Adventures in Sabbath School

I had so much fun yesterday! I haven't spent as much quality time with a pair of scissors since cutting out a gazillion butterflies and flowers with Emily in September 2009. But yesterday  found me cutting out crowns and clouds, gluing "jewels," and coloring in animals, all in preparation for the Sabbath School class I taught today. I almost went outside and dug up a pile of sand, but in the end I decided the negatives of carting a bucket of sand to church outweighed the positives of the illustration.

Toting my arsenal of craft materials, I arrived at church this morning and found myself in charge of two bright-faced eager-eyed first graders. The chubby little girl's pony tail danced with her mouth when she talked. Which was pretty much non-stop. I don't think I managed to insert more than three sentences into her stream of "Can I tell you something?"s. The little boy was quieter, but his mischievous eyes and crooked grin tugged at my heart right away.

I won't bore you with a minute-by-minute description of my time with these two cuties. But I want to share two things that struck me: the trusting innocence and delighted enthusiasm of little children.

The trusting innocence of these two children amazed me. Since I live so far away from church and town, I don't have much opportunity to get to know everyone at church. Probably all these kids know about me is "the lady that sings up front in church." And yet not five minutes into the lesson they were answering questions, participating in activities, and "telling me something" as if they'd known me for years.  There was no doubt, no skepticism, no wariness. You're the fill-in teacher? Okay! I was implicitly trusted and believed.

Delighted enthusiasm. I love this fact about children! Their excitement reaches astronomical proportions over the simplest things. Everything is a game, an adventure, great fun. I still grin as I remember their excited nods, waving hands, and sparkling eyes when I asked if they were ready to listen to the story. (Of course, it was more like "Are you ready for the STORY?!?!?!") I asked them to close their eyes and imagine what heaven will be like. Their little eyelids pinched shut and their noses wrinkled in their effort to picture the scene I was describing. When I pulled out their shiny cardstock crowns, they laughed and accompanied their leaping feet with vigorous hand-clapping. When I told them to search the room for the paper animals I'd hidden away, they dashed around like hyperactive kittens, squealing with each new discovery. They enthusiastically threw their hearts into every activity.

Children are invaluably precious gems! I completely enjoyed the company of my two little students. What they don't know, though, is that they weren't the only ones who learned something. All day I've been reminded:

Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven. ~Matthew 18:3