Touching Heaven...

It really goes without saying that working with children in any way, shape or form poses many different challenges. You want adventure? Don’t bother joining the Army. They’ll ship you overseas, make you wear green and make you eat awful food. (No offense to our military intended! It’s a noble and necessary calling, really!) But if you want adventure right here in your own back yard, help a kid. It is indeed a challenge and an adventure, but it’s worth every minute. Parents know this; parents who care, that is. Teachers know this; teachers worth their weight in post-it notes, that is. Daycare workers know this; daycare workers who have a passion for helping kids and seeing to their well-being, that is.

Approached in the correct way, with the proper attitude, these challenges can really result in some very rewarding experiences, most importantly for the child, but also for the parent, teacher and daycare worker. Seeing a kid’s face light up when you tell them they have the potential for great things is just one of those rewards. Watching a kid beam with joy when you tell them you’re going to call their parent, not because they’re in trouble but because you just want to brag on them is another. Having a kid smile to themselves when they know they’ve answered a question correctly just adds to the long list of rewards you get when you work with kids.

Perhaps the biggest reward in working with kids comes when you realize that you are doing what the words to a popular song say: “Touching heaven, changing earth.” Jesus told his disciples to “suffer the little children to come unto me and forbid them not, for such is the kingdom of heaven.” He also told his followers that unless they became as little children they could not enter the kingdom of heaven. Kids of any age, even the ones who are indeed impossible to deal with or seemingly even reach are pieces of heaven. When you make a difference in the life of a child we touch heaven and change earth, even if it’s just for them, because then that child, hopefully and prayerfully, goes out and changes his earth.

Go touch heaven today. The piece of earth changed just may be yours!

-Ben Hanneman