Christ's Ascension: With Two-Year Olds

Setting the scene: Today was my day to be the main teacher at toddlers. We had just walked over a "bridge" (balance beam) over "water" (a blue cloth) and toy alligators, frogs, and snakes. The kids are very good at this! Next is Bible time. As I start to set out the kids' mats they sit on, I realize, too many mats are too wet to use. So, we'll go without mats today. Wonder how this will work:

Me: "Girls, do you need to take your shoes off before Bible time?"

Kids: "No, keep on."

"Okay, who remembers what we talked about yesterday? We talked about how Jesus came to see his friends after he died."

"On the cross!"
"Jesus died on the cwoss!:
"My mommy and my sister..."

"Okay, we'll talk about them later, okay? What was that?!"

"I threw my shoe!"

"Don't throw your shoe. Let's get back to Jesus. Jesus told his disciples, 'I gave my life for you so that you could be with me in heaven. I am going there to prepare a wonderful new home for you.'"

"We're going to go to a new home & live with (cousin's name.)"

"Yes, you are. Honey, keep your shirt on. What was that?"

"I threw my sock at you!"

"Don't throw anything. Leave your shoes alone. Jesus said, 'When I come back the next time, I will take you with me. But now it was time for Jesus to leave."

"Where's Ms. Heather?" (Side note: she does the Bible story 4/5 days.)

"She's at home today, because she's going to go to school with her son. Put your shirt down. Give me your shoes."

"At a different school?"

"Yea. So, Jesus said he could come back for them."

"Is he coming here?"

"No--wait are you talking about Ms. Heather's son or Jesus?"

"Ms. Heather's son."

"No, he's not coming here, but Jesus will. Jesus said, 'God has given me complete power over heaven and earth. Go and tell all people about the good news. Make disciples. Baptize them in my name. Don't forget that I will always be with you...Then Jesus went up toward heaven in a cloud. His disciples stared at the sky for a long time. I would have stared at the sky, too, because he just said he'll come back for them."

"I'm going with Mommy and Daddy to fly..."
"I'm going to my cousin's house!"

"Yes, I know. Let's keep talking about the Bible story; we'll talk about them later. All of a sudden, two angels appeared. They asked, 'Why are you standing here looking at the sky? Jesus will return the same way you saw him go.' Jesus will come back on a cloud, because that's the way he went up into heaven."

"Is it snack time?"

"No, it's craft time."

Thanks for praying for patience & grace as the kids & parents are wrapping up a semester!