Teenagers amaze me - truly. For about a year and a half I have preached at them every Tuesday night at our youth and young adult service, and tried to present truths from the scripture that can be understood and applied to all our lives without treating them like children.

That was my mistake.

Tonight I gave the second installment of "The Book of Ruth Told with Toys" - an extremely low-budget production of the Biblical book of Ruth. Ruth herself is a Precious Moments doll, about 6 inches high. Naomi is a 1-inch plastic woman - the kind that fits into the Playschool buses usually. Boaz himself is a freakishly giant white fluffy cat. Other characters included a giraffe, a teddy bear, a turtle on wheels and a small Pluto (as in Mickey Mouse) doll. Oh yes, and the field workers: a small dinosaur and a wind-up purple rabbit.

The people that attend Re:Fuge have professed to LOVE the show! The experience tells me two things:

1. We need new toys in the nursery (these were all I could find).
2. God knows what He is doing when He invites us to follow His suggestions.

One of the teens was able to quite concisely and accurately reiterate the entire first two chapters of Ruth tonight - apparently the comedy version of Ruth made its way into his memory. That's a good thing, and a lesson I will remember. I am unlikely to be able to keep up the entertaining style of preaching every week (Naomi's voice strains my vocal chords quite a bit.....), but it's nice to be reminded that when God drops an idea into your head that you feel is only going to be a lesson in humility, it's still a God-idea, and sure to be worth merit.

I pray my kids will not forget the meaning of the book of Ruth by the time we're done. I imagine they'll not forget the experience for some time. Neither will I.