A SERIES
Why I’m writing this series:
After the pandemic our church did not have enough Sunday School teachers to start back the program. My husband and I are the youth directors and we knew we had to rebuild the program one of the foundational youth programs at a time if we ever wanted to get the program to rebuild and ever get close to how it was pre- pandemic. After some prayer I decided to start teaching the Sunday school class that our youngest daughter would attend. This was going to be different than what I was used to with teaching children. Our children’s church program has several sets of amazing teachers, but we rotate teaching weeks. Committing to teaching every Sunday was much more daunting and a much bigger sacrifice on myself and our family. I knew this was something God wanted me to do… so I did it.
The children of our church needed to get back into a routine of attending church each week and the classes for them that goes along with it. What I didn’t know was teaching that class was exactly what I needed also after the pandemic. I had been laid off from my job in 2020 and had just started with a new company when the Sunday school program started back. It was alot to juggle at first as we were all getting used to the new “normal”.
Why Sunday School is so special to me:
I grew up in a small country church that did not always have a Sunday School program or other programs for the youth. I listened to the preachers and Pastor during the main service each week and attended youth stuff sometimes. Thinking back I missed the basic stories from the Bible and the principles that went along with those foundational Christian teachings. When I went away to college I slowly drifted away from church and my religion. A large reason I feel God has called my husband and I to help with this youth is because I can see how important building this foundation is for children to grow up and into adulthood maintaining their faith.
My girls are now 14 and 10 and have grown up in church their entire lives. When Macie was 2 1/2 we took her to Vacation Bible School for the first time and she absolutely loved it. We were new parents and had never considered taking her to Sunday School before that summer. She loved VBS and at the end of the week someone invited her to Sunday School and told her it was a lot like VBS. Macie was sold and couldn’t believe that she could keep experiencing the fun she had that week. That is when she (and I) started attending her primary Sunday School class.This class was for 1st grade and under children. Mrs. Brenda had taught the class for probably close to 20 years at that point. She allowed me to stay in the classroom so I could help with Macie. What I didn’t know was how much I would learn myself over the next several years and then also after Tinsley was born as well and started coming as a baby to that class.
I learned all of those foundational Bible stories that I had not learned as a kid. I had lost most of my faith during college and I re-dedicated my life not too long before Macie was born. I learned along with my girls and I don’t know if I even realized it for a long time. Mrs. Brenda taught them ( and me) in a way that was simple but yet had big meanings. It taught me so many things I needed to know about God in a way that I could understand. Even though Mrs. Brenda was teaching to their level it was in a lot of ways what I needed also. The stories and life applications were not overly complicated. The questions the kids asked were simple, pure, honest and from a childlike perspective.
And said, “Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.” Matthew 18:3 ESV
At first I taught the class by myself but a few months later another Mrs. Brenda volunteered to be my helper. Each week as I prepare my lesson I am reminded how this basic stories in the Bible even though thousands of years ago apply to today’s life. Not only does it apply to what little children need to know about God and His love, they teach about how to treat others with love and kindness and how to grow up to be good adults. Each week I take away a little something that helps me be a better Christian and a better adult.
Over the last couple of years God has put the title of this series on my heart and mind. There was a popular book years ago titled “All I Really Need to Know I Learning in Kindergarten” by Robert Fulghum. I never read this book but I do remember others discussing the life lessons that it talked about and how we can learn them at a very young age in Kindergarten. As I have taught these lessons week after week I think of how not only children but adults could benefit so much from the simple lessons and grow in their knowledge of the Bible.
I invite you to join me as I occasionally summarize the lessons, questions and learnings I come across while teaching 3rd graders and under and what I take away as an adult!
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Have a BLESSED DAY!
Tiffany Shepherd 