Surrounded by Love

 

At the end of last week’s Spanish class, we were given the assignment to wear red or pink for our next meeting on Feb. 12^th and bring treats! Pretty nice assignment!

“Well, I know you like to party,” said our teacher with a grin, “and Valentine’s Day is on the 14^th, so I think we should celebrate!”

The class is composed of 10 seniors, not exactly partiers! If our young, vivacious teacher hadn’t brought it up, we probably wouldn’t have even thought of having a Valentine’s Day party!

Last year, she proposed celebrating with a party as well, tying it in to conversational Spanish with a Bingo game and related vocabulary words like “sweets,” “chocolate” and “love” …but not too many for fear of overloading our brains! It was a fun afternoon, bringing us closer together in the process.

Getting ready for another Valentine’s Day party brings back feelings of nostalgia from my days of teaching second and third grades, when room mothers would bring in trays of cookies or cupcakes for the children, along with Hawaiian punch. The party would begin at 2:30 and end right before the dismissal bell! My objective was to send the kids home as soon as possible before the effects of the sugar overload set in!

A day or two before the party, students could come to the room early and put valentines for the rest of the class in folders made especially for the occasion. Our rule was that they had to include everyone in the class, not just friends. This guaranteed that no one would be left out. And of course, I enjoyed sneaking notes into their folders too.

While the kids were eating their treats, volunteers would take down the folders from the bulletin board where they had been displayed and distribute them to their eager owners. The classroom would suddenly get very quiet, as they began reading their special valentines. It was the highlight of the party!

I delighted in seeing the surprised looks on some of their faces, the joy when they received cards from special friends, and the little glances they would give each other in acknowledgement. It was always a time of affirmation, when the children felt especially loved! This also included their teacher, who would have her desk covered with heart shaped boxes of chocolate candies and sweet notes!

Children, seniors, people feeling surrounded by love… Another demonstration of this realization happened last Sunday when the young children in the “Sonshine” choir sang in front of the congregation.

The adult choir members, along with their amazing director, stood behind the children, humming as the children sang. Then all of their voices joined together until the Chancel choir took over and powerfully sang out several verses from a familiar hymn, “Joyful, Joyful We Adore Thee.”

When this happened, a couple of the children turned around to watch the choir and the director standing behind them. Perhaps they were watching the director as he conducted, or were surprised to hear the powerful voices of the large Chancel choir at such close quarters.

Those two turned around in time for their final part, focusing once more on their own leader. The children’s sweet voices were lifted up again as they finished their original song, “Look Around!” It was a very fitting song!

It was a beautiful and moving musical offering to which the congregation responded with an energetic applause. Such a blessing! I had the feeling that the children were being surrounded by love from the adult choir members and the congregation as a whole. It was a strong affirmation of our desire as a church to nurture, guide and protect the youngest among us.  Perhaps their participation in the choir that morning will be an experience they will remember, maybe even a life-changing experience.

In much the same way, God surrounds His children with loving-kindness. He desires that His good plans for each of us would be realized, and leads us in the right paths as we trust in Him.

May we willingly offer our lives to God. He loves us! Just “Look Around!

“How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are…” (1John 3:1a NIV)

“This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him.” (1John 4:10 NIV)