By Greg Miller © 2017

Caleb and his classmates had settled in for another year of learning at their local Christian elementary school.

About one month into the new school year, the school’s principal, Miss Carlita, decided to implement a new program at the facility. In a note to all the teachers she wrote, “Since this is a Christian school, we should all try to honor and glorify the Lord Jesus Christ at all times.

“I would like to share an idea with you. For the next few months I want each of you to come up with an idea about how we can make our school a bit more Christ-like. The contest winner will receive 100 dollars in cash. You can use it to help fund your family vacation next summer.”

All the school’s teachers were impressed and enthusiastic about the idea and decided to enlist the help of their students. The teachers also agreed that, if he or she won, the winnings would be shared with a student-inspired idea.

The spirit of sharing soon spread throughout the entire school. Caleb and the other students promised to share the student-generated portion of the money with the local animal shelter. “We all love dogs, cats and the other animals and, if we bless the animals God will bless us,” said Cameron, Caleb’s best friend.

Caleb and Cameron’s teacher, Miss Cinnamon, said, “And why do you think the Lord will send that blessing, Cameron?”

“That’s easy, Miss Cinnamon,” replied Cameron. “God created all the animals before He created us, so He must like animals quite a bit.”

Caleb chimed in, “So if we take care of some poor helpless animals, God is going to see our kindness and will surely bless us.”

Carmela, a shy girl, loved animals very much and hoped to provide the winning idea for the project. She and Colleen, a classmate and next door neighbor, decided to brainstorm for ideas. Like Cameron, Colleen and Carmela decided if they submitted the winning idea, their share of the money would be given to the animal shelter.

“We love animals, too,” Carmela told her teacher.

“We love animals, too,” Colleen echoed her friend.

Miss Cinnamon threw a big party on the final day of school to announce the winner. “Miss Cinnamon’s class and Carmela and Colleen’s idea are today’s winners!” Miss Carlia declared.

“Thank you, Miss Carlita,” said Miss Cinnamon. “It seems as if we’ve thought of nothing else all year!”

Caleb chuckled, “Just a little spelling, history, science and math, but we love all those subjects, so the entire year was nothing but a celebration!”

To contact the writer of this column about speaking engagements, including Christian Comedy Fundraising Outreaches, Christian Creativity Seminars and/or puppet ministry, please email [email protected], [email protected] or [email protected].

By Greg Miller  2018

 Greg is retired from the Elizabethton STAR Newspaper, after working there for almost 23 years. He now freelances for the paper. Contact email address is [email protected], also facebook.com/kidcool4jesus. Available for speaking engagements/other ministries. Jesus is Lord