Hope triumphs once again!

I've agreed-- and this is one of those "moments of madness" that plague my life like so many, I don't know, gnats?-- to teach a children's Bible class on Wednesday nights.

Now, for someone who has taught many, many children's classes in her lifetime, quite a few of them right here at South Plains, you might not call this madness. And it isn't, actually; not to announce myself with trumpets or anything, but I have volunteered my services out of kindness. And also the triumph of hope over experience, so I have not always had the most smashing success with children's class.

In a couple of weeks, the Bible bowl class will finish the "teaching" portion of the class and move into "reviewing." Because of the way the children's classes are set up, the teachers would have to run the reviews with children who actually intend to participate in Bible bowl, as well as the other children who are there because their parents dragged them to church and sent them to class. And some other kids who are neither happy nor angry to be present. So I volunteered to take the children who do not intend to go to competitions into a separate class on Wednesday nights.

My plan for this class is to go over, by means of discussion, songs, crafts, and possibly push-ups if the children do not behave, things that (IMO) they ought to know by now. (It is possible that I am condemning myself to singing the books of the Old Testament on a weekly basis by taking this approach.) So far, the topics floating around in my head are: God Cares about You, Obey Your Parents, This Little Light of Mine is More than Just a Song, and Why We Have the Church. There are more in there, but they seem to be hiding behind some random neurons or something. My thoughts at the moment are consumed with how we will go over the first topic, that God cares about them. I admit that I was having my doubts about this topic, until a few minutes ago when I happened across a blog in which the writer mentioned that people have to be reminded-- a lot-- that God loves them. So be it, I thought; if adults have trouble with this, I'm betting their children do, too.

So if anyone has any suggestions on good topics for 4th & 5th graders, I would be overjoyed to hear them.