I started my job this week teaching in a child care center, and so far it’s has been an absolutely amazing experience. Each day brings new and difficult challenges, but I absolutely love what I am doing and all of the children I get work with.

Most of them are just average kids who are in this world, curious about life and wanting to have fun. But some of them have already seen a lot of pain, and it keeps their hearts from reaching out beyond what they have known. It’s sobering to see that all of them are searching for their purpose and to be loved, but right now this world isn’t all that their little hearts have hoped for.

My biggest challenge each day is teaching them how to love and respect one another without being able to teach them directly how to love God. Without God, they don’t see the purpose or its value. Deuteronomy 6:5-7 says, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength. . . [and] you shall teach [His commands] diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up.” And for eight hours a day, I am with those children in every single thing they do. I am not their parent, but I am responsible for teaching them about life and how to live life in our school setting. I speak out about what is right, and sometimes they and my co-workers are surprised, but I know God is with me, and they can see the difference God has made in me.

These children are a blessing from God, and I cannot wait to see the progress they make as we work together throughout this year. I am praying that God helps me guide and teach them under the limitations that have been set by the authorities. But most importantly, I am praying for that Day when “God Himself will be with them and be their God . . . [and] wipe away every tear from their eyes [because] there shall be no more pain, for the former things [will] have passed away” (Revelation 21:3-4).