One little benefit of being a teacher that you may or may
not know is that we teachers learn just as much, if not more, about the things
we are teaching as the children do. And,
I’m not even going to touch on what we learn about ourselves as people from
these little people! It’s really a great
privilege. And the super awesome thing
about working in a Christian preschool is how I get to teach little children
about Jesus and in the process learn so much about Him myself—in the “come as a
little child” way that Jesus speaks about.
It is a gift that I truly treasure!
At any rate, I want to share a little moment I had
today. A little back-story, for our
Christmas program our students sang 3 songs that told the story of baby Jesus’
birth in Bethlehem. One of the songs was
called “Room in My Heart”. It came after
the part in the story when Joseph and Mary were looking for a room to spend the
night and have their baby – Jesus! You
may know the story, every place was full because of the census being taken and
wherever Mary and Joseph went they were told, in simple terms, there is no room
for you here. The children then sang the
song that says there is room in my heart for Jesus. There may not have been room in the inns, but
there is room for you Jesus in my heart!
I woke up early this morning and even before my eyes were
barely open, the holiday season busy-ness began to take over my mind. A house full of people leaving today, a
second house full coming tonight, church services in between, food and cleaning
and things to do, not to mention that I’d like to play and have fun with my
family and friends! I could literally
see a little cartoon character guy standing in my head, with an exaggerated flip,
unrolling a long scroll of paper with the to-do list my mind was already
preparing for me to do today!
Thankfully, my eyes were barely open and I was able to drift back to
sleep for a little bit. And in that
time, God really ministered to my spirit.
Because the second time I awoke, what did I have going on in my
head? The song, There’s Room in my Heart
for Jesus. And the spirit spoke gently
and sweetly reminding me that this time of preparation isn’t for a tidy house,
a delicious meal, or well planned activities; no this time of preparation is to
make room in our lives for the One, our King, who came to dwell among us, a
person like us experiencing and feeling all that we do. He came then to live as we do, so we can know
that He is experienced with our afflictions on this earth. He comes now to live in us to bring us
comfort and peace and love and so many other things as we walk with Jesus
Immanuel, God with us.
I pray that I will carry Immanuel with me through this
and every day. I pray that I won’t be like
the inn-keepers in Bethlehem, saying there’s no room for you here. My day is too full to make room for you. No, I want to be the little children singing,
there’s room in my heart for Jesus, today and every day!
Matthew 1:21a-23 – she will have a son, and you are to
name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” All of this
occurred to fulfill the Lord’s message through his prophet: “Look! The virgin
will conceive a child! She will give
birth to a son and they will call him Immanuel, which means ‘God is with us.’”
Isaiah 9:6 – For a child is born to us, a son is given to
us. The government will rest on his shoulders. And he will be called: Wonderful
Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
