SUNDAY SCHOOL THOUGHTS by a TEN-YEAR-OLD

About once a month I get my son's little girls for a weekend.  This morning we went to church.  During worship my ten-year-old granddaughter wrote these words on a piece of notebook paper:

"I Love Jesus!"  (She drew a picture of a cross and on each side of the cross were flowers.)

"Dear Diary,

Today I got to go to church.  I first went to Sunday School.  I have lots of friends.  When I went to the door my friend Lora was puting her name on the wall.  We have paper flowers that have our names on them.  After I put my flower on the wall, Mr. Judd sat pictures on the table.  In the pictures were all the kids in the class.  Then I saw a picture of a cookie shape like a cross.  So I put that picture in the middle.  When everyone was in the class we started to play games.  There was a block game and a question game.  I wanted to play the block game.  When it was time to go I got a book that has all the verses that was in the month.  I love going to church and I would like to go again."

On a second piece of paper, Brooklyn drew a large cross with hearts all around it.  Down the middle of the cross was the name J E S U S.  Each letter was inside a heart.  At the foot of the cross was the words, "I Love You!"

After church, during dinner, Brooklyn said, "Grama, I love going to church.  They always treat me like family."

Six-year-old Abby chimed in, "Me too, Mimi.  They love me there.  My teacher is always nice to me."

Folks, these are two little girls who rarely get to go to church, unless they are visiting me.  They are so eager to go that they start getting their outfits ready the night before.  They never once complain about getting up in the morning.  They delight in the opportunity to go.  Brooklyn was baptized when she was 7 years old.  Today she asked me, "Grama, what day was I baptized?"  I told her, "December 19th; you were seven."

She said, "Yeah, I know how old I was, I just couldn't remember the date."

When I reflect on the first two sentences of Brooklyn's diary note that she placed in my Bible, I have to wonder.  Wouldn't it be wonderful if we all could write, "Today I GOT to go to church.  I FIRST went to Sunday School."?  selahV

[copyrighted, SelahV Today, 2008]

Comments

[mary]

Quote from Sunday evening sermon as my pastor preached on Daniel 1:3-7. He was sharing about Daniel and his three friends.

Point 1 was "Their nobility"
Subpoint 1 A. was "Their social nobility." He said our young men and women are suffering because of the sin of their parents. One of those sins is parents not taking their children to church. (I think my daughters would tell you they were drug to church a few times as I was during those teenage years. I thank my parents for being in church every Sunday with me and my siblings. It's so rare today.)

It's wonderful that you live within an hour of your granddaughters so a once a month visit to grandparents means they can go to church. May their little ears,hearts and minds grow more in love with Jesus every minute they spend with you and their grandfather.

[Colin McGahey]

Selah,

I know you truly live on prayer, not only because of what I have observed of your character, but also because of stories like this one: it seems it is the only way God has given you to live at this hour in your life. God blesses in the valleys.

I visited a family recently for the first time. At the dilapidated home, the mother answered the door. As one of my team members began to speak, the girls inside heard and came running. They heard the voice of their Sunday School teacher from the year before. I was greeted with hugs from three girls under the age of 12 I had never met until that moment. They begged and pleaded their mother to take them back to church, to come to Sunday School and AWANA. But I could see in the mother's expression that she was wholly uninterested in church despite her words to the contrary. Though they attended regularly shortly after their father died, their attendance dissipated and they have yet to return.

All I know is those were some sweet hugs.

I pray the pastor of the church nearby will take to visiting your girls' mother. I will certainly take to praying.

[selahV]

Mary...thanks so much. God is in this. In His time. I am just so tickled to take them. They stir my spirit each and every time with their eagerness.

[selahV]

Thanks Colin, this is my prayer also. I do pray one of those churches is filled with loving people and a pastor who preaches the Word in all its fullness. I truly believe this is all part of His plan. I deeply appreciate your prayers.

[Rose]

Dear Selah,

What a precious granddaughter you have. She's quite an inspiration. So many of us are able to attend Sunday School and Church every week. I wonder if we do? And if we do, are we looking forward to it like Brooklyn and Abby do.
Our church recently had a young man minister to the High School/Jr. High age kids for a Disciple Now week-end. He spoke to the whole church on Sunday morning and he was very encouraging. One of the things he said was that he encouraged the young people to have a daily quiet time with the Lord. He told them how we should look at spending time in the Bible as the privilege it is. That we GET to spend time with the Lord. We should look forward to it. What an honor that it is.

