Dear Pastor, Let Me Explain!
Thank you for leading us in preschool chapel yesterday. The children learned a great deal. It may have seemed otherwise to you, but please let me explain!
It was fabulous to wear your full robes and liturgical stole so the children could see them up close. I hope you didn’t take offense when little Will asked you why you were wearing a dress and a scarf like a girl. Preschoolers don’t have much of a filter between what they think and what they say! It was very instructive when you tried to explain the meaning of the robes and the clerical collar, but you lost them when you said, “The robe signifies the covering up of your humanity so no one can see it.” You see, Harry Potter was recently on cable in a marathon session and although they are under five years old, most of them were thinking about the invisibility cloak, which is why Nathanial shouted out that you should have put it over your head because we can still see you. Really, no disrespect was meant. They were just going with what they saw in the movies.
Little Ellie told her mom you lit a smoke bomb in the church.
While we teachers loved your use of incense for our chapel service, perhaps a little less would suffice next time. I see where you were going with your explanation of fragrant offerings and the smoke rising to heaven, but the kids are a bit more sensitive than we are to such things. Remember how coddled they often are by their parents, who are known as lawnmower parents for a reason—they boldly cut a smooth swath for their precious offspring lest the little darlings have to experience anything other than a cushy path in life. Little Ellie told her mom you lit a smoke bomb in the church. Don’t worry, I did call and explain. I am sure she will calm down and won’t actually call in the EPA about our air quality.
Your object lesson about Jesus being the rock of our salvation was amazing. I saw you looking at the playground after chapel and wondering about all of the gravel play, so let me just explain that our preschoolers are very concrete thinkers. When you showed them that big chunk of rock and described its attributes as steady and unchanging and had the kids repeat “Jesus is the Rock of my salvation!” I am afraid they took that quite literally, as in Jesus is a rock. So what you observed from your office window was their dramatic play stemming from your message. The great news is that God’s word resonated in their little hearts, and they remembered what you taught. The slightly less good news is that I did have to make them empty their pockets after recess because they had stuffed each pocket with gravel, wanting Jesus to be with them wherever they went. We will do a little clarification and reteach this week. Similes and metaphors are really tricky with this age!
Similes and metaphors are really tricky with this age!Preschoolers have really great memories about some things, which is why we treasure this time with you learning about God’s Word. But I do want to apologize for little Tom bringing up the spoon incident from last year’s chapel service with you. The good news is that he remembered your entire take away line: I want to be a spoon because knives are for cutting, forks are for stabbing, but spoons are for serving. I just wish he wouldn’t always add that other use for a spoon he figured out sitting there in the pew last year after you had distributed those spoons to the children. In his defense, he and his brother are big soccer players and he did have a point that the spoon had a rather protective cup-like appearance. We are just so sorry that he decided to make sure that cup fit, right there in chapel. We are really careful now to serve only finger foods at snack time, but love your idea to send kids home with an object to help them remember your message. In the future, you can just hand the items to me after chapel, and we will send them home in backpacks.
Mrs. Smith extends her apologies for her students’ behavior during chapel. We agree that three- and four-year-olds really should know how to sit still in church, but truth be told, this was the first time several of them had ever been in a church. The little one who kept standing up and looking around was wondering about his drink order, as it seems he thought the pew resembled the booth at the restaurant his family frequents. When you pointed out the altar area and mentioned serving Holy Communion, Charlotte apparently thought that was the daily special. We already took care of the pew pad she colored all over when we explained it was not, in fact, the children’s menu.
As for the loud interruption when the YouTube video began blaring out of my phone, my deepest apologies! I set it on the pew next to me as I took little Maggie into my arms when she started wailing and didn’t even see Brody grab it and search up heaven using the voice feature. I guess the great news is that he is looking forward to heaven, but the recent celebration of Led Zeppelin’s anniversary must be why the first click resulted in that song. These little ones are so accustomed to having a screen to entertain them! Maybe you can find a little video clip to show them next time, you know, putting it in the vernacular?
