Impulsive Joy

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by bob canada

My husband and I sat down at a local restaurant recently and the waiter greeted us with such a lack of enthusiasm that we immediately concluded that he hated his job.  If you’re not careful, kids (and their parents) may draw the same unfortunate conclusion about how you feel about children.

First impressions are difficult to overcome.  Our cranky waiter did a fine job at serving our meal and making sure our needs were met….but he had a huge hurdle to overcome in that his first impression left us thinking he would rather be anywhere else!

There are few more critical moments for a visitor than the first impression you present.  What’s the single most important thing to have prepared to make your visitors feel welcomed from the start?  It’s more simple than you think!

Facilitating a connection point is your single most important component to a good first impression.

That’s it.  It’s not complicated…. but it is intentional.

Did you ever move homes and schools when you were young?  When I was going into the 5th grade, my family moved cities and subsequently, I started a new school.  That first day is still so vivid in my memory!  I remember being really nervous and worried about eating lunch alone.  I desperately wanted a friend to help me through the anxiety of the first day in a new reality.

If a child visiting your ministry walks into a general room and has no one to facilitate a connection or talk to, chances are they will want to crawl into the fetal position and watch the clock click closer to pick up time.  And trust me when I say, they will let mom and dad know that they were miserable.

Walk your visiting children to a leader who is trained on how to connect kids together.  Make sure they have a destination and a purpose to plug in to.  Children will naturally seek out adults in the room who will help them feel connected, so why not set that system up from the beginning?

Which leader in the room will know – and address — your visitors by name?

There’s a lot of grace for all the details that can (and sometimes do) go wrong in ministry when you have a remarkable first impression.

What do you do to connect children who are visiting for the first time?  When is the last time you were able to observe an entire hour of ministry with the perspective of your first time guest?