Play! Listen! Talk!

I have to admit I’m not a fan of Precious Moments figurines. But today in Sunday School was a Precious Moment I’ll never forget. By now if the kids in your class are like the ones in mine, they have heard several retellings of the Christmas story, they’ve sung in Christmas programs, made Christmas ornaments, wrapped presents, and even opened a few early Christmas presents. So today I wondered if they would be interested in the final part of the Christmas story.

To begin with, we tossed pennies and beanbags onto big stars (like the star God put in the sky) drawn on butcher paper, and created craft-foam trains that reminded us that God is with us wherever we go. The conversation was great as teachers and kids told about times we were glad God was with us.

But the Precious Moment came as part of the Bible story. My co-teacher used the Nature activity in the curriculum and made little gift bags tied with gold ribbon for each child. They were just simple fabric squares filled with cotton balls she had scented with either perfume or spices. At first when she handed them out, the kids had great fun smelling them, trading them and squishing them. Then we got to the part of the story when it was time for the wise men to present their gifts to Jesus. We led the kids around the room and over to a nativity scene. Quietly—even reverently—each child knelt down, bowing low to the ground, and placed their “gift” near baby Jesus in the nativity scene. Right then, a Precious Moment took place.

My prayer for these wonderful preschoolers is that this simple reenactment of giving to Jesus becomes a reality in their lives as they grow and discover what it means to give their love to Jesus in everyday life. Merry Christmas!

Have you ever had something turn out completely different than what you expected? (A recipe? A trip to meet relatives you had never met before?) Sometimes the unexpected results are so much BETTER than you could ever have hoped for (that happened to me with the wonderful relatives we met for the first time). Sometimes the results are not so good (I’m hoping that’s NOT happening with the Santa Lucia buns rising in the kitchen right now.)

Today our Sunday School class turned out differently than I expected. I prepared lots of intriguing sensory items to help our preschoolers make a Bible story book. There was sandpaper for the manger, soft fabric for cloth to wrap baby Jesus in, craft sticks for the stable and, of course, cotton balls for sheep. (Really, do you think the inventors of cotton balls had any idea of how many sheep would be made in Sunday School from these little wispy puffs?) With all these delightful things to touch and feel, I assumed our conversation would be focused on the Bible story.

Unexpectedly, however, we ended up talking about a pirate ship toy that needed to stay in the cubbie like grandma had told her grandson, toys that could not be made into guns (not even bubble-gum guns as one little girl tried to do) and what to do when a young boy’s enthusiasm for gathering the bags with nativity scene figures in them meant that several other children didn’t get any at all.

But despite everything that was said and done, I figured it was OK. It was OK to have the story of Jesus’ arrival on earth mixed up with real life situations. That’s kind of how it is today. In the middle of all the unexpected events we face, Jesus is present in our lives. And His presence comes with the guarantee that our lives will turn out so much better than we expected.

Was today the first day of telling the Christmas story in your Sunday School class? That’s what we did! And I have to admit that as I prepared the fun Christmas tree and music shaker activities and practiced the puppet script, I didn’t really think about the story we would be telling. After all, I’ve told this familiar story before!

But my co-teacher had a different perspective when she arrived. “I just keep thinking what an honor it is to be able to tell this story about the birth of Jesus,” she said. That statement stopped me in my tracks! Yes, I’ve heard this story, I’ve read this story, I've told this story, I’ve even sung this story many times, but I've never stopped to consider what an honor it is to be sharing this story—the greatest story ever told!

As Sunday School teachers, we aren’t making big announcements to the important leaders of the world, or preaching to great crowds of people. But we are walking in the footsteps of prophets and believers! They foretold and then told this good news for hundreds of years—and now it’s our turn. What a privilege we have! As I go through the holiday season and all the things that I do to celebrate Jesus’ birth, I’m going to keep this perspective close to my heart. I’m humbled and honored to be telling about the coming of Jesus.

Yesterday as I made my usual Saturday trip to church to set up my classroom, I was less than enthusiastic. I’d put it off for much of the day feeling like I had too many errands, too many chores, and too many dishes left to put away until the next holiday meal! Whatever the reason, I was wishing I could just stay at home.

