Hangin’ Out with the Cool Kids
Every other Sunday morning at 10:30, you’ll most likely find Mr. Scott and me hanging out with one of our favorite groups of people.
Let me tell you. These people are smart. They’re hilarious. They’re kind. They’re inquisitive. And…they love a good lollipop.
These are our pre-K friends, and we are among their biggest fans. It’s a gift to us (and tons of fun!) to get to teach them in the preschool department at our church.
Odds are good that if you visit our classroom, Mr. Scott and a handful of kids will be down on the rug building castles and parking garages out of Magna-Tiles. Mrs. Tiffany will be perched on a tiny chair at the table, coloring a picture from the day’s Bible story and hearing from our friends all about what they’ve been up to lately.
We (the kids and the grown-ups) have a blast every time we’re together! We hide God’s Word in our hearts as we memorize Scripture. We learn Bible stories and important ways that we can love like Jesus. We pray together.
I really love that when we teach each story, we boil it down to the “main thing.” Every story in the Bible points to Jesus, and we get to help the kids make that connection. There’s nothing more gratifying than when a kiddo hears a story, learns the facts, and then internalizes the truths. That is cause to praise the Lord! And it’s an answer to the many prayers Mr. Scott and I pray for “our” kids.
We get to spend an entire year getting to know the kids and their families. It’s bittersweet to say good-bye at the end of each summer as our pre-K kids become “K” kids – they promote up to the elementary department right before they start kindergarten.
We count ourselves blessed to have the privilege of pouring into these little guys and gals. But the first day they walk into the classroom, we know the last day will come. In that year, they’ll grow and learn and change and mature – and teach Mr. Scott and me a thing or two along the way. And it’s a sweet gift from God to have had just a peek into all the things He’s done in their little lives and to prayerfully imagine the plans He has for them.
The parents of our pre-K friends will get to watch these littles grow up – get to witness them become adults and parents themselves one day. Mr. Scott and I get to invest in them just for a season. But for the season we have them, there’s no other place we’d rather be.
*****
“People were bringing little children to Jesus to have Him touch them, but the disciples rebuked them. When Jesus saw this, He was indignant. He said to them, ‘Let the little children come to Me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.’ And He took the children in His arms, put His hands on them, and blessed them.” – Mark 10:13-16
