Weird...
"The kids are beginning to be weird," remarked Peter after today's lesson was over. We thought that was an appropriate thing to write on the post script for the day. The children behaved poorly. Grace Miller was sick and Caroline remained quiet throughout the day due to a sore throat. I began to come up with a lesson for Peter, which mean that Faith I & II were combined into a larger group. Today's lesson was on the topic of Suffering, and I felt that experience would be a better teacher for this lesson than teaching itself. We had our kids separated into two groups and played games such as "suicide" (running back and forth." However, a 6-year old on my team named Caleb cried because he could not win the competition. I was very thankful when Jane helped me take care of him. When I instructed the kids to select the person that they felt was "strongest" (or "the best) in their team, Peter's team selected a tall 5th-grade boy, and our team selected a 3rd-grade boy. I then announced, "You are to recite the Bible verses that we have been learning the past 3 days," so it turned out to be fair. Our team's kid won, for that The LORD does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart. And that was an important lesson for me, too.
I taught the lesson to the kids right after the game ended. "You guys learned a great lesson in this game - you have to endure suffering in order to win. No pain, no gain - and you have to be responsible, have good self-control, listen to your authorities, and understand God's purpose for designing you. In this way, you will have real freedom and succeed one day." (If you have the Teacher's Manual, you will understand what I was referring to.)
It's important to pray for the kids even after the seminar ends. We may only be with them for a week, but Jesus can continue to do more in them through our prayer.
