Yesterday was my oldest son’s wedding to the woman of his dreams. It was a beautiful outdoor ceremony with a couple of hundred family members and friends in attendance. All week we had worried about the possibility of rain, and it turned out to be a beautiful day. (This is an actual picture from the ceremony of the couple along with my wife, our other son, and myself.)
Anyway, the wedding was beautiful because of the months of preparation that led up to the day. There was a proposal and an acceptance. There was a date set. The bride told her mother she wanted the wedding held at the home/farm. That led the bride’s mother to spend countless hours preparing the yard. The flowers and landscaping were beautiful. The setting behind their home set in the edge of trees on a large pond with all of the preparation made for a unique setting for the ceremony.
Besides that preparation, a dress had to be chosen. Bridesmaids’ dresses and tuxedoes for the groom and groomsmen had to be chosen. There were invitations, napkins, a cake, and much more that had to be ordered. There were two friends who were photographers (who made about 800 pictures, by the way) who had to be enlisted. There was a rehearsal dinner to be planned. The pastor was enlisted. Premarital counseling was conducted. Lots of advice was given! Honeymoon plans were made. And hundreds of other decisions were made and actions were taken. Thousands of dollars were spent.
Then, the family and friends all had to make their decisions, keep the day free, and travel to the site of the festivities. The night before, the wedding party went through a couple of rehearsals. Tweaks were made. The day of the ceremony, some of the wedding music was forgotten and had to be retrieved an hour and a half before the wedding. People had to get dressed. Hair done. It was a busy, busy day.
Why do I share about my son’s wedding? To get to this point about Sunday School: in the same way in which a special wedding takes expensive, exhausting preparation to result in a beautiful, rewarding ceremony so it is with Sunday School. The more we invest in a special year, or month, or day, the more beautiful and rewarding the results. The more we have prayed, evaluated, priortized, set goals, made action plans, and then worked our plans, the more that expensive, exhausting work will result in lives reached and changed for our Lord.
Here’s my question: what would you do to achieve the result of a beautiful, rewarding, and memorable year of Sunday School? How far would you be willing to go? How hard would you be willing to pray and work? How long would you be willing to work on it? Accept the “engagement.” Make the commitment. Get started. Stay the course. Work it out a day at a time, a week at a time, a month at a time. Get others to help you. If you do, you will be surprised at the beautiful, rewarding results your preparation produces. Don’t rush. Be revolutionary!
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