I know, I know... it's a funny title for a post right? Well that is because the story that prompts it is also funny. I love teaching my two and three year old Bible class! We never have a dull moment in that room. I never know what my students are going to say. Anyone who has ever taught this age group should be prepared for anything. This past Wednesday was no exception.
I only have two students, one little boy who is a little over 3 and one little girl who is a few months past 2 years old. The children were coloring the picture that went along with the story I planned to teach. The little girl scooted her chair as close as possible to the little boy. He didn't mind. They are always very sweet to another.
Sometimes though, sitting that close together offers temptations that cannot be explained or resisted. Suddenly, she blew in the little boy's face. It was if she was trying to make his hair fly up or something. I don't know what the reason was for this, but she did it a second time.
I told her to stop. I tried to explain that he didn't like that and it was not something she should do. I went on to say that we "needed some manners in here." The little boy then said - "You can throw manners in the lake."
Now, I have given away my punch line by the title of the post; but as this was taking place I didn't realize what he was thinking. I had no idea what he had in his little mind, so I said -- "No, we can't throw our manners in the lake!"
That sweet innocent child looked up at me with no mischief in his face at all. "Yes you can, Mrs. Robin. My daddy does. You know, those little fish? He throws them in the lake all the time."
I could not help myself. I laughed out loud! The mix-up just turned my giggle box over and the laughter just came out. Well, my little student was surprised by this reaction because I had never laughed at him before. I could tell he didn't really know what to think about that. I quickly told him that "Mrs. Robin was silly because she (I) got all mixed up about what you said." It put him at ease and all was well.
Still the incident was so humorous, I couldn't wait to tell his grandparents (and several others standing close by) what had happened. Everyone got a good laugh out of this.
I'm sure that many of you have funny stories about your children or your Bible class students. This is one I hope I will always remember.
I have laughed over this incident several times over the last few days. All joking aside, I was reminded how important it is to take the time to understand what someone is trying to communicate to you. Understanding is a very important part of loving and supporting each other. Communicating effectively is also important.
When someone is talking with you after worship services, do you really pay intention or is your mind somewhere else? Are you just smiling and giving some trite greeting and going on to the next person? It is important to be friendly and speak to as many of our brothers and sisters as we can; but do we go about it as if we are just tallying the numbers to reach a certain count?
I once heard a story about a gentleman in a reception line who decided to see how many people were really listening to what he said as he greeted them. So he came up with some wildly outrageous phrase to say to each person who came through the line. It was something like "Is there a cat on my head?" The gentleman later reported that very few even blinked an eye at his comment. They never noticed because they weren't listening to what he said- let alone trying to understand it!
As Christians surely we can do better than that. We should make every effort to concentrate on each individual we greet. If we are careful to pay attention and take the time to understand, we may realize that this person - this time - needs more than a simple hello. Sometimes, she may need you to stop and listen just a little while longer.
It really is OK to talk to only one person, if that one person needs us to understand their loneliness and their inner pain. Sometimes we need to listen very carefully. It could be that we need to hold a hand- or give a hug. We might even need to stop what we are doing right then and there and just pray with that person.
Are we sometimes the priest or the Levite and walk right past a member of our church family that we know is having a hard time? Maybe we don't think we have the time or energy to get too involved. But what if that person was you? What if you were the one who needed someone to listen?
Ephesians 4:32 tells us to be kind and tenderhearted to one another. What about Colossians 3:12?
"Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved,
put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness,
longsuffering," (NKJV)
What a wonderful verse this is! We are the elect of God. We are or should be holy and beloved. Therefore, being holy and beloved by God, then we must put on tender mercies, and kindness. The NIV says "clothe yourselves with compassion and kindness." This is what we are to do. Christ was full of love and compassion and kindness. As Christians, we have "put on Christ" so clothing ourselves with kindness and compassion doesn't sound so far-fetched.
Imagine how much stronger all of our local church families would be if we only remembered these two verses? And how many folks could we bring to Christ if we clothed ourselves -- literally let our personalities wear compassion and kindness? How much glory would we bring to the kingdom of Christ? After all, isn't that our purpose?
So the next time someone speaks to us or needs us in any way, let's make sure we use our Christian manners instead of throwing them in the lake!
Christ above all things,
Robin
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