Power Rangers for Jesus!

Andy and I are teaching Sunday School these days. It's a lot of fun. I enjoy having contact with kids, even if it's only once a week. For this six weeks, we are talking about the gifts the wisemen brought Jesus and reading the story of Old Befana. For one of the activities, the kids are making or drawing pictures of gifts that they would give to Baby Jesus.

Today we had the Kindergarteners, and they were, of course, adorable and wiggly. They also had some pretty fun ideas of what they would give Jesus. Under our 'Gifts for Baby Jesus' Christmas Tree we ended up with two or three Red Power Rangers, a couple of yo-yos, a pitcher for Jesus to drink out of in case he got thirsty, a bunny, a puppy, some angels, and a couple of stars. Each of the kids trotted up proudly and told us what they would give Jesus and why. Most of their answers were things like, "Because I like it," or "Because it's fun." The explanation for giving Jesus stars and angels were, "Because a star is how the whole world knew that he had come to earth," and "Because angels came when He was born." One little guy gave him a globe, "Because that's where he came to live!"

Now on one hand, I could start going on about how the prevelence of Power Rangers reflects the materialism of Christmas in our society. But you've heard all of that, and I'm not in that kind of mood. What I think is neat is that these kids picked things that they enjoyed and delighted in. They picked their favorite things and chose to give it the most special person they know. I think Jesus would really like to have had a puppy to play with when he was growing up. A dog would've been great company in a Carpenter's Shop, don't you think? I was informed that he wouldn't be able to cuddle with a bunny "because it was a real one.... " but I'm sure he would have enjoyed petting a bunny's soft fur.

I also love that the kids gave Jesus some things that they knew that he would need as a little baby. It's amazing to see how much the kids get that Baby Jesus was... a real kid like them! He needed to be kept warm, he needed to eat and drink, and darn it, he needed things to play with! The kiddo who offered Jesus the globe had some good ideas, too. He did come here to our planet. And he came here to save all the people represented by that big ball of blues and greens.

Soon after all this thought-provoking giving that the kids did they were bouncing, and hopping, and wiggling, and hiding under tables. Ahhh... Kindergarten! What a great age!