VBS Object Lesson: Gentleness

ETA: I get 50ish hits a week on this post most of the year, and 250 hits a week during VBS planning season. I'm glad people are interested in the lesson! If you'd like to take the time to come back and comment, I'd love to know if you used it and how it went, if you have any suggestions or alternative stories, etc.

Last night I taught the object lesson on gentleness for VBS. Here's what I did.

Topic : Gentleness

Intro: Has anyone ever been mean to you? Have you ever been mean to someone else? Have you ever seen someone be mean to someone else?

Story: The Woman with an Issue of Blood (Mark 5:25-34). Emphasize the woman was unclean, dirty. If anyone touched her, they would be unclean, too. If she sat in a chair or ate from dishes, they would be unclean and no one else could use them. No one wanted to touch her or be near her because, eww, she was dirty. How did she feel? (sad, angry, lonely) She spent all her money on doctors, but all their medicine just made her worse. She suffered for 12 years. Finally she went to Jesus and was healed by touching the hem of his garment. When He found out what had happened, He didn't say, "Gross, you're unclean and you made me unclean, too." No, he treated her with gentleness. He said, "Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace."

Object lesson

Supplies: two raw eggs with smiley faces drawn on them (VERY IMPORTANT: make sure there are no cracks in the shells), safety pin or straight pin, q-tip, bowl and table, drop cloth to protect floor (or do outside), apron for adult

Process: Did you know it's impossible to break an egg by squeezing it, if the shell is intact? Let kids squeeze it. [I did not let the VBS kids try to squeeze it, too many kids who might throw it! But I would let a smaller group try to squeeze the egg.] Give your egg a name. Have the kids say mean things to the egg. You're stupid, fat, ugly, you smell, I don't like you, etc. For each mean thing that is said, carefully use the pin to poke a small hole in the shell.

I did a pattern with one hole in the center and several holes in a circle around. [I drew dots to show what I mean. In actuallity, you can barely see the holes.] Does "George" look any different? No, he's still smiling. But what happens to his heart when mean things are said?

If you put your thumb in the center of the pinhole circle, you can smash it easily. Crush the egg with your hand into the bowl.

Can we put the egg back together? No, only God can heal a broken heart.

Now have the kids use gentle words to the second egg. For each nice thing, rub the egg with the q-tip. Can we break "Bob's" heart? No, no matter how hard we squeeze, we can't break this egg because it's been treated with gentleness.

Conclusion: Treat others with gentleness, as Jesus did to the Woman.

Verse: Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am meek and lowly in heart, and ye shall find rest unto your souls. Matt 11:29

Sunday School Nominations

Nomination ballots went out for Sunday School teachers today. This fall, all of my kids will be in Sunday school. I have a degree in education, and I love working with the 10 and unders. So if you're wondering whether being nominated would make me happy or sad, the answer is happy.

Crunchy Chili

Back in 1999, I spent a month in Mexico with a missionary family. The wife, Jan, went back to the States to visit family, and my friend Emily and I were left in charge of the household. We were to make the midday meal every day for the men.

One day we decided to make chili--nice, easy recipe we knew by heart, right? So we made the grocery list and sent Marshall to the market. He came back with a bag of dried beans. What on earth are these, we both said. We'd never seen beans that weren't in a can. And to further complicate the issue, the instructions were written in Spanish.

We got out our Spanish-English dictionary and started translating, only to discover these things had to be soaked overnight! It's now 10:00 and lunch is at 1:00. We did the only thing we could think of: threw the beans into a pot of boiling water for the next three hours. We prepared everything else for the meal and waited until the last second to add the beans to the soup.

We held our breath while Marshall, Loren, and Josue took a bite. No one said a word. We breathed a sigh of relief and took our own bites. CRUNCH!

We laughed so hard we had tears streaming down our faces for the entire meal, and yet the guys were very good sports and ate the whole pot.

I am a Mother

There are lots of comments I could make, but I won't. I refuse to be free advertising for Magazine-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named.

I will just say this: I am a mother. I am unique. My children are unique. My specific circumstances are unique. I do the best I can for my family with the information, resources, and support available to me. I have nothing but respect for ALL mothers who are doing the same. Your version of best may not look exactly like mine, and that's okay. My choices are not a judgement on yours, and yours are not a judgement on mine. They are merely what works best for us.

Do you have a preeclampsia story?

If the course of your pregnancy, birth, and/or post partum was altered by preeclampsia, I would like to share your story. It doesn't matter how dramatic or "routine," you are a sister survivor. I hope to make "Survivor Saturday" a regular feature on my running blog, and my weekend training run will be dedicated to you and your baby. Stories can be submitted to kingtaran at yahoo dot com. And if you are a family member who lost someone to PE, I would like your story on her behalf as well.

What AM I Running For?

Cross posted from my running blog:

When I was in Jr. High, High School, even college, I hated running. I even got in serious trouble for refusing to run in gym class. (Oh, what a rebel I was at my VERY small private school!) How on earth did I get from there to here?


Five years ago last month, I lost my best friend to leukemia. A few months later, her husband, parents, and another friend raised money through the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society's Team In Training by doing a century bike ride. My second child was a year old, and I wanted to get back in shape. My husband and I decided to do a fundraiser of our own. We ran our first half marathon in San Diego in June of 2008. We both caught the bug.

These days, I run for a number of reasons. I run for my health. I run to keep up with my children. (When my son makes a break for it, as he does at least twice a week, I need to be able to catch him. He's a fast little booger!) With four children, I run to get some me time.

As of today, I have a new reason to run. May is Preeclampsia Awareness Month. Preeclampsia is a common pregnancy complication that can potentially be life threatening to both mother and child. I am a three-time survivor. I signed up for my second marathon today, and I will be running to raise money for the Preeclampsia Foundation and to raise awareness of this devastating condition.

If you would like to sponsor me, you can visit the Preeclampsia Foundation's secure donation page and click on "Donate As a Guest". Be sure to select the box that says "This is a tribute in honor of" and enter my name. If you'd prefer to send a check, you can make it payable to the Preeclampsia Foundation and mail it to me. If you need my address, e-mail me at kingtaran at yahoo dot com.

While it is important to raise funds for research so we can end this condition, it's also important to raise awareness so mothers and babies can have the best chance of survival. I have a number of posts planned for this month. I knew nothing of preeclampsia before I was diagnosed, and it nearly cost me my life. It is so important to know the signs and symptoms and to advocate for yourself.

Memories

I was in Jr. High when Wayne's World came out. My friends and I saw it about 40 times together and especially loved the Bohemian Rhapsody scene. One day, my mom was driving us to a field trip in her Dodge Omni. We sang this at the top of our lungs and head banged away. The teacher driving behind us said the whole car was bouncing, and over the next week all four tires went flat. Ah, memories. J-JASS forever!