Ending on a High Note

We concluded our Children Desiring God year with the blessing of our children leading the whole church in praise and worship, as they repeated God's Word back to Him. Our class was so pumped up to sing their verses, the adrenaline was really going. They surprised me with how loudly and beautifully they sang. When I came back to my seat, the Lybrands, sitting way in the back, said, "We could hear every word!"

In case you didn't hear every word, here is what I told the church about you and your children:

I have been so very blessed to teach this 5-year-old class. There is something very special about studying the Bible with these children. They are so eager to learn about Him and to please Him and they respond with appropriate wonder at the stories of God’s grace and power. (One night I was telling the story of the Tower of Babel. The story ended with a line that said something like: “The people could never get to heaven by their own works, they needed heaven to reach down to them – and it did -- when God sent Jesus!” When I got to that part, one child jumped up, full of uncontainable joy, and just exclaimed, “What a beautiful story!” That really is the proper response to what Jesus has done, and I am thankful for reminders to think like that.)

These children ask hard questions, showing they are mulling over what we are studying. And they always make me laugh. I asked the class the other night why the Pharoah had killed all the baby boys in Egypt and one child answered that “Pharoah was just not a big fan of baby boys.”

All of the children have worked hard and so have their parents. They have memorized many Scriptures over the past year, by singing them, as you will hear in just a minute. They have served their neighbors by sending cards and letters of encouragement. They have studied solid doctrine, painlessly, by reading engaging children’s books. Some have established their own private devotions and shared the Gospel with friends. They have grown in their understanding of who God is as we have studied the Old Testament, looking specifically for foreshadowing of Christ and attributes of God. And the children seem to be grasping some pretty big concepts: We have been talking about God being infinite, totally unlimited -- one mom reported that her child had requested “infinite” glasses of milk, please.

The children are sincere in their seeking after God – and so are their amazing parents and grandparents. I have loved getting to know the families of these children and am so encouraged by their love for the Lord and their earnest desire to see their children love Him too.

We hope that you are blessed now as the children praise God by singing some of the Scriptures they have memorized that focus on trusting in Him.