Profoundly Simple

I spoke at devotions for the elementary students on Friday. We studied the Tower of Babel, and I had the kids recite a verse and act the story out. Several gathered together on the floor with their hands inside the circle and chanted “We are so amazing! Look what we can do!” over and over as they moved their hands upwards to symbolize building the tower. Several students worked together on the other side of the stage to be God and say, “I love you! I miss you!” over and over. It was hard to hear God’s voice because the people were so busy with their own plans and pride. “He often speaks to us quietly,” I reminded the kids. Then a few students broke away from the tower group and acted as Satan, saying “Don’t listen to God! Build the tower! Build the tower!” as they stood between God and the tower builders while we did the skit again. We talked about how Satan was really excited because his evil plan was working; he does not want people to listen to God. He doesn’t want them to know that they are loved.

The kids recited two verses that they’d learned. The first was Psalm 145:8 which says, “The Lord is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and rich in love.” We went on to talk about how God is rich in love, which means he has a lot. And he continues to pursue us, but it makes him sad when we ignore Him. We talked about the reality that he also gets angry, that we should fear Him and listen to Him when He talks to us because He doesn’t waste words; what He says is important. Then the kids recited another verse that they learned: “For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him” (Psalm 103:11). We love to do actions so we can remember the verses better. The kids decided saying “Whoa!” really slowly after we said “those who fear him” would be the best way to remember what it means to fear God, to represent how amazing God is. It makes me smile every time they do it!

On the way back to the room another teacher declared enthusiastically, “Wow! I’m amazed at what you can do with first graders. That was so simple and so profound! I’m going to e-mail my son who works with youth in the states and tell him about it.” I was speechless. When we got back to our room we decided to pray together to thank God for helping us remember our lines helping us to do our best job. We pray randomly, as I feel led, and though I ask if any of the kids want to pray with me, they usually say no. Once or twice another student has said something. That day NINE kids prayed out loud for their friends or family, and virtually all of them shared prayer requests, which is not something that we typically do. Wow! “How is God blessing me this much?” I almost cried when so many of them raised their hands to volunteer. Miriam almost prayed in Swedish, too, but she started to feel shy after the first few words, though the kids encouraged her a lot. I love it when they cheer each other on. After they decided who they wanted to pray for, we began. They are so simple and honest and sincere. Mackenzie’s prayer began, “Thank you God for myself…” He went on to ask God to take away his cough as well. Later Kira reminded me that, “You said God was big, well like how big?” She continued to wonder, “Do you think he’s 100 feet long?”

I love kids. I love teaching. Here's one more fun quote....I can't resist.

We have been learning about mammals, fish, and now birds. I asked them if they remembered why male birds have bright colors, as opposed to female birds whose feathers that are usually brown or other colors that are not as noticeable. Jonah M. raised his hand and said it’s because the birds are saying, “Hey, hey, look at me! Do you want to be MY wife?” I smiled so big, thinking, “I guess I did say that when I was teaching!” I was trying to keep the mating, attraction discussion vague and general. Sometimes it’s funny to hear my words come out of other people’s mouths!