Easter!!

I hate event planning. Hate it. You can read a post I wrote on that topic a few months ago here. Yet I consistently get press-ganged into event planning in almost every single work/volunteer/school situation.

I come from a family of some of the most fantastically organized, detail-oriented women on the planet. Next to them, I look like Pig-Pen from Charlie Brown. I still remember my older sister agonizing over the fact that the under-cloths on the tables at her wedding reception were the wrong color. I kept it to myself at the time, but I hadn't realized there were cloths on the tables at all, much less two cloths in coordinating colors.

Imagine my surprise, then, when I entered the big bad world and discovered that I am, in fact, far more organized and detail-oriented than the general public. And it turns out that in the realm of highly visionary church leaders, my (seriously not very high) level of organization and detail-awareness is downright impressive. Which is all great and lovely until it means I get tapped to do some major event planning.

A few weeks ago, for example, I was asked to be in charge of the 4-and-under-out-of-diapers room for my church's Easter service. It is a huge honor, and I accepted. Only to realize, several weeks in, that this is event planning on a massive scale. Our Easter service will be held at a sports arena (the Frank Erwin Center in Austin), and there will be about 15,000 people all worshiping Christ together. We're expecting 250 2-4 year olds in my room alone for three hours (an hour for check in and another for check out--the service itself is only set to be 1 hr 15 minutes-ish). So it's kind of a big deal. [P.S. You should absolutely come if you are in Austin--last year's service was AMAZING!]

And here's the crazy part--I'm not panicking. Yes, there has been a lot of work to do, and there is a lot more to come. Yes, I've counted tiny foam stickers until my eyes crossed. And yes, that weekend is going to be an utterly exhausting blur of sweaty stressed out stupefaction. But I am so excited!! We get to tell the best story in the world to my favorite people in the world!

Event planning stresses me out because I am never convinced that my planning was good enough, that people were pleased enough, that things ran smoothly enough. Planning this event is hard work, but I take such joy in knowing that, as long as we get the gospel in front of those kiddos, Christ is glorified. We might run out of stickers. We might have some kids who hate the snack option. Inevitably, someone (and it will most likely be me) will experience a massive and/or bloody injury. But if we can share the gospel and the deep, explosive joy of the resurrection with tiny kiddos, then that is a huge huge win.

Satan doesn't want it to work. He will throw roadblocks in our way; I know it. But JESUS, whose power far surpasses the enemy's, wants those kids to know Him, to know His love for them, and to bask delightedly in His love and all-sufficient sacrifice. So I am not panicking. I am resting in the power of the Holy Spirit to guide my plans and my words and to guard that day. And I can't wait!