LuAnn Carrig- Central Region

J O Y- three letters that sit on the bookshelf behind my desk. Why are they there you ask? As a director in a Lutheran preschool I find great JOY
in theministry where I am blessed to serve.
Many years ago, I was driving by St. Paul's (in Falls Church, VA on Idylwood Rd.) and God spoke to me very clearly. He said, "You are going to serve at St. Paul's." Why would I work or serve at St. Paul’s was my immediate thought. I'm a life-long Baptist! I continued my drive up the hill and pushed the “message” deep into my memory until...the day a friend called me to say that St. Paul's Lutheran in Falls Church was looking for a preschool director. The words I had heard so clearly months before quickly rushed into my mind. I was filled with JOY when I was offered the position and am in my ninth year.
As I began my service at St. Paul's, the single most impressive thing was the committed spirit of the congregation for their Preschool. I had worked in other church preschools but had NEVER experienced such support and enthusiasm from a church congregation. To work in a committed partnership was more than a JOYfull experience. I have enJOYed very much the friendships I have established with the church community and value them greatly.
Not only do I find JOY in working in a church that loves their preschool, but I find great JOY in serving children and families. Building relationships is always a great experience, but supporting them educationally and spiritually brings it to an even greater level. Many in our program are foreign born and this is their first experience in a school. St. Paul’s is a welcoming and safe place for them to walk through this first experience. I would like to think that we bring JOY to each of these families!
It also brings me great JOY as I work with a team of Christians, currently all women but occasionally a man. While my day-to-day responsibilities are to manage the preschool, mentor staff and help families, I really enJOY being a spiritual leader for the staff. I strive to treat people in the same way Jesus treated people; through love. Oh I am very aware that I am a sinner, but through God’s grace and mercy,
I am renewed daily.

What a privilege it is to work in a place where I am free to share my love for Jesus Christ. While Merriam- Webster defines JOY as “a feeling of great pleasure and happiness” I challenge you to define it in the following way:
 J - Jesus first
O - others second
Y – yourself last 

We give thanks for the dedication of LuAnn serving to minister to children and their families
 at St. Paul's. She is also a part of the Kingdom Impact Pinner Team on Pinterest.
You can check out her resources here-http://www.pinterest.com/luanncarrig/
Though her first boards are designed for wonderful help for teachers, there are also many ideas for families of young children here also. She has been a long-time supporter and participant at Keep the Faith activities at Prince of Peace in Springfield, VA.
LuAnn may be reached at-SPLPreschool@aol.com

Tara Wolf- Central Region

At that moment, I did not want to be there.
It was my first Christmas away from home for the holiday. True to my form, my first Christmas away was not a few hundred miles or even a few thousand miles from my family. Instead, I was across the ocean in a small city by the name of Győr, in Hungary. And at that moment, I did not want to be there.
Yet here was my school principal, standing at the door to my flat handing me a bag of decorations for my tree. “Thank you!” I replied, although in my heart I wished I didn’t have to borrow decorations from my lovely principal and her family. Instead I deeply desired to be at home, in the comfort of tradition and familiarity.
Rummaging through the bag I found a variety of ornaments, and at the very bottom of the bag was a package of sparklers. I figured the bag had been used for the 4th of July as well as Christmas decorations and set them aside to return later.
A few days later, we celebrated the birth of Jesus Christ. My heart slowly turned around from a posture of selfishness to a posture of gratefulness and thankfulness. Although I could barely understand a word in Hungarian, I could understand many common Christian elements of worship: the Lord’s Prayer, the Apostles’ Creed and the all-time favorite Christmas hymn, “Silent Night.”
After worship, we celebrated in a traditional Hungarian style. As we sat around the tree, Sándor (the father) called my attention to what he was about to do. I saw real candles in the tree and wondered why they were there. Sándor moved to something else that was hanging on the bottom of the tree...sparklers! With a mixture of disbelief and humor, I watched as he lit them with joy as we celebrated the birth of the Savior of the world, Jesus Christ. It was then that the memory of the bag with the ornaments came floating to my mind. “Of course!” I thought to myself, “The sparklers are for the tree!” (and not for the 4th of July, which Hungarians do not celebrate!).
Slowly another realization came to me; 2,000 years ago there was another young girl that was far from home. She did not have the traditions and familiarity of her home either. This is where our similarities end. She was in a strange town giving birth to a baby whom she had no cradle to lay Him in. She had to rely on the generosity of others to help her through this night as she brought her baby into the world.
But this was not just another baby born that night. This baby is the one who created the world that He was coming in to. This baby would one day heal the sick, raise people from the dead and show mercy to the outcasts of society. This baby would change the world, bringing about such radical transformation that the world would forever be changed. This transformation would give new life to sinners and hope for the lost. It would even have the power, through love, to change my heart from selfishness and pity to one of gratefulness and thanksgiving so many years later in a city in Hungary.
I invite you to receive the good news of this transforming power that is Christ Jesus. I pray that your heart would also be turned toward Him this Christmas season.

DCE Tara Wolf is the Youth and Family Minister at King of Glory Lutheran Church in Williamsburg, VA. Tara is a certified Director of Christian Education having graduated from Concordia University in Irvine, CA with a Bachelor of Arts in Theological Studies with a Youth and Family Ministry concentration. She completed a two year internship in Győr, Hungary in 2003. Tara has served as the Director of Youth and Congregational Ministries at Our Savior Lutheran Church in Fishkill, NY; Director of Youth Ministries at Immanuel Lutheran Church in Palatine, IL and has been at King of Glory since 2009. Tara is blessed to be married to the love of her life and they reside in Williamsburg with their two Hungarian Vizslas.
Tara may be reached at-   t.wolf@kogva.org