I mentioned, a few weeks ago, that I’ve “retired” from teaching preschoolers at church. And, since we’ve not yet had a routine sort of schedule for Sundays, I haven’t yet had an opportunity to find a new niche for myself on Sunday mornings. I’ve absolutely determined to stay out of the preschool realm, and am completely confident in the capabilities of the people who are going to be the Sunday School teachers, at whatever time Sunday School starts up again.
However, I do find myself falling into some previous shopping habits. I’ve caught myself, when shopping, distracted by the sorts of things I used to purchase for church.
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- Years ago, I bought one of these sets of nesting boxes with lids. Kids could nest the boxes together and then also nest the boxes’ lids. Or, they could put the lids on the matching boxes and create a box tower.
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- Simple colored stickers were great for creating designs on construction paper.
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- Post-It notes were great for creating larger designs (used like stickers) on big pieces of paper.
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- I was always looking for different sizes of markers for drawing. We also had white boards to use with dry erase markers.
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- Trips to the kitchen department were important, too. Pastry brushes made easel painting a different sort of experience.
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- A garlic press creates long spaghetti-like strands of play dough.
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- Potato mashers made interesting designs with paint. I bought a small waffle iron, removed the chord, and kids used it with play dough, too.
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- I bought two sets of these clips to create a matching game that also provided an opportunity to develop fine motor skills.
And then there is this old friend.
Right before Thanksgiving, in 1979, a friend called me. She was the Preschool Minister at a large church in Waco. They had a weekday program, and one of her teachers had abruptly quit. She was desperate. Was I interested in taking the job? I said, no, I really couldn’t take the full time job, but I could help her out, in the mornings, for December and January, and give her time to find a new teacher.
As I tried to get organized, which included getting breakfast done, lunches packed, and two-year-old Jeremy to a friend’s house, I realized I needed some additional resources. I bought this canvas bag to have a place to put things like books, games, and other supplies, so that I could just pick it up on my way out of the house.
After my time at that church, this bag became my “church” bag. It gave me a place to drop in, during the week, items that I wanted to use at church that Sunday. It has been incredibly sturdy! It has been laundered a few times over the years, after one thing or the other has been spilled or squashed down in the bottom. I’ve replaced the handles at least twice. You can see the tattered upper edge on the right side. I don’t know what I’m going to do with it now. I might frame it: “Best bag ever!”
I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth.
1 Corinthians 3:6 (New Revised Standard Version)