"They Remind Me of Me"

Our Sunday school class was really full this passed weekend, we had 6 students and 4 teachers! We had one 5 year old and the rest were 12, 15, 20, 21 and 30.

We had a teachers meeting last night and one of the things we talked about was possibly needing to split the class into two, younger and older. There are 2 other preschool / Kindergarten aged kids plus a 5th grade boy (I'm SO thankful they all didn't show up on Sunday!) so separating the students would give us two relatively good sized groups.

One of the teachers asked what Beth thought about having such a diverse group each week. I'd never thought to ask her so this morning I did. She was eating her bowl of Cheerios and I asked her if she liked having the different age groups in our class. She said no, that she only liked having the little kids. When I asked her why she didn't want the older kids in our class, her response surprised me. She didn't hesitate in her answer, "They remind me of me."

I'll admit I was a little stunned. All sorts of thoughts ran through my mind and then Chuck asked from the living room, "Beth do you like the little kids better because you feel more like a teacher with them?"

"Yea."

"And with the older kids, you feel like you're just a part of the class?"

"Yea."

At that point her bus arrives so I wasn't able to ask her any more, but I've been thinking about this all day. They remind me of me. I wonder if it's like watching yourself in a mirror as you go about your day, seeing everything you struggle with played out right before your eyes? Like when you watch yourself in a video and see all your inadequacies?

Do any of the other kids feel like this? What can we do to change it?? I've got to find a way to help them see themselves the way God sees them, amazing, caring, beautiful people with gifts and talents that He wants to use to bless others.