I heard them long before I saw them. At two and three years old, they already have their favorite chairs picked out. Somebody was sitting in his chair, and he was protesting loud and long. I am the last one to get to my class, I first have to round up all the stragglers. By the time I got there, he was standing on a chair, pointing to the offender, yelling, "NO THAT"S MY SEAT". He hasn't learned yet that standing on these chairs can be disastrous. Then it happened, he tried to stomp his foot. The chair tipped and he was under the table. With six little girls looking wide eyed, I drag him out and set him back on the chair...that wasn't his. Thus started my half hour of trying to teach the nursery class.
I immediately changed the order of the class. Singing usually brightens the day, but this particular morning, three of them wanted to sing something different, so they did. I quickly glance across the basement to see if the noise from my class was disrupting any other classes. Another quick glance at the steps to see if any Dads were making their appearance. Maybe singing isn't a good idea after all. So, I get out the crayons. A Bible story should help get everyone focused. As I tell the story of the Good Samaritan, some are listening and some are not. When I get to the part about the man laying in the ditch, covered with bumps and bruises, it reminds one little girl about the boo-boo above her eye and how it got there. All of a sudden she has everyone's attention, even mine! The man in the ditch lay forgotten as I listened to a two year olds account of falling off the bed. As I continued to listen, I realized I had lost my class's attention and I wouldn't get to finish the story for this Sunday morning. The half hour flies by as we sing everyone's favorite song, eat a snack and pass out stickers. Then it is time for candy... every parent's favorite part! Everybody gets one piece! Unless.. you need one for your Daddy, Mommy, baby brother, etc... They learn quick that this teacher is an old softy when it comes to giving out candy!!
As six little girls and one little boy run across the basement eager to show their parents what they got in Sunday School, I am left with a let-down feeling. Why does my throat feel like I have been yelling for half an hour and nobody heard me? Why do I feel like the bruised man is still laying in the ditch. Daniel is still with the lions? We never seem to finish the story...
In a way, we really do, its just isn't the way my adult mind thinks we should. Another morning as the children were coloring a picture of Saul on the Damascus road, I was telling how the light from heaven came down and blinded him. A little voice piped up that Jonah got swallowed by a whale. We quickly left Saul on the Damascus road and went over to Joppa to find Jonah. With each of them helping me, we found Jonah in the belly of the whale and followed him all the way to Nineveh. I still haven't figured out what the blinding light from heaven had to do with Jonah in the whale but it didn't really matter, I got to finish a story!
Saul is still kneeling on the Damascus road waiting for somebody to remember him, we will, it will just have to be another Sunday. So, if your child comes out of my class carrying a picture of Noah's Ark, and tells you about God calling Samuel in the middle of the night, it isn't because this teacher is confused...its because we just finished another story!
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