Created for wonder: how to recapture wonder in your life 

Created for wonder: how to recapture wonder in your life 

Sunday’s Coming!

“Judas.” The name is synonymous with betrayal. Brutus, Fawkes, Arnold, Quisling…all world-class traitors in their own right, must bow before the height of treachery perpetrated by a disciple whom Jesus called “friend.” We are told “Satan entered Judas.” Did that mean he was possessed? Did he have any choice?  How could one who spent three years with the only perfect person who ever lived…do such a thing? 

Have you ever been betrayed? Have you ever been the Judas? Can Satan enter Christians against their will and make them do awful things? I will share my thoughts on these important, controversial, and timely topics this Sunday. Betrayal! You’ll want to be here for this!

Pastor Mark Toone

Created for wonder:
How to recapture wonder in your life 

By Paul Hargreaves and Kim Hagey

“Oh, my word, it’s so beautiful!” These were the words I heard from my daughters growing up or my grandchildren when they would see snow fall from the sky and start to stick on the ground below. This scene would seem to almost take their breath away. We would find our children just staring out a window to see such a sight. They just could not get enough of it. “Let’s go try to catch some flakes in our mouth!” they would soon say. Soon the wonder was experienced personally in their lives. “Let’s get our snow clothes on to play in it.”

Created for wonder

God’s wonder constantly inspires kids. We see and hear about it from children and kids every week in our Early Childhood or Kids’ Worship areas.

One of the things I love most about kids is their wonder. Everything and anything can be beautiful and amazing. The most mundane can turn into the spectacular. It’s not that they purposely try to find wonder, it’s that they can’t help but somehow easily be in awe of things. From snow falling to puppies to their favorite people—they are in awe.

The simple reality is we were all created for wonder. God designed us with wonder, and our wonder is what draws us to Him. All of God’s creation speaks of Him, and it is full of wonder.

“The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they reveal knowledge. They have no speech, they use no words; no sound is heard from them. Yet their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world” (Psalm 19:1-4)

A time to relearn

I believe that as adults, we have a lot to relearn what it means to wonder. Somewhere along the way, many of us have forgotten to wonder. We get busy, jaded, or wounded, and often our wonder for things around us disappears from our minds and hearts.

When was the last time you were in awe of the fact that God made you for a purpose? When is the last time you allowed your heart to skip a beat over the fact that you are created in the image of God, and you are loved by Him? The issue is not that there is nothing to wonder about, it is that we have stopped allowing ourselves to wonder. We want to help you recreate wonder in your life. The beauty of wonder is that it has the capacity to draw us in, and, in turn, it draws others in. This is what we want to propose to any adult that wants to relearn God’s gift to wonder.

Relearn through serving

Relearn wonder by considering to serve Jesus in the Nursery, Early Childhood, MOPs (Mothers of Preschoolers) program or elementary Kids’ Worship. Those that are already serving in these areas are regularly discovering wonder as they work with those who live it well. The kids you serve, the volunteers you serve alongside, the parents you support, the families you love will all help you discover the wonder God created for these young ones and you as you experience it together.

Kim Hagey, who is the Director of Early Childhood, sees three ways you can serve in her area as members of Chapel Hill.

  • First, there is always a need for more volunteers to work with little babies through preschoolers on Sunday mornings. Kim has teams of warm and patient caregivers ready for the littlest ones, and teams of curious and energetic teachers for the preschoolers. You can become a part of a family that loves and cares for these littlest ones during the two services.
  • Secondly, you can serve in our twice monthly Moppets Childcare event. The MOPPETS program is the Childcare program for MOPS and is just two hours each time. This is a mix of 25 paid staff and volunteers who provide care and Bible learning to the children of our 100-plus MOPS mothers who meet in the Gathering Place for a large mom’s time together. If you want to love, be loved, and feel wonder once again, I highly recommend joining this tight-knit team.
  • Thirdly, as the Director of Early Childhood, Kim oversees from babies through preschool age ministries. This really has a huge need for another person to direct all that goes on for these youngest children here at Chapel Hill. For the last few years she hasn’t had an assistant, and this currently is an unfilled position. The responsibility has been on Kim solely to roll out these important weekly and monthly childcare events, maintaining the spaces, the teams, the protocols…as you can imagine it is a lot for her. Please help to get the word out to any individuals who may be interested in the paid position called “Nursery Coordinator” by sending them this link. Better yet, that person can come and chat with Kim about the job, especially since it has a lot of flexibility built into it.

When you serve children and young families, it will be like you are saying…“Let’s get our snow clothes on to play in it.” Just like a child who gasps with delight when they encounter new fallen snow, may you find yourself gasping in wonder at the goodness of the God who created you. Allow wonder back in. As you embrace wonder, we guarantee you’ll help those around you do so as well. Wonder with us in the lives of children and kids.

Paul Hargreaves, Senior Director of Family Ministries
Kim Hagey, Director of Early Childhood