And what better way to make the Children's Wing more inviting than to paint the hallway with a 130-foot, eye-catching mural of the Garden of Eden?

Talented painters from within the church took on the challenge of transforming blank wall space into a multi-colored, hand-painted creation including Adam and Eve, animals, birds, reptiles, insects, flowers, and a Tree of Life with 3-D fruit.

Carolyn Hurley, assisted by Carolyn Marshall, Kelly Buchanan and others, chose favorite images from illustrated children's books and then drew the designs up on the walls. About ten people from the church helped paint the project that started with a full work week in the summer and carried over into the first three months of the school year.

"The first part of school the preschool-age children were wandering in amongst paintbrushes and paint cans. They loved looking for new creatures to appear each day. Any child that walks into these doors would feel loved and special and a part of God's magical world. They walk in and they're awestruck if it's their first time," Carolyn said.

Children are drawn especially to the Tree of Life, complete with three-dimensional fruit enticing small fingers to touch.

"We had to rewrite the Bible a little in this case. The saying above the tree reads, "Thou shalt not touch the fruit or eat it or thou shall surely die." That was our insider artist's joke," Carolyn said.

Carolyn has used the mural to teach her own two children about the creation story.

"I like the fact that the mural tells God's first story. We started with the beginning. The Children's Department is all about telling the children stories. They're not only hearing God's word, they're seeing it. It's an expression of love to them just as God's creation is an expression of love to us," Carolyn said.

"We need to use the talents that God has given us for His glory. A lot of us have been given talents that no one ever gets to see. It brings so much glory to God when we use our talents for Him," Carolyn added.

Carolyn's excitement about the project was far reaching. Her parents, Sharon and Martin Loyley, are missionaries in the Bahamas, and both pastor Methodist churches there. Carolyn had kept her mother informed of the mural's progress, and when Carolyn's mom came for a visit and saw the artwork, she was delighted and really wanted a similar mural for her small church in the Bahamas, which is made up of 80 percent children and youth.

"We took a mission team from our church to the Bahamas in June 2006, including Bonnie and Allie Jansen, Kelly Buchanan, Carrie Franklin, Rowena Edwards-Smith, and me.

We stayed a week and painted every day from dawn until dusk. The painting went much faster in the Bahamas because we had done it before. The main difference was that we were painting on concrete blocks in the Bahamas. Kelly and Bonnie painted most of the animals and the birds, and they made it work.

They made a bear or an elephant or a flamingo appear on the rough surface," Carolyn said. One of the best parts about the mural, according to Carolyn, was working alongside fellow church members and enjoying the process of seeing the project through to completion.

The preschool at Andrew United Methodist Church has expanded this year. Classes for two through four year olds meet on Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 8:30 a.m. until 12:30 p.m. The Mother's Morning Out program is held two days a week.

For more information about Andrew Preschool, call the church at 987-7934.