Today has been a truly special day.

I teach Sunday School and I look forward to it every, single week.  I really do love the children that I’ve been blessed to get to know over the last few years and it is very humbling to have the privilege of teaching them more about God.  It’s very special and, every week,  I look forward to seeing their shining faces—but I have to say that I look forward to it even more at Easter.  Magic happens when these children hear the story of Easter.  Every year,  I use the Resurrection Eggs to tell the story and, every year, it’s wonderful and powerful.  But this year was extra sweet and moving.   God was present today in my second class.   We take a long time to talk about each part of the story, and I try to think of examples that make Jesus more of a man than a powerful God.  Midway through the telling,  I noticed one of the little girls in my class crying.  I invited her to sit on my lap and assured her it was okay.  A few minutes and another egg later,  a little boy was crying.  Tears gathered in my eyes, too.  When I asked the children what they were feeling, one little boy said,  “It makes me sad,” while another said, “It makes me sorry.”   When at last we reached the final egg, such a feeling of joy and relief came over the entire class and one child shouted out “Hallelujah!” because the egg was empty.

 

 

To take it a step further, since they were so into the storytime, I demonstrated how a tea bag can also tell the story of Easter.  The label equals the names that He was called, good and bad.  The string demonstrates how sometimes people get attached to things of this world, like money, friends or fame but then I cut the string off, showing that Jesus was not attached to anything of this world, that He had a higher purpose.  The bag was pierced with a staple, but Jesus was pierced with nails then, after talking about this for a bit, carefully (read CAREFULLY) remove the staple from the teabag, trying not to tear the bag at all.  I empty the bag out and note how the tea looks like dirt and how inside of us is dirt called sin.  I have some water that I drop a bit in, reminding them that only Jesus can make dirt clean.  Then I carefully stand the long tea bag straight up and light it from the top.  As it burns, I explain that once we ask Jesus to clean the dirt from within us, we start to shine brighter and brighter until, one day, we’ll rise above this world, just like Jesus rose from the dead.   By this time, the kids were excited and happy, especially when the tea bag flew!

 

 

God was in those rooms with us today.  I felt His presence, and so did the children.  He spoke to a lot of them there.   It was beautiful.  It was precious.  It was what Easter is all about.  It is why I teach.   And it reminded me that nothing is as powerful as His presence, and the story of His son.

 

                                 

Thank you, Abba.