Notes on the Sermon

We have had Sydney in church with us since the Sunday she was baptized, November 19, 2006... at two weeks old.

It hasn't always been easy.  Some Sundays I question whether we are making the right choice.  One Sunday a lady was quite rude to us.  Most Sundays I have had to redirect many, many times to get the behavior I want.

But when my five year old stands on the pew to sing the Doxology and the Gloria Patri, when she can say the Lord's Prayer, when I hear "Our Father Who Art in Heaven" in her sweet voice, I see the fruits of this labor.

On Sunday, I was taking notes on the sermon and Sydney whispered to me, asking what I was doing.  I explained and then told her that she, too could take notes.

I directed her to listen for words and phrases that she understood and then to draw them.  I suggested that she circle recurring themes.

These are her first sermon notes, taken at the age of five, four months before she will start Kindergarten.  I am so very proud of her.

The sermon was primarily about prayer and she did catch that the word "prayer" kept being said, so she circled it three times.

I also thought she should know how to spell God, so I told her that one.  I thought it was interesting to see what she drew when she drew God.  It looks like a little girl to me, but on the page you can see that God is bigger than the other figures.  She also drew a rectangle body for both God and the older woman that a little girl is helping while the rest of the figures are children and have triangle bodies.

She also drew a soccer ball and cookies because there was an anecdote about some boys playing soccer being offered cookies.

I love that she did this and cannot wait to see how her notes grow and change as she does.