What Tim Learned While Not In Sunday School | Previous Challenge Entry

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TITLE: What Tim Learned While Not In Sunday School | Previous Challenge Entry
By Karen Petty
10/26/07
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Every Sabbath it was Tim’s job to trek through the expansive church building. As members of each Sunday School class filtered into their rooms and found their seats, there names were recorded in a brightly colored attendance folder. Tim enjoyed collecting these enclosures. It gave him a chance to do something helpful for his church family. Anyone could observe what an outgoing and warm fellow Tim was. He had a genuine heart for others, and his kindness overflowed to all he encountered. Whether member or visitor, Tim made a special effort to acknowledge and welcome each one.

His first stop was easy. This class of young marrieds hovered over their coffee and donuts while beginning with sharing prayer requests. The teacher was quite a bit older, yet lacked not a bit of their youthful energy. He was an attentive mentor who was quick to listen and had a wonderful gift of tactful insight that his class often benefited from. Tim tucked their class folder under his arm and looked into the petite window in the door. As their heads were bowed in prayer, he thanked God for being a part of a praying church.

Next it was onto the senior adult class. Even though many of its participants were older than he, Tim knew he would enjoy sitting in on this class, next quarter. As much as these older Christians had been through the trenches, they still went right back to the basics of bible study, and dug in! Tim hoped that he would grow to be steeped in the Lord as his years increased just as these men and women had. He had seen many of them go through family, health or financial hardships. Yet they still remained unjaded, and even faithful to serve others.

The sound of young singers grew louder, as Tim approached the children’s hallway. Beautiful illustrations covered the walls along with scripture verses and photographs of smiling faces. The load in his arms grew heavier, as most of the offering envelopes were filled with coins. Tim couldn’t help but feel good inside as he caught a glimpse of the small energetic vocalists. He spoke a quiet prayer asking God to help him have a willing heart to praise with childlike enthusiasm.

With a click, the nursery door opened and a slender hand held out a green folder. The other arm held a splendid sleeping newborn. Her tiny features appeared completely at rest. After thanking the volunteer, Tim began to remind himself to try to “rest” in His Father’s arm rather than worrying about his daily concerns.

When nearing the office, Tim made his final stop at the teen classroom. He peered through the window and saw paper wads flying! He popped the door open only to find that they were studying the story of Stephen. This flurry of scrunched paper was the teacher’s innovative way of segwaying into the martyr’s account. A bouncy adolescent gathered up the unkempt folder and scooped its contents into the pocket, then passed it to Tim, with a smile. Tim smiled back appreciating the creativity he saw that would hopefully get those kids to think about what they were reading on this Sunday morning.

Tim sat down behind the large desk to tally all that he had collected. He stilled and thought for a moment. There were so many things to be thankful for about being a part of this church family. And today, even though he never actually stepped inside the rooms, he had actually learned a lot from Sunday School.

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