Said sit down approximately seven thousand times per Sunday. Kids miserable. Me miserable.
Then I got the flu. Showed up to church anyway because bad at saying no to volunteer requests.
Too tired to care about rules. "Stand up if you want. Sit down. Lay on the floor. Whatever."
Complete chaos. One boy literally rolling across floor like a log during Our God is an Awesome God.
But they were singing. Actually singing for first time in weeks.
Bodies need to move. Especially kid bodies. Everyone knew this except me apparently.
The Hymn Problem
Love hymns. A Mighty Fortress Is Our God. It Is Well With My Soul. Beautiful theology.
Taught entire hymn to second graders last year. All verses.
Kids confused. One asked if we were talking about Disney villain. Another wanted to know why we're trembling if we're not supposed to tremble.
Fair questions actually.
Realized I was teaching songs I loved without asking if seven year olds understood them. Words were just pretty sounds to them.
Switched to simpler songs. God is So Good. This Little Light of Mine. Words that mean what they sound like.
Still sneak in hymns sometimes. But explain them now. This is old song. Words are weird. Here's what they mean.
Kids Don't Know What Worship Is
Asked my class what worship means.
Got these answers:
- Being quiet even though you want to talk
- Not moving around
- Pretending you like boring songs
- The thing before snack time
One kid said it's when grown ups make you do boring stuff and tell you it's for God.
Went home and ate entire bag of chips. Family size.
Had to restart completely. Worship is telling God you love Him. Remembering He's amazing. Being honest with Him.
Can be singing. Also drawing or dancing or sitting quiet. Not about activity. About whether heart's pointed toward God.
Still working on this. At least worship isn't just obstacle between kids and goldfish crackers anymore.
When Emma Picked The Songs
Forgot to plan worship completely. Saturday night watching Netflix when I remembered I'm supposed to lead worship in twelve hours.
Too late. Too tired. Asked Emma to pick songs Sunday morning.
She chose Jesus Loves Me. Good. Then Awesome God. Also good. Then Happy Birthday.
Nobody's birthday today Emma.
"It's close to Mia's birthday and I want to thank God for making my best friend."
Can't argue with that. We sang Happy Birthday. Mia cried. I cried. Half the class cried.
Weird and beautiful and absolutely worship even though made no sense.
Kids understand worship better than we do sometimes.
The Instrument Disaster
Bought rhythm instruments off Amazon at 2 AM. Thirty eight dollars for bucket of shakers and bells and tambourines.
Online shopping at 2 AM always brilliant idea.
First Sunday was pure noise. Couldn't hear anything except chaos.
Youth pastor came in after asking if everything okay. Apparently sounded like we were having incident.
Almost threw instruments away. But noticed even quiet kids were participating. Kids who never sing were shaking maracas with huge grins.
Made rules. Instruments only on certain songs. Start quiet then louder. Listen to each other.
Still loud. Still chaotic. But purposeful now.
Nobody Knows What Words Mean
Singing Our God is an Awesome God He Reigns from Heaven Above.
Notice girl mouthing words wrong. "He rains from heaven above."
Like weather. Thinks God is precipitation.
Stopped song. Does everyone know what reigns means?
Blank stares. One kid thinks maybe horse reins?
It means He's the King. He's in charge.
Never explained this before. How many songs are kids singing with no idea what words mean?
Now I pause and explain. Takes extra time. Worth it.
Can't worship what you don't understand.
The Sunday I Cried
Bad week. Really bad. Questioning everything week.
Sunday comes. Singing about God's faithfulness. Start crying right there in front of everyone.
Tried to hide it. Couldn't.
Kids notice immediately. Are you sad?
Yeah buddy. Having hard time. But still going to worship because God is good even when things are hard.
Expected awkward. Instead six year old girl came over and held my hand while we finished song.
Didn't say anything. Just held my hand.
That's worship too. Being real about hard things.
Kids need to see faith includes struggle not just victory.
The Quiet Minute
Tried one minute of total silence during worship.
Kids can't be quiet for one minute. That's science or something.
But tried anyway. Close your eyes. Think of one thing you're thankful for. Just be quiet with Him for sixty seconds.
Set timer on phone. Expected chaos in fifteen seconds.
They did it. Actually did it. Sixty full seconds of quiet.
Some prayed. Some sat there. One fell asleep.
Even little kids can handle quiet when you give them reason for it.
What Works What Doesn't
Some Sundays worship is magic. Kids engaged and singing.
Other Sundays total disaster. Nobody paying attention. I forget words. Someone throws up once but that only happened once.
Both kinds count. Both are worship.
Resources exist if you want them. Grow Curriculum has modern stuff. Group has interactive things. Kids Sunday School Place has ideas.
But resources matter less than whether you actually care.
Kids smell fake from mile away.
The Thing I Finally Figured Out
Was trying to create worship experiences for kids.
Should have been creating space where kids could actually worship.
Big difference.
One is me performing and them watching. Other is me facilitating and them participating.
One is control. Other is freedom.
Moments that worked weren't planned. Emma choosing Happy Birthday. Kids moving during songs. Little girl holding my hand.
Those were moments where I got out of way and let kids bring whole selves to God.
That's what was missing. Space for them to be real.
The Reality
Will probably forget to plan this Sunday's worship until Saturday night. Will frantically text people at 10 PM asking for suggestions.
That's ministry. Messy people helping messy kids worship perfect God.
When we stop trying to control it and just create space for real connection it works.
Not perfect. But real.
And real is what kids need.
