Plunging into Craziness

I'm going to give you a little taste into the typical Sunday in the Special Needs Ministry here at SCC. I share this with you so you'll see the reality of SN Ministry. Most books that you read about SN Ministry, you hear the joys and how the Lord will bless you for taking in the shunned. By the time you've finished reading up on the ministry, you'll have a warm and fuzzy feeling and be ready to open your doors to the world. I want to paint you a picture of the reality of SN Ministry, not to discourage you but to educate you before you jump in.

One Sunday we had a prime example of the craziness SN Ministry has to offer. During our first service we only had 5 kids in the SN Classroom (not including the kids included in typical programming throughout the building). If you're like me, you think 5 kids...piece of cake. I could name off multiple groupings of 5 of our special needs kids that would make a perfect morning. There are several who would sit and read with a volunteer, maybe play contently in the sensory room, or be totally engulfed in the craft for the morning you wouldn't know they had sensory issues. These were not the five in our room that morning. We had two who were attacking anything standing still long enough to be attacked, one desperately wanting certain male volunteers to play with her while ignoring the attempts of the female volunteers to engage her, another who played well in the beginning but his smile could turn to a frown in a heartbeat therefore causing him to want to attack anything around, and another who was content but easily frustrated at the other kids' lack of order. Five kids felt like fifty.

How did we spend the morning? We did damage control. There are some mornings you'll find you're just putting out fires and not getting to anything you wanted to do. At one point I had to just laugh. As crazy as everything was, this was fun. This was what I was created to do. I changed a horrible diaper, walked back into the room to barely catch the toy shelf one tried to knock over, just in time to catch the other one trying to jump high enough to reach the light for a quick swing, and ended with all the volunteers singing and dancing with the music/story teacher who rotates into our class during the last 10 minutes. All in all it was one of the most enjoyable, yet exhausting, days I've had. By the end of the morning, all of the kids were safe and cared for. I know they heard that they are loved and created perfectly in the image of Christ, even if it was while we were changing a diaper or picking up chairs.

Again, I tell you this story not to scare you away from SN Ministry but to encourage you with the truth of disability...you'll never have a typical Sunday, you'll never know if five will feel like fifty, and you'll always have parents who wouldn't be able to worship without this ministry. If you're like me, the excitement and thrill of the unknown will make you want to take the plunge but at least you're going in fully aware of the craziness that is waiting to engulf you. Like I always say, "Bring on the craziness!!!"