Pack 180 kids in to a room with a game show theme and goofy characters being goofy and you border on pandemonium! Sitting on a chair and keeping quiet is just not natural!
I was involved with a Vacation Bible School programme last week.
All I had to do was help 12-15 kids get from place to place with a minimum of chaos, destruction or injury to themselves or others. I talked a little about my life of faith with God too and I met new people in the other volunteers for the week.
To look into the faces of each child was looking into the future. As I thought of each one at different times during the week, I thought of all the good, and all the harm, that could be done to them. I thought of what words of
encouragement and wise counsel would accomplish. I thought of how their little spirits could be squashed by unkind words or destructive criticism.
When listening to the story one night, a keen boy on the front row answered many of the questions, or had his hand up to do so if called upon. He had seen the video many times. Near the end of the story a question was asked that stumped him. He said, "Hmm, I'm not there yet."
Another rowdy boy was trying to glue ribbon on to a card so it would curl a certain way for the right effect. Finally in frustration, and with most of the glue on his fingers, he looked up at me and said, "Can you help me?" The little boy in him peeked out for a moment.
Another boy obviously responded to positive feedback. He has dark eyes, short hair and can do the robot dance. He's smart and keen, though very social and so easily distracted. I liked him from the first evening.
There was a time when I was one of those little people, sitting in those same rooms and taking in bits and pieces of the big picture that would help me understand the character and nature of God. Some of the same ladies volunteered last week who had volunteered 35 years ago. Who knows what all goes in to the worldview we assemble from the fragments of information we gather along the way?
Even the rowdiest of the boys was so cute I couldn't stay frustrated with him. Why do I like the rowdy kids so much? I think I was busy as a kid, but not usually in trouble. Is it that they have spirit, spunk, curiosity and energy? Is it that they will risk, are non-conformists? I don't know. Maybe some of you who know me personally will have a theory.
While I do not think I am cut out to be a teacher or even to work with children too much too often, I enjoyed my week, five nights of Studio Go and the community that developed through our time together. Yes, I was happy to be alone with my book each night when it was over, but it is good to risk, to serve, to obey and to tell.
I was involved with a Vacation Bible School programme last week.
All I had to do was help 12-15 kids get from place to place with a minimum of chaos, destruction or injury to themselves or others. I talked a little about my life of faith with God too and I met new people in the other volunteers for the week.
To look into the faces of each child was looking into the future. As I thought of each one at different times during the week, I thought of all the good, and all the harm, that could be done to them. I thought of what words of
encouragement and wise counsel would accomplish. I thought of how their little spirits could be squashed by unkind words or destructive criticism.When listening to the story one night, a keen boy on the front row answered many of the questions, or had his hand up to do so if called upon. He had seen the video many times. Near the end of the story a question was asked that stumped him. He said, "Hmm, I'm not there yet."
Another rowdy boy was trying to glue ribbon on to a card so it would curl a certain way for the right effect. Finally in frustration, and with most of the glue on his fingers, he looked up at me and said, "Can you help me?" The little boy in him peeked out for a moment.
Another boy obviously responded to positive feedback. He has dark eyes, short hair and can do the robot dance. He's smart and keen, though very social and so easily distracted. I liked him from the first evening.
There was a time when I was one of those little people, sitting in those same rooms and taking in bits and pieces of the big picture that would help me understand the character and nature of God. Some of the same ladies volunteered last week who had volunteered 35 years ago. Who knows what all goes in to the worldview we assemble from the fragments of information we gather along the way?
Even the rowdiest of the boys was so cute I couldn't stay frustrated with him. Why do I like the rowdy kids so much? I think I was busy as a kid, but not usually in trouble. Is it that they have spirit, spunk, curiosity and energy? Is it that they will risk, are non-conformists? I don't know. Maybe some of you who know me personally will have a theory.
While I do not think I am cut out to be a teacher or even to work with children too much too often, I enjoyed my week, five nights of Studio Go and the community that developed through our time together. Yes, I was happy to be alone with my book each night when it was over, but it is good to risk, to serve, to obey and to tell.
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