The Bible is wonderful, filled with stories that inspire the imagination! And sometimes I forget that as I glance bleary-eyed at familiar passages to fulfill my daily devotional time.

Witnessing the beginning and growth of this Kids Life club at Grace Church has been a messy, exhausting, wonderful good time.

Some of my own earliest memories were at church. I remember, at maybe three years old, crawling around the floor of a Sunday School classroom acting out all the animals we could think of to fill Noah’s Ark. At that age, it was likely my love for animals more so than the Bible that made the story come alive. But it stuck with me.

Last week, a generous donation arrived with a team of illustrated Children’s Bibles in Haitian Creole. And this week’s Kids Life class had every wiggly child engaged, flipping through the pages, following along with the stories.

One boy kept holding up the David and Goliath page, eyes wide, totally enamored by the illustrations of the giant. The illustrators of this Bible made the giant so big that you have to hold the book up sideways to really take him in. 

And I had to blink back tears. There is something wonderful happening here as children are able to interact with the stories of the Bible.

Some of these kids are the same kids who say rude things to me on the street. Some of them come in freshly bathed and well dressed, while some of them are dirty and their clothes are shredded. Some of them are naughty; they yell at the teachers and they try to steal extra snacks. They are children. And all of them are welcomed here.

These kids live in tricky places, with complicated families, and many without enough food to eat. They know a thing or two about life’s giants. Last week, two of these kids lost their father. But they were still at church. Because they have another Father and they have a small group of volunteers committed to being there for them.

Don’t let small moments cease to amaze you. Remember with wonder that David slew a giant, that Noah filled an ark! And don’t underestimate sharing those stories with the kids (and adults) in your life.

For those of you wondering,

Haiti is in yet another season of unrest, with calls for nationwide protests tomorrow and Monday (February 7th-8th). 

We are on a lockdown of sorts, but also we are doing ok here. Things have been relatively quiet in my immediate neighborhood this week, although there have been daily calls for unrest. We are hoping this next week will also be calmer than anticipated. 

I have food and water and propane and plenty of people around to pass our lockdown time together. Please pray for Haiti, especially the areas that will likely see lots of violence and protests over the next few days.

And please continue to pray for the kids in this community and the churches and people reaching out to them. May their Hope always be in the giant-slaying God and not in the political systems of this world.