Joyful Disbelief (standard:Inspirational stories, 2844 words)
Author: Eutychus	Added: May 17 2008	Views/Reads: 3401/2293	Story vote: 0.00 (0 votes)
An older couple returns to teaching Sunday school with some uncertainty and end up wondering why they ever left.

“Are you sure about the scones?” he asked as he placed the Tupperware
container of flour in the pantry. 

“Given the subject matter, it seemed the most appropriate snack to
prepare. Besides, we had a special situation to consider. The 
questionnaires the parents filled out reminded me that Abbie is 
diabetic and therefore needs a balance of carbs and protein in order to 
deal with the sugar content of the snack. The scones and milk at snack 
time should equal out. And because the sugar we're using is of the 
unrefined variety, we have a little bit of leeway.” 

As he washed the various measuring cups and spoons, he stole a sideways
glance at his bride of just over a quarter century. In all that time, 
she had never made scones before. His only experience with the pastry 
had been on a 747 an hour before touching down at Heathrow in London 
prior to a semester spent at Cambridge where, incidentally, they had 
met. Because he remembered it being a tasty introduction to British 
fare, he was grateful for the recipe websites frequented by his wife. 

“Do you suppose we're ready for this?” Elsbeth asked fifteen minutes
later as she slipped the lightly browned pastries off the parchment 
paper covering the baking pan and onto a cooling rack. 

“I know I am,” he said, closing the refrigerator door with an elbow
because his hands were full of various spreads. 

“Only one,” she said sternly. “And don't take one of the ones shaped
like a fish. But I meant the whole Sunday school thing again. I know 
it's only one Sunday a month, but we haven't done this since Maddie was 
eight years old.” 

“Well...” he began and found his thoughts drifting in another direction.


“Well what?” 

“Oh, I was about to say that children don't change. Then I remembered
the photo you took of Maddie and Kyle at Christmas,” he said 
thoughtfully. Their daughter and son in law had been standing arm in 
arm in front of the fireplace while holding an image pulled from the 
second ultrasound in front of Maddie's stomach. 

“Yes, they certainly do change, don't they? But we are familiar with the
temperaments of the children already, and that should help. Since we 
will be dealing with a new youngster of our own soon enough, I thought 
the increased exposure to children would be good for us.” 

“You are probably right. And with that in mind, perhaps we should go
through the lesson plan again.” 

Elsbeth went over a list of songs and made certain that the midi file of
the song she'd be teaching the kids this week was on her MP3 player. 
The plan was to play the tune through the audio system of the 
television used for the occasional Veggie Tales video. Jerry 
double-checked for the most recent photo and story from the missionary 
family who benefited from the offering collected by the kids. These 
items helped to make the lessons regarding the importance of missions 
and giving more personal for the kids. It gave them a sense of who and 
how they were helping. 

“By the way, yummy,” Jerry said after washing down the last of his scone
with some Earl Grey tea. 

“Thanks. Did you check to make sure all the disciples are present and
accounted for?” 

“Yes and yes they are. I haven't seen this flannelgraph kit in twenty
years and it seems to be remarkably complete.” 

“I'm sure there have been replacements made over the years. Just make
sure you use the proper characters for the story. The kids will 
notice.” 

“Are you joking? Even though they have different names on the backside,
they all look the same. And being able to read that tiny print at a 


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