“Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it.” Proverbs 22:6

A few weeks ago, a parent asked me if we ever collect an offering in Kid City Preschool because her preschooler had been collecting change to bring to church. We never had, but guess what? We are going to start this Sunday.

Several months ago, we started doing our giving online to save time and trips to the bank. But I forgot that my four year old always asks what we are doing at the bank when we go. So I was shocked when a few weeks later, she asked me why we never got money to give to God anymore! We don’t give to be seen by others, but I certainly do want my daughters to see us give. We now intentionally let her know when we are giving, whether it is our tithe or in another way we are seeking to be generous. I even invite her along with me to do generous things for other people.

This past Sunday as I taught a group of preschoolers about prophets who brought messages from God, I was interrupted by a talkative four year old who shouted: “We need to give our money to God!!!” Now, he might have picked the wrong time, but he certainly had a good message.

If a handful of four and five year olds at New City Church notice and understand the importance of generosity, I certainly hope the rest of us can catch on. And I can assure you, they are not learning this because they have the best kids ministry teachers around (although, I do believe we have the greatest team!). We can and do endeavor to teach them about generosity, but I know these kids understand it because they are seeing it lived out in their homes.

They are watching. Your children, grandchildren, nieces, nephews, neighbor kids…..they are watching, and they notice everything. Don’t you want them to grow up to be generous people?

Keeping setting the generous example,
Valerie Biswell