Devotional

I've been substituting for the 4-year-old class at church for about four months.   Depending on the day, I have anywhere from five to 15 kids.  That number is not exact--just my perception, but close to the truth.  We've had so many move-ins and move-outs that I'm not really sure how many kids are in the class.  I admit that you could walk in at any moment, and my reaction to such a responsibility would be dramatically different than the moment before.  Generally I love it.  We have moments when I can see a little light turn on, and a child clearly understands what I'm teaching.  And we have moments when one boy is sticking his fingers in another boys ears or twisting in his seat.   And all the other kids' eyes are glued on them.  We have moments where five minutes into my lesson half the class needs to use the restroom.  And moments where we sing a song, and the only person singing is me.  

Yesterday when we came home from church, my two youngest kids were talking about their lessons, which somehow they remembered.  It was the same lesson I taught--the Brother of Jared.  Jackie was so excited about her lesson, that she decided she wanted to teach the upcoming family home evening lesson.  And she wanted to teach the same lesson she had just had in her class.  In fact, she got my lesson book out of my church bag and used it to prepare.  She collected small rocks from outside and gathered paper for us to draw on. 

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With all the preparation, she was too excited to wait until nighttime to give us her lesson, so when we all woke this morning, she insisted on doing a morning devotional with us.  Here she is in her jammies with my manual on her lap.  She's telling the story of the Brother of Jared:

After her lesson, Henry did the activity.  He demonstrated it for us, spitting a ball out of his mouth and into the bucket.  He, by the way, was amazingly precise, landing the ball in the bucket from several feet away. 

Needless to say, we weren't too interested in that game.  The girls groaned, "Ewww!" 

So Henry spontaneously created a different game.  The goal is to bounce the ball out of the drum.

Notice that in the background Jackie is still trying to finish her lesson while Henry is making sure he has the activity ready . . . 

It all ended with us being able to pick our favorite light rocks.  Mine was special.  The rock was inside a shell.

The final lesson learned from the story of the Brother of Jared:  We must have faith in Jesus Christ and Heavenly Father.  Though we cannot see them, they are there and they love us.  

Thanks for the lesson Jackie!