Just

​Sunday is Preschool Sunday here at Northbrook. It's a day we celebrate the amazing ministry that Northbrook Preschool is to our congregation and the community of Roswell. We will celebrate the leadership, the teachers, and the students of our Preschool and some of the students will even help lead elements of worship in the Sanctuary. Then we will have a BBQ luncheon and cake auction to help the preschool raise money for new playground equipment right here on our campus! It's going to be a glorious day and I hope you'll join us.
 
I love our preschool and that I get to teach Chapel to these amazing kids and their teachers twice a month. Quite a few of my dearest friends are preschool teachers. I love them. There’s something in the spirit of one who chooses to be around little-bitty people during their “becoming” that is something I want to be around. It’s unique and it’s magical and I love it.
 
However, something I hear all too often from them is “just”. Well, I JUST teach preschool… JUST part-time. I JUST teach letters; they’re small. I JUST teach colors; they’re small. I JUST teach shapes; they’re small. I JUST teach preschoolers.  
 
And it’s TRUE that letters are small, but letters make words and words are POWERFUL. It’s TRUE that colors are small, but colors make art and art is POWERFUL. It’s TRUE that shapes are small, but shapes make buildings and art and cars and furniture – shapes make up our world and that is POWERFUL. And it’s true that preschoolers are small, but they have the potential to be POWERFUL. 
 
It’s so easy to think “just” about anything we do because when you look at the grand scheme of the world and all God put in it, the small offerings we bring can feel so small and “just”-like. But the small things you do on a daily basis MATTER. Teachers aren’t just teaching shapes, colors, letters, and numbers. They are helping these small ones BECOME. They are helping them find the path God has before them. They are helping them discover who they are and who God is. You aren’t just complimenting a stranger, you are sharing God’s light into the darkness. You aren’t just checking in on your friend who is grieving, you are reminding them that you love them even when they are in darkness. You aren’t just volunteering to teach Sunday School, lead at VBS, or serve at Trinity Table, you are being the hands and feet of God and building God’s Kingdom. What you do MATTERS.  
 
Jesus told a parable about being “just”. In Matthew 13:31-32 he says, “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed that someone took and planted in his field. It’s the smallest of all seeds. (Did you hear that JUST in there?) But when it’s grown, it’s the largest of all vegetable plants. It becomes a tree so that the birds in the sky come and nest in its branches.”
 
That teenie-tiny seed isn’t JUST a seed and you are not JUST anything. You are an amazing child of God doing powerful work for God’s Kingdom. All the tiny “justs” of your day matter and I am so thankful for each of 
 
Leslie Bowers
 Director of Creative Services