My 36th birthday was way better than my 35th. For my 35th birthday I got a blood clot in my thigh and spent ten days on bed rest with my leg elevated. This year I got to preach, spent a couple of hours at Barnes and Noble without being rushed and got to use a gift card. We went to West Huntsville Church of Christ and got to hear Glenn Colley preach and then went to the dollar movies to watch Contagion with my boys and my brother in law, which has become somewhat of an unspoken tradition when they come. Nothing fancy, nothing special, but several things that I enjoy doing and with people I rarely see, but enjoy spending time with.
I have started to acknowledge that these next few weeks are going to be difficult for me. I can feel the future beginning to creep in and affect me emotionally. I got a little emotional last night at West Huntsville during their Kidsing program. I realized that I am going to really miss teaching the little kids before church and at O.A.S.I.S. I love their enthusiasm and how they live just to get to say a Bible verse into a microphone. I also began to realize I will miss how those little ones look up to their preacher. To them, the preacher is one of the most interesting and amazing people in the world. The preacher gets to stand up and talk during church and he gets to use a microphone too. I have kept and treasured every picture of me or Jesus they have drawn and given me or note they have written me. My heart has melted when their parents or teachers have told me about them praying for me or answering in Bible class, “Who preached the sermon on the Day of Pentecost?”, “Mr. Brandon!” (Ben Rubelsky). I will miss those little guys and their genuine, innocent, enthusiasm and love.
As I am sure they will greatly miss you. You are so good with them and make learning interesting and fun. The teaching you do is rewarding for all of you-for you because you get to watch them soak everything up like a sponge and see how excited they are to learn-and for them because they can show you what they are learning and that makes them happy and proud and eager to learn more. That's the key, eagerness, and sometimes that gets lost as we get older. I used to teach a 4 and 5 year old class years ago, and they amazed me every Sunday with what they remembered from week to week and how eager they were to learn more. They will never forget the time you took with them and how special you made them feel.
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