Saving Tip #1: Cell Phones

Do you remember when cell phones first became popular? I do! My dad came home from work with one. I think it was a Nokia; it was navy blue, and about the size of today's wireless home phone. We thought it was super cool! Instead of that weird radio thing in his car, Dad now had this mobile/cell phone. About a year later, he brought how a lime green cell phone about half the size of the first one. Now he could comfortably store the phone in his pocket. 

About five years later, I was begging for my very own cell phone. I didn't want a pink phone for my room. I wanted a cell phone. When I turned sixteen and got my driver's license, my parents finally caved. It was definitely a safety measure. 

A silver flip phone, a Motorola Razor, a too-many-years-before-its-time touch-screen smart phone (the screen died with a year), a knock-off blackberry, and finally an iPhone… later… 

My grandma even joined the bandwagon. Her very first cell phone was a Galaxy. (Grandpa on the other hand prefers a phone with "real buttons.")

We absolutely have to have cell phones. It's just the reality. 

And the "want" is to have a smart phone, but who really wants to pay for it?

I can't afford $150 for a low-end data phone, plus the cost to have my husband on the line. It's totally insane what people are charging these days! And don't believe all of the gimmicks about cheaper plans or cheaper phones out there. Very few of them save you money in the long run. 

So here's an idea for you: What we have done is have a joint-plan with several friends to save costs. We obviously trust these friends greatly - to not dump us with the bill at the end of the month. Because we have done this, our plan costs less than a basic, non-data plan for one person. We don't have the latest model smartphone, but ours are still new and current. I have an iPhone 4. We pay significantly less than $150 per month total and we got our phones for $1 each!

Photo Courtesy: https://www.southseattle.edu/international/cell-phone

Pick a Side!!

Psalm 97:10

Ye that love the Lord, hate evil: he preserveth the souls of his saints; he delivereth them out of the hand of the wicked.

What kinds of teams do we hear about frequently?

• Olympic team
• School sports team
• Local sports teams (like the Philadelphia Phillies)
• Teams for the school history test

Out of all of these teams that we just discussed, which team do you prefer to be on – winning or losing? Of course, you want to be on the winning team, who doesn’t?

So tell me, why would you say you want to be on the winning team?

1.              Because they win

2.              All the good stuff happens to the winning team

3.              People remember them

In the Bible, they had winning teams and losing teams too. Actually the entire time we read the Bible, we see the winning team and the losing team.

Tell me, who are the winners and who are the losers in these stories?

1.              Cain & Abel

2.              Noah & the people

3.              Moses & Pharaoh

4.              Jacob & his father-in-law

5.              David & Goliath

6.              Nehemiah & the mockers

7.              The disciples & the Pharisees

Can you think of any others?

So looking at all of these people, what distinguished the winners from the losers?

• Every time God was on the winning side.

Did it just so happen that God was on the winning side each time, or was it really that these people were on God’s side?

For a period of time in the nation of Israel’s history, Israel was divided into two sections – Judah, the southern portion, and Israel, the northern portion. Today when I refer to Israel I am talking about this northern portion.

Judah, in the south, was headquartered in Jerusalem, where the Temple was. The people though not perfectly typically worshipped God the way that He had commanded – at the Temple with the high priests, and the ark of the Covenant, etc. Judah was typically ruled by men who loved the Lord. Although they were rarely perfectly, typically the kings sought after God with their whole heart.

In comparison, the northern section, Israel, was ruled by men who were angry at their brothers and cousins, who ruled the southern portion of the country. They enter Judah, therefore refused to worship God in the Temple. They refused to worship God the way that He commanded them to worship Him. Instead they would change God’s laws, and hire their own priests, and set up their own gardens to worship God, and sometimes they would even try to carve God into a statue, so that they would “blend in” with neighboring countries.

Obviously overtime this became a really big problem. While Israel still technically claimed to worship the one true God, the reality was they started worshipping an idol of God, they started worshipping any idols. And soon God was no longer their God.

