Henry's Got the Gold!

I love the Children's Church program at my church!  Kids ages 3-5 go out for their classes during the 10:00 Mass. The kids don't have to sit through the regular Mass and get wiggly and they get something aimed at their own level.  We use the Seeds program at our church.  It goes along with the Lectionary, so the kids are hearing the same message as their parents, just with a kid-friendly presentation.  The kids each get a cute little fold out page with a picture of the Gospel story, an activity for them to complete and note for their parents.  The teachers takes turns teaching about once a month, so you don't get overwhelmed with it.  I started helping when Frances was three.  She put in her three years and then I started over with Henry as a three year old.  He is in the five year old class this year, so next year he'll be done and I'll start over with Benjamin.  By the time Benjamin is done, I will have been teaching this program for nine consecutive years!! It's a good thing I love it! :)
Each year on Epiphany Sunday the kids come up at the end of Mass to sing some songs for the congregation.  We have an extensive collection of Nativity costumes and every kid that wants to dress up, can.  Frances remembered the pageant and was getting Henry all excited for it as we were getting ready for church on Sunday morning.  She knew I was teaching and she asked if I would make sure to let Henry be the "King that had the gold."  I told her I would do my best, but that I didn't think it was fair for Henry to get what he wanted just because I was the teacher. Boy! Did I get a funny look for that response!
As it turns out, there were three boys who wanted to be Kings and the other two didn't much care which ones they were. 
After we did our lesson for the day and worked on a nativty picture, it was time to get the kids dressed up in their costumes.

Henry got a gold crown and tunic as well as a gold wrapped package to carry up front.  All the classes went out and lined up on the steps in front of the altar. They sang "Away in a Manger" and the Seeds song from the curriculum. It was precious!!  Afterwards, we sent the kids back to their parents for the final blessing and closing song. 
Benjamin caught sight of the package in Henry's hands and got very excited.  I had to stop him from unwrapping it about three times.  I wish I had a picture of the look on his face when he had to give it back to one of the helpers collecting costumes after Mass!