Do-dat-din

Or “Do that again” for those of you who prefer traditional spelling and grammar.  Two year olds don’t.  And since I got this quote from one of the darling boys from my Sunday School class, the original writing sticks.

I had finished the lesson and was letting the kids move around and get rid of a little energy before sending them all home.   C.  had decided that he wanted to throw books across the room and use them to hit the others.  I immediately saw that it was a bad idea, but kids tend to do things the way they want to, irregardless of others.  I quickly decided the quickest way to resolve this conflict was to remove the catalyst; I picked him up and told him that it wasn’t nice to throw books at his friends.

He was squirming, so I shifted how I was holding him.  In the process, I ended up spinning him around a little.   As most kids do, he loved it.  Suddenly Miss Leeann was more fun than the toys and books.

“Do dat din,” he squealed as he made one of the biggest smiles I’ve ever seen.  This is a cute story that is made more precious by my memories of what occured the first few times I led this same class…

I didn’t exactly plan on being with the little ones.  At first, I didn’t even want to be a leader.  Only a few months earlier had I found a class that I enjoyed and learned a lot from.  I was rather hesitant about leaving since I still wanted to learn myself.   After a few weeks of fighting the idea of teaching, I realized that it would be beneficial to me too.  It was becoming more and more clear that I was not going to have a full-time teaching position  for the fall.

I’ve wanted to teach since almost as far as I could remember. I was not going to let a few unfortunate events stop me from realizing my dream.  Since I wasn’t going to be a real teacher, I might as well teach Sunday school.  It would give me extra practice.

There were two openings- K and 1–3.  Either of the two would work.  A few weeks later, I got a call.  Would I be willing to do the 2-3 year olds instead?  They had shifted around with the preschools, who would now be in the same class as the Kidnergardeners.  It would be easier to find another teacher for the early elementary class than it would for the littlest ones.  Even though I didn’t feel that I had enough experience working with little ones, I agreed.

I recieved the curriculum and started to look through it.  It seemed easy enough.  Read a Bible story and play a few games.  Wait.  I also had to plan crafts for the kids.

There were 4 kids the first week.  Two, including C. had full blown temper tantrums and cried the majority of the time.  A third just sat quietly and stared at his new surroundings.  One of them listened, sort of.  It was exhausting.  But I was not a quitter.

As the weeks have come and gone, I’ve improved my techniques greatly.  I’ve gotten used to the tears, although they don’t come nearly as often now as they did in September.  The kids have gotten used to me and have learned how to trust me.

It is such a blessing to see how my saying yes and following through on that commitment blesses others.  First of all, it blesses the kids because they learn on their level from someone who cares about them.  Second, the parents because they can see how their children are positively impacted by my toiling.  Third, anyone who hears me talk about this (or reads the blog) and has an impression left on their hearts.

Remember, you do not always see the results right away.  If this is something you should be doing, persevere.  Even if you feel inadequate, keep at it.  God will give you the skills you need to complete the work.  Doing the work of the Lord will always reap rewards and blessings.  You just need to look for them.  While you’re looking, “do dat din” and don’t give up.

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