Saturday, I was working on the scaffolding on our church sign while our high school was having their semi-annual yard sale. The sale was on the other side of the church building, but I saw two of the high school boys slinking around avoiding work. Up on the scaffolding, I felt like a deer hunter in a tree stand. I saw them, but they didn’t see me. One boy had a light bulb, and both were looking for a rock to smash it with. One boy found the perfect rock and they made preparations. So, I called down saying, “Hey! You’re not going to smash that light bulb, are you?” They both shrugged pretending not to understand what I was saying. I motioned for them to come over while I climbed down the ladder. I was going to reprimand them for shattering the glass when I noticed that the bulb was an LED bulb, which is made of plastic. I changed my tactic and said, “I’ll bet you fellows are curious about what’s inside of that LED bulb?” They relaxed and nodded their heads in agreement. I dropped the tailgate of my pick-up truck, got out my tools, and we began to investigate. After cutting away the plastic bulb part, I showed them the diodes, resistors, and capacitors. I am glad that I didn’t berate the boys. We had a good time investigating, and the boys went back to work. Well, maybe … At least they walked back to the yard sale side. Proverbs 22:6, “Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.” Learning with a child is much better than teaching at a child. And … the child learns much better if he feels like you are on his side.
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