Name the ones who left

You can probably name them without trying.

The family who moved. The child who aged out. The one who came for eleven Sundays, then never came back.

Let the names come to mind. Do not try to solve their stories or give them a tidy ending.

You learned what made them laugh, noticed when they were quiet, and then they were gone.

Paul wrote to the Corinthians

Paul’s words come in a letter to the Corinthians. He names his part and Apollos’ part without claiming control of what happened next.

That is a needed word for children’s ministry. We do not get to follow every child’s story.

The One who gives the increase

“I planted. Apollos watered. But God gave the increase. So then neither he who plants is anything, nor he who waters, but God who gives the increase.” 1 Corinthians 3:6-7 (WEB)

Sit on those words: God gave the increase.

Planting and watering matter. But God is the one who gives growth.

No tidy report card

This does not promise you will hear the rest of every child’s story.

You may never receive a message years later. You may not know what became of that prayer, welcome at check-in, or conversation after class.

Faithfulness means planting and watering while God works where you cannot look.

One question

Read the reflection question slowly. Bring one name back before God.

One prayer

God, I place the children I no longer see in your hands. Help me plant and water faithfully, and trust you with growth I cannot watch. Amen.