Three is my Favorite

This past Sunday I was caught a bit off-guard. I've served in our church's 3-year-old classroom for several years at this point, but this week I really got to thinking of how much I love them and why I stay there. Perhaps it's my own 3-year-old that makes it more real to me now, and maybe it's the 3rd graders that used to be in my class that emphasize just how fleeting my time with these kids can be.

It was in the story time room, with two little 4-year-olds snuggled up close on each side (they had just moved up to the next classroom and were happy to see a familiar face) that I got a bit emotional. The sun was streaming in bright and warm, the story tellers sharing God's word with these eager, young faces. And then the next moment everyone was on their feet to jump and dance and sing to God. I saw giant smiles, fierce concentration, and unabashed enthusiasm. And I felt this certainty that each story we share with the kids, each craft and activity, and each song we sing with them is of eternal consequence. Of course, we can't create a Christian with Sunday school, but I just wanted to tuck away all these memories of God's love in their little heads in hopes that their hearts will take hold and whisper those truths to them in the tough moments that will undoubtedly rush up to great them at some time in their life, unwanted, but assured.

And what if that silly little fishing activity helps them remember that Jesus called fisherman, that he didn't care if his followers were wealthy or poor, that he didn't care if they had connections. And maybe they'll remember that Jesus asked a lot of them. He asked them to leave everything behind to follow Him. Maybe when the difficulties of adolescence reaches them, they can take comfort in knowing that it doesn't matter how they look, how smart they are, how many other kids like them - that the Creator of the universe LOVES them.

I love my threes. I love their sweet little smiles, their tiny voices, their giant imaginations, their sweet dispositions, their literalism, their desire to cuddle. I pray that God can use all of them. That He will tuck His story in their hearts and use their little personalities to reach people in all kinds of ways. I pray little N, with her exquisite empathy will draw people to her by her ability to listen. I pray little K, though she is so quiet, that people will truly listen when she talks and that she'll be a light for Christ someday. I pray my own exuberant Addy will be bold, unafraid of other's perceptions, that she'll be passionate in her love for Christ and her desires to share it with others. So, yes, I love all of my threes because they are fun and sweet, but I also love them for all I pray they can be for God's kingdom.