Every Tuesday morning

Christine hosts a weekly Parents & Toddlers group at the Methodist church in town. Caroline helps her as well. So, since I've been here, I've also been helping out. Typically, this is how it goes:

1. Mothers (and sometimes fathers) and their little one(s) slowly start filtering in around 10:00AM. We have a big open room with chairs around the perimeter and toys galore in the middle.
2. The little tykes hang out and play for about an hour. SO PRECIOUS!!!
3. At approx 11:00AM, we have coffee/tea/snack time. Christine and Caroline provide healthy snacks for the kids and biscuits (cookies) for the adults.
4. The parents and children sit together, eating and socializing for about a half an hour.
5. At 11:30ish, the guests bring all the toys into the storage room and go back into the main meeting room for a sing along time.
6. Caroline leads the group in universally known childrens songs - acapella. The Wheels on the Bus....etc.
7. The fun ends around 12:00PM. Caroline, Christine and I wash up all the dishes and reorganize the toys and put them away in a closet.

The job I've enjoyed taking on is checking each parent into our log book as they arrive. This has given me a chance to talk to every person and (slowly) memorize their names to their faces. Today, I remembered nearly every one!! I couldn't believe it.....and being that there were 31 adults present, that wasn't too bad if I say so myself. They all laugh incredulously when I greet them by their names from memory. It's fun.

I decided to stay in town today after the group and hang out at the Killarney Outlet Centre. The centre has free wi-fi, so I grabbed a little lunch and I figured I'd take the opportunity to sit and write a new blog.

The great thing was that the woman in line ahead of me to buy a sandwich was one of the new moms today! Her name is Noreen and she was invited by her friend, a regular attendee named Shirley. They were eating together with their adorable kiddos at the same cafe I chose. I said hi to Noreen and she couldn't believe I remembered her name too (thank you, Lord) and Shirley waved to me from across the courtyard.

Anyway, I thought it was fun to run into them today outside of the group. I'm hoping that I can make enough of a connection with some of those women and see what God will do. At the minimum (which is major in a spiritual sense), I can just take this opportunity to pray for them and ask that God seriously blesses their lives and shows them just how much He loves them.

Love, Katy