Overheard on the Playground

Sunny warmer days mean children playing outside and this was recently heard on the playground. Several C4S kids were singing a song they recently learned in God Time (complete with motions): "I'm trading my sorrows...I'm trading my shame..I'm laying them down for the joy of the Lord...Yes, Lord. Yes, Yes, Lord!" Oh, that we would burst into spontaneous song with praise to our King!

I Wanna Make My Mom Smile

The goal of one of the older boys in C4S is to make his mom smile with a good report at the end of the day. Yesterday, he had a particularly good day and asked his Guide, "I wanna make my mom smile. Do you think I did today?" His Guide replied he did and when it was time for dismissal, both told his mom that he had a great day. His mom smiled and hugged him, telling him how proud she was of him. She then said, "I needed this. I had a hard day today." Both mom and son smiled as they walked out the door towards home, with the boy especially happy that his actions made his mom smile.

"He's SO F-I-I-N-E!"

"Wow! He's cute." "He's sexy." "He's so f-i-n-e!" These words (and several other inappropriate words) came from several of our younger girls about our newest Guide. Our newest guide is a young man (early 20s) who clearly loves God and puts Him first, has a contagious fun personality, and is talented. And the girls instantly took notice.

It was a teachable moment for me to teach our young ladies that our King says it is good for girls to notice guys (He created it and called it good!) but there is a difference between admiring guys and disrespecting them. We talked candidly and openly about why those above words are not appropriate for King's Girls. But we shared those qualities that they most admired about the Guide- "he has a great personality", "I like how he dresses", "he is kind". One of the girls asked, "could I start a list of what I would like in my future husband?" The other girls got very excited about that thought. Our King is at work transforming our young ladies' minds! Please pray that our girls will embrace our King's ways with their purity.

Glimpses of Heart Change

Remember Camron from an earlier post and how he struggled with the realities of Proverbs 13:20? He faces daily battles of walking with the wise and avoiding foolish people. The other day, he made the choice to walk with foolish people, and as a result, made a wrong choice that had unpleasant consequences. While I was in a discussion with Camron about the wrong choice he had made, he looked at me clearly with remorse on his face and quietly said, "I need to pray." The next moment, he was on his knees and in his 5th grade way, prayed out loud telling his King that he was truly sorry and asking the King for help in walking with wise people. When he was done with his prayer, Camron looked at me and smiled - "now I have to go and apologize and make it right." I was so proud of him! He took the initiative on his own to make things right with the King and others. Tears came to my eyes as the powerful message of the King's true forgiveness and grace unfolded before my eyes in the life of a 5th grade boy.

A Letter to Christian

I received this letter from one of our younger King's Kids and was told to give it to Christian. (typed exactly as written).

dear christian
how are you? i wundre wut you areduing i have a song for you put on the armour of god so you can stand and you can fight


The song that he quoted was a song that they just learned in God Time about putting on the armor of God. Praise our King that the His truth is being heard and embraced!

A One-Eyed Bear Named Jessica

Maya, a 6-year-old girl, sat in my office calming down from an all-too-often temper tantrum out of control. She was playing Noah's ark Memory cards to calm herself down. After calming down, she continued to play the game by herself when all of a sudden, she stared towards the window and froze. A weird expression came over her face and she whispered, "I'm scared, Miss Jackie." I took her in my arms and hugged her, and said a prayer to the King to keep her safe and take her fears from her.

While I was holding her, I felt God whisper to me to give her my one-eyed teddy bear for tangible comfort. My best friend has given me that bear to use "just in case I needed to with kids." As I brought the bear off the shelf and held it, I explained to Maya that this bear is lonely. She doesn't think she is pretty because of her one eye, which she lost because people were too rough with her. I went on to explain that because of her one eye, her mom didn't want her. I told Maya that she gets really scared easily because people have hit her, mistreated her and cursed at her. Maya's eyes widened and softened at the same time as she said quietly, "Really?" and held her arms out for the bear, fully relating to this bear's story and knowing exactly how it must feel.

I spent the next few minutes explaining to Maya how to be a great friend to the bear - by using kind words, gentle hands and a quiet soft voice - not harsh words or screaming or punching. Maya responded so well and enjoyed cuddling and spending the next 15 minutes (before her aunt came to pick her up) with the bear. She asked me, "Miss Jackie, what is her name?" "Why don't you ask her?" I replied. She leaned her ear to the bear's mouth and said, "Miss Jackie, her name is Jessica."

I am praying that Jessica will help Maya to heal and learn how to behave appropriately. Stay tuned for the adventures of Maya and her new friend, Jessica, as they play together in C4S!