duck duck goose and the constant love of God

Sometimes when you're three, it's hard to concentrate.

Especially at church.

See, we Mormons really, really like church. We like it so much that we go for three hours every week. For the first hour, everyone meets together, in what is called sacrament meeting. We take the sacrament, listen to talks, and sometimes, if you're me, you make faces at the cute babies around you.

The second and third hour, the moms and dads and other adults get to go to classes kid-free.

And that's where I come in.

Paul and I are fortunate enough to have the calling of hanging out with everyone under the age of four. Now, being called to help out in nursery isn't everyone's favorite. There are these urban legends of people crying or throwing tantrums when they get asked. For me, though, it is maybe one of the best things in the world. Right up there with eating chocolate and getting a pedicure, only a little messier and louder.

I mean, what's not to like about nursery? We have snack, we play, I try to teach them stuff like don't throw that chair and please keep your shirt on (literally and figuratively) and sometimes you need to let someone else use the rocking horse. It's awesome.

As fun as snack and playtime are, the most important part of nursery, really, is to teach these little people that there is a God who loves them, who cares about them and who will help and comfort them. A God who knows what is important to them.

Imparting this life-altering information can be kind of a challenge when you're working with people who have an attention span that lasts about as long as it takes to say "bacon".

So, we get creative. We try to use pictures, stories, games, anything that will keep them engaged and hopefully drive home the message that not only is it inappropriate to climb on the table, but Heavenly Father loves them and will help them if compulsive table-climbing is the pressing issue in their lives.

So, one Sunday when I ran out of ideas, a new one popped into my head: duck duck goose. We played the game, but when "goose" was uttered, instead of jumping up and running around the circle, we would give the child a hug and say "Heavenly Father loves YOU, (insert kid's name)!!".

And it worked. Like a charm. They loved it. They giggled, they laughed, their little eyes lit up and they wanted to play over and over and over again. Elizabeth, one of the other nursery workers, pointed out that our modification could make any future experiences they have with duck duck goose kind of interesting. She's right, but I guess there are worse things.

It's great to see these tiny adults-in-training respond, but I wonder sometimes how much of what we teach is getting through. I remember one time when my brother David was little and mom asked him what he learned in nursery and he indicated that the main message was "sit down and be quite or you're going to hang with mom".

I mean, you can't really blame them. They're three. I'd rather play with toys than learn how to sit in a chair and not run screaming in circles around the room. I get it.

So yesterday, my heart was warmed to the core when we played the game and little Addy said "I be the teacher", and proceeded to go around the room, saying in her cute little Addy voice "duck, duck, duck..."

And then, while hugging the girl she had selected, bellowed:

"GOOSE!!!! HEAVENLY FATHER LOVES YOU, ELLA!!!"

And I immediately melted into a puddle of Andrea goo.