Welcome to Ms. Nelly's Sunday School Class by Chetoca Barfield

 

If you're looking for a variety of stories to share in your own Sunday school class or at home to celebrate your faith, you can use the collection in Ms. Nelly's Sunday School Class by Chetoca Barfield. She also shares with us an idea of a parallel universe for her collection. Read an excerpt and download your own copy before you follow the rest of the tour for even more!

Join in on the fun as Ms. Nelly teaches her Sunday school class how to interact with God. Each story in this collection is ideal for reading aloud in just five minutes - a perfect fit for bedtime, story time, or anytime!

Read an excerpt:

Title: Forgive others as God forgives
Pages 61 & 62

Victoria: Ms. Nelly, I have learned that forgiveness is hard to do.

Ms. Nelly: Yes, it is Victoria. Are you having a hard time forgiving someone?

Victoria: Yes, ma’am. I mean, it wasn’t even my fault.

Ms. Nelly: What wasn’t your fault?

Victoria: My sister and I argue all the time, but she has taken it too far this time.

Ms. Nelly: Ok. What happened?

Victoria: Our dad gave my sister and I a necklace. My sister loves this necklace. She wears it all the time except when she is playing sports or taking a shower.

Ms. Nelly: I see. Am I assuming your sister lost the necklace?

Victoria: No. The other day I went into my sister’s room while she was taking a shower. I saw her necklace on the dresser, and I wanted to try it on. When I picked up the necklace, I noticed it was broken.

Ms. Nelly: Oh dear, I’m guessing your sister is very upset with you?

Victoria: Yes, she is. This necklace is very special to my sister. This is the last piece of jewelry our father gave her before he passed away, but Ms. Nelly, I didn’t break the necklace; it was already broken.

Ms. Nelly: Did you explain that to your sister?

Victoria: I tried to, but she will not talk to me. When my sister walked into her room, she saw me holding the necklace and thought I broke it. She will not forgive me Ms. Nelly.

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Let’s say you have a parallel world for your book, like Stephen King’s Regulators vs Desperation. How would you change the characters/setting/plot?

Welcome to Ms. Nelly’s Sunday School Class is all about Ms. Nelly helping her students navigate their relationship with God through bible verses and their situations. I believe an overarching message of this book is submission. If there was a parallel world for my book it would be defiance. Submission vs. Defiance.

The parallel book would be calamitous and deal with the same 6 characters as they try to maneuver their situation and relationship with God with a defiant spirit. The book would speak to the character of God vs. the character's perception of Him, the reality of God’s promises vs. the reality of their situation, and the impacts of remaining defiant and how it affects their mind, body, and spirit.

Defiance, resistance, or rebellion; however, you choose to identify it is something that one would say is human nature. When we try to go opposite of what is “human nature” we struggle and don’t want to unlearn something that seems very common to our being. In those moments if not carefully defiance can be encouraged by one’s core beliefs.

When trying to correct those behaviors and offer different perspectives it can be challenging to help one move beyond their defiant spirit. What we choose to believe impacts whether we are or are not defiant. Thankfully through the Lord Jesus Christ he is patiently waiting for us to seek him and his grace to guide us from this behavior. Taking the first step is the hardest step because we must admit the struggle.

My name is Chetoca Barfield. I was born and raised in a small town located in Eastern North Carolina with my parents and 2 siblings; and older brother and younger sister. Growing up I had dreams of becoming a lawyer. There wasn’t anything that sparked this interest, but I knew early on in grade school that I loved to research and explain how things came to be.

Graduating from high school I knew that I would pursue criminal justice studies at Elizabeth City State University (i.e., ECSU) with hopes of having a career as a criminal prosecutor.

My freshman year in college I laid eyes on my dream guy who has been my husband for the last 19 years. I knew the moment I saw him walk out of the café I was going to marry him.

I know that may sound weird, but it’s the truth. Michael (my husband) and I didn’t begin dating until one year later. It’s funny how things happen, but that is a story for another day. In 2000 I graduated from ECSU and began working in corporate America a customer service representative. At the same time, I was studying to taking the LSAT to enter law school.

In 2003 Michael and I wed. Marriage was fun, enjoyable, and I didn’t want anything to interrupt our marital bliss 😊 except for the mini dachshund I adopted; his name is Baxter. Baxter was a welcomed interruption, but I thought that was all the interruption we needed. I made the decision to no longer pursue law school.

To be honest studying has never been my strong suit. Law school demands a lot of time and at that point in my life I wasn’t ready to commit. I enjoyed working in corporate America but knew staying in a customer service role wasn’t my “forever” career choice as I wanted to pursue a leadership role.

In 2006 I received my MBA degree from Strayer University. During this time my corporate career was starting to take off. I moved into a supervisory role and lead an operations team for a few years within the financial industry. In 2011, I was offered a higher-level leadership opportunity with a different financial institution.

It was the best decision I could have made for my career goals as I have thrived promotionally ever since. Leading teams for the last 15 years led me down an unexpected path; mentoring. I’ve mentored many colleagues and peers from a career development perspective. I must say this was an un-disclose passion that I didn’t know I had until I was knee deep in it.

As time progressed, mentoring evolved into to helping individuals, groups, etc. navigate life challenges. Growing up in my household my parents had a rule for my siblings and me. If we didn’t attend church on Sunday’s, we couldn’t go anywhere for the rest of the day. Every Sunday we were in church.

While I didn’t appreciate going to the church as much as I did at that time, I’m thankful that I did. It was through my Sunday school teacher that I learned how to develop a relationship with God. As I’ve grown in my walk with Christ this vital lesson has helped me through many difficult moments.

When COVID-19 pandemic hit in 2020 all our lives were altered. The daily routines that were once in place was replaced with social isolation, mental health challenges, social injustice, and doubting faith. The need of having a healthy support system was magnified and this need lead to the birth of Treasured Possession.

Treasured Possession is a mentoring community that I created to provide encouragement, support, and tools to equip the body of Christ to lead healthy lives in body, mind, and spirit. The name Treasured Possession comes from Deuteronomy 7:6 (ESV) “For you are a holy people to the Lord your God; The Lord your God has chosen you to be a people for Himself, a special treasure above all the peoples who are on the face of the earth.”

You & I are his most Treasured Possession.

Chetoca Barfield will be awarding a $10 Amazon or Barnes and Noble GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.

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