Oxen

One verse that is recited as if a mantra about our house is Proverbs 14:4, the verse that goes, "Where no oxen are, the crib is clean." We don't just quote this because we used to have kids over to our house for Bible study who thought it was somehow appropriate to call our house "God's Crib" because, you know, I guess our house was the hip version of God's house. Not sure why...

Anyhow, we use this verse to stay encouraged when our Sunday School events go a little crazy. Police had to come? This means the crib is used, people, this is fine. Kids are fighting? That means the kids are there, at Sunday School, so that's good. Sure, everything feels like a mess, but it means there's potential, there's an effort, and there's an outreach. Sometimes it's hard to appreciate the chaos, but fact is, chaos means that things are happening! As crazy as things get sometimes, we still prefer the crazy times to the times when nobody even shows up to Sunday School. That happens, by the way. Sometimes each class will only have one or two kids, and all the Sunday School teachers feel quite bereft of our usual Sunday Adventures.

That's mostly in the summer, for some reason. Kids come more during the school year.

And Hobby Class, for instance, where last week I picked up 14 kids, and this week only two. Last week there was more chaos (and more police cars), but I think I liked it better. But numbers aren't what matter, the outcome is what matters: that a child might come to know the Lord Jesus Christ as their own personal Saviour. That's what matters.

So anyhow, if something has you discouraged because the situation seems out of control, just remember the verse we love so well in our household and bear in mind that it's only a mess because you're making the effort. If all else fails, refer to your home as a "crib." All the cool kids do.