News
   Valley Center
   Park City
   Kechi
   Bel Aire
   School
   Sheriff
   Police & Fire
   Deaths
   Looking Back
   Heard on Main Street
Municipal Court
Sports
   School Sports
   Rec League
People
   General
   Birthdays
   Engagements & Weddings
Opinions
   Editorials
   Letters
   Commentary
Columns
Church
Advertising
   Classified
   Legal

Hope and hilarity
By Chuck Terrill
Last Updated: June 22, 2017

Show it if you're happy

"If you're happy and you know it, clap your hands."

Songs, like this one, are the salvation of Sunday school teachers everywhere. It seems that there is always more time than there is curriculum. So if you have some time to fill, you might pick a song that kids love to sing and cut loose with all the gusto you can muster.

"If you're happy and you know it" has quite a few verses: "If you're happy and you know it, say amen." Or, "show your teeth, stomp your feet, jump up and down, turn around, sit down," etc. It takes awhile to sing the standard verses, and the kids burn off energy in a mild calisthenics program.

And if you have extra time after you've sung the standard version, you can sing, "If you're happy and you know it," and surprise a student, by pointing at them. They have the responsibility of finishing the line, and then everyone joins in and sings that child's version of the song.

It can get interesting. "If you're happy and you know it, fall on the floor." "If you're happy and you know it, stand on your head," etc. The kids love it, and there is a lot of laughter at the spontaneous expressions of their peers.

But what do you do if it goes all wrong? One 9-year-old boy, when pointed to, sang "If you're happy and you know it, let a fart!" And with that, he shoved his hand up under his T-shirt, found his armpit, and pumped his other arm up and down vigorously! The noise that came forth sounded just like the action he had just sung about. The crowd went wild.

"How did you do that?" the entire class asked him, in unison. Before I could intervene, he proceeded to demonstrate his technique. Before I knew it, the whole class, girls included, had one hand in their armpit while their other arm pumped up and down.

The laughter was hilarious as the sacred Sunday school room filled with the noise of, uh, noise. "Class," I said, "settle down!" We had five minutes left on the clock, and that was close enough for me. They left, practicing their new-found talent as they walked down the hall to rejoin their parents.

I could just imagine their car ride home. "Johnny! Was that you?"

"Mom! Guess what I learned in Pastor Chuck's Sunday school class today! Honk! Honk!" I fully expected the phone to ring off the wall the next week. Amazingly, it didn't.

The next Sunday, several parents said, "My kid really enjoys your Sunday school class. Thank you for all that you do." I had been thinking that, maybe, I ought to begin looking for my replacement. I needn't have worried.

After my students demonstrated their new-found skill on the playground at school, attendance went up by 25 percent.  

"God moves in mysterious ways, His wonders to perform."

Chuck Terrill is pastor of Valley Center Christian Church. Reach him at chuck@vcchristian.church or at 755-1233.




Trending Stories
Valley Center Contact The Ark Valley News

Legals SEDGWICK COUNTY PUBLIC NOTICE

Valley Center Another phase of housing gets started

School Dance theme: ‘Blast into the Past’

Valley Center ‘Blast into the Past’

Other Sections
News

Sports

People

Columns

Opinion

Contact Ark Valley News | Archives