Sunday Serve and Secret Hideouts

Today was "Sunday Serve" at our church, a district-wide event where each Methodist Church in the district met for a quick service and then members headed out to assigned service spots for a few hours, and then met up again for a potluck lunch.  We had to sign up for our service area a few weeks ago, and, because of the kids, I was a little limited as to where we could choose.  I almost signed us up for beach cleanup, until John pointed out there was a lot of stuff on the beach he'd rather the kids not touch, so I signed us up for decorating bags for the holiday toy drive instead.  John tried to sign up for shoreline cleanup via kayak, until he realized that:  a.) he'd be working hospital call, and b.) he was supposed to bring his own kayak.  Bummer.

So today, the kids and I went to Community United Methodist in Daytona and spent a few hours decorating some huge paper bags:

Both kids were super enthusiastic.  They ended up being the only kids in our group, since beach clean-up did end up being the activity of choice for the kids.  (Although I laughed when one mom said she let her kids play in the ocean while she cleaned, because she didn't want them touching the stuff discarded on the beach.  Guess John was right.)

The leader of the group remarked that our family did a very good job.  I was tempted to say that drawing is our spiritual gift. :-)

Anyway, the main reason I wanted to post on this was because of what happened after the project.  The lady leading the group kept advising us to decorate the bags quickly because we were pressed for time, so we drew as fast as we could.  When we finished, she realized that she'd forgotten to adjust her watch for the time change,  so we'd finished an entire hour ahead of time.  Will and Anna were getting a little stir-crazy at this point, so she offered to give them a tour of the church.  I didn't think that sounded like a very child-friendly idea...until she looked Will in the eye and mentioned the church had lots of secret spaces.  Apparently she knows six-year-old boys well, because Will was suddenly dying to go on a tour.

That particular church building is over 100 years old and Will was enthralled with the balcony, the different passages into the choir loft and sanctuary, and the old Wurlitzer organ.  The best part, however, came when we ran into another church member and told her what we were up to.  Her eyes lit up and she knew exactly where we needed to go--a little hallway between a bathroom and the area behind the sanctuary.  I think it was a storage closet, actually--a long passage, only about 3 feet wide, no lights.  Will insisted on going through the "tunnel" at least 3 or 4 times.

The whole thing reminded me a little of our church at home (probably because I spent the tour mentally ticking off places as being good hiding spots for Sardines!). Will thought it was the most exciting tour ever, and I really appreciated the help of our tour guide and how she knew exactly what would keep the kids busy and happy!