little bundles of joy

August 14, 2010

I had the privilege of helping out with VBS this past week. :) I helped out with the pre-school/kindergarten class. We had 7-9 kids throughout the week for our class; definitely a full work load for us haha. It was definitely SUCH a joy being able to serve with my fellow brothers and sisters this week. The kids were so darn cute and it was so encouraging to see how much love and care all the older brothers and sisters gave to the younger kids in their class. Seriously, older brothers playing with little kids? Pretty darn attractive of a quality. haha.

Doing VBS this past week as well as going to the Basic Life Principles seminars the week before has reminded me that children are indeed blessings from God, but we often downplay that. We see them as troublesome, expensive, and requiring way too much time and care. They seem to limit us in our freedom and use up our expenses like no other. But while those things aren't entirely untrue, these do not form the whole picture.

³ Sons are a heritage from the LORD,
children a reward from him.

⁴ Like arrows in the hands of a warrior
are sons born in one's youth.

⁵ Blessed is the man
whose quiver is full of them.
They will not be put to shame
when they contend with their enemies in the gate. (Psalm 127:3-5)

Now, according to the Bible, children are God's heritage to us, a reward, blessings. So why is it that we do not seek the blessing of children as much? Why is it that so often we say we want only two children, or one, or even none? I believe a lot of this type of thinking has to do with the trend our society is taking. It wasn't too long ago that families were big. Four to five kids, maybe even 8. Sounds a bit too much for us nowadays, but I mean, looking at our own parents, most probably came from big families. My dad comes from a family of five children; my mom, from a family of 6 children.

So two things. One, may we be careful to not let society dictate our thinking and beliefs. May we not view children as but merely troublesome little monsters (though I admit, the thought went through my mind many times throughout this week, haha), but truly see them as blessings God has given us. Blessings to bring us joy as well as blessings that will be used to mold and shape our character, allowing us to develop patience, love, humility, joy, and the like.

Second, may we not see having more kids as an absurd and ridiculous idea. Let us go back to the Bible. David, the man after God's own heart, one of the greatest kings (if not the greatest) of Israel, responsible for the wonderful book of Psalms, etc. was the 8th son, the youngest. We would not have the great apostle Paul and most of the books in the New Testament if Jacob had decided to stop having children after his 11th son, Joseph, because Paul is a Benjamite, a descendant of Jacob's 12th and youngest son, Benjamin. However, the point isn't about having a bunch of kids, but about placing everything in God's hands, even the number of children to have. Abraham only had one son by his wife Sarah. So it's not even really about the number of children, but having the right perspective that children are a blessing, and allowing God to be the one to determine how many children one is to have (how to allow God determine, is a whole nother story that will not be talked about in this post, lol) and not insisting on our will.

Okay, back to why I love children. I've realized throughout this week that being with these children has definitely made me a much happier and nicer person haha. I haven't been getting angry as easily (read: I've learned some patience), I've discovered better ways of talking to people when they are angry or upset (read: I've learned to love others better), etc. I love the simplicity of children; how they are so easily amused and amazed. How honest they are about their feelings. How they have no malice or evil intent, though they can be pretty clever with trying to get their way. How easily they say sorry, forgive, and forget being wronged. I've seen children do some mean things to each other, but with a simple sorry, all seems to be forgiven and forgotten, and they go back to playing together. This is clearly not the same with us older people; things aren't that simple anymore, but maybe this is one characteristic God would like us to be like little children in.

Some notable quotes from the 4-5 year old kids this week :) -

Ethan, while coloring: my paper is talking
Me: oh really? What is it saying?
Ethan: it says it wants to go to the park
--

Me (while gluing their picture frames together): can you say “mr. glue please come out”?
Ethan: (softly & politely to the bottle of glue I’m holding): mr. glue, please come out.
(glue comes out)
Ethan: thank you.
--

Gloria: so what happens when Fiona hugs me huh?
Ethan: you turn into a frog.
--

Megan; You're shiny.
Me: why am I shiny?
Megan: because you're a pretty teacher.
--

:)

peekatures:

all 67 kids & 30+ helpers

7 of the kids of the kindergarten/preschool class :)

Ethan! with Nathan on my lap :D