In Between Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

Christmas at our house was quiet and cozy. Well, sort of. Christmastime seems to go by faster and faster every year. So much so that this year, I feel like I woke up and Christmas had already come and gone without me really registering it at all. Since we had gorgeously sunny 60 degree weather short sleeves without shivering in December! I am going to give myself a little bit of an excuse.

Things are wrapping up for the year - the annual give-back-to-my-alma-mater now complete, the end-of-year contribution statements trickling in, the last timesheet of the year submitted, the see you next year ie. Friday greetings at work. And so, having just gotten used to writing 2014, it seems, I must get ready for 2015. I'm looking forward to it, honestly. So much happened in 2014. Both worldwide and in my little corner of it. There were lots of sad things, lots of things that made me think, and lots of things that made me happy. I'm thankful for 2014. And I hope at the end of 2015, I can say the same thing once again.

To Give Them Cookies

I was trying to explain the concept of passing along the grace and love that we have received from God to a little kid. And the easiest way I could explain it was to just say, let's pretend I gave you a box of cookies and told you to share it with people. The cookies aren't coming from you - I gave them to you, but the act of passing it on lies with you. 

Grace: An explanation for a kid

So, here's my attempt to explain grace to a 6th grader with some additional thoughts added in. Well, let's look up the definition of grace. According to Google, grace, in Christian belief, is defined as

"the free and unmerited favor of God, as manifested in the salvation of sinners and the bestowal of blessings."

Salvation v. Starvation

So, I was explaining a few verses to one of the kids at Sunday School recently.

Me: Do you know what salvation means?

A (enthusiastically): Yes!

Me (Wanting to make sure he actually understands): Oh, so can you explain what it means to me? 

A (Without pausing at all): Salvation is starvation!  

I asked him why he thought they were the same thing, and he said, well, it sounds the same... Yes, indeed, it does sound similar. But oh how different are these two things! Working with kids is sometimes hilarious, sometimes difficult, but always beneficial because it makes you think. Salvation is definitely not the equivalent of starvation, but how do you describe somewhat abstract concepts without using other abstract concepts or church-isms? How would you describe grace and salvation to a little kid? My explanation to come next time...