New Adventures in Working with Children :: 3 of 31 Days of Blogging :: New

The instructions for 31 days of blogging said we should pick a narrow topic; by limiting ourselves we will find ways to be more creative.  Since I didn’t do that from day one, I think I need to start now.

This topic feels a little risky, like maybe I will run out of things to write about in a few days, but I want to see how it works out so from here on out I am writing about: Becoming a Children’s Leader for Bible Study Fellowship (BSF). 

Day 3 :: New 

Working with kids is very new to me.  I would have told you a year ago that I do not like kids in general, I barely like my own (even though I love them), and I definitely do not like kids in groups.  And then somehow in the past year I started teaching Kindergarten Sunday School and Co-Leading one of the toddler classes for BSF. 

What convinced me to do that?  Whenever I taker personality tests or spiritual gifts tests, I have to answer questions about what I like doing.  And somehow I have gotten through life with a very narrow range of experiences.  I have a difficult time trying to say what I like and don’t like, to the point where it seems pointless to take the tests; the results never seem to describe me.  So when I was asked to do something new at church (K Sunday School), I decided to go for it and try it.  After about nine months of Sunday School, I was asked to be a BSF children’s leader.  I felt like I was floundering and struggling terribly teaching Sunday School, but I thought it was because there was very little structure. In contrast everything about BSF is highly structured.  So again, I decided to try it.

In a way the BSF toddler experience has helped me prepare better for Sunday School.  There are some rewarding aspects to both BSF and Sunday School, yet now I have two things in my week that require me to spend more time with kids and what I really want is time with adults away from kids.  One year in to teaching Sunday School and a few months into BSF and I still feel ambivalent about whether I am where I belong. So that’s what I am going to blog about.