But as I was outlining a hopscotch pattern on the floor in preparation for a fun game, I heard a knock on the door which I had left open. Then I heard a young mom with two preschoolers in tow call out, “Can we please come in and use your bathroom? We’re kind of in a hurry!”

Having been in the same desperate situation to find a bathroom—ANY bathroom—when my own kids were little, I welcomed her in and showed her the bathroom. Afterwards, we had a chance to talk for a few minutes while her children explored our Sunday School classroom. She has never been to our church, doesn’t know anyone who goes to our church—but stopped in the parking lot when she saw the doors open. I invited her and the kids to come for a visit. I don’t know if they ever will, but I’m praying that she will remember the open door and decide to step through it. I wondered about the timing that led me to church at just the moment when she drove through the parking lot. I wondered what God had in mind for her. And after she left, I set about getting ready for Sunday with a renewed sense of purpose. Opening doors to children and their parents is what it’s all about.

What are your hopes and dreams for your Sunday School class?

When most of us were recruited as preschool teachers, we probably thought the job mainly consisted of keeping little ones from hurting themselves (or each other!), providing snacks, singing songs and telling Bible stories. And it’s true that all those things are part of playing, listening and talking with young children.

But it’s good to be reminded that our vision for Sunday School is more than just getting through the curriculum lesson plan. If you are like me, you want to feel that you are making a significant difference in the lives of young children. We’re all busy (and this time of year, busier than ever!). So as busy people, when we choose to spend time in ministry to children, we want to know that our time is well spent.

How does ministry happen? It happens when kids are eager to act out a Bible story. I know that the combination of words and actions is a great way to make a Bible story stick. It happens when two girls both try to sit on the same chair at the same time, and we have to stop and talk about what to do so we can follow today’s Bible verse: “Love your neighbor.” It happens when a child whispers, “Teacher, you pray for me” because he is just learning how to talk to God himself. Ministry happens when you least expect it.

I want to be a teacher with a vision for ministry—not only for myself as the teacher, but also for each child. Will you join me in seeing the most active, the most difficult or the most withdrawn child, not as a problem to be overcome, but as a person to be loved into God’s family?

What makes you laugh? A good joke? A funny story?

Today was made for laughing—at least in our Sunday School class! It started during the Bible story when we imitated Abraham and Sarah’s laughter as they heard God’s surprising promise of a son. There wasn’t a child who didn’t want to give a hearty laugh. The giggles and smiles continued during the puppet script when Skitter set us all to laughing, too! And then during our Talk to Learn game, kids were laughing, even when nothing funny happened. They laughed just for fun! (Don’t you wish you were a kid again?)

Have you noticed that a child’s laughter is irrepressible? Who can resist joining in? Not me! And really, what a great way to celebrate and remember the evidence of God’s promise-keeping. He did what seemed impossible when He sent baby Isaac to be born. What a wonderful way to anticipate and be ready to celebrate when God’s promises come true in our own lives! What promise will He keep in your life today? You can laugh for the sheer joy of it!

Do you find yourself choosing the same sort of activities each week in Sunday School? I do. So today I pushed myself outside my comfort zone to try one of the game activities. It’s not that I don’t think kids like games, or that I don’t like games myself. But in our class, there are some younger kids who really function best when they are on their own, rather than participating in group activities. So I usually choose blocks or art.

But today, I decided to give something new a try. Right at the end of our Play to Learn time, I said, “Finish up what you are working on, because we are going to play a game—kind of like Musical Chairs.” Immediately, kids cleaned up and quickly helped me gather chairs (enough for everyone so no one would get out) and we began our game. What fun! The youngest kids followed right along with the older ones. And it was a perfect opportunity to talk about the Bible verse “Do to others as you would have them do to you,” because for each round there was always at least one child who couldn’t find an empty chair. The rest pointed and called out, full of concern that each child find a chair to sit on. We ended up walking, marching, swinging arms, walking backwards, singing—each round was an adventure! (Even better, it was wonderful for getting wiggles out before our quieter Listen to Learn time!)

For each of us the comfort zone is different. What’s your comfort zone? And how might you be able to step outside of it so that the kids in your class can grow and learn in new ways?