When you forget your Sunday School Visual Aids. Also, a good song.

Running at the last minute, (my fault mostly) I forgot a record number of things for my Sunday School lesson today, and various other things didn't work out as planned. It was one of those 'jar of clay' mornings - when you're tempted to trust in your own abilities it's good to be reminded that is not where the power lies...

Anyway, one of the things I forgot to bring was my Visual Aids. I'm not one of those people who can carry a story just by their storytelling skills - I need visuals. Here's what I do when I don't have any:
Stick figures!

This is why I went to art college :-)

It does keep the children's attention - although only do this if you are willing to have your drawings constantly commented on and criticised:
Why have the houses got dots on them? (They're windows. Yes they are, because I say they're windows, and I'm drawing the picture.)
Why haven't they got faces? Where are her arms? (Oops!)
Why isn't there a door? (Because it's on the other side)
Why are there two windows? (Because I felt like it).
Why did you draw the stars blue? (Because if you think I'm going to carefully colour the whole sky blue, leaving little white star shapes...)

It works even better if you're actually planning to teach the lesson this way, as you can plan what you'll draw instead of making it up as you go along. But in a pinch it's always good to fall back on.

We also learned Open our Eyes from Rain for Roots (lead inexpertly by me due to wifi issues...) I hope to sing this often as an introductory prayer song. Listen below: