Write a personal essay each day of the final week of June with the 2024 Personal Essay Writing Challenge. For today’s prompt, write an essay based on the story you will most likely tell others.

“Be Prepared”

“Be Prepared” was the impression I received on a Sunday as we walked from our parked car to our church building. No, I didn’t hear a voice from heaven, although it could have been God talking to me. It probably was God talking to me, encouraging me to get ready to be used.

We’d been going to Faith Bible Church for several years after leaving our long-time home in Los Angeles and moving south to Orange County. We enjoyed the classes, church services, and special events. We took in all the friendships offered and joined a weekly C.A.R.E Group. We fed ourselves from the good Word of God, and the people of Faith Bible Church. Nice.

That “message” came to me as I passed the rooms of children’s Sunday School classes that Sunday. Was I to consider helping in one of the grades? Or even teaching one? Yikes!

I had a fair knowledge of the Bible from many years in Bible Study Fellowship, an in-depth yearly study of the books of the Bible. I’d raised two boys and read and taught them Bible stories and memory verses. But to teach the Bible to a room full of other people’s kids? Scary!

After the morning services, I went to the Children’s Ministry Director and asked if I could sit in on a few of the Sunday School classes to see where I could “possibly” help out…now and then. “Sure,” he said, “but why help out? We need teachers!” I back-peddled, then gulped. And offered to help out a teacher…. to see how it was done. He smiled and said I could check out the classes beginning the following Sunday.

I did just that. I began with the Kindergarteners. Nope, too wiggly! They didn’t pay attention, except when singing songs or playing games. I knew I would not be patient enough for these little cuties.

The next Sunday, I sat in the 1st to 3rd grade class. It was better, but still not right for me. On the third Sunday, I walked into the 4th-6th grade class and knew I was home. These kids – mostly raised in Sunday School – were sharp. They knew the Bible and loved being challenged to learn more. Two teams of teachers took turns teaching on alternate Sundays. I even enjoyed listening to the lessons.

I told the Director I’d like to help out with that class, perhaps when someone was sick or on vacation. “How about starting now, full-time?” he asked. “One of the women is dropping out to have a baby. You could take her place on that team.” Wow.

I began and continued to team-teach for seven years. I loved it. The kids were so sharp that they often challenged me. They were willing to work in skits, do weird games, and even crafts to illustrate a point in the lesson. We dressed in costumes and portrayed the baby Jesus coming to the Temple and meeting Eli and Anna. We acted out a few of Jesus’s parables and miracles. We sampled Passover unleavened bread with grape juice. And we tied messages about the Gospel to helium balloons before releasing them in the neighborhood. We even carried an Ark of the Covenant model to “the Promised Land” (picnic tables in the play area) in procession from the classroom, each student representing a tribe of Israel in order. So fun. And sweet. And precious.

The last year I taught was 2021 (yes, we had outdoor classes right through COVID-19), and that year, I struggled with a health issue. Asthma/COPD requires that I use a daily inhaler. The steroids from that caused my voice box to become gravelly and, eventually, to no sound at all. I stopped using the inhaler that final year so I could teach, but my lung capacity went down to 60%. The doctor said I had to resume the medicine. So, I gave up that class. Heartbreaking.

Now, I’m preparing to join a missions team that will go to Berlin next month to put on a Vacation Bible School for a sister church. I won’t be teaching—my voice sounds like a garbage disposal with nut shells inside! I’ll be helping with crafts. No problem.

This will be my tenth and probably last mission trip. I am 79 after all.