Standing on Holy Ground

Today I read an email that took my breath away. I asked the author if I could share it here as a way to encourage you and to thank you for all of the prayers, time, energy, patience, and love you put each week into nurturing the faith of children as you dwell in God's story together.

Good morning:

I am a teacher in our church's Sunday school program (I recently retired after 10 years as church school coordinator but continue to teach), and I wanted to tell you about a moment of wonderful insight that took place last month in our 3rd-grade classroom.

We were learning about Deborah and Jael, the defeat of the armies of Sisera and how God used these two women to achieve his purposes. It's a difficult lesson to teach in some ways—potentially full of side-trips into politics, gender dynamics and gore. However, the teaching points offered by the Dwell curriculum offered clear guidelines on how the lesson could be presented to show that this is part of God's story and that the kids too are part of this bigger story God is creating in them. 

We led into the lesson, as suggested, by talking about the various gifts/jobs God has given people, and for what purpose. I discovered what impact this approach was having when, as the lesson neared its end, one eight-year-old looked me full in the face and asked, "What if God is calling me?" 

That, dear Dwell friends, is a moment we teachers can spend a lifetime hoping to hear. The room fell silent for a few minutes as the impact of that question sunk in. It was profoundly moving to all of us in the classroom, and also to the girl's parents when we chatted about it later. 

Thank you for developing Dwell curriculum to tell God's story, rather than as a collection of Bible stories with some moral injunctions. Thank you for designing it so that kids could spend some time to ponder ways God speaks to them. You are making a difference.

Blessings,

Deb Flaherty, London, Ontario