Church Notes

What a Sunday!

First the bad: my Sunday School class. You all know how much I love them and love teaching them, but they were not in a listening mood today and some of them were very squirmy and silly. I've started telling them that there are no more second chances; if they don't behave, they're out. This has settled them down a lot...until today. I think they didn't believe me. At the end of the class, they were doing worksheets. As they finished, I told them to quietly work on their memory work (Psalm 100 this month) or, if they didn't want to do that, to sit quietly. I was flexible enough to allow some  quiet talk, but 2 boys took advantage of this fact and got louder and louder to the point that they didn't hear me when I tried to get the class's attention again. After they finally stopped laughing and talking, I turned away for a quick moment and they started again. By then there were only a couple minutes left of class so I couldn't kick them out. Instead, I had them stay so we could "have a talk." I think they thought that they were going to get scolded and then it would be over, which in their minds translates into "getting away with it." Poor boys. I told them that since they waited until near the end of class to misbehave, I was not allowing them in next week. Instead, they could sit in the adult class, take notes, and show me the notes at the end of class if they wanted to return the following week. Oh, and they could explain to their parents why they were not attending my class. I know their parents. The boys will think twice about misbehaving next time.

Okay, the good: new books for the church library! Some of them are from a used bookstore trip. We had a credit there (since that's where we bring the books that have been donated to the library but that we don't want) so my friend and I went Friday. Our primary goal was to find some books for the kids, and we did very well in that regard! I think our total was about $90, and with their library discount and what we could use of our credit, we spent about $15. Since they were used book prices, we really got between 200 and 300 dollars worth of books! We picked up some Bible story books (after reading them all to check for accuracy and good writing) and some books that we wanted to fill in various series, as well as some that might appeal to the boys. It was fun and we got a pile of new books. Even better, though: we finally started spending our budget on new books. Brand new, from the store, never owned by anyone else books (can you tell this is a rarity in our library?). The guy who runs the bookstore attends our church, and he also gave us a discount even though we just missed Librarian's Day (he also put me on the email list so I'll know when future Librarian's Days occur). They are pretty and shiny and glossy! Some of them I've written about here: When People are Big and God is Small; The Most Misused Verses in the Bible; both of Dan Phillips' books. Others I should write about: Did I Kiss Marriage Good-Bye (which has nothing to do with I Kissed Dating Good-Bye); Exegetical Fallacies. We also got a couple for the kids and a biography of John Calvin. They're lovely books, and they all arrived today as well!

Now, the very good: You know I love my church family and I have a great pastor. Today was one of those extra-good sermons. I needed a rewind button, or the option to stop him (frequently) and ask him to say it again. I'm going to have to listen to it again (and maybe again). Go here and listen to the sermon from this week. Actually, listen to last week's sermon as well.

And that sums up my Sunday!