This morning at MOPS ...

Something has happened in my life during the last 5 to 6 weeks ... something unexpected ... but very nice. It's a terribly long story that I want to tell you about ~ how can I shorten it down so that it doesn't BORE everyone to pieces in the process!?

When I retired from work 2+ years ago, I asked about volunteering at church. I met with a young woman who heads up our preschool ministries. She said they very badly needed a "teacher" for the 3's on Sunday mornings. I told her I was NOT a teacher, but that I would very willingly help any teacher they could find! I would be there every single week! I would wipe noses, take kids to the potty, help with the crafts, etc. But they needed a TEACHER. So I gave an all-out effort at that job for about 4-6 months (and failed terribly!). There was such a complicated curriculum with a "key" thought, a Bible story, a separate verse, a puppet story, a craft ... I just failed miserably at it and ... fired myself! I went back to being a helper, but had the opportunity then to watch and observe some really good teachers.

So this year, when asked to rotate with two other women at MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers) every other Thursday morning in a teaching role, I accepted (very reluctantly!). We were assigned a Bible story, without an agenda, and asked to present that story to a group of 4's and 5's. Two weeks ago was my very first attempt at teaching. I had studied the story of Daniel and his three friends for over a month and I learned so much! I had such a great time teaching it to this group of 11 children in our little class. What's better, every one of those kids seemed SO engaged in the story ~ it was a brand new (and happy) experience for me! The other teachers in the class told me I was "born" to teach!
This morning, our Bible story was on the healing of the paralytic in Capernaum. The picture above is of our flannel graph illustration of Jesus in the crowded house. The young paralyzed man is being let down by ropes through a hole in the roof of the house ... so that he could meet Jesus face to face! And what did Jesus do first? He told him that his sins were forgiven! And then Jesus healed his body so that he got up off his mat, jumped up, and praised God!

How could I make this story come alive to small children?! We talked about what it is like to be sick ~ are we happy or sad when we are sick? We talked about the meaning of paralysis, and I briefly told them the story of my sister's nephew who could run and play when he was a little boy ~ but then then there was a car accident that left him paralyzed. Watching their little faces, I could see how sad they were to hear about this!

But then we also talked about our hearts. What does SIN do to us? It causes our hearts to become hard as stone. I brought in a rock and passed it around the circle. Can a rock see? Can a rock hear? Can a stone move? Is a stone alive? No!

"I will give you a NEW HEART with RIGHT DESIRES, and I will put a NEW SPIRIT in you. I will take out your stony heart of sin and give you a new, obedient heart." Ezekiel 36.26 We talked about how Jesus healed the young man's heart of sin, as well as his body of the paralysis. We had such a great time talking about all of this and the children asked such great questions! Aren't little kids so interesting?

Our craft for this morning was to make get well cards! And since I am a card maker, this was SO fun for me to lead!

The children were each given an envelope with folded construction paper for the card itself, and pretty foam stickers to make a picture. They made such beautiful cards!

In recent weeks, I've been asked again to be a teacher of preschool children on Sunday mornings ~ with the stipulation that I would not have to use a fancy curriculum! My first little class was this past Sunday. We did the story of Jonah! And this coming Sunday, I'm going to re-teach the Daniel and his three friends story to this Sunday group of children using Dylan's LEGO's! But I'll tell you about that later!

The unexpected thing about all of this is the J O Y I have experienced while studying the story and trying to figure out the best way to teach it, simply enough so that a preschooler can understand it. I am surprised by how much fun I am having! Isn't God awesome?