For the past few days I would see this smiling face on my way into church or on his way home and he would say, “Pastor Dan, Pastor Dan, only three more stickers and I get to come get a prize out of the prize box.”
The prize box sits in my office. The teachers at JAM Christian Daycare give the kids a sticker every time the kids do something good or when they are well behaved for an extended period of time. When they fill up their card with stickers they get to come and pick out a prize. I get to spend a few minutes talking with them and celebrating the growth in their young lives. It is simple, yet special.
Just the other day I was walking by the room and overheard the kids congratulating one of their classmates who had completed filling up a card. “Good job” “Way to go” “You did it!” were the words the young child heard from their classmates. That praise was worth more than any prize from a prize box. It was good to hear the growth in the kids.