Why Volunteering in Children’s Ministry Will Change Your Life

      

In everyone’s life, they have a handful of life changing experiences. If you volunteer in children’s ministry, I can almost guarantee that that will be one of them. Here’s a short list of ways that volunteering in children’s ministry has changed my life and might change yours (some lighthearted and others not so much):

1. You’ll find yourself humming along to Yancy and Hillsong kids at random times during the week instead of whatever music you grew up with.
2. You’ll start watching Phineas & Ferb even if you don’t have kids – or when they’re not there if you do.
3. You will become a “hugger” even if you weren’t before.
4. You will come to understand why kids hold a special place in the kingdom of God.
5. You will learn more (both in terms of width and depth) of the nature of God.
6. You will understand your Bible better from being forced to figured out how to present it to kids in a way that they can understand but which won’t water it down.
7. Your prayer life will deepen both as you pray wisdom to teach and as you pray for the kids in your ministry.
8. You will find out that exhaustion can be absolutely exhilarating.
9. You will find yourself broken to the point of tears over things that young children must endure.
10. You’ll learn more about different allergies and the ingredients to different snacks than you ever wanted to know.
11. You will learn how to make up a game at the drop of a hat to keep kids engaged.
12. You will learn to laugh at yourself.
13. You will see the grace of God in the heart of a child.
14. You will figure out that every child is different and it is our job to figure out how to relate to them.
15. You will know the difference between a Pokemon and Bakugan.
16. You’ll find yourself at movies like “The Smurfs” thinking, “I could use that as an illustration this weekend.”
17. You will see first hand what it means when Jesus talks about the faith of a child.
18. You will learn that discipline is not about you and what you want.
19. You will discover how to make 1,257 things from a box of 20 Magnetix.
20. You will make a difference.
21. You will become a better bargain shopper.
22. You will smile – a lot!
23. You will gain a sixth sense for when a child really has to go to the bathroom and when they can wait.
24. You come to find out that children are capable of a lot more than you thought.
25. You will see the Glory of God in His work with kids.