Thank you so much, Selah, for sharing your granddaughter's heart with us. I will continue to pray that God will provide the way for them to attend a bible believing church regularly.

Love,
Rose

[Liz]

That was nice to hear. Thanks for sharing it. My grandson spends the night with me every Saturday night and goes to SS and church every Sunday and his parents do not go to church. I also take him on Wednesdays for RAs.

I was so pleased that my son bought him his own engraved Bible for Easter last year.

My grandson, also looks forward to every time he goes to church. I am so blessed to be able to take him with us.

I'm glad that your grandaughters have good experiences. That says a lot for the children's workers in your church. I'm sure it also says something about the way they perceive that you enjoy it, too.

[M. Steve Heartsill]

When my daughter was 6, I had the opportunity to baptize her. It is a day I will never forget.

Some time after her baptism, she and I were talking one day. Out of the blue, she said, "Daddy, you know who I love more than anyone else in the entire world?" Of course, being a proud daddy, my head swelled. I knew she was about to bestow that honor upon me. Trying to be humble, though, I said, "Sweetheart, who do you love more than anyone else in the entire world?" Her answer gave great perspective on life, "Of course, I love Jesus more than anyone else in the entire world!"

What a great confession of faith, ranking up there with some of the greatest men and women of faith. And, what a great wakeup call for this daddy.

[cole]

Hello Mrs selahV,

I want to give thanks to all Grandpa's and Grandma's that take their grandchildren to Sunday School and Church every week or every chance they get to ! Don't give up on the parents just keep praying for them . My papa Ron carried us to Sunday School and church for about 2 years and by us praying for my mom and step dad they started going to church with us about 1 1/2 years ago !
Now my Paparon is jealous cause he don't get to carry my brother and two sisters to church every Sunday ?

cole

[Luke]

Mrs. V,
I pray that God will give you more than one opportunity a month to bring your granddaughters to church. I also pray that he will place it upon their mothers heart to bring them herself even should she choose not to stay. May these two young girls grow up to be Women of God.

[selahV]

Rose, thanks. Indeed she is an inspiration to ME!!! There are times I feel really bad, the pain in my back and legs often tempt me to stay home from Sunday School and just go to church because of the sitting and inability to get up and down during the studies and sermons. But each time I feel as though I just can't, it is thoughts of her desire to go and her joy in "getting" to go that I realize afresh the privilege of opportunity afforded me. Then when I get to church I witness folks in far worse shape than I sitting in church, rejoicing at the opportunity. It makes me wonder how I can be complacent about faithfulness to God's assembly. selahV

[selahV]

Steve, what a poignant story! It's ironic how much we want our children to love the Lord with all their hearts and to put Him first and then desire to be the center of their lives, isn't it? Great lesson in this little story. selahV

[selahV]

Cole, you are a sweetheart. You'd make a great person for my granddaughter to meet when she grows up. I am so glad your paparon took you to church. He loves you very much to make that a priority for your life and the life of your sisters and brother. You just keep praying for me and I'll keep praying for you. I don't stop praying for Brooklyn and Abby. They are always before the throne of grace as far as their spiritual life is concerned. Thank you for sharing your experience. selahV

[selahV]

Luke: as always, your prayers are in tune with mine. I usually get to have the girls for the week of VBS here. And they love it. I take them to VBS in the morning and we swim in the afternoons. They get to invite some of the girls from the VBS classes to play in the afternoon and that solidifies their relationships with them. What I find particularly wonderful is that so many of the children at our church consider them friends even though they don't attend S.S. that often. Says alot for the health of their parents guidance and the encouragement they have from their teachers to include all children in the classes as if they are "family" as Brooklyn shared.

Now if we adults could practice what we preach, we'd have more folks in church every week, huh? Hey! Our pastor baptized three people yesterday, a mother and her daughter were part of the three. Isn't that wonderful? selahV

[Luke]

Mrs. V,
I envy your pastor.