A Word to Encourage Nursery Volunteers

Nursery volunteers are the coolest people on the planet! They have the privilege of helping lay an early Biblical foundation in children's lives. They also make a huge difference in parent's lives as they make it possible for them to worship and hear God's Word with focused attention.

At times, nursery volunteers may wonder if their ministry really does make a difference. Unless the 6 month old is exceptionally bright and quotes Psalm 23 back to them, they may not see as much outward fruit as someone who works with older kids. Sometimes they need to be encouraged by being reminded how vital their ministry is.

Last week I was reading in the book of Exodus and something jumped out at me. I just had to share it with our nursery teams. Remember the story of baby Moses? He was born at a time when he shouldn't have survived. Pharaoh was having all Hebrew baby boys killed.

But God had His eye on this baby boy named Moses. He had special plans for this kid. Moses' mother hid him for as long as she could, but you can only hide a baby boy with a good set of lungs for so long. So she made a basket, turned it into a sailboat, and placed him in the river with a prayer and a hope.

Check out what happened next in Exodus 2.

"His sister (Miriam) stood at a distance to see what would happen to him. Then Pharaoh’s daughter went down to the Nile to bathe, and her attendants were walking along the riverbank. She saw the basket among the reeds and sent her female slave to get it. She opened it and saw the baby. He was crying, and she felt sorry for him. “This is one of the Hebrew babies,” she said.

Then his sister asked Pharaoh’s daughter, “Shall I go and get one of the Hebrew women to nurse the baby for you?”

“Yes, go,” she answered. So the girl went and got the baby’s mother. Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, “Take this baby and nurse him for me, and I will pay you.” 

It was no accident that Miriam stuck around to watch over baby Moses from a distance. It was part of God's divine plan. He placed her there to make sure a divine connection would take place between Pharoah's daughter and Moses' mother. This would allow Moses to be safe in the arms of his mother until it was time for him to go to the palace.

Here's the word for nursery volunteers:

-God has a special plan for each child you are watching over.
 
-You are part of His divine plan for each child's life.

-Sometimes you may feel like you are "watching from the distance" like Miriam was. You may even feel like you are in the "background" because you are not teaching in front of an audience or singing on a stage. But God is working through your life at all times. He does some of His most powerful work in the "background."

-God is using your ministry to make a divine connection in the child's life.

-You never know who you are watching over. The child may be another Moses who changes the world for Christ.

-Keep faithfully watching over the little ones and you will see miraculous things happen.

Posted by Dale Hudson