There they are! Your new group! It’s so exciting! They’re so excited! Well, many of them are. Two children are hovering in the corner barely making eye contact. Some are racing around the room like it’s an outdoor track. One is clinging to Mom with no hint of letting go. Here they are! Your group. Your class. It’s just like the teacher videos, right? You take a breath and plunge ahead.

The first days of a new group of children can include all the above. Even for veteran teachers, it’s a time of settling in and building relationships one child and one family at a time. Soon this space will feel like home to the group. Routines will become, well, routine. Relationships will grow. Activities and lessons will provide the opportunity for each child to grow and develop.

Of all the things you teach and all the things you share, you get to share something even better than colors, numbers, letters, and how to function in a group. You get to wrap it all in the gospel. Every day, you get the opportunity and privilege to tell the children and sometimes their families, about Jesus.

Do you ever feel like, “Me? I’m not sure I’m equipped to do this.” It’s a humbling privilege that the Lord asks of us. But you’re not alone. God is with you each day. The Holy Spirit promises to bless it all. And you have the best prep book of all-the Bible. It’s full of all the things today’s verses talk about. God is so great we can’t completely understand all he is and does. His works? They are amazing beyond words: Creating the world and each of us. Parting the Red Sea for the Israelites. Keeping his promises to Abraham, Isaac, Jacob. Turning water into wine and raising Lazarus from the dead. The list goes on and on. The more you know about all God has done, the more you can share with the children before you.

God has done amazing things, but most amazing is what Jesus has done. Because of Jesus, all those sins with which we struggle are forgiven. Because of Jesus, God looks at us as his daughter, his son, his child. Because of Jesus, we have the promise of heaven. And you get to tell that everyday in the Bible stories, the prayers, the songs, and the simple conversations with children and their families.

This year, make it your goal to spend quiet, focused time each day in God’s Word and marvel at all he has done. Then praise, celebrate, joyfully sing, and proclaim! Tell and tell about God and his love and grace for you, for the children, for their families, for all. There they are! God be praised. May he bless their growing faith and yours as well.