Our church does a lot of meaningful services next week. Beginning with Palm Sunday. Like most churches, the children will come in with the palms. waving and smiling and, urged by their parents to say "HOSANNA! Hosanna in the highest!"! My little Sunday School class will be a part of it. But before worship, I am having a "KID VERSION" of the Passover meal! I'm so excited to do this and God just gave me idea after wonderful idea! (I'll post pictures before/after!). I have found that my Sunday School kids LOVE "hands on" lessons. So, scratch the traditional lesson plan. (I don't even know what it is! Shh! don't tell!)! Instead, I try to think of ways to make them: THINK about the scripture/ APPLY the scripture and ENJOY the scriptures! As I keep saying, these kids I teach are SMART. Tying in Old/New Testament correlations are so easy with these kids. I wonder some days how much I really listened in Sunday School each week. And I was there! EVERY. SINGLE. SUNDAY. I got 100% each month and always got the Sunday School attendance paper each YEAR! Just MAYBE I heard more than I thought I did. But, those old "film strip" squirrel slides we used to watch were dumb. Sorry. And, because our church was so huge, I'm sure the poor teachers were harried to say the least.
But one teacher stood out. I think I've blogged on her a few years ago. Her name? Mrs. Good. Um, yes. it. was. And YES.SHE. WAS. Now Mrs. Good was old . However, let me say here, she probably was younger than I am now! HAHA! But, to me, she was older than Methuselah ! She was always smiling. Had soft chestnut/gray colored hair. Wore glasses. Slim. She lived right down the street from my church. And she had us over for a tea party. There you go! what could be better than that???? Now, since I was probably 7, 8 ? Can't quite remember. And I don't remember if there were boys there at the TEA PARTY. But my BFF, Frances Crow (calling you out, friend) was there with me I know for sure. We BOTH loved us some Mrs. Good. Mrs. Good spoke so softly you had to really listen to hear her. (she must've not had children of her own, haha). she was genteel. That is a word that comes straight from a "Southern Manners" charm school booklet! GENTEEL. She didn't speak softly and carry a big stick. She just spoke softly. AND LOVED JESUS. Now, Mrs. Good could quite possibly had some wine in her kitchen but probably not. Not that's it's bad to have wine in your kitchen ( !!!!) but she was of the "old school Methodists" that might have thought any "spirits" were not good to drink. (Jesus drinking wine probably wasn't a verse that most old time Methodists liked to read about). Anyway, sweet Mrs. Good. Precious Mrs. Good. SOOOO, what did I LEARN from Mrs. Good???
I learned, whether I knew I was seeing it taught in the flesh or not, a big portion of the sermon Jesus gave on the Mount of Olives. Mrs. Good embodied the Beatitudes. Here they are as a reminder:
THE EIGHT BEATITUDES OF JESUS
"Blessed are the poor in spirit,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are they who mourn,
for they shall be comforted.
Blessed are the meek,
for they shall inherit the earth.
Blessed are they who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
for they shall be satisfied.
Blessed are the merciful,
for they shall obtain mercy.
Blessed are the pure of heart,
for they shall see God.
Blessed are the peacemakers,
for they shall be called children of God.
Blessed are they who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven."
Gospel of St. Matthew 5:3-10
Mrs. Good wasn't "meek" in the sense she was a pushover. No she wasn't! She could handle those antsy boys (and girls, um, hello) and make them mind. But, she wasn't pushy. She loved the scriptures. She was hungry for the Word. She was soooo filled with mercy. Her eyes would fill with tears telling us stories of the Bible. She had such a PURE heart. You could see her heart in her face! She taught the Beatitudes to us by LIVING them. I couldn't tell you one Sunday School lesson she taught. But her actions: LOVED US TO JESUS.
I remember being on the sidewalk in front of her house that Saturday morning of the Tea Party. The cement sidewalk was old and buckling. As we ran to her house, one of us, (me or Francie), fell on that. I can't remember exactly. But I remember the door flew open and Mrs. Good ran to our side. Concerned we were hurt but happy we were there. Obviously, it was no big fall or big deal. But seeing that door open and those arms open wide was all the comfort we needed. We skipped down the path to her house and walked inside. SOOO excited to be going to Mrs. Good's house . ON A SATURDAY. FOR A TEA PARTY. I have searched my brain to what happened next and I cannot remember. I just remember me and Fran, in our little stand out dresses with crinoline petticoats underneath, walking inside and SOOOO excited. For some reason I don't think that many kids went that day! It's sort of a blur. You know how you have memories of childhood and they kind of mesh with other memories? (I should've asked Frances before I blogged this story! Maybe she remembers!).I just remember we talked about that Tea Party for YEARS. It was our special time with our special teacher. And for SURE, Mrs. Good ministered to 2 little girls that day.
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| can you find me. With some of my Sunday School friends! |
To even be one hundredth a teacher as she was would be amazing
.* Thank you, Mrs. Good. I'm sure you're with all the saints of heaven now. If I didn't say thank you then, I do now. what a role model you were to me.All those many years ago. But guess what? Your legacy CONTINUES! I am carrying the torch for you now! Yes, you would be so happy to know that I am teaching 4th-5th graders, too. While I could never teach the way you did, I thank you for your kind/merciful/pure heart that helps me when I try to think of ways to teach MY own little Sunday Schoolers.(and I need to have a TEA PARTY for my little girls in the class!)! I so wish I could see you once more and tell you.I pray God will for me.
Suddenly, this morning-- oh my goodness--GOODness, I can see your smiling face as clear as I did so many many years ago! What a blessing!!! Oh, one more thing:I hope I wasn't too naughty some Sundays.I WAS listening. wink wink
#carryontowardsEaster #Godisgood #allthetime #allthetime #Godisgood #mamaGoodtaughtmesomuch #tobeateacherlikeherwouldbeawesome
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