Thoughts on chapel....

So, I have switched schools, and because of this, a lot of things have changed in my day.  I love it.  On Tuesdays, we have chapel at 8:35.  The kids have cute little chapel uniforms that they wear, we walk quietly down into the sanctuary, and my first graders find their 5th grade chapel buddies to sit with on the first two rows.  The fifth graders are responsible for making sure the first graders can read the program and putting the kneeling bench down (I am learning a WHOLE lot from them too!) when they are supposed to. We sing songs, there is a homily sermon (short), usually an object lesson for the kids to think on, and then we have specific things that we say in greetings and verses too.  The fifth graders are also responsible for all of the readings of the word of God.  Love it.

Every week, Psalm 100 is quoted as part of our chapel service.  Father Paden challenged the students to memorize this, and he would give each who memorized it one dollar.  Me, being my competitive self, decided that the first month of school we were going to just flat out memorize it.  My first graders and I made up motions to help memorize it too. And, they ALL got one dollar a few weeks ago...(i did too!  How fun is that?)  They are much more confident about saying this now in chapel.  In fact, my quietest kids in my class are actually the loudest ones to say the verse.  Needless to say, I love this experience with my kids.

So, last week was communion chapel.  This was one of the most humbling moments in my teaching career so far.  We went through a series of verses, sayings, and songs dedicated to serving and loving the Lord.  At the end of the chapel, was communion.  Me, being a non episcopal, did not know how this formally worked.  I turned around and asked one of my trusty fifth grade friends to teach me really fast so I knew what to do.....since my class happened to be on the first row, and we were going first.  hehe. Thanks Gillian.  =)  My whole class went up, knelt together, and the bread was broken and the cup was passed and partaken also.  Simple, yet powerful.  Never will this be taken for granted that I get to do this with my classes.  Even first thing in the morning!

Every week a birthday blessing is given too.  If it is your birthday that week, you are called up in front, you get to kneel down, and hands are laid on you to bless you. So it would be said, "abby, may the Lord walk behind you and before you, may the Lord be a light to you in this new year, and may he bless you, in Jesus Christ our Lord,Amen."  What a powerful thing to do at such a young age.

We sing a song at the end of every chapel called "walk in the spirit".  It simply states, "walk in the spirit of love, walk in the spirit of love Love one another, as Jesus loves you, walk in the spirit of love."  Then you replace "walk" with serve, "love", etc.  What powerful words to live by as an adult too.  I often have this in my head now during the day!

I have been humbled on so many levels.  Kids who know Christ and sing for the glory of the Lord.  I can't wait for Luke to be apart of this practice at school.  He sings all day long as it is, but to also take communion at school is awesome.

I'm so happy to be at St. Peter's.  I am learning MUCH everyday and am getting to LOVE much too.  The motto is "learning to love, loving to learn."  I definitely think I am in the right spot.  =)