Some of this Christian-ese is really tough for them to decipher! Speaking of loud interruptions, little Maggie’s cries were because she was scared. Blood and death are such commonly repeated words in our church, but she isn’t used to being in church and doesn’t understand that Jesus’ death on the cross and washing us in His blood are good things! To her that just sounded plain scary. When we sang “I’ve Been Redeemed,” that set her off again because we sang about the blood of the lamb and as circumstances would have it, the lovey item that comes to school with her daily is a lamb. Some of this Christian-ese is really tough for them to decipher!
As for Katie’s loud announcement on our way out—“Wow, he wasn’t as boring as he usually is. My mommy said he talks forever”—please remember what we tell preschool parents; we will believe only half of what they say about you if you promise to only believe half of what the children say about us. Let it go. In fairness to Katie, she does attend many services here at church because of her parents’ involvement in music, and she is a little young to fully appreciate the beauty of the liturgy. All those words clustered on so few notes, I admit I used to wonder if the composers had run out of notes or if there was a limit! But I digress from my point that I hope you don’t take her comment too seriously.
I want you to know how important it is for these little ones to hear you talk about Jesus. More and more of our students come from homes where no faith is practiced. These special chapel times are so crucial to them.Despite our somewhat rocky time together in chapel, I want you to know how important it is for these little ones to hear you talk about Jesus. Some of them are so new to the very idea of God because more and more of our students come from homes where no faith is practiced or discussed, so our classroom teaching plus these special chapel times and inviting the families to worship are so crucial to them. It seems like you saw some of our worst behavior and might be wondering if they got anything out of our time together. Let me assure you, these little ones do get it.
Our preschoolers do struggle with the deep theological issues. One young student was attending our LCMS preschool but being raised in a devout Catholic family and asked me warily “Is God done taking away my sins?” When I assured him that Jesus’ death and resurrection had completed this work, he was still hesitant, and asked me “So do I still have sins?” He was also very concerned one day when he asked me, “Where did Jesus put my sins?” Profound!
Young children can show us true faith and deep joy. One of my little students remarked nearly every day that Jesus lives in his heart and makes him so happy, while another little girl would be so overwhelmed with feeling Jesus’ love in her heart that she would spontaneously grab the nearest person and hug them tight while exclaiming “I just love everybody and I love Jesus!” Because young students are such physical beings, they feel free to show how God’s love makes them feel in a way that we adults might find uncomfortable. One of my favorites was the little girl who raised her hand with barely containable joy shining in her eyes and blurted out “In heaven, I am gonna twirl all day!!” Doesn’t that make you long for heaven a little bit more? Imagine the breath-taking giddiness of twirling all day and being with Jesus!
The absolute best part of working with young children is to see their faith and to see their love for their Savior grow.Young students worry about their loved ones and their faith and eternal destination. The subjects of pets in heaven comes up frequently, as does the reunion of families after death, as kids ask if they will still live with their mommies and daddies in heaven. One bossy big sister confided in me, “I am worried about my little brother James. I don’t think Jesus took away all his sins, because he still does some pretty bad things.” James is two; enough said.
These young children do get it! The absolute best part of working with young children is to see their faith and to see their love for their Savior grow. Preschool is all about exposing children to ideas and concepts in varied ways and about repeating things we want them to remember. So when I was reviewing the Easter story this spring and closing the last page of the book that showed Jesus’ ascension into heaven, I was interrupted by little Emmett, who excitedly said “That’s not the end of the story. It’s only our beginning!” Shining in his proud little eyes was the joy of knowing he will join Jesus in heaven someday and that will be just the beginning for him in eternity. Through my tears and my choked up voice, I told him he was right. Jesus’ death and resurrection is only our beginning.
Please stop by our classroom whenever you can, even for two minutes, just to say hello or to ask the kids what they are learning. Thank you, Pastor, for sharing your time and God’s Word with our littlest students. I know it can be a mixed bag with the interrupting and the questions, but I know it is time well spent, as it helps their faith and their understanding to grow. Please stop by our classroom whenever you can, even for two minutes, just to say hello or to ask the kids what they are learning. You just might want to skip the robes, however!
Many thanks,
Mrs. Heinz :)
Julia Brauer Heinz serves at Immanuel Lutheran Church and School in East Dundee, Ill., as a PK3 teacher and director of admissions and early childhood education.
