“Lord, how should I teach this? What visual tool could I bring?” That’s how I started praying. Later discerning to bring wooden blocks to
illustrate the lesson, I had 2 options. First, my Russian alphabet blocks. Second, our Jenga blocks. The next morning while packing my teaching bag, I prayed again and
opted to toss in the Russian ones that have Cyrillic letters and words
imprinted. Our study topic was John 10,
and we would build a sheep pen with these blocks, highlighting Christ as the Good Shepherd who lays down His life to save us, the sheep. Indeed it was an inspiring treasure of a lesson the
Lord gave. Even afterward He continued
to bless as my co-leader helped repack my bag to go home. She inquired about my Russian blocks, saying,
“My boyfriend has learned some
Russian.” And right there, my whole body
halted because almost never have I heard that comment in San Antonio, which by far speaks mostly Spanish and English.
The distinctly single occasion when I heard that comment was in our little
church coffee shop several months prior.
And then as I realized my co-leader is close in age to the person in the coffee shop who spoke
those same words, a warmth of wonder began to
wash over me. In slow motion I turned to ask my co-leader the
name of her boyfriend. And oh, wow! Yes, her boyfriend is our church drummer! How crazy fun is that! All the way home, and actually for days, I
floated on that fun. Had I not brought
the Russian blocks, we wouldn’t have discovered this tremendous tidbit because there’s nothing
about Jenga blocks to draw the same discussion. Humbling all the more is the fact that I still don’t have it all figured out as
to where this study of Russian is going for me, though blessings like this certainly add excitement to the task. As
children of God, we pray and trust and proceed, sometimes without knowing exact outcomes and reasons. In this case, the Lord’s answer for a teaching tool brought joy
far wider than I could’ve imagined.
