Feed My Sheep

It's that time of year again, when the Primary presidency honors our teachers for their dedicated service to the children over the last twelve months.  As much as we love the kiddos and enjoy teaching them, we recognize that committed teachers who show up each Sunday prepared and ready to share the love of Jesus with their class is a wonderful gift and we never want to take them for granted.  We know it involves time and sacrifice to magnify your calling as a primary teacher.

We hesitate to add another meeting to the already busy schedule, but it seems that we've hit on a solution that works for everyone.  We prepare a breakfast, and invite the teachers out on a Saturday morning from 9:30 - 10:30.  The time is early enough not to encroach on a family's Saturday plans.  We keep the meeting short and feed them good food.  It works!

We use this time to do a little teacher training and pass out materials for the upcoming year.  The theme for our meeting this year was Feed My Sheep.  We took ideas to share with the teachers from a talk entitled, Sheep, Shepherds and Sheepherders by James Moss.

Sheepherders ride behind their flock, often using dogs to do the work of directing the sheep.  A shepherd leads his flock and they know his voice and follow his leadership.  These pictures were taken in Jerusalem, where I saw a modern shepherd leading his sheep.  

When he sat down to rest, they grazed around him, but never left his sight.  And when he was ready to leave, he spoke to them and off they went.  

"The sheep hear his voice: and he calleth his own sheep

by name, and leadeth them out.  And when he putteth forth

his own sheep, he goeth before them, and the sheep follow

him: for they know his voice.  I am the good shepherd:

the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep."

John 10: 3-4, 11

We discussed how we could be good shepherds to our little flock of primary children, trying to love and teach as Jesus would by,

* loving all the sheep

* numbering the sheep to determine who is lost

* go out after the lost sheep and stay out until it is found

* lead the sheep by personal example

* feed the sheep

We have great primary teachers who love the children and do a great job teaching their classes.  We just wanted them to know how much we love and appreciate them.