Kids Praise

Day 95.

Today is Palm Sunday and the children in our church (newsflash: I have two of them old enough to do this now!) process up and down the aisles waving palm branches at the beginning of the service while we all sing a hymn. "Jesus is coming!" It's a cute way to have the kids involved in the service and they always get a kick out of it. I remember Dylan doing it last year and having to hold a bigger girl's hand so she could be guided. This year it was her turn to be the guide.

Dylan took Noah's hand and they never let go for a good four minutes, down the hall, into the sanctuary, and around the worship space 1.5 times while we all sang and they waved. Hands still holding.

It's hard not to get choked up when I see you two little beings who came out of my own body holding hands and walking together. Your perfect little faces walking down the aisle. Your perfect little arms waving the green stalks up and down (oops! don't hit that person on the aisle!). Your perfect little palms clasped together.

I am grateful for children in worship.

And of of course I'm focusing on the two little Rhodes in the bunch. But the others were just as exquisite. And having children as a part of worship is really important to my sense of belonging. I enjoyed having children around in worship even before I had kids. Not just for the funny one-liners during children's story, but for the sheer joy and energy they bring to everything they do. But now that I have my own children, the joy is multiplied for me. Today, to see Dylan doing the movements to You Are All We Have (our lenten theme song)...and reaching her arms up to the heavens...was perfect.