Saying Thank You

I mentioned on the blog recently that I was giving up Sunday School Teaching [our SS is called “Y4God” – that’s the Youth For God, not a Wife-For-God, as some have misheard it!] Invitations to do lay preaching have been so frequent recently and I felt that it was time for me to serve the wider church community. But I have loved working with the young people all these years, and my fellow leaders and helpers are such a great team, and moving on like this was not an easy decision. On Sunday morning, Bob said “After you have been at Groby, you’ll come back to church for coffee, won’t you? You’ll finish earlier over there” and I thought he meant “As people will want to talk about The Sponsored Run” Devious man! He knew all along that my friends were plotting a surprise…

Janet hushed all the coffee drinkers, and made a lovely speech, thanking me for what I’d done inY4God. Then I was presented with

A bouquet of yellow roses

And a gift bag decorated with butterflies [I love butterflies!]

Inside there was a butterfly address book

An amazing butterfly candle-in-a-glass

A pretty little hook

And with all that, a huge card

All the staff and children had signed it, and there was a beautiful message [written in fabulous calligraphy]

This is so kind of everyone – I cannot express just how much their words of love and appreciation mean. Thank you, dear friends - I certainly never expected anything like this. It has been reward enough to have had the privilege of teaching all these children about Jesus.

At that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Who, then, is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” He called a little child to him, and placed the child among them. And he said: “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever takes the lowly position of this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.  And whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me.”