To Become Like a Little Child

I had one of the best lessons in Sunday School today.  I teach a group of 16 kids, ranging in age from 14-17.  I got the calling six months ago, and I won't lie--in the beginning, I was rather intimidated.  However, I've built up a good rapport with those kids, and now I just adore them.  This lesson might not have been as spiritual as some, but I was able to mix in a lot of good things which left everyone in a good mood.  

The lesson was titled "Who is My Neighbor?", but it didn't honestly have much to do with that.  It was more about being like a little child.

Fighting Darth Vader

So, to start off the lesson, I asked Kaylor Toronto and his dad to come in at the beginning of the lesson.  I wanted Kaylor to tell us about some great experience he's had lately (he's only 5 or 6, I think).  Knowing that he had recently been to Disneyworld and had attended "Jedi Training", I figured that was a good place to start.  At first, he wasn't sure what to say, but his dad told him to just tell us what had happened (he was sitting on his Dad's lap through all of this).  

Kaylor, using the Force

I love Kaylor.  He was one of my best singers in Primary, always sitting there, smiling and singing underneath his cute strawberry blonde hair.  So there he was, sitting at the tables in the Family History Center, on his dad's lap, all 32 eyes on him, telling us about the Jedi Academy.  He showed us the different combinations of light sabre moves he learned.  He told us that there were only GREEN light sabers, and when I asked him which color he would rather have, he said, "P.u.r.p.l.e", dragged out with a smile.  For some reason, Jacob Huff like that and stood up and high-fived him for his color choice which Kaylor just loved.  Then, I prompted him a bit, knowing how the academy works.  I asked him about Darth Vader, and how he finally got rid of him.  He held out his hand and showed us.  Then, I asked him what that meant, and he told us that he used "the Force."  It was seriously the cutest thing EVER!  Too, the youth couldn't stop listening, because honestly, Kaylor is very well spoken and had no problem talking to us.  Only once did he start talking more in the direction of his dad, and his dad just turned his head back to talk to us.  After he left, I just watched the kids' reaction to him and talking about him to each other.  We spoke about the qualities that Kaylor had that we liked so much.

So, then it was onto the lesson and how Jesus told us there are two things that we need to do to enter the kingdom of heaven:  be converted, and become as a little child.  It was funny that nobody was quite sure what "conversion" meant until I got them going on baptism, etc.  Then, we talked about translating Kaylor's qualities into "becoming as a little child."  What did that mean for them?

Jessie Gardner brought up a really good point that Kaylor listened to his dad which went right along with the idea of "being willing to submit to the will of the Father."  She talked about the fact that he didn't talk back to his dad, or refuse to do what his dad told him to do--he did it, and he trusted that his father knew that everything was going to be okay.  Are we the same way with our Heavenly Father?  Do we completely trust in what he tells us to do, or do we give him flack, or worse yet refuse to do what he commands?  Certainly, our Heavenly Father knows better than anyone what is best for us.

Then we talked about the fact that Kaylor spoke without any worries about what the kids would think of him (the grammar is terrible there, but I don't know how else to say it).  He spoke with great enthusiasm about defeating Darth Vader, and he was happy to share every detail of the experience.  Certainly, by the time most kids are teenagers, it's hard for them to let go--they fear criticism too much.  We likened this to the idea of sharing the gospel.  The gospel IS joy.  It's the most wonderful thing to happen in our lives, and yet do we share it like that with others?  No.  Most of us worry too much about what others think of us, and we worry we will be hurt.

There was such a sweet spirit in the room after Kaylor and Brother Toronto left, and everyone felt it.  I knew it was going to be a good lesson.

Then we talked about the apostles, and them questioning who would be first in the kingdom of God (of course, thinking of themselves in relationship to Jesus).  Again, what an easy thing to liken to our own lives!  It's the whole idea of the "first shall be last, and the last shall be first".  I asked the kids had they ever had any experiences with this.  Jessie started out with a playground story, and Caleb followed it up with another one.  Jessie ended up being made fun-of because she tried to be first down the slide, and Caleb tried to jump out of the swings further than anyone else (he ended up jumping further, but landing on his face!)  Hannah then moved it onto thinking she didn't need to practice for her Interlochen auditions, and she ended up second-to-last chair in the lowest orchestra.  I then gave them the idea about callings.  Do we ever feel like we deserve a calling, or would be better than someone else?  Did Kaylor talk about being better than the other Jedi trainees?  I think NOT!

I then asked them if this reminded them of some fable.  Low and behold, Andrew Huff hit the nail on the head when he said, "The Tortoise and the Hare."  True-Dat!  So, I pulled out some bunny ears, and a turtle mask (from the 100+ masks we have in the basement), and I had Micaela Clark and Caleb act it out, racing around the room.  The acting wasn't that stellar, but then at the end, my point was proven, and it wasn't even planned.  Micaela, acting as the hare, got back to the starting point first, and I pointed out that she wasn't supposed to finish first.  However, I had forgotten (as had she) that the race was actually to the EXIT sign in the Family History Center, and while she was disputing with me over that, Caleb snuck by her and touched it first.  The first shall be WHAT??!!  They were both very good sports!

After that, I finished up by asking what things the Lord asks us to do that we may think are too hard.  When is it hard to submit to the Lord's will?  For me, it was having my broken ankle.  I couldn't find purpose in that moment, and I didn't want to submit to the will of the Lord.  Both Jessie and Caleb had thoughts about it.  Jessie wondered if there was something that I was supposed to learn from it, and Caleb wondered if maybe the Lord thought I needed to "slow down" and the only way for that to happen in my life was to physically disable me.  Oh my goodness, if only I had had the spiritual maturity that these youth show when I was their age!  Here I am, 41 years old, and just learning these things.

So, to close out my lesson, I always serve treats that somehow relate to the lesson OR that motivate the kids to do something outside of the class related to the lesson.  Last night, I texted Mark (who was out) and asked him to bring home 16 bunnies.  I thought they would be cute to hand out at the end of the lesson to remind the kids of "the hare" and his mistake in trying to be first.  The specific words to my text:  Could you please stop by Giant Eagle and get me 16 small bunnies?  I don't care what they look like--just 16 of them.  When I asked the class what they thought when they heard that, their minds were along the same track as mine--16 chocolate bunnies for a treat.  Afterall, it IS the Easter season.

Imagine my surprise when Mark told me this morning that they were out in the car, and I just needed to get them out of his car and put them in my car, and when I did so, I pulled out a garbage size plastic bag, filled with pink, blue and white STUFFED bunnies (and a couple of ducks)!  Oh my gosh, the laughter around the tables in my class this morning!  Good old Mark and his right-brainedness :-)  Most of the kids took them anyway, and I know that they won't soon forget the subject of our lesson today.  I let Kaylor pick one out to thank him for helping me, and somehow Sister Hanscom ended up taking two also.  By that point, I didn't care who had the leftovers :-)

I'm so thankful for that class.  I look forward to teaching every week, because the kids are just so inspirational and wonderful.  What a fool I was, thinking it couldn't get any better than Primary!