God, being the gracious and loving God that He is, sent prophets (men truly believed and worshipped Him) to the people in Northern Israel as evangelists and missionaries so that they could turn back to God and be saved.

In 1 Kings 18, it looked like the winning side this time wasn’t going to be God’s side.

King Ahab ruled of Israel. He believed in God, but he didn’t worship God. King Ahab’s wife – the infamous Jezebel – had ordered that all of the prophets and godly men be put to death. Most of the men who stood for God indeed died, but God allowed a few men to escape from Ahab & Jezebel’s armies – Elijah.

Because of the wickedness of Ahab & Jezebel, Elijah prophesied that it would not rain in Israel. And it didn’t! For three years, Ahab & Jezebel would not repent of their wickedness and turn to God. In fact, they became consumed with trying to hunt Elijah down and kill him. Elijah went into hiding and God protected him. This of course, only made Ahab & Jezebel mad!

READ 1 KINGS 18:1.

So we see here that God has told Elijah to go to King Ahab and tell him that after three years it is finally going to rain. A funny side note – when Elijah showed up to tell King Ahab this wonderful message from God, Ahab was out searching the countryside for Elijah.

Just a reminder, I know we call them “Bible stories” but these are actually real events and real people talking to each other. These things actually happened. These people really lived. So pay close attention to this conversation.

READ 1 KINGS 18: 17-19.

It kind of sounds like, he is saying, "Hey, there, trouble maker!"

But Elijah doesn't bite. He immediately requests/demands that all of the people of Northern Israel, and all the prophets of Baal, and Jezebel’s minions meet him at Mount Carmel for a special event.

READ & DISCUSS 1 KINGS 18:20-41. {The story is very self-explanatory and narrative. The class should have no problem discussing it.}

This entire time God was in control of the situation. Even though all of the other prophets were dead, God was still able to use just one man.

There are times when it is going to be really hard to be on God’s side. Maybe your friends are mocking something that God feels very strongly about in the Bible. Maybe you’re visiting family over Christmas and your immediate family are the only ones who are saved. It might seem at times that this situation is a losing battle, but trust God. Stay on His side.

Saving on a Budget

Most people in ministry understand that the ministry is not lucrative business. If they didn't know, they knew after the first paycheck. 

As a child I was blessed to attend a church that was generous... extraordinarily generous! And the deacons held to the philosophy that you take care of your pastors. They believed that money should not be something that a pastor needed to worry about. My pastors could have made substantially more money doing something else, but they were all able to afford a working vehicle, buy a house, send their kids to good schools, and help them through college. They didn't necessarily have the nicest or the newest, but all of their needs and many of their wants were met. I wasn't a pastor's kid, but this was the philosophy that I had seen as a child. When I moved out on a my own and began attending a different church (eventually joining my husband on staff), it had the same philosophy.

Blessed is the only word to describe it.

Let me just say now, I am not in ministry because of the money. But please understand that it is a necessary evil. We have to have money to survive. I am too practical and my prayer life is not that of George Muellers.

Well, my husband and I moved to Small Town, South, and I was shocked by the 60% paycut. I wasn't working at that point, so it certainly increased the shock level. Our heartbeats slowed down a little when we realized cost of living was a lot less than in Big City. And we knew that all of our absolute essentials were provided for.

We don't carry debt on any of our credit cards. We don't spend more than we make... Ever. The only debt we have is a car payment, but that is totally manageable. We made a budget and it is tight. We have to carefully plan out every meal, activity, birthday. Pennies saved are small victories and pennies lost are a tragedy. But it works. All of our bills are completely paid for each month and a few "luxury" items are paid for (like our smartphones, a huge daily blessing!)

But the question, we keep asking is "how do you save on a tight budget?" We don't spend more than we make, but depending on the bills that month, we tend to spend all that we make. Saving has become a luxury.

