Spring, School, and Sabbath

To Sabbath School teachers: This story is for Sabbath, June 22.

By Andrew McChesney

S

yuzanna had a sad look on her face when she came home from school.

“Mother, we have a spring talent show at school,” she said.

Mother was surprised. Usually, Syuzanna loved school activities, and she loved to participate in them.

The mother and daughter sat down to talk on the couch in their home in Armenia.

Syuzanna said Teacher had announced at school that the children would participate in a special two-hour program to celebrate the arrival of spring after the cold winter. Teacher had told Syuzanna that she would recite a poem by an Armenian poet and sing an Armenian song with the school choir.

“Teacher said all the children have to take part,” Syuzanna said. “But the talent show will be on Sabbath.”

Now Mother understood Syuzanna’s disappointment. She held the little girl close.

“Let’s pray about this,” she said. “Everything is in God’s hands. The most important thing for us is to show our love for God by keeping His law.”

Syuzanna knew that God said in the fourth commandment, “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God. In it you shall do no work” (Exodus 20:8–10, NKJV). School and school programs were work.

Mother prayed, “Dear Father, we thank You that You have given Syuzanna an opportunity to participate in the spring talent show and for the talents that You have given her. We want to keep Your law and be faithful to You. We ask that You allow us to participate in the show if it is Your will. Amen.”

Syuzanna was calm after the prayer. She went to her bedroom to do her homework.

That evening, Mom called Teacher and explained that Syuzanna could not participate in the spring program because of the Sabbath.

“You know that we are Christians, and that the Sabbath is an important day for us,” she said. “We observe God’s commandments, and it is written in the commandments to keep the Sabbath.”

She asked Teacher if she could change the talent show to another day of the week.

“We cannot change the date,” Teacher said. “There is no other day that is convenient for us, and we have already made all the necessary arrangements.”

There didn’t seem to be any way out.

But the very next morning, the date of the talent show was changed.

Mother learned about it first when she visited an online chatroom for parents and teachers from the school. A mother wrote in the chatroom that when she took her child to school that morning, Teacher had told her that the talent show had been moved from Sabbath to Friday.

Immediately, Mother called Teacher to thank her.

“Thank you for changing the talent show to another day of the week,” she said.

“I did this only for you,” Teacher said.

Mother couldn’t believe her ears.

“Thank you, thank you!” she cried.

When Syuzanna returned home from school, Mother told her the good news.

The little girl was so happy! Her smile was as bright as the sun. She understood that it was important to keep God’s law. She also understood that prayer is very, very powerful.

She could participate in the spring talent show after all.

Part of this quarter’s Thirteenth Sabbath Offering will help open a center of influence where families can learn about the God who answers prayers in Armenia. Thank you for planning a generous offering on June 29.