Really Loving The Children

“And he really, really loves us, Dad. You can’t belieeeeve how much he loves us!”

—HEAVEN IS FOR REAL, 100

Sonja

When Colton told me again and again that Jesus loves the children, he was preaching to the choir. I’ve had a heart for children for a long time—about as long as I’ve had a heart! As a pastor’s wife, I have many opportunities to serve the church (as all church members do), but if you come to church looking for me, you’ll probably find me somewhere working with the kids.

I’ve been known to say, “Whatever is your passion, do it until you die.” Well, my passion is helping kids, and as I speak to various groups I always begin by apologizing for not being a professional speaker and by admitting, “I’d rather be in the nursery right now, or in the Sunday school rooms, teaching the kids Bible stories, instead of up here talking about myself.”

One of the gratifying things that has come about since Heaven Is for Real was published is that a lot of people have a new understanding of and appreciation for the importance of children’s ministries. The Bible tells us several times how Jesus held children in very high regard. In fact, he said, “Unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 18:3 NIV).

Todd says that the part of Colton’s story that has impacted him the most is when he asked where Colton sat in God’s throne room and Colton answered, “They brought in a little chair for me.”

That image was a wake-up moment for us that made everything else click. We suddenly understood that heaven is not a spiritual place where we’ll float between the clouds. It’s a physical, solid, tangible, real place where children are honored.

Think about it. In our church sanctuaries today we have seats and pews that are all one size—adult size. It’s rare to find a church auditorium where there are child-sized pews or chairs.

Although I might wish it were different, that’s true in our Nebraska church too. After all, most young kids sit with their parents during church services. Down in the basement where our children’s classes are held, though, things are different. When we gather in the fellowship hall for church dinners, children have tables and chairs of their own, sized just right for them. And the Sunday school rooms have furniture in various sizes, depending on the age of the children it’s intended for (though I have to fight to keep those little tables in place; they’re way too convenient for other uses!)

When children come into those areas, they feel welcome. Everything fits them, and they know it’s “their” place. That’s where I want to be when I’m in church, down there on the little chairs, working with the kids.

In many churches, children’s ministries are understaffed, undersupplied, and have no prepared curriculum. Those programs are at the bottom of the barrel, and those who work in those ministries are often overworked and overwhelmed.

If you’re one of them, if you’re down there with me—whether you’re sitting on the floor in a little church somewhere that can’t afford special furniture for the kids or in a megachurch somewhere playing in a band for children’s church when you’d rather be in the sanctuary worshipping with the adults?I want you to know that what you’re doing is important. And it’s not just me telling you that; it’s Jesus.

I’ve heard some people say that churches with limited budgets (and most churches fall into that category) need to focus their funds on adult ministries because it’s the adults who provide the money the church needs to survive. That’s just wrong. They’re forgetting that by investing in the kids, we’re investing in the future of the church. When you teach Sunday school, you’re planting in those little hearts the seeds of the gospel that they will carry with them throughout their lives, hopefully sharing it with others.

Who knows who those children may grow up to be? I’ve heard it said, “You may be the one who touches the one who changes the world.” I like that.

Early in Todd’s ministry, we led a youth group in Bartlesville, Oklahoma. We considered the participants so much like family that we referred to them as “our kids.” Many of them are now in their thirties with children of their own. In the years that have followed, can you imagine how heartwarming it’s been for us when some of them have asked Todd to officiate at their weddings? Or how encouraging it has been to us to hear that many of them are now in church leadership themselves somewhere? We are so happy that they continue to let us be a part of their lives. It tells us that the energy and love we put into those young people all those years ago has really paid off. It’s a reward like no other.

Today we continue our emphasis on children in our current church. We want the kids to know they’re valued—they matter. We consider them a fully accepted part of our congregation and that what we’re doing is our service to the Lord.

As for the money part of it, our church’s practice is not to pass an offering plate during services but to place offering boxes by the sanctuary doors. If people want to give, they can give as they pass by the box. Recently, we put up another offering box that is at kids’ level. That little box tells the children their contributions are valued too, whether it’s a penny or a dollar.

If this feels like a pep talk for children’s workers, you’re absolutely right. I want to be an encourager and supporter of children’s ministry workers everywhere. As we’ve traveled around the country, it has warmed my heart to have people tell me that because of Heaven Is for Real, they’ve been motivated to keep on going as children’s workers when they had been feeling as though they should just give up. Most of them admit that their passion, like mine, is kids. They say they felt unappreciated, or they felt like they weren’t accomplishing anything. Then they’ve read Colton’s story and remembered who does value what they’re doing down there in the basement teaching Sunday school: Jesus.

And that’s what matters most.

But you may feel differently. Maybe you’re one of those church members who get annoyed by the noise that comes with children or you get offended by the stains they leave behind in a perfectly clean church. If that’s you, I hope you’ll have the courage to reconsider. To start, maybe you’ll go to one of those marks on the wall or the stain on the brand-new carpeting and ask yourself this question: did Jesus die to save the carpet you’re standing on or the kid who made the stain?

Write a note to the children’s Sunday school teachers in your church, saying thank you. Or volunteer to help in your church’s children’s ministry.

People brought little children to Jesus for him to place his hands on them and pray for them. But the disciples rebuked them. Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.”

—Matthew 19:13–14 NIV