Here are a few things that we have found help us… 

1. Budget for savings. This isn't a terribly original thought. But.. It is a lot easier to make sure that money makes it to the savings account, if you were planning on it in the first place. For my husband & I, the reality is this is at the bottom of our budget list and it really is a tiny amount. We occasionally have to skip saving to pay the electric bill, or buy a baby shower gift; but because we budget for it, more often than not, we are able to save.

2. Always save something. To have a free savings account with our bank, it automatically withdraws a minimum amount from checking and puts it into savings. So while we may not save our full budgeted amount every month, at least we were able to save something.

3. Cut out as many luxuries as possible. The money you save should go straight to savings. For example - Let's say, you were paying $80 a month for internet and cable, but you have come to discover that you really don't need cable (because everything seems to be available through a streaming service), so you cut your bill down to just internet, and you add a streaming service. This might add up to a monthly savings of $40. Instead of having a spare $40 to spend, put this money straight into savings as faithfully as you would pay that bill. 

4. Save the leftovers. If you have food leftovers at a restaurant, you might want to take it home (think "free meal"). Why not save the leftovers with your money too? If you have a couple dollars left in a budget category, put that money into your savings account. It all adds up!

5. Annual Expenses. A sneaky way that my husband and I manage to save money is through a monthly budget item that we call "Annual Expenses." They are the irregular non-emergency expenses that we know about, like oil changes, dry cleaning, hair cuts, eye wear, Christmas, birthday and church showerpresents. Previously we just took a hit or pulled from savings. 

It always hurt. 

So what we did is calculate approximately how much each of those items would cost over an annual period (like we know we are likely going to spend $400/year in car maintenance - oil changes, inspections, new tires, etc), then split it up into a monthly amount. Some things require putting aside $2 per month, others like car maintenance required $25. Then we added up all of the categories and moved that amount into a second checking account. Whenever we spend something in one of those categories, we just take the money from that checking account. It doesn't hurt, it doesn't hinder our savings, it's always there. It's a win-win! 

6.  Get a Cash Rewards credit card. I'm serious! This has become our 2nd savings account. I know that a lot of people in ministry don't like to use credit cards for various reasons. And I respect that, but if you use a credit card and pay it off every month, you can actually get a credit card company to pay you. Most companies don't give you much more than $0.02 on the dollar, but let me tell you - that adds up! And my credit card company gives you an additional percentage if you get a pay out sent to a checking account with their partner bank, and a larger percentage if you wait, and pay out after you have saved several hundred dollars in cash rewards. We use our credit cards as often as possible and always, always pay them off at the end of the month. (Personal story - we have made several hundred dollars and are now saving this free money for a really, really nice vacation.) If you are concerned about what happens if the bank discontinues the program... my bank guarantees a pay-out even if the  program is discontinued or the bank closes. 

It is really hard to live paycheck to paycheck, be on a strict budget, and save money. We calculated the other day that is going to take us six and a half years from today to save the recommended six months salary and we already have money in the bank. (I almost had a heart attack!) But we will get there... eventually. :) 

You can too! It takes discipline, but you can set yourself up for success. I hope that these tips are helpful.

How do you save money?

Photo Courtesy: http://couponconnections.com/do-these-5-budget-friendly-things-now-to-save-on-your-next-heating-bill/

Book Review: God's Smuggler

Want to increase your world view? Then read this book - God's Smuggler by Brother Andrew with John & Elizabeth Sherrill.

Dutchman Andrew van der Bijl tells his story of life in Holland in the 1930s and 40s and his travels

throughout Eastern Europe during the Cold War. He tells the story of a man who accomplished some amazing and truly incredible feats. The interesting thing about this book is you are reading this man's life story and you are realizing that this man - this "Brother Andrew" - was nothing more than a vessel.

Let me explain.

Andrew is ordinary. He isn't any different than you and I. He grew up in a normal family, who did normal things. Sure, they lived during Nazi-occupied Holland, but they didn't do anything to stand out. After the war, Andrew joined the Dutch army and through a normal series of events recognized that he was a sinner in desperate need of a Savior.

