Today in Sunday School

Laura and I have been team teaching the High School Sunday School Class for a few years now. I think our original plan was to trade off every other Sunday but we rather enjoy teaching together so we are usually both there. We have such great discussions with the kids. They have a lot of deep thoughts and insights.

Today we were focusing on Philippians 4:6-7: Do not worry about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses a'll understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.

These two verses are loaded with conversation starters! We talked about the kinds of things they were afraid of as children as well as currently. I will not betray their confidences, but they were very thoughtful with their answers. What would you list as childhood fears?  Adult fears?  

Both Laura and I had to admit we had not quite mastered that part about not worrying. We are trying, though. How about you? 

We discussed how scary things are made less frightening when we have someone with us. We talked about the fact that we really are never alone and can always call on God to envelope us in his love, cry out to Jesus for protection or to help us endure what we must.

And then there is that part about the peace of God. Peace can sometimes seem so elusive, yet we are promised a peace that surpasses our understanding. What do you think that means, exactly?  

I am especially fond of that last part. Our hearts AND our minds will be guarded?... In Christ Jesus?  I don'think I fully understand that concept, yet it makes me feel very loved, protected even.

Do you want to share any thoughts on these verses?

One thing I really enjoyed today was seeing the boys (the girls were all on a trip to Montana) encourage one another to share their fears. It was something to witness. We have had a front row seat to see these guys mature from squirrelly Jr High boys to young men of the church. I find that very encouraging for the future of the church.

A Super Christmas Program

Did any of you get to see a children's Christmas Play this year? Our Sunday School Children gave us a fun one Sunday morning. Cordelia' part was to be Super Girl!

Yep. That is right. We got to see her be a little tiny Mary one year but this year she was Super Girl. The play had all the usual characters... Joseph, Mary and shepherds and such. 

I remember one of the shepherds complaining about his friends being at Starbucks while he was there cleaning sheep poop.  It maybe wasn't your typical Christmas Play.

The play was about the Super Heroes worrying because they had heard of a new super hero to be born. Like all of us, they were worried about how the newcomer would affect them.  Besides Super Girl, we had the Incredible Hulk, Spider-Man,  and others. 

As we know, Jesus is the Light of the World. I enjoyed Cat Woman talking about those lights you can never catch.  Get it? Think flashlight shining in the floor and wall... A kitty chasing it? 

The best part of the play for me was seeing Cordelia...

And Elise exclaiming, "Delia is a Super Hero! She saves the day!" She said it all with such adoration, it was adorable. I wish you could have been there.

Happy Christmas Eve!

Toys for Tots! 750 Toys!

Not long ago our Sunday School Superintendent, Tanya, had a grand idea of raising money for

Toys for Tots. 

Actually, she shared with our congregation the fact that she had been one of those kids who benefited from that program when she was a child. I think that meant a lot to everyone.

So, the plan was put into place.

First, we had a fundraiser. She asked the kids (and their families) to start by getting cookie jars and then filling them up with homemade cookies. After church that week-end, we held an auction. Each kid stood up when their cookies were to be auctioned off, sometimes talking a bit about their cookies. It was not the kind of auction where you try to get a good deal. It was a fundraiser, after all.

Mike doesn't really "do" auctions so it was up to me to do the bidding. It was pretty fun. Toward the end, though, I was bidding on some cookies. Sometimes I bid just to get it going. I'd set our limit before the auction so I knew my limit was $80 for that batch. I thought I was in good shape until some guy across the room started bidding. It was Mike! People thought it was pretty funny so we kept it up a bit, bidding against each other. I did go a bit over budget but it was worth it.

ANYWAY, our smallish Sunday School raised over $5,000 with those cookies!

Part two of the plan happened yesterday morning. Tanya had arranged for the kids and their parents to come on a grand shopping spree at KMart. Since Toys for Tots is a Marine program, there were a couple of Marines there in uniform to assist. I thought that made it even more exciting for the kids.

Cordy gave a salute to one of them. It was adorable! It looked more like she was checking her temperature, but it was very cute.

I couldn't imagine how this was all going to work. Luckily, I wasn't in charge. Tanya had it all worked out. Each child got a shopping basket and 30 minutes to spend $230 on toys! Yep, $230 EACH! I carried Elise while Maria and Eric helped Cordelia. She took her job quite seriously and thoughtfully, as did all the kids. There was a lot of JOY at our KMart today!

Cordelia was allowed to check out first. She put her share of the toys up on the counter herself.

Then posed for me, along with her family.

This sweet girl is one of the students in our high school class. She was so patient and won the honor of being last in line. I bet she waited 45 minutes to an hour!

When all was said and done, those kids had purchased more than 750 toys!

Yes, 750 toys!

Can you imagine?

The kids all had such fun and I am certain

they were proud to be a part of something

so special.

Great job, Tanya!

