OUR YEAR IN PICTURES

We've been through a lot this year - changed leadership, a move to a new building, new friends coming and some friends leaving, and we've learned a lot along the way.  Here's just a taste of what we've been up to in photo form...

Kids Community 2012

WHY CAN'T SANTA DO IT?

The lesson was from a book, The Sparkle Box.  When we care for others, we care for Jesus.  That was the point.  The activity was an outpouring of love with that idea in mind.  The kids’ task was to stuff and wrap 80 presents to be given to homeless individuals in the city.  The project was Ethan’s idea, so he wanted to be a part of explaining the project to the rest of the kids.  He told them who the presents were for, what we needed to do, and how they would be given out on Christmas Eve.  (More on the Christmas Party on the Road here). 

When he finished, I probe for understanding.  Any questions?  Do you know what you're supposed to do?  The task was simple.  What questions could there be? Terrion’s hand shoots up.  Uh oh!  I hope it is a question Ethan can field.  I don’t want to step on any toes by jumping in and taking over.

“Why can’t we find Santa?  Why doesn’t he do it?”

I look at Ethan, nervous about what he’ll say next.  Please don’t tell them Santa isn’t real – what an honest, straightforward, and possibly catastrophic answer that would be.  But it would be so Ethan.  Before I could interject, this it what I hear.

“Well,” Ethan says, “Santa comes down a chimney, right? He can’t come if there’s no chimney.  The people who will get these presents don’t have homes so they don’t have chimneys.  So Santa can’t do it.  That’s why we’re here.”

Couldn’t have said it better myself.  The kids went on to fold boxes, fill them with presents, wrap them in paper, and top each with a bow.  And surprisingly, when it came time to give them up, not a single one protested.  They understood that these presents were for Jesus.  They really are growing and changing.  I see their hearts opening to God every day.

Ethan's response got me to thinking about how we are called to do what others can't or will not do.  What a powerful message!  Jesus makes each of us clean as snow even though that seems impossible.  We are selfish, unholy, impure, deceitful, lazy, unkind, etc.  Santa definitely can't fix that.  It's impossible.  Only Jesus can.  If we strive to be more and more like him, we must set our minds to also tackle the impossible.  After all, isn’t it true that with God, all things are possible?  

Merry Christmas from the Kids Community crew!