After that this ordinary Andrew surrendered his life to the Lord, like we all do each and every day. And  Andrew sought a deep and meaningful relationship with the Lord, just like we should seek. Andrew made himself available to be used by God in any capacity. He became a vessel for God, and God worked so clearly and amply worked in his life.

I couldn't even begin to summarize for you this book. You just have to read it. Be prepared for adventure. Be prepared to read about impossible prayers miraculously answered. Be prepared to see God.

Parental Alert: Andrew doesn't mince words about his life prior to salvation, but he never goes into great detail. Everything that he did prior to salvation was "resolved" at the moment of his salvation or as his relationship with the Lord grew. Only once does he do something that I would personally would deem questionable as a missionary and a Christian. He was offered a drink of alcohol and took it as a witnessing opportunity. He indicates that he was uncomfortable with this, but believed that it was the only way to establish a baseline with this group of people. Not everyone is perfect, but I would have left that out of a book. You know?

Photo Courtesy: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/824062.God_s_Smuggler

Your Record Doesn't Matter

{Ask} Who are some really recognizable Bible characters?

{Ask} What was it about David that made him so memorable?

• He was a little boy who killed Goliath when the entire army of Israel was too afraid to fight him.
• He was a memorable soldier and leader.
• He was chosen by God to be the king of Israel, but had to wait for the current king (Saul) to die. During this period, he was hunted by the armies of Saul, nearly murdered, and exiled from his kingdom.
• He wanted to build the temple, but God would not allow it because he had killed people.
• He wrote music to the Lord & most of the book of Psalms.
• He sinned with Bathsheba and they had a baby before they were married.

{Ask} Overall, was David a good guy or a bad guy?

We can probably say that David was a really good guy. And you know what, he thought so too! Consider the list that we just made: all of this great stuff about young, nerdy shepherd boy who grew up to be a strong, handsome, popular leader. That is the stuff that all the great stories are made of! And he did so much good for his country and everyone loved him! Of course, he was a good guy.

Isn’t it interesting that out of all the stories that God probably could have included in the Bible about David, that He had to include one bad story? One story so that our awesome King David has to have this huge blemish.

Why do you think God put the story of David’s sin with Bathsheba in the Bible?

For us to learn about our own sin, the consequences, and God’s forgiveness.

First of all, what is this story of David’s sin with Bathsheba?

{Read 2 Samuel 11:1-4 together.}

Part of David’s job description as king of Israel was to go to war and lead the troops in person. But David had a really well-trained and successful army and a fantastic general named Joab, so this time he sent them to battle without his supervision. They didn’t really need him.

We don’t really know all of the circumstances as to why David stayed behind. We can’t say with any certainty that he made a bad decision there. We know that it became a bad decision because of things that happened later, but we can’t say that it was wrong that David stayed behind. Maybe David just needed a vacation, or he had a cold, or he had an important meeting to attend. We just don’t know…

But we do know that while David was home, he went somewhere he shouldn’t have gone. He went to his rooftop at the same time that all of the women in the city took their baths on their rooftops. Not that going to the rooftop to hang out is a bad thing. It’s just a bad thing to do when all of the women are taking a bath. Obviously… Just like the maintenance men here wouldn’t try to clean the ladies bathrooms when there are ladies it. It just isn’t appropriate.

{As a side note – back in those days, they didn’t have indoor plumbing, so they would collect rainwater on their rooftops in big tubs, and “shower” up there. Men at certain times and ladies at different times, so that there wouldn’t be anything inappropriate. It would have been common knowledge for men to stay off the rooftop when the women showered and for women to stay off the rooftop when men showered.}

Well, David is hanging out on his palace rooftop, at a really bad time, and instead of being all like “Oops… I will come back later.” He stayed. This is the moment where David’s actions clearly become sin. He should have turned around and gotten off of that rooftop and back to his throne room. But he chose to hang out on the roof.

