A Good Day

It’s always amazing to me how much a class can change in just a week. Last Sunday I had a challenging group of boys who tested my classroom management skills. This week, quite the opposite class arrived. Since we have three services, our families often move fluidly from one to another per their needs each week. So this week I had a delightful class of older elementary kids who easily understood the message of Salvation. Instead of reviewing the concept that God wants a relationship with you, this group could explain that to me already, I quickly moved on to the concept that Salvation is a gift from God (you cannot earn it.) My star teacher had already wrapped a gift as a demonstration tool and had left it with me to use, but this group saw it and explained it to me upon entering the room. So, I had to devise plan B immediately.
I found the crayons and gave each of them a blank piece of paper. I had them draw a box, then put their favorite thing inside the box. Pictures of kittens, family members, and Nintendo DS game units appeared on their pages. Meanwhile I was drawing a box with little circles inside (one for each child in the class.) I put faces and hair on my little circles while each child explained why they chose their favorite thing.
Then I showed them my box with the little faces inside. They smiled when they realized that I had drawn each of them. A few blushed. Then I explained that this was not my box, but God’s box. “What does that mean?” I asked them.
“That we are God’s favorite thing!” they said smiling.
“That’s right!” Then I drew a bow on top of the box and explained that God gave each of them a gift, the gift of Salvation. You cannot earn salvation, God gives it because he loves us and it is given through Jesus Christ.
They got it, and it was a fun moment!