Crazy Love - Chapter 1 by Francis Chan

I co-teach a Sunday School Class for teens. Right now we are working through the book Crazy Love by Francis Chan. It's a book worth purchasing. I thought you might enjoy some of his little video clips...

Have a happy Sunday!

A Tiny Rockstar

Sunday Cordelia went to Sunday School with me.  I may have mentioned before that I help teach the class for 3-5 yr olds.  Cordelia is only 2 but I figured she could hold her own there and she does.

The last 15 minutes of Sunday School all the classes get together to sing songs, celebrate birthdays, etc.  Last Sunday the group was making plans to do some special music at an upcoming church service.  The leader asked if any of the children wanted to play their instruments at the service.  Cordelia quickly volunteered to play guitar!  The lady was pretty surprised to have a 2 yr. old make such an offer.  OK, I was pretty surprised as well!  Cordy was adamant and said it many, many times. 

Later, Maria told me that Cordy was still talking about the "music show" and informed them she was going to play guitar.  Cordy went on to say that Grandpa would dance, Maria would play tambourine and I would play "bass or something".  OK, then!

Well, yesterday Maria decided maybe she should get Cordelia a guitar as she was still talking about it.  She found a cute little animal-shaped guitar at Target.  It has strings but it also has buttons that she can push to make some rhythm sounds and such.  It really sounded rather pretty!  She was so delighted; she started playing right away!

She just kept playing as we walked through Target.

She started getting her own style.  I liked it best when she was nodding her head with the beat.

She was still playing when we were at Bath and Body Works.

This little rockstar made a lot of people smile at the mall today!

Cordelia's First Day of Sunday School

At our church, children don't usually start attending Sunday School hour until they are three years old... unless their Grandma is the teacher!  I asked Maria if I could take Cordelia to Sunday School with me recently.  Maria was just upstairs so if Cordy got too scared I could text her Momma to come get her.

Cordy did NOT get scared.  She loved it!  Her attention span was a bit short as there were a lot of fun things she'd not checked out before, but she just fit right in.  She was really thrilled when her precious little friend, Madeline, came in.   I couldn't help myself from grabbing my phone to take this photo.  

The sweetness was just too much!

I've No Idea How to Title This Post!

I often decide on my post title before I ever write a word of the post.  An idea comes to me about what I want to write and so I put the title down and start.  The funny thing is, I frequently end up surprised at what my topics really turned out to be.  That happened yesterday.  My post was just to be about the little kids I taught this week and the fact that most of them gave me a sweet hug as they left class.  Somehow, though, I ended up focusing mostly on the kids I taught some years ago in New Mexico.  I had to go back and change the title, something about sweet hugs,  AFTER I'd already published my post.  That is not the first time that has happened! 

Those of you who blog, do you experience this as well?  It's like the words take on a life of their own and I'm no longer in charge.  I started a novel some months ago and I find that I am often surprised by the direction that story takes me.  It's kind of fun, almost as though I am reading a book instead of writing it, but it also disconcerting.  Shouldn't I be in charge of the things I choose to write?

This post, for example, was to be about the fact that I have an interview today.  After I put the title up, though, I decided maybe I shouldn't tell everyone that I have an interview.  What if the job isn't offered to me?  Won't I be embarrassed to have to tell you all that I wasn't selected for this position that I think I really want? No, I don't want to write about that.

Then I thought maybe I'd blog about why I am in the position of job-hunting in the first place.  I could tell you more than you ever wanted to know about an illness that grabbed me last year and shook my life up for months, robbing me of my job, my confidence in my own body, and sometimes even my dignity.  No, that seems too heavy.  I don't want to do that right now.

So, I really have no idea what I want to talk about today.  I guess I will just leave it at that!

The Joys of Teaching Sunday School

I am a Sunday School Teacher and I have been most of my adult life.  In fact, I first taught Sunday School when I was still in high school.  I love it!  Are any of you Sunday School Teachers?

When we moved to Southern New Mexico I was asked in the Spring to finish out the year for another teacher.  Her's was the 2nd and 3rd grade class, with most of the kids being in 2nd grade.  When September rolled around I said I would teach whichever class the other teachers did not choose as it didn't really matter to me.  Well, I was again assigned the 2nd and 3rd graders so I had most of the same children I'd taught in the Spring.  That was great as I'd enjoyed them a lot.

When the next September rolled around, and every year therafter I always asked the current Sunday School Superintendent to assign me to whatever class the other teachers did not choose.  Would you believe that EVERY year I was assigned to that original group of 2nd graders as they advanced through the grades?  Eventually I was teaching the high school class!  I'd been with the same core group of children for 9 years!  I'd watched them from the time they were growing into their permanent teeth through the time they were discussing college and future careers.  They became so very precious to me!  I cherish my memories of them. 

I remember Nathan, who in 2nd grade kept interrupting me as he always had such interesting things he needed to say RIGHT NOW.  He'd quickly follow with, "Sorry, Mrs. S..., sorry Mrs. S..." as he hung his head.  He was so cute!  I remember Elena, a beautiful little girl with the great laugh.  She often asked me deep theological questions, well beyond her years.  And then there was Nick, the quiet one who gave me a sweet smile during church before he quickly looked downward.

