Preparing for Sunday: Tuesday

Last week I discussed the importance of taking time on Monday to prepare my heart for Sunday.  This week, I am going to discuss why I take time on Tuesday to prepare my Sunday School Lesson.

Occassionally, a pastor's wife has to step up and take on a ministry she really doesn't want to take on simply because no one else is willing to take it on and the wonderful Pastor already has too much on his plate.  This basically explains how I became a Sunday School teacher.  I had no desire to teach Sunday School, not because I don't have the ability to teach, but because I really want my children to have godly influences on their lives other than their parents.  However, at this moment in time we have no one else to teach.  So, in my reluctance I took on the task.

My first and biggest mistake was my reluctance.  Instead of being excited and rejoicing at the opportunity to minister in the church, I complained.  Then, after complaining I began to procrastinate.  Because I did not want to teach I would wait till the very last moment (Saturday night after the kids were in bed) to prepare the lesson.  Ugh, it was awful.  I would usually be up till midnight cutting out flannelgraph, making photocopies, and somewhere in there squeezing a few minutes to read through the Bible lesson.  Guiltily, I knew this was not the way I should be approaching my class.  It often left me tired and stressed on Sunday morning.

So, asking the Lord for wisdom (and I'm sure quite a bit of prayer from my husband that I would change my attitude), I sought out to find a way to make teaching Sunday School a lot less stressful and more enjoyable.

Each quarter when I first receive the materials, I go through and print out all of the papers I will need for the quarter and file them into folders for the week they are to be used.  I also get all of the flannelgraph cut out (I found this is a great way to keep my hands busy while watching a movie with my husband -- of course, if you are planning to snuggle with your husband while watching a movie DO NOT DO THIS).

Now we get to Tuesday.  On Tuesday, I recommend taking some time to read through and study out the Sunday School lesson for Sunday.  Gather any and all supplies you will need for your class, and pull out the papers you will need to photocopy.  The reason I suggest you plan all of this on Tuesday is so if your church has a midweek service, you can take everything with you and make your photocopies and place all of the S.S. supplies in your classroom.  I have found Sunday mornings are less stressful if I'm not having to rush around church making photocopies and then arriving at the lesson just to realize I left some of the supplies at home.

Now, you are ready for Sunday School.  I do recommend reviewing the lesson again on Saturday.  However, if you are already prepared and the unexpected arises (this is the ministry, and things always happen on Saturday's when we are unprepared for Sunday - at least it tends to work that way for me), you won't be stressing and staying up into the early hours of the morning to get your Sunday School lesson prepared.