From The Director, Kathy Irvin:
April 2006
Often it is hard to believe that our children are paying attention to anything we say or do. Some of us have been moved to threaten, bribe, or try the 1, 2, I better not get to 3 method to get our children to respond to our requests. But, I can assure you that they are indeed soaking up our words and our actions. Recently the Junior Kindergarten classes visited the Bible Habitat. Julie Asplund, dressed in typical biblical fashion, greeted the children waiting in their tunics. One little guy insisted that Julie was Mary and that he was "Jofish". During the initial introduction the children delighted in sharing their thoughts. Hands shot up and stories blurted forth. Your children know about Jesus as a boy and as a man. They believe that God can hear their prayers anywhere even in brick buildings. They know that Jesus and God are in heaven, and mentioned that we can not take stairs or an elevator up there to see them. They believe that we will all be together in heaven. Many agreed that God is in our hearts and that we don't know what he looks like. (Some think he looks a lot like Dr. Bowen.) They believe that God will take care of us. Four plus years on earth and they know their God loves them, is with them, and are not embarrassed to share their beliefs about him. As the years pass we need to continue to talk with them, pray with them, sing with them so that when rocky times come, as we know they will, they can reach deep inside and hear our words, our stories, our faith. And if we stumble or feel inadequate, we need only to look to our children. They will pray with us, teach us the songs and together we can believe.
"God is so good, God loves me so, God answers prayers." We sing these words every Friday and Sunday in Chapel followed by our chapel prayer written by Dr. Bowen. "We know our God is here because He's everywhere. He calls us each by name and loves us all the same. We can go to Him in prayer, and He teaches us to care. Amen." We end singing, "I am so glad that Jesus loves me . . ."