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June 2005 Table of Contents
Petite Praisers
Child Professors
By Lily Wolf
The opportunity to write this article came at the end of a school term when I too had been a student. As I pondered what topic I might write about, my mind kept going back, not to what I have taught others, but what others have taught me.
During the past 12 years of producing children's musicals in the local church, I have listened to expert clinicians with their great knowledge, I have sat with experienced peers as they shared with me their acquired expertise, I have gleaned ideas and methods from self-help books, curriculum and magazine articles, and I have received valuable training in the theater and music classroom. Because of those venues, I have the privilege of carrying with me a respectable amount of knowledge, but the most precious treasures of truth have come from one who may be the most unlikely professor – the child I am charged with training!
If you have trained Children Worshippers for any length of time, there is no doubt you too have learned from the Child Professor. While the names are different, I am sure you know these children. They have been in your church programs as well. These particular stories emerge from the 12 years I have spent in the local church, training 1 – 6 graders from Washington to Alabama to Florida.
If the following were a newspaper article, the headline might read: "Teachin' Babes – Babes Teachin'", or "Life Lessons from the Child Professor", or "Short Truth", or "Little People, Large Perspective........You get the picture, now here are the stories!
Josh was a child who bounced off the walls, always busy, always talking and known for asking questions that had to be answered "after class". He was an intellectual 8 year old and a gifted actor. He knew he could act, but the main character in the upcoming play called for a singing actor. He had repeatedly been told that he could not sing. But somewhere deep within Josh found courage against all odds, to audition for the main character. He believed he could do it, he worked hard to learn, coming after school for singing lessons for many weeks prior to the production. At show time, he surprised everyone, maybe even himself. He was great! He sang great! He went on to work professionally in the acting industry.
Phil 4:13 says: I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.
Luke is a first grader who treated his one line in the play as if it was the most important thing in the world. It was as if he was delivering his line for the king. Actually, King Jesus WAS in attendance!
Do your work heartily as unto the Lord.
Christopher was a shy boy, barely talked, when he did it was very soft. The first year he wanted only to sing in the chorus, the second year, he agreed to do a short mime (swinging the baseball bat – he LOVED baseball), the third year, he auditioned for a small speaking part, the fourth year, he auditioned for (and played) a main character.
Phil 1:6 For I am confident of this very thing, that he who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus.
Maggie was a beautiful young girl with a bright, shy smile. Her audition went very well. When she left the room, I decided that she would play a leading role. When she left the room, she sobbed thinking she had blown the audition. Through her feelings of insecurity, she found out that God has a bigger picture.
Jeremiah 29:11 (The Message) I know what I'm doing. I have it all planned out—plans to take care of you, not abandon you, plans to give you the future you hope for.
Micah is the most talented young actor I have ever worked with. He seemed so much wiser than his 9 years would dictate. When an opportunity to pray arose, he always volunteered, and HE PRAYED, loud and clear! No peer pressure here, just one young soul who knew God and wanted others to know Him as well.
Romans 1:16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.
Jill was a talented young girl who just missed getting the main roles—came in second over and over again. But she never quit, she just kept on coming back, playing the part given her and doing it well. Years later, it is Jill who is getting the special appointments and exclusive opportunities to use her talents which are now at a high skill level.
Phil 3:13-14 ..forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.
Carol is a sweet little one who had the courage to approach the director with her request. She requested to play a particular part, which unbeknownst to her, because of it seeming insignificance, had been cut. Carol played that role!
James 4:3 You do not have because you do not ask.
Josh was an athlete and a little embarrassed that his part required him to hold a large Bible and deliver a significant section of scripture with the fervor of an old-fashioned preacher. When he finished, the crowd went wild. It was more than his passionate delivery. It was the Word! The finest crafted lines are meaningless next to the Word delivered with anointing!
Hebrews 4:12 For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.
What the Child Professor teaches me is that the Word of God plays itself out in real life, everyday, in simple ways. While the scenarios are from a simple Child-Life, their undisputable truth transitions seamlessly into my complicated Adult-Life. Too often, I am guilty of super spiritualizing, intellectualizing and modernizing the Scripture's role in my daily life. I am convicted once again, by its simple truth.
Matthew 18:3,4 (The Message) I'm telling you once and for all, unless you return to square one and start over like children, you're not even going to get a look at the kingdom, let alone get in. Whoever becomes simple and elemental again, like this child, will rank high in God's kingdom. What's more, when you receive the childlike on my account, it's the same as receiving me.
So, next Wednesday or Sunday at Children's Choir Rehearsal, take heed, as a good student-teacher and watch, listen, and learn from the Child Professor(s) in your classroom.
Matthew 11:25 I praise Thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that Thou didst hide these things from the wise and intelligent and didst reveal them to the babes .
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