My purpose in this world.

Sometimes we wander around aimlessly wondering what our purpose in life is. Why are we here? If you're a Christian, you know you're here to serve God. But, that's pretty obvious. What about the not-so obvious reason?
What I'm getting at, is, I think I discovered my purpose in life, this week. For the past five years, I've been teaching VBS at our church. I was put with the youngest group of children, which can be quite a challenge. On the other end of the spectrum, though, it can also be quite rewarding. In past years I've worked with the pre-school and kindergarten classes. A lot of fun, I admit. This year, I was put to the test and my class has children from ages 18 mos to 5 yrs. Sarah (dd) is my oldest, she just turned 5. The majority of the group is age 3. We have 5-6 kids, depending on the night. A nice combo of boys & girls. Did you know that it is possible to teach toddlers??? It is. They can learn. They can sit for an extended amount of time and do an activity. I have one little guy who is quite active. His grandparents go to our church and teach the older kids. They warned me that he's very hyper and doesn't sit still for a second! Well, they were all quite impressed when I had him sitting down, doing our craft. He really got into it and did rather well. I told his grandparents, "if you want him to sit, get him foamie stickers!" lol. They laughed and were impressed. I gave myself a pat on the back.
Aside from that, we have a bible verse that we're learning, this week. It's from Mark 12:29-31.29"The most important one," answered Jesus, "is this: 'Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.'The second is this: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'There is no commandment greater than these." So can a toddler/pre-schooler, who does not know how to read learn a long verse like that? Probably not. However, if you make it simple and fun, they sure can. For my group, I shortened it and now, only the third night of the session, they know it (with a little help). Our kids say, "Love God, with all your heart, all your soul, and all your strength". We have hand motions to go with it and all the children participate. It's wonderful to see them get up in front of the church, with 40+ kids of all ages watching them as they say their verse. My eldest dd, who is 9, is having a heck of a time memorizing it! But, the little ones are doing great. I have a wonderful group of young children this year. It's exhausting and very challenging, but I'm loving every second of it. I'm, not only, proud of myself, but I'm very proud of them.