And it wasn’t like he was taking a nap with his eyes closed. A certain neighbor lady caught his attention BIG TIME. She was apparently beautiful – not her fault. And taking a bath on the roof – a good thing. And very, very married – a problem. But when you get the attention of a king back those days, you do what your told. You didn’t argue. Bathsheba was summoned to David’s house and to his room.

When she left that day, David probably felt really guilty and really bad. But it was a secret. Her husband wasn’t home. He would never know. David’s servants were risking their lives and their families if they ever told anyone. As far as David was concerned, no one would ever know.

It was one bad decision. One sin, and against such a great record like David's, who ever needed to know that he has sinned like this anyway? He could just bury it. Forget it ever happened. Pretend Bathsheba was as much a stranger as she had been before he saw her on that roof.

But all of our sin has consequences. No matter how secret we think it is.

2 Samuel 11:5

And the woman conceived, and sent and told David, and said, I am with child.

Well, so much for no one ever knowing.                                                            

Basically when Uriah came back from battle, he was going to realize that this kid was not his. And Bathsheba would be stoned to death. And if she ever revealed the father of the child, he would be stoned to death as well. David was the king. He couldn’t risk that. So he allowed his sin to multiply. Instead of coming clean with Uriah and Bathsheba and God, and begging for forgiveness and mercy from them, he sought to cover his sin.

2 Samuel 11:6-13

6And David sent to Joab, saying, Send me Uriah the Hittite. And Joab sent Uriah to David. 7 And when Uriah was come unto him, David demanded of him how Joab did, and how the people did, and how the war prospered. 8 And David said to Uriah, Go down to thy house, and wash thy feet. And Uriah departed out of the king's house, and there followed him a mess of meat from the king. 9 But Uriah slept at the door of the king's house with all the servants of his lord, and went not down to his house. 10 And when they had told David, saying, Uriah went not down unto his house, David said unto Uriah, Camest thou not from thy journey? why then didst thou not go down unto thine house? 11 And Uriah said unto David, The ark, and Israel, and Judah, abide in tents; and my lord Joab, and the servants of my lord, are encamped in the open fields; shall I then go into mine house, to eat and to drink, and to lie with my wife? as thou livest, and as thy soul liveth, I will not do this thing. 12 And David said to Uriah, Tarry here to day also, and to morrow I will let thee depart. So Uriah abode in Jerusalem that day, and the morrow. 13 And when David had called him, he did eat and drink before him; and he made him drunk: and at even he went out to lie on his bed with the servants of his lord, but went not down to his house.

And when that didn’t work…

2 Samuel 11:14-17

14And it came to pass in the morning, that David wrote a letter to Joab, and sent it by the hand of Uriah. 15 And he wrote in the letter, saying, Set ye Uriah in the forefront of the hottest battle, and retire ye from him, that he may be smitten, and die. 16 And it came to pass, when Joab observed the city, that he assigned Uriah unto a place where he knew that valiant men were. 17 And the men of the city went out, and fought with Joab: and there fell some of the people of the servants of David; and Uriah the Hittite died also.

Ultimately David’s army lost this battle, but it “worked out” for David, because it turned Uriah into a war hero – who valiantly gave his life to defend his country. And it also left David free to honorably marry Bathsheba – the war widow. And now, no one would question the baby that would come “early” a few months later.

The sin was covered. No one knew. No one would know. This small blemish on David’s nearly flawless record was all but wiped out.

How do you think Bathsheba felt marrying David after he had her husband murdered? 

Maybe she didn’t know that was why her husband died in battle. 

A little relieved that now no one would know? 

Distrustful? He obviously didn’t truly love her. 

He already had several other wives.

{Ask} How does covering our sin affect our lives? 

It causes more problems and makes other not trust us. It leads us into deeper and deeper layers of sin.

We believe that David wrote Psalm 51:10 after this period of time his life. After sin and all of its nasty immediate consequences.

Psalm 51:10

Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.

What does it mean to have a pure heart?

To have right motives, taking action and speaking words for good reasons – not getting our own way or covering up our sins.

What does it mean to have a right spirit?

