Madison in Wonderland

Our journey to Wonderland is nearly at an end, and it has been a very special series for everyone involved. Mommy put so much effort into these costumes above, aren't they wonderful? The children loved it, and so did the adults! Madison was reluctant to go to bed last night, but when we told her she'd get to dress up as Alice in the morning.... let's just say she went to bed really fast then.

She woke up this morning like it was Christmas. Mommy had ironed her outfit in the night, and Madison couldn't wait to put it on. And then she really wanted to go to Wonderland. All the characters were here today to greet her: she loves them all, and they were happy to see her. In fact, the "real" Alice gave her a crown to wear, as you can see in this picture. The two sat and talked about royal things, and Madison gave her a hug. She gives everyone a hug, actually. Even the Queen of Hearts gets a hug!

This morning, Madison went to two different services: she saw the big kids' service, which featured the Mad Tea Party. Then, she went to the kindergartner's service, which had the Caterpillar talking and blowing bubbles. She was so into both services - and that's what makes our ministry work. I think the wild, imaginative characters open up children's hearts and minds so that when God's Word is preached, they are focused, paying full attention, and ready to learn. In Madison's case, she may not have understood as much. She's still too young for some of it. Still and yet, she couldn't take her eyes off of what was going on in front of her, which shows we're making things fun and interesting. Anyway, next weekend we begin our new series, one that goes in a completely different direction. It's called "Xtreme," and is pretty fun. The theme of extreme sports is always a fun one with the kids, and it is easy to talk about Bible characters that take things to the extreme (in a good way, of course!).

The series is a repeat of one we've done before - it gives us all a chance to rest and/or plan ahead in some respects. The significance with this series though, is that it was last done in June of 2008: the month we went to go meet Madison for the first time. I'll never forget someone getting us a limousine to go to the airport that day we left for China: it said "Xtreme Limousine" on the license plate! It's hard to believe that was nearly two years ago ...where does the time go?