(Staff Appreciation Series)

Thirteen years is a long time to do anything.

If you were going to faithfully serve as a Children’s Director at a church for 13 years, what would it take? We would all agree that you would have to have patience. Not just a little bit of patience, but God-given, longsuffering, write-home-about patience! And if you were to dig down to the center of that patient heart, you would see a genuine love for kids.

Patient and loving are just two of the words that describe our Children’s Director at The Ridge, Melanie Klinker.

Exceptional is also a word I would use to describe Melanie. To take on the challenges of directing a children’s ministry for 13 years is exceptional. There’s very little that could surprise you after all those years!

Here are 4 of the many things I appreciate about Melanie.

1.    Melanie loves children. Just watch Melanie interact with a child. Her face lights up when she meets a child who has come for the first time. You don’t have to be around Melanie long to see that she genuinely loves kids!  

2.    Melanie loves her family. Do you want to get Melanie talking? Just ask her about her boys! She loves to talk about them. She is proud of them (look at the window stickers on the back of her van). Melanie will often “sneak” into the back of the auditorium during our Sunday services while the band is playing, even though she is incredibly busy in Ridge Kids. Why? Because she wants to watch her son play guitar on stage (he’s quite good, too!).

3.    Melanie has a positive attitude. Melanie has a “whatever it takes” attitude in approaching her work. She doesn’t complain about what she does not have. She works with what she does have. Melanie is the first to step in and make a child feel loved and welcomed, regardless of the challenge. She greets parents and kids alike with an infectious smile.

4.    Melanie has a servant’s spirit. She does not look to be noticed or recognized. One incident still stands out to me about Melanie, which summarizes who she is. We recruited volunteers to watch children for a parent’s conference. One little boy, when going to the bathroom, went everywhere but in the toilet. Melanie told the volunteers to just keep watching the kids, while she went in and cleaned up the bathroom. She didn’t complain about it. She didn’t look to be recognized for going above and beyond. I only know about it because one of the volunteers told me about her doing that. I’m sure there are many more examples that I don’t know about! 

The Ridge is what it is today because of people like Melanie. Next time you get a chance, let her know how much she is valued and appreciated!

Whatever it takes,

Jerry