It means being faithful to what we know to be right – not being sidetracked by our own selfish desires when temptation comes along.

Did David have either a pure heart or a right spirit when he sinned with Bathsheba?

No. God needed to send an intervention so to speak.

2 Samuel 12:1-10, 13

1 And the Lord sent Nathan unto David. And he came unto him, and said unto him, There were two men in one city; the one rich, and the other poor. 2 The rich man had exceeding many flocks and herds: 3 But the poor man had nothing, save one little ewe lamb, which he had bought and nourished up: and it grew up together with him, and with his children; it did eat of his own meat, and drank of his own cup, and lay in his bosom, and was unto him as a daughter. 4 And there came a traveller unto the rich man, and he spared to take of his own flock and of his own herd, to dress for the wayfaring man that was come unto him; but took the poor man's lamb, and dressed it for the man that was come to him. 5 And David's anger was greatly kindled against the man; and he said to Nathan, As the Lord liveth, the man that hath done this thing shall surely die: 6 And he shall restore the lamb fourfold, because he did this thing, and because he had no pity. 7 And Nathan said to David, Thou art the man.

Ouch! At this moment, God revealed through Nathan that David was in fact a sinner. It is hard to feel guilty about sin, when it seems to be totally covered up. It is hard to want forgiveness for your sin, when you think that nobody knows. But through these verses we see, that God always knows. God sees everything that we do. We absolutely cannot hid from Him. We can’t hid our sin, and we can’t hid ourselves.

Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, I anointed thee king over Israel, and I delivered thee out of the hand of Saul; 8 And I gave thee thy master's house, and thy master's wives into thy bosom, and gave thee the house of Israel and of Judah; and if that had been too little, I would moreover have given unto thee such and such things. 9 Wherefore hast thou despised the commandment of the Lord, to do evil in his sight? thou hast killed Uriah the Hittite with the sword, and hast taken his wife to be thy wife, and hast slain him with the sword of the children of Ammon. 10 Now therefore the sword shall never depart from thine house; because thou hast despised me, and hast taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be thy wife. 11 Thus saith the Lord, Behold, I will raise up evil against thee out of thine own house, and I will take thy wives before thine eyes, and give them unto thy neighbour, and he shall lie with thy wives in the sight of this sun. 12 For thou didst it secretly: but I will do this thing before all Israel, and before the sun. 13 And David said unto Nathan, I have sinned against the Lord. And Nathan said unto David, The Lord also hath put away thy sin; thou shalt not die.

·      Confess your sin to God and those you have sinned against immediately.

·      Accept that there are going to be consequences – and those consequences might hurt.

The Energetic New Year, New Sunday School Teacher

It's the officially the new year and time to start everything fresh. There is this awesome, fresh, clean-slate feeling to this unfamiliar year. This really is so fun! I will still be writing 2013 periodically through May. :)

Have you had a chance to evaluate your Sunday School class (or Christian school Bible class, or homeschool Bible lesson)? 

How is it going? If you have been blessed with your own Sunday School class, you probably pray for life transformation in those girls.

But you are also probably all too well aware of the fact that there is so much information that needs to be shared in just one hour a week (on a good week!). And somewhere around 40 weeks out of the year. How on earth can we share the most important things they need for spiritual growth in that short period of time?

Not to mention...

Wouldn't it be wonderful if we could have an interactive & engaging class time, instead of painfully enduring the "glazed over" looks during the classroom lecture on a weekly basis?

Wouldn't it be nice if just once your class acted like it had a clue what you are talking about when you ask them a question from last week's lesson?

Do you struggle with your students talking while you're talking? (This is the one that frustrates me most!)

I think every Sunday school teacher, if they are truly honest, have struggled with any and all of the above at one point in life. Sometimes it really does have something to do with the people in the class, and other times it has far more to do with the teacher.

Here are some things that I have incorporated into my Sunday school class hour (or less). It has made a world of difference.

