On becoming a teacher...

So, I guess I started teaching Sunday school way back when I was pregnant with Natalie, but it was very sporadic after that because I kept having babies and nursing babies and it just wasn't an option.  A couple years ago, I picked it up again and just this past year, I was "promoted" to the 7-9 year old class, which happens to be the one Natty is in now.  I can't say that I've ever felt very adequate at teaching Sunday school- my experience is very limited, I'm doing it in another language, and because our services are pretty long, there is a lot of time to fill.  I entered this new position with a bit of uncertainty but when I reviewed the new material we were using, I got excited.  Over the course of 3 years, we'll be walking through the entire Bible with these kids, in depth.  It's taken a few months to get a handle on what works and doesn't work with my class- mainly boys- but I'm finally feeling more comfortable now.  The last three weeks we've been going through the last words of Moses to the people of Israel before he dies.  This past Sunday, the focus was Deuteronomy 28.  Have you read Deut. 28 recently?  It's a LONG chapter that starts off listing the blessings the Lord will pour out on His people if they obey Him.  Then follows about 50 verses about the horrific curses the Lord will dump on His children if they choose to turn away from Him.  Hmmmm...how do I approach this one??  I decided to make a little game where I'd write both the blessings and curses on little pieces of paper, put them in a bowl and let two teams pull them out one by one.  Whichever team received the most blessings, won.  I thought even if it wasn't that fun, at least we could go through some of the blessings and curses in a more interesting way then just reading the chapter (which would have had these kids asleep or extremely distracted about 4 verses in).  What I didn't foresee was how passionately they would play this game- at first, cheering for themselves when they got a blessing and groaning when the curse came.  Then, it got more heated as they chanted "curse, curse, curse!" for the other team and celebrated when, in fact, their sons and daughters were taken off as slaves by a foreign people. I started wondering if this was a good idea after all...  The best part came when it was all over and I asked the kids if God still pours out these curses on us when we sin against Him.  "Yeah!" they said.  "Kinda, I mean, maybe not ones quite like that."  I wasn't too surprised by their response, but a bit saddened that this is what they still expected of the Lord.  My girl was nodding her head along with the rest until she remembered the conversation she had heard Scotty and I having a few days earlier about this topic.  She raised her hand and explained that although we deserve those curses (and worse!), Jesus took all that punishment on Himself on our behalf on the cross!  Although I know she has a hard time understanding this still, and even receiving that kind of grace in her own life, I was proud of her for sharing the good news.  I got the kids' attention again and made sure they heard me VERY CLEARLY.  We are no longer under a curse.  Did you hear that guys?  Because of our sin and rebellion against the Lord, we deserve all sorts of punishment and death, but Jesus took that condemnation away from us.  I pleaded with them to pay attention, to remember, what I just said.  Some had blank stares, some weren't even looking at me and some seemed to be considering what I was saying.  Only the Lord can drive that truth deep into the heart of those kids and make it grow.  By His grace, He will continue to use me, a fragile and imperfect vessel, to continue sharing these life-giving truths.  And meanwhile, I'll try to come up with different games where the kids aren't wishing curses on their classmates.