Play! Listen! Talk!

Where does God live? Does He live at church? Today I heard the story of a group of preschoolers who went for a walk with their teacher. As they passed the front door to the church, the teacher said, “This is the door to God’s House.” One little girl in the group was quick to ask, “Is God at home, or is He at work?”

I’m not sure what the teacher said to answer the little girl’s question, but I do know that with preschoolers, it’s always a good idea to think about how words and ideas we understand as adults can be misunderstood by little children who think literally.

And then there are all the other comments that found their way into our class today:
“Let’s find out who is the oldest in our class today!” spoken by the boy who is the oldest, and proud of it!
“I lost three teeth this week!”
“I had pizza for breakfast because today is opposite day: dinner for breakfast and breakfast for lunch!”

So many children, all talking about so many different things and each needing to be valued and cared for. It fit with our Bible verse “Whatever you do, do your work for the Lord” (see Colossians 3:23). After today’s class, here’s my paraphrase, written especially for teachers of preschoolers: “Whatever you talk about, as you show your love for each child, you show your love for the Lord.”