Sunday School Girl

Thanks to John for sharing this one with me the other day.

Here's a song with the accompanying music video that is definitely worth your time.

Wow, right?

Here's what the singer/songwriter, Larry Carter, said about how he came up with that one that's equally moving.

Sunday School Girl

I guess as a kid growing up in a church going family, I never really grasped the value of Sunday School. Church was not an option for me as a kid growing up. I didn't realize from my perspective then that some kids were there because they wanted to be in contrast to myself having to be. Only later in life when I had been away from God and ended up living in a less than desirable environment did I start to realize the value of the church.

In 1999 in Marble Hill, MO on a Sunday morning I saw her sitting there, just a little girl alone on the front pew. I could see from her tattered dress and scuffed shoes that she wasn't from the subdivision but she seemed oblivious to her ragged appearance during the song service as she sang along and clapped while on the edge of her seat. I leaned over and inquired from Pastor Doyle Mitchell about the little girl's parents, as I didn't see anyone that looked like a match. He told me that they had picked her up for about 5 weeks and that she was always waiting outside of her rundown residence and that her parents were struggling with drug and alcohol issues.

As I looked back at the little girl who woke herself up on Sunday morning to be in Sunday school God spoke to me. I realized that it was more than a building, or a music department or a decorated Sunday school class that was the appeal but it was being able to slip out of her environment for two hours and be in the presence of God. She would walk into the same beat-up place after church and face the same people but for two hours she could experience something extraordinary.

I have realized in the years since then that we are all similar despite our social, economic or age status. We all struggle with life and face things that become obstacles and major issues to us but on Sunday morning and Sunday night we can slip into a world where its just us and Jesus and there we find shelter, mercy and grace and strength to go on.

Sunday School Girl may tell about a little girl, but it is a song about how big the church is and that it is our refuge.

Larry Carter

What a beautiful expression of Matthew 18:3!

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