2001-10-17-11:49 p.m.

I'm an Awana helper now. I get a whole group of little Sparks to teach Bible verses to. Tonight I marched them all in to our classroom and started trying to learn all their names. One little guy made constant noises. I smiled at him and asked him to keep his lips together "just like this."

He smiled back and continued to make noises. He was Ricky.

We work on the verse together. I can tell that some of them are close to knowing it, so I stop and see if anyone wants to say it all by himself. Ricky raises his hand every time I ask who wants to be next, and he talks during everyone else's turn. I look at him and pinch my lips together.

Finally, it's Ricky's turn. He knows the first part. It's kind of jumbled up, but he's little and I'm easy on him. "To God did love the world he gave his only gotten son..."

I nod and smile, urging him on. "That whosoever believeth in him..."

He repeats this in little bits and I make a mental note that when I am in charge we won't use King James. He gets the next part. I can tell he likes that part about perishing. But he can't remember "everlasting life." I say it for him.

"Everwassting wife," he says.

"Everlasting life," I say.

"Everwassting wife," he says.

"Okay, everwassting wife."

"Not wife!"

"You said wife!"

"No, YOU said wife."

"Oh, boy. Everl-l-lasting l-l-life. Say it."

He says it perfectly.

The first time he forgets I tell him and get him to say it out loud. The second time I get him to say it three times in a row. The third time I tell him, "I'm going to whisper it in your ear and I bet you'll remember." And I lean over and whisper it. His eyes get big and he sort of grins and whispers it back to me. He's going to get it this time - I know it!

The leader comes in and gets the other children to take them back to the large group. She tells me not to take too long.

I tell Ricky to try one more time. He asks me what it is again. "Everlasting life," I say.

He takes a deep breath and starts in. He gets all the way to the last two words and I've already prompted him twice so I can't help him anymore. I look at him with raised eyebrows and nod. He looks at me and nods. But he can't remember those last two words.

We have to go. The leader's going to get mad at me. I tell him to try one more time on the way to the other room. He's reciting and looking around at the big kids in the fellowship hall, but he keeps going. We're in the Sparks room now and the leader's talking. I'm going to have to tell him to be quiet. He gets to the last part and I'm kneeling down beside him willing him to say those two words.

He looks at me blankly and I touch his head to say bye. I'm going to the front of the room. Then I hear him say it - too loudly - "Everlasting life."

"Good job! You did it!" I tell him. He's the "bad boy" of the class, the noisemaker, the gum chewer, the one who pokes the other kids. But he's gotten it! He learned his verse and I mark it on his sheet.

I really hope he learned more than that. I hope he learned that he's a smart kid and that teachers can whisper in your ear and help you even when you're the bad one. I hope he learned that Awana's not just about Bible verses.

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