7. Have a videographer and a photographer.
Preferably this person will not be a parent or a grandparent of one of the pageant participants. You want to get pictures of everyone - not just one or two of the kids. :) But you want to record this event for posterity's sake and for future reference when recreating the pageant.
8. Love the kids.
These tips are not in order of importance by any means. It is our primary job to love Jesus and to love our children and connect them to each other.
Kids from all kinds of different backgrounds with all kinds of baggage. Again, our goal is not to present a perfect performance but to tell this most wonderful of truths - that God loved us and sent His Son.
Be patient with your kids quirks, their misbehaviors, their failure to listen. We want to make this whole thing - from start to finish a GOOD memory in their little hearts and minds.
9. Say thank you.
Thank the parents, the grandparents. Thank the kids. Thank your pastor. Thank your teachers, your helpers, your tech team, your church secretary, your family, your musicians, your costume makers, your partners in ministry. Say it verbally, say it often. And when it is all said and done - send out thank you notes.
10. Lists help eliminate stress.
I am a consummate list maker. There is nothing more satisfying to me than making a list and checking it twice. And checking everything off of it.
Here are some of the lists I made:
- people to contact
- props needed
- costumes needed
- practices scheduled
- communications to send
- music to procure
- sound and lighting needs
- snacks for practice time (gluten, dairy, sugar and peanut free)
- details to talk to my co-laborer about
That is just a small sample of my lists. I needed a list of lists!
But when December 9 and 10 rolled around and we had done everything that we could possibly think of to do - we sat back and watched the most amazing story unfold.
A story of a Great God with Great Love for all the people. Told by children.
We think we are teaching them about Jesus. Well, they taught us.
Part One here.
Part Two here.
2 comments:
This is wonderful!
The time and effort you put into this is only matched by the amount of love you have for what you do!
Blessings for cozy and fun days of preparation!!!
I enjoyed reading through this series of "steps to a pretty good Christmas pageant"! It is obvious that this is a work of love for you. I love how you work with the children, accepting their limitations and family situations . . . with the ultimate goal of presenting the gospel story. This should be required reading for all pageant directors. :)
Post a Comment