These Moments Slow you Down

So we may show Gratitude

I love playing Dungeons and Dragons. More so, I love teaching children about the world we live in through fantasy worldbuilding and storytelling.

There are minutes in life that pass us by while we work and play. And then, there are moments in which time slows down. As if God was tapping us on the shoulder saying, “No, really, pay attention to this moment.”

It will change your life.

That moment, that kairos moment tapped on my shoulder today.

I run a few D&D classes for kids throughout the week. We play for 2 hours, with a short “bio-break” interlude. Then, kids walk out the wiggles, go to the bathroom and buy Magic the Gathering cards for $0.10/card.

During the game, the kids take turns adding to the story of their characters and rising conflict, climaxing in either an ultimate battle with evil, or getting out of a hilariously sticky situation. Challenges are resolved with the roll of a dice, which can be so satisfying with success, and so frustrating with failure.

Either way, the kids learn. They learn to deal with the consequences and get back into brainstorming mode until something works. To be honest, most of the memories made surround character failures rather than outright wins.

After the game, I hand out homework.

Laughing to myself, why would kids want to do homework?

They do with D&D. Parents tell me the kids don’t stop talking and thinking about the story and what will happen next. So, I give the the kids a topic in the game world to research to see what they come up with. Truth be told, I resource from their great ideas most of the time.

Today, I received a ton of papers from the student on Pixies. That’s right, little tinkerbells and bloomin’ fairies!

The students provided some serious research, to be honest, enough for me to source an entire upcoming adventure. But the most heartwarming moment (the one that slowed me down) was reading the credits to my student’s homework.

Special Thank to Mr. Jonathan for all his hard work on Dnd!

My heart is full of thanks!

He called a little child to him, and placed the child among them. And he said: “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever takes the lowly position of this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.

At this moment, I am thankful for my wonderful students who learn and play along with me in our journey of life.

May your story continue, sojourner.