GratiTuesday - "Let the Little Children Come to Me"

Have you ever seen Resurrection Eggs?  

It's a dozen plastic eggs, Easter-style, and each one contains a symbol of the Easter message.  They have numbers so you can get them in the right order, and I've been using them to talk about the Easter message with my kids since they were in preschool.

Last week, though, I asked them to keep quiet about the story.  We decided to use the eggs with our church's elementary-aged youth group, and I wanted them to be sure to give the other kids a chance to answer.  I figured everyone would be excited and talking and ready to shout out about what each symbol meant.

I was partly right.

The kids liked the eggs.  We sat in a circle on the floor, and they had hands in the air and wiggly bottoms as I held up each egg.  They were eager for the opportunity to open it and find out what was inside.

But they didn't know what the symbols meant.

They didn't know that Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey, or that He was whipped, or wore a crown of thorns, or that soldiers gambled for His clothes.  They were excited to learn, and they listened intently to the story, but they didn't already know.

One kid knew, though.  Funny thing was, he wasn't one of our usual kids.  He came because his mom helps lead, and he had to tag along that night.

See, he's not old enough for the group - he's only three.

But that little three-year-old kid had heard this story before - this story that the older ones either didn't know or couldn't remember - and he couldn't wait to tell the rest of us all about it.

As soon as each egg cracked, this little guy was talking a mile a minute - telling us all about what each symbol meant.  He knew the whole story.  He knew the scary parts, the super sad parts, the bloody parts, and the full-of-love parts.  Turns out his preschool teacher taught him the story - I bet she has the eggs, too - and he learned it well.

Our kids are never too young to learn about Jesus.  That little one was so excited that he couldn't hold it in - and he's only three.  What might he do with that excitement and enthusiasm?  Who could he teach - both now, as a cute kid, and later, as a wise adult? 

It reminded me of the part of the story where Jesus told the onlookers that if He quieted the "parade" attendees, that even the stones would cry out to Him.

This preschooler was like that - he just had to share.  Of course, many preschoolers feel the urge to talk your ears off - but when's the last time one just had to tell you all about Jesus?

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