As these kids were becoming teenagers I had asked the church council to allow me to teach a sex education class from a Christian perspective.  As I was preparing to do that, Nathan's Mom caught me before church one day and asked me to hurry to get that class going.  She said it was an emergency; Nathan had a girlfriend!

When my husband accepted a call to Wyoming it was time to say good-byes.  I cried as I left those kids. Good grief, I am tearing up even now as I write this and it has been more than 7 years since we parted! 

Well, Elena, Nick, Nathan and the others are adults now.  Most are married and well into their careers.  Their lives have had some bumps, just like all of us, but I know they are beloved children of God and a gift to those lucky enough to be part of their lives.  I am so very grateful for the years I had with them and count them among my most satisfying blessings!

For the last several years in Wyoming I have been teaching a 5th and 6th grade class.  I love that age group!  This year, however, I was asked to teach the little bitty kids, ages 3-5.  That would  not have been my first choice but I was ok with the idea.  I have a teaching partner so we are alternating months, allowing us each to be part of the adult class when we aren't teaching. 

With  my first teaching month being October, yesterday was my first day with those little people.  I had 7 little kids arrive.  I knew all but one of them from church but most didn't really know me.  They were apprehensive for about 5 minutes and then they were over that!  They are fun little characters who like to learn and do crafts.  As they left after class most of them came and surprised me with a hug.   They were so sweet!

With this class I inherited a large binder with lessons done by the ABC's.  For each lesson the previous teacher had already compiled a large choice of activities she'd found on the internet.  She's already done most of the work so it is easy!  We were on the letter "D" and our lesson was on Daniel.  We talked about how God protected Daniel from the lions.  We talked about prayer and we all got down on our knees and prayed that way.  We also talked about how sometimes we pray in our own heads and so no one can ever stop us when we want to pray.

Our craft and snack were one, a lion's face...

I double checked with each parent to be sure I knew of any allergies. I gave each child a paper plate, a caramel rice cake, a plastic knife with a glob of peanut butter, crunchy chow mein noodles, mini marshmallows and a roll of Smarties.  I think string red licorice would be a better choice for the mouth but this worked.  

I'd like to hear from other SS teachers.  What works for you?  Any fun stories to tell?  Any particularly cool ideas you want to share?  Let me know!

Graduation Message to Sam

 

Our baby, Sam, is graduating high school today! 

I'm a little bit stunned, actually.  We have had a child in the public school system for the last 25 years!  This is going to feel kind of strange.

It was not so long ago that I walked 5 yr old Sam to school for the first time.  He didn't cry, but I did.  I think  it was a scary day for him, but he handled it like a man.  He was such a cute little guy!

He's grown up now... WAY up!  He's somewhere around 6'3" now!

Sam's entering that phase of life when he will have to make a lot of decisions.  Paths are chosen that will likely affect the rest of his life.  There are many unknowns.  That might be a bit terrifying but also very exciting.

I read this prayer in a church bulletin sometime in the past.  It has given me strength when I faced new challenges, and  I want to give it to Sam now, in the hope that it will do the same for him.

O God,

you have called your servants

to ventures of which we cannot see the ending,

by paths as yet untrodden,

through perils unknown. 

Give us faith to go out with good courage,

not knowing where we go, 

but only that your hand is leading us

 and your love supporting us;

through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Amen

Congratulations, Sammer!  I love you and I am proud of you!  I can't wait to see the paths you choose and the adventures you have along the way.

And as always, Remember WHO's you are!

Happily Ever After!

What comes to your mind when you hear the phrase, "...and they lived happily ever after"?  Does a wedding come to mind?  Maybe a princess is involved?  Do you picture a young, good-looking couple? 

Of course we all know, there is no one who gets to experience only happy moments for the rest of their lives.  Even those in the most satisfying marriages still experience pain and misery in this life.  They can still catch a cold or stub a toe.  They likely will still face traffic jams, poor weather, health issues, financial problems, rising gas prices, clogged toilets.... you get the point.

I teach Sunday School and yesterday a young girl made it clear to me that "Happily Ever After" can happen.  She wasn't talking about a princess or even marriage when she spoke her words of wisdom.  She was saying a closing prayer shortly after we'd talked about living eternally.  She'd already said things like, "Help us all to have a good week".  She'd started another sentence with, "Please help us all..." when she lost her train of thought.  It is hard for kids to say public prayers.  In fact, it is hard for me...but that's another topic.  Anyway, this wise little girl finally came up with, "Please help us all....   to live happily ever after!"  She looked at me when she opened her eyes.  Her expression told me she was embarrassed.  She is about 12 years old and I suppose she felt she'd said something stupid.  I thought she'd said something incredibly wise!

Happily Ever After... the perfect way to describe life eternal with our God! 

It's that simple.