What is in the Box?

There is something special about receiving a package and experiencing the excitement of slicing through the tape or ripping the tab off in order to get the first glimpse of what is inside the box. At Children Desiring God, hearing the UPS lady walk through the door to our offices always gets everyone’s attention. Undoubtedly, someone will ask her the big question, “What is it?” As she attempts to catch her breath after hauling our boxes up the steep stairs to the third floor, she will respond with something along the lines of: “How would I know? You are the ones who ordered it. All I can see is the box.” The box—a dirty, travel-worn and sometimes damaged package. In a way, our hearts are like the cardboard boxes that arrive dirty and travel-worn because we are all born with darkened, sinful hearts that fail to reflect God's perfect righteousness. We are damaged, and there is nothing we can do in our own power to change that. But, God can! God in His mercy sent us a perfect "package" that is the only solution for our sin problem. The gift is Jesus, the Savior! Because of Jesus’ perfect righteousness and His death on the cross, He can make our sinful hearts new so that we might reflect God’s glory as we should. These are some of the truths kindergarteners are taught in our curriculum, Jesus, What a Savior! So, back to the UPS delivery. Last Friday, when we received our deliveries, the exciting answer to “What is in the box?” was: proofs from the printer for the revised version of Jesus, What a Savior! We are so excited to have this first set of proofs in hand after working diligently over the past two years to revise Jesus, What a Savior! What's different about the revised version? While the truths being taught to kindergarteners will remain the same, we added many improvements:  lesson content, format, and illustrations have been updated making the lessons easier to teach; the visuals have been replaced with more colorful, original artwork; and the workbook is more interactive for the needs of young children. We are now in the last stage of our publishing process and we are working hard to ensure that all of the details are in place so the curriculum will be ready for your classrooms. We hope that you too will soon have the excitement of receiving a box in the mail, full of the revised Jesus, What a Savior! curriculum. Since you will have to wait a little longer before you can place an order, we want to give you a sneak peek inside the box. Have fun looking at a Sample of the revised curriculum, as well as the Scope & Sequence which will give you an overview of all the lessons. More information about the revision process is also available on our Revised Curriculum page. Be on the lookout over the next few weeks for more information about Jesus, What a Savior! and for the official curriculum release date. Also, check back Friday to enter to win a special prize we are giving away in the Friday Contest.