1.   Plan Ahead
Ok, everyone, let's be honest... How often do you wait until Saturday to come up with a lesson for Sunday morning? (or even Sunday morning to come up with a lesson for Sunday morning???) Well, the fact is... We've all done it. While you might have been able to pull off a great last minute college paper, a lesson that needs to have spiritual value just can't be done at the last minute. Can you truly say that what you thought about for the first time on Saturday night was what God wanted you to share with your girls on Sunday morning? I know for me, that is rarely the case.

To remedy the situation: Plan Ahead!

I mean, like more than a week ahead... Like a season at a time. If you have an eight-week or a twelve-week stretch of teaching, plan those lessons to tie together somehow. Maybe they all have the theme or message, or they are about the same Bible person. Maybe they all have the same topic of "Christianity 101" or dating, engagement, and marriage.

Whatever you do, you must plan ahead.

2.  Review & Preview
How many times did your mom tell you, Repetition is the key to learning?

Well... it's true! Repeat, repeat, repeat. Remind your class of what they learned last week, and the week before - every week. By the end of a 12 week series my girls could, with very little prompting, tell me generally what each lesson was about and some of the main points. Why? Because we reviewed.

I also previewed each lesson. Give the girls an idea of what was coming up next week, and sometimes two weeks ahead. Give them the "big picture." Maybe in a few years they won't be able to remember each of the lessons, but if they remember the "big picture," you did your job right.

By the end of the series, they should have a small hit on each lesson at least 20 times.

Repetition really is the key to learning. Go figure!

3.  Ask Questions
Normally it is the students who ask the questions, but turn the tables and ask them the questions. I always tell my kids if they want to talk during the lesson, they have to answer questions. That is their chance to talk and share their ideas or opinions.

So instead of me, sharing what I think about the Bible lesson, I started asking the girls what they thought. This took a long time to catch on (like five or six weeks). There were plenty of weeks that we just sat there, stared at each other, and waited for someone to answer my question. But by the end, they were accustomed to it and dare I say... Eager to answer.

The class became interactive. No longer did they have a "glazed over" look. They were prepared to answer a question, read a verse, or offer a comment.

Ask questions. Don't give up. Wait quietly and stare them down.

4.  Be Flexible
When you start asking questions and ideas start flowing freely, don't stress out...when THEY start asking YOU questions. And trust me, it will happen.

(Be prepared to be asked questions that you don't know the answer to. Write the question down, get the answer, and personally answer it the following week. Not only will they be thrilled to have the answer, the class will respect the fact that you remembered... and the individual who asked will feel special knowing that you specifically answered their question.)

5. Be Animated & Spontaneous
You might have the most amazing lesson in the world, but if you aren't animated, they aren't listening.  Be excited! Let them know you are excited. Have voice inflection. Use your hands and your body to teach the lesson.

Surprise the girls everyone once in a while. This will keep them interested. Sometimes I would bring a batch of cupcakes (like once very six weeks) or take them outside on a sunny day or rearrange the chairs. Sometimes we would spend a large amount of time praying. To keep the class interested (in a world that is constantly vying for their attention), do things that keep them on their toes.

6.  Have Rules
My rules were always really basic:

• Be to class on time, because we are starting with or without you. My hope was that the girls would be so uncomfortable entering the room late that they would make the effort to be on time walking from the youth room to our Sunday school area. It took time, but it worked. 
• Bring your Bible. I got the girls into the habit of reading as much Scripture during class as possible. That meant that I incorporated a substantial amount of verses into the lesson (the Bible is more powerful than anything I have to say anyway). Then I had the girls read those verses. We went around the room. I picked them out at random. Some volunteered. But the girls were involved, they needed their Bible, and they were getting very familiar with God's Word. That's the goal. 

The point of your class is to bring glory to God, to teach the girls truths from the Bible, and to grow in Christ. These days that doesn't happen by lecture alone. We have to keep them involved. Our world is too interactive to teach any other way. If you have any suggestions, I would love to hear them!

Photo Courtesy: http://www.hdwallpapersinn.com/cheers-new-year-2014-wallpapers.html