So I taught kid’s church yesterday. It’s a small class, only four kids right now, but they are hilarious. Three boys and one girl, the little princess milking her leading role for all it’s worth!

Yesterday’s lesson was simple. Love is patient, love is kind. 1 Corinthians 13.4. We chanted it together in class, read a sweet story about David and Mephibosheth and then – when they could handle following directions no longer – we went outside for a peaceful, kind game of human bumper cars. It went like this:

I set up a tic-tac-toe grid of masking tape on the parking lot and gave each child a paper plate to use as a steering wheel. It was perfect mathematically: I had four children and four corners, so they each started in their own corner. (That should have been my first red flag, setting them up like they are in a boxing match.) We reviewed which hands were our right and our left. No, the other left. And then we practiced making car noises while stepping, one.space.at.a.time!

Finally, with all preparations finished, it was time for human bumper cars. “What happens if you find yourself face to face with another car?” I asked. They had already forgotten. “One car says, ‘love is patient’ and the other car says, ‘love is kind’. Then step around each other nicely!”

They nodded. I thought to myself, I am good, Miss professional-kids-church-teacher.

Calling out directions, the first few ‘roadblocks’ were pulled off without a hitch. They were playing and memorizing scripture, perfect! I let my mind wander while I called out, “Left, right, straight two spaces!”

Five minutes into the game, I began to hear an extra phrase being added to the end of 1 Corinthians 13.4. I looked down and realized it was my son, Cayden.

He kept running into the same boy, to which he would kindly let this boy speak first, “Love is patient.”

My son would then respond, “Love is kind- You need to brush your teeth!”

Three different times they ran into each other and three different times my son (who coincidently didn’t brush that morning either) kindly told the boy his teeth were yellow.

So, Cayden didn’t get the life application behind the verse, but he did make me wonder how many times I add a small kick to the tail of my ‘acts of kindness’.

Monday leaves me thinking two things. First, I must check the condition of my heart when being kind. Am I doing it for kindness or for appearances? Second, I’m taking the ‘professional’ out of my kids’ church title.