The Waiting Walk

Fifth grade can be a whole lot of fun – especially when I hear them talking. They’re old enough to make sense, but not always aware or educated enough to make sense in light of reality. They’re young enough to dream crazy and to still have very sincere questions about things that us older folk don’t even give a second thought to.

Friday morning (after a snow day) was our first day in class since the attacks on Ukraine started. When worship ended and I asked for prayer requests, several of my students requested prayer for friends and family who either know people there, or have family there themselves. I have many students from that part of the world (Romania, Russia, Moldova, etc.) and so this situation is much closer to home to them – and therefore us. We talked for a bit about what was going on in the world. Some shared what they had heard regarding this being the start of World War III, that the US needs to get involved, and more. I let them share, and as always try to not to promote a political viewpoint but rather always point them back to what is MOST important.

So I asked everyone who felt a little bit nervous about the fact that Russia was attacking Ukraine to raise their hands. Nearly every hand went up. This surprised me because only about a third of the class had actually shared during our discussion. I assured them it was completely OK to be nervous about that – it was a really big thing happening and absolutely could affect us and people we know. And I reminded them that while Jesus brings us peace, He does not promise that the world will ever peaceful again. In fact, the Bible tells us that things will get worse and worse until Jesus comes for us.

I then asked them what the MOST important thing was for them to remember. A few said “That we are safe.” I told them we should definitely be thankful for that, but that wasn’t actually the MOST important thing. A few others danced around it, and finally I shared. “The MOST important thing for you to remember is your relationship with Jesus.” That’s it. That’s the most important thing to remember when the world, or simply your life, or maybe nothing at all, is falling apart. Your relationship with Jesus is what matters! And by extension, we talked about how they can share that experience and love and relationship with those that they love. So that we can all have that relationship with Jesus, and eventually enjoy heaven together.

Of course, true to fifth grade form, we quickly progressed into wanting to know about babies killed in war – it’s not their fault but they couldn’t accept Jesus – do they get to go to heaven? What about other people who haven’t heard about Jesus yet and they get killed – do they get to go to heaven? We reviewed how God is the judge, and He is a God of LOVE and MERCY and His whole goal with planet Earth is to get as many people into heaven as possible. And being the all-knowing God that He is, if they will be happy in heaven, they’ll be there. It’s pretty simple, despite the attempts of so many Christians to complicate it.

We continued down the rabbit hole a few more seconds, now thinking about heaven and how awesome it will be.

“I hope that we have glow-in-the-dark cats in heaven – that would be SO COOL!”

“I’d actually prefer flying dogs – wouldn’t that be amazing?”

“Forget about flying dogs – why doesn’t everything fly?!? I think flying will be the best part – I can’t wait!”

And with that, I told them it was time for prayer. I love their imaginations, their dreams, their anticipation of heaven. Do you sit and dream of what it might be like? Oh, that we would dream of heaven more, and of earthly pleasures less.

A few minutes later I had described our activities of the morning and turned them lose to work independently or in small groups, as they saw fit. I walked around the room to attempt to keep at least some of the ensuing conversations on an academic track. And I heard a few more things that made me smile, or raise an eyebrow.

“Russia is way stronger than the US.” Hmm. OK.

“When Jesus comes, the whole earth will be destroyed.” The two boys continued talking about this topic, but I couldn’t quite hear what else they were saying. Kids in school, chatting about Jesus coming back. Assignment or not, I couldn’t put a stop to that one. Pretty sure one of those kiddos was my non-Christian student who has had no real exposure to Jesus before this year. What’s not to love about this!?!

And as one of my math-lovers was completing his challenge assignment: “Wow, Mrs. Fresse, this stuff is actually kind of hard. I LIKE IT!!!” And I love that he likes a challenge!

So there it is. One hour on a more relaxed Friday morning in Mrs. Fresse’s room. How can teaching be so exhausting and exhilarating at the same time? I just know that one of my absolute favorite parts of teaching my students is our class discussions and our interactions. Watching their brains work and grow. And seeing my students internalize messages about Jesus’ love for them, and taking steps to start their own personal relationship with Him.

That is why I teach.