Well, by now all you leaders at Parkview Baptist Church should be in either Chapter 3 or 4 of The Kidology Handbook: Teacher’s Edition. I’ve been very busy lately and have gotten behind myself, so I’m going to begin my series of comments on Chapter 3 this week.

Hopefully, last week you studied about how to become a Kidologist and have already put into practice some of the steps and suggestions for how to become more like a kid and to learn more about your kids’ world.

This week we are going straight to the heart of those to whom we do ministry. Karl Bastian defines a kid as “a unique, one-of-a-kind individual who wants fun and needs love.” It doesn’t take a genius to know that kids want fun. But Karl says something else about fun that I think is definitely worth repeating here. He writes, “Kids will have a great time. They will have fun.” Have you ever noticed that? Kids are going to have fun in your class whether you want them to or not. Why do you think those 2nd-3rd grade boys are making paper airplanes and those 5th grade girls are whispering about the latest who-likes-who? Why won’t kids just be quiet when we ask them to? Because they want to have fun! They are bound and determined to have fun, even if it makes you, the authority, angry.

So what do you do about it? I think one thing you can do is program a little fun into your schedule. But at the same time, you must make sure kids know on the front end what their boundaries are. Make sure they know at least two things: 1- Where is the line they cannot cross in all of their excitement? In other words, how loud can they get? Can they run around or is this a sitting game? And 2- When should quiet reflection return? While kids shouldn’t be expected to sit quietly for an 3 hours at church, we should be teaching them how to quietly reflect on what we are teaching them. Why can’t we meditate on God’s word in a 3 year old class or in a 5th grade class? We can if we will set some boundaries.

The last part of Karl’s definition deals with how much children need love. I remember having a few adults in my life growing up that I could always count on to make my day special. Whenever they saw me, they always had a quarter or a piece of gum in their pocket just for me. They new exactly what love language I needed as a 4-8 year old boy - something tasty in my mouth and something shiny in my hand. You know, I probably haven’t changed a whole lot in 25 years. Since we’ve been at Parkview, a couple of people have brought me some homemade goodies. One of my favorites is a fresh loaf of homemade sourdough bread. No matter what feelings of love or affection are behind the giving of the gift, I certainly feel warm and appreciated as I receive it. And every time I cut myself a slice and enjoy it with some warm, melted butter (while refusing to share with the rest of my family), I always think of the person who gave it to me.

My challenge for you this week is exactly what Karl’s is in the Lab Assignment. Choose a child (or children) and determine how you can love on them this week at church. It may be something as simple as sitting and helping one child memorize a verse and then handing them one Hershey’s Kiss that will make a child’s time at church the best day of the week.